Rats In The Back Alleys - Using 1991 Tales of Lankhmar (LNR2) By Anthony Pryor & The Hyperborea rpg For Sword & Sorcery Urban Crawling or Adventuring.

  "Hire on, in 'A Cask of Trouble,' to guard a wine-tasting from the vengeful Vintner's Guild. Dare, if you will, 'The Red God's Curse,' in which little is as it seems. Aid the wizards Sheelba of the Eyeless Face and Ningauble of the Seven Eyes at an era's end, 'When Walks the Wyrm.' Undertake an expedition of inquiry for the Lankhmar Society of Sages to 'The Land of the Pale Ones.' Learn if the Thieves' Guild really has a hand in 'The House of Mazes.'"

Photo stolen from Wayne's books here. 

"Beware strange priests and darkest alleys, lest you meet 'A New God.' Finally, no anthology of Lankhmar would be complete without a trip to its maze-like sewers, wherein rages 'War in Lankhmar Below' (a follow-up to the adventure 'Return of the Rats,' from CA2, Swords of Deceit)." 

Wayback in 1991 Tales of Lankhmar (LNR2) By Anthony Pryor  came out it was  64 pages  and went by the product designation TSR 9329 or  ISBN 1560761350. What Tales of Lankhmar (LNR2) did back in '91 was to create a  64-page LANKHMAR adventure anthology which contains seven original adventures for a party of four to eight characters, levels 3 to 10. And what's good about LNR2 is the fact that a lot of the TSR Lankhmar adventure modules were centered around urban Sword & Sorcery adventuring. This makes the Lankhmar adventures  perfect fodder for the Hyperborea rpg. And this is especially true of LNR2 which is a perfect follow up to the Hyperborea rpg adventure 'The Rats in The Walls and Other Perils'. Why?! Well let's take a quick look at the back cover explaination; "Rats in the Walls and Other Perils" also includes two more short adventures: Chainsaw’s “The Brazen Bull”, and “The Lamia’s Heart”, by Jeffrey P. Talanian. (An early draft of the latter was published in the AFS fanzine.) Edited by David Prata, all three adventures are set in the dismal City-State of Khromarium and is designed for from four to six characters of 1st or 2nd level. "  So not only do we have a starting adventure module set within the Hyperborean capital of the City State of Khormarium but in Tales of Lankhmar we have a perfect follow up the 'Rats in The Walls'. 

 "Rats in the Walls and Other Perils"puts the PC's footloose and fancy free in the big city. But what does one follow it up with?! Why the whims of two weird wizards of the DM's design. And the adventures continue. With a bit of work there's the fact that we give   the City State of Khormarium a real face and character about it. 
We've used  the City State of Khormarium as a jump off point a hundred times. And it makes an excellent urban landscape for the adventurers to kick up thier heels. 

Hyperborea is a world with vast, vast, oceans and hardly anyone talks about it. The Hyperborean  campaign setting makes an excellent Sword & Sorcery pirate campaign & this can easily be contrasted with an urban crawl twist. 1991 Tales of Lankhmar (LNR2) By Anthony Pryor is an excellent counterpoint adventure anthology that gets the PC's deep into the heart of a city grinding conspiracy. And much more. And I think it's the much more that get's over looked within 1991 Tales of Lankhmar (LNR2) By Anthony Pryor. 
There's enough mini adventures here where the players are going to be more then busy for a few months. The DM is going to need to keep an eye on the PC's levels and the distribution of treasure. 

Yellow Raider's Sails on The Horizon - Some Thoughts on A0-A4: Against the Slave Lords (1e) Network And The Hyperborea rpg

 Today on Twitter I brought up the fact that back in the Eighties we used the Slavers of A0-A4: Against the Slave Lords (1e) network and organization raiding places like Gamma Terra, Greyhawk, and a multitude of worlds. And we even had them show up on the Warden a time or two for particularly choice mutant slaves for wizards. 

Our latest thread of thought after getting together with some of my friends yesterday is that the Slavers are perfect for showing up on Hyperborea. And up to thier old tricks! If you look at A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity tagline it's perfect for Sword & Sorcery adventure;"A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity: It is time to put a stop to the marauders! For years the coastal towns have been burned and looted by the forces of evil. You and your fellow adventurers have been recruited to root out and destroy the source of these raids—as hundreds of good men and women have been taken by the slavers and have never been seen or heard from again!" 
And this goes back into something I've been saying for years about Hyperborea as a whole. The whole setting is perfect for  coast raid and pirate campaigns. 

