Giant Mutant Lemurian Ripper For Your Old School Campaigns - Revamp

 

Drawing by Rodolfo Nogueira. - http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0097138

The swamps and waterways along the coast of  the former country of Lemuria hide some of the most dangerous of monsters. Lemuria is a now cracked,broken seething serpent men haunted shell of itself. Dark occult forces haunt the waterways and moss haunted forests. But adventurers and outlaws of all stripes come here for it  houses some of the richest relic and treasure peppered ruins that are to be found across the planes. But's also the home of the Giant Mutant Lemurian Ripper, a reptilian horror that once served as the Lumerian military machine's mascot. Now this horror has answered the warped call of the serpent men priests who have arisen from the depths of the Earth. They have come to serve as the reptilian watch dogs to their ancient and twisted serpent god priests.

Giant Mutant Lemurian Ripper

Frequency: Uncommon 

Number Appearing : 1-4 

Armor Class: 4 

Move: 15"

Hit Dice: 10

% In Lair: 3%

Treasure Type: D

No of Attacks 3 

Damage /Attack : 1-6,1-6,4-16

Special Attacks: Mutation 

Special Defense: Nil 

Magic Resistance: Standard 

Intelligence: Low 

Alignment: Neutral (Evil tendencies)

Size: M (14''long)  

Psionic Ability: Nil 

Attack/Defense Modes: Nil

Giant Mutant Lemurian Ripper are greedy dangerous and incredibly cunning hunters of the Lumerian woodlands and swamps. These apex predators are capable of bringing down prey animals three times their size and move with incredible cunning. Because of the magickal run off and dimensional sludge run off  these horror often sport 1d6 minor mutations that only add to their fierce reputations. 

The ancient Lumerians through genetic manipulation and selective breeding of the species increased the mental capacity of these monsters and the serpent men have continued this program. These reptilian horrors are capable of coordinating actions, using pack tactics, and out maneuvering even seasoned warriors.

The monsters have been known to take a victim lop off a limb, take the victim to an isolated location, and lure other party members into ambushes. Giant Mutant Lemurian Ripper love human and near human man flesh above all else. They maim and murder prey as it suits them often taking trophies to be found near nest enclaves to lure prey into close quarters where the packs can easily take down victims to be dragged back to the nests. 

The bite of these predators can piece soft metals quite easily and they relish the taste of blood and gore across their gums. They can quickly rake prey for 1-6 points of damage with powerful bone like claws and their speed enables them to hit twice in a round followed up by a powerful bite for 4-16 points of damage. Their jaws sport powerful bites from animals bred over thousands of  patient and careful applications of alien Lemurian super science.

The Giant Lumerian Ripper is equally at home in the fetid waters of the swamps as the land but prefer hunting across the landscape of their jungle homelands. They have been spotted anyplace that the strange and deeply disturbing operations of the Lumurian serpent men have been encountered. These horrors are also known to guard the ancient ruins and assets of the alien Lumurians that the serpent men have reclaimed in the name of their goddess.

Review & Commentary On The Free OSR module - 'HM6: The Equinox Demon' By Todd Hughes For Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition

 

"On the Equinox, a sacrifice of grain is offered to the Nature Goddess. However last year, during the ceremony, a horrid demon arose, demanding tribute. It did not want grain, but gold and gems! The friar made a stand, but it was not enough and now the hamlet is terrified! Will a band of heroes have the guts to face the Equinox Demon? An adventure for 4-6 characters, level 1-3"

You know over the years of doing this blog time after time we see tons of high end & high level OSR adventures. But a basic lower tier adventure for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons?! That's a horse of a different colour & that's exactly the what 'HM6: The Equinox Demon' brings to the table top level. 'HM6: The Equinox Demon' has a solid core of old school Advanced Dungeons & Dragons adventure that makes an excellent beginning adventure with its quick pick up hook;

"The Hamlet of Stallington is not preparing for the customary spring celebration even though it is nearing the spring equinox. Typically, a sacrifice of grain is made to the nature goddess, on the equinox, at the mouth of a cave in a forest glade. However, last year when the elders gathered to make the sacrifice, a great fog arose, and a horrid demon emerged from the cave entrance. The demon had many smaller servants with it, and they surrounded the elders. The demon spoke in a frightening voice that seemed to rise from the bowels of the earth itself. It demanded tribute or it would destroy the hamlet and slay the residents. The demon did not want grain however, it wanted gold, silver, and gems. The local priest Friar Dane went, along with his acolyte Tames, to confront the demon. The Friar’s body was discovered outside of town the next day and Tames was never seen again. The elders gathered the villagers together and it was agreed that the tribute must be paid. In so doing the village drained most of its coffers and the people were left with very little to pay for this season’s supplies. As a result, the people are hungry and have very little food and much of the livestock died over the winter from lack of feed." 
Everything within 'HM6: The Equinox Demon' is pure Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition goodness from its intinial encounters to the wandering monster tables. 'HM6: The Equinox Demon' brings quite a few good things to the table. 

