Law & Worship - A brief Look At The Free Monograph Charles Green's 'Gods of Law in the New Kingdoms' A Free Monograph For The Stormbringer Fifth Edition Rpg

  If the ways of Chaos are ever changing & the ways of Law in the Young Kindoms have been the bed rock upon which princplities & kingdoms have been built. 

"In this monograph, Charles delves into history and purpose of the Cults of Law, and the Holy Concordance of the White Lords. Additionally, he and others introduce the concept of using the Gods of Law as enemies in Stormbringer adventures, and supplies almost a dozen campaign seeds for your own ongoing stories.

Further information includes the Barrier of Law, the entropic wall that protects so many planes from Chaos, as well as optional rules to reflect the powers of Law and Order."

When one thinks of the rule & worship  of  Law then one thinks of the unwavering arrow of Law itself. Charles Green's  'Gods of Law in the New Kingdoms' is a bit of a master work in my humble opinion. The Stormbringer fifth edition rpg was always missing something & that something was on the gods of Law.  The Lords of the Singularity are on their way out  in the Young Kingdoms & they pose the biggest threat to your PC's. 

The barrier of Law around the Young Kingdoms is breaking down & 'Gods of Law in the New Kingdoms'  goes into this in spades. With each & every thing there is an opposite. The Gods of Law are the opposite number of Chaos. But this definition isn't so easy according to the Michael Moorcock Multiverse Wiki entry;"The Lords of Singularity and Justice, and servants of Law.

Law manifests itself in an unknown number of forms and ideals. Chief among these are the Lords of Law, also known as the Lords of Light and the White Lords. The Lords of Law are essentially living embodiment of Law. They are worshiped as gods in many worlds, and reviled as tyrants in others.

The White Lords of Law are much less developed than the Lords of Chaos. Most of the stories are set in a cosmic cycle when Chaos is most powerful. When they appear, the Lords of Law are usually more benevolent than the Chaos Lords, who are seductive but also sinister and prone to losing their temper. The Lords of Law are prone to appearing in human form, but when seen in their truer forms, they appear as perfect in every way, flawlessly symmetrical and painfully beautiful to look upon.

This does not mean the Lords of Law are inherently good. Just like Chaos, Law is beyond good or evil, and too much Law can be just as harmful to life as too much Chaos. Lords of Law who disregard the Cosmic Balance do so because they wish to stop Chaos from breaching the Balance forever, and ironically, they go against the Balance themselves when they do this."

The Lords of Law have  had the Young Kingdoms in thrall for eons & their cults are some of the deadliest threats that PC's can face down in Charles Green's  'Gods of Law in the New Kingdoms' . 

Charles Green's  'Gods of Law in the New Kingdoms'  brings a lot to the table top level for the Stormbringer rpg from details on all of the Gods of Law cults, practices, magicks, to the real agenda of these Lords of Law. This makes Charles Green's  'Gods of Law in the New Kingdoms'  a must have for Stormbringer 5th edition..  

'Gods of Law in the New Kingdoms'  presents everything a DM is going to need to run these dangerous entities within a Stormbringer rpg campaign. Or the PC's might find themselves on a wooden stake waiting to be burnt as a worshiper of Chaos or worse! 

Chaos & Cults - A Brief Look & Overview Into Charles Green's Cults of Chaos - A Free Monograph For The Stormbringer Fifth Edition Rpg

  The ways of chaos are many & subtle, today we're gonna dive deep into the many layers of the Chaos in the Stormbringer rpg if only a bit briefly. 

When one thinks of the expansion of Pan Tang across the Young Kingdoms its not the armies of that depraved demonic nation. But the temples & churches of Chaos that are actually the real conquring force. And one man stands at the head of it all Jagreen Lern . The Theocrat of Pan Tang is both figure head & spear head for one of the most dangerous forces on the plane of the Young Kingdoms. 

Rodney Mathews Jagreen Lern is the definitive version for me. 

The definitive sourcebook for this  nation of demonic insanity  is definitely Sorcerers of Pan Tang for the Stormbringer fourth edition of the game. And Sorcerers of Pan Tang brings all of the   nation of demonic insanity to the table top level for game play. 




