Review & OSR Commentary On AC10 Bestiary of Dragons & Giants By Various TSR Staff For Your Old School Basic D&D Campaign

"Red dragons. Storm giants. Dragon rulers. Frost giants. They're all here, in this book, in complete, ready-to-play mini-adventures. No matter what level your characters are, there is something here for you (and them).

Need a diversion? Want to spice up a long-running campaign? Want to play, but don't have more than an hour or so? This is the book for your gaming group. As DM, you have everything you'll need to play right at your fingertips. As players, you'll have challenges worthy of your characters."




Eight seven was a bit of a rough year for me growing up transitioning in my home town from beloved grade school to high school. But Dungeons & Dragons mania was in full effect then & going into a local 'fundamentalist Christian' grade school/high school may have not been my smartest of moves. Why do I remember this so well? Two reasons the Satanic Panic was in full effect & the Dungeons & Dragons book that I was caught with at my local cavern of "holiness" was AC10 Bestiary of Dragons & Giants.  
This book got me expelled for a week from the high school & was to study the King James Bible for a test when I got back. Going into high school I knew the King James front to back already having been exposed to it for years by ex hippy parents. But AC10 Bestiary of Dragons & Giants is not a bestiary at all as I learned on my forced school vacation. Instead its another series of short old school adventures by a whose who of old school writers & designers. The list of authors was/is a whose who of TSR staff writers & designers from '87 James M. Ward, Bruce Heard, Scott Bennie, Bob Blake, Deborah Christian, Vince Garcia, Thomas Kane, John Nephew, Steve Perrin, Warren Spector, Caroline Spector,Rick Swan, John Terra, Gary Thomas, & Ray Winninger


So what is the AC10 Bestiary of Dragons & Giants book?
Its actually a well written series of anthology adventures connected by stringing together use of Dragons & Giants. Yes,Mayfair games had been doing similar monster ecology/adventure themed books around this same time. But these were officially lisenienced Basic Dungeons & Dragons adventures centered around   the cloud giant, fire giant, frost giant, mountain giant, stone giant, and storm giant as well as the black dragon, green dragon, red dragon, and white dragon, plus the ruby dragon & Opal the Sun Dragon! These adventures were meant to be run at the drop of a hat when you've got fifteen minutes before the players show up at your door!
AC10 was also another in a series of adventure anthology tittles from TSR in '87 which included B9 Castle Caldwall & Beyond which I covered yesterday on the blog.
AC10 Bestiary of Dragons & Giants has some really major innovations which are mostly forgotten today was the Draconic Spell Generator which according to the Drivethrurpg product entry had a few flaws; " The draconic "Spell Generator". It had to be hand constructed from cardstock sheets, but when it was complete, it could be slid around to randomly generate spells for arcane and divine draconic casters alike.
Unfortunately a major printing error meant that players had to cut out many of the device's spell windows by hand. Despite this issue, this gaming accessory with its actual moving parts was a real innovation for TSR, matched only by the AD&D Fighting Wheel (1981). It was also a nice innovation for the "AC" series, which had already expanded the boundaries of production with its Dragon Tiles." This added a whole other aspect to the already expansive B/X game during this time. But its the monster expansion that really counts here.



There's a secondary type of Mountain giants in AC10 Bestiary of Dragons & Giants that are super dangerous to PC's for the sheer variety of flavors of malice & malevolence that they come in; "Mountain Giants. Since hill giants were one of the earliest D&D giant races, it's only natural that someone asked the question, "But what happens when the hills become mountains?" In fact, Louis Boschelli asked the question first in the Fiend Folio (1981) for AD&D; his creation then became a Citadel miniature in February 1982 as part of their "Fiend Factory" line. This oafish, rock-throwing clod was pretty similar to its hill giant kin.
Basic D&D introduced its own Mountain Giant in Master Rules (1985). This new variant of Mountain Giant wasn't necessarily meant to match its Fiend Folio brethren. It could also throw boulders, but it was bigger and tougher than its AD&D kin. In fact, it could run as high as 20 HD, making it the toughest giant on record."
Yes I'm doing lot of copying & pasting when it comes to AC10 Bestiary of Dragons & Giants but its really interesting & mostly forgotten monster & adventure  book these days. The real innovation was the gem stone dragons & how they relate to the expansive Basic/Expert/B/X cyclopedia dragons;
" The ruby dragon was one of Basic D&D's gemstone dragons. The idea of gem-like dragons also originated in AD&D, as gem dragons; in The Dragon #37 (May 1980), Arthur W. Collins wondered, if chromatic dragons are evil and metal dragons are good, what sorts of dragons are neutral? He then laid out a set of five dragons that answered the question.
The gemstone dragons of Basic D&D again aren't actually the same as the gem dragons of AD&D, in large part because they don't have a natural niche. Instead of being the neutral dragons, they cover the gamut of alignments from lawful through neutral to chaotic. They're mainly intended to trick players, because the five original gemstone dragons look almost exactly like the five chromatic dragons. The Master Rules thus details: crystal, onyx, jade, sapphire, and ruby dragons. A brown dragon in that book (which looks like a gold dragon) later became the amber dragon. The Dragon Rulers of Basic D&D are apparently precious stones too: the Pearl chaotic ruler, the Opal neutral ruler, and the Diamond lawful ruler all debuted in the Master Rules too."
This is all directly related to the AC9 The Creature Catalog which is considered by many dungeon masters & players to be one of the most perfect monster books published by TSR during the mid to late 80's period. The monster ecology articles had been going in Dragon magazine for a long time by the time the Creature Catalog & AC10 Bestiary of Dragons & Giants had hit the shelves. But the D&D lore had already been established by this time & so this simply took monsters in several other optional directions.