So how does 'HM6: The Equinox Demon' do this?! By leaning heavily into both the twin old school monster pools of both the Monster Manul & Fiend Folio. This isn't a mistake & takes 'HM6: The Equinox Demon' & grounds it squarely in both the old school & reminds the OSR of its roots. 

'HM6: The Equinox Demon' only clocks in at thirteen pages but what it does with that thirteen pages is lay down a tight & well written module. Highly recommended as a quick campaign starter & a solidly done little module. 

Can it be adapted into the OSR?! Yes and this is a great module to begin a Castles & Crusades campaign. Everything is here to roar into the fight & get the players started into a campaign. 

'HM6: The Equinox Demon'  makes an excellent introduction into a campaign by giving the player's lattiude & actual chance to get into the middle of an important series of events that could affect a ton of folks. 

Review & Commentary on The Free OSR Module 'Terror under the Sea' By Joseph Mohr For Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition & Your Old School OR OSR Campaigns

 

"Cthulhu still lives, too, I suppose, again in that chasm of stone which has shielded him since the sun was young. His accursed city is sunken once more, for the Vigilant sailed over the spot after the April storm; but his ministers on earth still bellow and prance and slay around idol-capped monoliths in lonely places. He must have been trapped by the sinking whilst within his black abyss, or else the world would by now be screaming with fright and frenzy. Who knows the end?"
Weird Tales (vol. 11, no. 2)  (February 1928)  edited by Farnsworth Wright
The Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft


"Your ship has come across a strange island where none should be. Are you brave enough to explore this strange, unsettling place? A Cthulhu Mythos based adventure for characters of at least 10th level"

Terror under the Sea is full on & free  throttle Lovecraftian AD&D first edition horror just in time for Halloween 2020. Does the author know something we don't?! 

Joseph Mohr is a machine & while poking around Dragon's foot I came across a copy of a module that I wasn't aware of that he did. 'Terror under the Sea' is a high level Advanced Dungeons & Dragons module  that hits the Lovecraft vein hard. This is a tenth level module and its a nasty one to boot. The intro gives the set up;

"The storm put us way off course. When it ended we drifted for days on end. Without wind we were left at the mercy of the gods to get us to our destination. On day thirteen we spotted an island in the distance. It was not on our charts but we were desperate for provisions. We were very low on water and had nearly run out of food. The island had a peculiar spire rising out of it. The design was like nothing we had ever seen. Our brave wizard decided that we should explore this place. Perhaps there might be great treasure here. In the end it would have been better not to have found this accursed place. Living without food and water would have been far preferable to the screams I wake up to each night. What is truly terrifying...is that the screams are my own....."

This module takes the AD&D Deities & Demigods Lovecraft section & turns it up to eleven. The PC's find themselves in the middle of the most infamous island in the Lovecraft mythos! And they have to survive! This is a world shattering module for 2020. The premise lays someplace between oh my God  that's metal to full on how the heck would I run this!?! 

The nice part is that you don't have to own a copy of the AD&D Deities & Demigods book because everything is provided right there here for you in the module. A very nice change up. 
This is really a nice little module & its not bare bones but it fills in quite a bit of the Chthulu mythology for the end times of a campaign. This is world & campaign breaker stuff here within 'Terror under the Sea'. The encounters are fierce, deadly, & sanity shattering for a party & I'm not saying this lightly. 
Deep Ones,Shoggoths, and many of the heavy hitters are here in this module and its for more then mere affect here. 'Terror under the Sea' is the bloody big leagues & the adventure should not be used lightly. The layout is well done, the cartography is solid, and this is a perfect high level campaign Lovecraftian  game runner. 

Now with all of that said this is a perfect module to use with the  Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea rpg! This is a perfect module to use as a follow up to the events within The Mystery at Port Greely. 
The PC's are sailing away from that module when the  'Terror under the Sea' comes to sweep them into its clutches! 

