U3 The Final Enemy (1e) Notes & Commentary

"At last! An opportunity to avert the threat to the little town of Saltmarsh! The real enemies have been identified - evil, cruel creatures, massed in force and viciously organized. Can the brave adventurers thwart this evil and ensure the safety of Saltmarsh?" So this is it! The enemies of Salt Marsh have been revealed and its time to put sword & sorcery to the test! Well, yes but hold on folks.  U3 The Final Enemy isn't your typical Eighty three AD&D adventure.
"The Final Enemy is an adventure module for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) fantasy roleplaying game written by Dave Browne with Don Turnbull^[1] set in the World of Greyhawk campaign setting." "



What the Final Enemy really is a rollicking forty eight page sword & sorcery raid on the lairs of the Deep Ones that actually parallels  Lovecraft's novella "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" (1931) & the military style raid on the town. The Final Enemy is designed for a group of 8-12 characters of levels 3-5,  a further thirty NPC's join the party if all of the other adventures in the Saltmarsh trilogy came off with out a hitch.


"DURING the winter of 1927-28 officials of the Federal government made a strange and secret investigation of certain conditions in the ancient Massachusetts seaport of Innsmouth. The public first learned of it in February, when a vast series of raids and arrests occurred, followed by the deliberate burning and dynamiting—under suitable precautions—of an enormous number of crumbling, worm-eaten, and supposedly empty houses along the abandoned waterfront. Uninquiring souls let this occurrence pass as one of the major clashes in a spasmodic war on liquor.

Keener news-followers, however, wondered at the prodigious number of arrests, the abnormally large force of men used in making them, and the secrecy surrounding the disposal of the prisoners. No trials, or even definite charges were reported; nor were any of the captives seen thereafter in the regular gaols of the nation. There were vague statements about disease and concentration camps, and later about dispersal in various naval and military prisons, but nothing positive ever developed. Innsmouth itself was left almost depopulated, and it is even now only beginning to show signs of a sluggishly revived existence.

Complaints from many liberal organizations were met with long confidential discussions, and representatives were taken on trips to certain camps and prisons. As a result, these societies became surprisingly passive and reticent. Newspaper men were harder to manage, but seemed largely to cooperate with the government in the end. Only one paper—a tabloid always discounted because of its wild policy—mentioned the deep diving submarine that discharged torpedoes downward in the marine abyss just beyond Devil Reef. That item, gathered by chance in a haunt of sailors, seemed indeed rather far-fetched; since the low, black reef lay a full mile and a half out from Innsmouth Harbour."
The Shadow Over Innsmouth HP Lovecraft 

This isn't light weight adventure material here, this is full throttle old school adventure with the PC's going into the belly of the beast & getting into the upper tier Deep One's temples, dungeons, etc. all upon their own terms. There are going to be PC death & destruction galore.  We get hints about the sort of alien weirdness that PC's will be facing down in this adventure in HP Lovecraft's Dagon.
"I cannot think of the deep sea without shuddering at the nameless things that may at this very moment be crawling and floundering on its slimy bed, worshipping their ancient stone idols and carving their own detestable likenesses on submarine obelisks of water-soaked granite. I dream of a day when they may rise above the billows to drag down in their reeking talons the remnants of puny, war-exhausted mankind --of a day when the land shall sink, and the dark ocean floor shall ascend amidst universal pandemonium"
This adventure is blood soaked war underwater in the lair of one of the most dangerous & insidious races in the Lovecraft mythos.



The Atlanteans in Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea are parodies of the full blooded and immortal Deep Ones that the PC's are going to facing in this adventure. Not only are these creatures incredibly dangerous but the U series had a grim and nasty streak that suited the climate of this underwater adventure location. The real problem becomes the fact that once the PC's have completed the 'U' series of adventures they might not be allowed to live. The Esoteric Order of Dagon's threat is going be fully evident to these adventurers and this is going to line up with events of The Mystery At Port Greely for AS&SH. The adventurers will be veterans & might need to hire other adventurers as stand ins or seconds to handle the threat of the Deep Ones.
"men—at least, a certain sort of men; though the creatures were shown disporting like fishes in the waters of some marine grotto, or paying homage at some monolithic shrine which appeared to be under the waves as well... [T]hey were damnably human in general outline despite webbed hands and feet, shockingly wide and flabby lips, glassy, bulging eyes, and other features less pleasant to recall. Curiously enough, they seemed to have been chiseled badly out of proportion with their scenic background; for one of the creatures was shown in the act of killing a whale represented as but little larger than himself"
HP Lovecraft Dagon

U3 The Final Enemy has some incredibly evocative and iconic monsters, encounters, and strange NPC's that can still surprise jaded players of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. This is one of the other strengths of the U series, that no matter how many times you play it there is more going on under the hood then most folks expect and its different every time. U3 The Final Enemy isn't the end of the threat its only the beginning as the PC's can then branch off into the 'D' series after The Mystery At Port Greely. The Descent Into The Depths of the Earth offers exploration into the more dangerous aspects an Underborea with a little work could make things very pulpy & really horrid for PC's. So if you've completed the 'U' series count those coins, spend your experience, & get ready for the real danger!

