Matters Of The Demonic - OD&D Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry & The Empire of The Petal Throne Rpg

Tonight we've been cracking OD&D Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry's spine tonight where demons were first introduced in original Dungeons & Dragons. Demons are foes are nothing to add into even a high level campaign lightly. 




Demons are the counter point to Law in original Dungeons & Dragons & here's the high point in OD&D Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry; 

" DEMONS: Each type of demon, as well as the Demon Princes such as Orcus and Demogorgon have many extraordinary characteristics, and those which are not common to all the ilk are dealt with in separate paragraphs accordingly. Demons all have the following characteristics in common: Infravision; the ability to teleport (no chance of error); cause darkness (in varying degree of effectiveness); and open a "gate" (varying degree of success according to type). Demons are chaotic and evil; the smarter and stronger rule those of their kind who are weaker and less intelligent. The less intelligent w i l l attack without question and fight until slain. Demons of type V and above are not actually slain when their material form is killed in combat; their material form being removed from their use, the demon in question is thereby forced back to the plane from whence it originally came, there to remain until a century has passed or until another aids it to go forth once again. Demons will never willingly serve anyone or anything. If forced to serve through magic or threat they will continually seek a way to slay their master/captor. Those to whom demons show a liking are typically carried off to the demons' plane to become a slave (although a favored one). Demons frequently roam the astral plane. Their attention is also attracted by persons in an ethereal state. Check normally for wandering monsters, assuming a 10% chance of a demon appearing if a wandering monster is indicated."

"If the name of a particularly powerful demon is spoken there is a chance that he will hear and turn his attention to the speaker. A base 5% chance is recommended to the referee. Unless prepared to avoid such attention—or to control the demon—the demon will thereupon immediately kill by whatever means are most expeditious the one pronouncing his name."

And one of the things that comes through is the fact that demons hunt the Astral quite often. This means that the demons are always on the hunt for humanity through the Astral plane. And this brings up a very important point & that is that the Astral is also available to the Empire of the Petal Throne rpg! How did I come to this conclusion?! Reading through an OSR Grimoire blog post on the Astral 's Baron Greystone's comment from August 23, 2020; "Also please note that one of the Undying Wizards from Barker's Tekumel is also named Fu Shi. He participates in other-planar meetings between important political figures in the novel "The Man of Gold."" What does this mean?! 
Well reading closer into it. It could potentially mean that Abyssal demons haunt the Astral plane of Tekumel! 

This means that the magus priests of Barker's Tekumel are subject to the triple threat of the Abyss's attention, the depredations of Chaos, & the fact that Abyssal demons are tracking them through the Astral. And this isn't the only issue that the magus priests have to face. The planes of Tekumel are very active & many alien as well as god forms inhabit them. See Dr.Barker's Man of Gold for more interaction on Tekumel's planes. 
This also brings up questions about the role of the Abyss in Tekumel's planes? There's plenty of fodder for using the Astral within EPT's Tekumel's adventures & the adventure factor that a demon could be lurking around the corner. 

Wars of the Red Planet - Brett Slocum's Warrior's of the Lost Planets & A Post Apocalyptic Mars

'The distant red sands blow across the works of a reign of red kings who have turned to dust. Warriors of many tribes fight in the hollow remains of pyramids & stalk among the streets of a long dead empire fighting among themselves with sword & radium pistols!'

My family is fine & all but work has had me on the ropes for the last three days or so. Last night after getting back from the work shop I had an opportunity to take a look into an old friend in this case my Empire of the Petal Throne box set. M.A.R. Barker's Tekumel is one of those box sets that I look on with a fondness bordering obsession. Maybe it was peaking through Wayne's books site on Tekumel or skimming the Tekumel foundation's website?
Over the course of weeks I've been re looking into the Sword & Planet end of the OSR  gaming spectrum especially with Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea rpg system. 