 Sorcerers of Pan Tang has it all; ""Pan Tang is a grim island of lurking evil. Wild jungles to the north resound to the roar of a thousand tigers — the animal sacred to Chardhros the Reaper. The Plain of Glass divides the island, a shining wasteland of ancient volcanic catastrophe. The farmland to the south is a living hell to the slaves who work the great plantations.The capital of Pan Tang is Hwamgaarl, the City of Screaming Statues. Tigers walk among men and feed when they please. Sorcerers study dark knowledge and summon awesome horrors from other planes to do their bidding. The citizens of Hwamgaarl take their pleasure in the Gardens of Pain, gather their knowledge at the University of Lucid Perversity, and propitiate the Lords of Chaos at the Palace-Temple of the Theocrat.

Jagreen Lern is the Theocrat of Pan Tang, presiding over this nightmare land. A new age is coming, and his armies are ready. Other nations of the Young Kingdoms already plot against Melnibone, and soon those plots bring war. Pan Tang hovers, vulture-like, awaiting the results of the first violent clash of Young Kingdom armies against the remaining might of Melnibone. Though Melnibone has ruled the world for 10,000 years, in only a small fraction of that time will it be destroyed.""  This back bit of Sorcerers of Pan Tang is from Wayne's Books right over here. 

Players are going to take one look at this book & have thier PC's run in the other direction. We avoided & ran away from the Pan Tangians everytime we encountered them or destroyed them on sight. How does one make the temples & churches usable & a bit more subtle?! That's where the free  Cults of Chaos monograph comes into full play. When Chaosium was actually sellingthis monograph we snapped it up. The whole thing is a great little addition to the DM's tool box. 

 If 'Sorcerers of Pan Tang'  is the definitive source on the demonic island nation in the Young Kingdoms then Charles Green's ' Cults of Chaos' is the operator's manual. The cults here are presented in two ways that make ' Cults of Chaos' so easy to use. First is the player's section which details the public face of these minion's of chaos & then ' Cults of Chaos' switches over to the DM' section giving us the real face of these bastard cults within the Young Kingdoms.  Being far more subtle is the route to go.  
The Young Kingdoms is a place whose world  cycle is moving forward & the powers of chaos are going to have thier due. No more is this evident then within Michael Moorcock's Bane of the Black Sword;""High in the wintry sky climbed the dragons as Elric urged his charges westwards. Thoughts of love, of peace, of vengeance even were lost in that reckless sweeping across the glowering skies which hung over that ancient Age of the Young Kingdoms. Elric, proud and disdainful in his knowledge that even his deficient blood was the blood of the Sorcerer Kings of Melnibone, became detached.

He had no loyalties then, no friends, and if evil possessed him, then it was a pure brilliant evil, untainted by human drivings.
High soared the dragons until below them was the heaving black mass, marring the landscape, the fear-driven horde of barbarians who, in their ignorance, had sought to conquer the lands beloved of Elric of Melnibone.
"Ho, dragon brothers — loose your venom — burn, burn! And in your burning cleanse the world!"
THE BANE OF THE BLACK SWORD is the fifth epic
novel of Elric, complete in itself."" 

' Cults of Chaos'  back plugs into this element of the Stormbringer rpg mythos by back plugging into the material. Here we have the dangerous as well as the seductive elements of chaos at play. Why is the world of Elric doomed?! Because we've doomed the Young Kindoms  with our worship of the chaos powers & the door has been flung open. Is there any hope?! Yes & no.. We'll get into that coming up. Charles Green's ' Cults of Chaos' is one of the definitive Stormbringer fifth edition monographs. It takes the  ' Cults of Chaos' & gives them a humanized in fact too human face to deal with. This isn't a proper review of ' Cults of Chaos' but more of an overview & commentary. 

