OSR Campaign Commentary on Rafael Chandler's Metallic Tome: A Sourcebook for OSR Games Kickstarter

"Everything that metal bands warned us about in the Eighties has come to pass:
Pollution chokes our seas, nuclear war has destroyed our cities, and worst of all, guitars are illegal. The fanatical evangelists who run our planet created an army of robotic drones who police us with cyber-technology. Conformity is the law! Surveillance satellites monitor our every move. With no one to stop them, corporations have run wild, developing grotesque mutations that walk the streets, preying upon unsuspecting humans.
There is only one thing that can save us: METAL.!"As radioactive pegasi soar through blood-red skies, adventurers seek glory in the Suburban Wastes and the Grim  Northern Forests. Cyborg dragons bellow on top of shopping malls, and the sky is full of laser pentagrams."

So its been a work about weekend but one of the bright spots is the latest kickstarters from Rafael Chandler's Metallic Tome. The OSR setting sister book to his Teratic Tome looks awesome as Hell! This is a metal setting book right outta of the gate with Hellfire on!

PC classes like Thrash Dwarves, Black Paladins, Death Rangers, Glam Wizards, and Doom Thieves decorate this setting book like so much fodder for the metal lords  to be had! 

So yeah this is going to be a mixed OSR  setting  with all kinds of mayhem baked into it! Knowing the author as I do I can see him weaving in his usual Easter egg & back door adventure & campaign hooks into this book! So you can damn well expect Narcosa hooks & flesh ripping adventure add on's built into the Metallic Tome!  So this means that basically this metal setting book is gonna plug right into the back end of the plane of drugs & vileness that is Narcosa. 

So basically we're gonna see a whole cloth setting from a death & heavy metal addict with over tones that jar into a full blown metalocalypse.I can see doing full quests for magic items like  the Power Drill of Wounding, the Rock of Aegis, the Brigandine Loincloth, and the Ashtray of Many Things. The Metallic Tome is a straight up gonzo OSR setting with all of the OSR  metal bells & whistles! Needless to say with a bit of PC background this setting book could be used as the plane of metal. One of the ideas that I have is kicking out Roll XX is a system-agnostic book of random tables for fantasy, sci-fi, superheroes, and horror role-playing games.Packed with adventure hooks, story seeds, NPCs, magic items, spaceships, demons, and locations, Roll XX features 90 questions and 1800 answers. Then using Roll XX & Roll XX Double Damage to fill in the rest of the world of The Metallic Tome. 

Make no mistake this is gonna be a balls to the wall Gonzo setting book & I can so see using it right from the ground up. And I can even see using The Metallic Tome with several other OSR rpg systems & products specifically Venger Satanis's Cha'alt setting especially as the source for the hair band or heavy metal bard PC's that have shown up from time to time in my campaigns

I'd take  The Metallic Tome to the next level & add in 'Metal Gods' into the planes as a sort of bardic patron perhaps. I can also see using The Metallic Tome as part of the campaign background for Patrick Wetmore's the Anomalous Subsurface Environment series of adventures & sources books the Gonzo over the top metal vibe of ASE1 & 2 fit the whole cloth setting vibe of The Metallic Tome perfectly! 

So would I back The Metallic Tome kickstarter?! Hell yes I sure as Hell would & there are several reasons why: 

1. Rafael Chandler has a proven OSR kickstarter track record & the man doesn't hate my guts! 
2. Two Chandler's OSR stuff is always oozing quality & is actually useful at the table top level. 
3. Rafael Chandler's OSR monster books speak for themselves 
4. I'm going to be incorporating this setting into my games as soon as it hits the stands. I've used mutant cocaine laced post apocalyptic game settings before in my games. 
5. Can't wait to see where The Metallic Tome  takes its setting too & I will be reviewing it coming up for this blog. 
6. Rafael Chandler is a proven OSR writer & designer whose works speaks for itself. 

Shadows of the Dragons - Godlike Dragon NPC's & Their Uses

So I've been thinking about dragons for my Godbound/Cha'alt campaign. I'm talking about dragons with a capital 'D' & these are not your typical fire breathers. Basic & Expert Dungeons & Dragons & Advanced Dungeons & Dragons has a history of incredibly cool & detailed NPC  dragons. But I'm looking for something different & its been a few year since I broke out Rafael Chandler's Teratic Tome.

Its been a long time since I cracked the spine on this book especially to look into the ten venerable dragons of the Teratic Tome. These dragons are unique & haughty monsters that can end cities & towns easily. They range from 160 to 120 hit points with 17 hit dice to 20 or more. The most powerful of which is Uchorah - Thanaphor The Atrous Dragon. These are not regular dragons but dragon gods in every sense of the word. Their appearance upon a prime material plane is proceeded by strange events, horrid signs, weird & terrifying weather. In other words these are monsters of apocalytic proporations.



