Free Download Review & Commentary - S9: Ransom of the Riverboat Queen By RC Pinnell For Advanced Dungeons & Dragons First Edition

 "With the slavers of the Pomarj defeated, the weary adventurers are left little time to rest when they receive a message from one of the nobles of the land begging them to come to her aid. This adventure is created to be a link between the TSR Slavers and Giants adventure-modules (A1-4 and G1-3), and is designed for characters of levels 5th through 9th, using either pre-existing characters or the pre-generated ones contained within. Part 2, S10: Rescue on the Jotens, is available for download here"


 S9: Ransom of the Riverboat Queen By RC Pinnell is a fifth level thru nineth level adventure. And S9 was written as a stop  gap adventure between the TSR Slavers and Giants adventure-modules (A1-4 and G1-3). And S9 takes the PC's deep into the world of the lesser criminal elements of these prior adventures;"Having defeated the slavers of the Pomarj, the armies of the ruling nobles swept across the land, chasing the lesser outlaws and their minions deep into the wilderness beyond the boundaries of civilization; capturing and executing those that could not get away. And now with the slavers more or less eradicated, the council of high lords can recall their troops, regroup, and turn their attention to the needs and peace of their citizenry But outside of the Slavers’ circle were others, less known and not entirely evil, that only interacted with the slavers for their own profits. Such persons were not part of the official organization. Those unknown to the council of nobles were able to cease their activities and lay-low, hiding in hope that the ire of the ruling authorities would eventually subside. Nalia DuBose, known locally in the criminal world as the Riverboat Queen, is one such person. Neither evil for evil’s sake or good for the sake of others, Nalia is the leader of a large band of river buccaneers that has remained unnoticed by the nobles of the land. As she and her crews rarely use physical force during their raids, and have never knowingly transported abducted persons or slaves, their operation has not attracted the interest of the authorities. Until now." 

What S9: Ransom of the Riverboat Queen By RC Pinnell does it is put the PCs right into the middle of the aftermath of the Slavers & Giants series with the river boat queen herself. In sixteen pages we get the PC's deeply involved in the adventure plot; "To avoid the authorities that might be investigating her little corner of the world, Nalia took half her crew and left the safety of her River Keep, sailing along the coast to her secondary domicile on a small isle; part of the bank islands south of Keoland. There she has remained for a year, waiting for word to be sent from her companion and second in command, informing her that it is safe to return. But being out of touch with her network of eyes and ears, she is unaware of the changes that have taken place in her organization. Nor that her most trusted companion is involved." S9 is excellent for getting the PC's into the underworld of the river piracy adventure background gig. This works well with thieves guilds tied PC's, criminal elements, and even clerics. 

S9 is a solid module to use with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition, or OSRIC or even perhaps Castles & Crusades for something different that can bridge the adventure gap. S9 also works as a module that takes advantage of vintage Greyhawk. This being said S9 also works as a possible adventure take up with the Hyperborea Rpg. This goes back to something we had talked about back in 2020 with the Giants series & the second edition AS&SH rpg here. 

S9: Ransom of the Riverboat Queen By RC Pinnell worth the free download?! In my  humble opinion yes it is because it provides a number of options for the players & the DM. One S9 is a great framework to use in the aftermath of the both the Giant Series & Slavers. Two it fills in some of the power gaps that both modules leave. And it gets the PC's deeply involved for the next adventure set up. We'll get into that installment next time. 

S9: Ransom of the Riverboat Queen By RC Pinnell For Advanced Dungeons & Dragons First Edition  Is Available Right Here. 