Bottom line  'Terror under the Sea' is a nice & solid no nonsense AD&D first edition Lovecraftian module with lots of possibilities if used right by the DM. 

In Memorum For TSR Writer, Wargamer, & Module Designer Lenard "Len" Lakofka (1944-2020)

 


Well, Lenard "Len" Lakofka (1944-2020) has passed & we had the odd email here & there. He was a very nice & personable person whose works always graced my table. He was one of the original TSR alumni & pioneers of the original Dungeons & Dragons leading right next to other greats. 
 L1 The Secret of Bone Hill is in my opinion the essential Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh module. Len on the other hand did a Hell of a lot for the OSR through the release of L4 Devil Spawn &  L5A: The Kroten Campaign Guide. 

I found Len Lakofka's modules solid & were well recieved at the table top with my players. There isn't a month that went by when I didn't look forward to his  monthly feature, Leomund's Tiny Hut, appeared in Issue #30 of 'The Dragon'. The Dragon issue 30 was released in October of 1979 & Its October 23, 2020 that Len passed. Pass the dice, miss the player, another one us has left the table. Rest in peace Lenard "Len" Lakofka you will be missed at our table tonight. All my best, condolences, & respects to the  Lakofka family this evening. 

The Continuing Outer Realm War Round Two - Godbound/Cha'alt Play Session Six - Manticores & Tactical Demons

 

So last night it was the middle of the Godbound/Cha'alt/Stars Without Number Session & here's where the party had to deal with a Cha'alt manticore. It took them quite a bit of time to deal with the horror of it through melee. 


If you'll remember last session we ended on a cliff hanger & the party had picked up a hitchhiker.  Steve's character had died & things have been going down hill for the party when they encountered a manticore with full on Cha'alt mutations. 
Their hitchhiker revealed herself to be Demonic a cleric of Ishtr created whenthat crazy metal headed bastard of the OSR Rafael Chandler released 'The Demonic Tome' onto an unsuspecting OSR as a pay what you want title.

The party's ride & horses were slaughtered during the melee & because of the violence of it my NPC was forced to reveal her true colours. I had this whole cloth build up for it! Lisa Watts is the lead singer in the 'Crags' a hard core metal band & adventurer. The party hiked back to where they had picked her up & her band whom it turns out had been slaughtered by the pig faced orc forces of chaos  from  AX1: The Sinister Stone of Sakkara. 


One of the US military's mecha had crashed on her band's van. The party's wizard Jaro' The Impossible  & their mechanic/ranger Crazy Charlie went to work on the van. A tactical demon appeared on their doorstep whist they were work on their van demanding to know why they had killed her pet manticore. Tacticl demons are straight out of  The Metallic Tome. Once again they tried to use their summoned lawyer demon & that didn't go well for the party. 

Boy the players had to talk their way outta of that little exchange as the lawyer demon & the tactical demon turned on the party. They had to think very fast & sacrificed ammuniaton,junk food, and a very special tv remote control to the demons for their skins! But now they've taken on a bargain for a hit on an angel! 
So the party is stuck out in the middule of nowhere near the California,Nevada, Utah, & Arizona deserts odd Cha'alt ruins, dungeons, & cityscapes have appeared. One of these has been my campaign's  version of Simon Forester's AX4: Ruined City of Cyfandir. This dungeon plugs nicely into Cha'alt's  Cha'alt: Fuchsia Malaise 's tattered & corrupt Elven empire. 

Steve hasn't come back into the game because of two our player's passings.. yet. There's a lot to unpack her yet stay tuned! 

There are several things going on here at once  during this campaign: 

1. There's a ton of pressure to consolodate two of my campaigns especially my Castles & Crusades campaign because of the kickstarter. 
2. Lots of loose ends that DM Steve has left me on purpose. 
3. There's two huge classic D&D  artifacts lumbing through this campaign & causing destruction on a massive scale. 
4. We've lost two of our strongest players! Their passing has caused a huge hole in my games. 
5. The round robin of DMing is creating a lot pressure with fall out. So its now a matter of picking up the pieces. 

