OSRing & Running Ravenloft's RA1 'Feast of Goblyns' By Blake Mobley For An Old School Campaign

"In Feast of Goblyns, a party of adventurers must use all their skills to escape the manipulations of one of Ravenloft's most powerful lords as they attempt to seek out the accursed Crown of Soldiers. If all goes well, they just might live long enough to escape this dread land and return to their homes."

RA1 'Feast of Goblyns' By Blake Mobley marks the first real expansion & explosion of Ravenloft material that came out right out after the Box of Terror box set in 1989. "RA1: "Feast of Goblyns" (1990), by Blake Mobley, is the first of the "RA" Ravenloft Adventures. It was published in September 1990.", according to the Drivethrurpg entry. 'Feast of Goblyns' is the first part of the 'Grand Conjunction' Ravenloft meta plot campaign adventure first hinted about in the Box of Terror in '89. 
The 96 page domain book is the first real expansion of the domains of dread & it shows we get lots of details in  the realm of Kartakass, including the towns of Harmonia and Skald. These are exceedingly important if the DM is going to run the Grand Conjunction meta plot adventure. We talked about that in the  Notes On Running RQ1: "Night of the Walking Dead" (1992) By Bill Slavicsek For Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Second Edition Ravenloft Setting.

This is one of the best adventures besides I6, the material here is top notch & the side slices of the Grand Conjunction makes this a well pressed & welcome expansion of the existing Ravenloft campaign set. Unlike other more 'railroady' adventures for  Ravenloft & second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons adventures  'Feast of Goblyns' gives the player's PC's much more latitude to destroy themselves! I'm not kidding when I say this. 


The PC's can easily die as the dark fantasy in the encounters, the combat, the design, etc. are turned up to 'eleven'.  The party finds itself increasingly fighting for their very lives as the prophetic events surrounding RA1 'Feast of Goblyns' By Blake Mobley tick away. The goblyns themselves are really dangerous & the adventure will give even vampire or supernatural creatures a real problem. But what about those gobylins? According to the Ravenloft wiki; "Goblyns are nasty little Goblin like creatures that typically serve evil Mages. Goblyns come into being when humans are twisted by evil magic. They can attack the faces of victims in an attack called Feasting. Radaga and Tristen Apblanc used goblyns as henchmen."
I've seen these hench goblyns give many a player's higher level PC a problem or two. My advice is to avoid the goblyns & their masters.

If I was running RA1 'Feast of Goblyns' By Blake Mobley today I'd switch it up a notch or two & bring in an a far more OSR flavor to the adventure. There are three things I'd do with RA1 'Feast of Goblyns' By Blake Mobley. One I'd take Dark Albion by Rpg Pundit and bring that setting in as my stand in Ravenloft & instead switch it up to a dark Europe. Using this set up for the Lion & Dragon rpg might be really pushing it. That's not to say that the DM couldn't draw upon it as an occult resource though. 


Because of the nature of RA1 'Feast of Goblyns' By Blake Mobley I'd switch out second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons for something a bit more contemporary like Troll Lords Castles & Crusades to make the whole works run smoother. 


 But I'm not done yet.  Because of the dark nature of the realm of Kartakass, including the towns of Harmonia and Skald. I'd bring in X2 Castle Amber By Tom Moldvay! The Grand Conjunction could be used as a spring board for the death of the lord of Amberville & the  Province of Averoigne! The mists are only the beginning as the terror &  darkness breaks down civilization  around the PC's! They find themselves face to face with the events of X2 right after RA1 'Feast of Goblyns'. 



There are a couple of adventure elements that could be used to create a boundary between a dark European setting & Ravenloft. RA1 'Feast of Goblyns' has all of the makes of a solid OSR campaign. But what about the rest of the 'Grand Conjunction' modules? We've got all month to get to those! Stay tuned! 

