Review & Commentary On 101 Sarmatians For Dungeons & Dragons and more By Rpg Pundit

 "The Polish ruling class has several mythologies of their origins. These myths have created a subculture of their own that serves to distinguish the internal culture, codes of honor, and perception of the duties of the Szlachta. This mythology would come to be called “Sarmatism.”"

"Sarmatism, in short, is the theory that the aristocracy of Poland was descended not just from the western Slavs but also from a fearsome Iranian race of warrior-horsemen known as the “Sarmatians.”

Sarmatians gained a reputation in ancient times as very powerful warriors and horsemen, their epicenter was located around the Black Sea, but they expanded in waves of tribal invasions to many areas of Eastern and Central Europe."

101 Sarmatians For Dungeons & Dragons and more By Rpg Pundit  is a great supplement for any OSR rpg or old school fantasy rpg. However, this book is fantastic for the Baptism By Fire Rpg as a sourcebook. I confess that the Baptism By Fire rpg is new to me. 

101 Sarmatians For Dungeons & Dragons and more By Rpg Pundit details each of the major & some minor Polish royal houses. Each noble house has a set of detailed NPC's with adventure hooks built in. All of this is concentrated within a 100 pages with a fresh and solid layout, easy to read font, & it has everything you need to begin to add in these noble houses to your OSR campaign.Equally  there's a solid mythic &  legenday background with the Polish royal houses with the additional adventure element; "Sarmatism, in short, is the theory that the aristocracy of Poland was descended not just from the western Slavs but also from a fearsome Iranian race of warrior-horsemen known as the “Sarmatians." This adds a mythological and historic element to your OSR campaign. 

Take for example House Ciolek, "Ciolek This house is based in the area around Sandomierz, with some holdings of family branches in Greater Poland. Its symbol is a red bull. The members of this house have a reputation for violence and godlessness. The founder of this House was said to have been a German mercenary-knight named Henricus of Wizenburg, who married into a Polish family"

The NPC's are well drawn out & have actual personality about them. The NPC's seem like real & living peoplefor example; "8. Kasimierz Ciolek (Fighter Lv2): A second cousin of the current Magnate, Kasimierz is in his early 30s. He was a second son, and rather than live under the shadow of his brother on his lands, he chose to seek his fortune with the Crown. He quickly ingratiated himself into the Piast court, where his family’s reputation for warfare got him a position in the Piast army under Boleslaw. Still, he didn’t prove to be a particularly skilled warrior (he performed acceptably, but got no great honors). However, he was quickly known as a master carouser, a genius at debauchery, and generally a great guy to have at a party. His social skills quickly gained him the admiration of Mieszko II, who made him one of his own attendants, and also granted him a position of honor when Mieszko II ascended to the throne. However, as time went by and Mieszko sought to be seen as more serious, his old party-friend has become more and more of a liability for him. What no one knows is that Kasimierz has been contacted by agents of Conrad II (Holy Roman Emperor) with the offer to act as a spy."
These NPC's are exactly the folks that you want to have on a Silk Road campaign! And this is exactly what 101 Sarmatians For Dungeons & Dragons has been written for. 

The Polish noble houses would be excellent as patrons for a Sword & Caravan campaign adventuring party. 
There's plenty of opportunities for adventurers to make thier marks on the Silk  Road as traders, merchant princes, etc. 
This means that this supplement is going to get a work out. These Medieval authentic adventures work on many levels. For OSR play and at the table top level these are excellent pieces to use for OSR or old school gaming. 

These books by RPG Pundit are ones that I immediately buy. And this includes 101 Sarmatians For Dungeons & Dragons  becase these books are actually usable and highly functional for old school and OSR play. Note that Rpg Pundit didn't send me this book to review but that I bought it on my own. 

B1 In Search of the UnKnown By Mike Carr, The King in Yellow, & The Thirteen Parsecs rpg by Jason Vey- Session 1

 Were Rogahn the Fearless (a fighter of renown) and Zelligar the Unknown (a magic-user of mystery and power) both corrupted by the King in Yellow?! The players landed on the planet after exiting hyperspace into thier systems. They found the interstellar beacon to the ruined keep that secretly housed the hidden complex known as the Caverns of Quasqueton! We picked right up right from here on the blog. 

The player's PC's were able to access the keep and it's environs quite easily. Yet, there were those in the party who thought that Rogahn the Fearless and Zelligar the Unknown might be alive ( hint they weren't). They did however come face to face with swaths of orcs, goblins, and several skeletons all under the horrid influence of the King in Yellow. 

