Swords & Stitchery - Old Time Sewing & Table Top Rpg Blog

Thursday, April 30, 2026

Using Gods, Demigods, and Heroes By Kuntz & Ward for original Dungeons & Dragons with Barrows and Borderlands Rpg

Integrating the monumental 1980 supplement Gods, Demigods, and Heroes (Supplement IV) with Barrows & Borderlands (a modern "Old School Essentials" style hack) creates a high-powered, mythic campaign atmosphere.
This post picks right up from Using Original Dungeons & Dragons rpg with The Barrows & Borderlands Rpg

While Original D&D (OD&D) provides the raw stats for deities, Barrows & Borderlands provides the grit and procedural exploration. Here is how to blend these two worlds effectively.

1. The Role of Deities in Play

In Supplement IV, gods weren't just background lore; they were NPCs with Hit Points (often 300+), Armor Classes (frequently -10), and literal presence.

The Power Scale: In Barrows & Borderlands, where a 1st-level Thief is incredibly fragile, a deity appearing is a "world-ending" event. Use them as Patrons or Cataclysms rather than combat encounters.
Alignment Matters: Supplement IV categorizes gods by pantheon (Greek, Norse, Egyptian, etc.). Use these to define the "Borderlands." Perhaps the Lawful Norse gods hold the walled cities, while the Chaotic Egyptian gods rule the desert wastes.

2. Converting Stats to B&B

Since Barrows & Borderlands uses an OSR-adjacent chassis, the conversion is straightforward but requires some "squishing" to maintain the B&B lethality.

Attribute	Supplement IV Standard	B&B Implementation
Armor Class	Often negative (e.g., -2 or -10)	Convert to Ascending AC. An AC of -2 becomes 22; -10 becomes 30.
Magic Resistance	Percentage based (e.g., 75%)	Use as a flat "Saving Throw" bonus or a "Magic Immunity" trait.
Hit Dice/Points	Fixed HP (300+)	Keep the high HP. In B&B, this makes them virtually unkillable by mundane means.
Move	High inches (e.g., 24")	Triple the standard human movement rate.

3. Heroes and Demigods as PC Benchmarks

Supplement IV introduces legendary figures like Hercules or Beowulf. In a Barrows & Borderlands campaign, these serve as the "Level 20+" endgame.

Divine Spark: If a player reaches the level cap in B&B, allow them to quest for a "Spark" to become a Demigod. Use the Supplement IV stats as their new "Base Form."
The Artifacts: Supplement IV is famous for items like Mjolnir or The Iron Crown. In the Borderlands, these shouldn't be found in a random chest. They should be the "Megadungeon" rewards at the bottom of the deepest Barrows.

4. The "Borderlands" Theology

To make these gods feel authentic to the Barrows & Borderlands aesthetic, tie them to the landscape:

The Barrows (The Dead Gods)

Use the Egyptian or Sumerian pantheons here. These gods are often depicted as being obsessed with the afterlife. The "Barrows" aren't just graves for kings; they are prisons for demigods who refused to die.

The Borderlands (The Active Gods)

Use the Norse or Greek pantheons. These are "Wilder" gods.

Odin might appear as a hooded traveler at a campfire in the Borderlands.
Pan might be the source of the chaotic "Fey" energy that makes the woods so dangerous for B&B adventurers.

5. Mechanical Integration: Clerics & Paladins

In B&B, Clerics usually choose a generic "Light" or "Dark" path. Supplement IV allows you to specialize:

Grant Specific Boons: A Cleric of Thor might gain +1 to damage with hammers (as per his Supplement IV description) but lose the ability to use "Command" spells.
Omens: Use the "Divine Intervention" percentages from Supplement IV. If a player performs a truly heroic feat, roll their Alignment % to see if a god notices.

A Note on Power Creep: Supplement IV is notoriously "overpowered" for standard OD&D. If you give a B&B player a "Hero" stat-line (18/00 Strength, etc.), they will trivialize standard monsters. Reserve these stats for temporary "Avatar" states or the literal end of a 5-year campaign.