Now I've been following Tim Brannan's Otherside of the Blog Zothique & his Mars posts. None of his Green Martians are even close to ERB's or even Warriors  of the Red Planet Rpg for that matter. That's fine because this simply my opinion for my own Mars game campaigns. Personally I'd go in a completely different direction. Instead over the years I find myself turning back to another OSR free product inspired by the  Warriors  of the Red Planet Rpg system & some of M.A.R. Barker's  Tekumel. I'm speaking of  Brett Slocum's Warrior's of the Lost Planets  Warriors of the Red Planet rpg add on book.
Its free its easy to use & very open to customization at the table top level.


Now me being the dungeon master that I'm I'd take it further then this & then bring the alien sands into focus more by using Warrior's of the Lost Planets with Adventurer,Conqueror,King's Barbarian Conquerors of Kanahu for an overarching complete campaign. Why? Because Brett Slocum has got all of the familiar races, notes on playing them, the technologies of the Tekumel & their Warriors equivalents. This pairs very well with  Barbarian Conquerors of Kanahu & even Warriors of the Red Planet.



This mix would be far closer to Leigh Brackett's Eric John Stark then say Edgar Rice Burroughs  John Carter. A tribal & dangerous Mars where the glory of Empire has long faded & the Human Space Empires are only a distant memory. 


Its here that I would pull in Venger Satanis's Cha'alt for an added bit of weirdness. This Mars would be a post interstellar mess & relic of empire. A place where the space craft & mecha of a million worlds were once constructed but its relapsed into barbarianism. Only now are some of the Jeddak gaining the secrets once again to mecha & beyond. Wizards are offering their master's the secrets of a forgotten universe.

The Tekumel Sourcebook - Swords & Glory Vol. 1 From M.A.R Barker's World of Tekumel For Your Old School Campaigns Has Been Released!

I love, love, the Empire of the Petal Throne Rpg , Professor M.A.R. Barker's world of sword, sorcery, and  planetary  adventure finally has the source book it deserves. I've been waiting months for this book to see the light of day and finally its been released to Drivethrurpg.

The Tekumel Sourcebook - Swords & Glory Vol. 1 From M.A.R Barker's World of Tekumel

is one for the corner stones of old school rpging for me. This is the sourcebook of the world that I've been waiting for. System agnoistic and perfectly suitable for any old school system with a ton of material to make any Empire collector and dungeon master's mouth water. The world setting of Tékumel is exposed and anointed with this book. According to the website of the foundation this book has the following features; The Tekumel Sourcebook, Swords & Glory Vol. 1, is now available in PDF, hardcover and softcover printings from DriveThruRPG.com!  This edition is a reprint of the original Gamescience edition, with the following changes and additions:

• The original full-color box cover art has been reproduced on the cover, instead of the blue single-color cover
• Notes about the Gamescience and later editions have been added on the frontispiece page
• A new index and glossary have been added
• The original back cover art has been reproduced on the new back cover (see below)

The Foundation will be releasing the maps from the Swords & Glory, Vol. 1 boxed set in the near future, to go along with the re-release of The Tekumel Sourcebook.  The original maps from Empire of the Petal Throne may be used in conjunction with The Tekumel Sourcebook.  You may purchase the print version of the Sourcebook along with the PDF as a DriveThruRPG bundle (nb: you may need to log in to view the Sourcebook).

This is the setting source book, I've been literally waiting years for the foundation to release. According to them The Tekumel Sourcebook provides a wide-ranging survey of the World of Tekumel, specifically the Five Empires and surrounding lands as of 2358 A.S. - history, geography, customs, architecture, religion, magic, languages and much, much more!  An invaluable resource for players and gamemasters of Tekumel!The new printing includes an index and glossary, entirely new to this edition.  (The maps are sold separately.)
So to say I'm excited is an understatement and this is a setting book whose world for years I've been waiting for. It may be a bit of time before I can afford to get this book but it will be mine!