Getting Back To Basics - OSR Burnout & Basic Dungeons & Dragons Commentary

Sometimes you have to get back to your roots & tonight was one of those times when I pulled out the older D&D editions to get a quick read through. For some ideas & to simply get back to Basic D&D  for a moment.


 


Its good to take a walk through various editions of the Dungeons & Dragons. Since my Internet & on-line time is at the moment limited by computer issues. I've had time to get back to Basics & in this case its actually back to Moldvay Basic D&D. The reasons for this are actually pretty simple there are several monsters and concepts that I want to borrow for my Accursed Atlantis campaign. Moldvay  for me is the third incarnation of OD&D that I got into way back in 1981. With white box OD&D, Holmes, and then the Moldvay/Cook Basic/Expert sets following those up.
"With the revision of the Basic Set, discrete rulesets for higher character levels were introduced as expansions for the basic game.^[9] The Moldvay Basic Set was immediately followed by the accompanying release of an Expert Set edited by Dave Cook that supported character levels four through fourteen, with the intent that players would continue with the Expert Set.^[2][10] The revised rulebooks were visually distinct from the original rules: the Holmes booklet had a blueprint-style pale blue cover, while the Moldvay Basic Set and Cook Expert Set booklets had bright red and blue covers, respectively."
Now I mentioned OSR burnout because basically I've been off line for several days and the OSR marketing and design machine keeps cranking out titles faster then I can keep up with on social media. That's fine with me as a blogger because what I generally do simply go back to the old TSR Seventies and Eighties catalogs to put myself into the mind set of what got me first excited about D&D.


If you want to know what the real differences are between Holmes, Moldvay, and Mentzer D&D there is a very good break down here.
Sometimes there are tid bits and ideas that can be culled from the original editions and reused such as the monsters that seldom get a workout on the table anymore. Living Statues and some of the insects stick out in my mind as well. Driver ants, tarantella spiders, robber flies, and so many others but the Thoul sticks out.

There are monsters such as the Thoul which only appeared in Basic; which too me seemed straight up a Swords and Sorcery style monster that some mad wizard would cook up. Part Hobgoblin, part Troll, part Ghoul; Thouls are created by a mad wizard at some long ago time and sometimes show up in part of a hobgoblin king's bodyguard. They appeared in the  B10 Night's Dark Terror adventure & I've been itching to use them ever since. Time to dust off these nasties for Accursed Atlantis.


A quick note about UKB10 it was designed to take campaigns into The Expert set;"It was designed specifically for campaigns transitioning from the D&D Basic Set to the D&D Expert Set. The player characters (PCs) journey from a farmstead into uncharted wilderness, where they encounter new hazards and contend with a secret society. The adventure received a positive review from White Dwarf magazine."  A quick trip down memory lane and I've got a few great encounters cooked up for next week's game.
Sometimes there's nothing like the old school to get the blood working and the ideas flowing.

Sword, Sorcery, and Super Science Without Tears Or Defining Your Old School Campaign on Your Terms

I had an interesting discussion last night with some friends around the table about sword & sorcery old school rpg's like Original Dungeons  & Dragons as well as retroclones such as Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperboria, Labyrinth Lord, Basic Fantasy, Dark Albion, Lamentations of the Flame Princess, Adventurer, Conqueror, King,  Fantastic Heroes & Witchery and lots of others. The conversation got bogged down into the definitions of the genre of sword & sorcery  is & how I was doing it wrong. Let me go on record as saying that you as the dungeon master define the world; the players fill it with exploits of their PC's. Here's why.


Sword & Sorcery is defined as follows;"
Sword and sorcery (S&S) is a subgenre of fantasy generally characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent conflicts. An element of romance is often present, as is an element of magic and the supernatural. Unlike works of high fantasy, the tales, though dramatic, focus mainly on personal battles rather than world-endangering matters.^[1] Sword and sorcery commonly overlaps with heroic fantasy.^[2]

A film genre tangentially related to sword and sorcery, at least in name, is sword-and-sandal, though its subjects are generally oriented to biblical times and early history, instead of fantasy. Not to be confused with cloak and dagger or cloak and sword, which are alternate genres."



