Review & Commentary On Black Box Books Tome Eight: Handlist of Horrors From Ivanhoe Unbound For Your Old School Campaigns

I'm always on the look out for another way of using monsters & adding in a bit more mayhem to my games. The truth is that you have to add in the touch of the unexpected into games because of very experienced & jaded old school players. They've seen it all and played it all. The fact is one way of adding a bit of the weird and unexpected are the monsters. I use a mix of standard and the unusual for creating old school style adventures.

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   Black Box Books -- Tome Eight: Handlist of Horrors From  Ivanhoe Unbound is another creative and highly evocative tools of the DMing trade. A handy list of weirdness that can add any number of tiny seeds for creature creation, with suggested hit dice levels and a method for calculating all the other statistics from that hit dice level.
Monsters & stats are keyed here for adventure creation with a flare for the unusual & for ninety five sense you do get your money's worth. Example of creatures range from the esoteric such as the DECKLER (10): Undead creature rarely formed when someone dies via a spell. Obsessively devours spell scrolls to the demonic such as the EPHIALODAEMON (7): 6’ tall mantis with head of human infant. Voice like a castrato.
This is one of those non standard monsters books that works when you as the dungeon master want a non run of the mill monster but don't want to spend the rest of the day detailing the still born horror of a monster. There is a mixed bag of creatures & monsters making this a perfect combination of horrors that will keep players on their toes and guessing what's around the next bend of the dungeon or wilderness survival crawl.

This is a case of the monster could be used to build the adventure around them. This makes the hooks & bait for the adventure an on going process that the DM's needs to dip into  Handlist of Horrors. But is this book a welcome set of tools or simply a waste of money? Well this is a resource with tons of potential to keep even the most jaded player on their toes. Things such as the VISCERA MYRMIDON (9): The intestines of several warriors woven together and animated by a wraith. This is a perfect monster to throw into a game of Lamentations of the Flame Princess. This book brings fifty five monster seeds to the table and then keeps things going with solid hooks and leads inside the dark underbelly of the  Handlist of Horrors. This basically means that players are going to have a hard time identifying the weirder monsters. But even the weird ones are variations of many old school stand by's but done in such a way as to keep things fresh.
 Tome Eight: Handlist of Horrors  is a great book to use as a monster fill gap for unexpected encounters during a game when PC's wander into places that might provide them with weird adventure encounters. These places might include wasteland ruins in games such as Mutant Future or even the upcoming Mutant Crawl Classics. Because of the universal nature of Swords & Wizardry this popular retroclone's abilities as a platform are going to be tested.  Tome Eight: Handlist of Horrors is there to fill the gap. There's enough adventure and monster fodder to keep the DM going for years to come.
Four out of five for originality and utility for adventure construction.

Review & Commentary On Black Box Books -- Tome Seven: Goetics and Gnostics From Ivanhoe Unbound For Your Old School Campaigns

There was a time back n '08 when I first got into OSR titles that DYI Dungeons & Dragons was the main reason. Basically it means being selective about what parts & pieces your going to use at your table & as a part of the system that your going to be running. For many this is OD&D or Swords & Wizardry. Black Box Books has produced some very interesting pdfs for old school style retroclones and now we've got another offering from them. Tome Seven: Goetics and Gnostics offers up some very dangerous bits of NPC or player classes culled from the warped mind of Kirt Dankmyer.

There is plenty of off beat stuff in here for ninety five sense, you get the GOETIC MAGE which is basically a mage able to cast spells, wear armor, & cast spells. How does this PC class do this? Well he or she sort of takes a very dangerous infernal or Lovecraftian short cut;"A Goetic Mage uses a dangerous shortcut to arcane power. By invoking various gods and spirits in a very particular way, a Goetic Mage uses divine and demonic power to achieve personal ends. A Goetic Mage is exactly the same as a Cleric, except in seven respects. First, a Goetic Mage is not dedicated to any faith, instead “praying” to a variety of entities, often to force other entities (like Qlippothic demons) to provide them with spells.Second, instead of using the Cleric spell list, a Goetic Mage uses the Magic User spell list and can only use Magic User scrolls. Third, the Prime Attribute for a Goetic Mage is Intelligence. Fourth, a Goetic Mage cannot establish a temple. Fifth, only a Chaotic Goetic Mage can turn undead, using the alternate rule for Chaotic clerics. Sixth, Goetic Magi can never return from death by  any means, not even the most divine magic. Finally, whenever the Goetic Mage prepares spells, casts a spell, or turns the undead, there is a chance that something goes wrong and a Qlippothic Demon worms its way into reality, materializing next to and attacking the Mage. The demon appears 1d6 combat rounds after the action that accidentally summoned it."
They remind me of some hedge wizard/priest types I've seen over the years in a number of games and they can work very well if the campaign calls for it. These mages might be perfect additions into a game of Lamentations of the Flame Princess or as minor cult priest for The Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea rpg.