This fits the gods of dragon kind quite nicely. The Wiki entry on Bahamut goes into a deeper explaination about the gods of dragon kind; "

In many campaign settings, the draconic pantheon of gods consists of the leader Io, and his children Aasterinian, Bahamut, Chronepsis, Faluzure, Sardior, and Tiamat. Other draconic gods may be present in different campaign settings. For example, the Forgotten Realms draconic pantheon also includes Astilabor, Garyx, Hlal, Lendys, and Tamara (among others); these five deities have expanded their influence to become venerated in many other campaign settings as well."

The role of the gods of dragon kind with the realms of the gods is both curious & slightly vexing. Take a look at the role that Bahamut plays in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition where he's named as an angel; "The character appears in the first edition Monster Manual (1977).^[5] In this book, the Platinum Dragon was given the personal name Bahamut.

Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon, King of the Good Dragons, and Angel of the Seven Heavens is further described in Dragon #38 (1980)."



In starke contrast is Tiamat from the original Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition Monster Manual; "The character appears in the first edition Monster Manual (1977).^[9] In this book, the Chromatic Dragon was given the personal name, "Tiamat" and is stated to rule "the first plane of the Nine Hells where she spawns all of evil dragonkind". Tiamat, the Chromatic Dragon, Queen of Evil Dragonkind, is further described in Dragon #38 (1980). In the first edition of Deities & Demigods (1980) she is mentioned under the entry for the Babylonian god Marduk ("His battles with Tiamat are legendary."), formally connecting her with the Babylonian Tiamat. Tiamat's role as ruler of Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells, is detailed in Ed Greenwood's article, "The Nine Hells Part I", in Dragon #75 (1983).^[10] Tiamat's role in the outer planes is detailed in the first edition Manual of the Planes (1987)."

Tiamat has her own cults, followers, minions, all within the various Dungeons & Dragons
settings & campaigns but
she also got a lair on the first circle of Hell in Judge's Guild's Inferno.

Does this mean that the Venerable Dragons from the the Teratic Tome are actually angels of the Apocalypse? I believe it does! There are cults that are gonna be dedicated to their lords & mistresses who are actually angels of the coming destruction. This means quite a bit for those who are  being affected by the Cha'alt warp now.
Dragon cults are nothing new but imgine the raw power when a dragon crushes a god or two in their claws. The battles are epic and so is the goals! We see this same sort of expansion in the Monster Manual II!


So what happens when the orbs of dragon kind begin to appear?! Could these be the means of bringing about the end of the world? The orbs of dragonkind first appeared in Eldritch Wizardry & 
 "The Orbs of Dragonkind: Each of these fabled orbs contains the essence and personality of an ancient dragon of a different variety (one for each of the major ten different chromatic and metallic dragons)."



An orb could easily appear in my campaign & signal the end of all things quite quickly. There's already a prescient within Venger's work when it comes to the god dragons of his various worlds. They usually have a ton of baggage associated with them but Cha'alt had dragons during the Fifth Age & there's evidence of their  interference on the Island of Purple Haunted Putrescence. 

Dragons showing up is gonna mean a ton of trouble for any adventurers & when it comes to dealing with them your going to need professionals. 

I've been thinking about busting out Adventurer, Conqueror, King's Heroic Handbook. Why?! Because there are some nifty write ups for various styles of dragons that compliment the dragons we've been discussing. 


Even on Mystara we get a solid array of very powerful almost godlike dragons with the Dragons of Mystara version 2.0 by  Frederic Ferro. A really nice overview of some of the most powerful of dragon kind on Mystara.

But how are these powerful NPC's used besides as forces of nature & total destruction within a campaign?! That's the beauty of using adventurers as the motivation for a campaign. They are gonna attract the attention of these creatures. Dragons are alien creatures primoral & very much a part of the forces of magic itself. This is something we as dungeon masters often seem to forget. These creatures are going to be aware of the potential for power & destruction that PC's have within a setting. They'll make it their business to seek out adventurers to size them up.  They'll gauge them & if necessary they will destory them. This is one of the over shadowing thing even about 'good dragons' that seems forgotten. These are creatures of power & they little compunction about reminding the world of this fact. 