Commentary On The Ruins of Pitzburke For Gamma World Second Edition and Your Old School Campaigns - Updated

 Let's talk Gamma World & Gamma Terra for a moment. Gamma World can take ordinary Dungeons & Dragons characters into a world of primitive saverage & sorcery. And my preferred poison for this rpg is the vaulted second edition of Gamma World with the Larry Elmore artwork. And while Mutant Future & Mutant Crawl Classics both have excellent emulations of the classic game. So last night I spent  on Gamma Terra thanks to a friend of mine out West with a Guinness and I've got some thoughts on these venerable tomes of post apocalyptic adventure. 

I did a bit of horse trading with a friend out West for some tables and campaign help for a bit of Gamma World stuff he wasn't using. What I got surprised me was the fact that I got a first and second edition Gamma World rule book and the Ruins of Pitzburke


The Ruins of Pitzburke is one of the most iconic and dangerous places you can send a group of PC's in Gamma World. This place is a mix of  ruins, death lands, mutants, madness, robotic horror, and more meant that your little party of adventures could be swallowed up by the ruins without even a second thought.



And if you think that your Mutant Future PC's would fair any better in Pitzburke, I took a party of Mutant Future rpg players through the ruins and the whole affair was a total party kill. The ruins were designed to keep the Gamma World game campaign going for a long time to come. I've taken Boot Hill PC's and Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 1st edition parties through those ruins and the though the results varied there were some interesting adventure campaigns.


What makes this such an iconic adventure is the fact that the Ruins of Pitzburke essentially teaches the dungeon master both the fine art of stocking the ruins, NPC encounters, NPC factions, and Cryptic Alliances. Not to mention the numerous natural and radiation hazards of the Pitzburke setting. But still this was for me an essential setting for post apocalyptic campaigning almost as much as Keep on the Borderlands and In Search of the Unknown is for B/X Dungeons and Dragons. In the past I've run this adventure and placed the whole thing in a valley on Carcosa just to mess with player's minds. They weren't amused by that turn of events especially when they realized just what this meant for their community in the long run. But that's another blog post.
There are several pieces of free gaming goodness that have made running the ruins easier and can spice things up for an experienced group of players:

• One is Kellri's 100 Gamma World Events available down the right hand side of his blog under downloads 
• The second is a break down of the various editions of Gamma World and conversion to Mutant Future available on the Mutant Future Wiki 
• A nice version of the Pitzburke map so if you already own this map it makes things very nice for a tablet or lap top. 
• This topic on Dragon's foot has some damn righteous 1/2 Edition Gamma World ideas and material 

I might also suggest downloading Mutant Future unless you've got collector's cash because Gamma World is going for one hundred and fifty dollars on Flea bay. Catch you all in the ruins until next time.

Law & Worship - A brief Look At The Free Monograph Charles Green's 'Gods of Law in the New Kingdoms' A Free Monograph For The Stormbringer Fifth Edition Rpg

 If the ways of Chaos are ever changing & the ways of Law in the Young Kindoms have been the bed rock upon which princplities & kingdoms have been built. 



"In this monograph, Charles delves into history and purpose of the Cults of Law, and the Holy Concordance of the White Lords. Additionally, he and others introduce the concept of using the Gods of Law as enemies in Stormbringer adventures, and supplies almost a dozen campaign seeds for your own ongoing stories.

Further information includes the Barrier of Law, the entropic wall that protects so many planes from Chaos, as well as optional rules to reflect the powers of Law and Order."

When one thinks of the rule & worship  of  Law then one thinks of the unwavering arrow of Law itself. Charles Green's  'Gods of Law in the New Kingdoms' is a bit of a master work in my humble opinion. The Stormbringer fifth edition rpg was always missing something & that something was on the gods of Law.  The Lords of the Singularity are on their way out  in the Young Kingdoms & they pose the biggest threat to your PC's. 

The barrier of Law around the Young Kingdoms is breaking down & 'Gods of Law in the New Kingdoms'  goes into this in spades. With each & every thing there is an opposite. The Gods of Law are the opposite number of Chaos. But this definition isn't so easy according to the Michael Moorcock Multiverse Wiki entry;"The Lords of Singularity and Justice, and servants of Law.