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But the really interesting priest class is the GNOSTIC PRIEST,who is able to do a few very interesting wrinkles  & crazy tricks up their robed sleeves;"A Gnostic Priest uses mundane ritual (arcane magic) to
divine ends. It is a more difficult path than being a Cleric, but it is another way to directly experience the divine.
A Gnostic Priest is exactly the same as a Magic User, except in eight respects. First, instead of using the Magic User spell list, a Gnostic Priest uses the Cleric spell list, though spells are still recorded in a spellbook, a sort of formulaic prayer-book. Second, they may copy clerical scrolls (only) into their book, but can use both Cleric and Magic User scrolls. Third, every time a Gnostic Priest gains a level, they may add a spell to their book of a level they can currently cast. Fourth, a Gnostic Priest cannot progress past 10th level.Fifth, the Prime Attribute for a Gnostic Priest is Wisdom. Sixth, a Gnostic Priest has a percentage chance to resist any hostile divine magic equal -- 3 -- to 3% times their current level. Seventh, a Gnostic Priest may found a temple, exactly like a Cleric. Finally, Lawful Gnostic Priests (only) can turn a Qlippothic Demon like a Cleric would turn an undead being of equivalent hit dice"

Both of these classes can be used for OD&D and this product really does meet the criteria that it sets forth in the blurb. The work here is clever, condensed, and very interesting as well as entertaining. Can I see that the author knows what makes some clever bits and pieces that can easily be used with any number of retroclone systems. But the real heart & soul here is the "RANDOM TABLES TO PRODUCE OVER 288,000 DIFFERENT QLIPPOTHIC DEMONS" What exactly are these entities? Well, according to wiki;"The Qliphoth/Qlippoth/Qelippot or Kelipot (Heb. קְלִיפּוֹת, the different English spellings are used in the alternative Cabalistic traditions^[1] of Hermetic Qabalah and Jewish Kabbalah respectively), literally "Peels", "Shells" or "Husks" (from singular: קְלִיפָה Qliphah/Kelipah "Husk"),^[2] are the representation of evil or impure spiritual forces in Jewish mysticism, the polar opposites of the holy Sephirot.^[3] The realm of evil is also termed "Sitra Achra/Ahra" (Aramaic סטרא אחרא, the "Other Side" opposite holiness) in Kabbalah texts."  These unclean and weird spirits are tied intimiately with both character classes and these tables could be used to churn out some pretty horrorific unclean spirits which is perfect for any weird or horror themed OSR game? But are they worth it? I think so and best of all the material here in  Goetics and Gnostics is open game content; "This product uses the OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a (see attached document and/or http://www.wizards.com/d20/files/OGLv1.0a.rtf )
DESIGNATION OF PRODUCT IDENTITY: The names Black Box BookTM and Ivanhoe UnboundTM, including the Ivanhoe Unbound logo, when used in any
context, are product identity, copyright 2015 by Kirt A. Dankmyer. All other artwork is in the public domain. All text that does not directly affect the game rules
for the creatures and classes contained in this document are product identity.
DESIGNATION OF OPEN GAME CONTENT: All game rule text and tables, with the exception of material specifically excluded in the declaration of
product identity, is open game content. Please give up-front credit where it is due, including conforming to the Swords & Wizardry Compatibility-Statement
License (http://www.d20swsrd.com/swords-and-wizardry-srd/legal-information)"
This is really important to me as an OSR hobby author & designer, because I actually like & will be using this material in the future for an upcoming publication. However could  Goetics and Gnostics be used with a product or setting such as Dark Albion? Yes it could be used as a fill gap until Cults & Chaos hits the wild in July or it could be used to represent a foreign wizard or mage if the DM is using OD&D or Swords &Wizardry for a gritty game such as Dark Albion. Basically  Goetics and Gnostics is a set of tools with a very wide range of applications. If you want demons and unclean spirits fast for a game tonight or something different for that class guy whose always got to play something weird or different this might be the pdf for you. Much of the material here is short & too the point but that's fine because it allows the dungeon master & the players to fill in the background as needed.
All I want to see is from  Ivanhoe Unbound   is a collected best of  Black Box Books with a print option so I don't have to keep flipping through pdf after pdf.