There are a few things that the 'U' series does for PC's and U3 The Final Enemy has that old school feel in spades:

1. The Final Enemy takes PC's into the aquatic heart and soul of an alien underwater dungeon Hell & shows the inhuman heart of the 'U' series. A watery death awaits the stupid but riches & possible retirement await the survivors. 
2. From first to the upper ranks of experience The Final Enemy gives PC's the chance to wrap up an adventuring career or take their old school gaming to the next level. 
3. This is a thinking man's dungeon even with all of the action,planning, caution and forethought are going to get you further then hack and slash 
4. There are a number of adventure threads that can take the PC's  into lots of possible campaign directions.
5.  Mythos action abounds here with all kinds weird adventure weaving if the DM wants to put in the time and work to make this happen. 
6. The U series is one of the best of the old school adventure arches & gives a blue print for DM's to run plot and adventure heavy campaigns in the old school tradition.  
7. U3 The Final Enemy shows the extent and insidiousness of the monsters of D&D, how to use them, & create a web of intrigue that forms the foundation of a successful campaign. A formula that can be used over and over with great success if the DM varies it even a little from time to time. 
8. There is plenty for all the old school classes to do in these modules. This is something to keep in mind when designing adventures.
9. The PC's are the rock stars in the Final Enemy & U3 puts them center stage for the events. 
10. The Final Enemy get's the PC's up the level ladder & ready to face down the threats of other modules and does it in old school style. This one of the reasons why the 'U' series is one of my favorites.   

1d6 Random Undead Guardian Encounter Table For Your Old School Campaigns

Before the fall of Atlantis these spirits guarded treasures undreamt of, their charges remain as their spirits do as well. They are insane, angry, & very dangerous. These spirits have incredible energy as well as patience for exacting revenge against transgresses & fools who waste their time. Those that steal from them can expect a slow & steady revenge as they take their time stalking, torturing, & killing adventurers.


"Phantom and fiend and sorceror
Shall serve me...till my term shall pass,
And I become no more, alas,
Than a frail shadow on the glass
Before some latter conjurer."
Song of the Necromancer Clark Ashton Smith

These spirits are most often completely insane having survived the destruction of their homeland & their afterlife has become a literal Hell upon a bound Earth. The treasures that they guard will be worth at least a thousand or better gold pieces. These insane spirits will count as ghosts from the 1st edition AD&D Monster Manual or specters. They will be extremely dangerous & capable of inflicting a curse ala the spell upon those that steal from them. At the new moon they will manifest as fearsome parody of what or who they were in life. 

Medieval ghost by Gallowglass

These spirits will murder anyone who takes their treasures or charges in the most spectacular way possible to serve as a warning to others. There are certain forbidden spells that are capable of creating such spirits but most of these rites have been lost to history with the sinking of Atlantis beneath the waves.

1d6 Random Undead Guardian Encounter Table

1. A ghostly queen whose spirit is wrapped around a pure white/green jade toroise worth over 20,000 gold pieces. She mourns for the spirits of those who steal this piece for she must rip them into shreds. There are seventy five other spirits which she can call from the underworld to help guard her treasure from fabled Atlantis. These spirits may manifest as rotted 2nd level fighters. 
2. This solid gold chest contains the spirit of a lost priest whose so old that it has forgotten its original identity. The thing now serves the giant fist sized glowing jewel worth 6000 gold pieces which beats with the internal fires of its ancient masters. The ghost's eyes keep time with the jewel and it has a habit of sharpening its claws on women's backs. 
3. A solid crystal wand of jet and green fire crystals worth two thousand gold pieces is guarded by the demonic ghost of a prince who was murdered by his own sword. He is doomed to guard this wand until the necromancer who bound him comes to give him his leave at the end of days. 
4. This giant skeleton spirit is bound to this crown of old red gold & jewels worth 40000 gold pieces because of its blood soaked history. The skeleton manifests right outside of the vision of normal people and tears bloody chunks from thieves. It loathes necromancers and has been known to manifest just to murder them within twenty or thirty feet of its treasure. 
5. The spirit of a mad priest guard's a black ring  of jet and gold that holds the royal spirits of two ancient lovers. The priest must allow them to pass from this life but to do so a quest must be made in their name. Anyone picking up this ring will have a geas placed upon them unless a save vs wands is made. The priest kills to relieve its boredom & angst. It loves to tear the hearts from its victims and collect's eyes for fun. 
6. This crystal & gold vase contains the spirits of two lovers who manifest as twin phantoms when this vase worth 50000 gold pieces is disturbed. The vase also contains the remains of an ancient wizard who will teach a worthy pupil two levels of black magick. The twin spirits love to torture those who would steal this ancient treasure of Atlantis.

Five Terribe Cultclassic Eghties Sword, Sorcery, & Science Fantasy Films That We Love

If your into Sword & Sorcery flicks there's a certain how shall we say this level that the gets crossed right after 1985's Red Sonja film.



In the desperate quest to find films that the players haven't heard of there was a line that used to get crossed by old school dungeon masters who came into the video store I worked in back in the 90's in Boston. Those poor desperate souls who went searching to the far shores of Europe & Italy for there sword & sorcery fare. The Italians God bless their hearts made some of the most cheese ball films in the Sixties, Seventies, & Eighties. They did it with gusto but beware these are relics of a lost age that should not be sought out by the weak of heart. There's always been that cross point between science fantasy & post apocalyptic films.
There are flicks that should be classified as weapons of mass destruction of celluloid. First up is Yor: The Hunter From The Future which is based on a decent comic book property from Argentina back in 74 by by writer Eugenio Zappietro and artist Juan Zanotto. 