AC10 Bestiary of Dragons & Giants is loosely connected with Mystara & with various locations of that world setting. While this might seem to be a drawback it means that a dungeon master can connect the campaign location dots to their own world setting. Customization allows AC10 Bestiary of Dragons & Giants  to become  much more fluid adventure anthology for OSR or even gasp fifth edition games with some adjustments. Are there better monster adventure anthologies on the market today? Sure there are but this doesn't mean that AC10 Bestiary of Dragons & Giants needs to be consigned to the back shelves of Drivethrurpg or your gaming collection. Given a bit of time & consideration AC10 Bestiary of Dragons & Giants could be used as a it was intended to add a bit more spice to on going campaigns & to get the dungeon master to use the wide ranging monster gallery of Dungeons & Dragons in new & interesting ways.
So who should be using AC10 Bestiary of Dragons & Giants? Any dungeon master whose using a Basic style OSR retroclone style system. The options with this book put it a bit ahead of some of the unofficial adventure anthologies. Its a quick & easy adventure tool that adds a bit more to the dungeon master's palette of adventures.

OSR Commentary - Hacking B9 "Castle Caldwell and Beyond" (1985) by Harry Nuckols For OSR Campaign Play & More

"Five exciting short adventures to make your Basic campaign come alive!
The Clearing of Castle Caldwell--A local merchant has recently purchased a small castle... but when he tried to move in, he discovered that the castle was already inhabited!

Dungeons of Terror--A strange trapdoor in the floor of Castle Cadwell leads to a terrifying challenge!

The Abduction of Princess Sylvia--On the eve of her wedding, the beautiful princess has been kidnapped! Can you save her in time?

The Great Escape--Imprisoned in an enemy fortress, without armor or weapons, your situation seems hopeless. Yet there may be a way to freedom . . .

The Sanctuary of Elwyn the Ardent--A mystical chime of great power has been stolen?but by whom? In the wrong hands, the chime can cause untold harm! But can you find and defeat this mysterious and powerful creature?"
 
So tonight I've been quietly taking my time reading through the infamous B9 Castle Caldwell & Beyond By Harry Nuckols. The adventure is anthology collection of short adventures that centers around the adventure location of Castle Caldwell.  According to the Drivethrurpg entry;
"Castle Caldwell and Beyond" (1985) by Harry Nuckols was the ninth Basic Set adventure, and it marked the end of the classic sequence of Basic modules that had run for six+ years. It was published around June 1985." B9 Castle Caldwell by Harry Nuckols & I have a very fragmented & storied history over the years.




Andrew B's review on Drivethrurpg describes B9 Castle Caldwell as follows;"
A very basic set of generic adventures for use with low-level characters. Easy to adapt to any setting and any game system. I use these to "audition" new players. Probably not something a heavily experienced group of gamers would enjoy, unless they fancied a bit of old-school vanilla style dungeon-crawling for light relief." Och that's pretty accurate but what can be done with this set of low level generic adventures. Quite a bit actually & lets start with the fact that Castle Caldwell has a long & mythological history to it. The castle sits on a series of very strong mystical ley lines & these have influenced the history of the place. This series of adventures can easily transition over to fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons as we'll see.
Next let's talk about the fact that a series of lower tier old school basic adventures are perfect fodder for not only a regular Basic Dungeons & Dragons game. But these can also be used as fodder for a historic game set in Europe or an alternative history Europe. Yes I'm talking about using this for Rpg Pundit's Dark Albion game setting or Lamentations of the Flame Princess.

The castle just might be some out of the way former Roman fortress that has been converted into a fully functioning familial fortress for the Caldwells. At the start of the Rose War
Henry's queen, the powerful and aggressive Margaret of Anjou,  emerged as the de facto leader of the Lancastrians is looking for any advantage to use against Henry's rivals.
So this puts "Castle Caldwell and Beyond"'s events right at the beginning of the War of the Roses in 1455 or so.
"The relatively small First Battle of St Albans was the first open conflict of the civil war. Richard's aim was ostensibly to remove "poor advisors" from King Henry's side. The result was a Lancastrian defeat. Several prominent Lancastrian leaders, including Somerset and Northumberland, were killed. After the battle, the Yorkists found Henry hiding in a local tanner's shop, abandoned by his advisers and servants, apparently having suffered another bout of mental illness. (He had also been slightly wounded in the neck by an arrow.)^[34] York and his allies regained their position of influence. With the king indisposed, York was again appointed Protector, and Margaret was shunted aside, charged with the king's care. For a while, both sides seemed shocked that an actual battle had been fought and did their best to reconcile their differences, but the problems that caused conflict soon re-emerged, particularly the issue of whether the Duke of York, or Henry and Margaret's infant son, Edward, would succeed to the throne. Margaret refused to accept any solution that would disinherit her son."


The legends of Castle Caldwell put it having traffic with the Welsh 'Otherworld'  & its dungeon's connections to Welsh Cŵn Annwn (Welsh pronunciation: [kuːn ˈanʊn],make it a prime spot for a Chaos cult's attentions! The addition of the Cŵn Annwn to Caldwell puts it near the foothills of the Cadair Idris which  means 'Idris's Chair'. But what's so important about the castle? The place has been turned over to a blood relative of the Caldwalls who were minor royals but a chaos cult has had the run of the place for the last ten years. The merchant of 'The Clearing of Castle Caldwell' has the favor of the royal court & the PC's are brought in to help clean up the otherworldly mess created by the cult. This is where Dark Albion's Cults of Chaos comes in handy.


Margaret of Anjou is a witch of no small measure who has deep supernatural connections to the Frog demon royals of France. She knows of the legends of the mystical chime of great power hidden some place within or outside of the castle.
Dungeons of Terror & The Abduction of Princess Sylvia both go into greater detail about some of the heinous secrets of Castle Caldwell but PC's should tread very carefully because of the dark background & history of the adventure location. The castle itself has had truck with the Otherworld & Fairyland so its no small wonder that PC's are going to have to tread carefully or deal with the events of The Great Escape.  There's room enough for the dungeon master to expand the adventure as a gateway into the realm of the Welsh in Dark Albion. 


But this is only part of what can be done with B9 "Castle Caldwell and Beyond" (1985) by Harry Nuckols. Castle Caldwell could also be used as a Sword & Sorcery adventure location with PC's being called in by the merchant prince to The Clearing of Castle Caldwell. The PC's have to contend with the castle's original occupants rehabilitating the castle. The DM is going to have to do a bit of molding of the inhabitants to fit their own build of the module. The castle has been uninhabited for some time & now the PC's find themselves drawn into the snares of both Dungeons of Terror  & the adventure's consequences.



