XQ1 The Castle that Fell from the Sky By Steve Robertson & Jimm Johnson Published By The Scribes of Sparn

"Even in the far gulfs of space, the struggle of Law against Chaos, Good versus Evil is eternal. But wherever evil is not extinguished, it will revive to exact vengeance on those who would keep it at bay... ...On the fringes of the realm, where civilization wanes and adventures begin, rumors are whispered of a castle that fell from the sky. Some say it has poisoned the land where it fell and nought but death can be within its walls. Some say creatures, foul and dangerous, have gathered at the dark fortress. But others, the treasure seekers and thieves who haunt the local taverns, scoff at such dire warnings and view them only as a thin ploy to keep adventurers from winning the vast treasure that surely waits within. To your ears have come these very rumors— and more: you have learned the location of the fallen sky-castle!"



So its two o'clock in the morning on a Thursday & a  friend sent me a link for a great Sword & Sorcery adventure called XQ1 The Castle that Fell from the Sky By Steve Robertson & Jimm Johnson. Clocking in at fifty two pages this is a solidlly done adventure module that's designed to be run with  0e, 1e, B/X, Original, Classic, and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition style games. This makes it perfect to run with Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. The writing & room description is crisp, solidly on point, & non sense giving the dungeon master a perfect balance between putting the PC's in the middle of the action yet giving them a chance to react to the surroundings, monsters, & old school weirdness going on around them. Steve Robertson & Jimm Johnson room description, layout,and even the cartography is on point here. The plot isn't world shattering and XQ1 The Castle that Fell from the Sky  can be used as a stand alone adventure. But there's plenty of room to cast this module as a part of an on going campaign.   The Scribes of Sparn as a publishing outfit seem to have quite a few solidly done titles & this one is no exception. The Sword & Sorcery adventure line up XQ1 The Castle that Fell from the Sky is highly entertaining & done in an almost but not quite 'Weird Tales' vein that lives up to the characters level 3-5 levels slash information on the cover. It does exactly what it says on the tin of the module for me this is a plus.

Some of the pop culture references are fun & a bit on the less then brutal side which makes XQ1 The Castle that Fell from the Sky a solid adventure romp for the PC's. Not that this isn't a deadly adventure far from it. This a fun house adventure in every sense of the word. There is a free adventure by them  for NTRPG CON 2017 Module KK2 The Mystic Cup of Gygax.



If it was me I'd run XQ1 The Castle that Fell from the Sky then proceed to run  NTRPG CON 2017 Module KK2 The Mystic Cup of Gygax. The reason is simple. The leveling of the PC's will be far more in line with the adventure events of KK2. Both of these modules are easily translatable over to Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea.  The adventures are not completely over the time per say. These are fun but deadly adventure romps that can be set within your piece of Hyperborea or even Greyhawk. They don't contradict the vibe of other AS&SH adventures that are currently on the rpg market.



 XQ1 The Castle that Fell from the Sky  can easily be run with Labyrinth Lord or Swords & Wizardry . But the real strength of this adventure is being able to be run with OSRIC.  XQ1 The Castle that Fell from the Sky is a solidly done adventure that helps to be a bridge adventure for any Swords & Sorcery style old school or OSR campaigns. XQ1 The Castle that Fell from the Sky is available on Drivethrurpg but it really shines on Lulu. 

Over all I think that  XQ1 The Castle that Fell from the Sky is a solid aventure with lots of room for the dungeon master to customize the adventure for their own home campaigns. This is an essential adventure for the dungeon master who wants to run for Swords & Sorcery adventure with lots of room for a decent campaign.