The original Seventy Four graphic novel series shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath as the 83 film. Sorry but even though Yor has a cult following, its still a wholly separate entity from the '74 comic series. Still the film is by itself in a class all of its own but personally seek out the graphic novels which are far more worth your time.

This next one is has been on the fringes a long time, I'm talking about Hundra  a 1983 Italian-Spanish fantasy film directed by Matt Cimber and starring Laurene Landon. This is one of those Amazon pictures with an incredibly weird history. It's a rollicking good sword & sorcery flick with Amazons front and center. Its got a Ennio Morricone soundtrack worth the price of admission.   

On the flip side of this equation is the post apocalyptic films of , Enzo G. Castellari. Especially his1982 film, 1990: The Bronx Warriors is an Italian film with all of the makings of an old school campaign. Its sort of like Escape From New York on an Italian budget. But its an old favorite of mine & the number of times its been in the VHS player is shameful in my house. Enzo Castellari has been churning out post apocalyptic & grind house exploitation films longer then I've been on Earth. His stuff was always on tap for a more adult Gamma World first & second edition campaign.

The 1990 The Bronx Warriors was followed up with 'Escape From The Bronx'; "A rag-tag group of people must fight extermination squads amid their ruined city.". That's pretty much the entire plot of the film but its really bad/good Eighties fun from '83. These films were recently released by Blue Underground again & number of cult classic video companies a few years ago.In fact there's a great website with a ton of stuff for the fans of these films. 
These might not be great films but they sure were fun. 

Recently I got into an old Eighties title called Wizards of the Lost Kingdom which comes from Eighty five and while it has a horrid IMDB rating was one of those films that seemed be on an endless loop on Cinemax way back when.
"Simon, son of the wizard, must flee when the empire is overthrown by the evil Shurka. Schooled in the arts of magic, he must find the Ring of Magic and the Sword of Power and defeated the wizard who killed his father. He is joined in his quest by  the swordmaster Kor, his faithful creature Gulfax, and the Forest Wizard Hurla."

This might be that lower tier of films that I would use for a Crimson Dragon Slayer 1.1 game campaign. The tongue is firmly planted in cheek with this film. The acting is horrendous, the plot terrible, the special effects are not that special but the whole product would make an excellent campaign.
Each of  these films marks a period in both old school gaming & film making that made people groan but gave us hours of amusement as well as entertainment.

U2 Danger At Dunwater Notes & Commentary

The little fishing town of Saltmarsh is threatened! Why are lizard men gathering force nearby and why have they been buying large quantities of weapons? A party of bold adventurers must answer these questions or the people of Saltmarsh will never live in peace!

Apparently Saltmarsh can't live in peace at all. U2 is one of the most interesting and yet sparse in the U series of modules. "This adventure can be played by 6-10 characters of levels 1-4 &  U2: "Danger at Dunwater" (1982), by Dave J. Browne with development by Don Turnbull, was the second adventure in the "U" series and the third product overall from TSR UK. It appeared in 1982."
This is also one of the most Lovecraftian of the U series & presents a fully stocked module with large-scale maps, full background information, and detailed encounter descriptions for the players and DM all of which can be tweaked by the DM to blend seamlessly into the background of Hyperborea. Clever DM's that I've known have used this module to connect to Underborea & the classic Shrine of the Kuo-Toa by Gary Gygax. This is done through a series of witch cults that have connections to the Deep Ones that have been busy along the coasts with some of the locations from The Mystery at Port Greely

This gives players the backbone of the monster's insidious danger & why the Deep One style cults are some of the most weird foes PC's can come up against. The material here comes from some deep & very sinister place. Danger At Dunwater is the second in the "U' trilogies of adventures and pits the characters into the aftermath of  The Sinister Secret Of Saltmash adventure and meshes right into the front and back adventure plots U1 quite nicely.

This all gives legs to the strangeness that is created by the horror of the HP Lovecraft style "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," adventure locations. U2 Danger At Dunwater has this very desperate feel to the whole affair. Shunned by its neighbors, Innsmouth slowly dies & so does some extent Saltmarsh. There's a tragic air about the place and there's good reason for that. All of it really goes back to Innsmouth.