The castle itself is part of a far older order of society & normality. The whole adventure smacks of an any human sentiment but with dire overtones for the PC's. Played right & this could be the beginning of a castle with a rich & dangerous history. Dungeons of Terror reveals the hidden adventure locations within the Castle as well as well as setting itself. With a bit of a dungeon master spin the The Abduction of Princess Sylvia- & the The Great Escape into full fledged border skirmish  with a bit of  cleaver DM slight of hand.

Ten Ways to Use B9
"Castle Caldwell and Beyond" (1985) by Harry Nuckols

1. The castle could become the headquarters for PC's to use as an expansion into other adventures. 
2. Below the castle the dungeons once cleared out are rife for PC wizard & cleric projects. 
3. NPC's of Castle Caldwell could become royals & patrons for the PC's for other adventures. 
4. The entire site could become the abode of a dragon after the events of B9. 
5. A black wizard has his eye on the PC's after the module is over & vows revenge prompting a full 'return to' adventure. 
6. The magic relics of the castle are only the start of things there are other Caldwell familial heirlooms secreted within the dungeon. 
7. There is a faction behind the  bandits, kobolds, &  goblins within the castle indicating a military or mercenary operation might be coming soon. These forces are actually advanced scouts for a nearby country. 
8. Because of the lack of detail in the adventure there is plenty of room to make it your own & that includes creating more treasure or relics as needed. 
9. There might be a strong cult of chaos growing with the castle walls explaining the plethora of monster types within the castle's walls. 
10. There could be a doorway to another world allowing the PC's from Greyhawk or Mystara to use the castle as a base of operations in one world or another.

OSR Commentary - Rexamining D1-2 Descent Into The Depths of the Earth by Gary Gygax

"The final confrontation with the giant, King Snurre, and the entry of mighty adventurers into the cavers under his stronghold discovered that Dark Elves, the Drow, had instigated the giant alliance and its warfare upon mankind and its allied races."

D1-2 Descent  Into The Depths of the Earth by Gary Gygax is one of those modules that fascinates me & yet intimates the Hell out of me. The reason that D1-2 used to scare the Hell out of me is the modular nature of this adventure. D1-2 were part of 'the cycle of modules & adventures that made up the heart of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.
"When combined with the G-series and Q module as the Queen of the Spiders, the D-series was voted the single greatest adventure of all time by Dungeon magazine in 2004.^[3] Reviewer Alan Kohler said, "The Underdark has become a classic place to set adventures... This is where it all got started."^[3] According to the editors, Vault of the Drow would have made the top five if it had been considered as a single module."
For many old school players these modules are Advanced Dungeons & Dragons but in fact their so much more then simply the building blocks of a famous & beloved brand.




The reason is the module's history & background as the wiki entry's intro states;

"Descent Into the Depths of the Earth^[2] is an adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy roleplaying game coded D1–2. It was written by Gary Gygax, and combines two previously published modules from 1978, the original Descent into the Depths of the Earth and Shrine of the Kuo-Toa. A sequel to the first two modules, Vault of the Drow, was also published in 1978. All of these D-series modules were produced for use with the 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) rules.

The D-series itself is part of a larger overall campaign of adventures set in the World of Greyhawk campaign setting. The overall campaign begins with the three modules in the Against the Giants series, continues through the D-series, and concludes with module Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits. The latter segments of the campaign, including the D-series and module Q1, are set in a vast network of caverns and tunnels called the Underdark."
This modules starts out with characters from levels nine through fourteen & then ten through fourteen. In OSR terms this puts the PC at the end of their adventuring careers in most retroclones. Notice I said most but not all. D1-2 could in fact be the perfect template to create a mega dungeon adventure environment for PC's to explore & die in.  Much of D1-2 Descent Into the Depths of the Earth are the first time we really begin to see the alien environment of the Underdark. But with a bit of a push these adventure locations could become the Underworld.  The real stars in D1-2 are the Drow, the Kuo-Toa, & the Deep Gnomes or Svirfneblin.
I always felt reading through D1-2 Descent Into the Depths of the Earth that Ragnarok had already happened & any moment the PC's were going to stumbled upon a former battle field of the gods where there were the  dead & decaying demi gods stared out from walls or the caverns floors with empty eyes. The Grimlock tribes that serve the Drow are all that's left of the descendants of those who came before.

The various tribes of Drow are the remains of the Dark Elven nations straight out of Norse mythology that fought along side of Loki & the Ice Giants forces during  the events of Ragnarok. Hence why there are such close ties between the Drow & the giant races. The Greco Roman gods are gone allowing the Drow to have taken over vast tracks of the Underworld.
But are the Drow going to be satisfied with their holdings within the Underworld? Hell, no they want more. So they've allied themselves with a spider demon goddess & have taken on the mantle of the Underworld. 

But the void left behind by the death of the gods has allowed many races to slip into positions of power within the contemporary underworld realm of D1-2 allowing the monsters to flourish & prosper beyond the known limits. This is part of the charm of the older modules how modular they can be & how they can be customized to the requirements of the campaign that the players & the dungeon master have mapped out.