Four out of five.

Review and Commentary On CC1: Creature Compendium From New Big Dragon For Your Old School Campaigns

Do you need monsters fast for tonight's game or shall we say something unique to torment your adventurers? Something to slip in between the cracks of  your ruin or sci fi base? Well,the Creature Compendium has you covered. 

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HERE

There are monster books and then there are those monster catalogs that include stuff you wished you'd thought of as a DM. Well, the Creature Compendium is one of those. And if your thinking that this book can't be used with your AD&D 1st edition or OSRIC games then think again. According to the company's website: Creature Compendium for OD&D, AD&D, and B/X D&D. This 92 page supplement has a host of new creatures to harass your players with. This thing is wall to wall artwork by Richard Leblanc Jr.  And its very well done, this is a dual statted book and I know what your thinking, so what big deal? Well it means that you can use any of these critters right out of the gate upon your adventurers. Each monster is "dual" stated for 0e/1e and BX. Sometimes there is no difference. For example an AC of 3 in AD&D is roughly an AC 3 in BX and the monsters will either list 3 or some other close number. Movement rates are easy to convert of course and alignments are different systems& edition, but all in all it is still easy to convert. 
The Pdf clocks in at about 92 pages for two dollars and the monsters are well worth the pdf and man these things could easily be incorporated into a wide variety of games or campaigns. 
 And all of these monsters are perfectly suited for a wide variety of dungeon environs but that's not all. Many of these horrors are straight up generic enough yet weird enough to go right into a post apocalyptic wasteland or better yet your favorite space based dungeon. Seriously there is a ton of potential and I love the way that you get your money's worth out of this product. Using these with White Star or Swords and Wizardry would be a snap as these monsters have a very old world pulp quality to them. 
 Look this is exactly the sort of book that I need for tonight's game, monsters pulpy enough to fit into any environment but different enough to give the PC's pause and make them come up with a plan for the horror's demise.  And these monster's are not going to go down easily, they're capable of taking out an entire party of adventurers with relative easy if the party isn't careful. There's a lot of potential here for TPK's if the players' are not paying attention to the monster's patterns,behaviors, and attacks. These horrors don't follow the usual monster biology BS that so many writers slip into the background. The author knows his stuff and keeps things busy and interesting in the background of the design of the critter's. Several of these horrors could be mini adventures into themselves and here's where I mentioned White Star or one of the sci fi retroclones being very useful for a quick night's one shot using these things. 
 With the revive on the post apocalyptic front these horrors could easily be slipped into the back drop of an advanced Mutants and Maze's game of Mutant Future. Of particular use is Appendix A gives the DM  Treasure Types by Edition. 0e, 1e, HB and BX. There are subtle differences in each, but  it's easy to convert between each. Appendix B gives us the monster XP totals for various editions as well. 0e, S&W, BX/BEDMI, LL, 1e and OSRIC. These are essential elements that I wish, wish other retroclone systems would incorporate as well.  The bottom line is this grab the damn book right now and don't wait, for the price this is really a no brainer. Five out of five because its so well done and I can't find fault with it. 

Using The Petty Gods OSR Resource Book For Your Old School Science Fiction or Science Fantasy Campaigns

Petty Gods has been unleashed on an unsuspecting OSR and rpg public, they've taken to it as the grand resource that it is. There are over four hundred pages of incredible old school goodness but can this sucker be used for other stuff besides the usual  fantasy or sword & sorcery campaign? 

The answer is a resounding yes you can! And then some. Petty  Gods contains divine and semi divine creatures drawn from across the bright and scattered bits of  pop culture, imagination, major writers, fans, and every damn part of the collective landscape of fiction that the authors could. This was a community effort and a major undertaking for Greg Gorgonmilk, Richard Leblanc, and co.
Before I even begin here's all of the ordering information: 

Links and pricing via Richard LeBlanc, PG's editor-in-chief and a major contributor to this work:

Petty Gods: Revised & Expanded Edition (Casewrap Hardback) $22.47 (USD at cost)

Petty Gods: Revised & Expanded Edition (Premium Softcover) $13.22 (USD at cost)