Law manifests itself in an unknown number of forms and ideals. Chief among these are the Lords of Law, also known as the Lords of Light and the White Lords. The Lords of Law are essentially living embodiment of Law. They are worshiped as gods in many worlds, and reviled as tyrants in others.

The White Lords of Law are much less developed than the Lords of Chaos. Most of the stories are set in a cosmic cycle when Chaos is most powerful. When they appear, the Lords of Law are usually more benevolent than the Chaos Lords, who are seductive but also sinister and prone to losing their temper. The Lords of Law are prone to appearing in human form, but when seen in their truer forms, they appear as perfect in every way, flawlessly symmetrical and painfully beautiful to look upon.

This does not mean the Lords of Law are inherently good. Just like Chaos, Law is beyond good or evil, and too much Law can be just as harmful to life as too much Chaos. Lords of Law who disregard the Cosmic Balance do so because they wish to stop Chaos from breaching the Balance forever, and ironically, they go against the Balance themselves when they do this."

The Lords of Law have  had the Young Kingdoms in thrall for eons & their cults are some of the deadliest threats that PC's can face down in Charles Green's  'Gods of Law in the New Kingdoms' . 

Charles Green's  'Gods of Law in the New Kingdoms'  brings a lot to the table top level for the Stormbringer rpg from details on all of the Gods of Law cults, practices, magicks, to the real agenda of these Lords of Law. This makes Charles Green's  'Gods of Law in the New Kingdoms'  a must have for Stormbringer 5th edition..  

'Gods of Law in the New Kingdoms'  presents everything a DM is going to need to run these dangerous entities within a Stormbringer rpg campaign. Or the PC's might find themselves on a wooden stake waiting to be burnt as a worshiper of Chaos or worse! 

Chaos & Cults - A Brief Look & Overview Into Charles Green's Cults of Chaos - A Free Monograph For The Stormbringer Fifth Edition Rpg

 The ways of chaos are many & subtle, today we're gonna dive deep into the many layers of the Chaos in the Stormbringer rpg if only a bit briefly. 

When one thinks of the expansion of Pan Tang across the Young Kingdoms its not the armies of that depraved demonic nation. But the temples & churches of Chaos that are actually the real conquring force. And one man stands at the head of it all Jagreen Lern . The Theocrat of Pan Tang is both figure head & spear head for one of the most dangerous forces on the plane of the Young Kingdoms. 

Rodney Mathews Jagreen Lern is the definitive version for me. 

The definitive sourcebook for this  nation of demonic insanity  is definitely Sorcerers of Pan Tang for the Stormbringer fourth edition of the game. And Sorcerers of Pan Tang brings all of the   nation of demonic insanity to the table top level for game play. 




 Sorcerers of Pan Tang has it all; ""Pan Tang is a grim island of lurking evil. Wild jungles to the north resound to the roar of a thousand tigers — the animal sacred to Chardhros the Reaper. The Plain of Glass divides the island, a shining wasteland of ancient volcanic catastrophe. The farmland to the south is a living hell to the slaves who work the great plantations.The capital of Pan Tang is Hwamgaarl, the City of Screaming Statues. Tigers walk among men and feed when they please. Sorcerers study dark knowledge and summon awesome horrors from other planes to do their bidding. The citizens of Hwamgaarl take their pleasure in the Gardens of Pain, gather their knowledge at the University of Lucid Perversity, and propitiate the Lords of Chaos at the Palace-Temple of the Theocrat.

Jagreen Lern is the Theocrat of Pan Tang, presiding over this nightmare land. A new age is coming, and his armies are ready. Other nations of the Young Kingdoms already plot against Melnibone, and soon those plots bring war. Pan Tang hovers, vulture-like, awaiting the results of the first violent clash of Young Kingdom armies against the remaining might of Melnibone. Though Melnibone has ruled the world for 10,000 years, in only a small fraction of that time will it be destroyed.""  This back bit of Sorcerers of Pan Tang is from Wayne's Books right over here. 