Legacy of the Linnorm - Commentary onThe Vikings' Dragons By Jean Rabe- The Linnorm From Dragon Issue# 182

So this morning's visit with DM Raj along with the rug rats was both informative & very much a trip down the nostolgia lane. But it did prompt me to dig out my copy of Dragon issue#182 & refresh my memory about the scourge of dragon kind the Linnorms. Now the article is very well done by writer Jean Rabe & it was meant to highlight the new second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Viking book. "HR1: Vikings Campaign Sourcebook (1992), by David "Zeb" Cook, is the first book in TSR's ine of Historical Reference books, which describe new, real-world settings for AD&D campaign play. It was released in May 1992" To me these were some of the second edition AD&D books worth getting.

The worms are some of the most dangerous creatures that any adventurer can run across, seriously these are bad ass dragon wyrms;"Among the most feared creatures in the Norse lands are dragons, there called linnorms, as noted in the AD&D® 2nd Edition HR1 Vikings Campaign Sourcebook (VCS). These great wingless and legless serpents are among the fiercest of the Norse countries denizens, in some cases even dwarfing the power of the vicious giants. Fortunately for the Vikings and other peoples, linnorms are also very rare. Linnorms, like dragons in traditional AD&D 2nd Edition campaigns, have 12 age categories. Linnorms never stop growing, and the older a linnorm becomes, the more awesome and frightening it gets, gaining more abilities, a thicker hide, and the capability to mete out ever-increasing amounts of damage. Sages speculate that the oldest linnorms are insane; centuries of solitude and a fixation on power and wealth take a toll on their intellects. This has not been proven, however, as the only recorded survivor of a battle with a great wyrm linnorm was the hero, Sigurd, who slew the legendary Fafnir. All linnorms are evil and seek to better themselves and increase their riches at all other creature's  expenses. While some of the craftier linnorms have been known to strike up temporary alliances, they turn on their partners after the great feat they allied to achieve is accomplished. Most linnorms are solitary because of their selfish natures and because they do not trust their peers, much less other races"

Alright so let's dive right into these monsters & speak about the fact I look at linnorms completely & utterly evil one off indivdual NPC monsters. These things are the central figures & villains of a campaign setting. They cast a long shadow of evil over a setting, the communities, even many of the dungeons of a campaign. There is a linnorm for each wilderness adventure location from forrest to dread. They're all deadly & would easily overwhelm most mid to even high level adventurers in a heart beat. The linnorms are so good that Paizo did a Viking style setting taliored around them called Lands of the Linnorm Kings for Pathfinder. But what about using them for OSR games?! Well that's not all that hard at all. The linnorm wyrms are OGL these days & can easily be incorporated into a wide variety of settings but I've got two OSR settings in mind for these insane bastards. The first would be Dark Albion where one or two might completely dominate a country or two. There might also be a very large & dangerous chaos cult associated with a linnorm. This is where Dark Albion's Cults of Chaos comes in very handy.


Now let's stick with the cult of chaos for my second pick here & add in a linnorm into Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. Now before anyone here starts booing there are several reasons for this: 

1. Second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons works very well with AS&SH 
2. The linnorm are completely individual & one off monsters. They will completely dominate a landscape. 
3. linnorm will fill the gaps left by the lack of Hyperboreans & other top teir predators within the Hyperborean landscape. 
4. These bastards make excellent quests for Viking & Keltic PC's within AS&SH. 
5. The linnorm are perfect for guarding dangerous artifacts or treasures of the ancients. They also have the added bonus of making excellent guardians of Norse or Keltic barrows in the game. 
6. Linnorm make excellent representives for the Ashen Wyrm of AS&SH especially for the Outer God's cults.
   
   

Linnorm should never be generic dragons, these are monsters straight out of the nightmares of any sane living being. Engines of destruction gleaned from the time of legends & the gods. These horrors could give an immortal of Mystara, the gods of Greyhawk, etc. a hard time & that's exactly the sort of niche that these horrors fill! PC's should never incur the wraith of a linnorm! These are the vilest of dragon kind & royalty among villains of the darkest pitch. They should never be common & always feared in the eyes of mortals. As you can tell I do love me some Linnorm!

