Monday, January 4, 2021

Using Classic TSR Era D&D B/X Adventures For An Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea Campaign Path Plus Free OSR Adventure Resources

 So I've been thinking about running PC's through some basic adventures for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea but I need some old school options to get the player's juices going. Fortunately I've got several real world friends who have run several player groups through classic TSR era adventures and modules.







I've been talking with some folks in the real world about Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea; customizing the sword & sorcery setting to fit into a more pulp 'on the edge' of the dangerous wilderness & wanton ruins sort of mode. So I started to dig back through old notes & blog posts of adapting 1st edition AD&D & B/X D&D modules for an adventure path that emulates the sort of a feel that I'm going for. This adventure path might include the following classic TSR era ones& beyond :
B2 Keep on the Borderlands but then I'd take a left at Judge's Guild & use Frontier Forts of Kelnor create more ruined forts along the borders of Hyperborea left vacate by the Green Death.
Then I'd run the PC's through  the free OSR adventures of 
RC Pinnel aka Thorkhammer's XS1: Luln &
XS1A: The Ward of Wereskalot  both of which contain OD&D &  adventure elements that echo the Keep On The Bordlerlands ethos. So some assembly is required for AS&SH. This is going to get players ready for
X1 Isle of Dread which could include a lot of the Free Threshold 
Issue 3: The Sea of Dread & Issue 4: The Sea of Dread material but a lot of adaption is required here. 
 
Some of the material found in those two issues could lead the PC's across the face of Hyperborea into the desert regions which takes them into the classic  B4 The Lost City. The Lost City is vast & could be used as another Hyperborean lost colony deep within the desert interior of  Hyperborea itself. It could contain vast dangers to the outside world that if not dealt with could be very dangerous to the continued existence of mankind on the face of Hyperborea.



There's more then enough room to include the Iron Ring of B10 as a subfraction of the weird remains of the Elemental Evil cult of The Lost City. The humanoid races of the Lost City are actually degenerate Hyperboreans warped by the presence of the evils of the cult of the demon god  Zargon. Finally the Lost City adventure location leads deeper into the Hyperborean countryside which resembles the a weird Russian interior ala B10. Why B10? 


There is a lot that can be done with 'The Lost City' module especially by taking Hyperborean adventurers deeper into the Lower Catacomb's dungeons and mysteries. This could raise AS&SH adventurers beyond the limits of the game's PC's levels.

B10 Night's Dark Terror is a good module to expand the PC's horizon's deep into AS&SH's adventure domains & possibly into extensions of Hyperborean politics and domain play.

"B10 Nights Dark Terror - The module begins in a beleaguered farmstead. The PCs then explore more than 20,000 square miles (52,000 km2) of wilderness, with eighteen locations, including a number of mini-dungeons, a ruined city, a riverside village, a frontier town, and a lost valley, with the minions of the Iron Ring waiting for the PCs at every step."

By dropping out the usual D&D races & trappings then just concentrating on the Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea PC gaming & setting elements B10 goes into a pulpy adventure module with tons of campaign play.


I've been thinking of the usual humanoid and goblinoid races which could be all that remains of the Hyperboreans, degenerate and dangerous beastly things mixed with traces of alien demonic blooded horrors from beyond the pale of Hyperborea.

Because these modules are now available on Drivethrurpg & Rpgnow with a print option its not hard to figure that they'd make excellent fodder for a sword & sorcery campaign. Especially B10 would can easily be customized as the dungeon master needs or wants.

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