'Death Ship Above Waterbury!' Adventure For The Warlord Of The Outer Worlds Campaign For The Fantastic Heroes and Witchery Rpg System - Actual Play Event

"Mayday, mayday, this is the 'PFFFTTT', valuable cargo, crew barely hanging on, trying to make Waterbury space port over. This is Commander Ben Woodruff we're coming in hot and don't have enough power to "PFFFFT" Crew dead but not dead and oh God tell Wendra I love her! PFFFTT"

The crew of the USS Wendra returning Earth side from a mission to Orion is bringing something back with them!  Commander Ben Woodruff has brought his ship in hot two weeks ago and now mercenaries are being sent in to see what happened  to the crew of the atomic rocket craft.  There have been weird lights seen in the skies above the ruins of Waterbury Ct. and it's one of the last automated space ports on the East Coast.

The seven man crew of the atomic rocket were carrying very valuable and top secret cargo and already several parties appear interested after getting that radio transmission!  The 'Space Police' have already sent in an operative whose disappeared!  And now one of the adventurers has been contacted. The Teilfling Runner served with Commander Woodruff in one of the demon slaying special forces units out near Europa dealing with the forces of Chaos in the past. The space port ruins sit near a gate way to 'Fairy' as well right in the heart of the former city state so who knows what forces they might send in.

The ship's advanced super science equipment has landed the ship safely that much is clear but who knows what the characters may encounter in the wretched hive of scum and villainy in the heart of these ruins. There are several hundred thousand gold pieces worth of equipment aboard that ship and some deadly business awaits the PC's.
The ship is sending out a steady 'green transmission' indicating that the ship has landed safely. But things could very dangerous indeed. 

The 'workshop' an outfit of 'top men' are currently the last bastions of the CIA and various other top secret US agencies is responsible for dealing with the ruin that is the Earth and for various cells of resistance against the Voltamen incursion. They hire adventurers, mercenaries, outlaws, and other forces to help out with various missions around the globe as they can only handle so many assets in the field as well.

Set Up and Scaling For Fantastic Heroes and Witchery Adventure
'Death Ship Above Waterbury!' 

Three of my players have been called into work tonight and can't make it. But that's not going to cause any problems. I've decided to run a smaller and tighter adventure for tonight's Fantastic Heroes and Witchery game for the other players. There are several reasons for this. One to get them used to the combat, set up, experience, and play sequences and to really get them familiar with the pulp back story I'm going to be pulling from. Pre code horror, science fiction, and other public domain comic books as well.
One of which is the Planet Comics From Fiction House with its Skylords,Riflemen errmm Space Police.






Because these comics are public domain their perfect resources to pull from for my Warlords of  The Outer World Campaign. Tonight's game will be a prequel for the ruins of Springfield Mass run coming up in a week or so. 

One of the first menaces that the PC's in tonight game will be facing besides the Voltamen will be the Kobold Marauders from the Teratic Tome page 69.  And details for the ship itself have come from both the comic above. And Neo plastic Press's The Star Ship From Hell. This system of random tables is perfect for just this style of set up. Available right over HERE as a pay what you want title.

The reasons for using this system as part of tonight's adventure construction is pretty well laid out in the video below. I'll let you know how it goes after the party's set up and meeting and dealing with the deadliness I've got in store. 

Fantastic Heroes And Witchery Rpg Game System Set Up - That Old Time Religion For Warlords Of The Outer Worlds Campaign

First off Fantastic Heroes And Witchery is available right over HERE and here's the set up for tonight's game. 

  Right,so tonight I'm getting together with my players to have a PC work shop and set up with Fantastic Heroes and Witchery. The adventure is in the Warlords Of The Outer Worlds campaign universe in the wilds of Neo England between Massachusetts. The set up is simple and open ended a group of mercenaries is called together for the reading of a will and hired by the lawyer of the estate to retrieve a trio of magical swords from the ruins of the city of Springfield, Mass. The city was the stronghold of the Voltamen but has been abandoned for the last few years after rumors of undead and horrors from beyond the pale have moved in. The mix of fantasy, science fantasy and post apocalyptic horror is right on the menu for tonight's game. 
The PC options offered by the  pulp, science fantasy download, and some of the other optional material are in mix from over HERE. One of the players is already put his cards on the table for playing a Runner from FH&W. 

Because of FH&W's mix of fantasy, science fantasy, science fiction, and Lovecraftian pulpy goodness the choices here are easy to slide into place for this campaign of high action and adventure. The PC's are adventurers, mercenaries and reverers in a rather weird post apocalyptic wasteland of  terror. These guys are heroes and this is very well reflected in the presentation of the game but this isn't going to help them at all. There are secrets and monsters about ruins to explore and the forces of Chaos about. 

So where exactly does Rafael Chandler's writings and work fit into this? Well Springfield has been 'abandoned' for a reason or rather several unpleasant reasons.
This game is being done on a rather small scale campaign with a very definite 80's horror and  sci fi pulp vibe to it that FH&W captures in spades for me. 