Another reason why I draw from the swords & sorcery genre is because of the femenist perspective of it;"Despite the importance of C. L. Moore, Leigh Brackett, Andre Norton, and other female authors, as well as Moore's early heroine, sword and sorcery has been characterized^{[by whom?]} as having a strongly masculine bias. Female characters were generally distressed damsels to be rescued or protected, or otherwise served as an inducement or reward for a male hero's adventures. Women who had adventures of their own often did so to counter the threat of rape, or to gain revenge for same.^[24][27] Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress anthology series (1984 onwards) attempted the reverse. Bradley encouraged female writers and protagonists: the stories feature skillful swordswomen and powerful sorceresses, working from a variety of motives.^[28][29] The series was immensely popular and Bradley was editing her final volume at the time of her death (the series continued under other editors). Jessica Amanda Salmonson similarly sought to broaden the range of roles for female characters in S&S through both her own stories and in editing the World Fantasy Award-winning^[30] Amazons (1979) and Amazons II (1982) anthologies; both drew on real and folkloric women warriors, often from areas outside of Europe.^[31][32] Today, active female characters who participate equally with the male heroes in the stories are a regular feature in modern sword and sorcery stories."



For me I draw from both sword & sorcery and the sword & planet genre freely;"Other pulp fantasy fiction — such as Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom series and Leigh Brackett's Sea Kings of Mars — have a similar feel to sword and sorcery, but, because alien science replaces the supernatural, it is usually described as planetary romance or sword and planet, and considered to fall more in the area of science fiction.^[22] Despite this, planetary romance is closely aligned with sword and sorcery, and the work of Burroughs, Brackett, and others in the former field have been significant in creating and spreading S&S proper.^[23] Sword and sorcery itself has often blurred the lines between fantasy and science fiction, drawing elements from both like the "weird fiction" it sprang from.<sup>"

So how is Accursed Atlantis different from the run of the mill material out in the wilds? Well as a setting it draws deeply from pop culture whist still using tradition material. Accursed Atlantis has a number of alien races, near humans, mutants, and others all vying in an entropic wasteland after it all went to hell. The technological level is someplace between a pulpy late 1800's all the way through 1960'sscience fantasy levels on the high end. And unlike other settings the relics are quite literally all over the place and that's the problem. High amounts of magickal pollution, Lovecraftian horrors, dimensional instability, space gates, mutation, magick, and worse are stalking the world unchecked. Accursed Atlantis is a world where warfare is common & survival is a matter of sword or sorcery.  Humans are on the menu and anything can happen.



Basically Accursed Atlantis started out as my OSR sand box & its grown into a fully fledged campaign setting where I drop anything into without 'breaking' it. Here there are strong ties with ancient mythology and weird twists on some of the usual themes. There is black powder weaponry, lots of fighting women & men, gods walk among men, etc. In other words many of the themes of traditional sword & sorcery are there but with my own twists.


So what's with all of this explaination and exposition about Accursed Atlantis? Because as a dungeon master I'm defining the OSR at my table on my terms not on an authors terms, not on a designer's terms, or a publisher's terms. Its my world there will be lots more to come as the days roll on.</sup>

Commentary On Signature Characters, Campaign Setting Buy In & The Power of The Players!

A new piece of  Sword & Sorcery artwork has been released by Jeff Talanian & it has me thinking about campaign world building. Along with the artwork are the signature characters of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. Those intrepid souls who grace the OSR covers & setting bookings of countless rpg's.  Signature characters help to create the mood,  cement the brand for an rpg product, & to hopefully want to make the consumer want to create adventures in the game's world. They're as old as the Basic/ Expert D&D Rogues Gallery & even commercial advertising mascots. For Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea this is a homage move & throwback to the Rogues Gallery and sword & sorcery comic books of yore.