And this goes right back into what we were talking yesterday on the blog. And that is that piracy and sea faring is the back bone of the Hyperborea rpg. And this goes back to the fact that there's a very thin line between pirate and sailor or raider when there's a cutless at your neck. 
Hyperborea is rife with hidden ports and places where slaves can be moved or sold. 
Not to mention the fact that there's a ready market for choice slaves across a multitude of worlds. If you look at 'the nine' and the part they played in the evolution of the Slavers organization from the D&D fans wiki entry here; "The Slave Lords evolved out of a similar organization known as "The Nine," which was founded by Stalman Klim, sometime between 569 and 573 CY. Klim, a human priest of the Earth Dragon from the hidden Pomarj town of Suderham, had left Suderham in 569 CY to explore the Flanaess, where he gathered a number of allies, including drow and members of the Scarlet Brotherhood.

"In 574 CY, Klim and his allies returned to Suderham, where they slew its last king, Roderic and took control of the town. By 576, the organization had become known as the Slave Lords, though its ruling council was still known as the Nine. Known members of the Nine from 576-580 include:

• Stalman Klim (also known as Mordrammo)
• Eanwulf (Also known as Feelta), a human pirate lord
• Edralve, an exiled drow priestess of Lolth from Erelhei-Cinlu
• Lamonsten the Lazy, an illusionist from Dyvers
• Nerelas, a human assassin
• Slippery Ketta, a human rogue
• Ajakstu, a human wizard
• Brother Milerjoi, a human monk of the Scarlet Brotherhood
• Brother Kerin, a human monk of the Scarlet Brotherhood, Milerjoi's assistant"
  
  

Then we get a very clear line of sucession and the power behind and beyond the Slavers. And it not only possible but probable that they would be operating across worlds with thier villany. And what does this have to do with LNR1 Wonders of Lankhmar?! Quite a bit as you and your party cross paths with more then a few encounters thar can be woven into an urban crossover with the Slavers or thier minions easily! 

Rats in The Walls - Using 1990 LNR1 Wonders of Lankhmar by Dale "Slade" Henson, & The Hyperborea rpg For Sword & Sorcery Urban Crawling or Adventuring Part II

 "...Within these pages are dozens of short adventures perfect for an afternoon's or evening's enjoyment. Your characters may be hired to protect the Overlord from assassination. They might choose to take positions as caravan guards on a dangerous passage through a crocodile-infested swamp. Or, perhaps they'd prefer a quiet night on the town. (They might well prefer it; the question is, can they find it?)..."

The low down on LNR1 Wonders of Lankhmar by Dale "Slade" Henson, has an interesting history according to the LNR1 wiki entry; "
LNR1 Wonders of Lankhmar was written by Dale "Slade" Henson, with a cover by Fred Fields, and interior illustrations by Ken and Charles Frank and Jeff Easley, and was published by TSR in 1990 as a 96-page book." Now according tot this same wiki entry; " Lawrence Schick, in his 1991 book Heroic Worlds, comments on Wonders of Lankhmar: "There are a few good ideas here, but most of the entries are nothing special, and at two pages each they're all pretty short on detail." 
And this is precisely why I'd choose to put LNR1 Wonders of Lankhmar at the table top level. And for the Hyperborea rpg this a great way to get the player's PC's into an urban Sword & Sorcery landscape. This style of Hyperborea rpg game session comes  without the deep commitment. And this goes back to last night's blog post. 

LNR1 Wonders of Lankhmar goes right down that same rabbit hole with a difference. And that  difference is how the PC's would be using  the Hyperborean capital of the City State of Khormarium as thier base. Now this is by no means a band add for our party but what enables is the PC's to have some touch stone with both urban surroundings and the howling wilderness that is Hyperborea. And these short adventures found within LNR1 Wonders of Lankhmar go towards a long way of creating a viable mini starting campaign set up. Short easy to run adventures, minimum commitment, and easily committed missions or so it seems. All of these are perfect as hallmarks for continuing the Sword & Sorcery campaign that we spoke about last blog entry.
LNR1 Wonders of Lankhmar by Dale "Slade" Henson, has the shorter Sword & Sorcery adventures that can easily be adapted the world of Hyperborea. And this plugs deeply into the urban landscape of the port cities of Hyperborea and it's city states. These places are going to be the centers of commerance and trade. And thier also rife for meeting places for the notorious and dangerous. So this gives LNR1 a bit of an edge for low levels of Sword & Sorcery play especially the Hyperborea rpg. 

Rats In The Back Alleys - Using 1991 Tales of Lankhmar (LNR2) By Anthony Pryor & The Hyperborea rpg For Sword & Sorcery Urban Crawling or Adventuring.

