OSR Commentary - Exploring The Arduin Trilogy Boxed Set – Harbinger Edition Rpg By Emperor's Choice Games

 

Published by Emperor’s Choice Games (the long-time stewards of Dave Hargrave’s legendary Arduin multiverse), the Arduin Trilogy Boxed Set – Harbinger Edition is a modern retro-clone/restoration release designed to preserve and expand upon the classic 1970s Arduin Grimoires.

It serves as both a pristine reprint collection of Hargrave’s foundational books and a treasure-trove package loaded with unreleased collector’s material, expanded card sets, and vintage game aids.

Core Contents of the Harbinger Box

The Harbinger Edition collects the foundational texts that gave birth to the Arduin Grimoire series in their original $6 \times 9$-inch saddle-stitched digest formats:

• Volume I: The Arduin Grimoire (Variant Double Pack)

  • Includes two separate printings of the legendary 96-page first volume:

    1. The iconic Erol Otus cover edition.

    2. The Greg Espinoza cover edition.

  • Content: Introduces original custom classes (Phraint, Rune Weaver, Star-Powered Mage), critical hit/fumble tables, and cross-genre sci-fi/fantasy spells.

• Volume II: Welcome to Skull Tower (100 pages)

  • Expands on monster stats, hive-mind creatures, additional spell levels, and rules for tech-magic integration (plasma weapons, power armor) within classic fantasy d20 frameworks.

• Volume III: The Runes of Doom (100 pages)

  • Features high-level planar travel, demonology charts, exotic magical items, and Hargrave's gonzo worldbuilding details.

• The Arduin Primer (16 pages)

  • A rare, reprinted classic collector's booklet outlining the foundations of the Arduin rule set and campaign philosophy.

Boxed Goods & Physical Extras

Beyond the core books, the Harbinger Box includes physical accessories designed to evoke late-70s/early-80s boxed sets:

• Custom Packaging: A sturdy storage box designed with side finger-slots for easy shelf retrieval.

• Unpublished Magik Item Cards: Two artifact reference cards pulled directly from Dave Hargrave’s personal, previously unreleased archival notes.

• Cardstock Critical Hit Table: A durable, standalone reference card for Arduin’s famous, brutal critical hit and amputation charts.

• Character Sheet Pack: Four printed blank vintage-style Arduin character sheets.

• Polyhedral Dice: A full set of black polyhedral gaming dice.

Harbinger Edition Bonus Card Bundles

Emperor's Choice bundled the Harbinger Boxed Set with two supplemental card expansions that convert classic Arduin lore into modular gaming aids:

Add-On Bundle	Description / Contents
Arduin Fantasy Card Collection	A 72-card cut-out sheet set featuring monster stats, exotic treasures, and classic Arduin encounters.
Arduin Character Pack & Pocket Rules	A 40-card character option deck alongside the Pocket Rules ABA (Arduin Battle System) quick-reference guide.

Why It Matters for OSR & Classic Gaming

1. Preservation of Early Sci-Fantasy: Before official campaign settings unified fantasy styles, Hargrave’s work bridged raw, high-lethal d20 dungeon crawls with lasers, psionics, and cosmic horrors.

2. Modular Utility: The material in the Harbinger Edition functions both as a standalone retro-clone system or as a plug-and-play "weird fantasy" supplement for traditional OSR engines (like Worlds Without Number, ACKS II, or Barrows & Borderlands).

3. Historical Value: By including both the Otus and Espinoza versions of Volume I, it preserves the visual evolution of one of tabletop RPG history's earliest independent publications

OSR Horror NPC - The Jinn from the Wishmaster films for Sword of Cepheus 2nd Edition rpg

Here is a statistical write-up for the Wishmaster Djinn tailored for Sword of Cepheus (2D6 2D Sci-Fi / Old-School Fantasy RPG).

The Djinn (Wishmaster)

Born of fire in the dark void between light and darkness, the Djinn are malicious, immortal entities of pure reality-warping malice. A Djinn cannot act on its own accord to alter reality—it feeds on human desire and is bound to grant the wishes of mortals, maliciously twisting their words to cause agony, murder, and soul-harvesting.

