Review & Commentary On The Free OSR Resource - New Big Dragon Games Unlimited Old School Adventures™ Accessory PX2 Extra Planar Primer

Have you ever wanted to take your basic or OD&D parties onto the planes but in the AD&D 1st edition Dungeon Master's Guide only the 'high level' parties got to play there? Need to throw your PC's into the deep end of the multi verse? Well wonder no more because New Big Dragon Games Unlimited Old School Adventures™ has a brand new pdf with everything to jump start your PC's into the deep dimensional morass that is the multiverse. The Planar Primer is seven pages of stripped down easy access nastiness waiting for your PC's to stumble into the astral and beyond.

So Richard LeBlanc Jr has stripped everything down to a usable format for Labyrinth Lord or B/X and made it an easy access for DM who don't have the time to deal with the issues of conversion, reference, and all of the little details that make planar and dimensional travel a headache everything here is boiled down into an easy to use format. Basically this is planar travel without tears and its pretty nifty. The break down is easy to understand and there are some old favorites for magic items even. The planar travel isn't the nightmare its been in the past and the author explains everything out like stereo instructions step by step from set up to plug & play making this a very easy to understand book on the planes. There's a bit of everything laid out in easy understand and plain English. Its pretty much all there for the DM to pick, choose, and use as they see fit.
Everything is laid bare in this book from the basics of plane physics and its effects on magic, to thumbnail sketches of the planes themselves, a quick overview of magick on the planes, a smattering of magic items and diagrams outlining the planes, the ways magic effects them and your PC.
The nice thing about this book is the fact that there's no real emphasis on how to use this pdf, you could easily tack this onto a Mutant Future session as easily as a regular game of B/X Dungeons and Dragons or mix it up. The fact that its free makes this an even more enticing little gaming morsel. There is a ton that can be done with this little pdf, such as grafting onto other campaigns and getting much expanded other dimensional multiverse. The nice thing is the simplicity and functionality of the piece, it makes adventure crafting quite nice in a simple way when a DM doesn't have to reach for the Manual of The Planes. For a short seven pages of old school retroclone fun, this is a damn little useful book. Four out of five, I kinda wish there might have been a bit more of this book but it is free!

1d6 Random Items Left Behind By Warriors & Adventurer's Table For Your Old School Campaigns

There are always items left behind by those who flee from the heavy hands of adventure, circumstance and tyranny during the course of adventures. These items are sometimes mundane, other times they lead into different adventures themselves. Here then is a quick encounter list for such items.

1d6 Random Items Left Behind By Warriors & Adventurer's  Table

1. A beautiful jeweled comb with a symbol for a royal house worked into the design, the artifact is worth 600 gold pieces. 
2. Jeweled short sword +1 with several nicks in it and a jewel missing. Worth 500 gold pieces and a nearby house is looking for the owner. 
3. A jeweled woman's mirror made of silver, bone, and spell glass. The piece allows the owner to use the wizard's eye spell three times per day. Worth over 20,000 gold pieces. A wizard is hunting for the woman that this piece belonged to. 
4. A small round shield and short sword of +2 variety named Heart Taker lay on the ground. The weapons are worth 30000 gold pieces and a local Warlord is looking for the owner to murder him. 
5. A very nice crown of jewel encrusted silver has been ruined because of the notches and knocks in the the piece. Originally worth 30000 gold pieces. There are said to be enchantments keyed to the chosen one who will tame this magic item, only then can its full power be unlocked. 
6. A tablet of jade and ivory upon whose surface is reflected the names of ten thousand kings. This item can act as a summon and speak with dead three times per day. The tablet is worth 10000 gold coins

1d8 Random Weird Western Finds Table For Your Old School Campaigns

There are things that are found along the trail, bits and pieces from other places that seemingly tell a story or lead into another adventure for our heroes. Some of these items don't belong in our world at all. The stuff of nightmares and things talked about campfires. A few of these items are otherworldly or weird, they can make a man question his sanity. Here then are a few items found on the trails that can bedevil or confound adventurers.


1d8 Random Weird Western Finds Table

1. Steamer trunk that contains a family's belongings and a human hand holding a stone knife with tattoos all over the hand. The thing is warm to the touch and seems almost life like. There is a sack of gold coins in the trunk as well, there are twenty two coins. The coins have an odd greenish glow about them. 
2. A child's  doll, the thing is beautifully put together but the eyes of the doll seem to follow you and a peak inside will reveal a small six inch scroll inside of the doll. There is a summoning spell on one side of the scroll and a cure light wounds on the other. There is also an address three miles away from your present location indicating the owner. 
3. A stone tablet with the summon Byakee spell written in Latin on it, the thing is covered in fresh blood and a gang of outlaw/cultists is seeking out the artifact. They'll murder anyone to get it back. 
4. A sack of 12 humanoid skulls wrought with copper and silver wire across the foreheads. Handling these causes the owner to go dizzy and weird. PC's names are written on four of them. 
5. A quartz knife with fresh ichor and bile is buried in a corpse that lays on the side of the trail. The thing is so badly decomposed that your not sure if its even human. There are however several pieces of jewelry on the thing worth a total of 500 gold pieces including a wedding ring, earrings, and a man's bracelet. 
6. A small silver whistle on a silver chain, blowing it produces no sound but it will summon an elemental demon of the air. There are protective sigils on the whistle.  But the demon will try to rip the summoner apart. 
7. A jade box containing eight stone circle carvings with astronomical signs and symbols on them. A presence seems to follow the owner, and just out of the corner of your eye you can see the outline of a presence. A dimensional shambler tracks these objects and seeks to take them and the owner back to dimensional zone. 
8. A three foot long carved tablet depicts an ancient sea monster and the writing is a summon spell for a horrid aspect of Thulu. A local cult wants the thing back and will murder for it.
   