 "Hire on, in 'A Cask of Trouble,' to guard a wine-tasting from the vengeful Vintner's Guild. Dare, if you will, 'The Red God's Curse,' in which little is as it seems. Aid the wizards Sheelba of the Eyeless Face and Ningauble of the Seven Eyes at an era's end, 'When Walks the Wyrm.' Undertake an expedition of inquiry for the Lankhmar Society of Sages to 'The Land of the Pale Ones.' Learn if the Thieves' Guild really has a hand in 'The House of Mazes.'"

Photo stolen from Wayne's books here. 

"Beware strange priests and darkest alleys, lest you meet 'A New God.' Finally, no anthology of Lankhmar would be complete without a trip to its maze-like sewers, wherein rages 'War in Lankhmar Below' (a follow-up to the adventure 'Return of the Rats,' from CA2, Swords of Deceit)." 

Wayback in 1991 Tales of Lankhmar (LNR2) By Anthony Pryor  came out it was  64 pages  and went by the product designation TSR 9329 or  ISBN 1560761350. What Tales of Lankhmar (LNR2) did back in '91 was to create a  64-page LANKHMAR adventure anthology which contains seven original adventures for a party of four to eight characters, levels 3 to 10. And what's good about LNR2 is the fact that a lot of the TSR Lankhmar adventure modules were centered around urban Sword & Sorcery adventuring. This makes the Lankhmar adventures  perfect fodder for the Hyperborea rpg. And this is especially true of LNR2 which is a perfect follow up to the Hyperborea rpg adventure 'The Rats in The Walls and Other Perils'. Why?! Well let's take a quick look at the back cover explaination; "Rats in the Walls and Other Perils" also includes two more short adventures: Chainsaw’s “The Brazen Bull”, and “The Lamia’s Heart”, by Jeffrey P. Talanian. (An early draft of the latter was published in the AFS fanzine.) Edited by David Prata, all three adventures are set in the dismal City-State of Khromarium and is designed for from four to six characters of 1st or 2nd level. "  So not only do we have a starting adventure module set within the Hyperborean capital of the City State of Khormarium but in Tales of Lankhmar we have a perfect follow up the 'Rats in The Walls'. 

 "Rats in the Walls and Other Perils"puts the PC's footloose and fancy free in the big city. But what does one follow it up with?! Why the whims of two weird wizards of the DM's design. And the adventures continue. With a bit of work there's the fact that we give   the City State of Khormarium a real face and character about it. 
We've used  the City State of Khormarium as a jump off point a hundred times. And it makes an excellent urban landscape for the adventurers to kick up thier heels. 

Hyperborea is a world with vast, vast, oceans and hardly anyone talks about it. The Hyperborean  campaign setting makes an excellent Sword & Sorcery pirate campaign & this can easily be contrasted with an urban crawl twist. 1991 Tales of Lankhmar (LNR2) By Anthony Pryor is an excellent counterpoint adventure anthology that gets the PC's deep into the heart of a city grinding conspiracy. And much more. And I think it's the much more that get's over looked within 1991 Tales of Lankhmar (LNR2) By Anthony Pryor. 
There's enough mini adventures here where the players are going to be more then busy for a few months. The DM is going to need to keep an eye on the PC's levels and the distribution of treasure. 

A Free Adventure & A Keltic Campaign Sword & Sorcery Set Up

"Magical mirrors often hold more than you’re bargaining for. An adventure for a group of 1st and 2nd level characters."




This guy is in so much trouble its not even funny. Will o whisps are very unforgiving. Time to roll up a new PC.
Footprints 22 | Masthead by Zhu
The Grove of Ghost-lights by Markus Holzum

While the entire world melts down in virus induced panic, we've been doing research through the archives during the better & more sane days of the OSR. Specifically I've been looking at Footprints issue #22 & its starting adventure 'Black Top Vale' for OSRIC;

"Dolgrim’s tower was recently damaged, however, in an incident that occurred three weeks before the player characters’ presence in the surrounding mountains. During that terrible event Dolgrim mysteriously disappeared, and his tower suddenly slumped and shifted, killing Aeric, his lone apprentice. Even more devastating, after days spent searching for their master and attempting to recover the apprentice’s body from its resting place, Dolgrim’s dozen retainers and servants were set upon by an army of goblins and svartlings that had been scouting the area. Seeing that Dolgrim’s tower was in distress, and already preparing for their springtime raids, the humanoids immediately shifted their objective and attacked 'Blacktop Vale'. Thus, only four days after the mysterious incident Blacktop Vale was sacked by a humanoid army that killed the valley’s remaining inhabitants and razed all of its wooden structures. Presently, a small contingent of goblins resides in the tower, and the bulk of the raiders have moved on to their seasonal raiding."