Petty Gods: Revised & Expanded Edition (PDF: no watermark) FREE

Time,space, and all of reality are the providence of the gods of this massive work and they're not something to be taken lightly. Say your space heroes are cruising across the galaxy,collecting treasure, exploring strange new worlds, boldly going where no man has gone before when suddenly you run smack into a high handed alien pantheon. Suddenly your party  runs into 

Amber Blood Sword

(petty goddess of battle blood-lust and feminine protection)

Titles : The Amber Protector, The Great Vindicator
There are going to be some real issues if your crew happens to be dealing rotten with some of those green alien maidens or princesses.  Or Aspix

(petty god of the Butcher’s Alley*) by Glen Hallstrom who happens to resemble a certain murderous entity from a much beloved science fiction cult classic show but there are other rather nasty circumstances that go with this entity. Another horror that might send a crew packing is God of the Iron Urn (petty god of madness and sacrifice) by Geoffrey McKinney that has some dangerous connotations for a star ship crew and could affect an entire adventure by itself. 

So let me crack a beer and tell you right off that there's no need to order some other add on book for Petty Gods in order to use this book with your favorite science fiction or fantasy retroclone or old school setting. All of the guidelines are already in the book right at the beginning chapters of the PDF. You can use this wonderful book with original D&D, Swords & Wizardry, etc quite easily and that is the beauty of the book. Imagine your playing Gamma World or Metamorphosis Alpha first edition and your party happens to find a giant stone head that covers a very juicy and treasure laden set of ruins? One of your mutant adventurers wants to smash into the the interior of the head and pilfer the contents within. You might actually be facing down Azwa (protector of giant stone heads in the wilderness) Titles : The Protector of Giant Stone Heads in

the Wilderness, The Head of Heads by Thomas Denmark. But what will this god's reaction be? Well here's where Petty God's shines because like the Judge's Guild product The Unknown Gods from which Petty God's takes its old school lessons from. There's a random reaction table for this god, and suddenly things are about to get very interesting in the post apocalyptic landscape. 

And right in the middle of all of these wonderful divine entities that can really complicate the lives of your adventurers are a pack of  lesser known Cthulhu related entities - Cthulhu (mythos)

Please see individual entries related to the Cthulhu mythos.

Related Entries : G) Bokrug, Chaugnar Faugn,Nug, Quachil

Uttaus, Rhan-Tegoth, Yeb; M) Being of Ib, Formless Spawn,

Guardian of Laam, Hound of Tindalos, Miri-Nigri, Voormi

All of these are very well done and just waiting to be added and dropped right into the backdrop of your space going campaign. From Realms of Crawling Chaos to Goblinoid games to a handy little campaign of White Star, these entities are solidly done and with all of the handy little add ons that you need to run their cults, servants, treasures, story hooks, and more. There's even Robert Howard's Crom lurking and brooding in between the pages. Just waiting to be unleashed.
But these beings are called Petty Gods surely they can't affect a star ship? Let me introduce you to Chicxulub (petty god of decaying orbits) by John Everett Till who can easily ruin a crew's day or week on star ship such as those found in Stars Without Number. How will she react to your crew of adventurers? Roll on the reaction table to find out. If you want someone or something truly alien and weird I recommend Cunnian

(petty god of potential knowledge) for those pointy eared and logical types of adventurers and know it all's. By Mike “Carlson” Davis, she or he seems above the petty concerns of gender, sex, race,etc.. And is here to observe and create its own universe whist monkeying with ours. According to the entry : 

The truth, unknown to all save Cunnian, is that she is a god

from another universe, and has come to ours for the purpose of

creating a universe of his own. To that end, Cunnian appears

on the Material Plane regularly, observing the local conditions

and then changing some aspect of it to see what results, seeking

ever for the combination of traits that best appeal to her as the

basis for his universe.
Needless to say that this could be very, very dangerous for adventurers and she might fit right at home in a session of Lamentations of The Flame Princess or even Star Ships and Space Men second edition keeping a star ship crew confused and dangerously close to the edge of reality in the local space time continuum.
Pity the crew of adventurers who encounter  Diplodias (petty god of crop rot and poor harvests) by Dave Traube for this god is perfect for a game of Mutant Future or any old school post apocalyptic campaign where food is a matter of life and death. On a colony world this god might be a nightmare of epic proportions. While Divine Worm (petty god of stillborn infants) by Logan Knight could be a nightmare for and a reason that a failed colony is waiting in the darkness. While  Drasheeng (petty god of drunken misperception) by Trey Causey might just give that roaming star ship captain a run for his money and a real headache.
Elder Elementals are one of the many monsters that has incredible potential for planetary adventure applications from terraforming to acting as a planetary guardian of some ancient ruins. These monsters could give even high level adventurers pause. They're very dangerous and completely alien.
Expiurge (petty gods of chaos embound) is perfect entity for those crystalline aliens that seem all the rage today to worship. This entity by Porky is a really nasty bit of completely alien business. Speaking of alien gods how about using the Patchwork god by Colin Chapman as the head god for your population of androids or golems.
The Minions, Servants, and Knights chapter is a really fine example of mid level pantheon entities who could cause all kinds of potential misfortune and misadventures for space going or science fantasy adventurers. According to the introduction: 