 The PC's made it into the first floor of the keep. And came across the bodies of other former adventurers. These things were undead horrors under the King in Yellow's influence. These horrors attacked the PC's and this was followed by horns being sounded for goblin forces! 
The PC's were forced back into a back room by the adventurer horrors. And this is where we ended. 

The Thirteen Parsecs rpg has Chamber's King in Yellow as one of the possible campaign settings for the PC's. We took full advantage of the blank 'create your own adventure' format. Delta's D&D Hotspot has an excellent blog post on B1 Insearch of the Unknown. The   Caverns of Quasqueton has quite a dead on two levels of hard core dungeons. Add in the Chambers mythos of the King In Yellow & things get cosmic weird; " As noted by Mr. Wilde in The Repairer of Reputations:

"The ambition of Caesar and of Napoleon pales before that which could not rest until it had seized the minds of men and controlled even their unborn thoughts ... He is a king whom emperors have served."

 The PC' s are up too thier necks within the Chamberian aspects of our version of B1. The mysteries of  the Caverns of Quasqueton remains. 

Exploring the Mad Socrerer's Isle - The Campaign World of CROM THE BARBARIAN By Jothanathan Nolan For The FASERIPopedia! Rpg

 So awhile back I worked on the Mad Sorcerer's Isle hex from the CROM THE BARBARIAN By Jothanathan Nolan  For The  FASERIPopedia supplement to augment and expand our Ascendant Rpg  campaign. This session report picks up right from November7th on the blog. 

 Now the Sorcerer's Isle was originally an ancient citadel that was abandoned during Crom's early ages. This builting and it's holdings were supposedly haunted only to be taken over by a succession of sorcerer's and thier families over the generations. The place being abandoned during the last age. This place is the orgin point for at least three of our Ascendant rpg characters. The player's PC's were immediately attacked by humaniod warriors who looked rough and unfinished. 

The ancient buildings were in ruins that is above ground. Below ground was an entirely another story with vast sprawling complexes and centers full of energy sources and other machinery. This is    according to our own PC Livewire 'master of eletricity and magnatism'  Our party came across a hidden doorway leading down into a high technological tunnel with decontamination booths. The air was pleasant and highly filtered having a highly oxigenated smell about it. 

We were then attacked by soldiers who turned out to be advanced androids armed with blasters. They gave chase and we fled rather then fight. We want the citidel in decent shape so that we can figure out it's operation and more. We ended here today. 

We're using Ascendant's Rogue's gallery's characters  to dovetail with some of the origins of Ascendant's Rogues Gallery to Crom's world for our campaign. 

Crom's world has intersected with our own timeline at various points through out history. This includes our Ascendant campaign when a time doorway allowed Charlemane's Champion to come through. And yes we totally stole him from here. 

He has zero memory of how he came to the modern age. Super strong, highly resistant to damage, and yet capable of great charity. Charlemane's champion has become a valued member of our group as long as he can speak English. We taught him after saving him from a gang of super criminals who had him on ice. 

Winter Stockade KS 24 HOURS Left for "Special Edition Module #1: Goblin Raid on the Winter Stockade" By Mark Taormino From Dark Wizard Games For Your Old School Campaigns

 "The holiday season is in peril! The jolly workshop of Santa Claus has been invaded by a horde of mischievous goblins, led by the evil, gluttonous, and greedy Snarfle Waddlebelly! This vile goblin boss and his goons have turned the magical stockade into an evil dungeon, stealing enchanted toys, festive treasures, and the very essence of holiday cheer itself. The local village has assembled a team of brave adventurers to breach the snow-laden walls of the Winter Stockade, navigate its frosty halls, and confront that fat bastard and his mischievous gang of minions! The fate of the holiday lies in your hands as you rescue Santa and his friends, restoring order and the spirit of the season to the world. Amazing riches, a chance to get on the "nice" list for once, a few awesome toys, and the joy of millions of children hang in the balance if you can you save Christmas from the Goblin Raid on the Winter Stockade!"

"Special Edition Module #1: Goblin Raid on the Winter Stockade" By Mark Taormino is a great first level adventure that can easily transport your old school  adventuring party to a Winter wonderland of violence and horror. 
This is a great special edition module to transport your party into the middle of a series of adventures that centers around trying to save the Holiday season. 
And it's a great module for introducing the PC's into  the evil, gluttonous, and greedy Snarfle Waddlebelly!

There are brand new treasures, adventure locations, and plenty of tricks and holiday themed traps to get your adventurers in the middle of the holiday fueled action. 
Because this is a first level adventure this is a perfect touch stone to launch your campaigns with. 
Get the PC's deeply involved in your campaign's holiday Winter wonderland and then try to murder them in it! "Special Edition Module #1: Goblin Raid on the Winter Stockade" By Mark Taormino is in my mind an excellent adventure for Castles & Crusades. You've got all of the classic elements holiday mayhem, hidden locations, holiday themed violence, old school goblins, dungeon crawls  and more. 