Basically I'm looking at  'Black Top Vale' as an introduction for a party within the Keltic regions of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea rpg  Dolgrim was a descendant of the Hyperboreans land holders who once worked their human serfers in the area. Dolgrim is the heir to the Hyperborean ancient sorcerous knowledge which he used in the service to the Dwarven clans in the area. These disgusting creatures where tolerated by the locals because they held back the forces of Chaos. Dolgrim's tower held back those forces! But the forces of chaos have been enboldened because of the destruction of the tower.  These Dwarven clans may actually be Dwergaz which are the former humanoid slaves of the children of Ymir. They bare the clear maker marks of their former masters who still toil away beneath the moss covered rocks. 'Blacktop Vale' is such a center of political interest  that it marks a point of occult power within the land here;

"The domain of Dolgrim the Warlock is a high mountain valley nestled below Blacktop Peak, an 11,000 foot mountain capped by a massive, granitic dome. Small streams course around the mountain’s eastern and western slopes and then converge just south of its base. Nearly dry in autumn and winter, the resulting brook cuts down the center of Blacktop Vale before meandering through the surrounding mountains and becoming a tributary of a major river system. Water is plentiful in the warlock’s valley, and a dozen cattle and a herd of goats are afforded sufficient grazing on its pastures. Coming across the treeless, lightning-blasted mountain a dozen years earlier, Dolgrim identified the place as an energy nexus and endeavored to erect a small tower below it. From such a base the magic-user could study the power unleashed by thunderstorms and learn how to siphon away some of the electricity that frequently hammers the mountain. The warlock parlayed with Ordovar, the dwarf lord who held dominion over Blacktop Vale, and eventually gained permission to construct a tower there. With Ordovar’s thanes helping in its construction, Dolgrim’s tower was erected in less than a year’s time"

The PC's are going to be called in because the Keltic clan lords are beyond nervous & they want to know what's happened to Dolgrim the Warlock. This isn't simply another treasure raid & dungeon run. The tribal elders themselves are nervous & the proto Greco Roman feel of  'Black Top Vale'  gives this adventure some real Celtic or Arthurian mythological character too it.



 Merlin, The Enchanter vu par Louis Rhead dans Sir James Knowles's King Arthur and His Knights, 1923

I can see rune gravers, scouts, bards, & especially druids being incredibly useful here but I can't stress the importance of fighters & knights being at the center of any party. But a wizard or some variant is needed. A cleric or two might help with the adventure's events.
I can totally see linking 'Black Top Vale' for OSRIC with T1 The Village of Hommlet as the humanoid forces of chaos begin to  swarm the peninsula to the "west" of Khromarium which  would be ideal for setting this up. 



T1 The Village of Hommlet leads into of course B2 Keep on the Borderlands both of which adventures have a far different meaning because of the incredibly harsh Hyperborean winters. These winters could be fueling the cults of chaos's rise as the humanoids are raiding & pillaging for human meat for the long coming Winter. This in turn fuels the elemental religion of chaos that the 'Caves of Chaos' temple has been using to grow its humanoid army.


This proto Greco Roman feel to the Keltic legacy of this region of Hyperborea has some solid roots in Celtic mythology that the dungeon master can take full advantage of. This is especially true injecting in the Fiend Folio's Xvarts into the campaign mix. This gives a regional feel to the events of 'Black Top Vale'.

With the humanoids on the move the obvious choice here would be to go with the classic T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil by Gary Gygax & Frank Mentzer. But let's take a different tactic here & hook the humanoid raiding into"The Rats in The Walls & Other Perils"adventure anthology “The Lamia’s Heart".  In
“The Lamia’s Heart”: Your party are contracted by the nascent master of an unsanctioned thieves’ guild. To earn his favour, you must steal a singular gem from the mansion of a prominent merchant. Purloining this gem, however, may raise the ire of the city’s official thieves’ guild; notwithstanding, the reward is significant." But that merchant has ties to Dolgrim the Warlock thus bringing the regional troubles back into the heart of the Hyperborean capital. 

Anyhow the growing military issue of the humanoid army is coming to haunt the PC's but the rising of the Elemental Evil religion is whole other blog entry. For the moment keep em rolling.

Foot Prints Magazine Issue #22 is
 Available Right Here For Free 

Review & Commentary On Rats In The Walls & Other Perils By Jeffrey Talianin For Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea & Your Old School Campaigns

"Rats in the Walls”: A dockside tavern in Khromarium is plagued by rats of a most unusual breed. These abominable rodents have ruined the tavern keeper’s business and his life. The man is desperate, and he offers a substantial reward for the elimination of his horrific problem."