There's something so well rounded about the way that D1-2 Descent Into The Depths of the Earth By Gary Gygax handles itself that has contributed to making it such an iconic set of modules. Some of the reasons are as follows:

1. The PC's get their first real look at some of the factions of the Underdark & we get a Mind Flayer city. 
2. Almost all of the encounters are actually based on adventure location & hex crawling. 
3. There is the perfect mix of the outdoor underground megadungeon in action in real time. 
4. Everything is fresh & very alien. 
5. Because of its modular nature D1-2 can be played with OSR systems quite easily but man there is those PC levels to keep track of. 
6. OSRIC can do a decent job handling much of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons action in D1-2 Descent Into The Depths of the Earth. 
7. Monsters & monster race  encounters in D1-2 have motives & personalities to spare. These are creatures with agendas. 
8. There's something timeless about the classic TSR adventures allowing them to continue to be contemporary. 
9. The stakes in D1-2 are still very high and PC's should know that death lurks right around the corner/ 
10. There is the stamp of Gary Gygax throughout D1-2 Descent Into The Depths of the Earth & that continues to help to define the game & hobby of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

OSR Commentary Dangerous Magic - AC4 - The Book of Marvelous Magic By Gary Gygax & Frank Mentzer For Dungeons & Dragons

"Tell me, teacher?How does one open the cabinet of security? Of what use is the banner of bravery? And what are the limits of the sun deck? My books and scrolls tell me nothing about many of the magical treasures I've heard you mention time and again."

"No, Phaedras, your manuscripts are too general. But since you have inquired, I will allow you to peruse this, one of my most treasured volumes?The Book of Marvelous Magic. It will answer your questions."

And now you, too, can learn the secrets that were revealed to Phaedras! "




Frank Mentzer subtly pointed out AC4 - The Book of Marvelous Magic By Gary Gygax & Frank Mentzer on Facebook today. And when the founder of the Role-Playing Games Association (RPGA) during his time with TSR points a book out to you on Facebook about Basic Dungeons & Dragons I take note of it. Especially when its a seventy six page book that expands the grand game's magical items & has one of my favorite Clyde Caldwell covers! Who the hell is this witch & why does she have a vault containing that many magic relics. This is the book that introduced the famous line,"The D&D and AD&D games are actually different games." on page Seventy four. Well back in '86  this book was one of the ones that one of my dungeon masters got a hold of & it was not pretty. This is a book for the dungeon master who needs that special or unique magic item for a mini encounter or for a full on campaign with a twist. Salting them here & there within the context of the adventure. Not all of these magic items are nice at all & can cause all kinds of issues with parties of adventurers!
I'm not the only blogger who has positive things to say about AC4 The Book of Marvelous Magic



A bit of background the AC series of books by TSR were supplements that helped to round out the edges of Dungeons & Dragons while taking the hand of the dungeon master to some extent. AC1 The Shady Dragon Inn is used to help dungeon masters introduce fully designed NPC characters into any adventure scenario. This is also true of AC4 - The Book of Marvelous Magic By Gary Gygax & Frank Mentzer. 
Each category of item has within it variations & types of magic items for many situations. The wiki entry on AC4 has pretty good overview of the five hundred items;
" This book is a sourcebook on magical items and their twists and quirks. As well as all the miscellaneous magical items that appeared in the D&D Basic, Expert, and Companion Sets, over 500 new magical items are described in detail. Each item comes with a brief description and an explanation of its powers. The items are listed in alphabetical order by type of item. For example, under Blanket can be found the Blanket of Devouring, the Blanket of Protection, and the Blanket of Sleeping."
"Marvelous Magic sticks with alphabetical order, though it also has random charts for some unusual categories such as "animal-related items", "paper and related items", "tools and hardware", and "travel items" (optionally, "land and air" or "water")." AC4 - The Book of Marvelous Magic By Gary Gygax & Frank Mentzer 

delivers the goods quite literally to the PC's. But surely a book written in '85 couldn't be used today for something like OSR systems or Fifth edition right?! Actually AC4 is even more useful today then it was when it was first published!  With so many OSR settings on the market today AC4 could throw any number of odd & off beat magic items into an adventure. There are a lot of weird & off beat punned named magic items in this book & its actually a Gygax & Mid Western American thing. That's not a bad thing as some of these items are actually deadly dungeon traps unto themselves such as the 'Barrel of Monkeys'. The person looking into the barrel is transformed into an Albino Ape & they keep coming! This is a dungeon feature & trap which could be very deadly. As recently as two years ago I used this trap erm magic item for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea.


Yes I totally stole this artwork from the Dungeons & Digression blog

But who the Hell is making all of these magic items?! My guess is a god of magic, malice, & possibly chaos. The magic items have subtle theme of weirdness about them & the sheer variety is like something the brain of a dungeon master would come up with after a heavy brain storming session. There are items here for every adventure situation & more. In OSR game settings such as Dark Albion, I've used AC4 - The Book of Marvelous Magic By Gary Gygax & Frank Mentzer as the basis for the vault of  the sorcerer Prospero, rightful Duke of Milan, from Shakespeare's The Tempest.
Because of the slightly humors bent many of these items also made guest appearances in several Lamentations of the Flame Princess modules. But its really in Mystara where AC4 - The Book of Marvelous Magic By Gary Gygax & Frank Mentzer  has gotten a work out. The book's magic items were or are a part of a treasury of a faction of worshipers of a god of magic & chaos. Notice I said god not immortal because there's a dangerous difference. When these items show up the immortals are not happy at all. They cause all kinds of low scale chaos & headaches for adventurers, villagers, & even ordinary citizens!



That gets to the heart of what AC4 - The Book of Marvelous Magic By Gary Gygax Frank Mentzer  does which is to be used to create unique adventure opportunities. I don't agree with the Imagine magazine review & commentary;
"Jez Keen reviewed the accessory for Imagine magazine, giving it a negative review.^[2] Keen wrote that the items on offer fall into three categories, "sensible ones, the bad-play compensatory ones and the silly ones".^[2] Overall, the reviewer thought that in Basic D&D games magic items can be much too common. If magic was appropriately rare, this publication would not be needed. So Keen recommended it only for those who think that there should be "magic items at every street corner", as some items will be useful and some humorous."
Its really not up to the reviewer but actually it falls to the dungeon master as to where & when these magic items are needed during adventure design or play. So is AC4 - The Book of Marvelous Magic By Gary Gygax & Frank Mentzer worth the price of admission?! Well yes I think so & I do feel that it delivers on its promises & has gotten a bad rap over the years because its really a niche product. What I mean is that this is a product meant for the dungeon master to use the items & salt their adventures & campaigns as needed.  All in all I think its a great product & snap shot of another era of gaming.