"Special Edition Module #1: Goblin Raid on the Winter Stockade" is perfect for C&C because it encapsulates the sense of whimsy and danger that C&C embodies. There's plenty of serious dungeon crawling but there's also an old school feel of dangerous  whimsy that many C&C adventures have. This is why Mark Taormino's adventures play so well with C&C. So get in on the action with "Special Edition Module #1: Goblin Raid on the Winter Stockade". Time is running out! 

Shadows of Saltmarsh Amazing Adventures! Rpg Session Report #3

 We pick up with the party fighting smugglers on the beaches of the manor house in U1 The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh. Instead we were able to scatter the pirates with some carefully placed gas bombs.And we were able to sieze the Sea Wasp. This session picks right up from last week's session. 

We searched the beach and almost got ambushed by a pack of sea orcs, as well as mergnolls. These guys were part of the Deep Ones forces. 

Our own hero Waverider has been helping his own people the mermen around New York harbor. The Deep Ones have been battling them for centuries now. 
There have been incursions from the Deep Ones also on the Sea Elves terrority from Long Island. 
This goes back to the truce of 1952 which has been set up among the power house underwater humanoid tribes in the area. But something has been stirring up trouble among the tribes. The best guess of our two underwater heroes is that it's the Deep Ones. The village of Saltmarsh has been a haven for smugglers & pirates dating back before the 1700's. There have been rumors of undead horrors that date back to pre 1600's and can be traced back to Plum Island. 

The Plum Island facility has had rumors of lizardmen cryptids and strange monsters seen around the area. The mansion front door was locked and trapped. Nightslayer our night thief opened the locks without a problem. The interior of the house looked abandoned. However there were drag marks on the floor up too a book case. 
There were several bullet holes in the interior furnature of the house. The rooms looked lived in. 
We came face to face with two skeletons within the manor. Two of our party adventurers blasted the skeletons low and high with powers without report. This meant that the neighbors didn't see gun reports or gun play. We found sleeping bags and two ships log books. 
This is when we heard noise from upstairs & this is where we ended! 

Underworld Be Damned! - Red Room's Darker Rpg Session Report!

  The wind of the Beyond echoed in our party's ears and the house itself seemed to stretch into eternity. The pig things made thier way back into the house and down to the cellar. We gave chase! We made our way following on the heels of the pig thing humanoids deep into the cellar of the house. And we found a tunnel dug in the celler of the house and we were ahead of the curb. We killed three of the pig things after they took out one of our number. 
This session picks up after last week's session here on the blog. 

Our party followed the pig things deep into the tunnel and that's when the back of the make shift tunnel collapsed! 
We had no choice but to go forward! The pig things sent two crossbow bolts our way! We dodged outta of the way and sent several bullets thier way. 
We continued on as burnt oil smells and screams assaulted our ears. We kept going with flash lights lit. 
The roof was supported by timber & weird metal  rapports supporting the Earthen works. And then the group came across an outlet tunnel. And they came face to face with a huge system of gears, pulleys, etc. all being run by the pig things. These monsters were not happy to see the group and they began to give chase especially as the party saw who or what was cooking in the large copper pots below in some of the gas works! 
The party began to run and run swiftly away as more cross bow bolts and spears whistled past thier ears. 
The party noticed that the tunnels were slopping upward and followed the tunnels as sulferous air assaulted thier nostrals. Finally after what seemed like miles they came to the opening on the surface. The red hazed skies were rife with demonic forms that flapped lazily and around the party was a plethora of burnt out wreckage of what once must have been vehicles  of some type at one point. The landscape was a ruin filled with the wrecks of ancient times. Before the party even had time to catch thier breaths they heard the bronze on pavement of the hell horse's hooves. Then the demonic laughter of the hell maidens who were tormenting some poor soul. They sighted the party from the backs of the hell horse (hellhorse from the creature codex here). 

“Eternal Fire” © Chris Kanters, accessed at their deviantArt page here

The party opened up with thier guns towards the hell maidens and did absolutely nothing to the maidens. They laughed at the party and began taking off after the party. We ended here. 

Our DM tonight brought in a deep cut with the hell maidens and the hell horse taken from Bloody Arduin.  
The Darker rpg is easy to convert over the original Arduin rpg material because the Red Rpg system is OSR. 
Darker has some solid bones that pulls deeply from it's OSR system. Darker does away with the PC classes rpg levels. And the Red rpg system has a high value combat system that is fast and reliable. 
The Darker rpg has a fast magic system and takes it's 'P's & 'Q''s from a third generation OSR system. This means that the players can get on with play. This makes the Darker rpg go that much quicker. 