Players are going to take one look at this book & have thier PC's run in the other direction. We avoided & ran away from the Pan Tangians everytime we encountered them or destroyed them on sight. How does one make the temples & churches usable & a bit more subtle?! That's where the free  Cults of Chaos monograph comes into full play. When Chaosium was actually sellingthis monograph we snapped it up. The whole thing is a great little addition to the DM's tool box. 

 If 'Sorcerers of Pan Tang'  is the definitive source on the demonic island nation in the Young Kingdoms then Charles Green's ' Cults of Chaos' is the operator's manual. The cults here are presented in two ways that make ' Cults of Chaos' so easy to use. First is the player's section which details the public face of these minion's of chaos & then ' Cults of Chaos' switches over to the DM' section giving us the real face of these bastard cults within the Young Kingdoms.  Being far more subtle is the route to go.  
The Young Kingdoms is a place whose world  cycle is moving forward & the powers of chaos are going to have thier due. No more is this evident then within Michael Moorcock's Bane of the Black Sword;""High in the wintry sky climbed the dragons as Elric urged his charges westwards. Thoughts of love, of peace, of vengeance even were lost in that reckless sweeping across the glowering skies which hung over that ancient Age of the Young Kingdoms. Elric, proud and disdainful in his knowledge that even his deficient blood was the blood of the Sorcerer Kings of Melnibone, became detached.

He had no loyalties then, no friends, and if evil possessed him, then it was a pure brilliant evil, untainted by human drivings.
High soared the dragons until below them was the heaving black mass, marring the landscape, the fear-driven horde of barbarians who, in their ignorance, had sought to conquer the lands beloved of Elric of Melnibone.
"Ho, dragon brothers — loose your venom — burn, burn! And in your burning cleanse the world!"
THE BANE OF THE BLACK SWORD is the fifth epic
novel of Elric, complete in itself."" 

' Cults of Chaos'  back plugs into this element of the Stormbringer rpg mythos by back plugging into the material. Here we have the dangerous as well as the seductive elements of chaos at play. Why is the world of Elric doomed?! Because we've doomed the Young Kindoms  with our worship of the chaos powers & the door has been flung open. Is there any hope?! Yes & no.. We'll get into that coming up. Charles Green's ' Cults of Chaos' is one of the definitive Stormbringer fifth edition monographs. It takes the  ' Cults of Chaos' & gives them a humanized in fact too human face to deal with. This isn't a proper review of ' Cults of Chaos' but more of an overview & commentary. 

Review & Commentary On The Free OSR module - 'HM6: The Equinox Demon' By Todd Hughes For Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition

 

"On the Equinox, a sacrifice of grain is offered to the Nature Goddess. However last year, during the ceremony, a horrid demon arose, demanding tribute. It did not want grain, but gold and gems! The friar made a stand, but it was not enough and now the hamlet is terrified! Will a band of heroes have the guts to face the Equinox Demon? An adventure for 4-6 characters, level 1-3"

You know over the years of doing this blog time after time we see tons of high end & high level OSR adventures. But a basic lower tier adventure for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons?! That's a horse of a different colour & that's exactly the what 'HM6: The Equinox Demon' brings to the table top level. 'HM6: The Equinox Demon' has a solid core of old school Advanced Dungeons & Dragons adventure that makes an excellent beginning adventure with its quick pick up hook;

"The Hamlet of Stallington is not preparing for the customary spring celebration even though it is nearing the spring equinox. Typically, a sacrifice of grain is made to the nature goddess, on the equinox, at the mouth of a cave in a forest glade. However, last year when the elders gathered to make the sacrifice, a great fog arose, and a horrid demon emerged from the cave entrance. The demon had many smaller servants with it, and they surrounded the elders. The demon spoke in a frightening voice that seemed to rise from the bowels of the earth itself. It demanded tribute or it would destroy the hamlet and slay the residents. The demon did not want grain however, it wanted gold, silver, and gems. The local priest Friar Dane went, along with his acolyte Tames, to confront the demon. The Friar’s body was discovered outside of town the next day and Tames was never seen again. The elders gathered the villagers together and it was agreed that the tribute must be paid. In so doing the village drained most of its coffers and the people were left with very little to pay for this season’s supplies. As a result, the people are hungry and have very little food and much of the livestock died over the winter from lack of feed." 
Everything within 'HM6: The Equinox Demon' is pure Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition goodness from its intinial encounters to the wandering monster tables. 'HM6: The Equinox Demon' brings quite a few good things to the table. 