OSR Commentary - Adapting C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan By Harold Johnson & Jeff R. Leason For Old School Sword & Sorcery Campaigns

A hidden trap laden shrine stands in the middle of the jungle, the Olman peoples are long departed but the traps guard their ancient secrets & perhaps much more. The C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan is a testament to the legacy of the Olman's resolve & will. Can player's PC's make it out alive?!

The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan is an adventure for 5th-7th level players that takes them through some ruins found in the distant Amedio Jungle, near the abandoned city of Tamoachan. The adventure originally began with players escaping pursuit and becoming lost in the jungle and then falling into the ruins, swallowed by darkness.

Source: http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2017/03/dd-hidden-shrine-tamoachan.html

The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan is an adventure for 5th-7th level players that takes them through some ruins found in the distant Amedio Jungle, near the abandoned city of Tamoachan. The adventure originally began with players escaping pursuit and becoming lost in the jungle and then falling into the ruins, swallowed by darkness.

Source: http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2017/03/dd-hidden-shrine-tamoachan.html

The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan is an adventure for 5th-7th level players that takes them through some ruins found in the distant Amedio Jungle, near the abandoned city of Tamoachan. The adventure originally began with players escaping pursuit and becoming lost in the jungle and then falling into the ruins

Source: http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2017/03/dd-hidden-shrine-tamoachan.html

The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan is an adventure for 5th-7th level players that takes them through some ruins found in the distant Amedio Jungle, near the abandoned city of Tamoachan. The adventure originally began with players escaping pursuit and becoming lost in the jungle and then falling into the ruins

Source: http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2017/03/dd-hidden-shrine-tamoachan.html

Ahh the AD&D Module C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan has reared its head today after a lengthy discussion around the table about this module from the warped pens of Harold Johnson &
Jeff R. Leason. 

The module sits right smack in the middle of the road of classics & its a great hidden lost world gem. The whole affair can dropped straight into your favorite Mayan/Aztec style plateau setting & wrung for every last bit of PC death. Everything in C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan is trying to kill your PC's & there's even a scoring system to really ramp up the feeling of paranoia & horror. But this was a tournament module back in the Official Advanced Dungeons & Dragons tournament at Origins '79,  & is the first in the Competition Series.But what if the entire module is trying to kill your PC's for a reason?! What if the module's adventure setting is merely a religious mechanism designed to satisfy the gods?! What if all of the traps & tricks are there to provide the gods with the best possible & amusing sacrifices. Imagine if the whole adventure affair is designed to entertain the 'gods' of the Olman peoples.

The placement of the adventure has all of the hallmarks of a classic adventure with a very blood thirsty background. The jungle location of the temple in the Amedio Jungle makes the temple one of the most dangerously placed adventures. There are literally hundreds of monsters out in the wilds to keep adventurers from living.

"Most unusual for Greyhawk modules, the adventure therefore references Aztec gods such as Quetzalcoatl and others. The adventure itself takes place in the Amedio Jungle at a disused temple near the ruined city of Tamoachan. "

Everything in this module suggests the old school Weird Tales school of adventure. C1 places the PC's center stage for many of the major events of the module. The traps & tricks here are designed to both amuse & kill adventurers by the score.
But C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan could be dropped lock, stock, traps & puzzles right into the Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea world especially into the setting of the FORGOTTEN FANE of the COILED GODDESS where the Isle of the Serpent in far-off Lemuria's jungles provide the most accurate vision for setting C1's adventure location.



The Olman were another faction of Hyperboreans that reverted to a more perfect state of degeneration & depravity. The whole thing collapsed into itself when the Green Death hit Hyperborea. But the native peoples kept up their traditions as servants & those who maintain the place. They clean up, reset the traps, keep out tourists, & generally keep the entire sacrifice business operating every week day.

eatures a number of well constructed encounters and some of the best puzzles.

Source: http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2017/03/dd-hidden-shrine-tamoachan.html

C1's traps & tricks remain some of the best to grace a page & it shows! The Olman are given just enough description & background to make them engaging & really kind of weird. But over all C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan remains just as deadly as when it appeared.

Here are some thoughts about using C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan for old school Sword & Sorcery campaign play.

1. The cosmology of C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan is perfect for introducing a major cult of weirdness & chaos in an old school campaign. The 'gods' are minor enough to be a major pain in the ass for player's PC's. 
2. There are any number of entrances & exits to C1 that these could actually be used to link up with other old school modules.  
3. Some of the magic items found in  C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan could be used as adventure hooks all on their own in an on going campaign. 
4. The triggers of the traps & tricks of C1 could have far more meaning & be used to shore up the campaign idea. 
5. Monster & encounter balance within  the  C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan is nonexistence but this makes tacking in your own encounters or hacking the ones within C1 a snap. 
6. Simply escaping C1 & living to tell the tale is an adventure until itself. 
7. The human men of C1 are survivors & actually should be treated as such by the party of adventurers. 
8. Adventures within C1 are not to be treated lightly & players should have an extra PC or two handy. 
9. There are gods here that appear no where else in the books & there could be a Great Old One or two in the mix. 
10. C1 has some classic monsters which can easily be giving a Sword & Sorcery make over for PC encounters 
    

OSR Commentary - Beyond Eleven The Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia By Frank Mentzer Edited & Collected By Aaron Allston

Sure it came out in Nineteen Ninety One but the D&D Rules Cyclopedia is the version of the grand game that I'd have with me if I was stuck on a desert island with a group of players. It has everything that was in
the Frank Mentzer D&D Basic Rules Set (1983), & opens it up by a factor of ten.