Almost as old as the stories of the gods themselves are the

stories of the servants of the gods. In fact, the Mesopotamians

believed that human beings were created simply so the gods

would have servants.

     Which is exactly the sort of entities that PC's will meet should their space craft or adventurers get a wee bit too close to the edge of the workings of creation. Those places and planes where the seams of the great machine of creation show through. These entities should be used with caution because even more then they're masters. These beings are very dangerous. As Crichton from Farscape says, "Godlike aliens! Man, do I hate godlike aliens. I'll trade a critter for a godlike alien any day." A good example of such an entity that party's of adventurers might be running into is Giant Space Baby by Jonas Mustonen. Because unlike a certain space child from 2001 A Space Odyssey these things will serve various master's causing all kinds of mayhem and life changing bits for a party of adventurers. There are far, far, too many fantastic entities to taunt,torture, and bedevil adventurers with in this section. Seriously this section alone would make a perfect old school semi divine monster manual into itself. Remember how when Deities and Demi gods came out no one would actually use the damn book as the resource it was intended for? Well this section into itself has enough entities that you could run an entire Trek's worth of campaign and still comeback for more. 

     Right which brings us to the divine item section of the book, these are the toys,tools, tricks and items that god's use and adventurers are bound to encounter. Here's in some remote corner of the dimensional darkness or far flung alien plane is where many of these entity's toys are likely to be encountered. Many of these items are adventures unto themselves and the Petty God's book is full of a solid number of items that could completely change the landscape for a party of adventurers. Everything from the Eyes to rings of divine aspect are in this section and these items could give a party of high level adventurers a run for their gold pieces. These are the sorts of items that pre code horror and science fantasy comics thrived on in spades! Some excellent stuff in this section. 

 The spell section is like something out of the early days of the old school rpg hobby. Many of these spells cross right over into the realm of science fantasy easily. There is a bunch of Barsoom related spells that words can't describe the divine happiness I have reading these. Simply a great load of spells that could easily change the direction of campaign. Some of these could crack the spine of a Star Knight with relative easy and give a party in Hulks and Horror's nightmares. Of special mention is the Jale God by Matthew W. Schmeer. Just go and read all of the sections on this god and its spells, appendix and more. You won't be disappointed and its so nice for use with a science fantasy campaign.
 There is a whole campaign's worth of Barsoomian material in this book as well. The Gods of Barsoom by Michael Curtis have a very well done section which includes gods, spells, items, and more. Each of the spells in this section relates back to its referencing god and these are not simply for clerics but wizards, druids, etc. 
   The appendixes and Indices are worth their weight in god pieces for science fiction and science fantasy campaigns. These sections include the essay How To Start A Religion In Your Spare Time For Fun and Profit By M.A.R. Barker, this is an essential read for anyone wanting to use religions within old school campaigns and provides everything from set up to guidelines for running such within the frame work of a campaign. 

Gods of Barsoom is everything it sounds and puts the divinities of Edgar Rice Burroughs classics right into the waiting hands of a DM. By Michael Curtis this is a real treat to have access to as DM.

Legends and lore of the Jale God is mind blowing and provides a DM with all of the essentials of running this entity within the bounds of a campaign.
Petty Foods of the Petty Gods is a section of truly mind blowing details of food stuffs from the tables of the gods and any of these could play havoc with an adventure party but even one with access to the super science of space based games might be very hard pressed to handle the effects of some of these.
Rounding out the book is a section of Petty God's Classified by Matthew W. Schmeer reminds me of some of the Bloody, Bloody Arduin or Dragon Tree press material and could provide an adventuring party in a space tavern or other other dimensional location a number of adventure hooks right into the deep end of Petty Gods. 