   
   

The New Hateful Eight Movie By Quentin Tarantino As Old West Campaign Inspiration

What do you get with a gang of Old West hooligans right in the middle of an isolated adventure location out in the middle of nowhere squared with bloodshed and violence on their minds? Well you get is the film the Hateful Eight by Quentin Tarantino. We got the extended trailer today and it looks like a nasty piece of work.



So at some point today the new version of the Hateful Eight film trailer surfaced and I've been all over this film like stink on a corpse. There are some great reasons to be excited by this film. An all star cast is one of the first reasons, this is the second Western that features some fantastic images. The plot is straight out of a Sixties pulp Western film. But what does this film have to do Weird West role playing? Everything kids, everything in a nutshell. The Synopsis goes into a bit of the details of the film.

Synopsis:

In THE HATEFUL EIGHT, set six or eight or twelve years after the Civil War, a stagecoach hurtles through the wintry Wyoming landscape. The passengers, bounty hunter John Ruth (Russell) and his fugitive Daisy Domergue (Leigh), race towards the town of Red Rock where Ruth, known in these parts as “The Hangman,” will bring Domergue to justice. Along the road, they encounter two strangers: Major Marquis Warren (Jackson), a black former union soldier turned infamous bounty hunter, and Chris Mannix (Goggins), a southern renegade who claims to be the town’s new Sheriff. Losing their lead on the blizzard, Ruth, Domergue, Warren and Mannix seek refuge at Minnie's Haberdashery, a stagecoach stopover on a mountain pass. When they arrive at Minnie’s, they are greeted not by the proprietor but by four unfamiliar faces. Bob (Bichir), who’s taking care of Minnie’s while she’s visiting her mother, is holed up with Oswaldo Mobray (Roth), the hangman of Red Rock, cow-puncher Joe Gage (Madsen), and Confederate General Sanford Smithers (Dern). As the storm overtakes the mountainside stopover, our eight travelers come to learn they may not make it to Red Rock after all…
Basically you've got a ready made movie to drop your own party of adventurers & desperadoes right into the thick of events and things happening.

What the Hateful Eight signals is the return of the pulp Western to the screens of movie theaters at a time when this genre needs a shot in the arm. This also means that people are going to be moving back into the Western role playing game. One of the simplest and easiest old school TSR to pick up was Boot Hill.



So basically everything you could want in a fast pick up old school Western adventure is loaded right into the front end of this movie. You've got a complete set of vile NPC characters waiting on cash and desecration in the middle of all of it is a great motivator for a mini campaign set against the events of something like this film's plot. This doesn't have to be a very complicated game adventure at all or rather it can be. The events and motives of the NPC's are outlined and then spun into play as the session plays out. Now when it comes to adding in more background to your favorite PC's? Well, AD&D first edition has always been a popular choice or you can go with for background. Or select one of the other fantastic games and retroclones I've outlined in this article HERE  .Now that being said, the Hill Canton's blog has some great resources for fast packing a group of NPC's or adventurers in the Old West very quickly with some killer tables that he had worked out. He also worked up a points system which could easily apply to this style of game. This poster below  for the film reminds me of something completely different though.



Now back to the movie for a second this sort of a film's plot has the potential for another completely off the wall style of adventure. Yes I'm actually thinking of the 1982 film the Thing. Eight people out in the middle of an isolated location caught in a blizzard and now combined it with Gamma World 1st or 2nd edition, you've got another adventure all together.

So already I'm saving my pennies and looking forward to seeing this little charming piece of the old ultra violence. Maybe its the snow and the location, the cast, and fact the Kurt Russell is in this one. But man I'm excited to see what we're in store for.

Review & Commentary on 100 Oddities for a Graveyard From Skirmisher Publishing For Your Old School Campaigns

 100 Oddities for a Graveyard From Skirmisher Publishing is a great ten page pdf of adventure location and adventure setting dressing for your adventures. This book is system agnostic and will fit just about any game system and this is a good pdf to acquire for both modern and old school systems. But is it actually useful for the gaming table? Well let's dive into this book
GRAB IT RIGHT OVER HERE

Basically 100 Oddities for a Graveyard is a series of random d100 charts that can add interesting game adventure elements to an adventure location. This enables with a toss of the dice a DM to add in a whole evening's encounters for a game.


Graveyards have always been the domain of horror films and survival horror adventures, but this book gives a ton of interesting side bits to sneak into an adventure. This includes the exploding dice principle rule -
One final thing: Oddities for a Graveyard employs a dice rolling sub-system often referred to as “Exploding
Dice.” In this sub-system, a die that rolls the maximum value possible [i.e. a 6 on a d6] is rolled again, and the new value is added to the previous total. This continues until a value other than the maximum is rolled. So, you might roll a d8 and get 8, then roll again, get another 8, and then, on a third roll, get a 3. You would then stop and total the results, in this case a 19 [8+8+3].
When we are referring to an exploding die roll, you will see a lower case “x” after the die notation, as in
“d10x.”
With some of the encounters this adds an element of weirdness and some horror to some of the results. But on the whole the book provides a whole host of adventure elements that can change up a rather mundane romp through a grave yard location. An example of what you'll find in this book includes the following:
"An arch of stone creating a portal over the head of a grave. Directly over the top of the arch,
the stones frame a circular hole. Local legend recounts varying tales of what happens when someone stands on the grave and gazes upon the moon or sun through the hole over the arch; stories of mystical portals, visitors from other realms, glimpses of the future or the past, or a departed love one are but a few."
The graveyard isn't usually the first adventure location that leaps to a DM's mind but this book basically provides all of the weirdness that you want to be inserted right into the back end of their campaigns with little issue. For a dollar this is a pretty solid investment for any new or old school gaming system. William Thresher's artwork adds a sense of whimsy and weirdness to the book.  Don't let my comment fool you there's enough here to keep even a group of Call of Cthulhu investigators guessing at least for a night or two.