UPP: 8AFFFF (STR: 8, DEX: 10, END: 15, INT: 15, EDU: 15, SOC: 15)
Armor: 6 (Natural chitin/scales, +12 vs. conventional 

non-magical physical weapons)
Hit Points: 45
Attacks: Claws/Tentacles 3D6, Reality Distortion (Variable)
Skills: Deception-3, Persuasion-3, Sorcery-5, Melee-2, Tactics-2
Reactions: Always hostile, masquerades as helpful or agreeable

Special Traits & Rules

• Impure Invulnerability: The Djinn cannot be killed by mundane physical damage or conventional combat spells. If reduced to 0 HP by physical attacks, its body disintegrates, only to reform within $1D6$ rounds at full health. It can only be permanently bound, banished, or unmade using sacred artifacts, divine intervention, or by tricking it into undoing its own awakening (e.g., wishing the event that freed it never happened).

• Flesh-Mask (Disguise): The Djinn can peel the face or assume the form of a deceased humanoid to blend in with society, gaining their voice and identity. While in this form, it retains its mental stats and wish-granting ability.

• Soul Harvesting: Every time a mortal accepts a wish, their soul is instantly bound to the Djinn's power source (usually an enchanted gem or opal) upon their death.

Wish-Granting Mechanics

The Djinn cannot cast spell-like reality warping unless prompted by a mortal voice.

1. Casual Wishes: Any rhetorical, casual, or off-hand desire spoken by a PC or NPC in the Djinn's presence ("I wish you'd just get out of my face!", "I wish I was dead rich!") allows the Djinn to cast an un-resisted Instant-Effect Sorcery. The wish is granted in the most literal, ironic, and brutal manner possible.

   • Example: "I wish to escape this prison" $\rightarrow$ The target's skeleton bursts out of their flesh and runs away.

2. The Waker's Three Wishes: The specific mortal who freed the Djinn from its gemstone prison is granted 3 Core Wishes.

   • Wish 1 & 2: Reality bends to whatever the waker asks, but always creates unforeseen side effects.

   • Wish 3: Fulfilling the third wish shatters the planar boundary between dimensions, freeing an army of Djinn to enslave the mortal realm.

Combat Strategy

The Djinn rarely relies on raw physical strength, though its facial tentacles and claws hit with supernatural force. Instead, it uses Persuasion and Deception to goad players into making off-hand statements containing the words "I wish..."

During an encounter, describe the Djinn subtly offering bargains, goading enraged characters, or offering "free samples" of its power to tempt the party into making a mistake. 

Here is a scenario hook and artifact entry tailored for Sword of Cepheus, designed to plunge an unsuspecting party into a nightmare of corrupted desires.

Artifact: The Fire Opal of the Void

A swirling, blood-red cabochon that pulses with an inner, incandescent warmth. To look closely into its depth is to feel an agonizing, electric tug at the back of your mind.

Attribute	Details
Artifact Classification	Grade-5 Forbidden Arcana / Sentient Prison
Market Value	Priceless (300,000+ Silver to cults or collectors; cursed)
Resist DC	INT / SOC 10+ to withstand its passive psychic pull

Properties & Mechanics:

• The Calling Pulse: Any creature within 12 meters who locks eyes with the gem must pass an INT or SOC check (10+) or feel an irresistible urge to pick it up and handle it.

• Awakening: The Djinn reclaims its physical form only when the gem's current possessor utters a direct desire to the gem (e.g., "I wish I had enough gold to buy this city"). Upon the first wish, the gemstone shatters, releasing the Djinn into the physical plane.

• Soul Receptacle: Whenever a target dies as a direct result of a granted wish, their soul is sucked into the shard fragment left behind. Destroying the shard requires sacred fire or a Dispel Magic cast at Sorcery level 5+, which liberates all trapped souls.

Scenario Hook: The Red Jewel of Oakhaven

The Setup

The party arrives in the wealthy trade hub of Oakhaven during the annual Solstice Auction. Master Valerius, an eccentric antiquarian, has unveiled his crown jewel: an unblemished, pulsating red opal unearthed from a pre-cataclysmic desert tomb. Unbeknownst to the town, Valerius accidentally awakened the entity during a private viewing when he idly muttered, "I wish my arthritis wouldn't pain me tonight."

