A Fresh Look At The 'Pay What You Want' Caverns Of Ugard One Shot By Shane Ward From 3 Toadstools As Low Level Adventure Campaign Catalyst

"The name Ugard is notorious with pain and fear!  Thru-out the surrounding lands Ugard and his minions threaten, bully and extort money and lives.  The vile Minotaur is holed up in some caves on the outskirts of town.  This OSR compatible one page dungeon can easily be placed into any campaign for a night of fun!  Compatible with Labyrinth Lord (TM)"



Last night I took sometime to look for a low level one shot dungeon that could be played in one night. In point of fact looking for something not complicated has been fun but there is a serious derth of low level one shots that could act as introductory adventures for original Dungeons & Dragons or B/X style games. The Caverns Of Ugard From  3 Toadstools by Shane Ward looks like its gonna fill that niche nicely. This is one page, one shot dungeon that looks like it could act as a solid introduction to a retro  fantasy campaign. 

For low level & beginning characters this looks like a pay what you want introductory one shot this is really important for a beginning level player's PC. I have reviewed this one shot dungeon before but I'm looking at this through the lens of a beginning dungeon master. The cartography is clear & the layout crisp. The real question is the drag & drop quality of this adventure right into a campaign is definitely one of the assets of this adventure.

With a bit of work The Caverns Of Ugard could be used for an Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea campaign in some backwater village. Or the same thing could be said for using it as a side quest adventure for an existing campaign.  For B/X Dungeons & Dragons this is a nice little evening one shot that could parlay itself into a full on campaign if coupled with say B2 Keep on the Borderlands


The idea here is that the game session events of  The Caverns Of Ugard for shadow B2 Keep on the Borderland. Damage, fatigue, & what not from the dungeon may take their toll from the one shot dungeon. The low level PC's get their collective asses handed to them in the Caverns but get a rest only to come across the events of the keep & its Caves of Chaos. There are several reasons why this works instead of the usual throw the party into B2 Keep on the Borderlands events: 

1. The events of the keep are not simply isolated at all. The random encounters of B2 point to this.  The Caverns Of Ugard as an adventure location can highlight this to the players.  
2. The forces of the caverns woven into the frame work of B2 give the DM plenty of ammo to get a campaign started. 
3. Simple & easy make the play shine & the players will fill in the rest believe me as a dungeon master. 
4. One shots are a good way of easing into low level play for beginning players. 
5. Dungeons & Dragons seems to lack campaign cohesion & the The Caverns Of Ugard can act as a solid glue to stick all of this together. 
6. Evidence of a cult can be peppered into The Caverns Of Ugard so the Caves of Chaos flows more organically. 
7. Humanoid forces should be very dangerous as random encounters in this sort of set up. 
8. Low level one shot dungeons give the DM lots of latitude to work with newbie players. 
9. This sort of set up gives the DM plenty of ammo to set up adventures like T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil later on.
10. This is a good self contained dungeon that can branch out into a workable OSR or old school campaign. 

A Review Of 'The Pay What You Want' OSR Adventure 'The Tall Witch' By Davide Pignedoli From Daimon Games

A friend of mine tonight at a local gaming hole told me about an OSR sort of retroclone inspired by Lamentations of the Flame Princess & Swords & Wizardry called Crying Blades. Specifically he told me about an interesting 'pay what you want' adventure that I might want to checkout called The Tall Witch. 

The plot sounds simple enough;'A mysterious witch is about to be born and threatens the local community'. Sounds simple but I was surprised & kinda shocked that this little adventure came out in 2017 but passed by my OSR radar. The layout is very nicely done & it clocks in at a well filled out twenty seven pages. The actual plot is a bit more sophisticated; 