D100 Random Urban Encounters For the Hostile rpg Table

In the gritty, industrial sci-fi world of Hostile, urban environments are rarely just "cities." They are pressurized hubs of corporate greed, neon-soaked decay, and desperate spacers.

Here is a D100 table of urban encounters, ranging from minor flavor to potential campaign-ending catastrophes.

The Hostile Urban Encounter Table

D100	Encounter Type	Description
01-05	Atmospheric	A sudden acid rain alert. Passersby scramble for overhead cover as the sky turns a bruised purple.
06-10	Corporate	A Weyland-style executive is being hurried into a grav-limo by four heavily armed synthetic bodyguards.
11-15	Criminal	A "Street Doc" offers a 50% discount on neural stabilizers. They look like they were harvested from a scrap yard.
16-20	Conflict	A labor strike turns into a riot. Riot police (Colonial Rangers) begin deploying tear gas and sonic emitters.
21-25	Technical	A massive holographic billboard glitches, repeating a terrifying, distorted distress signal from a nearby colony.
26-30	Underworld	A local fixer mistakes one of the PCs for a contact and hands over a briefcase containing 5,000 Credits and a thumb drive.
31-35	The Law	A random ID check by a surly customs officer. He’s looking for a bribe or an excuse to use his stun baton.
36-40	Health	A quarantine siren blares. A section of the street is sealed by heavy blast doors, trapping the PCs inside or out.
41-45	Environmental	A power brown-out. All lights and life support dim for 30 seconds. In the dark, something metallic scuttles in the vents.
46-50	Espionage	A dying man collapses against a PC, whispering: "The shipment from LV-426... it's already here."
51-55	Social	A group of off-duty miners is looking for a fight. They target the person who looks most "corporate."
56-60	The Weird	A street preacher screams about the "Great Silence" and "Gods in the Void." He has scars that look like alien writing.
61-65	Bureaucracy	An automated drone follows the PCs, incessantly issuing a fine for a minor gear violation (unlicensed holster, etc.).
66-70	Mercenary	A team of Private Military Contractors is dragging a hooded prisoner into an unmarked shuttle.
71-75	Infrastructure	A steam pipe bursts, filling the narrow alley with scalding $120\text{°C}$ vapor. Vision is reduced to zero.
76-80	Black Market	A vendor sells "Authentic Earth Coffee." It tastes like battery acid and burnt plastic, but it’s highly addictive.
81-85	Vermin	A swarm of industrial pests (think fist-sized cockroaches) pours out of a trash compactor.
86-90	Desperation	A child tries to pickpocket the PCs, not for credits, but for their emergency ration packs.
91-95	The Tech	An Android (Synthetic) malfunctions in the middle of the street, frozen in a "logic loop" and repeating a terrifying secret.
96-99	The Horror	You find a discarded pressure suit in a dumpster. It hasn't been cut open; it’s been melted from the inside out.
00	The Big One	Hull Breach / Structural Collapse. The ground shakes. Atmospheric alarms scream. You have 3 minutes to find a vacuum suit.

How to Use This Table

Flavor (Low Stakes): Use encounters 01-30. These build the "Used Future" aesthetic without derailing the plot.
Action (Mid Stakes): Use encounters 31-70. These force the players to make checks (Social, Stealth, or Combat).
Campaign Shifters (High Stakes): Use encounters 71-00. These are hooks that could lead to an entire session's worth of trouble.

GM Tip: In Hostile, the environment is just as much of an enemy as the Xenomorphs or Corporations. Always describe the smell of ozone, the recycled air, and the constant hum of machinery.

Wednesday, April 29, 2026

OSR Commentary Adapting B10 Night's Dark Terror For Castles & Crusades Rpg Campaign

Night’s Dark Terror (B10) is widely considered the crown jewel of the mid-80s D&D modules. Written by Jim Bambra, Graeme Morris, and Phil Gallagher of TSR UK, it serves as a bridge between "Basic" (dungeon-focused) and "Expert" (wilderness-focused) play.