OSR Review & Commentary On The Free AD&D first edition module " N6: Mass for the Missing Priest " By RC Pinnell

"The village of Hogg Bottem has fallen on hard times. Can the adventurers return the village to it's previous prosperity? An adventure for 5-9 characters of 1st level. Updated October 2019 with improved maps and minor corrections." Sometimes what's needed is a basic Advanced Dungeons & Dragons adventure module that will fill two needs at the same time. Need one is a low level yet challanging adventure & the second is that such a module can act as touch stone & jump off point for a campaign. " N6: Mass for the Missing Priest " by RC Pinnell does exactly this. This module provides the DM with all of the bells & whistles they need to have players kick off an entire campaign at first level. And this is something that the author recognizes straight off ;" Centuries ago a wizard discovered the (then) lake and constructed a tower on the largest island in it. A mad-hermit type that loved to do spell research, his dabbling somehow attracted groups of Minotaur to the location, much to their misfortune, for he would immediately trap and conduct experiments upon the dimwitted creatures. After using them, the beasts were set free upon the lake, which quickly became spoiled and tainted by their foul use. It took decades to become the marsh it now is. The village of Hogg Bottem was founded when a group of explorers discovered the marshes and the bounty of giant crayfish residing within. Harvesting the creatures, however, required more than the group had anticipated, as they encountered multiple bands of Minotaur roaming the marshes. After two years of constant battle the majority of the Minotaur were slain, with those not, forced to flee for their lives; never to return to the marshes again."  Don't worry there are lots of secrets in the village of Hogg Bottem. The author takes the material & in thirty four pages really gives a solid adventure. The village of Hogg Bottem is the type of place that an adventurer will want to return to. There are lots of other installments in this series  the first two installments are N6: Mass for the Missing Priest and N7: Mystery Beneath the Church. All of the material for these modules has been established in N6: Mass for the Missing Priest.  And this is one of the things that one finds in N6: Mass for the Missing Priest. There's little space wasted on actually messing about. The focus here is on the encounters , the  monsters, and the treasure. N6: Mass for the Missing Priest   doen't have to be time consuming becauise it presents itself as a beginning module & proceeds at a rapid adventure module. N6: Mass for the Missing Priest does waste the player's time and instead goes for the vien. This is a solid adventure with strong  NPC's. solid encounters, & a very centeral driven adventure plot. N6: Mass for the Missing Priest is easily adaptable to your favorite OSR retroclone system N6: Mass for the Missing Priest is available right for free  here.

Review & Commentary On The Free B/X Dungeons & Dragons Adventure XC Catacombs of Death By RC Pinnell For Your OSR & Old School Campaigns

'Catacombs of Death'  is a sort of rare beast of a high level  adventure from Dragon's foot by author RC Pinnell because of the upper level of the PC's needed and the deadliness of the adventure.

The plot is something straight out of the pages of an old Dragon or Dungeon magazine in a good way, its got all of that hard core wilderness/ and dungeon action surrounding a nice plot of sword and sorcery action. But this one is an upper level crawl and lives up to its premise in spades; "An old friend requires your help to rid themselves of a curse, but can you survive the Catacombs of Death. An Expert-Companion adventure for character levels 12-15."

Grab it Free Right Over

HERE

The author lays out the ground work for 'Catacombs of Death' straight out of the gate.

This adventure is designed for characters at the upper range of the "Expert" levels of play--12 to 14. Players running demi-human types should have attained at least Attack Rank C, as provided in the Companion Manual of instructions, that their characters may be able to experience the adventure on a more or less equal footing with the human types.

This is not an open sand box style of adventure instead this is a carefully plotted adventure that follows PC's into the mid range of character development and the pit falls that go along with later life of such characters.

The encounters are a challenge for these characters and the adventure centers around several locations of very dangerous aspect and a rather nasty dungeon.

Action, NPC's, and plot are interwoven throughout the Catacombs of Death, the author making no secret of the lethality and challenge of its plot and story line. This isn't an adventure location but a set of interwoven plots in the style of the older adventures for Basic D&D and retroclone systems.

Think of this module in terms of the Expert module such as the Slave Lord series because there is a very similar vibe running throughout the adventure, a set of circumstances that will haunt the characters for years to come surrounding events already set into motion.

This is an adventure about old vendettas, ancient history, and hair trigger circumstance all putting the PC's at the center of its Egyptian style setting adventure & campaign style  material.

There is a ton of new monsters, set pieces and more right between the pages of this one. It really is a well done but upper level adventure & used well can propel characters into a whole other realm of character back story and development. But those playing this one are going to be changed forever by what happens out in the sands in the Catacombs of Death. Take a look and download this one.