The Djinn "cured" him by turning his nervous system into inert silver filigree—and took his form to walk among the high-society guests.

                  [ SOLSTICE AUCTION HOUSE ]
                             │
     ┌───────────────────────┴───────────────────────┐
     ▼                                               ▼
[THE AUCTION FLOOR]                           [THE PRIVATE VAULT]
- "Valerius" host auctions gem                - True Valerius's silver corpse
- Tempts wealthy patrons into wishing          - Scattered warding runes & journals

The Complications

• Infiltration & Temptation: "Valerius" (the Djinn in disguise) uses the auction to goad powerful local figures into making off-hand wishes, rapidly building an undead/corrupted army beneath the city streets.

• The Waker's Burden: The Djinn needs the original finder—a terrified junior archeologist named Elian currently hiding in the tavern—to speak two more formal wishes to open the planar breach. The Djinn cannot force Elian to wish; it must manipulate or trick him into doing so.

• The Party's Dilemma: The PCs might be hired by Elian for protection, or hired by a rival merchant to steal the gem. Once in the Djinn's orbit, every casual phrase spoken during combat or negotiations ("I wish these guards would shut up!") will be weaponized against them.

Encounter Seed: The Bidding War

While the party is on the auction floor, a rival mercenary captain gets into a heated argument with "Valerius" over the gem's authenticity.

• Rival: "This is a scam! I wish you'd show everyone what you're really made of!"

• The Djinn's Grant: The merchant's skin turns transparent, exposing his organs and skeletal structure to the horror of the crowd, while "Valerius" smiles warmly and asks the PCs: "And you, travelers? What is your heart's truest desire?"

Adapting North West of Earth By C.L. Moore - Orbital Decay (MicroRed version) From The Red Room & The New Flesh Rpg - a D100 Random Martian Encounter table with Ancient Alien and Exemplar NPC's

 This d100 Random Martian Encounter Table blends planetary romance, dying gods, reaver bands, Terran imperialists, and ancient alien entities. Scattered throughout are unique Exemplar NPCs—key figures who can act as patrons, rivals, or bosses for a campaign on the Red Planet. This blog post picks right up from Adapting North West of Earth By C.L. Moore - Orbital Decay (MicroRed version) From The Red Room & The New Flesh Rpg - d100 Random Monoliths, Henges, & Lairs Table

01–25: Dry Canal Outposts & Silt Towns

d100	Encounter / Exemplar NPC	Details & Hooks
01–02	Exemplar NPC: Captain Jack Vane	A heavily scarred Terran mercenary in worn leather armor, nursing a gin and a plasma-burned shoulder. Hook: Looking for a crew to retrieve a stolen consignment of TTA raygun power cells.
03–04	A blind Martian harpist playing ancient mourning-chimes outside an opium den.	Detail: The music induces vivid, nostalgic telepathic visions of Mars’s lost green oceans.
05–06	A mob of angry locals cornering a slender, veiled figure in a narrow alleyway.	Detail: The figure moves with unnatural grace; if unmasked, they reveal cold, glowing golden eyes.
07–08	Exemplar NPC: Lady Zarah of Valkis	A decadent Martian aristocrat wrapped in Phobos moth-silk, carried on a ornate palanquin. Hook: Secretly financing a rebellion against the Terran Mining Consortium.
09–10	Two Terran Trade Authority (TTA) marshals shaking down a local water-merchant.	Detail: The marshals are demanding double taxes; the merchant is hiding a poisoned needle-pistol.
11–12	A shady street vendor peddling jars of gray "god-dust" harvested from ancient tombs.	Detail: Inhaling the dust grants brief telepathic foresight, followed by severe lung-rot.
13–14	A drunken brawl in a low-gravity saloon between canal-runners and off-duty Earth miners.	Detail: Raygun blasts shatter a water pipe, flooding the dry cellar with precious liquid.
15–16	Exemplar NPC: Archon Vor-Kael	A tall, gaunt Martian scholar with cybernetic ocular replacements and a brass record-cylinder. Hook: Needs bodyguards to enter the non-Euclidean archives beneath Jekkara.
17–18	A runaway slave wearing an arming collar that emits a high-pitched panic-ping.	Detail: Pursued by a pair of cybernetic tracking hounds owned by the Mining Consortium.
19–20	An abandoned Terran track-crawler half-sunk in red silt.	Detail: Its crew is missing, but the cargo bay holds crate-sealed industrial plasma burners.
21–22	A parade of silent, masked priests escorting a gilded sarcophagus through the streets.	Detail: The sarcophagus hums with an internal power source and smells of fresh ozone.
23–24	Exemplar NPC: "Silt-Eye" Kor	A one-eyed Martian beggar who is secretly an master assassin of the Ram-King cult. Hook: Sells absolute truth for a drink of fresh water, but marks the buyer for death later.
25	A TTA press-gang ambushing spacers outside a dockside tavern.	Detail: They are short on crew for a dangerous salvage run into the Asteroid Belt.