"According to the local legends, the Tall Witch is reborn every 333 years in this place; reborn of a single large egg, daughter of a sea-serpent and a devil. She’s born already adult and trained in the arts of witchcraft. The Tall Witch is a symbol of destruction and despair for the local population. When the Tall Witch is free to roam this county, farm animals turn savage, cultivated fields fill up with wild trees and bushes, the youngest disappear in the woods to live a dissolute life of unimaginable sins, and the oldest give in to their bestial lusts or desire for revenge... and chaos ensues. "
The artwork isn't bad at all & over all it feels like a straight up inquisitior or investigative occult adventure framed module. Even though 'The Tall Witch' adventure is meant for the Crying Blades rpg I can see this module working very well with many traditional OSR games or campaign settings. The Crying Blades system uses some interesting variations on the traditional Dungeons & Dragons style gaming system ideas; "The game introduces a few innovations, such as a random talents system for the various classes that replaces abilities, three different equipment-systems (one based on a die size, one on numbered slots, and a traditional one with weight-per-item).
It uses regular attributes checks for actions, and Saving Throws linked to attributes, with some class-modifiers.
Combat is faster than usual: a single d20 roll determines (using the traditional AAC) both if the character hits the monster, and if the monster hits the character. This reduces the number of rounds where both would miss.
Sorcery and clerical blessings do not require to memorize spells but use a simple count to determine how many can be cast per day.
The leveling up system is simple and all classes need the same amount of XP per level. Sorcerers and Clerics, though, need to pay XP to improve their power-matrix and to acquire new spells, thus their leveling-up process is slower. Multiclassing is allowed, but severely limited."

The Tall Witch has already been born & its up to the PC's to close in & seal her fate; " The local priest has already identified the location of the egg: at the base of the cliff south of the village, there’s a large, white rounded rock. It looks like a rock, but that’s the egg. The villagers will provide pikes, axes, and any other similar tools. But the egg must be for sure guarded by other malignant entities.."
Over all this isn't a straight up slaughter fest but a thinking man's adventure. The Tall Witch feels like a Lamentations of the Flame Princess adventure & affair. But it could just as easily be run in a Dark Albion or Lion & Dragon Rpg campaign.



I know that this adventure isn't going to be to everyone's liking but the occult elements are very well done & there's enough meet on the bones of the Tall Witch.  I can see running this adventure as a part of Clark Ashton Smith's  Averoigne stories based in the back quarters of the mundane (for Smith) province in medieval France. Two of CAS's stories that reflect the dark underbelly of the Tall Witch for influence would be Mother of Toads (1934) & The Enchantress of Sylaire,  (1941). These stories mirror many of the themes of The Tall Witch.
The loose style & passion of Davide Pignedoli's writing & design of this adventure a snap to adapt into a relatively dangerous & horror filled evening or multiple session of OSR play. This isn't the traditional OSR adventure but one where the PC's are going to be deciding their own fate. This one might end with the characters killing themselves off by their own stupidity. There are some twists & turns in this adventure which could challenge even the most jaded of  old school palettes. I think that the Tall Witch adventure is worth your time & your OSR taste for a well thought out & dangerous adventure! 

The Tall Witch adventure
Is Available Right Over Here 

Old School Review & Commentary The 'Pay What You Want' Adventure - Nick LS Whelan's The Bloodsoaked Boudoir of Velkis the Vile

I was doing some research for a short, brief, but solid adventure today after work. After getting the usual beer & OSR local town chatter at my favorite watering hold. I was surprised that Nick LS Whelan's The Bloodsoaked Boudoir of Velkis the Vile adventure slipped right past my radar. Damn it this is actually a solid & very well constructed ten page dungeon. Anyone that really knows me knows that I love liches & undead of all types. Velkis isn't the usual lich however & comes across as your favorite uncle or the friendly old man whose a bit nuts next door. If next door happens to be a small pocket universe with a number of weird secrets.


Tightly written adventure doesn't do this module justice & the brand of vile weirdness going on here is very dangerous to a party of inexperienced adventurers. Velkis could become a major NPC power in the course of a campaign & he's got a lot to offer in such a small package. Don't turn your back on him for an instant because he's got a lot to offer the dungeon master willing to put in some time with reading between the lines of the NPC. The cartography is good in this module but the rooms & the tricks & traps are better.

Head of old man in a coverlet. Marble. Mid-1st century B.C. Rome, Vatican Museums.
The picture is by shakko but this what Velkis looks like in my imagination.