"Toward the end of the second hour I feared my quart of whiskey would not be enough to produce results, and was wondering whether I had better leave old Zadok and go back for more. Just then, however, chance made the opening which my questions had been unable to make; and the wheezing ancient's rambling took a turn that caused me to lean forward and listen alertly. My back was toward the fishy-smelling sea, but he was facing it and something or other had caused his wandering gaze to light on the low, distant line of Devil Reef, then showing plainly and almost fascinatingly above the waves. The sight seemed to displease him, for he began a series of weak curses which ended in a confidential whisper and a knowing leer. He bent toward me, took hold of my coat lapel, and hissed out some hints that could not be mistaken,
"Thar's whar it all begun—that cursed place of all wickedness whar the deep water starts. Gate o' hell—sheer drop daown to a bottom no saoundin'-line kin tech. Ol' Cap'n Obed done it—him that faound aout more'n was good fer him in the Saouth Sea islands.
"Everybody was in a bad way them days. Trade fallin' off, mills losin' business—even the new ones—an' the best of our menfolks kilt aprivateerin' in the War of 1812 or lost with the Elizy brig an' the Ranger scow—both on 'em Gilman venters. Obed Marsh he had three ships afloat—brigantine Columby, brig Hefty, an' barque Sumatry Queen. He was the only one as kep' on with the East-Injy an' Pacific trade, though Esdras Martin's barkentine Malay Bride made a venter as late as twenty-eight.
"Never was nobody like Cap'n Obed—old limb o' Satan! Heh, heh! I kin mind him a-tellin' abaout furren parts, an' callin' all the folks stupid for goin' to Christian meetin' an' bearin' their burdns meek an' lowly. Says they'd orter git better gods like some o' the folks in the Injies—gods as ud bring 'em good fishin' in return for their sacrifices, an' ud reely answer folks's prayers.
"Matt Eliot his fust mate, talked a lot too, only he was again' folks's doin' any heathen things. Told abaout an island east of Othaheite whar they was a lot o' stone ruins older'n anybody knew anying abaout, kind o' like them on Ponape, in the Carolines, but with carven's of faces that looked like the big statues on Easter Island. Thar was a little volcanic island near thar, too, whar they was other ruins with diff'rent carvin'—ruins all wore away like they'd ben under the sea onct, an' with picters of awful monsters all over 'em.
"Wal, Sir, Matt he says the natives anound thar had all the fish they cud ketch, an' sported bracelets an' armlets an' head rigs made aout o' a queer kind o' gold an' covered with picters o' monsters jest like the ones carved over the ruins on the little island—sorter fish-like frogs or froglike fishes that was drawed in all kinds o' positions likes they was human bein's. Nobody cud get aout o' them whar they got all the stuff, an' all the other natives wondered haow they managed to find fish in plenty even when the very next island had lean pickin's. Matt he got to wonderon' too an' so did Cap'n Obed. Obed he notices, besides, that lots of the hn'some young folks ud drop aout o' sight fer good from year to year, an' that they wan't many old folks around. Also, he thinks some of the folks looked dinned queer even for Kanakys.
"It took Obed to git the truth aout o' them heathen. I dun't know haow he done it, but be begun by tradin' fer the gold-like things they wore. Ast 'em whar they come from, an' ef they cud git more, an' finally wormed the story aout o' the old chief -- Walakea, they called him. Nobody but Obed ud ever a believed the old yeller devil, but the Cap'n cud read folks like they was books. Heh, heh! Nobody never believes me naow when I tell 'em, an' I dun't s'pose you will, young feller—though come to look at ye, ye hev kind o' got them sharp-readin' eyes like Obed had."
The old man's whisper grew fainter, and I found myself shuddering at the terrible and sincere portentousness of his intonation, even though I knew his tale could be nothing but drunken phantasy.
"Wal, Sir, Obed he 'lart that they's things on this arth as most folks never heerd about—an' wouldn't believe ef they did hear. It seems these Kanakys was sacrificin' heaps o' their young men an' maidens to some kind o' god-things that lived under the sea, an' gittin' all kinds o' favour in return. They met the things on the little islet with the queer ruins, an' it seems them awful picters o' frog-fish monsters was supposed to be picters o' these things. Mebbe they was the kind o' critters as got all the mermaid stories an' sech started."

From Lovecraft's popular "The Shadow Over Innsmouth"

There's a bit of investigation, wilderness adventure and a fair amount of dungeon crawling in U2.The town of Saltmarsh itself plays one of the central rolls in Danger At Dunwater and the dungeon master is supposed to flesh this town  adventure setting out for themselves. Now over the years I've heard of friends and other dungeon masters taking the town from The Secret of Bone Hill by  Lenard Lakofka   using it as Saltmarsh and its environs. The adventure in and around the fishing port of Restenford which fits squarely into the plot and details of Danger At Dunwater. There's a very nice little thread about combining these two classics together on Dragon's Foot. Can it be done and should it be? Well that brings in the lizardmen which represents a very real danger to the whole town at a later point.


I've seen players underestimate the lizard men as a faction much later on as the events of the Descent Into the Depths of the Earth kick off and we really get a good look into the workings of the 'real' Hyperborean survivals deep in the bowels of Underborea. This goes back to the fact that Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers can make the 'underdark' far more alien, Lovecraftian, & dangerous  then its been portrayed in certain Forgotten Realms products. The lower ancient  Lovecraft Underborea races want to replace mankind on Hyperborea and take their place is practically spelled out in AS&SH.

The reason why U2 is a perfect module for this because its a low level adventure that puts the PC's center stage in the struggle between the inhuman forces & the one resource that Hyperborea has in spades, humans. The coin of the realm isn't treasure its resources and this is where the human population comes in very handy. From slaves to super science components people make excellent resources! This seems like its in total conflict with the sword & sorcery aesthetic but its not. The PC's are the heroes regardless if they want to be or not. These modules put them in the cross hairs of conflict of the underwater & underworld of this struggle.


This fact can be used to work all of these modules right into the back plot of the Slave Lords modules but we'll find out more about that in tomorrow's blog entry. So let's get back to Danger At Dunwater again. The fact is that Saltmarsh is surrounded on all sides by inhuman factions.