So how does 'HM6: The Equinox Demon' do this?! By leaning heavily into both the twin old school monster pools of both the Monster Manul & Fiend Folio. This isn't a mistake & takes 'HM6: The Equinox Demon' & grounds it squarely in both the old school & reminds the OSR of its roots. 

'HM6: The Equinox Demon' only clocks in at thirteen pages but what it does with that thirteen pages is lay down a tight & well written module. Highly recommended as a quick campaign starter & a solidly done little module. 

Can it be adapted into the OSR?! Yes and this is a great module to begin a Castles & Crusades campaign. Everything is here to roar into the fight & get the players started into a campaign. 

'HM6: The Equinox Demon'  makes an excellent introduction into a campaign by giving the player's lattiude & actual chance to get into the middle of an important series of events that could affect a ton of folks. 

Running A Sword & Sorcery Mystery Campaign As A Viable Old School Setting Option

The legends speak of another world of the past, a world where adventure was just around the corner. That world was a long time ago! Things have changed much, the legends & myths foretold by our ancestors came to pass. Now things are very dangerous for there are monsters that come from the Shadowdeep and worse now! Welcome to Mystara Reborn!

Work & real life got in the way but that's another blog post. Let's kick this into epic mythological high gear, And dive right into the Ragnarok spoken of on Mystara! The bell has rang & the darkness has plunged from the City of the Gods!



Let's say that events at the end of Wrath of the Immortals went very wrong & something broke with the spell of preservation in the Hallow World. Ragnorok happened! Numerous pieces of ancient City of the Gods technology have been uncovered by the upheavals of land & oceans boil across Mystara. The Elves & Dwarven Immortals walk the land as numerous human champions return to the world from beyond. Humanoid & Giant races hidden in communities have emerged as Drow tribes & champions rise from within as the sun turns the color of sack cloth. The way has been paved by numerous demonic cults and factions over the centuries.
There is betrayal from within the Immortals court & double crosses.



Engines of destruction are seized & these are used across the face of Mystara & entire populations are laided low. There are swaths of wastelands created as the destruction happens on an unprecedented level. This cracks the local space time continuum & the demon lords such as Orcus & Juiblex run ramrod over parts of Mystara.  Orcus leads the faceless hordes of undead across the world. Demogorgon raises wild in the hills as his cults take village after village.


There are rumors and signs that the Egg of Croot and his forces are behind many of these dire events! Once more the enemy of all Blackmoor has made its presence felt in the world and the world buckles & changes under its ministrations! Ancient orders of paladins & knights are needed to root out the horror of the Egg! The ancient Elemental Evil cult iwith its deep and mysterious ties to the Egg from Threshold Issue 11: Thyatis and Alphatia has deep roots wound around the world of Mystara and in this new world are going to be major enemies and evils.

 Just when all seems lost and world of Mystara is going down that final spin into the Abyss 'The Spell of Preservation' cracks and breaks! From numerous tunnels and byways out pours the ancient heroes & peoples to take back what's there's! The Grand Battle Is Joined! Everything changes!
Nothing is ever going to be the same again. The weather patterns have changed, the land itself is weird and very dangerous! Monsters & ancient prehistoric beasts that have not been seen in centuries except in lost corners of Mystara now stalk the land! Here's where the Issue Nine of  the freeThreshold magazine comes into play!


Now given the numerous weird technological relics & odd artifacts that have been whispered about in legend a forbidden tribe of Elves is needed. They alone now the forbidden ways & means of these secret & dangerous things. Their blood is also needed to help revive the Elven race which is almost extinct because of the blood shed and warfare. The name of Blacklore is curse and a forbidden word in numerous households but they alone know the secrets of these legendary artifacts of myth and forbidden legend.

