Back Issue Affairs - Amazing Adventures Fifth Editions & Levi Combs has his Tomb of the Mummy Bride Kickstarter

 So anyone who actually knows our group understands that there's a ton of history & water under the bridge when it comes to the local gaming scene. In my home town  the Brass Dragon hobby shop was on the scene in the late 90's. Before this my uncle Jack's place a haven for geeks, nerds, & everyone inbetween. Back in '89 we needed a pick game in the Summer. Half of our group was going off to the YMCA  Summer camp & the other half got left between behind. All ten of us, that's right ten kids of various ages were split. So out came battered set of Worlds of Wonder from Chaosium. We jumped at the chance to do a  mini campaign that Summer &  everyone was mutant crazy. We already had a jumping Marvel Super Heroes rpg campaign  happening.Because everyone went to camp that was shelved.
That campaign has been written about multiple times on this blog. But instead we found ourselves as mutants thrust into the 1920's & confronting the Cthulhu mythos head on! All five us made PC's!  And the twist up because uncle Jack was a historian as well was that this campaign took place in the 1920's. 
White Dwarf issue #97 Jan 1988 was a huge deciding factor in our table top rpg time! We got ourselves embroiled in Graeme Davis's 'Trilogy of Terror' - three short scenarios: 'The Book', 'The Seance',  and 'A Capital Offence'. 

These unrelated  scenarios take place in the 1920's U.K. & my uncle being the bastard DM he was interlinked them. Even with super powers we died  saving a medium from the coils of Nyarlathotep. A hunting horror finished every last one of our heroes off in 70's style. This particular issue of White Dwarf was one of the last before Games Workshop switched over to making the magazine nothing more then a complete house organ. Even though we saved the medium, her family was under a curse from Nyarlathotep. There are several unresolved issues that got left behind. 
Flash foward till now & DM Paul is on my behind about wanting to play a mini  game campaign of Amazing Adventures fifth edition by Jason Vey. Why?! Because Levi Combs has his Tomb of the Mummy Bride Kickstarter going?! Oh Hell no! This would be an instant TPK. And the players don't even know the system yet. 

Now in no way, shape, or form are these players going to be ready to confront the infamous Mummy Bride! There's also going to be some restriction straight outta of the gate for this mini campaign coming up:

1. All adventurers are going to be human
2. Alignment is going to be in full effect  & this includes pacts or dark bargains 
3. We've some unresolved business in England first before any confrontation 
4. The campaign takes place between (Nov. 1965 – Nov. 1969), there are reasons for this that will become clear later on! 
5. Backgrounds for the PC's will be filled in through actual play. The PC will have brief outline for thier background and that's it. 
6. PC death is dead unless a side quest for resurrection is done. And all horror movie consquences for such side ventures are in full effect. 
7. The Mythos are in full effect. 
8. DM's rulings are final! 
9. All Appendix literature is on the table for inspiration 
10. TPK can & may happen! No tears please its a waste of good character sheets! 

Dungeon Master's Workshop Session Zero Preparation Report With Planet X Games's Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride By Levi Combs

 "Tales of the cursed pyramid and the sleeping tomb of the Mummy Bride have long been a traveler’s tale, passed along by wayward explorers and greedy plunderers alike. Deep within the verdant jungles of the south, amidst a Green Hell of impenetrable jungle, savage cannibals and ancient myth, lies the shattered remnants of a once-powerful civilization and the terrible gods who ruled over them. Rumors swirl of untold riches and un-plundered magic for those brave (or foolish!) enough to claim it. Will your players survive… and what will be left of them?

The Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride is an old school, grindhouse-style combination of classic role playing adventure and devilishly-designed dungeons for levels 5-7, cram-packed with b-movie goodness to challenge even the most seasoned of adventurers. It’s a module that could only have been made in the primitive jungles of man… where life is cheap!"

So for the last couple of years Levi Combs of Planet X Games has been friend of mine on social media for a few years. Let's drop into the fact that now there's a ton of pressure to get back into the swing of DMing as some of my player's schedules free up. And they want to go back over the fact that we started a Siege Engine hybrid game campaign last year. Now what's been on the table is Planet X Games's Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride. Yes Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride is for fifth edition  Dungeons & Dragons. But it should work fine with Castles & Crusades as well as Jason Vey's Amazing Adventures. 

The appearance of a major lich queen upon a pre Thirties Earth is enough to bring every hero with a grudge against 'The Mummy's Bride'.  Make no mistake just because this is fifth edition its easily converted over to Castles & Crusades but the author makes this civet;" Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride is designed for a group of player characters who are levels 5-7. The lower level the party members are, the more players they probably need to survive. Any good adventuring group attempting to conquer the Mummy Bride’s tomb should have a rogue or character experienced at dealing with traps, a spell-slinger of arcane magic, and a trusty sword swingin’ meat shield. " 

So already we can see the crossover between Earth & some other old school fantasy location. A campain trick that we've recently employed with War of the Worlds Godzilla 1898 Victorious rpg  campaign. But is our Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride from this Earth or someplace even more strange & dangerous. 

Several reasons spring to mind why this will work: 

1. There are a couple of campaign aces are already up my sleeve. 
2. Castles & Crusades can be a meet point between 3.X D&D with Fifth edition. 
3. Exploitive grind house is a campaign style that the players have experience in. 
4. Pulp is the player's preferred style of play 
5. Players are readying back up PC's. 
6. The players know my fondness for crystal skulls 
7. Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride is lethal and very dangerous 
8. Cannibal gnomes & lots of Aztec mummy goodness.. 