There's advise on running Velkis & using him effectively, surprisingly its actually good advise & with a bit of work on the dungeon master's part this could become a down right dangerous semi immortal NPC. He's the kind of villain that would fit perfectly into any Lamentations of the Flame Princess game, a Weird Tales themed campaign or even a Sword & Sorcery game. The thing is that he's surprisingly effective for a first through third level challenge. He's effective, dangerous, down right insane, & the kind of villain that if done right will have the players talking for years or he'll be stalking their PC's for years to come.
This adventure is effectively a monster lair as  adventure location with lots of hooks, bells, & highly dangerous whistles. Played right & this adventure could have player's PC's playing or dying to Velkis's tune. He's had some of the angles of immortality figured out before he went completely & utterly insane. There's lots of indications of his power through the various treasures & objects d'art within his pocket dimension. Make sure to have a few PC's on hand though because Velkis has the power potential to end a multitude of PC's lives. He's a very serial like murderer going about his business because he has to. He knows what he is & the most effective way to deal with PC's.
All in all I was really happy to find this adventure & have it shoved my way with a beer or two.
Velkis is a perfect sort of monster to drop into any number of OSR settings. I can see him as being a great fit for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea second edition. He's a hold over from another era. He's got great potential for a setting such as Greyhawk or even Blackmoor or the Wilderlands of High Fantasy.
I can also  see using this complete adventure as a funnel for Dungeon Crawl Classics or even as a side quest for an on going campaign of Lamentations of the Flame Princess's Europe.
This is not surprising considering that this adventure was specifically created for that system.

The Bloodsoaked Boudoir of Velkis the Vile adventure  could be used as a starting point for any of the B/X Dungeons & Dragons systems. Mystara could actually support the module for there are fare number of Gothic horror themed places within that old school setting.  I give this one a five out of five for simple, effective design, a tightly constructed adventure, & a fantastic NPC worthy of your attention as a dungeon master.

You can grab a copy of
The Bloodsoaked Boudoir of Velkis the Vile adventure right here. 

OSR Commentary & Review Of The 'Pay What You Want' Adventure HS3 Incursion of the Chain Devils For Your Old School Campaigns

Three nights ago, strange lights and screams were heard from the local temple of Ishtar. Grotesque humanoids, wearing tattered clothes and wrapped with chains, emerged from the very walls, causing murder and mayhem within.

Can the PCs save the temple of Ishtar from the incursion of the chain devils?
I'm always on the look out for another Sword & Sorcery old school style title, so I began to look around Drivethrurpg. Generally this is a dangerous thing to do but there are few 'pay what you' want titles that caught my eye. Incursion of the Chained Devils is one of those weird titles that you don't usually come across but this time I listened to the little voice that said, 'Grab it'. This is a weird & interesting little beast of an adventure that hearkens back to something I would have snatched up as a twenty year old dungeon master.
"H3 Incursion of the Chain Devils is a module for 4-8 characters levels 5th to 7th using the first edition advanced rules"
This is an expansive & sprawling module with a sword & sorcery horror adventure aspect to it. To be honest about it, I was quite happy to come across this one on a Sunday night. This adventure only clocks in at about eighteen pages but its a really nice change up from the investigative adventures I've been running into lately.
Its a really nicely put together module that has more in common with a Conan novella like Red Nails & Eighties horror classic Hellraiser by Clive Barker. This is a module that you can drag & drop right into your existing campaign world such as Hyperborea. It won't make a ripple in the local campaign world & its been designed & written that way; "Much of this depends on where you locate the Temple. If you locate it in the wilderness, you could have the PCs stumble upon it and decide to simply
loot it.
You might simply drop it into an existing city in your world. If you do this before you plan on running the adventure, the PCs might go and visit the temple, either for healing or to enjoy themselves. Then when the temple gets invaded, they might wish to go to the rescue simply because they know the
people there and wish to help. The PCs might also be hired by a fleeing priestess. They might get a vision from the goddess herself. They might also be in the need of clerical henchmen and decided that rescuing some would be a great way to recruit."  What I love about Jeremy Reaban's stuff is that he doesn't screw around with his adventures right in the description there's a focus on his OSR sources & where he's gotten material for his adventures;"As with previous entries in the HS line, the focus is firmly on combat. There are 20 rooms and likely 8-10 encounters. Most of the monsters are backward converted from third edition and full write ups are provided."
The material here in HS3 is balanced, deadly, & will kill more then a few PC's before they navigate & solve its mysteries. Its made to do exactly what it says on the tin. There are new monsters, some interesting encounters, and everything is geared to be DYI D&D friendly. So in case you haven't noticed this is right up in my wheel house, you've got a lost temple out in the middle of the desert wastelands which could be placed in the Diamond Desert in AS&SH. There is a ton of pulpy monsters in this one & a fully fleshed out adventure location which makes this really nice adventure to add into the back end of B4 The Lost City.
In fact the temple in HS3 Incusion of the Chain Devils could be another above ground section of the ruin's environs from B4. There's no reason why another cut off section of the city from that classic module. What I'm saying here is that HS3 Incusion of the Chain Devils is modular enough and packed into its own niche so that it can be used with other old school products with little effort.