Review of Ivanhoe Unbound's Black Books - Tome Four : Doglocks and Draughts For Your Old School Campaigns

  So recently I received a copy of Black Box Book's latest offering Tome Four Doglocks and Draughts, I was thinking not another black powder rules set for OD&D. Well fortunately its far more then simply that. Doglocks and Draughts is a set of black powder rules of OD&D and Swords and Wizardry retroclone style systems but its more. What this is an expansion of several already readily available black powder rpg systems. This takes the material up to another level by expanding upon the black powder weaponry and then adding in the bonus of weird mundane medicine with some very interesting and potentially weird side effects. The whole bit of OSR weirdness clocks in at about nine pages and remains perfect adaptable to any number of old school style rpg systems. Much of the material reminds me again of stuff that would be available as optional systems to add to OD&D. 

Grab It Right 

HERE

  The material here is concise and easily dropped into any OD&D campaign or pulp style retro clone system. The author does a good job with a no nonsense  approach to the material here that gives the DM all kinds of room to adapt and fold the book into their existing campaigns. Because of the way this is done there is little chance of this material upsetting the balance of existing campaigns. The material here can be used for existing fire arms as the next phase of gun powder weaponry or dropped right into a perfectly timed existing campaign setting.
   In point of fact this material could easily be adapted into a game of Labryth Lord or as a potential expansion of gun powder systems for a game such as the Lamentations of The Flame Princess rpg system. The potential here is to move the time line of the LoFP world to get the most out of Doglocks and Draughts while giving the PC's even more options at the table. But with a game such as LoFP this might make little difference because of the very nature of the 'survival horror' nature of some of the game's adventures. Do I think that this is another worthy down load? Yes I do because it does what its supposed to and without breaking up to much of the DM's time to read or to fit this pdf into their own existing head space and campaigns. Grab this one now and get working within the frame work of your own games and campaigns as well. 

Review and Commentary on Black Box Books -- Tome Three: Cannibals and Confusion From Ivanhoe Unbound For Your Old School Science Fantasy Campaigns

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  Science fantasy is a hard one to really classify and but there have been some writers of incredible exception and Clark Aston Smith is one of my all time favorites & this eight page swords and wizardry supplement covers all of the basics for creature design and designation. Black Box Books seems to cover some of the most esoteric OD&D style angles of content that I've seen from the OGL. The monsters have a myriad of uses and are right up the Weird Tales sort of a alley. These are meant to be dropped right into an existing Swords and Wizardry or Labyrinth Lords style of adventure. The Avatar of Mordiggiel is from the Clark Aston Smith story The Charnal God, as well as the Clergy of Mordiggiel. These are presented with a concise and condensed background that a DM expects from Swords & Wizardry. The Graedigg, is a nasty piece of work just waiting to devour your adventurers. And the Akephalos are the monsters from myth and legend, and pretty much in line with the mythology of these horrors right HERE.
  Then we get another clan of nasty and dangerous cannibals that are straight out of Icelandic or a frozen landscape. Wrathful emanations are a sort of dreamlike monsters who resemble their creators. Something akin to a monster which seems one part Doctor Strange comic book spell and one part legendary myth. These things can kill with intent of the cleric or spell caster and can be used for a variety of taboo or weird in game effects. 
Finally we get a weird little take on Chaos magic which is perfect for a cleric or wizard devoted to a chaos god or goddess random magical insanity and decadence. Think something akin to a weird or more sinister  So does  Cannibals and Confusion From Ivanhoe Unbound lives up to the hype? Here is the break down, for a dollar and one cent you get a whole mess of pulp style weirdness to drop straight into your Swords & Wizardry or OD&D campaign or your favorite retro clone role playing system. Because of the mix of mythological and pulpy goodness this is a perfect little convention set of monsters and magick to drop into your favorite old school campaigns. To be perfectly honest,this set of weirdness inspired by Clark Aston Smith might work in a set of adventures set in a customized or loosely based Smithian set of adventures. Is it worth the price and set up of the whole pdf? I think so, it reminds me of those other small 70's and early 80's style Old dungeons and dragons style fanzines that used to make the rounds back in the days of legend & yor. There's even a few options for printing out this product into a handy fold away pamphlet style booklet for easy small handy Seventies take away for your old school campaigns.  All in all this one has a ton of uses. 

 All of these monsters and spells can be used to enhance any number of areas from a great campaign up change in the post apocalyptic wastelands to the use in a Clark Aston Smith style dungeon location where you need any number of weird or more then slightly strange horrors to stalk as well as feed on your adventurers. Do I think that this one is worth the download? Without a doubt this little add on puts a more then slightly sinister spin on your old school campaigns with an OD&D addition of weirdness to your campaigns. 