OSR Commentary- A More Mythologicial Approach To The Doppelganger For Your Old School Campaigns

 I'm trying to recall when I first stumbled upon the original Dungeons & Dragons Doppelganger? I know that way back in 1980 I had a PC wizard snuffed out by his double in a lonely little dungeon room. The knife was wedged between the vertebrae of my character what a gusher. The Doppelganger was first introduced in Greyhawk (1975). But it was in the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual that we were formerly introduced when my fighter Hans Gurm bit the dust at the shape shifting claws of another doppelganger. But there are far more to the mythological origins of this alien shape shifter including a deeper & far more deadlier Hellish creation by Dante Alighieri in his Divine Comedy.

So let's dive right into the deep end of this mysterious double with its mythological origins according to Wiki;

"

English-speakers have only recently applied this German word to a paranormal concept. Francis Grose's, Provincial Glossary of 1787 used the term fetch instead, defined as the "apparition of a person living." Catherine Crowe's book on paranormal phenomena, The Night-Side of Nature (1848) helped make the German word well-known. However, the concept of alter egos and double spirits has appeared in the folklore, myths, religious concepts, and traditions of many cultures throughout human history.^[6]

In Ancient Egyptian mythology, a ka was a tangible "spirit double" having the same memories and feelings as the person to whom the counterpart belongs. The Greek Princess presents an Egyptian view of the Trojan War in which a ka of Helen misleads Paris, helping to stop the war.^{[citation needed]}. This is depicted in Euripides' play Helen. In Norse mythology, a vardøger is a ghostly double who is seen performing the person's actions in advance. In Finnish mythology, this is called having an etiäinen,^[7][8][9] "a firstcomer".^[10] The doppelgänger is a version of the Ankou, a personification of death, in Breton, Cornish, and Norman folklore."
The concept of the Ankou, a personification of death, in Breton, Cornish, and Norman  

mythology that we will concern ourselves with. The  Ankou  is a personification of Death from the negative material plane. Ergo the doppelganger as a monster is a literal a piece of the angel of death ;

"There are many tales involving Ankou, who appears as a man or skeleton wearing a cloak and wielding a scythe, and in some stories he is described as a shadow, often atop a cart for collecting the dead. He is said to wear a black robe with a large hat which conceals his face.^[1] According to some^[who?], he was the first child of Adam and Eve. Other versions have it that the Ankou is the first dead person of the year (though he is always depicted as adult, and male), charged with collecting the others' souls before he can go to the afterlife.^{[citation needed]} He is said to drive a large, black coach pulled by four black horses; accompanied by two ghostly figures on foot.^[1][2]

One tale^{[citation needed]} says that there were three drunk friends walking home one night, when they came across an old man on a rickety cart. Two of the men started shouting at the Ankou, and then throwing stones; when they broke the axle on his cart they ran off.

The third friend felt bad and, wanting to help the Ankou, found a branch to replace the broken axle, and then gave the Ankou his shoe-laces with which to tie it to the cart. The next morning, the two friends who were throwing stones at the Ankou were dead, while the one who stayed to help only had his hair turned white. He would never speak of how it happened."




Dante Gabriel Rossetti, How They Met Themselves, watercolor, 1864

"This character is reported by Anatole Le Braz, a 19th-century writer and collector of legends. Here is what he wrote about the Ankou in his best-seller The Legend of Death:

The Ankou is the henchman of Death (oberour ar maro) and he is also known as the grave yard watcher, they said that he protects the graveyard and the souls around it for some unknown reason and he collects the lost souls on his land. The last dead of the year, in each parish, becomes the Ankou of his parish for all of the following year. When there has been, in a year, more deaths than usual, one says about the Ankou:

– War ma fé, heman zo eun Anko drouk. ("On my faith, this one is a nasty Ankou.")"
'Every parish in Brittany is said to have its own Ankou.^[1] In Breton tradition, the squealing of railway wheels outside one's home is supposed to be Karrigell an Ankou ("The Wheelbarrow of Ankou").^[4] Similarly, the cry of the owl is referred to as Labous an Ankou ("The Death Bird").^[4] The Ankou is also found on the baptismal font at La Martyre where he is shown holding a human head.^[5]
In Ireland the proverb "When the Ankou comes, he will not go away empty" relates to the legend.^[1]
The seventh album of the Spirou et Fantasio comics series, named L'Ankou, also relates to the legend'

"It is said that the Ankou is a death omen that collects the souls of the deceased. The Ankou is the last person to die in a parish during a year. The last deceased person will assume the duty of calling for the dead. They describe the Ankou as a tall, haggard figure with long white hair. It is also perceived as a skeleton with a revolving head able to see everything everywhere. The Ankou is said to drive a cart and stops at the house of someone who is about to die. It knocks on the door, this sound is sometimes heard by the living, or it could give out a mournful wail like the Irish Banshee. The Ankou has also been reported as an apparition entering the house, it takes away the dead who are then placed in the cart with the help of two ghostly companions"

In Hell there are the soul doubles of living people so evil that there are demonic soul reflections already being tortured. Dante Alighieri in his Divine Comedy has several examples of these. There are also such beings with reflections within the Underworld of Hades.