The nasal filter - Male elf, by David Nash

But this is a world of men, cave men, and humanoid races not seen in centuries! Welcome to a world reborn welcome to a world of magic, super science, sorcery, & pulp adventure!
Welcome to Mystara Reborn!

Reconsidering S3 Expediation To The Barrier Peaks By Gary Gygax As Campaign Fodder

Well last night I was speaking with Steve & we began speaking about our trial by fire through the 'S' series of modules for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. The 'S' series stands for special and these were some of the most memorable of the adventures we played;"other adventures in the S series include S1 Tomb of Horrors, S2 White Plume Mountain, and S4 Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth." But it was 'Expedition To The Barrier Peaks' that slaughtered us time in and out back in the Eighties. For those of you who don't know;"Expedition to the Barrier Peaks was first played at the Origins II convention in 1976, where it was used to introduce Dungeons & Dragons players to the science fiction game Metamorphosis Alpha. In 1980, TSR published the adventure, updated for first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragonsrules."
I've got a long & storied history with this module; it took our AD&D party over to Gamma World through a matter transporter accident (that was Steve's Gamma World campaign so he added in that element). Plus there were a few forays back again not part of the original folks.



But last night he sent me this video & it brought back some of the distinct memories of this module. So the basic plot of S3 goes something like this;" It takes place on a downed spaceship; the ship's crew has died of an unspecified disease, but functioning robots and strange creatures still inhabit the ship. The player characters fight monsters and robots, and gather the futuristic weapons and colored access cards that are necessary for advancing the story."

"Expedition to the Barrier Peaks's 32-page adventure guide is divided into six sections. These describe the crew's quarters, the lounge area, the gardens and menagerie, and the activity deck. Along the way, the characters find colored access cards and futuristic devices such as blaster rifles and suits of powered armor that they can use to aid their journey. The first two sections involve various monsters, vegepygmys—short humanoid plant creatures—who have commandeered the crew's quarters, and a repair robot that follows instructions before its batteries run out. There is also a medical robot trying in vain to find a cure for the virus that killed the ship's crew. In the lounge area, a "Dining Servo Robot" still works, although the "food" it serves is now moldy poison.

The gardens and menagerie area includes an encounter with a "cute little bunnyoid on the stump".^[5]:15 It looks like a horned rabbit on a tree stump, but when approached, the stump develops fangs and its roots become tentacles, which it then uses to attack the characters. The next encounter involves a froghemoth, a large alien frog-like creature with tentacles and three eyes on an eyestalk. In the sixth and final section, the activity deck, the players' characters must contend with various sports robots, including a "boxing and wrestling trainer" and a "karate master".^[5]:18 If the characters can communicate with the karate master and tell it that boxing is superior to karate, it will attack the boxing robot until both are destroyed, else they will both attack the characters. The last area of the activity deck is the loading area, where the characters can leave the spaceship."

  The Expedition to the Barrier Peaks takes place around  the Grand Duchy of Geoff  (which seems to be a happening place in EG's home campaign) which is under constant attack by a succession of monsters that have been emerging from a cave in the mountains.

This module can also be used to introduce lots of traditional AD&D elements and bring on the post apocalyptic vibe in spades while turning up the players onto the Metamorphosis Alpha background music.

Adapting S3 To OSR games 
So this morning about four A.M. or so, I was on the phone with Steve and we're talking about hashing out details about using S3. Both he & I have been toying around with a conversion of the module for the Adventurer, Conqueror, King rpg. This came about because of the following conversation. I said, 'Its too bad that we don't know who or what caused the plague on board the star ship.'
Steve says to me,'Of course we do! It was the black goo from the movie Prometheus' 'The star gods reappeared with Vulcan near Mercury.' 'An expedition was sent, they collected some biological specimens & the black goo caused a plague on board' 

"The hyperspace engines created a dimensional rift in time & space bring it to Hyperborea. There the ship crashes into a remote kingdom and the trouble begins'
'Here's the catch a group of Hyperborean space god engineers are on their way to claim their prize.' 