Review Of Black Box Books -- Tome Two: Buffoons And Blasters For Your Old School Campaigns

Another offering from Black Box Books that takes the science fantasy PC's in an adventuring group in another direction and offers up a few science fantasy artifacts that can be added into the DM's toybox for adventure design or for use as 'treasure' but like all things there is an element of adventure design. 

So as they they say on with the show! 

There are times in a science fantasy campaign when you need a buffoon or a jester style character especially in  Swords and Wizardry or OD&D style game. A bit of buffoonery goes a long way towards keeping a party of adventurers and cut throats alive. Well it looks like Black Box Book has released another in its like of  old school science fantasy weirdness with Black Box Books -- Tome Two: Buffoons And Blasters

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HERE 

This is a weird little download which features a pretty interesting mix of PC classes and artifacts for Swords and Wizardry or any old school campaign focusing on an OD&D style campaign. This pdf features many of the same old fashion conventions that Kirt A. Dankmyer visited in Astronauts and Ancients namely the idea of a pdf that can be folded into a pocket sized booklet for easy of use at the gaming table. 

The real draw here are the character classes and there are three rather unusual takes on the classic OD&D style Jester classes.  Kirt gets into the meat and potatoes of a 'funny' man class with the these three. 

• The CLOWN-MONK, this is an interesting take on the traditional monk that takes on the idea of one who uses comedy as some to allow his audience to move further along on the path of enlightenment 
• The FOOLE, a combination of funnyman & jester with a scattering of magical abilities who uses random magic and dumb luck to befuddle his opponents 
• The HECKLER, could Don Rickles be a space adventurer who uses insults to disorient and deal distractions to his opponents? This class answers this question in spades.  But fortunately they have plenty of hit points and some very interesting abilities to compensate as well. 

The classes are well balanced and concise in their execution while hitting the high notes of the the material. Are these classes useful? Yes but they are specialized in what they can do in a science fantasy or space opera setting. They could be used in a post apocalyptic wasteland with little problem but in point of fact this might actually be one of the proper places to really explore the potential of such classes. All in all this is a solid set of well done classes. There are smattering of toys and artifacts that would fit the bill in a number of science fiction or fantasy venues. These are well done and highly detailed but there is a complain its just that I wish that there were stats for OSRIC or AD&D 1st edition. All in all this is very well done and very nicely executed addition to a science fantasy DM's arsenal and a must have for a DM wanting to add a bit of that baggy pants of comedy to help with the survive of a party survive in space, in the wasteland, and other venues of adventure weirdness.  

Review Of Black Box Books -- Tome One: Astronauts And Ancients From Ivanhoe Unbound For Your Old School Campaigns

Black Box Books has produced some very interesting pdfs for old school style retroclones and now we've got another offering from them. This one is Tome One Astronauts and Ancients. This covers the Greys and Reptile men of UFO lore as well as using them both as PC races for the  Swords & Wizardry retroclone rpg system. This little product packs a ton of material into its nine pages of material. The ideas here are clever and very original. Damn it I wanted to avoid using these guys in an upcoming campaign but this is a really nice little product and Ivanhoe games has even incorporated in a pocket version for print out and booklet folding for a product that looks like it was dropped right out of the Seventies or early 80's.

GRAB IT RIGHT

HERE

Kirt A. Dankmyer is a clever author and knows how to put out an original and weirdly entertaining product. Do I want to used these guys? Well that is my bench mark test for a gaming product and the answer is yes I'm definitely using these guys coming up. With a cost of only .98 cents this is a no brainer for download. This booklet simply presents the basics for these races and with games like Carcosa and other science fantasy retroclones adventures this is one piece of  gaming goodness that goes a long way. 

According to the Drivethru rpg blurb : 

BOTH the GREYS and the SERPENT FOLK are magic-oriented, with SPELLBOOKS BURNED ON THEIR BRAINS!

IVANHOE UNBOUND is PROUD to present these TWO NEW RACES for SWORDS AND WIZARDRY WHITEBOX or ANY OTHER OLD SCHOOL GAME based on the 1974 three booklet version of the WORLD-FAMOUS RPG whose name rhymes with "TRUNCHEONS AND FLAGONS!"