Is this the beginning to an opportunity to adventure or your PC's demise?

This is one of the places that this book excels at keeping adventure encounters moving so that you can get to the heart and soul of your grave yard adventure location. There are other places that 100 Oddities for a Graveyard could be used.
Personally, I'd use this book with a mix of post apocalyptic and straight up dark  fantasy, many of the encounters and ideas in 100 Oddities for a Graveyard lend themselves to a mix of games. For me this would be a mix of Mutant Future and Labyrinth Lord Advanced. The PC's stumbling onto a post apocalyptic graveyard adventure location could easily support the material in this ten page pdf. With a toss of the dice a DM could dress different parts of an adventure location quite easily. This book can add a sense of the epic and weird to a simple romp through a grave yard. Seriously there's some great encounters to unleash on players and their PC's. Do I think that its worth the download price? Yes I do indeed! Many of the encounters sound like they'd be perfect to add into a Phantasm movie like campaign.The idea of outdoor crawling among the grave stones is pretty appealing for a post apocalyptic or more modern survival horror style of game.  A sprinkling of undead, ghosts, or your favorite post apocalyptic horrors and your ready to go.


There's more then enough of an adventure construction and encounter kit to outfit a gang of adventurer's with a mini campaign or two. The adventure elements are well done in such a way that you can take this book as a simple stepping stone or a fully realized night of dungeon crawling through a cemetery.

1d6 Random Shields of Legend Table For Your Old School Campaigns

There are ancient shields of battle and valor that lay hidden in the sands of Accursed Atlantis, these relics were the stuff of kings of old. And they sometimes are passed from hand to hand when found in ancient ruins. These time haunt relics are handed down over generations of warriors and serve as a reminder that we are but stewards  of history and might. Here then are six shields of myth and legend laying in wait for adventurers.


1d6 Random Shields of Legend Encounter Table

1. Caegurathin's Protection - This shield was created from a demon warrior's hide and bleeds when its owner is in danger. The thing will ripple with pride and protect each time it takes a blow and once per day can create a spell like effect the same as a fear spell. The rivets of the shield act as a protection from minor curses. 
2. Irurnguaulia has been formed from the raw parts of a salamander's skin and gives its owner immunity to fire and minor magick flames. Once per day the owner may cause his hands to burst into magical flame that does +3 to any melee attacks. The shield will also rattle against its owner in the presence of undead. 
3. Naturcharimau Bane - This shield has been created from the inner core of a branch of the world tree. The shield acts as protection against some minor demonic entities and resists magicks cast by those of half demon blood. Naturcharimau was a black wizard who turned on this master's servants in order to create a means of protection. His king inherited the shield but there are rumors that its most impressive magical secrets were lost with the death of its owner and maker. 
4. Wenglingo has been created from the bones and skin of a murderer, a man mutated by the power of the Great Old One the Cold Walker. This warrior betrayed his king and for his betrayal, he was flayed and turned into this shield to protect the king's son from the power of the horrid god thing. This shield resists cold, frost, and even White Dragon's breath but it enables its owner to detect agents of the Cold Walker in whatever guises they wear. The owner may cast a cold bolt spell three times per day as if it was a magick scroll. 
5. Ugongort is able to resist almost any blade because this shield has been created from the souls of its makers and the wizards who over saw its creation. The Ugongort people knew they were doomed and forged their own souls into a shield that could resist the power of the Old Ones. The owner of this shield gains a +2 on all saves against the works of those god things and their magicks. 
6. Oturiturin was forged when the world was young and its last incarnation was ending. This shield allows a mage or wizard to pass into the other world twice per day when they sit in it. It is also resistance to other planar spells and devices giving a +3 to device saving throws.

1d6 Deep Badlands Weird Western Encounters Table For Your Old School Campaigns

There are horrors in the hills on the trails into the badlands, places where civilization stops and hell begins. Monsters see these places as prime opportunities to grab a meal and adventurer. The wilderness is a weird and dangerous place with all kinds of horrors waiting around the next bend in the trail. Adventurers have to rely on themselves, their skills, tools and weapons to survive both the elements as well as the monsters.