Because Castles & Crusades (C&C) is built on the SIEGE Engine—which is highly compatible with older editions—converting this 64-page epic is remarkably smooth. Here is how to detail and run it for your C&C campaign.

1. The Core Premise

The adventure begins as a simple job: the party is hired to escort horses to the Sukiskyn farmstead. It quickly spirales into a massive sandbox spanning 20,000 square miles of the Grand Duchy of Karameikos (or your campaign’s equivalent frontier).

The Hook: A desperate siege at a remote farmstead.
The Antagonist: The Iron Ring, a ruthless organization of slavers and magi.
The Goal: A race against time to find the "Lost Valley of Hutaaka" before the Iron Ring can exploit its ancient secrets.

2. Converting to C&C (The SIEGE Engine)

C&C uses Ascending AC and Attribute Checks, while B10 uses Descending AC and Saving Throw Categories. Use these "on-the-fly" conversion rules:

Armor Class (AC)

To convert the module’s Descending AC to C&C’s Ascending AC:

19 - \text{Old AC} = \text{C\&C AC}

Example: A goblin with Old AC 6 becomes C&C AC 13.

The SIEGE Check (Saving Throws & Skills)

B10 features many "Ability Checks" or "Save vs. Poison" moments. In C&C, simply use the relevant Attribute:

Dodging a trap: Dexterity Save (CL = Monster HD or Trap Level).
Resisting poison: Constitution Save.
The Siege of Sukiskyn: During the famous opening battle, use Strength or Constitution checks for characters trying to hold doors against goblin rams or Wisdom (Perception) to spot snipers in the dark.

Hit Dice (HD)

The monsters in B10 are generally lower HD (1–4). They map 1:1 to the C&C Monsters & Treasure book. If a unique B10 monster isn't in C&C, use the module's HD and give them a Physical or Mental prime based on their nature.

3. Key NPCs for C&C

If you need quick stats for the Sukiskyn defenders:

Pyotr (Leader): Knight, Level 4 (Primes: Str, Cha). AC 18, HP 34.
Darya & Taras: Fighter, Level 2 (Primes: Dex). AC 15, HP 18.
Golthar (The Villain): Wizard, Level 6 (Primes: Int, Dex). He should be played as a "glass cannon"—lethal with spells but reliant on his Iron Ring thugs to stay alive.

4. Running the Sandbox

The middle of B10 is a massive hexcrawl. C&C shines here because the SIEGE Engine handles "off-piste" player creativity better than the rigid skill lists of modern editions.

Phase	Setting	C&C Focus
The Siege	Sukiskyn Farm	Tactical combat; use "Checks" for environmental hazards like fire.
The River	Mimbul River	Use Strength (Athletics) or Wisdom (Navigation) for river travel.
The Ruins	Xitaqa	Classic dungeon crawling; focus on Intelligence for deciphering Hutaakan clues.
The Valley	Lost Valley	High-stakes exploration; use Charisma for delicate negotiations with the Hutaaka.

5. Tips for the Castle Keeper (CK)

The Map is Gold: B10 comes with a massive double-sided map. Keep this visible. In C&C, wilderness travel is a great time to let Rangers and Druids shine with their class abilities.
The Iron Ring Pursuit: The module includes a "Pursuit Table." If the party is moving too slowly, have Iron Ring assassins (Rogues/Fighters) track them. Use CL (Challenge Level) based on the assassins' level for the players' Wisdom (Survival) checks to notice they are being followed.
Weather Matters: B10 provides a pre-generated weather table. In C&C, extreme weather can impose a -2 to -5 penalty on physical checks, making the wilderness feel truly "Expert" and dangerous.

B10 is the perfect way to take a C&C party from "local heroes" (Levels 2–3) to "regional legends" (Levels 5–6). It transitions them from kicking down doors to managing the politics and perils of a vast, living world.