AND SPEAKING OF BOOKLETS, this supplement comes in POCKETMOD FORMAT. Print out a SINGLE PIECE OF PAPER which can be TRANSFORMED with FOLDS and a single cut into a TINY EIGHT PAGE BOOKLET with EVERYTHING YOU NEED to use these two races in your OSR game!

And this product really does meet the criteria that it sets forth in the blurb. The work here is clever, condensed, and very interesting as well as entertaining. Can I see that the author knows what makes some clever bits and pieces that can easily be used with any number of retroclone systems. All in all this has been a really nice little download to grab and it actually does live up to it's hype in the rpg site descriptions. Grab this one and add a bit more science fantasy strangeness to your dungeons and adventure locations. Highly recommended! 

Another Free OSR Monster - Collectanea Creaturae: Psyche Lasher From Ebon Gryphon Games For Your Old/New School Campaigns

Say you want a monster for a science fantasy alien invasion but a certain copy righted and iconic monster isn't available for you to use in your product or adventure? What's a guy to do especially if he's got fifteen minutes before his players and friends show up? Go into a full panic? Nawwww. Well Ebony Grphyon games comes to the save with a brand new monster, the psyche lasher. 

GRAB IT FOR FREE
HERE

According to the Drivethrurpg blurb: 

 For those of you who'd like to use a certain monster that flays minds in your d20 / OSR games or products, Ebon Gryphon Games presents the Psyche Lasher, an homage to that creature that isn't quite the same, but is close enough to make your players go "Oh, it's a mind flayer --" and then suddenly realize something's different here!

 Familiarity and a bit of a surprise: it's the best of both!

And best of all, our Psyche Lasher is free to use, under either the Open Gaming License, or Creative Commons-Attribution-Share Alike, so you can use the license you like!

Well we've got a really nasty piece of work right over here. The Psyche Lasher is a perfect little piece of monster that can easily be added in as part of a campaign of really any type but for me this is going in as part of a science fantasy campaign. This monster comes in multiple formats and has a wide variety of uses for me across the board. The fact that it kinda, sorta resembles a certain iconic monster from the world's most popular fantasy game is icing on the cake. I'm so glad to find this little beauty. The descriptions are for a number of editions and can easily be adapted into a multiplicity of campaigns. The monster gets a full fleshing out but its not done in an over blown style. This is simply meat and potatoes with everything from the basic ecology to methods with a helping of variations on the whole entry of the monster. 
So what you've essentially got here is a creature that is free to use, adapt, and warp into your campaigns for a wide variety of editions. What more could you ask from a free product. All in all not bad for a free download. I will be using this and enjoyed the hell out of it. My players are going to be psyche lasher bait however. Cheers and I look forward to more from Ebon Gryphon Games

Athanasius Kircher Patron Saint of Atlantandria Port City Of Accursed Atlantis My Old School Campaign.

If there's one influence on my Accursed Atlantis campaign its got to be Athanasius Kircher a genius Jesuit madman and philosopher whose works touched on everything from alchemy to volcanoes. He's been my go to source for more then thirty - five years. 

Who was Kircher?
According to Wiki :
Athanasius Kircher, S.J. (sometimes erroneously spelled Kirchner; 1602–1680) was a 17th-century German Jesuitscholar and polymath who published around 40 major works, most notably in the fields of Oriental studies, geology, and medicine. Kircher has been compared to fellow Jesuit Roger Boscovich and to Leonardo da Vinci for his enormous range of interests, and has been honored with the title "Master of a Hundred Arts".^[2] A resurgence of interest in Kircher has occurred within the scholarly community in recent decades.

You can read more about him right over HERE

His map on Atlantis and its environments provided my wastelands of science  fantasy and high weirdness for  years since I first encountered him back in middle school back in the 80's. 

The Atlantian wastelands are rife with cults and strange religions, mutants, and much more. 

So for years now Kircher has been my go to inner world Jesuit madman guru, his ideas on the inner Earth, and Egypt were pretty ground breaking and sensational at the time. But completely and utterly wrong. 

So for the past couple of years I've been pulling from his works ideas, artwork, and some incredibly wonderfully weird stuff. Weird Lovecraftian cults, high alchemy formulas, and all kinds of occult stuff and more has trickled in from Kircher.

His interests and underworlds are vast,his vision imposing, and his ideas are very far reaching.

Kircher proved illustrations for more megadungeons in high school and college then I can shake a stick at. His recent appearance have been in some of my At The Earth's Core campaign work with Crypts and Things and now Fantastic Heroes and Witchery.