1d6 Deep Badlands Weird Western Encounters Table

1. A stage coach has had a terrible accident, the bodies have already been looted by a local gang of cut throats and most of the valuables have been stolen except for the strong box. The violence of the accident has created 1d4 ghostly horrors who seek revenge against the living for desiccation of the victim's corpses and the theft of their goods. The ghosts will drain anyone they come across to continue to anchor themselves to this plane. 
2. A dust digger has secreted itself in portion of a rock wall and is feeding on passersby and their horses. Skeletons and remains are spit into the cliffs below. The the thing is able to camouflage itself with the soft rock of the cliff side trails. This thing is a mutation of a standard dust digger and may represent a band new species. 
3. A family of Formorian giants of 1d6 has moved into the area and is feeding off of the cattle, stray ranchers (including hands), and travelers. They've amassed quite a trove of treasure and have secreted it in a nearby cave. The locals Indians hate these things with a passion and are recruiting adventurers and gunmen to hunt and kill these mad bastards. 
4. A hang man tree is picking off lone travelers along the trails and everyone is sure bandits are operating in the area. The thing is very dangerous but careful, it strikes with the speed of a murdering fiend but almost seems to pick and choose its targets. 
5. A school of 1d8 land dwelling rock land lampreys has been preying on travelers and lone strangers along the trails. Bodies found are horridly marked and scarred by these attacks, locals think that this area of the trails are haunted. They are looking to hire adventurer and investigators. 
6. A tribe of 1d10 fungus men have taken to robbing, eating, and murdering travelers because they've recently warped into the area from an other dimensional gate. Already over 10 travelers have gone missing, they've mutated into chaotically evil fiends because of their trip. They have become expert camouflage artists and hide right in plain sight. The locals are convinced that a cult of demon worshipers are operating in the area. 

1d8 Bounty Dogs NPC Encounter Table For Your Old School Campaigns

If your PC's cross the wrong people, destroy the wrong properties, or anger the authorities in too many trail or border towns then a reward is going to be put on your PC's heads and these folks don't stop. Down the trails and onto  the rewards come these unusual bounty dogs ready to collect their rewards.


1d8 Bounty Dogs NPC Encounter Table

1. Julian Otega - The gentleman bounty hunter is a rarity, an adventurer and gun hand with an eye on the money and a bring them in alive attitude to hang. He's a 7th level fighter armed with two Colt Single Action Army revolvers.  and a lever action rifle
   He's familiar with both magick and technology, he's not fazed by ether and only the reward matters to him.
2. 'Hanging Jack Catch em' this 4th level thief is a bout as dangerous as they come, he always needs a shave and a bath. His speed with his revolvers  is only matched by the his knives. He loves to kill to match the dead or alive part of a reward. 
3. Steven Lightning Amor - Steven is a 5th level wizard who uses two wands frost and cold. He also has a staff of stunning that does 3d6 +2 temporary points of  subdual damage. His patron is a god of justice.  He specializes in child murders and missing kids cases for personal reasons. He loves to fill his time with common criminals and bail jumpers between his 'special cases'
4. The Black Fox - A 5th level Elven gun hand and tracker who loves to hunt down genocidal maniacs and murders. He is a added by a third level wizard named Fred. 
5. Stubby Johnson - A fat little man of seemingly innocent face, once an actor whose been possessed by the spirit of a 10 level wizard. The man proved surprisingly willful and has become a fifth level wizard in his own right; he has turned into a rather ruthless and dangerous bounty dog using tactics and magick to bring his prey to  justice. The two inhabit his body in a rather uneasy truce of sorts. 
6. Phase Callahan - Phase is a 5th level thief /tracker who uses a variety of disguises and identities to trace her prey across the plains. She uses daggers,derringers, and a canny intelligence to take down her quarry. 
7. Gentleman Jones Dunnahue - Former secret service agent whose exploits make him the center of attention. Jones uses a vast network of contacts and go betweens to spy on the underworld. He's a 6th level fighter who uses a variety of guns and knives to get the job done. He is on a quest for vengeance against the gang who cost him his job. 
8. Piper Truhold - 5th level cleric and priest of the One Way, this seemingly innocent preacher is actually Michelle Piper who has taken her grand father's identity. She travels through the trails looking for his murderers while tending her rural 'flock'. Her cane is actually a +2 mace of disruption and she uses it often to collect the bounties on the way ward and dangerous. The charges she brings in have 'accidents' so she can collect the reward.
   

1d6 Weird Western Ruins of Terrifying Aspect Table For Your Old School Campaigns

There are adventure locations that call out from the echoes of eternity to lure adventurers into their hideous grasp. Place where the rules of time and space bend to the will of supernatural forces and horrors beyond imagination. These are places where the touch of destiny is merely an echo away and adventurers, fools, and hunters after fortune are drawn into the web of supernatural horror beyond the ken of men. These places act as lures drawing men, mutants, and madmen alike to their doom.
1d6 Weird Western Ruins of  Terrifying Aspect Table

1. Chiaugorodu School House - This is a single room school house from Eighteen hundred or so, the place is semi delapadated but it offers a structure in the wastelands or deserts against the elements.There's always a dust storm or extreme weather around the school house. In another reality, bandits raided this place and slaughtered the occupants. They hid their loot someplace within, the school house was built over a series of ancient underground tunnels and even now a nest of dangerous volts makes its home in the rafters. Below in the tunnels 1d4 coffer corpses await the next series of victims to stumble upon the place. 
2. The Hotel Eldugulkorola is an abandoned hotel that is the home to vicious band of 1d8 mutant cannibals that makes their home in the basement. A statue of an old one has warped the brains of the owners of the place and they can never leave. The power of the statue moves the building throughout space and time randomly appearing across several decades in the same spot. The loot of a hundred tours throughout the ages is also stashed here. 
3. The ruins of St. Orgwentheli - This former church location has been corrupted by the cult of Korothau the butcher a chaos god gory and dangerous aspect. His shadow demons haunt the corners of the church, a treasure of minor artifacts has been placed in the center of the church to draw in fools. This place moves according to the whims of Korothau. Several traps have been placed with the church's confines. 
4. The first bank of Auazgongi - This incredibly formidable structure was once the local cover for the cult of chaos of Valorororcava goddess of murderous silence. There is an alter that was created to honor the violent aspects of this chaos goddess. A hundred skulls have been piled high and a very dangerous demon guards this place. Several piles of minor treasures, relics, and other pieces of gold are scattered in sacred piles waiting to tempt adventurers to their dooms. Jellies and other horrors of a slime nature cover this treasure. 
5. The ruins of Shircal seminary - This was once a mighty clerical training center, the extent of the levels is unknown but many wealthy families donated objects of precious aspect were donated to pay for this site but many have not been cashed in. There are rumors of a hidden treasure in this place. Shadows, horrors, and evil all await the adventurers who brave this place. 
6. Obaulingung's castle - This was an unreal looking building is a custom created wizard's tower but the wizard has long since departed this world. A family of 1d6 fire newt warriors has moved in and they're under the command of a minor lich has taken over some of the undead that live at the lowest levels of the place and has been raiding the nearby country folk. He's amassed a small fortune in jewels, minor artifacts, and a few relic pieces. The rumors of this place lure in the foolish. Many don't return, there is a reward for the safe return of a rancher's daughter. 