So about a week ago during the last snow storm I emailed Jeffrey Talianin about grabbing a copy of the updated Astonishing Swordsmen &  Sorcerers of Hyperborea adventure The Rats In The Wall & Other Perils. Boy I'm glad I did! There are several different things right off the bat about this pdf. First of all every adventure featured in this pdf is centered the Hyperborean city of Khromarium. Next is the fact that the lay out & cartography is light years ahead of the first edition adventure. In fact let's not touch on that other version of Rats in The Wall again. There are in fact three adventures Rats in the Walls, Chainsaw’s “The Brazen Bull”, and “The Lamia’s Heart”, by Jeffrey P. Talanian. (An early draft of the latter was published in the AFS fanzine.) Now Rats In The Walls is named after the controversial HP Lovecraft story but shares only a few adventure elements of its name sake. What the adventure does instead is to place 1st level AS&SH PC's at ground zero & to keep the adventure pressure up. The real star of Rats In The Walls & Other Perils is the city state of Khromarium. 
 Khromarium feels like your wandering around someone else's Sword & Sorcery kingdom that your adventurers have inherited right after they died in their sleep. Elements of this adventure don't feel real but not in a bad way. There is a nightmare like quality about these adventures. Even though Rats In The Walls is only a first level adventure this isn't a first level you really want your PC's to screw up on. They will die rather badly. The adventure is well done & really brings home the madness of the AS&SH's Khromarium
campaign setting. 

 Jason Sholtis  statue of the deity, Aurorus, "The Shining One", inspired by Abraham Merritt.
If Rats in the Wall is the introductory travelogue into the world setting of Hyperborea's capital city. Then 'The Brazen Bull' is the weird 'Heavy Metal'  kid in the corner  of the school bus.
"“The Brazen Bull”: Whilst traversing one of the seedier neighbourhoods of Khromarium, your party are solicited by a greasy-haired Pict. He offers to sell you a sheaf of magical lotus that allows one to see the future or to brew potions that empower the imbiber with sorcery. He beckons you to follow him into a dilapidated building...."

Here the player's PC's are brought into the mind warping effects of the world of Hyperborea right in the city state center of the action. This adventure is like the side streets of a 70's used Sword & Sorcery paperback story brought into focus into the interior of the adventure. This one doesn't over explain every single element & there's room here to really customize the Brazen Bull for your own AS&SH adventure. I like the adventure elements & the bring your own death vibe to The Brazen Bull. So far these are the adventures that I wished had been used for the Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyberborea second edition rule book.The adventures feel real & solidly like they belong in AS&SH's world setting without being too heavy handed.  

"“The Lamia’s Heart”: Your party are contracted by the nascent master of an unsanctioned thieves’ guild. To earn his favour, you must steal a singular gem from the mansion of a prominent merchant. Purloining this gem, however, may raise the ire of the city’s official thieves’ guild; notwithstanding, the reward is significant."

If the first two adventures in The Rats In The Walls & Other Perils are Clark Ashton Smith & HP Lovecraft inspired then the third adventure is a straight up homage to Robert Howard creator of Conan. This is straight up an adventure that pays its dues in respect to Conan & his exploits. The design is tight, the layout very well done & the pay off could be a complete TPK if the player's are not careful.


AS&SH art by Del Teigeler and Glynn Seal

Thieves & purloiners are a must in the 'Brazen Bull' & besides the obvious uses. The thieves guild is vitally important to the success or death of the PC's. The fact is that these three adventures are easily exploitable for getting the characters into a heap of trouble in the back alleys of Khromarium. There's plenty of adventure hooks to grab adventurers by the throat & exploit their weaknesses to get them into the further ends of Hyperborea. I'm speaking of using some of the hooks in 'The Brazen Bull' & 'The Lamia's Heart' as lead ins for Tim Callahan's Beasts of Kraggoth Manor.  The deep alleys of the city lead to the edge of sand & suffering just waiting to put the 'hold of Hell' on player's PC's. 


That's the beautiful part of The Rats In The Wall & Other Perils its easily customizable to fit the campaign design & refinement of the dungeon master. Even though it only clocks in at forty four pages there is enough meat here to have the dungeons & adventure elements of Rats In The Wall to fit into your game. The Hyperborean burial grounds that brim with pre–Green Death treasures is only part of this series of adventures. 
Is The Rats In The Wall & Other Perils  worth your time & your money?! In a word yes! This  series of adventures sets the tone & ideas of Hyperborea very well. AS&SH has been using its adventures to help define the world of Hyperborea well & serves as a series of gate way adventures into this blood stained & violently soaked world.