Things in HS3 Incursion of the Chain Devils are keyed to bring PC's right into the middle of the action. The cenobite like ' kytons' are original enough to make a lasting impression on a group of AD&D players and weird enough to actually be usable in a one shot adventure that will last several sessions. There are several factors to keep in mind when running HS3 Incursion of the Chain Devils:

1. This is a straight up adventure with a few twists & turns that challenges, maimes, & the monsters will aim to destroy PC's. 
2. The loot is well laid out in the adventure & PC's greed could get a party killed. 
3. There are bunch of band new monsters that have the potential to be used outside of HS3 for cults, NPC's or to create your own Lovecraftian cult of lust & depravity.

Infact this adventure could serve as a bridge gap adventure location for say AS&SH Ghost Ship of the Desert Dunes & B4 The Lost City. The temple location has enough going on to allow a DM to place it when & where they want it in the creeping sands of their old school wastelands.

So what does HS3 Incursion of the Chain Devils mean in terms of a sword & sorcery adventure? It puts the infernal right into the PC's laps & turns up the old school heat. This adventure doesn't dance around encounters with devils. Those are front & center right in the middle of the whole affair. This means that not only is there the lost temple but the focus is right on the black sorcery aspect right away. But does this mean I like HS3 Incursion of the Chain Devils? No because I love it. This is an adventure that puts the combat front & center, magic weapons are a must not the except. There's no hidden agenda here, no mid adventure switch around or anything special to complicate matters. This is straight up monster fight and a deadly sword & sorcery romp.

Ten Ways To Make HS3 Incursion of the Chain Devils Work For You

1. Add in the cult of the Chain Devils into your home setting to foreshadow this adventure but have them much weaker NPC's to lull the players into a false sense of security. 
2. Add in HS3 Incursion of the Chain Devils to a post apocalyptic wasteland for a novel and very dangerous adventure location. 
3. Have hints of the corruption of the temple featured in this adventure in other places. Weird weather, diabolic influence, and much more. 
4. Add in the temple as a part of the regular home play to help bring a sense of unity for your old school campaigns. 
5. Monsters make the adventure and there's some new ones that need plenty of air time for PC's. Add or subtract as you desire. 
6. Rumors of the temple's corruption should be rumors in every place the PC's hang out. 
7. Place a relic or minor artifact to lure in PC's. They're numerous way's to incorporate the treasure as a part of the lure. 
8. The PC's are going to have some semi permanent brain damage encountering this latest devils in this adventure. 
9. There's more to the story of the chain devils featured in this adventure enabling DM's to fully customize their background as needed. 
10. Exploit the hell out of the temple before the adventure begins. Have it be healing point, a port in the storm of adventuring, a safe house, etc. This gives the temple traction when the PC's are needed in HS3.

GRAB HS3 Incursion of the Chain Devils Right HERE 

'Enter The Martian!' Running 'The Pay What You Want' Dungeon From A Distant Star Adventure From Robertson Games As Part Of The Warlord Of The Outer Worlds Actual Play Event Part II

When we last left our heroes they were exploring under the Dwarven citadel on a rescue mission to save a party in another dimension. The gate system is deep inside the Earth at a revamped alien UFO base now a planar dimensional jump point. They've taken their atomic boring machine and stopped at this location for a closer look after being attacked by ghoulish undead Dwarves.
Under the citadel a flying saucer had crashed and they were exploring(looting) any relics they could carry. This past week they came face to face with Martian warrior cast creature. The monster proved to be immune to lightning and proved quite the challenge to the party.