1d8 Random Weird Strong Box Contents Table For Your Old School Campaigns

Down through the trails  and roads of the West, stage coaches thunder through passages and around hair pin turns. There have been the occasional mishaps and accidents that have caused coaches, their contents and more to go missing. Here then is a set of random weird contents for stage coaches to confound and cause PC's to become embroiled in the deep end of adventures in the weird West.

1d8 Random Weird Strong Box Contents Table

1. A weird statue of a squat and weird Heathen idol about twelve inches high and weighing in at about 30 pounds of not quite gold. Worth about five hundred dollars to the right collector. The thing is wrapped in butcher paper and its on its way back East to  Miskatonic University  in Arkham Mass. The thing hurts your eyes to look at, a local cult of weirdos is after the thing. 
2. A single edged silver dagger of high quality steel in a small wooden box, the thing is cold and almost seems alive. The dagger is  a +1 weapon and seems to dance just out of the corner of your eye. A doctor back east is waiting for the dagger in New York City. The dagger has a sheath made of some very fine but odd kid leather. Voices and other odd whispering seem to echo around the owner. The dagger is worth 20.00 dollar to the right collector. 
3. A glass jar of dirt with humanoid heart in the thing smells a bit briny. A small cult of outlaws is after this item and will stop at nothing to have it.
4. A single gold coin in a glass bell jar is very odd to look at, one side is defaced and the other contains hundreds of scratching of weird alien signs and symbols on it. The thing grows warm to the touch and there is the feeling of being watched by something after handling it. There is a pound of gold that has gone into the creation of this item. Federal agents are looking for this item while a small band of European spies and assassins is also searching for it. There is a a one hundred dollar reward for it. 
5. A small valuable leather journal is being returned back East to a Mr. Shelton after the death of his brother down in Mexico. The journal contains maps, diagrams, and even a small bone key but the journal also details the interactions between Professor Shelton and clan of degenerate dwarfs and their lost civilization. A gang of outlaws is after this book along with a cabal of European sorcerers and black wizards. They will murder for this item and have including the professor.
6. A single gold bar wrapped in human flesh and sealed within a small box. This bar has six thousand and sixty eight sigils of power on it. There is a cult after it from Juarez Mexico. 
7. A woman's jeweled spider broach has been placed in a box and wrapped in oil cloth, the thing is going back East to a Mrs. Eliot Carver. The thing is representation of the great spider of the Black Pit and the cult wants it back. It has one more secret, a deadly hidden needle contains giant spider venom and any cut from it will cause the target to save vs death or pass on from horrid multiple bleeding wounds from all of the victim's orifices. 
8. A small man's ring with a golden band and a weird jewel whose surface seems to hurt the eyes. A Mr. I.M. Potter owns the ring which is being sent to him. The ring contains 1d6 black magick spells and is being pursued by a pack of ghouls who wish it returned to their king in the Badlands region. The ring is easily worth $ 200 dollars.
   
   

 

1d6 Random Weird Western Encounters Table For Your Old School Campaigns

There are times when planes & dimensions can touch in rare cross rift dimensional anomalies, adventurers can run across all kinds of rivals, horrors, and terrors. Here are a few of the many weird things that adventurers might run across while on the trails.


1d6 Random Weird Western Encounters Table

1. Dune stalker recently summoned by a cult of cannibalistic degenerates now seeking victims after they've been cleared out by local Indian braves. The thing will attack anyone it runs across, it returns to its former master's camp every night at sun down. There is a bit of loot left from sacrifice victims that have been left behind. 1d20 dollars and jewels are buried under the camp stone. 
2. One giant scorpion mutated by planar energies is on a rampage, the mutant horror is taking down any one  that it comes across and is a menace to locals. It hides itself in the sands nearby. 
3. 1d4 hook horrors have recently warped into the area they have established themselves in a local ruin in the nearby foot hills and are eating travelers in the area. 
4. Two headed troll and family of four has come down from the mountains searching for food and is using the local game trails as a foot hold into this country. They've attacked a local rancher and massacred his family. Local Indians are aware of the situation and are seeking help with these horrors. 
5. A pack of 1d8 mutated wolves are attacking local cattle and anyone they come across, these horrors sport 1d4 mutations. They are vicious in the extreme. 
6. A grove of Yellow Musk trees has warped into the area's forest or shrub land. A stage couch, and several settlers families have gone missing and become the Yellow Musk zombies serving the horror. They have begun the process of building a minor temple and have attracted a dark shaman to their cause.