The realm of Perdition is going to be one of the realms of these doppelgangers. They are merely a  facet of the larger being of Death. The monster is another alien life form going about its existence & its presence & function can be found within the description of the thing;
"In Dungeons & Dragons, doppelgangers have long, gangly limbs despite their above-average strength and agility, and pale gray skin. Their eyes resemble those of an octopus, yellow with slitted pupils, and they have no hair on any part of their body. Their facial features appear to be half-developed. They are cunning and patient, and will wait as long as it takes for an opportunity to present itself. They have the ability to Detect Thoughts, which helps them to mimic their target almost flawlessly by imitating their mannerisms and discovering information that only their target would know. Because of this, they are feared and regarded as natural spies and assassins. " Below the surface of society there is going to a large amount of secret societies & cults because these monsters know all kinds of secrets because of their strong association with Death. 

Cults of chaos & their necromancers are going to be summoning these monsters for their secret & forbidden knowledge. They are shape shifting around the halls of power & these monsters are constantly forced to take advantage of their natural resources. There is a deep connection to the Celtic Otherworldusing one of the classic pieces of Dante Alighieri's 14th-century epic poem Divine Comedy  as its background we find ourselves with a wholly different monster whose fangs will not be consuming my adventurers likeness anytime soon. Used carefully the Doppelganger is one of the most dangerous customers that the PC's could run into on any world. A simple monster  summoning spell can in fact create destruction for a classic old school campaign.

1d20 Random Encounters With Shades of the Damned & Phantoms of Hell For Your Old School Campaigns

 I have, indeed, no abhorrence of danger, except in its absolute effect - in terror.
Edgar Allan Poe



As the veil thins there's a marked changed in the barriers between the material & Hell itself. Souls of the damned drift forth to terroize the living. Adventurers are no different they can come across Hell mouths in the wilderness or the marked world of dungeons. The world of Chaos & the damned is unleashed on the living. 

Areas where the damned have truck with the living are rife with mutation, degeneration, & demonic influence. These places are often the sites of paladins, witchfinders, & other fanatics of the cause of good. But they are also the sites of cults that further the agenda of Hell itself. Here demons have easier means of crossing into the reality of the PC's and are not subject to the normal rules of banishment. 


Demonic Durer spearsman available through 
Antediluvan miniatures 

Hellmouths often accompany these violent passages of Hell into the world of the living. These things must be closed and will leave a violent residue of evil that will cause mutation & harm to the living for generations to come unless cleansed. 