The D&D Rule Cyclopedia is a one book tool kit for handling all of the classic modules & adventures plus being able to run a whole gauntlet's worth of old school play. With Dungeons & Dragons adventures like  'WG4: The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun' with its combat scores of norkers, ogres, hill giants, ettins, & mountain giants the Rule Cyclopedia could handle it with little problem. This is not a beginner book at all but a book that collects almost all of the information that came out in the various sets of  Frank Mentzer's box sets. I love the Cyclopedia due to the fact that it is an 'all in one' book. Can it do everything from urban adventuring to full on dungeon crawling. Here are some of my favorite highlights of  the Rule Cyclopedia:

• The Stronghold creation rules are very nicely done. 
• The Mystic class which to me is a great  version of the Dungeons & Dragons Monk class
• The whole paradigm of Immortals instead of Gods helps to flavor the flavor of Mystara's mythology into the Known World setting. 
• All of the Basic D&D rules are here with most of the character classes so its a one stop for Basic gaming
• The whole book is one old school Dungeons & Dragons Swiss army knife of an adventure construction tool kit. 

•  Treasure, Spells, Monsters, Maps of Mystara (a campaign setting), Alternate Rules, etc. are all within easy reach of the players & dungeon master. 

Beyond merely kicking the wheels off of the PC's the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia takes the PC's into higher society with each level. They go from being the lowly peasants to the full elite of society. This book takes this very fact into account as hirelings & minions can not only be hired by the PC's but fully fleshed out. The adventurer's system rules are really fleshed out.
This means that the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia can easily handle everything from quasi historical fantasy to straight up science fantasy with a horror twist with the rules presented. There is a very good break down of the differences between classic  Mentzer BECM D&D and Allston Rules Cyclopedia D&D.



The simple style & no nonsense school of design here lends itself to the type of hard knocks that old school players are used to from the Expert Dungeons & Dragons blue book. But the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia takes things in a different direction with the player's PC's dealing in the realities of dungeon delving & adventuring.


There seems to be a take no prisoners attitude when it comes to the design & writing of the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia. The reader it seems to be assumed knows what he or she is doing. The rules here do not suffer fools gladly. The lethality of the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia rules are something I've always admired in this book. I really admire how the whole package overall fits in the narrative of the Dungeons & Dragons set up in the line. The fact is that the Rules Cyclopedia is meant for experienced D&D players, Mentzer D&D is the easier pick up and go play game.

OSR Commentary - Why Expert Dungeons & Dragons Turns Up The Volume To Eleven

So labour day is over but I spent it with an old friend of mine, the Dungeons & Dragons Expert rule book is where things really start to take off. Sure the red Basic D&D book maybe iconic but its really Expert where that old magic flavor happens. You get  rules for PC's up to 14th level:  deadlier spells, more fleshed out equipment including ships and mounts, & full followers for higher level 'named' adventurers. Everything in the Expert rules is keyed for long-distance wilderness  & full  stronghold construction.


1981 Dungeons & Dragons D&D Expert Rules X1 Rulebook TSR #2015


Every iconic monster is found within the Expert Rule books pages from blink dogs, displacer beasts, & yes even the PC swallowing purple worms! The wilderness is the next frontier in Expert & it shows here's the full force of what X1 The Isle of Dread can provide the players. Isle of Dread's map is left blank to allow the players to have full experience filling in the details whist bringing them up levels. That is of course if they survive the experience. PC's will go from being lowly adventurers to hardy  warriors, thieves, clerics & high ranking mages, lords, ladies, &  patriarchs/matriarchs plus there are rules for guild masters. Because the higher PC levels mean even more problems!
There's an almost gold rush feeling about Expert Dungeons & Dragons like the fact that the expansion of adventure options in cities, the wilderness, sea voyages, etc.. Opens up the possibilities of death waiting right around the corner for the PC's. Expert Dungeons & Dragons is the big leagues where the choices of the players is for life or death.


Basic was the box set with the training wheels off for the PC's but things were heating up for the characters as they became movers & shakers within the royals courts & the wilderness outposts on the very edges of the map. Both B1 Keep on the Borderland & X1 The Isle of Dread offered the PC's the opportunity to realize that the edges of the map are not safe by any means. PC's have to deal with an ever changing landscape of hazards & pitfalls.



The fact that Basic/Expert Dungeons & Dragons is cross compatible with Gamma World makes it far easier to get the PC's into all kinds of science fantasy situations. The dungeon master has to temper this but this style of play can enable the DM to keep the game fresh & interesting while moving things in weird or strange directions. This is where the wilderness meets the wasteland for a very deadly combination! The  rules are much expanded with epic possibilities such as mass battles, naval combat, underwater adventures or aerial combat just around the corner making these rules perfect for science fiction or science fantasy variations of adventuring!


The simple style & no nonsense school of design here lends itself to the type of hard knocks that old school players were used to. This style of play produced an epic yet dangerous style of play. This style rewards the intelligent & crafty player while weeding out the weak from the bleeding hearts.This is one the reasons why B/X Dungeons & Dragons is still beloved to this very day.

Holmes Dungeons & Dragons Sunday & Seventies Cyclopean Orcs

If your new here welcome aboard! Last night I was prowling around the Zenopus Archives and a bit of information on the artist known as Fangorn aka Chris Baker cropped up. Especially his famous dragon  illustration from the Fiend Folio! But the speculation is that this was supposed to be the cover of the U.K. Holmes Basic  edition of Dungeons & Dragons!


Suddenly the quest of our fighter battling the wives of the cyclops that I used to stare at for hours from the U.K. edition of Holmes Basic as a kid makes sense! The wizard & two fighters kicking cyclopedian orc butt are the same party from the Fiend Folio artwork. Everything in the artwork matches the adventure locations in the sample dungeon of the U.K. Holmes set. There is a fantastic thread on Dragonfoot.org that goes into lots of details about the Cyclopean horrors of Holmes.



But these monsters were so popular that Games Workshop made a cyclops miniature based on these dungeon horrors;
"
A minor find related to this thread. On the left is a Cyclops miniature by Citadel, FF-14 from their Fiend Factory. The photo is from a 1979 article about GW in Military Modeling magazine which can be read here. On the right is a crop of Fangorn's cyclops from the UK Basic rulebook (full artwork in this thread on the previous page), published in Dec 1977. It's a dead ringer, and the Citadel line debuted in Spring 1979 (source), so it looks like the mini was designed based on the artwork. "

Zenopus77 goes into a whole break down of the dungeon ecology & stats for these things; "The original source for the depiction is the UK Holmes Basic rulebook, published in Dec 1977. It has two pictures with cyclops creatures - see the post on the previous page of this thread. The first is on the title page, and is an analog of the art in the US, so the cyclops seem to be stand-in for orcs. The other picture doesn't have an analog, and shows a larger cyclops that the Citadel mini is based on - perhaps it is meant to be an ogre? There are no cyclops described in the text, which is identical to the US version.