Retro Review - Pulp Western - Silverado (Spectros, #1) by Logan Winters For Your Old School Campaigns

Years ago, I had an opportunity to pick up a bit of the Doctor Spectros pulp western occult series. This is a rip roaring pulpy Western adventure that really does prey on all of the tropes of Western pulps.Everything from the bank robberies, to the vile villain owning the town, the damsel in distress, the bank robbery, etc. its all there. But all is not as it seems because this pulp novel has far more in common with Doc Savage then the tales of the high west. This is really a weird western setting book & the character of  Doctor Spectros is a  throwback to the Thirties Western pulps. The books pull on a number of minor occult/mythological tropes drawn from popculture more then any really historical occult traditions.


  The book is a part of a series of Westerns that came out in the early Eighties, the plot is a boiler that throws the reader into the world of the late Eighteen hundreds someplace in the middle of the imaginary West of yesteryear. As a first piece of fiction in a series this book set's the tone and does a good job at what it is. The plot is like a combination of a Marvel 1970's Dr.Strange comic crossed over with a bit of a Western.

For years and time unknown, the master magician Doctor Spectros has pursued the evil conjurer Blackschuster. Somewhere, sometime, Blackschuster and his savage cohort abducted Spectros' only love, the beautiful Kirstina. They keep her in suspended sleep inside a crystal coffin. Now in the Old West, Spectros is closin in. Accompanying Spectros in his rattling medicine wagon are a slim, handsome gunslinger and ladies' man, Ray Featherskill; a mute giant named Montak; and a timeless eastern Moor, Inkada. There is also Spectros' magnificent, silver-maned stallion, Khamsin.But Blackschuster cleverly eludes them, and Spectros is forced to use his ultimate weapon of wizardry: for short periods of time, Spectros is able to physically change himself into Kid Soledad, the King of all Gunfighters! And the showdown is on!"


There's a ton here to use and raid from Doc's helpers/minions to the mutant freaks that are  Blackschuster's right hands. This isn't a fantastic series, its entertainment pure and simple and would easily fit into an AD&D/Boot Hill crossover or even a Deadlands style world with a bit of work.


What Spectros gets right is a fast set of NPC characters who can easily be inserted into a game setting. The war and rivalry between Spectros & Blackschuster creates ripples in both their minions/helpers this effect can and does drag others into their web  of adventure. This is a quick way to drop PC's right into the middle of a magic mini range war/gun battle between both characters forces. The word here is very low keyed and low powered, there's a ton of unresolved elements that a DM could spin into other more exciting encounters and adventures.
The book series is a mix of pop culture alchemy, occultism, a dash of Orientalism, and cooked over an open flame of Dr. Strange comics.
That's exactly the point of mining Dr. Spectros, the potential here for more then the sum of its parts. So its got plenty of elements  but there are far more things that can be done here with the material if you need a fast resource for a pick up Western game.

OSR Science Fantasy Monsters: The Slave Raiders From Mercury For Your Old School Campaigns

There are alien races out the cosmos who exploit anyone they come across, the raiders from Mercury are a hazard that many adventurers & freebooters have run across. They are a tall spindly race of slavers and raiders who often attack & raid races for any sentients they come across. The raiders are a tall spindly race of beings whose almost comical appearance belies the incredibly dangerous and powerful creatures. The race uses space warps technology, Outer Darkness dimensional rifts  & atomic rocket ships to cross vast distances to procure stock for their interdimensional markets as well as human stock 'products'

The Slave Raiders From Mercury
No Encountered:1d8
Alignment: Chaotic Evil 
Movement: 30 (fly/swim 60)
Dexterity: 12 
Armor Class:2 
Hit Dice: 6+6 
No of Attacks: 4 
Damage: 1d4+3 x4 
Saving Throw: 14 
Morale: 11 
Experience Points : 860 
Treasure Type : Q
Specials: Immune to cold and airless vacuum 
They have a charm spell  like gaze that they can use three times per day
The slavers can cast an extrasensory perception spell three times per day
Once per day the slavers can use a gaze attack as per a fear spell.

 Slavers attack with whip like limbs which can crack bone, slash skin and disrupt organs with internal damage. They are loath to damage merchandise as they see  humans & near human kind. These beings use instead a special stun wand that can sap the will of a target within a 30 yard radius if the victim fails a save vs device check. This weapon can be used six times per day. They can also strike targets with a blast of concentrated power to stun a target for 2d6 +2 points of temporary damage; this attack has a forty yard radius and can be used five times per day.

Slavers are made from an alien weird non terrestrial pseudo organic substance allowing them to survive in the vacuum of outer space. They feed on a wide variety of energy and etheric sources making them almost close to plant like life forms. Slavers do not eat nor sleep as we do and seem to take great delight in the utter misery of their prey. Those taken in raids by the slave raiders are seldom ever seen again, instead they are scattered across the cosmos almost never to see home again.

'Why Halloween Never Ends For A Dungeon Master', Monsters Fit The Season Or Simple Seasonal Monster Ecology For Your Old School Campaigns

Well once again Halloween came and went, the various OSR publishers put out their Halloween themed modules, Drivethru & Rpgnow had their various sales, Lulu had their special codes, and now on to thanks giving. And Halloween is over! Adventurers don't have worry about horror, depravity,etc. Bull crap!