'So the clock is ticking & they're breathen on Vulcan in their living suits are waiting in Hyperborean space aren't they?'  'Yeah because it all about claiming their Clark Aston Smith legacy of the star ship & its goodies.' 'I suppose your going to want to have me stick a Dlukus tribesmen in there as well?' 'Well I think we're going to have to get across the dangerous nature of the Hyperboreans.'

Dlukus by Spearhafoc from
'The Immortals of Mercury' By Clark Aston Smith

But Steve wasn't through yet by a long chalk,"So you know how the ship crashed into Greyhawk' 'Yeah?'  'Well what if it crashed into Dark Albion!' 'Imagine this thing coming down like some wormwood comet of doom into Black Forest of Germany!'
'The thing's coming might have been foretold by the various cults of chaos!' Its a joyous event for them!'
'That's going to cause all kinds of chaos in Europe especially during the events of the Rose War.'
'Exactly!' 


'Dark Albion has lots of interesting variations to use with Expedition to the Barrier Peaks & you've used classic AD&D modules with it before.' 'Yeah but the gonzo factor would have to be toned down & there could be a Cults of Chaos connection'

This is an idea that I want to develop further & might mean a much deeper blog entry down the road. 


'The best option might actually be Apes Victorious especially given the Star Ships & Spacemen second edition having a much heavier Mutant Future connection'  'Given the connections of the world of Apekind in the game setting the fit is far easier but the PC's would have to have a much heavier hand to succeed in this one.' 'The former upper state of New York might be the ideal location for this!' 

'Yeah it fits but it would take some doing!'


Basically S3 is one of the more adaptable of the 'S' series of classic TSR era modules & one of my all time favorites. With a bit of creativity and some willing players it can easily be used as a diverse & deadly module of incredibly epic proportions in your OSR games!

Commentary On The Free OSR Resource Ben Ball's Hyperborean Encounter Tables! For The Astonishing Swordsmen of Hyperborea & Sorcerers of Hyperborea Rpg & Your Old School Campaigns

I'm always looking for new resources for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea, its a sickness & illness with me. That pulpy edge that helps to define a game of AS&SH with monsters & the overall sword & sorcery weirdness of the game. Ben Ball is one of the prolific & solid writer/designer fans of the AS&SH line. He's come up with a dangerous set of encounter tables that I love over on the OD&D forums.

"Ever wanted to let your players just hex crawl all over Hyperborea? Here are the tools you've been lacking. Customized encounter tables for every region, city, and body of water listed in the gazetteer. These suckers have it all: Monsters of every kind. Weather. Natural disasters. Human encounters from individual NPCs to pilgrims and merchants to armed patrols to rival adventuring parties. THE DREADED CELESTIAL PHENOMENA (now with new horrors like "Fortean Fall", "Voice of Doom", "Seas Turned to Blood", and "White Death"). Hundreds of different possible encounters in every region!



All of the encounters fit the overall weirdness of Hyperborea with its monster infested lands & alien laden edges. The sword & sorcery themes mixed with that 'Weird Tales' aesthetic is each encounter just waiting for the players to stumble on them.
"For the most part the tables are weighted toward encounters with animals, natural phenomena, and humans - in keeping with the popular perception of what "sword & sorcery" means - but some regions are a lot more monster-ridden than others: The Aeries are crawling with mythical beasts, Sharath is thick with aliens and the undead, and if you go to Thaumagorga's Teeth, you just might meet a bunch of daemons. Keep a sharp eye out for my unique sense of "humor" too ("Tornadoes in a village always strike the lowest quality housing first." - hahaha I kill me)."



The encounters material is balanced but in a very twisted way reflected not only the author/designer's humor but the fickle nature of Hyperborea itself. There's also the fact that this set of encounters reflects my own pulpy science fantasy view of Hyperborea seen through the lens of Weird Tales. Seems as if around every corner is another crashed spacecraft or set of weirdos trying to put forward their own alien agenda or other.

Grab The Hyperborean Encounter Tables! HERE