1d20 Random Encounters With Shades of the Damned
& Phantoms of Hell

1. 1d8 Ghosts of the lake of fire, these are normal ghosts but with several minor abilities such as affect normal fires, fear, & they can cast a fire ball that does 1d4 points of damage within a 20 foot radius. Found in swarms of eight or less they are prone to violence to the living. 
2. 1d6 Moaning Drentches these horrors have come from a nearby crack in reality spilling into the local reality. These things have the abilities of a banshee & want to cause as much misery as possible. 
3. A flock of 1d6 Vrocks who are searching for any innocent souls they can. They rhyme & wager among themselves for their next kill. 
4. 1d7 Barbed devils sporting forks among themselves to kill off any humans they come across to drag their souls back to the underworld. 
5. A rather bored looking arch demon royals who will attack anyone he comes across violently. His bored friendly look will invite conversation but this is actually a charm ability that he's using. 
6. Two violent demon politicians who are arguing among themselves all of the will tugging a political party banner. They will use the banner on anyone they get close to tie up the party or NPC's. The banner is demonically strong & magically infinite. Their banter masks their evil intent. 
7. A group of minor demon hunters armed with spears & nets intent on hunting the living for the stew pot. There are 1d8 of these hunter's skin appears to be mutating & changing to meet their prey. 
8. A strange demonic or devil musician playing a weird bag pipe construction that is actually the head of a damned soul. The demon is actually a demonic bard & anyone hearing the music must save vs charm or follow this demon's turn. 
9. 1d10 Infernal striges these things are the size of a human baby & are looking for the innocent to plague. They will focus on adventurers knowing instinctively the threat they pose. 
10. 1d10 sexy witch succubus who are cavorting through the scenes looking for souls to suck dry. These things change from male to female & back again. They are looking for anyone they can drag off to their little corner for rendering down into potions & charms. 
11. An infernal jailer moving quietly as the keys around him clink. Use the stats for a chain devil but he will hurl a chain around anyone he can supernaturally within a twenty foot range. 
12. A horde of 1d6 bearded devil rhymers who are spouting poetry & using a thier own blood with +2 quills of sharpness to cut to the quick the living. They will start 'fighting' over a human head of the damned filled with ink that they will hurl at a party. The ink is actually acid & they will attack with their supernaturally sharp quills.
13. A gaggle of 1d10 hags with a selection of the damned for sale to anyone. These bitties of horror want to unload these wretches as soon as possible but party members may join their ranks ASAP. 
14. 1d20 vampire royals on their way to gain revenge on the local king for destroying their nest. They are guarded by two very powerful vampire knights of the 5th level. These royals may reward any living with a minor trinket if they engage in good conversation or slaughter them. 
15. A pile of 'gold' that is actually made up of the spirits of the miserly & the greedy in the form demonic gold bugs with the faces of the dead on them instead of kings & queens. They will not attack but will after an hour or two easy pickings for PC's. There are three vrocks among the coins polymorphed.. 
16. Wailing moaners and ghosts of the lowest pits who take the form of demonic ghosts. They have all of the abilities of a Monster Manual ghost but double the hit points. They are weak to holy symbols. 
17. A demonic banker who is looking for the books to be balanced! They must be and the souls of the party will do! They will do nicely indeed! Use the stats for a chain devil. 
18. A devil book binder is among the bushes looking for a damned soul & its most troublesome that he's not around. He must be turned into a book of forbidden knowledge you see. The book binder will give you twelve gold pieces if you help him find the soul of this wizard or he may make you & your party into autobiogrpahies of themselves! He has the abilities of an ice devil & serves a 'named' patron. 
19. An Erinyes royal & her 1d6 demonic  followers are taking in the sights they will pay for reputable guides only to betray the party later on or will they?! They may pay in coin of Hell. Her rival will show up within 1d8 rounds and may attack or engage the party. 
20. An arch devil is in a protracted war with his demonic rival and the PC's could be caught in the middle! They have just found themselves between the two armies. 

Giant Demon Antediluvan miniatures 

Tegel Manor Crashes Into Atlantandria Port City Of Accursed Atlantis - Session Report Two

 Twilight ascends the abandoned ramps of noon

Within an ancient land, whose after-time
Unfathomably shadows its ruined prime.
Like rising mist the night increases soon
Round shattered palaces, ere yet the moon
On mute, unsentried walls and turrets climb,
And touch with pallor of sepulchral rime
The desert where a city's bones are strewn.

She comes at last: unsepultured, they show
In all the hoary starkness of old stone.
From out a shadow like the lips of Death
Issues a wind, that through the ruins blown,
Cries like a prophet's ghost, with waiting breath,
The weirds of finished and forgotten woe.

A Dead City  (1912) 
by Clark Ashton Smith

So over last twenty four hours we've been picking up the parts & pieces of our Atlantandria Port City Of Accursed Atlantis game last night. This game has been on hiatus since August due to the death of two of our regular players. We're using a heavily modified Adventurer,Conqueror,King rpg system. Last night's game saw the party bargaining with inhuman powers. The party went to deal with a regional leader of the Greys to bargain with a superscience cure for their paladin Sir John. Many of the adventure elements were taken straight from Adventurer, Conqeuror, King's Barbarian Conqueror's of Kanahu 

The Greys being the demonic half breed  bastards that they are demanded a power crystal from a bug hive on the Southern tip of Accursed Atlantis. The bugs in question come straight outta of  Night Owl Workhop's Colonial Troopers. The Terrans are in an all out protracted war with 'the bugs'. 

The party wanted to think about the bargain but later that night at camp they were attacked by a group of vampire cultists! There was an all out fight & gun shots were fired.  The cultists were captured & staked out for the morning suns. They then contacted the Greys & accepted the bargain for the power crystal. 