Adventurers should be stocking up on arrows, ammo, waxing their leather armor, and buying new shields. According to mythology and legends, the gates of Hell have opened and the evils of Winter are coming! Winter is the domain of the undead and the very time of survival. This is when adventurers would be employed to rid communities of the the evils that have come home to roost.
These are when the 'big evils' come home to call. Local demon & Chaos cults have opened gateways to the Abyss, and the Summoning spells from Lamentations of the Flame Princes  have been cast by jaded rich nobles. Unique horrors are stalking the old ruins and dead relatives, murderers, and whole host of horrors are stalking the landed gentry. The local villagers and probably entire urban centers as well. Now is the time when the Plague comes to call!

Now is the time when those seasonal monsters are going to come to call on various towns & adventurers. Dust off your old AD&D 1st edition Fiend Folio and grab a selection of those Trolls that you never use and customize the crap out of them with a few random mutations. Then set them loose in areas where they don't normally appear. The reason is simple, the local cults have been cutting deals with Hell and erecting altars to ancient gods that generate entire tribes of crazed monsters from the depths of Fairyland or the Outer Darkness. The hard work is done by James Mishler with his bits and pieces on this subject right over HERE

0e/ Swords & Wizardry Monster Book has a ton of zero edition monsters for Swords & Wizardry or OD&D for free. Very well done and ready to drop into a campaign. So the serene seasons of Fall & Winter fun are perfect to drop in your favorite horrors. Fairy, Fey, and fair folk were often associated with the powers of Hell and that alignment has never really gone away. Baby snatching & switching, horrors of bad luck, incredible journeys into strange fairy lands, and more can easily be trimmed in with this sort of an adventure. For Lamentations of the Flame Princess there's the Pale Lady by Zzarchov Kowolski which has the realm, the minor goddess and some great fairy elements to it. This would probably where an NPC

Enchanter Class for Labyrinth Lord and OSR From Weird Realm Games  might either come in handy or could become a major pain in the neck. This class has lots of potential in either direction. Another issue with the Fey and Fairy is the fact that they often create or tempt men with treasures or artifacts of their own creation, this is the perfect snare to lure and destroy murder hobos by the score.

This peaceful Winter scene is about to be interrupted by monsters of your creation! The perfect opportunity for monster exploitation!

Monsters should be customized and the various monster books, manuals,etc. can serve as templates. Orc,goblins,etc are fine but with a bit of flare monstrous minions can be very memorable and can serve as a bridge gap to get the DM's ideas and points across even during and adventure.


When it comes to menaces for AD&D 1st edition, there are two options on the table there's the Monstrous Tome - Volume One (no images)  and  Monstrous Tome 2 - Book of Beings. 

Winter is the time when serpents and their gods supposedly sleep but in a recent adventure that I played in the god's cult were the real menace. Using Obscene Serpent Ritual by Neoplastic Press  the DM came up with murderous cult operating in an a remote Antarctic location that went on a murderous spree to feed their god. The objects of power the party were after aligned with the extinction of the cult. Several other notable mentions include  The Teratic Tome and of course Lusus Naturae. Both of these tomes provide powerful cult centered objects of worship and depravity that can be the center of a seasonal campaign.

Other issues with monsters is that once a source of food is found, these monsters always seem to exploit them over the long haul. This gives the DM all kinds of options on the table to bring a sense of horror and weirdness to their local adventure and campaign areas. So don't let Halloween be the end to your season of horror! Instead let it be the gate way into a winter of discontent and terror! Remember snows conceal bodies, blood freezes, and corpses make great dungeon or ruin set pieces.

Third Wave OSR Western Retroclones, Boot Hill, & The Return of the Pulp Western For Your Old School Campaigns

I have a keen interest in post apocalyptic gaming as anyone who reads this blog well knows.The crossover point is of course the Western. The sweet spot are three areas the pulp western, dark fantasy western, and the horror western mixed in with a fair dose of science fantasy.  And lately I've been paying very close attention to the re emergence of the Western rpg in OSR circles because of certain writers in the OSR. Namely the retroclone Tombstone (Alpha Version) By Corey Walden  which has a ton of potential because of its background as a sort of clone of  Boot Hill third edition with lots tweaks by the author to make it solid. You can get a free play test version of his game right over HERE .

Then of course there's DCC's excellent swords and sorcery six gun fanzine, Black Powder, Black Magic which I've heard nothing but good things about the zine from everyone that's gotten into it. There's a ton of potential for near retroclone crossover potential for Crawling Under A Broken Moon with this other resource for DCC.

What really kicked this off today was Mike 'Wraith of Zombie' Evans writing up a copy of High Noon. Apparently its a weird west style OSR game and it looks really nicely done. Very much in keeping with the DYI mentality of  OD&D style Westerns. According to him there are several PC Classes, "Here are the Weird Classes: Knight of Faith, Shaman, Sorcerer, and Weird Scientist.  Oh and if you want to come back from the dead- well here’s that too." You can find that whole package on his blog right over HERE

There's also the OSRIC retroclone system Revolvers & Wizardry: The Discordant West (MOBI) From Usherwood Publishing  Which has a sort of Weird West playing options for your OSRIC high-fantasy campaign. Basically you can bring clerics, magic users, rangers and thieves to the wild west to face off in showdowns against minotaur cowboys, half-gnoll NPCs or even against the likes of the notorious Jesse James.

There is also the free retroclone system called Go For Your Gun which is one of my favorite Western systems. This system has eleven character classes and some of the better put together systems. This is a great system to play with. Lots of fun and very pulpy material in the game. Did I mention this is free.