The Darker rpg is not an rpg that tries to get away from it's mature themes and material. Instead it embraces it. 

Review & Commentary on The Clash of Steel Rpg By Paul Elliot

 "Clash of Steel is a dark fantasy rules set, for solo and table-top play, that evokes the grim sword and sorcery tales of Robert E. Howard, Michael Moorcock and Clark Ashton Smith. Magic is dangerous and dark, and corrupt and decadent empires struggle to retain their hold on vassal states and tribes. You play as anti-heroes, that are just as likely to rob travellers as to rescue them, they have a chequered past and seek out their own fortune or fame in a savage and uncaring world."

 Clash of Steel is a new 2D6 based, with a 10+ to succeed in any task  Sword & Sorcery rpg. The Clash of Steel rpg system  game has expanded in into a whole cloth Sword & Sorcery system. Clocking in at more then 200 pages this game hits the high marks for tapping deeply into the dark fantasy literature vein. Clash of Steel By Paul Elliot is very well done. This rpg has a very well laid out system, easy to read fonts, and professionally done book. 
This is a game that delves deeply into dark region of the genre by giving the DM & the players a fast and gritty character generation. The magic system is a fast, intuitive, and highly quick 2d6 system. The magic system is powered by demons. This makes magic a very shaky business. 
The combat system is brutal and highly dangerous indicative of the Sword & Sorcery genre. Why? Because of the fact that PC's can roll over thier actions in combat; 'Successful attacks can be ‘held-over’ to create more serious injuries in later rounds.'  Even the monsters are quick and easy with one line stat blocks so that you as the DM can add them into your adventures quickly. 

Clash of Steel does something that other rpg's including the world's most popular fantasy rpg. What Clash of Steel does is too bring both solo and group play into a quick & solid rpg system. And what we get is an engine for Sword & Sorcery adventure right outta of the box. 
The game is one that puts the DM & the players within an adventure game that is geared around both solo play. This means the player can take a PC and become engrained into a world of Sword & Sorcery. Other players are not needed! But bringing them on board & you've got a campaign that could last for many years to come. 
Clash of Steel is a solid Sword & Sorcery rpg & powerful engine for a dark fantasy rpg adventure. Grab this one because Paul Elliot has out done himself on this one. As a Sword & Sorcery rpg Clash of Steel is solid! 

The Cube By Joseph Mohr & Trey Causey's Strange Stars - Stars Without Number & Cities Without Number Session Report Part III

 The party has been let aboard the Cube but the cube is huge. To qoute ' The Cube by Joseph Mohr ; " The cube is huge. It is the size of a dreadnaught. It dwarfs the size of smaller vessels like scout ships or merchant traders." Last session the player's ship was almost blown outta of the sky. We're using a combination of Stars Without Numbers and Trey Causey's Strange Stars . This session picks rights up from where the last session left off.  The cube stopped for a meeting with the PC's but it warned them it wasn't stopping for long. 

The Cube has been making it's way through the Nicodimus sector and has been doing so for at least three hundred years. And the cube had blown two United Space Crusiers from space. This is after the wreckage our party had found. The PC's communicated with the cube using coloured lights after the party's A.I. analyazed the alien's language. 
Now the party's cybersneaks have been meeting with the cube's xenophobic A.I. in cyberspace. The A.I. let the party onto the cube but has been evasive as to what the status is on the cube's inhabitants. The PC's climbed into heavy space suits and brought thier own A.I.'s android body with them. The interior of the cube was completely alien as the outside is! There was a sense of forboding aboard the alien craft. 

The cube's interior was a mass of Jack Kirby style machinary with a foggy pea soup atmosphere. There was a psionic feeling of foreboding. The party came across several weird alien engineering bots going around doing repair work. 
The lights flickered and came back on twice in strange hues that hurt the human's eyes. 
There was old  evidence of energy fire and  carbon scoring exchanges along  the walls were the PC's were within the landing bay. The cube is massive and is highly intimidating. The party came across a huge security bot and it escorted the party into a secure trade room. 
There was a psionic illusionary alien that our party's psionic saw. It faded fast as we made our way to the alien's trade room where an atmosphere had been prepared for our party. We came across a holographic display of another alien trader who was the last visitor to the cube. This alien trader was of the same type that we had seen within the Stars Without Number rpg adventure Hard Light! 

The cube has been travelling a very,very, long time. What other mysteries are aboard the cube!?