By the time that Danger At Dunwater is over the extent of this weirdness is going to become very evident to the population. I've always felt like Saltmarsh is like one of those isolated Robert Howard style colonial frontier towns that always seem to appear in Howard's pulp stories. A place where the edges of the map are not so clearly defined & perhaps man wasn't meant to go. In Danger At Dunwater the infection goes much deeper and there are reasons why this series is one of the best.

1. The U series takes PC's from first straight up into the middle ranks of character levels if they survive & those survivors are going to be grizzled veterans. 
2. These adventures can be back tied into your own home campaigns & yet they have a ton of flavor. 
3. All of the events of the U series especially Danger At Dunwater can be used as threads to draw in other modules such as including references to events in Port Greely or the Isle of Dread. This gives consistency to the over all campaign setting. 
4. Danger At Dunwater is a deadly adventure and its a thinking man's piece of D&D crawling. Hack & Slash is seldom rewarded in this one. 
5. Its creepy! Danger At Dunwater is a damn creepy adventure and borders on the horrific in many places by placing it in Hypreborea it gains that much more traction. 
6. Timeless - Danger At Dunwater can be set in the Dark Ages or the edge of the Black Powder age and it will work. 
7. Factions - This is one of the main spokes of the U series and the factions are some of the most dangerous ones that PC's will run across in their careers. 
8. Treasure isn't what the U series is really about but adventure & experience. This module is what I refer to as a career builder. 
9. Danger At Dunwater can foreshadow the later events of a campaign when things move into high gear. 
10. Lower PC levels doesn't mean lower quality of module. Danger At Dunwater is a higher quality piece of game design from one of the better teams of writers from the classic TSR era.

U1 The Sinster Secret of Salt Marsh Actual Play Event

Today I got my revenge on Steve & his crew by running them through UK1 The Sinister Secret of Salt Marsh using the Atonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea rpg as the engine for today's game. There was a sword & sorcery feel today's game as the echoes of Port Greely for AS&SH's adventure were scattered through today's events.

So today was U1 Sinister Secret of Saltmash adapted for the Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea first edition game. This module took about ninety percent of my Sunday & I've used the U series of module as the openers for events of the Mystery At Port Greely before.

"The scenario is the first of the Underwater (U) series of modules set in Saltmarsh, and details a ghostly ship and the haunted mansion of an evil alchemist"
I kept the bare bones of the module but we've got weapons being smuggled into Saltmarsh. The legacy of a twisted undead black alchemist with ties to the Lizard Men/Deep Ones being exploited.
"Desolate and abandoned, the evil alchemist's mansion stands alone on the cliff, looking out towards the sea. Mysterious lights and ghostly hauntings have kept away the people of Saltmarsh, despite rumors of fabulous forgotten treasure. What is its sinister secret?"

Today the players found some of the cargo of the Sea Witch was strange & sinister super science relics from a cache of Hyperborean technology from long before the Green Death. There was a map of the Forgotten Fane of The Coiled Goddess adventure in there as well. A hook for a future exploration of that nearby lost fragment of Hyperborea.  So why the Sinister Secret of Salt Marsh? Well,because it has just the RIGHT mix of problem solving and bad-guy fighting. It's also low level enough where the events and ideas of the module can be molded and fitted into the AS&SH mode of play. In today's adventure you've got events being molded through human agents and their witch cults.

The PC's got caught right in the center between the smugglers & the hide out of the witch cult as the connections between the two are pretty tight going all of the way back to the time before the Green Death. The PC know that several ships belonging to the Fishmongers’ Guild have gone missing over the last couple of months. And the the peculiar town of Port Greely was renowned as a prolific exporter of crustaceans but now the  Greely lobster men severed all ties with outside partners. This is all tied in with the background of U1. The fish supply to the capital of Hyperborea in dangerous peril and more violent happenings? This looks like a prime opportunity for the PC's to make some gold pieces & get involved in the events leading up to Danger At Dunwater.

The gritty feel of the adventure, how it handles magic and some of its low level adventure elements are ideally suited for AS&SH. The players managed to get through
The Haunted House and Sea Ghost parts of U1. There were more then few close calls in today's adventure but the whole thing had the air of a set up for events that will be forth coming.
There are a few reasons why U1 The Sinister Secret Of Saltmarsh still works:

1. The fact is that Saltmarsh is flexable & has a complete town that can be fleshed out as the DM desires. 
2. There's a bit of everything from dungeon exploration to some excellent encounters with NPC's. 
3. There are tons of opportunities or DYI D&D adventure with Saltmarsh 
4. You can tailor the monster encounters to suit all kinds of style of campaign adventure play. 
5. Saltmarsh is as much a character in this adventure as any of the NPC's. The place has character that the DM can modify as they see fit. 
6. There are enough twists and turns to keep even experienced players interested. 
7. Dangerous monsters guarding ancient relics but its the humans who are the most dangerous enemies in this one. 
8. Plenty of swashbuckling action if the DM wants it to happen. 
9. Lovecraftian elements are easily inserted into U1 when and where needed in Sinister Secret of Salt Marsh. 
10. Because this is a low level adventure its not one that's going to get away from the dungeon master. This means that the adventure won't get away from the DM. 