Ok, my own experiences with Western old school rpgs goes back to Boot Hill 2nd edition which I became roped into by friends & family. My dad has a keen interest in Westerns and his friends got me involved & taught me the crossover potential with all of the other AD&D 1st edition games. I was late to the party on this game but we played the hell out of this game. Nothing was safe from the group I was involved in, Gamma World, AD&D, & Boot Hill blended together especially with the material from early Dragon Magazine. To say nothing of Metamorphosis Alpha 1st edition.

The intro is what got me interested in the game,
"You step from the cool shade of the Long Branch Saloon into the midday heat of Promise City. Loosening your Colt in its bolster, you look down Main Street and spot the leather and denim-clad stranger who called you out. Citizens of the town scramble for cover as they sense the forthcoming battle. The outlaw doesn't look fast enough to match your draw, but... wait! Your keen eyes catch the unmistakable glint of the sun against gun metal from the roof of the dance hall - the yellow coward has a buddy who's going to shoot you in the back! What will you do? Think fast, or you'll be the next resident of... BOOT HILL!" The Lost Conquistador mine became part of the underworld that connected to any number of campaigns for me over the years. We've used this module again & again to connect with various game worlds over the years.

Today Trey of Dream's From The Sorcerer's Skull fame  has put up a review of the new Kurt Russell movie Bone Tomahawk and has begun to tick off my Western bug again. This is a very vicious and yet entertaining film according to friends who have seen it. This is probably the Western horror film that would lend itself to a Lamentations of the Flame Princess adventure.


So for me this film signals the return to the pulp Western into the mainstream and I have to think we're going to see a ton of new Western retroclones into the wild. I have to say that I'm curious to see what comes down the pike. There are some other great Westerns that I've seen coming down into the mainstream. I now can't wait to see this one!

1d6 Random Encounters With The Underworld Table For Your Old School Campaigns

The Underworld is where the souls of the ancients go after death, it is also a dimensional prison of incredible proportions. The place was once the domain of the King of the Dead, Hades but has become a dimensional dumping ground for demons, lost souls who have not made to higher realms, and monsters whose time on Earth is long past but still remains dangerous, ancient forgotten temple ruins to forgotten gods taken from the sight of man, and the ruins of long vanished & forgotten cities. Should these monsters of the underworld make their way back to Earth, they can and will break reality within a 1d20 mile radius. These are cold dark, threatening hells lit with the occasional fire of the damned. According to wiki; It was considered the dark counterpart to the brightness of Mount Olympus, and was the kingdom of the dead that corresponded to the kingdom of the gods.It is a place that holds the ruins of the cities of man that have fallen to his hand on alternative worlds, the souls of ancient gods who have fallen during the wars with the titans, and many other horrors undreamed of by mortal men. Clerics of the dark aspect of Hades gain +1 on strength and a +2 on wisdom in his divine favor but have access to black wizard spells. At fourth level clerics gain some of the weaknesses of undeath.



  The realm of the Underworld is exceedingly deadly & dangerous any portion of the world of the living exposed to its 'death energies' may go barren with a 1d20 area. Nothing will grow in these areas unless a cleric of a natural god makes an appropriate sacrifice, a grove of druids draw on the good favor of the spirits of the area, or an agent of neutrality calls down the favors of his patrons.

1d6 Random Encounters With The Underworld Table

1. 1d8 Wraiths of the damned, these undead souls are looking for suitable vessels to possess and return to the world of the living. These monsters will be very hard to remove from their victims and dangerous to the living on many levels. 
2. Imagormmitulli The Dark Keepers - These spirits are the horrors that feed on the sins of others and draw the 'strength' of the dead from them. They act as ghosts but will sap 1d10 years from a victim's life. They look as skeletal horrors drawn from their victim's fears taking the form of dead relatives or beloved former lovers. 
3. Moriangorgl are hags to deal in the dreams and nightmares of the dead, trading and feeding on mortal souls in exchange for dreams and illusions of sex,love, lust, success, and horror. They draw the souls of  mortals from their bodies on a successful attack unless the victim saves vs death. The Moriangorgl claws leave tell tale marks on the flesh of the living. 
4. Halkoragwelkob forged from the souls of the violent and hardened fighters who have turned into murderers these monsters stalk, hunt, and kill the enemies of the temples of Hades. They care a cold fired blade that causes 4d6 +2 points of damage to their victims as the blade pierces flesh and soul. They count as zombies otherwise. They drag the souls of their victims off and come back to feed on the flesh. 
5. Shaurdrororcai are lust feeders who chew upon the flesh of the living even as they attack with waves of orgasmic spells to overwhelm the senses of the victims. They appear as filth laden vermin but cast the illusion of perfect male or female specimens to lure in their prey. The Shaurdrororcai often exit into the world of the living and can appear in daylight after consuming the souls of elders or wise men for 1d4 days. But these illusions are temporary and they will burn quickly and fast when exposed to sunlight. They have stats similar to wights but use a touch attack that drains 1d4 points of constitution from their victims.
6. Narorogweg are violent temple victims, those who have perished while cursing the name of the gods. They are drawn into the webs of the underworld and remade into alien things to slay those who trespass into the realms of the dead. They are faceless skeleton things with burial shrouds and claws of iron that do 2d6 +1 points of damage, their touch carries diseases of a sorcerous nature and the love to possess the living to see sunlight and the warmth of flesh. But their murderous impulses will drive them to murder and violence. These horrors are dangerous and fight as skeletons but will reform in two rounds if 'destroyed' unless their remains are  blessed by a cleric.