26–50: Desert Wastes & Dead Canal Beds

d100	Encounter / Exemplar NPC	Details & Hooks
26–27	Exemplar NPC: Warlord Kroll	A hulking, six-limbed Martian desert reaver riding a massive, armored sand-burrower beast. Hook: Demands half the party's water supply or their blood to grease his blade.
28–29	A sudden red sandstorm clearing to reveal a massive, petrified alien skeleton.	Detail: The ribs span three city blocks; a hidden cave in the skull contains ancient carvings.
30–31	A patrol of 10 desert reavers on riding-beasts, surrounding a stranded Terran skiff.	Detail: The reavers are using scorpion-steel dueling foils to force the crew out into the sun.
32–33	A petrified glass forest that chimes in the desert wind.	Detail: Touching the crystal trees causes a blinding flash of psychic agony and telepathic noise.
34–35	Exemplar NPC: Scholar Marcus Vance	A disgraced Earth archaeologist driving a steam-powered desert crawler. Hook: Obsessed with finding the Talisman of Rhiannon before TTA mercenaries do.
36–37	An ancient automated defense pylon awakening from the sand.	Detail: Tracks motion with a crackling heat-beam; its power core is worth a fortune if dismantled.
38–39	A band of leathery Martian nomads offering safe passage through the canyons.	Detail: They demand all the party's raygun ammunition in exchange for hidden water wells.
40–41	Ancient Alien: The Silt-Walker	A towering, semi-translucent entity made of shifting red sand and cold psychic energy. Behavior: Stalks the party from a distance, feeding on their deepest fears during sleep.
42–43	A crash-landed TTA scout-ship, its hull melted from the inside out.	Detail: The pilot’s logbook records encounters with a "woman with squirming hair" (Shambleau).
44–45	A pool of liquid mercury glowing faintly inside an impact crater.	Detail: Drinking or collecting it requires specialized glass jars; grants temporary acid immunity.
46–47	Exemplar NPC: Valera of the Red Veil	A female Martian desert reaver chief who duels with twin curved longblades. Hook: Challenges the party’s strongest fighter to single combat for passage through her canyon.
48–49	A herd of wild, six-legged burden-beasts grazing on toxic crimson lichen.	Detail: Easily spooked; can be captured and used as pack animals or emergency meat.
50	A mirage of a lush, ocean-covered Mars that feels physically real to whoever steps inside it.	Detail: Prolonged exposure causes travelers to forget their identities and wander into the desert.