OSR Thoughts & Ideas On The Mighty Servant of Leuk-o From The Book of Artifacts

If there's one metaphor in life its that one mess takes care of another, & I hate getting blindsided by players or dungeon masters at my table. Happens all of the time as my lovely wife is so fond of reminding me of. Such as today when while working on my Tegel Manor campaign. I've been today that there's been the sighting of  The Mighty Servant of Leuk-o. on the plane where the manor has appeared.  

"The Mighty Servant of Leuk-o is a towering automaton of jet black metal, shadowy crystal, and several mysterious fibrous materials. The device stands over nine feet tall, is nearly five feet wide, and some six feet deep. It is rounded and might remind one of a cross between an overly stout (if gigantic) dwarf and a lumbering beetle. The servant has two stocky legs, on which it walks with a curious swaying motion, and a pair of dangling arms.

An internal compartment is configured to seat two man-sized creatures comfortably. Externally, as many as five others might perch safely upon the servant when it is in motion. As might be expected, this dreadful thing is quite heavy, weighing nearly two tons, and is hideously noisy when in operation."

"The Mighty Servant of Leuk-o made its appearance in the the 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide as well as  he Second Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Book of Artifacts. Further research on the FATAL & Friends site shows the dangerous nature of this artifact; "The Mighty Servant of Leuk-o’s powers are written with what I think are rules for large-scale battles, so it makes sense that the book suggests that giving this artifact to an antagonist so the players have to raise an army to stop him or her. While the book says the artifact isn’t something that should be left with players for long because of its curse, it also says that adventures can be made for finding out how to use the Mighty Servant’s powers"

The Mighty Servant of Leuk-o has 60 hit points and -6 AC. It can only be struck by +2 weapons or better. Bludgeoning weapons do only 1 point of damage against it, while edged weapons only cause half their normal damage, rounded down. It has 90% Magic Resistance, and is utterly immune to acid, cold, heat, normal fire, vacuum and water. Lightning, electricity and magical fire inflict 20% normal damage, assuming the attack gets through the MR. If damaged, the Mighty Servant regenerates 2 hp/round. Anyone inside the Mighty Servant is fully protected from outside attacks. Given all these defenses, it is possible to destroy the Mighty Servant by reducing its hp to zero.

The interior of the Mighty Servant is akin to a modern cockpit, and anyone trying to use its active powers needs either to consult sages or tomes or experiment through trial and error. At least the DM is told to just abstract this learning process. The Mighty Servant of Leuk-o has a movement of 3, and can only be active for 12 hours at a time. After-which the machine must be inactive for an hour to recharge its energies. The Mighty Servant “strikes as a 10-HD creature” (does that mean it uses the default THAC0? Why not just give the THAC0? Damnit, TSR!). It can attack once a round (or at least that’s my reading) and each blow does 1d6 x 10 points of damage. The Mighty Servant is strong enough to destroy castles. If used as a siege engine, it does the same damage as a screw or ram. If used in a BattleSystem game, its stats are AD d12+d8, AR 4, HD 10, Hits 5, MV 3. For random powers, the Mighty Servant gets 6 Offensive Powers, 6 Major SLP, and 2 Healing Powers that apply to any one creature inside the interior compartment. Using any of these abilities drains one hour of continuous usage.