In White Dwarf #5 (Feb/March 1978) there is a column, Monsters Mild and Malign by Don Turnbull that is a precursor of Fiend Factory. In this issue he describes monsters from the US zines, including the The Dungeoneers and Alarums & Excursions. A Cyclops is mentioned (HD 12, AC3, MV 12, Attacks at -2 due to cyclopia, 5d12 damage, treasure type E + 5000 GP), but this is probably unrelated to the artwork since it was created in the US.

The Citadel Miniature of the Cyclops is from 1979 and must be based on Fangorn's artwork since it is so close in details.

Finally, in White Dwarf #21 (Oct/Nov 1980) there is a whole Fiend Factory column based around Cyclops, a mini-wilderness scenario called "One Eye Canyon". This includes a Cyclops write-up by Albie Fiore with artwork by Russ Nicholson that looks just like the second Fangorn cyclops & the mini."

"Albie Fiore's Cyclops is HD 6, AC 6, MV 12, AL CE, TT M x10 (individuals), D (lair), AT 3 (at -1 due to cyclopia, -2 for missiles), D 1d6 x 2 (claws), 2d6 x 1 (bite), SA hypnotic stare as AD&D spell hypnotic pattern for 6 rounds, range 6", one individual per round, can only affect a character one time, SD +2 on saves vs illusions. Cyclops live groups of 2-20 with any group of 10+ having a leader with 7 HD, +2 to hit, +3 damage. The write-up is almost a whole half-column so there are many more details on their habits etc.

So, to me it seems that Fangorn's artwork led to the Citadel mini, which then led to the full White Dwarf write-up."
Now I don't usual copy & paste this much material but I'm really excited to actually find out more about these iconic characters. But what's Chris Baker been up too since he drew & created these characters for U.K. Dungeons & Dragons? Well, after stumbling around the interwebz I happened upon this great interview with Mr. Baker done by Wicker Girl. It goes into his career, what he's been doing in the film industry, & more. There's some excellent material there.

So in the meantime things have not been stalled out on the Holmes Dungeons & Dragons front!

Meanwhile it seems whist I've been away from the Zenopus site he's been busy putting together the Holmes reference 2.0 document. This thing is eighteen pages packed with everything Holmes! 

All credit for this goes to Zenopus '77 for all of the great information! 

1d6 Random Mysterious & Important Skalds of The Lost Tribes Encounter Table For Your Old School Campaigns

" Olafar Skaldarb strode into the court with the gaze of a man who owned the place.No man met the yellow golden iries of his eyes for they shone with unnatural light of one who had been to the Otherworld. In his hands was a well made but very well worn lyre whose strings shone with colours strange & weird. It was said that Olafar Skaldarb had met Loki himself as he walked on toward the road of his grand father's  ancient chiefs. Olafar walked into the hall of his father's house to deliver the news of the upstart's death at hands of his own brothers. He came to sing of victory but there were others in his father's house that his eyes had come to root out. A single finger rested on his lyre's strings & the powerful magicks raced & rushed along these very strings ready to send warrior or mystic alike into Hel's waiting arms. "



There is a 20% chance of one of these skalds having heard of one of the PC's may seek him or her out to share in their adventures. These skalds often have unique talents & strange skills learned in many unknown or mysterious lands. There is a 40% chance of them having some vital yet obscure piece of information critical to the adventure.
Skalds of the adventuring variety are a hardy & sometimes dangerous lot able to blend into a culture or alien community with easy. There is a 5% chance of them suffering from a mild form of depression having watched friends & love ones die around them. They can often be followed by 1d6 ghosts of past friends & former adventurers. These beings can often offer insights into current adventure situations these skald come to rely on .

1d6 Random Mysterious &
Important Skalds of The Lost Tribes Encounter Table

1. Fas'ta - A skald wandering between the worlds & recording the miracles of Saints & clerics alike. He is able to memorize amazing amounts of details, pieces of cultures he has visited, & there is a 20% chance of Fas'ta knowing some small adventure detail about a ruin or other religious structure or ruin. He has above his right eye a scar from a duel with a tribal chieftain who did not like his poetry of a local Saint. Fas'ta has a shock of red hair with bits of it starting to go gray from the supernatural occurances that he has seen. For this skald has had truck with the forces of Orcus himself in the past & he has no love of the undead. 
2. Bragi Brusi The Bold - This skald is both skald & cleric of a god of Law. He records the deeds of kings while quietly spreading his own faith among the flock of many lands. Bragi has a special hatred of all things of chaos & has a +1 dagger named Vin. The dagger seems to lead him into places that need his special brand of help. Brasi is a healer of no small renowned & often attends royals & commoner alike. He collects tales of great heroes & often accompanies them onto their adventures. He often attaches himself to groups of adventurers where the cosmic winds of Law take him. 
3. Trus Tbvara - A comedic skald & teller of tall tales, this skald often accompanies armies into battle & adventurers into the deepest of dungeons. He mocks his enemies with the most dire of insults & can time his insults to devastating effect causing an enemy to become so distracted as to miss their die roll on some minor task during a game. He has a problem betting & often 20% of the time runs afoul of his own brother a skald of law who seems to show up when least expected. 
4. Nraru The Twice Blessed - This skald is from a long line of Welsh warriors but has gone into the profession of clerical worker & skald. But the long line of illustrious warriors of his family always seem to get him involved with adventurers when he's needed. The man is accompied by 1d6 familial ghosts who always speak with him & give him advice as well as spiritual gossip. He's actually a trader of no small means & often trades in adventurer's equipment & supplies acting as a middle man for all kinds of food stuffs & sundries. He also happens to hear some of the juiciest adventure rumors & tales of local goings on. 
5. Abru The Wanderer - This skald is always moving from port to port & across many lands collecting information & tales about monsters & horrors. He tells his tales to others of his order as well as his audience by bringing critical information of the creatures troubling many local lands. He is a very fickle individual whose blessing of birth has him moving every 16 hours. On the side he sells information & tales of tactics to generals & military leaders who value his council. There is a 20% chance of Abru having a minor magic item that may help the adventurers. 
6. Marcus Olofson - A former Roman warrior whose injuries caused him to have a career change. A party of Viking warriors took on the former warrior as a sort of good luck charm & mascot. He apprenticed to the party's skald & gained his blessing when he was killed by a wyrm of most foul aspect. Marcus collects the tales of warriors & kings so that their sons & daughters will remember their fathers. His storytelling abilities are so good that there is a 30% chance of the ghost of the dead person manifesting in the middle of his tales. These entities will not interrupt the skald but can speak to their families independently of him. He often gives his services to needy families & councils slayers of undead. Once per week he can open a portal to the realm of the dead of the Otherworld to send a spirit to its proper reward.