They've got a few more rooms to clear & then onward as well as downward. The fact is that Dungeon From A Distant Star was a God sent easily modified to fit my campaign setting's history and Outer Darkness driven cosmology. The real star of the show for this past week's game was the adventure location  Dungeon From A Distant Star From  Robertson Games.

Parts of the adventure took the players by surprise & they've come to have a real hatred for the Martians that they've faced multiple times over the years.  This latest time proved to be a bit of a go around and they're not sure what's happening inside the remains of the saucer. They don't know that its been turned into a telepathic communications point and that a soul stealing interocitor is at the heart of the whole operation! Tuesday we'll see if they can find the catalog from Unit 16 and dismantle the whole operation before the Martian tripod machines come scrambling through the tunnels!



The Warwick Goble illustrations for HG Wells are some of my favorites but the Open Culture Website also has the Henrique Alvim Corrêa, whose 1906 illustrations of the novel are perfect for the tone and pitch of this campaign. 

Running 'The Pay What You Want' Dungeon From A Distant Star Adventure From Robertson Games As Part Of The Warlord Of The Outer Worlds Actual Play Event

Today was one of those days that I wasn't quite up to my usual standard of gaming; I had taken my father to a new doctor today some forty miles away and after coming back I was completely mentally blown or so I thought. I suddenly looked and it was seven PM and my players were out in my driveway for tonight's Warlords of the Outer Worlds game. I was caught with my pants down or was I? I hadn't designed the interior of the ruins of a Dwarven tower that in last week's game the PC's had discovered.
So I calmly opened my note book and there right in the middle of my binder was Dungeon From A Distant Star From  Robertson Games

GRAB IT RIGHT HERE

I've run this dungeon back to front so many times since it came out in 2011 and tonight it got turned into the interior structure of the Dwarven citadel/tower. My PC's weren't happy at all especially coming across some of the science fantasy weirdness of this classic science fantasy dungeon. Why? Well because the dungeon features some very unexpected sci fi style weirdness with: A flying saucer buried underground for hundreds of years lies a spaceship from the 3rd planet in the Altair system. While heavily damaged, the ship still has power for many of its systems and doors and lights are still fully operational in most sections. Will you be the first to explore The Dungeon From A Distant Star and uncover it's otherworldly secrets?An old school one-page dungeon including dungeon map, legend, wandering monsters, random tables and descriptions for 23 separate rooms. This module also features some of my all time favorite AD&D monsters &  fan favorites such as the vegepygmy and the Flumph as an alien race encounters!


With a bit of creativity the party of adventurers managed to make it through most of the major parts of the dungeon and into the control room where the remains of several Dwarven heroes awaited them and the weird final boss. They faced down Grey zombies and other wonderfully weird undead plus a boss alien undead thing in the center of the control room but they only managed to get through half of the dungeon tonight. They didn't happen to come across the room of vegepygmy tribesmen yet. They've also released at least one beakotopus after a pitched battle with android adherers in one of the saucer's corridors.



All in all using Dungeon From A Distant star was downright fun and as a quick pick up adventure this one went down quickly, it's material fit the over all style and tone of the campaign setting. I can't recommend this classic adventure enough to those who want to fight against some unusual monsters in a wholly original dungeon sci fi adventure location. Five out of five for this OSR classic!

So grab some dice and remember to make the save!

Review & Commentary On The Pay What You Want 'OSR Adventure - Out of Blackest Earth From Svartkonst For Your Old School Campaigns

The people in the town of Uria are disquieted. The graveyard by the church of St. Athanasius has lain abandoned for a lifetime. But although the ground is shrouded by dead leaves and some of the tombs are so dilapidated that bones lie in the open, the townsfolk have kept on visiting their family graves. Lately, however, ghostly apparitions have been seen moving among the sepulchres...
There are times when one needs to get back to basics as I've been talking about on this blog for the past week or so. Terje Nordin sent me a copy of Out of Blackest Earth two days ago, things at work have be been a bit busy & its only now that I'm getting to this OD&D pay what you want title. So what is Out Of Blackest Earth? Well its a step back into the basics of an OD&D horror adventure with a few twists and turns to it. Amazingly the adventure could be used as a beginning Lamentations of the Flame Princess introduction piece, more on this later on.