Using Catacombs Of Death

 For Your Old School Campaigns

Using 'Catacombs of Death' for your Old School Retroclones is going to require a bit more of a challenge because of the very nature of the module, this isn't a sandbox or kitchen sink adventure but one that requires some preparation and careful thought by the DM.

Because of the very nature of its story and plot a careful working by the DM is needed. A nice idea is to work the events from the back drop into the PC's career early into a campaign and then use Catacombs as a send off or mid range adventure for upper level characters.

That being said there are other ways of dealing with the circumstances surrounding the adventure.

Another idea is to have another high level  rival party hook up with the adventurers and one of their number set the plot and events of 'Catacombs of Death' into motion. This adventure is interesting, complex, and full of adventure and surprises. There are a myriad of uses for it but for a game such as Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea some real solid adjustments of level and a handful of solid conversion work needs to be done by the DM. The material will fit a such a game but it would require some work on the DM's part.

This is a module well worth the time, energy, and circumstance to take a look at and its very well done. For a free module is blurs the line once again between fan and pro. I personally think that 'Catacombs of Death' is worth your time to down load & a solid addition to any DM's adventure backlog of modules. 

Free OSR Adventure Series G4-9 by RC Pinnell For OSRIC or AD&D 1st Edition Campaigns

So over at Tankar's Tavern I stumbled across the G-4 through 9 series by RC Pinenell whose work from Dragon's foot I covered the other day. Now he's released his continuation of the infamous and iconic Giant series of AD&D 1st edition modules and he nails the classic look, setting, feel, and thunder of these old school adventures.
Note that these are very nasty, dangerous, and potentially lethal set of modules with some sharp and twisted turns in them. The author has done a killer job of capturing the G1 thru G3 series in spades. But if your unfamiliar with these classics let me aquatint you with them.

What is the G1-3 series? 


According to Wiki: 

Against the Giants is an adventure module written by Gary Gygax and published by TSR in 1981 for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game. It combines the G series of modules previously published in 1978: Steading of the Hill Giant Chief, Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl, and Hall of the Fire Giant King. All three were produced for use with the 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules. In 1999, to recognize the 25th anniversary of TSR, the company released an updated version, Against the Giants: The Liberation of Geoff. Later in 1999, Wizards of the Coastpublished a novelization of Against the Giants by Ru Emerson.

The plot of each of the three original modules focuses on a particular type of evil giant. Each can be played as a standalone adventure, or as a series. In Steading of the Hill Giant Chief, a tribe of hill giants have been raiding lands occupied by humans, and the humans hire the player characters to defeat them. Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl pits the player characters against the evil Jarl of the frost giants. Hall of the Fire Giant King concludes the series, this time against a group of fire giants. The first two modules disclose the existence of a secret force behind the giants, which in the third module is revealed to be evil drow elves. The plot involving the drow continues in four additional modules printed between 1978 and 1980.

The plot breakdown from G1-3 goes something like this according to Wiki: 

Each of the original three modules is a dungeon crawl. The player characters focus on battling hill giants, frost giants, and fire giants, three of the original evil giant types used in Dungeons & Dragons.

G1 Steading of the Hill Giant Chief

The module begins with a prologue explaining that giants of different types have been raiding lands occupied by humans. Angered by this, the human rulers hire a group of adventurers (the player characters) to "punish the miscreant giants." The players' party is informed that they must defeat the giants, or have their heads placed on the chopping block. The human nobles equip the party with weapons and horses, along with a guide and a map that shows the location of the hill giants. The players are informed that the hill giants are led by Nosnra, a sly hill giant chieftain who loves to set up ambushes; there is an unknown force binding together different giant groups. The player characters are informed that they may keep any spoils they find, but must return at once if they determine what "sinister hand" is behind the alliance.

The bulk of the adventure takes place in two locations: the upper level fortress of the hill giants' lair, and the dungeon level beneath it.^[1] In the upper level there are halls, barracks and common rooms. These rooms house Chief Nosnra and other hill giants, ogres, and servants. The dungeon level consists of slave quarters, torture chambers, and caverns. These house troglodytes, bugbears, and carrion crawlers. The majority of the treasure can be found by searching the dungeons. The chief's treasure room contains a map of the glacial rift from Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl, and a magic chain that automatically transports the party there.^[2]

G2 Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl

This module starts in one of two ways. If the players have finished Steading of the Hill Giant Chief, they have been transported to the glacial rift via the magic chain. They will know that they are searching for some force behind the giant alliance. If the players are starting with Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl, then they have been hired by nobles to destroy the frost giants. Either way, a safe, hidden cave is easily found for a base of operations.