OSR Commentary & Review Of 'The Keep' By Daniel Greenberg, Samuel Shirley, Gregory Maples, & Anne Jaffe From Mayfair games

"The Keep is a faithful and detailed fantasy roleplaying adventure based on the major Paramount Picture's film release of the same name --- Not only will it pit you against the forces of death and evil, but also against the might of the German S.S. The Keep features a new set of rules and charts that lets you include modern weaponry and tactics in fantasy adventures. it is designed for three to six characters from ninth to twelfth level and is suitable for use with all popular roleplaying systems, including Advanced Dungeons and Dragons"

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons started to really get codified in the pages of Dragon magazine in Eighty five but for third party publishers it was still sort of open season in the wilds of the table top world. Different Worlds, White Dwarf, & even to a certain extent Dragon magazine gave us a glimpse into the world of role playing outside of our New England small towns. Which brings me to the The Keep  an adventure our dungeon master saw advertised in the pages of Dragon magazine.



During the Winter of '85 I got my characters were of sufficient level to tackle a really hard  adventure & the Keep was on the docket for us to run. The game adventure was part of an early licensing agreement/ promotion for the film 'The Keep  between Paramount pictures & Mayfair games. Because of the popularity as well as the infamy of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. But there's a lot more to this forty two page adventure then meets the eye. First some quick background the Michael Mann directed film, 'The Keep'.
If you haven't seen the picture then this adventure isn't going to make a lot of sense. "The Keep is a 1983 horror film directed by Michael Mann and starring Scott Glenn, Gabriel Byrne, Jürgen Prochnow, Alberta Watson and Ian McKellen."
Yes that right your looking at an all star cast for this film & it should have been a hit. But its now a cult classic with certain fans of the F. Paul Wilson novel cycle later  known as The Adversary cycle , published in 1981 (1982 in the United Kingdom). The Keep is woven into the Transylvania & Romanian landscape from the very foundations of the mythic Biblical era. I say mythic because its tied in closely with the weird mythology that runs throughout 'The Keep.

The whole cycle forms part of the greater background of Wilson's Repairman novels. And the adventure picks up with the characters having to fight in three different ages against the Lovecraftian  evil that inhabits 'The Keep'. The adventure comes with its own mythology, background, region, & in fact could be considered a mini campaign buts a very high mini campaign for characters ninth through twelveth level. The plot involves Dracula, the order of the Dragon, sorcery most foul & the PC's are intimately woven into the whole affair.



The PC's start in the mythic era or the First Age then due to adventure  circumstances get transported to 1476 & finally to 1941. The whole adventure has the PC's rooted into the creation, connection, & possible destruction of 'The Keep' which is a prison for a Lovecraftian god. The final confrontation with the Lovecrafian evil that plays center place with the whole affair comes to a head in 1941 Romania where a unit of Nazi officers is stationed at 'the Keep'. One by one they can get picked off 'ten little Indians' style or the PC's can interfere in the affair.
'The Keep' adventure has its own internal mythology. The PC's get hosed as 'the Death of Magic' happens ala the same as the Wilson novel so that all of the magical spells of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons don't work. Clerical magic is reduced, wizard's spells are reduced, etc. The first time I got a chance to play through this as a player my wizard was totally useless & died rather messily. So you might want to ignore that end of things. The whole adventure is played very straight & seriously because its based around the film which is really a horror movie at its core. I've used 'The Keep' adventure from Mayfair as the basis for a Dark Ages Cthulhu game & it went very well!
But recently I've run 'The Keep' last Halloween for a bunch of players & I used a much more a 'beer & pretzels' tone with the adventure. The fact is that I based the whole thing on the Army of Darkness films instead.
This worked out much better & in fact not taking the whole 'The Keep' seriously is a good idea. The modern weapons rules are nasty & very dangerous to PC's. Take these as a dungeon master with a bit of salt.


'The Keep' adventure from Mayfair games  is a really complex mini campaign that you as the dungeon master are going to want to read through several times. There are literally dozens of NPC's. Even though the adventure is only forty two pages the whole affair has three eras & lots to keep track of. The demon god Molasar is not to be taken lightly & should the players fail then the dungeon master could be facing a post apocalyptic demonic held world. This is not an adventure for the novice dungeon master.

Now with all that being said I can actually see using this with a number of OSR retroclone gaming systems especially with OSRIC or Labyrinth Lord Advanced. There would be a bit of adjustment for running this with say Lamentations of the Flame Princess but it could be done if the DM really wanted to. But the player's PC's losing could see the players in a demonic held 1940's or 1950's world with the minions of Molasar knocking the PC's teeth in.

Molasar

Is the module good?! Hmm that's good question, because the production values are up to Mayfair games standards of the time, the maps are well done, but the overall product is really only going to appeal to the cultclassic audience. But as an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons toolkit this is a solid grab. The modern weapons rules are solidly done, the overall feel is very old school, & the whole cloth background could be ported over to other old school AD&D settings or world backgrounds easily.