Grab It Over Here

 In nine pages you get a horror adventure based location piece with all of the trimmings to get a party of adventurers right into the middle of a weird horror based investigative scenerio. The adventure rings through with several conventions straight out of Lamentations of the Flame Princess's play book these include several nods to old school D&D and LoFP:"OUT OF BLACKEST EARTH is a location based adventure suitable for low level characters. It is designed to be system agnostic and compatible with traditional role-playing games.
•
This adventure assumes silver standard. If you use gold standard, all treasure should be adjusted accordingly.
•
The armor classes are given as both descending and ascending values. The ascending values are in brackets.
•
If you prefer, you can easily use monster stats from a game system of your choice.
•
This adventure assumes that a single basic saving throw is used. All creatures are assumed to use the same saving throws as a fighter of the same level as their hit dice. If your system of choice has several categories of saving throws, check the categories in order and use the first one which applies to the situation."

This isn't a bad thing in my mind because in nine pages your party is well on its way to dealing with both the undead & a serious horror based adventure crawl. There is a fair bit of action and horror waiting to be sprung onto the party. There are also several twists to the adventure and some of the adventure can be a bit well deadly if stupid decisions are made on the adventurer's part. There are rumors, random encounters, and lots waiting in store for our intrepid heroes. The encounters are balanced and very well done. The descriptions are brief and to the point giving plenty of room for the dungeon master to customize the adventure to their needs.

Descriptions in the adventure are brief and to the point but easily modified to the DM's needs for example;"2. Church
A reliquary hidden in the altar holds the skull of St. Athanasius, a magic item capable of Turning Undead once per encounter. By the western wall there is a fount of holy water. The first PC who drinks the water gains cosmic insights (and 15 seconds to look through the DMs notes). Stairs lead to #8."
The entire adventure we get lots of this sort of descriptions the entire adventure are interconnected and woven through with lots of high handed weirdness throughout. Out of Blackest Earth. There are enough twists to keep the adventure going until the end and keep the players interested. “OUT OF BLACKEST EARTH” is a haunted graveyard suitable for fledgling adventurers. This adventure is compatible with all OSR clones according to the Drivethrurpg add and on that front I think that this adventure succeeds. There's enough meat here to keep the PC's coming back for more then a few sessions. This adventure is perfect also as a beginning to a Swords & Wizardry horror themed campaign. The twists and turns are more more then enough to not only take your PC's heads but interesting enough to take them into the blacker end of a weird and deadly adventure.The maps that Karl Stjernberg for the adventure were excellent and I think that PC's won't be disappointed. This adventure rates a four out of five and with a little work on the DM's part this could be an excellent OSR memory. All in all not a bad little introductory adventure for an old school or OSR system. 

Using 'The Pay What You Want Adventure' Tomb of the Overfiend From Robertson Games In The Valley Of Forgotten Ones For Your Old School Campaigns

 

So last night I needed something fast, quick, and easy that I could use for a fast play with friends. The game that I had in mind was Boot Hill and everyone quickly agreed. But I was going to need an adventure set up yesterday and I had less then hour to pull this together. I started going through ideas in my head and one was the Valley of the Forgotten Ones. This was a place where entropy & time weapons were tested. Time and space had been shattered. Things, places, and even people had been seen out there in the eight mile stretch of desert. Weird things that sent shivers up men's spines and more then a few cow hands had gone missing in that area. The locals stay well away from that stretch of desert but then again there have been some who have come back with gold in their pocket. But now things were different, the Sheriff's daughter was taken in the middle of the night and dragged off into the valley by outlaws. Not monsters, men, or horrors are going to keep that man from his daughter.


The Valley of the Forgotten ones is a time lost location that I've used several times over the years; its a place of classic AD&D and pulpy fun. Dinosaurs, mutants, marauders, etc. all coming together within a patch of horrid wasteland and desert issues. There's a bunch of locals living on the outskirts who mind their own business and have a few secrets of their own. So yeah its a staging ground for anything that I want to dump into the setting and not wreck it.