"New art has rolled in for the Second Edition of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea (Kickstarter live now: http://kck.st/2erUCmz). This piece, originally pencilled and inked by Val Semeiks (Conan the Barbarian, Lobo, Wolverine), has now been colored by Daisey Bingham. This picture will serve as a frontispiece for Volume III: Adventure & Combat. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!"

 

We're even given a glimpse into who these adventurers are in the world of AS&SH.
" Those are part of our cast of iconic characters that will be part of the ROGUES GALLERY in the appendix of the book. There you have a Kimmerian barbarian, a Keltic fighter, and a Hyperborean warlock. Their stats will be presented for 1st, 5th, and 9th levels."
I understand that this is a very old form of advertising & what I'm about to say has absolutely nothing to do with Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea 2nd edition's writer/designer's choices in artwork & the use of signature characters. These adventurers have been appearing since the Forgotten Fane of the Coiled Goddess adventure.  They're a great concept & marketing move on the part of North Wind Adventures.


As an old school dungeon master I could careless who the signature character is any old school or new school gaming system. Because my focus & lens when it comes to an rpg system campaign's signature characters are on my player's PC's. Why is this a problem because its another way that a dungeon master can become ham strung by a game designer's writing & campaign world buy in.  I understand the high world campaign history & background but many times my players don't want to encounter or play around what are essentially for them silver plated NPC's. This is one of the reasons why I love James Raggi's Lamentations of the Flame Princess, the world is essentially our real world history with a weird fictional twist where signature characters die by the score!


True story I had a friend of mine Bob who loves West End Games Star Wars system, however he had players who were incredibly familiar with Nineties Star Wars trivia, minutia, & setting material. I mean these guys & gals could name off star systems, characters by the score, signature characters of Star Wars, and more. What did Bob who wasn't at the time as proficient in Star Wars minutia do? He flung the whole lot of players into a hyperspace corridor and created his own world, systems, NPC characters, alien races etc. His players are still talking about his campaign to this day as one of the most memorable & enjoyable games they've had.

Way back in the early Two Thousands I was running White Wolf's  Exalted system which is rife with a cast of thousands of signature characters, signature places, signature NPC's, and more. One of my players kept bringing each and every new book or gaming comic to the table wanting to have his PC have many of the same powers and abilities as signature characters. This used to piss not me as the DM off but the players who became bounty hunters of a pretty good level who then proceeded to hunt down each & every NPC they could from the worlds of Exalted. It was actually a very good game campaign a blast of fun but man that system gives me headaches. The point is that the players felt very hemmed in by the world and so took it upon themselves to open it up. I don't think that this is going to be a problem for AS&SH second edition.


AS&SH art by Val Semeiks don't forget to to support the AS&SH 2nd edition kickstarter.

One of the reasons why I returned to original Dungeons & Dragons & Advanced Dungeons & Dragons as well as the OSR retroclones is the lack of companion worlds or settings. Let me bring this back to Astonshing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. My take on AS&SH Hyperborea is going to be very different from any other dungeon master's because the fact is that I've got a totally different take on Hyperborea. But that's alright because the most important signature characters are already at the table, that's the player's characters. They're the stars of the adventure that your already running! My point here is that the DYI attitude that comes with the creation of adventure and campaign worlds is inherit in the joy of gaming, when every single hex, temple, ruin, dungeon is filled in then the players & the DM are going to take it upon themselves to create the world setting that they want. I've seen this happen in war games, old school table top, and other systems of gaming.

Review and Commentary On The Falcon Resurrected By Mark Ellis

Grab It Right Over
HERE

Mark Ellis brings back to life the hero of another generation. The Falcon who was the predecessor to The Saint, Bond, Indiana Jones, and a whole host of other action adventure heroes or at least that how I've seen him described. That's too bad because the 'Falcon' is really his own pulp hero on his own terms. Mostly forgotten except for a few die hard pulp hounds. Micheal Waring is a man on his own terms in a world of pulp intrigue and adventure.
The Falcon was the hero of entire generation with  novels, two movie series, a very long radio drama, and a television series. I've seen Mark Waring described as the ancestor of  The Saint. I don't think so. While he has many of the Saint's qualities and essence. Ellis and his predecessors created 'The Falcon' to be a lone bird of prey hunting his way through history as a lone wolf. He really is his own hero with the look and feel of some one very different then what we've seen before.
Its important to note that the Falcon isn't part of a team or an organization per say, he's a lone wolf operator with some very solid skills and abilities going against some very nasty odds. The action and plot are tight with Ellis's writing weaving the reader in and out of the hero's realm with a solid and steady hand.
The plot goes something like this:
 EVIL RESURRECTED 