Major SLP: 24, 7, 50, 46, 65, 99

• 4-7: Cast animate dead 1/day
• 24-26: Cast destruction 1/week
• 44-46: Cast magic jar 1/day
• 47-50: Cast mindshatter 1/week
• 96-100: cast wither 1/week

Offensive Powers: 1, 2, 18, 1, 18, 8

• 1: Cast age creature 1/day
• 2: Cast Bibgy’s crushing hand 1/day
• 8: Cast disintigrate 1/week
• 18: Cast suffocate 1/week

Healing: 20, 19

• 19: Cause all healing spells applied to the user to be doubly effective
• 20: Erase scars and other disfigurements caused by battle (at will)

The Mighty Servant’s curse has both a short- and long-term component. First, every time the operator uses a power, he must make a save vs spell or goes into a battle frenzy for 24 hours. “During that time, the artifact is used in a rampage of destruction to any and all within reach.” Considering that the Mighty Servant has to take an hour break every 12 hours, it seems that might be difficult. Second, the character using the Mighty Servant risks Artifact Transformation. “Those affected by this power gradually have their alignment shifted to chaotic neutral”. That-that’s not what Artifact Transformation is used for. 

Besides hitting it a lot, there are two other means of destruction suggested

• A self-destruct command phrase. This causes an explosion-no specifics beyond “very big”

One of the powers of the Machine of Lum the Mad is to destroy the machine. If Lum knew that such a power existed, he never used it."

The fact is that its an artifact with lots of secrets & intercate histories tied into it. I'd venture to guess that its another example of Darkmoor technology from the fleet that came with the Warden. This time it had fallen on Greyhawk.  Why do I say Greyhawk? Because the 'Mechanism of Lum the Mad' appeared first appeared in Eldritch Wizardry for original Dungeons & Dragons. 



But this gets into a theory I've got about much of the S3 Expediation to the Barrier Peaks By Gary Gygax  technologies, artifacts, etc. are essentially all cursed in one way or another. These battles between kingdoms, warlord activity, battles of the gods, etc. This might help to explain the constant cycle of these artifacts being uncovered & then contiuing the cycle. 


This gets into the heart of the cycle of constant warfare but could there be something in the background feeding upon the violence, degredation, & warfare. Time & again I keep finding myself going back to the Egg of Coot here. The Egg has not only the capacity but the motive to keep this cycle of death & destruction going. All of that power is centered on it as well & given all of these I keep thinking that the Egg is motivated to keep the wheel going gaining power as things continue their cycle. I was reading   'The Return of the Egg' article on The Vaults of Pandius site
by Giuliano Michelon from Threshold Magazine issue 12. Its got me thinking about the Egg's continuing influence on both Greyhawk & my own campaigns. 




In terms of the Godbound rpg 'The Mighty Servant of Leuk-o' would be a prize found someplace on some back end of the Road of Night. This artifact would have fought in many wars perhaps even in the Wars of Hell & the minor Heavens. The mecha could teach priest technologists the hidden means of some of the secrets of making its style of mecha. But would a party of adventurers survive its wrath?! This might be an adventure unto itself down the line. Possibly a raid on a wizard's tower or other ruin where the last party of adventurers tried to find it & met their demise at its claws.

Review & Commentary on Advanced Dungeons & Dragons - REF5 Lords of Darkness For Your Old School Campaign

"The Undead. Denied the eternal rest of Death, cursed to wander the many planes and worlds forever, their very existence a mockery of life they constantly crave yet cannot have. Created by the foulest of magics, they have only one thought, on burning goal: revenge against the living. Or do they? "

Back in Eighty Eight I received  REF5 Lords of Darkness (1e) as a gift one Christmas from my family. The book is a great adventure anthology & one that's very fitting for Halloween. But confession time I hate the Forgotten Realms with the passion of a thousand suns. 