"I have an odd craving to whisper about those few frightful hours in that ill-rumoured and evilly shadowed seaport of death and blasphemous abnormality. The mere telling helps me to restore confidence in my own faculties; to reassure myself that I was not simply the first to succumb to a contagious nightmare hallucination. It helps me, too, in making up my mind regarding a certain terrible step which lies ahead of me."
HP Lovecraft The Shadow Over Insmouth.

1d20 Random Unusual Adventure Locations in Underborea Encounter Table

Within Hyperborea there are places that men should not go, these places are rarely visited by adventurers who might live to tell the tale. These adventure locations have their own unique character as well as dangers. Visit these at your own risk my friends.

Deep under Hyperborea there exists another world of adventure, dangerous byways, and other worldly sites of weirdness & deeper strangeness. A world of its own rules, laws, forbidden dangers & much worse the further down into the interior of this ancient place.
"I can picture that party fishing up unhallowed secrets & blasphemous palaeogean artifacts from those monstrous arcades & Cyclopean unlighted crypts."
From A Letter From HP. Lovecraft To  Clark Ashton Smith

"As to the difference in our respective styles or moods—one thing that influences mine is my extreme & lifelong geographic sensitiveness. I have never been tremendously interested in people, but I have a veritably feline interest in & devotion to places. The greater number of my dreams & visions are fantastic syntheses, etherealisations, & rearrangments of the landscape & architectural impressions which impinge on me during waking hours; & during those waking hours there is no pleasure which can compare with the experience of seeing strange old towns & houses & scenic vistas. These things are, & always have been, the most potent stimuli my imagination can possibly encounter; hence they usually form the points of departure for my excursions into the outside cosmic gulfs. Like Gautier "I am one for whom the visible world exists"—though my chief use of the visible world, unlike his, is simply to provide a springboard for leaps into abysses & dimensions forever beyond visibility.

Yr most obt & hble
HPL"

1d20 Random Unusual Locations in Underborea Encounter Table 

1. A strange ancient altar chamber carved out of the rocks itself, this chamber is in the shape of a giant serpent & rhyme with age as the blocks are stacked and carved by smaller then human hands. 
2. The carved stair way where a serpent man whispers weird secrets in the darkness to some unseen presence. There are 1d6 ghosts of alien creatures hovering around him. 
3. A monstrous arcade of stone & carved rock that contains three acres of a hideous black pudding at the center of which is a single penis shaped rock with row after row of alien carvings  
4. Four acres of caverns choked with tons of prehistoric bones & gold nuggets of fist sized under the bones an ancient creature swims through them. 
5.  A giant totem animal carved into a twenty five foot wall in the shape of a seven fingered clawed hand. 
6. A giant skull of some long lost god now a part of the cavern systems the brain of the god forms the ecological network of the caves. Each creature within represents the ego, id, etc. of the god thing. 
7. Four hundred ghosts of aliens long removed from the upper world are here in the underworld going through the motions of living. The caverns, galleries, etc are filled with their perfectly preserved upworld buildings and such. There are tons of relics and unusual finds here. 
8. A Roman galleon crewed by undead sticking out of a chasm wall. 
9. There is a chained demonic ape thing that screams in its cavern for freedom but can't leave for the wizard that summoned it is long dead. The thing will answer any questions put to it but every tenth question it will curse the questioner. It guards a long lost treasure of Hyperborea.
10. A fully formed Hyperborean sky ship is caught in the rock & it still has power but there is an evil alien presence aboard along with 1d20 undead or zombies. 
11. A half demonic gem seller is making its way to nearby serpent men settlement, it has over a thousand enchanted gems but it hates humans with a passion. 
12. This volcanic cavern is the home to over 1d8 fire elemental monsters who forge the chains of the gods. They will welcome a game of riddles but will lop of a limb for any wrong answers but will reward with a gold nugget for right ones. 
13. This place is the home to the black mirror of the Outer Darkness and will open upon several unusually dangerous planes of the Outer Darkness or the Abyss. 
14. Here within this cavern is a perfectly preserved sky scraper from Old Earth with its power still running and the ghosts of its occupants unaware of their fates. There are lots of valuable artifacts here. 
15. This cavern is filled with thousands of zombies embedded in the walls each is a part of an alien hive mind. 
16. A colour out of space makes its home here and has warped the stone walls here with weird radiations and forbidden realities. Anyone entering here will have to save vs death or be warped in and out of the local space time. 
17. This cavern is the home to layer after layer of weird crystals that are actually the mind and memories of an extinct god. Taking any crystals from here will activate the invisible stalker 'white blood vessel' guardians. But each crystal stores 1d8 minor spells of black magic, these crystals are worth 700 gold pieces each. 
18. A strangely wrought temple complex is the home to several minor Great Old Ones who feast upon the reality and flesh of those who enter here. These caverns are rife with the ghosts of their victims, for this place has become a pilgrimage sight for those of demonic worship but they don't understand what they worship. 
19. Here the entire cavern is the fossilized remains of an ancient star god preserved in stone. Its power manifests as phantom ghostly presences and create strange sanity shattering illusions for which this place is sought out for by black druids of the underworld. 
20. A huge vault of stone holds the organs of thousands of Elder Things which form a network of dangerous alien intelligence. Anyone entering here must save vs magic or become connected to this alien bio computer of incredible age. They're mind will be merged here and they may fall over dead as their mind is absorbed. But there are strange crystals that hold thousands of years of knowledge here.