Meanwhile the Rumps are not staying quiet & their own operatives have been moving across the wasteland toward the party. They picked up the trail back in Atlantandria & talked with several folks who had dealings with the party. This included a rather snutty  Terran ambassor & operative. 

Review & Commentary On 'Thieves of Fortress Badaraskor' D20 By Necromancer Games Using The Castles & Crusades rpg System

The robed bureaucrat looks up from the table and gazes on all of you before proceeding. "Ah, I see you decided to accept this mission. In your search for the bandit leader Cragen you need to be aware of a few things." Pointing to a mountain on the map, he says, "Here is a particularly nasty little cult worshipping some dead god." He pauses, then continues, "Angall is the god’s name, I believe. Also be aware that we have reports that there is a raiding party of amazons. I believe their leader is looking for her mother who disappeared in the area twenty years ago."

The bureaucrat rolls up the map and hands it to you, then turns to open an old book. "I don’t know if this is of any relevance, but it appears that there are ancient accounts of a Great Wyrm from the days of the First Men." Slamming the book shut he looks at all of you. “I would be careful in poking around in any caves or dungeons. You have your mission. Find Cragen and the reward is yours. That is all."

Do your heroes dare to enter Fortress Badabaskor? Deadly brigands, vicious cultists, and the dusty treasures of the Dragon Kings await those with muscle, wit, and luck. Defeat these challenges to uncover the dark secret of Badabaskor - a secret that will challenge even the most experienced of adventurers…


" An adventure in the wilderness stronghold of a band of brigands that includes the background and statistics of an evil local deity, plus history, maps, and keyed room descriptions of a five-level dungeon carved out of the side of a mountain. The first three levels are fairly easy and suitable for breaking in new and inexperienced players; but the lower two are far tougher, and include a cavern that has a series of four dragon dens, indicative of the difficulty of the lower levels."

Stacking in at about sixty six pages the D20 version Judges Guild's 'Thieves of Fortress Badaraskor' came out in '07 & was produced by Goodman Games. Finding  this tonight on the thumb drive of infinite depth was interesting. 'Thieves of Fortress Badaraskor' isn't a particularly valuable adition to the collection because the real print version of it sells for aound 17.00 dollars US. What this adventure does is to reenforce the fact that the Wilderlands of High Fantasy is point blank Sword & Sorcery pulpy adventure. 

Straight up outta of the gate there is no way that I would run this without using the Castles & Crusades rpg. Yes the dungeon is only five levels but this is a mean dungeon of extreme nastiness & the second thing is that this is a dungeon with an attitude towards the player's PC's. Party's are going to need to extremely lucky & very clever in certain aspects of their play in this dungeon. 

There's something that feels a bit off in the D20 'Thieves of Fortress Badaraskor', but I can't quite put my finger on it. All of the adventure elements are there. But this feels more D20 then some of the other Necromancer products. That doesn't make it any less useful in any way. 

The overaching feel of 'Thieves of Fortress Badaraskor'  is one of dire circumstances & desert environs. This is an intermediate module but C&C players are going to have to bring their 'a' games in 'Thieves of Fortress Badaraskor'. The lethality of  the original is there. But certain aspects are more fleshed out then in the original adventure. 

Using 'Thieves of Fortress Badaraskor' with a crossover for Greyhawk means that there has to be several cross over points. This includes adding in certain Greyhawk elements such as possibly additional Greyhawk desert forces, an in with Greyhawk's thieves guilds, & a possible connection or two for Greyhawk relics or artifacts. This can easily be done with several key points in 'Thieves of Fortress Badaraskor' . 

'Thieves of Fortress Badaraskor' is definitely a product of its time & offers quite a bit of charm & wit for the Castles & Crusades dungeon master. Is it worth your time?! Perhaps if your really into running the D20 versions of the Wilderlands of High Fantasy. This is something that I'll be tackling in the near future. 

'Thieves of Fortress Badaraskor'  remains a product of the Necromancer Games period of '07. This is a good module if you want to run in the D20 Wilderlands but this is a lethal module. This is a product of its time, with regards to using it with some of the Castles & Crusades resources. There are several options on the table, first of all the desert regions make perfect trade locations with the thieves & bandits having such trade routes as targets. On the whole the Castles & Crusades Monsters & Treasure book is a must. 

The DM has to make sure that the players have a full retinue of classic PC types for 'Thieves of Fortress Badaraskor'. And highly recommend back up PC's for the players journeying into the dungeons of 'Thieves of Fortress Badaraskor'.