OSR Commentary On The Thieves World Companion & OSR Moorcockian Frankenstein Campaign Musings

 

"The Thieves' World series began in 1979 to instant acclaim. Not long after, Chaosium published a boxed Thieves' World roleplaying supplement, which gathered awards and more acclaim. Since the first book hit the newstands, more than 2200 paperback pages and eight additional Thieves' World volumes have been printed - a phenomenon others imitate but cannot duplicate.

Sanctuary, the town too mean to die, has changed a little from the time it first saw print, but many new characters now stride the city's streets, pillage the foolish in its alleys, and connive in its back rooms. Lalo, Ishcade, Roxanne, Niko, Mradhon Vis, The Beysa, Chenaya, Zip, and many more have come to life, and are now included in the Companion's full character stats for the RQ3 and MERP systems.

New essays consider Rankan, Ilsigi, Beysib, and Outsider deities in the light of further tales of Sanctuary, that place which is the funnel of the gods and the eye of the Rankan hurricane. The excellent encounter tables from the Thieves' World box have been revised to reflect later events and personalities, and are presented her in full. There are also floor-by-floor isometrics of the Great Dungeon. Though adjacent to Kitty-Cat's palace, nobody seems to go there. Now you can study its defenses and understand why.

Alone or with the Thieves' World box, the Companion rekindles the fabulous world of Sanctuary - Thieves' World."

Many believe the Thieves World Companion is a disappointment compared to the original box Thieves World box set. And the Thieves World Companion that we're going to be looking at is the first edition which is actually for the Rune Quest third edition rpg system. Rpg net calls it ; " A sort-of supplement to Chaosium's 1981 Thieves' World. This one covers the next four books, #3 to #6, but rather than being fairly generic as the original, it now only supports two rule systems: MERP and RuneQuest. Gods, locations, and characters from the later books are all included." 

The Thieves World Companion updates & sorta of expands on the mythos of Sanctuary in spades according to Wayne's books; ""The Thieves' World stories began in 1979, to instant acclaim. Not long after, Chaosium published a boxed Thieves' World roleplaying supplement which garnered awards and more acclaim. Since the first book hit the newstands, more than 2200 paperback pages and eight additional Thieves' World volumes have been printed - a phenomenon others imitate but cannot duplicate.

Sanctuary, the town too mean to die, has changed little from the time it first saw print, but many new characters now stride the city's streets, pillage the foolish in its alleys, and connive in its back rooms. Lalo, Ischade, Roxanne, Niko, Mradhon Vis, The Beysa, Chenaya, Zip, and many more have come to life, and are now included in the Companion's full character stats for the RQ3 and MERPs systems.

New essays consider Rankan, Ilsigi, Beysib, and Outsider deities in the light of further tales of Sanctuary, that place which is the funnel of the gods and the eye of the Rankan hurricane.

The excellent encounter tables from the Thieves' World box have been revised to reflect later events and personalities, and are presented here in full. There are also floor-by-floor isometrics of the Great Dungeon. Though adjacent to Kitty-Cat's palace, nobody seems to go there. Now you can study its defenses and understand why.

Alone or along with the Thieves' World box, the Companion rekindles the fabulous world of Sanctuary - Thieves' World."

1986 ... Anders Swenson & Steve Perrin & Iron Crown Enterprises & Midkemia Press & Lynn Willis ... 48 pages + fold-out map ... CHAO 2015 ... ISBN 0933635346"

The real on target material in this book is the fact is the fact is that it brings the locations, personalities, etc. of Sanctuary on the timeline of the books.  

The companion puts everything into perspective for Lamentations of the Flame Princess by moving affairs of the city & events forward. The city presented in the campaign setting is no stranger to travelers from across many worlds. This makes the city excellent for adventurers of all stripes. Sanctuary as a whole is a campaign setting that fits the whole theme of Swords & Sorcery quite nicely. 

According to Skiorht from Rpg net; "The new material is quite useful if you want to follow the books, and the map of the keep is very nice. The RQ stats are very good, but the RM/MERP stats are a bit weak"  Which means when it comes to the Stormbringer Rpg 1st edition through third the DM is going to have to do a bit of tweaking. Stormbringer brings home the 'metal' aspect of the PC's in spades. 

Using this opinion as a bench mark then we can assume that the Castles & Crusades stats are also going to be at the fourth level & upper end of sixth for the Thieves World Companion NPC's. The guidelines found in the Castle Keeper's Guide  are also key for this. 

I've used this companion several times with Lamentations of the Flame Princess and Dark Albion but its always been as a city where the PC's have visited as dimensional travelers who have had to watch their step. The fact is guns haven't been that much of an equalizer and in fact there are several NPC in the set that can cause some vicious horror aspects into a campaign of LoFP or Castles & Crusades. 
 I used this companion  with many of the Judge's Guild and Arduin materials switching in and out what I needed and wanted.  If we're going to be using the Thieves World Companion with Black Blade of the Demon King by Ahimsa Kerp,  & Wind Lothamer from Knight Owl Publishing then it becomes a matter of making sure the PC levels match. 

Now  BRUTORZ BILL asked me particulars about our game so let's start with the top. There are eight players currently & this is a game that has continued on from 2018 so the player's PC's are 4th level & up. They've made me drift back to Fantastic Heroes & Witchery with a ton of Castles & Crusades added in with elements of Adventurer, Conqueror, King rpg. 

And I worked up several very fast NPC's from the material that is Black Blade of the Demon King by Ahimsa Kerp,  & Wind Lothamer from Knight Owl Publishing. Names, classes,etc. all coming up really soon.