CM1 Test Of The Warlords Hybrid Campaign Actual Play Event Using Adventurer, Conqueror, King

A great game was had in my buddy Steve's on going Adventurer, Conqueror, King/Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea game campaign

This blog entry is a wee bit late for a Saturday because I spent the night on my friend Steve's couch. We had some rather nasty weather hit last night & it got a bit dicey to go home such as it is playing D&D in New England.Anyhow I got involved in Steve's Adventurer, Conqueror, King/D&D B/X hybrid game! It was on his recommendation that I get involved from the player side of the screen! We were playing at the conqueror level embroiled in the events of Test of the Warlord during the establishment of Norwold. The players had already run through Red Arrow/Black Shield X10. So there were six players in last night's event and we were running at Conqueror level. There were six players (each of whom was an experienced DM in their own right) this actually helps & we've know each other for thirty plus years.


So I was the johnny come lately to this hot mess of a campaign. 'The Master' had been defeated & his head was resting on a spike someplace outside on of the cities of the campaign. Steve had used ACK's to create and flesh out the city states, towns, villages, etc. Even though he was using modules such as X10 & CM1the campaign was his own creation. He's drawn it from both existing public domain sword & sorcery fiction, pulp magazines, B/X D&D, & ACK's. Does this formula sound familiar? Anyhow we had six players last night & took on most of the PC aspects in stride but the heart & soul of CM1 Test of the Warlord is the establishment of domains of their own for the players. The regular adventure has a bit of everything some dungeoneering, a bit of war fare, political intrigue, etc.  That part was kept but this bit;

"The fame of the players' heroes have earned them the right and title to run a realm of their own, under the supervision of the king of Norworld, a newly colonized region to the north of Mystara. But even from the start, with all the troubles of establishing your own pockets of civilization in as yet untamed wilderness, Norworld has become the center of attention in the struggle between two old enemies: The sorcerous empire of Alphatia and the war-mongering realm of Thyati"

Yeah that was almost completely gutted & revamped for last night's game using ACK's. While there was still the sorcerer's empire & a warmongering nation both had far weirder twists to them. What we had instead was the sorcerous empire of  Whraru's who had found the ancient war technologies of the Serpent Men. The nation of Tirurs who were the demonic humanoid remains of the 'Master' who were united under a banner of war & conquest. This was an empire of necessity that had its back to the wall & now a black wizard of Lovecraftian aspect had taken over! Oh did I happen to mention the fact that the PC's nation were caught in the middle of all this? Did I also happen to mention that I helped Steve construct this campaign over two years ago with suggestions after I reviewed CM1? 

 Yeah the campaign was constructed using a combination of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea & ACK's. This was done using K Slacker's rules on PC generation & Domains of War.
Bare in mind that this game has been on going for the past two years.
So why CM-1? "Test of the Warlords" also claims that Alphatia is secretly the empire of Atlantis, something that's repeated nowhere else in the literature on the Known World." Yes that's right you have a prime back door to connect the old world of the Known World with the Old Earth of AS&SH 's rules to round out certain aspects of the campaign." The game went very well for the other players! They routed the enemy's strongholds but my PC's fate was far less grandiose. 

So while the thundering clashes of armies happened & PC's were blowing away demonic orc warriors my PC was busy dissolving in a pit of Green Slime. Yeah that's right kids Duke Isenthral The Light of Eternal Wellness died in a pit of Green slime that took rider, horse, and all into it. My PC opened the way for the others to get in the arrow they needed. In other words I had a great time! The players mopped up the resistance they needed. The dice gods were not kind to me.


Will I join again? Perhaps as the son of Duke Isenthral The Light of Eternal Wellness! Who as soon as he puts his father's house in order will be joining his compatriots in the realms of adventure! Yes, I died but I had a great time! 

Review & Commentary On Wreckside District: A Post Apocalypse Setting From Fishwife Games For Your Old School Campaigns

Good morning I've had a lot of time to think about one of the biggest problems with post apocalyptic gaming regardless of old school & retroclone system. I've been playing a lot of Gamma World 1st & 2nd edition lately. But I've used a mutated ton of systems from Mutant Future to Mutant Epoch as well as several of my own creations in addition to enhancing them with Boot Hill & AD&D 1st edition style system. So I know a bit about post apocalptyic gaming and it always seems to come down to location.
Sure the players have crawled through the ruins of Pitzburke in Gamma World, done with the ruins of California in Mutant Epoch, etc. It really becomes a pain in the ass to keep doing research to some location that they've never heard of for scavenging & ruin creation. The internet has made it that much harder. So the other night I asked my friend Dave Woodrum for Wreckside District: A Post Apocalypse Setting From Fishwife Games

So unlike other Fishwife Games in the past this one has a lot of artwork & some really well done professional layout so its easy on the eyes. The gaming  potential here  for all kinds of havoc at the the table. This is a an urban, post apocalyptic setting that can be used as part loot zone & part city state whole hog & dropped into a campaign.
Its system genric & neutral so its a simple matter to drag & drop this right into a campaign even an on going one with a blank spot on the map like I did with my recent Gamma World/Carcosa game.