The locals know about the gang of the Overfiend whose a lich who traveled here over a century and a half ago. He's got a bunch of orc and half orc outlaws that help him out and he's going to sacrifice the sheriff's daughter to gods of the Outer Darkness.
Tomb of the Overfiend is a one page dungeon and did quite nicely for a one shot game. The tomb has more then enough features to make monster stocking quick and easy with the AD&D first edition Monster Manual or The Fiend Folio. We had seven players including a bard which came in quite handy in two places; one was the fact that he ended up speaking several times with the locals to gain their trust. The valley itself spooked the hell out of the PC's who were quick roll ups from Boot Hill.
Tomb of The Overfiend proved to be very well put together and the players had a blast with it it. They really were very careful to deal with some of the monsters, artifacts, and more into the one page dungeon. All in all this was a really nice one page dungeon which suited the impromptu game quite nicely. They did manage to get the sheriff's daughter Cindy back and two of the cowboys bought it an encounter with a dinosaur.

GRAB TOMB OF THE OVERFIEND RIGHT HERE



The legends of the gunfighter's and cowpoke's deeds will be sung around the campfires for months to come but we're not done with the Valley of the Forgotten Ones by a long chalk. See yeah you all on the time trails.

Review and Commentary On 'The Pay What You Want' Post Apocalyptic Adventure - One Day Digs 6:: Hunt in the Dark For Your Old School Campaigns

Hunt in the Dark is for the Mutant Epoch rpg and clocks in at fifteen pages making this a perfect evening's post apocalyptic entertainment. This adventure is about rats and more specifically one very nasty  customer called Black Scavenger. This is a sixteen 'pay what you want' adventure
"Beasts have attacked the village and while the militia chases them off, Black Scavenger, an ambitious bipedal rat mercenary, has escaped from the jail. He and with his thugs fled into the ruins beneath the community! With Rust Haven’s best fighters out in the wastes, the people of the settlement need you to go into the ancient depths and bring the villain, Black Scavenger, to justice, dead or alive."
This is an adventure that is one part man hunt through the ruins, two part post apocalpytic horror adventure dealing with what happens in a the ruins in the darkness. 

GRAB IT RIGHT HERE

This is a straight up mutant hunt through the twisting darkness of  the ruins of a large exhibition center, with danger lurking around every irradiated corner.  This is an adventure with lots of stuff going for it, the writing and action is tight. The plot very easily adaptable for both Gamma World or Mutant Future, the adventure lends itself quite nicely to a solid beginning lead in for a Mutant Epoch rpg campaign. Everything back drafts easily into the Mutant Epoch Pitford campaign setting and it contains everything you need to get a game going including new mutant horrors, a NPC's and a brand new weapon or two.



Seriously though there is some tense moments in Hunt The Dark if a DM plays this adventure right and this adventure could be a perfect convention set up. Quick, dirty, and with just enough to wet the players appetites for more Mutant Epoch. The adventure does everything very well setting up a perfect one two punch of outlaw busting, and crawling around in the darkness of some very wicked ruins. All in all this makes for a perfect post apocalyptic adventure set up. The only complain about this adventure is that it's a bit too short but with a quick series of rolls on some of the random Mutant Epoch tables from the main rule book that's no problem. So what do you get for your money? In this 15 page Pay What You Want product is 1 full page player handout and 1 map, 25 illustrations, a mutant sub-species and two new relics.


This is the type of adventure that has a solid way of handling all of its elements and that is to pace all of its events in a nice easy to digest narrative. That's fine because here it works in Hunt The Dark, the players are journeying into the heart of a dangerous cesspool of  mutant horror and darkness. There is the option of expanding the adventure plot line into some of the other 'One Day Dig' adventure titles to create a mini campaign of epic proportions.There are several new bits and pieces that add to the utility of this adventure and this is an adventure that feels like it is a winner to me.



Hunt The Dark is a perfectly adaptable DYI post apocalyptic landscape adventure  and could keep  adventurers busy for some time to come. This is definitely a five out of five of an adventure in my book. Hunt The Dark is also a perfect template for creating your own post apocalyptic adventures and could be a perfect introduction adventure into a complete Mutant Epoch campaign setting.