As in Steading of the Hill Giant Chief, the bulk of this adventure takes place in two locations: an upper area consisting of caves and the rift floor, and a lower area consisting of natural caverns. In the upper area there are ice caves, barracks, and a dome of ice. These are inhabited by yeti, frost giants, ogres, and winter wolves. The dome of ice houses a remorhaz. In the lower area there are caverns that house the servants, serve as a prison, and contain the Jarl Grugnur and emissaries who have come to meet with him. The main inhabitants are frost giants and ogres. The prison contains an attractive storm giantess. There are also polar bears; pets of the jarl. After defeating the jarl, the adventurers have a chance to pull an iron lever which will transport them near to Snurre's hall from Hall of the Fire Giant King.^[3]

G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King

If it is played as a continuation of the first two modules, the players know that they are searching for the force behind the giant's alliance, otherwise they have been hired by nobles to destroy the fire giants. This module is twice as long as the previous two: sixteen pages instead of eight. Unlike the two previous modules where the giant's complex consists of two levels, the fire giant hall contains three levels. The giants live in a hot, smoky barren area made of rock; as in the previous module, the party is able to find a safe location for forays against the giants. The leader of the fire giants is King Snurre Iron Belly, and his hall is made of obsidian and natural caverns.

The first (top) level includes the queen's rooms, barracks, and kennels. Creatures encountered here include fire giants, gnolls, and in the kennels, hell hounds. The second level is also made of obsidian rocks and natural caverns. It houses chambers of spiritual interest to the fire giants. There is a hall that houses the dead fire giant kings, and rooms for worship. There are also rooms that contain drow clerics. This is where the party learns that the drow are behind the giant alliance, led byEclavdra, a high level drow fighter/cleric. The third level consists of natural caverns and contains a great treasure guarded by a red dragon. There are also more fire giants and drow; to exterminate the fire giants, the adventurers must penetrate deep into the active volcano where they live. If the DM wishes, there is a tunnel that leads deep into the earth; to the home of the drow. This allows the adventure to be continued in Descent into the Depths of the Earth.^[4]

Find out more about these modules right HERE

Does the G4 - 9 Series
Live up To Its Predecessors?



In a word, yes very much so.

Everything from font, text, story line, setting, etc. is brought into focus and given a really well done treatment. And their very consistent in how and what they do with it. The modules are solid pieces of OSR adventures completely compatible with AD&D 1st edition or OSRIC.
The maps are especially nice and very much in the spirit of the old while actually being readable. The script and font is spot on and very nice.
Make no mistake these are nasty business for PC's and really well crafted adventures. The monster encounters, treasures, etc during encounters is like something from TSR and highly playable from the get go.
When taken as an over all scheme these modules hit all of the high points of the original set and continue right out of the gate into a fully blown campaign of a dark and sinister vein. The rest of giant kind taking center stage right at the fore front of all of the events  and the PC's moved right into the middle of things.
Treasure, encounters, monsters, and even dungeon locations are very well done but they all have the potential for TPK if the players are not careful in their adventure choices. But this is exactly as it should be. This isn't a light weight set of modules but a grand adventure in the best of styles.
This series of modules has everything that DM could want to pick up and run from the Against The Giant series with a fully fleshed out run of danger, monster killing action, treasure, and even more. Do yourself a favor if your into AD&D or OSRIC and grab these today!

Go over to Tankar's Tavern For These HERE

Free OSR Adventure From Dragon's Foot Catacombs of Death By RC Pinnell For Expert-Companion Level D&D And Your Old School Retro Clone Systems On The Dark Corner Blog

There is death out in the desert of this high level 12-15 level adventure for your PC's in The Catacombs Of Death, a brand new free module on Dragon's foot that will have your characters on a dungeon crawl with several solid twists.
Today we take a look at this quest for more then mere fortune and glory.
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HERE