A City Of Wasted Potential…
Aria stood at the edge of the wasted city and peered off towards its most functioning, but violent, part... Wreckside. The crumbling district was given its name years ago for the salvage yard and multiple garages and towing services that sprung up in the area. Now its name is more fitting for the condition of the district and its desperate inhabitants.
"So why are we are going back to that place again?" Aria questioned her companion, Darius, as she stared at the dimly glowing lights of the distant buildings, proof that at least some of Wreckside's inhabitants enjoyed the rare treat of functioning electricity.
Darius took a swig from a metal flask as he walked away from the acrid smolder of the dying barrel fire. "Supplies. Some special stuff. Electronics and some old notes on building things. I'll know it when I see it."
Aria hated it when Darius wouldn't tell her exactly what they were looking for. Still, though, Darius was renowned by the outskirt settlers as a master scavenger and for keeping his mouth shut about what his employers wanted him to recover. The young woman has learned a lot since Darius took her under his wing a year ago, and the scavenger has always managed to keep her alive in the process.
"So its another one of those jobs, eh? Typical orders from Garrett, don't let the new kid in on the details...", Aria remarked with an obvious bit of disgust in her voice.
"Hey, don't be knocking on Garrett," Darius replied as he checked the contents of his backpack and finished loading rounds into his pistol clip. "The old man is a bit of a creeper, yeah, but he pays well. Plus, we're going to get a pretty big bonus this time if we get back with exactly what he's hoping we'll find."
"Big bonus? What he hopes we'll find?"
"You'll see. Now follow me... quietly. I've been told there's a safer route into the district."There are a couple of minor gripes with Wreckside District, the price measures out to about seven dollars and fifty cents for the pdf & I'd love to have seen a print option for these old eyes of mine. But trying to get a print pdf option for Drivethrrpg & Rpgnow is a huge pain in the arse. Artists also cost money & I was surprised at the amount of artwork in this title. Artists cost. Believe me I totally understand why. You've got a ton of NPC's, gangers, adventure locations, and more built into this. This means that this is a drag & drop product for a campaign. The other thing about Fish Wife Games is the fact that they're a company that seems to fade into the background of the OSR & table top hobby. This means that players are not aware of them as a potential resource for some really nasty post apocalyptic material.

Its a good resource for any of the PA games I mentioned & more. This could even be used for as Cyberpunk 2020 adventure location out in the badlands & no go zones.
The price is right up there with other pdfs so I would wait for a Drivethrurpg sale and possibly a code. But is it worth your time & efforts? Hmm with the district's map that contains over two hundred numbered locations which are each provided individual descriptions and details. This can be a resource to base an entire campaign around.
Now in lots of other reviews I mentioned Domain level play. What the hell is that? Well, when a PC gets to certain level in OD&D such as ninth or higher it was assumed that if they were a fighter they'd build a stronghold, a wizard a tower, a cleric establish a temple or church, etc. This is basically the PC's carving out their own pound of flesh or land in a campaign setting. For some players this is a huge pain in the arse but for old schoolers this was part & parcel of old school campaign settings. This started with OD&D & carried on in B/X with the Companion & Master rules sets.



But what does this have to old school DYI Retro Future campaigns such as Gamma World & the Wreckside District? Actually everything. Many old school post apocalyptic games such as Gamma World all the way to Mutant Epoch have factions or Cryptic Alliances or whatever name such groups are under. In a nut shell this is an extension of kill the mutants, take their stuff and then rule their kingdoms! You & your party are looking for food, shelter, safety for you as well as your community by this blaster you rule! So essentially the Wreckside District provides one more filled in space to explore, exploit, & take over or does it?
Not so fast kids this is a large area of a loot, and scavenging zone. Here's where the horror just might start. If your forces are spread too thin then you just might crash and burn at the end of a laser shot.
So here's ten reasons why Wreckside District is a perfect product of opportunity for your old school post apocalyptic games: 

1. This is a system neutral product so drag & drop it into your favorite old school or retroclone rpg systems. 
2. Exploit and expand the NPC's, adventure  hooks, etc. as you the DM see fit. 
3. Situate & expand on some of the adventure locations for later post apocalyptic adventures.  
4. Deal with the gangs that are in Wreckside in your own adventures to dove tail them back into bringing the PC's into the adventure location. 
5. Cut, spin, and multilate the Wreckside District as you need to. You are not going to break this one. 
6. Place artifacts and relics from your home campaign where you want them to hook the PC's into the campaign within Wreckside 
7. Kill off a few major NPC's to provide adventure opportunities and for expansion of the PC's as possible rulers 
8. Use Wreckside as a potential take over point for one of the campaign's major big bads 
9. Port over your D&D style adventurers or cowboys for even more weirdness 
10. Have your favorite Drive in film classic Atomic age monster threaten The Wreckside District. 

The Wreckside District
is available right over here but I'd wait till Drivethrurpg has a sale!

Price Drop Note -Dave had read the review and commentary so he dropped the price folks!
"I'm taking note about the price point and have decided to drop it- I actually struggled with that before I decided on the $7.50, and have kinda regretted it since. As such, I'm going to stick a sale price on it immediately and drop it back to around $5."