Review and Commentary On 'The Pay What You Want' Post Apocalyptic Adventure - One Day Digs 5 Lilac Towers Adventure From Outland Arts For Your Old School Campaigns

The Mutant Epoch Rpg doesn't get enough love on this blog and recently I noticed a few changes and brand new titles coming out for this wonderful little post apocalyptic rpg by Outland Arts. Basically Mutant Epoch is a two hundred and forty eight post apocalyptic rpg system done by one author William McAusland  which presents a plethora of player character choices these include a myriad of options for players and game masters: lots  of cybernetic implants, mutations both beneficial and flaw, options for pure stock humans, bioreplicas, clones,trans/humans, cyborgs,ghosts mutants, mutants and beastmen characters, a vast skill set, tons of equipment,vehicles, hazards, monsters, rules for called shots, chase scenes, siege warfare.  The game is a post apocalyptic love letter to old school games such as Gamma World first and second edition along with Metamorphosis Alpha 1st edition. But Mutant Epoch is really its own system with random table after incredible table of PC options. The game could be used to enhance other post apocalyptic old school games such as Gamma World or even Mutant Future. But really it stands on its on two feet. There is a ton of support out there for Mutant Epoch. There quite a few differences between the Mutant Epoch rpg and say something like OD&D or some of the OSR retro clones on the market. Mutant Epoch relies on skill based rolls,the system is unique and offers a myriad of skills and chances to customize PC's with a ton of options that the Mutant Epoch is known for. There is also the One Day Digs line of adventures. These adventures are the perfect opportunity to launch PC's into the deep end of the adventure setting and events. This brings me to One Day Digs Five. What are 'One Day Digs'?


One day digs are basically one shot or convention style post apocalyptic adventures created to be played in one sitting, short, sweet and with lots of action. One Mutant Epoch adventure that caught my eye was Lilac Towers.

GRAB IT RIGHT HERE



Lilac Towers is a fifteen page adventure written by Danny Seedhouse  it continues the trend seen by other Outland Arts adventures. Drop an adventure location into the wasteland of the Mutant Epoch rpg and let the PC's deal with the encounters. The plot is straight out of the Gamma World or Mutant Future playbook;
"Exposed by a recent landslide, the 11^th floor entrance into the once luxurious Lilac Towers is now visible. The PC adventurers find the pathway up to the mysterious ruins while tracking hostile skullock and moaners.

            Why would two mutant species who normally hate each other work together? Who rules them? What horrors, and loot, will be found in the buried hotel? Only a closer inspection will reveal the truth."
 This adventure has more then few things going for it the artwork is fantastic, the plot and writing is very tight and this adventure is easily convertible over to Gamma World or Mutant Future. The adventure location of Lilac Towers is introduced right out of the gate and is a very dangerous as well as deadly little location. The place features several key monsters from Mutanr Epoch that move the action along at a good clip. NPC's snap into place and the entire adventure has a convention feel to it. Here's what you get for your money,there are 8 maps, 14 illustrations and two creature variants including Moaner Immortals and Tuskers.



Everything in this module is geared for a fast set up, quick sit down, a solid PC generation time and a quick dive right into the session. This adventure has a plethora of quick adventure elements and continues the tradition of expanding the adventure locations of the world setting  of Mutant Epoch rpg. This means that there's plenty of adventure even fifteen pages for an adventure. The cartography is great and there's plenty of room for adding in your own dungeon master's thumb print into lilac towers. This is an adventure with plenty going on under the hood and room for expanding the plot into a number of directions there is the option of expanding the adventure plot line into some of the other 'One Day Dig' adventure titles to create a mini campaign of epic proportions. There are several new bits and pieces that add to the utility of this adventure and this is an adventure that feels like it has the potential to be a winner to me.
Lilac towers is a great little addition to your OSR or DYI post apocalyptic landscape and could keep post apocalyptic adventurers busy for some time to come. This is definitely a five out of five of an adventure in my book. Go download this adventure and start putting your PC's into the cross hairs of a very dangerous location and set of circumstances today.