I loath the Forgotten Realms it represents everything I hate about harmonized Advanced Dungeons & Dragons second edition. From cookie cutter settings to having to buy tons of books just to learn the secrets of the setting which were well known to players. The Forgotten Realms remains my least favorite second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting. The fact of the matter second edition remains one of my least favorite incarnations of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Forgotten Realms sucks. It is the archetype of generic fantasy with no character whatsoever. I understand that dungeon masters like the Forgotten Realms  because it gives them a lot of flexibility, but  the trade offs are not worth it. I suggest choosing a more interesting setting. My opinion was formed because of the Forgotten Realms novels & no I will not read a single one ever again.
Now with all that said REF5 Lords of Darkness isn't any of those things at all. This book is a solid anthology of horror & the undead which shouldn't even have the Forgotten Realms label on it. Because REF5 Lords of Darkness works with just about any Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first or second edition campaign. It works very well for all of the right reasons & if you don't believe me then let's take a look at what Jim Bambra had to say back in Dragon magazine No. 151 (November 1989); "Jim Bambra reviewed Lords of Darkness for Dragon magazine No. 151 (November 1989).^[2] Bambra felt that the style of presentation for the fictional pieces describing the undead in action "is far superior to the dry style adopted by many supplement writers".^[2] He noted that four of the adventures lack maps, reducing their usefulness as plug-in scenarios, and that two adventures "are set in castles that cry out for at least schematic diagrams to show their layouts".^[2] Bambra felt that the quality of the adventures also varies greatly, and that while most are "fairly good", he continued "[a] few are so thin and underdeveloped that I wondered why they were included".^[2] He contended that the adventure dealing with zombies is "the worst of the lot", partly because the characters would be facing "opponents who are likely to stomp them into the ground", but called the mummies' tomb and the lich's lair "fine examples of the dungeon designer's art".^[2] He called the optional Horror Check rules "a laudable attempt to instill fear of the undead but not sufficiently developed to be effective", because "the system isn't integrated into the AD&D rules in a satisfactory manner, as characters will deteriorate to the stage where they are unable to function effectively—a situation contrary to the spirit of the game and more in keeping with the grim tone of Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu game".^[2] Bambra said the accessory "expands greatly on the background of undead in the AD&D game and provides a source of short adventure settings."^[2] He also said it was a good resource in terms of "new necromantic spells" and "information on the ecologies of the undead", but concluded: "its lack of maps and the underdevelopment of some of its adventures make it a merely useful rather than essential item.""
From here you can see REF5 Lords of Darkness is a solid addition to any AD&D dungeon master's tool box. These encounters & adventures represent everything right about this as a second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons product.

Everything within REF5 Lords of Darkness can easily & completely be used in an OSRIC or Labyrinth Lord Advanced campaign with little modification that's because of the nature & solid adventure construction within the contents; 

""Tales From Beyond the Grave" (pages 4–75) presents ten complete adventure scenarios, each one highlighting a "classic" undead type, with the challenges increasing from one scenario to the next. Creature notes accompany each adventure. The scenarios are from five to nine pages each, and include the following: "Skeletons", by Deborah Christian; "Zombies", by Michael Stackpole; "Ghouls and Ghasts", by Paul Jaquays; "The Tombs of Deckon Thar", by Steve Perrin; "Shadows", by Christian; "Mummies", by Jaquays; "Vampires", by Vince Garcia and Jean Rabe; "Ghosts", by Garcia; "Oriental Spectres", by Christian; and "The Dread Lair of Alokkair", by Greenwood.

"The Night Gallery" (pages 75–84) details the main character or creature of each adventure and can be used to plan a series of encounters. "A Mundane Guide to Wards", by Greenwood (pages 85–91), explores the magic and lore of dealing with undead. "The Lords of Darkness", by Greenwood (pages 92–96), presents new spells for necromancers.

Cover art for Lords of Darkness was done by Jeff Easley and interior art by Karl Waller, and the book was published by TSR in 1988 as a ninety-six page book.^[1] Editing was by Scott Martin Bowles, and cartography by Dave LaForce.^[2] This supplement was perfect bound, and released for the first edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons^[2] with product code TSR 9240."

What makes REF5 Lords of Darkness work is the sheer variety & depths of these adventures & how they can even be applied to a product such as Lamentations of the Flame Princess or even the Sword & Sorcerous depths of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. 

REF5 Lords of Darkness is one of those books that I feel should be on the shelves of any series OSR or old school dungeon master. Five outta five in my archives.