51–75: Ancient Ruins & Forbidden Tombs

d100	Encounter / Exemplar NPC	Details & Hooks
51–52	Ancient Alien: A Slumbering Ram-King	A 9-foot-tall preserved alien monarch resting inside a crystal stasis coffin. Behavior: Projects telepathic commands into the minds of intruders, ordering them to break the seal.
53–54	A sealed basalt door marked with glowing purple non-Euclidean runes.	Detail: Requires a high-frequency sonic vibration or human blood to unlatch.
55–56	Exemplar NPC: Dr. Alistair Thorne	A mad TTA scientist equipped with a cybernetic eye and a high-frequency sonic cutter. Hook: Attempting to harvest living brain-tissue from an ancient tomb construct.
57–58	A hallway lined with headless stone statues that turn to face intruders when unobserved.	Detail: Animated by sound; firing energy weapons causes them to reflect heat beams back.
59–60	A chamber holding a holographic star-map showing the Solar System ten million years ago.	Detail: Shows Earth as an ice-world and the Moon covered in lush forests and blue oceans.
61–62	Ancient Alien: The Shade of Phorag	A incorporeal entity of pure cold and shadow that feeds on life-force. Behavior: Possesses one party member, using their body to attack the others while whispering dead lore.
63–64	A pit of quick-silt guarded by mechanical glass spiders.	Detail: The spiders weave webs of spun-glass that slice through leather armor and space-suits.
65–66	Exemplar NPC: High Priestess Nyss	A fanatical leader of the Cult of the Sleeping Devourer wearing a mask of beaten gold. Hook: Needs an off-worlder to activate an ancient alien superweapon key.
67–68	An ancient library filled with basalt tablets that crumble to dust if touched without oil.	Detail: Contains dead language translations for controlling Martian terraforming machines.
69–70	A gravity-reversal room where the floor pulls upward toward a ceiling filled with rusted spikes.	Detail: Controlled by a stone lever marked with ancient warning symbols.
71–72	Ancient Alien: The Lathi Preserver	A multi-limbed, ivory-skinned entity that preserves living specimens in amber-like resin. Behavior: Views humans as rare, exotic microbes that must be cataloged and encased.
73–74	A treasure vault containing 10,000 ancient copper doubloons and a single singing-glass chime.	Detail: Taking the money triggers an automated floor collapse into a lair of acid-vipers.
75	A non-Euclidean stairwell that descends forever unless the traveler walks backward.	Detail: Leads directly to the Terminal Shaft (Site 75) deep within Mars's crust.

76–100: Cosmic Hazards & Eldritch Entities

d100	Encounter / Exemplar NPC	Details & Hooks
76–77	Ancient Alien: A Shambeau Entity	A impossibly beautiful alien disguised as a helpless woman, with hair made of squirming tendrils. Behavior: Feeds on the life-will and sensation of victims, inducing lethal ecstatic trances.
78–79	Exemplar NPC: Commander Kenneth Steele	A ruthless TTA officer commanding an armored gunship unit. Hook: Hunting down any party holding pre-human artifacts to claim them for Earth corporate interests.
80–81	A spatial rift floating in a canyon, showing a sky filled with scarlet clouds and a dying purple sun.	Detail: Objects thrown through disappear instantly; voices call out from the other side.
82–83	Ancient Alien: The Cold Gray God	A cosmic predator trapped inside an ancient meteorite, radiating a 1-mile dead zone.
84–85	A cloud of glowing cosmic dust drifting across the waste.	Detail: Anyone inhaling it experiences a shared, waking dream of Mars being destroyed by a star.
86–87	Exemplar NPC: The Blind Prophet of Jekkara	An ancient Martian who replaced his eyes with glowing fire-opals. Hook: Grants true visions of the party's future, but demands a secret memory as payment.
88–89	An alien obelisk broadcasting a looping radio signal that sounds like a woman laughing.	Detail: Drives crew members to sabotage their own ship radio systems to hear it clearer.
90–91	Ancient Alien: The Identity-Eater	A shapeshifting cosmic entity that mimics party members perfectly. Behavior: Slowly steals memories from its target until the real person fades from reality.
92–93	A subterranean lake of black oil that bleeds and pulses like a living heart.	Detail: Ingesting a drop grants dark vision and water-breathing, but causes permanent mutation.
94–95	Exemplar NPC: Rogue Agent Vance	A disgraced Earth spy turned black-market artifact broker. Hook: Auctioning off the blueprints to an ancient alien star-shatterer weapon to the highest bidder.
96–97	A spatial tear where time dilates rapidly (1 hour inside = 1 week outside).	Detail: Contains a pristine, un-looted pre-human weapon vault suspended in stasis.
98–99	Ancient Alien: The Primordial Star-Sleeper	A massive, mountain-sized Elder God buried beneath a crater. Effect: Waking it causes local gravity to collapse and the ground to dissolve into liquid red dust.
100	The Conjunction of the Moons: Phobos and Deimos align directly over an ancient monolith.	Effect: Opens a planet-wide portal grid connecting Mars directly to the jungles of Venus.