Retro Review & OSR Campaign Commentary On Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride By Levi Combs From

"Tales of the cursed pyramid and the sleeping tomb of the Mummy Bride have long been a traveler’s tale, passed along by wayward explorers and greedy plunderers alike. Deep within the verdant jungles of the south, amidst a Green Hell of impenetrable jungle, savage cannibals and ancient myth, lies the shattered remnants of a once-powerful civilization and the terrible gods who ruled over them. Rumors swirl of untold riches and un-plundered magic for those brave (or foolish!) enough to claim it. Will your players survive… and what will be left of them?"



Some months ago on Twitter Levi Combs approached me with a fifth edition adventure called 'The Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride'. Now normally I don't review any adventures fifth edition but PX Games has been on my back radar for some months now. I totally missed the Kickstarter for  'The Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride'. Real life & all of that sometimes comes into the hobby more often then not.

If your thinking that somehow the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons incarnation makes  'The Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride'. any less of an adventure then your missing the point. Fifth edition D&D with the right application of mathematics can easily be back retro converted. And that's percisely what I'm gonna do with  'The Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride'.. The adventure is way too well done not to.  'The Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride'. touches several areas & does them very well. This is an over the top retro Pulp style adventure. Its done with savage abandoned towards the PC's & its very brutal. The writing, cartography, & layout is tight & well done almost as a testiment to the Weird Tales & Pulp magazine stories that spawned this module here's a room description that provides what I'm talking about ;"Ssssssssslime Something slimy, something green – someone bloody, someone screams! At one time, the ceremonial vestments of the faithful were kept here, and stands made of bamboo held feathered headdresses, elaborately painted loincloths and wide belts festooned with tiny human bones. The walls held cruel-looking ceremonial daggers, ready for sacrificial rituals. Now, all that is left are two broad, circular stones that were once painted a bright turquoise but have faded with age, draped in rotting garments and a few odd bird feathers. Bits of dry, brittle twine and old vines hang from empty hooks where daggers once rested. The walls are cracked but stable, and twisting vines snake across the ceiling. There is a doorway in the west wall. Hidden amongst the vines and hanging moss on the ceiling is a patch of particularly virulent and sticky mottled slime. It drops down onto the player characters if it detects any sort of movement beneath it. The 5-foot patch of mottled slime is caustic and will erode flesh and metal on contact with its acidic secretions. The mottled slime has blindsight to a radius of 30 feet and reacts to the movement within this area. If a creature is aware of the slime’s presence, a successful DC 10 Dexterity saving throw by that creature is sufficient to avoid being struck by the slime. A failed saving throw, or lack of awareness of the slime, prevents the creature from avoiding the slime as it drops onto its unsuspecting prey"
The mottled slime does 5 (1d10) acid damage to any creature that it comes into contact with. The creature takes an additional 5 (1d10) acid damage at the start of each of its turns, or until an action is used to scrape the slime off or until the slime is destroyed. Metal that comes into contact with the slime takes 11 (2d10) acid damage each round, and any nonmagical metal weapon used to remove the slime is destroyed. The patch of mottled slime can be destroyed by direct sunlight, cure disease effects, and cold, fire or radiant damage."

Like I said this isn't all that difficult to translate over to your favorite old school or OSR incarnation of the grand game of Dungeons & Dragons or Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. The vibe that echoes throughout the 'The Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride'..  is one of Saturday Matinee Serials, Pulp magazines, & midnight movie marathons.  One part Indiana Jones meets Robert E. Howard in a back alley with some South American style liches for some bad dangerous fun. 




The encounters & rooms of 'The Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride' are brutal,dangerous, & straight up nasty. This isn't a jungle romp of easy & niceness for the PC's. An experienced group could have a hard time with 'The Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride'. That's not a joke & the tag line of  'devilishly-designed dungeons for levels 5-7' isn't a joke  moniker.  'The Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride' encounters are designed for the sixth to eighth level of old school gaming in my opinion & even jaded old school veterans are going to have to give this adventure its due. 



Back cover art by the amazing Adrian Landeros. Check him out on Instagram at @ghoster9 for more of his work.

The maps & cartography of the 'The Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride'  are well done & fit the aesthetic of the Pulp & 30's serial roots of adventure. Encounters & events fit the over all pattern, aesthetic, & weirdness of this Pulp slated adventure. 

 One of the many maps in Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride, courtesy of the talented Karl Stjernberg. Check him out at @skullfungus on Instagram. Karl does an excellent job of his work on The Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride'

How would I use 'The Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride' ? Well that's not all that tough actually. Personally  I would take the this adventure & glue it into a campaign right along with the classic Expert Dungeons & Dragons adventure X2 Isle of Dread. The overall Pulp look, feel, classic material serial tone of 'The Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride'  means it fits into a campaign by Isle of Dread as simply another island. 

'The Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride' could be dropped ad hoc into Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperobrea rpg as another island in the chain of Forgotten Fane of the Coiled Goddess fragment of  the Isle of the Serpent just waiting for the PC's to stumbled into its machinations. 


I would also be remiss to say that  'The Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride' could easily be entirely slotted into a classic Castles & Crusades campaign without any problems what so ever. The encounters link up & line up quite nicely with that game's numbers & formula.

The 'The Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride' lines up quite nicely with some of my OSR asthetics that I've had rattling around my head for the last year or so. I think that my time using this adventure at my table hasn't begun yet. But I know that 'The Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride' will be played at my table coming soon. Stay tuned for that & I highly recommend 'The Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride' for your own table top!