The specter of the Third Reich casts a terrifying new shadow when the Brotherhood of The Black Sun resurrects a fanatical dream of world conquest. 

Ruled by a madman with delusions of godhood, the Brotherhood’s ruthless doctrine of mass human sacrifice by nuclear fire counts down to zero hour--but the self-styled Aryan demigod must first recover an ancient artifact that controls the destiny of mankind…and that artifact is in the hands of The Falcon. 

The Falcon has no choice but to walk into an escape-proof trap set by the very megalomaniac he must stop at any cost.

The book blends the pulp sensibilities with the modern ideals of Ellis's writing and takes the reader on a solid journey into the world of the Falcon. Here's a nice little tight exercise in world building and action sewn together with a pulp style plot in one book. The other characters in the book are as well done as one would find on a good television series or movie. A fact that I think that the Falcon would make an excellent old school action adventure film. Something that we haven't seen lately.
The Falcon really makes his novel debut as partial hero and partial man of mystery all wrapped up in a well done unique blend of a hero. The fact that he's going up against Nazi minions of the Black Sun is an added bonus. I loath Nazi with a passion and this a good example of how to do a tightly done novel that introduces the hero and provides the reader with none stop action along with a 'Damsel in Distress' whose not a wet dish rag of a character.
 That's one thing that this story does takes the characters and puts them center stage within the events of their world and does it well. This is never a boring ride. The author knows how to entertain his audience puts them right into the center of action and then pulls them into the world of the Falcon that he creates. 

There will be more of these novels since this one introduces the character and his world. This is a really solid take on revamping a character without treading on the legacy that this one has. 

Personally, I enjoyed this little romp and dip into the world of the Falcon and can't wait for the next action packed adventure to arrive on my doorstep!

Using The Falcon as Fodder For
Your Old School Campaign

In a word don't.  What I mean to say that while the 'Falcon' is a great reinvention of a heart felt and beloved character. Create your own action/adventure hero then introduce him or her to your game table. 

Everything about the Falcon is going to hurt or destroy your old school pulp campaign or not as we'll see below.
PC's are supposed to be the heroes and the lone wolf operator goes against every ideal of an rpg. But there are ways around this. 

The problem with heroes like the Falcon is that they are lone operators are not part of a team. The very essence of a party of adventurers is the party mentality and draw unless your party happens to be a group that follows in the wake of a 'hero.' This is an idea that has occurred to me in long in the past when I was playing Victory Games James Bonds Rpg.
Imagine a group of operatives all working for a group of pulp style heroes under the banner of a 'hero' whose seldom seen let alone encountered. This means that such a group can operate with impunity and on their own terms. 

There have been such organizations before in pulps and rpgs a good example of this was Operator #5 with its twists and turns of alternative armies, histories,etc. The Falcon isn't that all except in the action department which is right up to pulp standards with a modern twist.
The Falcon is a great example of world building on the author's or DM's own terms. I'm intimately familiar with Ellis's world building over the years through his Outlander books, the Adventurers, and a number of other properties that he's done as an author. He's created his own take on the 'Falcon' that makes it clear that in this world such an organization could and possibly does exist. Given the mysterious past of his hero and the threats to the world this isn't out of the realm of pulp possibility.
That's part of the charm and wit of these types of novels they offer fuel and kindling for the DM's imagination at least the good ones and this is one of the good ones. Grab this first novel as a stepping stone into the realm of the Falcon before the next adventure hits the stands. Knowing the pen of Mr.Ellis that's not going to be long at all.