This is isn't quite the world that you know folks. In point of fact the world of  2889 is a pulptastic hot bed of adventure intrigue and nasty cults of horror. And this is all pretty much Rafael Chandler's fault. 

The Serpent's Den of Springfield 

The ruins of Springfield Mass are literally crawling with a multitude of various type of giant mutant serpents and weird naga creatures from various dimensions. The city has become the headquarters for a minor serpent cult that worships some very nasty alien gods of Lovecraftian evil. How this came about or why is at least to the PC's completely unknown. 

A weird combination of factors has created a nasty situation in the city with a small one hundred plus cult operating in the area. These occultists have been trading and operating with several groups out of  Dunwich, Arkham, and the surrounding states.And the cult has been growing by leaps and bounds. 

The cult was rolled up using the machinations from Rafael Chandler's Obscene Serpent Religion crowned out with the perverse art of Gennifer Bone. And then filled in with the monstrous horrors of the Teratic Tome  making it that much more cinematic. And so this makes it very Lovecraftian but bits and pieces were filled in from the Fantastic Heroes and Witchery rule book, classic Monster Manual one and two.
I don't want to go into too much more details because my players are reading this blog.
I still need to aqquire a physical copy of OSR for myself but sufficient to say its been a very interesting read and exercise to roll up through this ADULT themed book. Extreme caution should be exercised when using this book. Its available right over HERE

More coming soon from the Ruins of Springfield! Thanks To DOM, Rafael Chandler and Gennifer Bone for all of the support material for tonight's old school fiasco! 

Cutting Deeper Into Neoplastic's Teratic Tome For Your Old School Campaigns

 I  'm going to do a quick break down of one of my recent favorite monster books, The Teratic Tom from Neoplastic Press. You can get the pdf HERE  Or The Hardback from Lulu HERE
The the APR15 and FWD15 coupons on Lulu should apply at least for a little while and before you ask I'm not shilling for LuLu or Mr. Chandler.

  So two weeks ago, I ordered a physical copy of the Teratic Tome by Rafael Chandler and his crew of incredibly demented and talented artists who worked on the book. The fact is that I've read review after review of the book and aside from the 'oh's and ah's over the mature and slightly disturbing content with all of the tentacles. I'd like to address something about the monsters withing the book. Yes there are high level monsters of all kinds and demons, devils, and wall to wall Lovecraftian weirdness  in between the slime filled tendril laden entries. Each monster has a very simple challenge level built right into the entries. And aside from being a well put together book this level entry system is keyed for the levels of the PC's who should be fighting said monstrosities. And yes there are low level horrors just waiting to tackle your PC's in the book. The thing about these horrors is that these nasties are memorable and very dangerous but not out of the realm of unkillable at all. Far from it, these are horrors that can go a long way to really giving your PC's a hard time.
For example right out the gate we get a very well done horror that is keyed in for a level five party of fools erm adventurers. Another thing to notice is the simple and concise way that the treasure is laid out in the book, each entry has everything splayed out with the beastie's lair and its contents right in front of you. A simple and easy way of doing treasure in a game. 

 
   Other bits and pieces that that added to the monster's setting and feel is the inclusion of the way the damn thing smells and I do me damn thing here in every sense of the word. Its these simple and well thought out little fiddly details that brings the whole monster experience home for a DM. Which is one of the reasons why I decided to use this book for my upcoming a Fantastic Heroes and Witchery campaign.
   Another asthetic details that gets thrown in here is the way that each monster's entry is almost but not quite a bit like a movie plot hook. That is brought home in entry after entry with lots of little nuggets and details about the mad bastard horrors that your PC's are facing down. This was done I believe on purpose and has a very 80's vibe to it. Each and every monster is almost its own star in a way and it echoes something that a friend recently said to me. Each of these monsters should be its own 'star' of an adventure or to put it another way each monsters is unique enough to have the adventures built around it. A recent conceil that I found with old pre code horror comics and movies going back to the golden age of Hammer horror. One monster or creature powerful enough to carry the entire picture or film and powerful enough to give the PC's a hard time.

   There is also an Arduin style vibe that runs through this book as well, one of power attracting power and that those with power cause ripples across the multiverse over and over again. This is again another echo that I think was done quite well on purpose and one that goes straight back into the back bone of the recent Lamentations of The Flame Princess rpg monster book Lusus Naturae. Over and over again there's over lap between the monsters here as if there's far more bubbling below the slime covered surface of this book and I can see the various arrows point back and forth between the horrors with in the Teratic Tome. Now I've mentioned using this book with Fantastic Heroes and Witchery. But why? Because the average FH&W PC is slight more robust hit point wise and the dark dangerous tone of that game suits this book of horrors quite well but  it needs to be pointed as with the other book that less is far more in this case.