OSR Commentary On CA1 Swords of The Undercity By Carl Smith, Bruce Nesmith, & Doug Niles For An Old School Sword & Sorcery Campaign

 "The adventure is divided into three scenarios, The Secret of Urgaan of Angarngi by Carl Smith, The Web of Mog by Bruce Nesmith, and Claws of the Shree-kah by Douglas Niles. Each is playable separately within one evening session of gaming, or as a whole, in one single adventure." 

"During the first scenario, The Secret of Urgaan of Angarngi, the party acquires a treasure map and eventually sets out on an expedition to recover the forgotten treasure. This scenario includes the journey through the Sinking Lands to the Treasure House of Urgaan of Angarngi, and the destruction of Urgaan's Mad Tower." 
 CA1 Swords of The Undercity By Carl Smith, Bruce Nesmith,  & Doug Niles information from Wayne's Books.

CA1 Swords of The Undercity By Carl Smith, Bruce Nesmith,  & Doug Niles came out in 1985 and we played through it in '86. There's something fundamental about CA1 Swords of the Undercity. Because of the fact that it gives a grand tour of the Lankhmar realm for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition's campaign setting of Lankhmar. Make no mistake CA1 is a brutal adventure and it will punish the stupid.  The Secret of Urgaan of Angarngi, is definitely thieves centric with the players aquiring a treasure map and getting double dealed. This is a Lankhmar centric adventure in the truest sense. The party is drawn into the campaign setting in dangerous and not so obvious ways. 

 What CA1 Swords of The Undercity By Carl Smith, Bruce Nesmith,  & Doug Niles does is string together three adventures and gives the player's PC's a solid stake in Lankhmar as a campaign. Especially in encountering the next scenario 'The Web of Mog'. The party is drugged and thier treasure stolen. Thier home base of the 'Silver Eel' is invaded and they must deal with the fall out of recovering thier property after the adventures of the Sinking Lands. And it's within 'The Web of Mog' that we get a good look at some of the factions of Lankhmar. When we played through we had our behinds handed to us by some of those factions in '87. 

But it was the 'Claws of the Shree-kah' where we learnt to fear the sewers and what lays within them. There was danger and intrigue aplenty when we were dealing with the 'Thieves Guild' and much worse in Claws. CA1 had us going from one point to another while dealing with the horrors of Lankhmar. We died multiple times because of the fact that the party wasn't anyplace near the appropriate level for this adventure. But CA1 did establish our presence within the city and gave the players the touch stone they needed for a solid Sword & Sorcery campaign. 

Review & Commentary On The OSR Adventure V1 Tragedy at Taigon’s Falls By Randy Nichols For Your OSR & Old School Game Campaign

 "The calamity that befell Merrin Olson’s trade convoy must not be repeated. The wealthy merchant has hired you and your companions as a vanguard for his next delivery from Shadevale to Black River. A simple “guard the caravan” mission turns into something more sinister connected to the dark history of the region involving dark cults as well as dragons. Will the PCs step up to solve the mystery of the Tragedy at Taigon’s Falls or are they just in it for the great pay offered by their patron from Shadevale?" 

V1 Tragedy at Taigon’s Falls By Randy Nichols clocks in at twenty two pages including maps. The layout for V1 Tragedy at Taigon’s Falls is high quality and easy to read. The PC's become emeshed in the machinations of a cult of evil and horror. V1 moves along at a good clip and presents a solid 2-5 level OSRIC or Advanced Dungeons & Dragons adventure module. As a mid tier module V1 does a good job of getting the adventurers involved in & emeshed in the module's events. 
There's a lack of A.I. artwork & traditional artork that really makes V1 Tragedy at Taigon’s Falls harken back to classic old school modules. V1 Tragedy at Taigon’s Falls  is a real mid level module by an author who actually plays old school games. And this means that the encounters are geared towards adventurers who can & will need to handle thier business. The monsters are tough and highly dangerous in V1 Tragedy at Taigon’s Falls. The encounters are not balanced but geared around the old school asthetic. And this really works in ' Tragedy at Taigon’s Falls' favor. 
V1 Tragedy at Taigon’s Falls centers itself around wilderness,encounters, and solid actual play. The author doesn't spare the descriptions in V1 and goes right into well thoughtout explainations for monsters, rooms, encounters, etc. 

  The DM and players could use Lamentations of the Flame Princess,  OSRIC, Castles & Crusades, Mentzer Dungeons & Dragons or Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st or 2nd edition to run ' V1 Tragedy at Taigon’s Falls'. With some work one could even run it with The Palladium Fantasy Rpg. But V1 is really geared around AD&D first & second edition in my humble opinion. 
The DM needs to realize that V1 is a solid level 2 or 3 PC adventure. There are many points where a PC could easily die & this is a good thing because it evokes the old school or OSR feel. V1 isn't a module that catters to it's audience's expectations nor it's players. V1 presents itself on it's own terms and expects you to play it with gusto. 
And it's the old school asthetic that hits hard with 'V1 Tragedy at Taigon’s Falls' so bring a few replacement PC's to the table top. The module can and will hit the party hard in some areas. This isn't a critism but a feature of V1 as a module itself. I give V1 Tragedy at Taigon’s Falls a solid four outta of five! 

Some Castles & Crusades Thoughts on Judge Guild's House on Hang Man's Hill By Jon Mattson

The nice part about Castles & Crusades is the modular nature of the system. One can go forward or backward on compatibility when it comes to dealing with various editions of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first & second edition.  Now tonight I'm going to talk about two very different products from first & second edition AD&D respectively.
House on Hangman's Hill was  published by Judges Guild in 1981 &  is a scenario for character levels 3-4. One of my fellow dungeon masters calls it Judge's Guild's other haunted house adventure withe classic Tegel Manor of course taking the lead.  But after a classic Hammer horror film marathon. I was inclined to start tearing into House on Hangman's Hill . Note that this is for my Victorious rpg /Castles & Crusades rpg campaign.  steampunk horror campaign.



Sir Christopher Lee as one of my favorite Draculas from the classic Hammer Horror films.
No copyright or trade mark infirgment is implied. He was just on bad ass Dracula.

Imagine if you will that Castles & Crusade's James Ward's Tainted Lands is a sort of predatory demi plane that feeds off the chaos, carnage, fear, & horror of  its millions of victim's souls. Now imagine that there are agents across the planes who are aware of this. They will & do feed on many, many, victims. Well this is where 2nd edition AD&D's Domain's of Dread comes in. Its a sort of a perfect book end for Tainted Lands in a way.



Andreas P.'s review on Drivethrurpg summarizes everything I love about 'Domains of Dread';"Greatest book for Ravenlolft AD&D 2nd edition. Detailing everything about the history, places, faces and rules of the Ravenloft setting. Very happy I purchased the softcover reprint of the original, it is of excellent quality."
Right so Domains of Dread is the perfect book to transform JG's House on Hangman's Hill into a sort of rogue tainted land adventure location roaming about the plains murdering victims within its halls. And trapping their souls within. For the Castles & Crusades's twist grab a copy of The Codex Slavorum.


Forget the whole Transylvania is the land of vampire's B.S. its actually Russia that's the Slavic Hellscape for the undead. Use 'The Codex Slavorum'  add in the Tainted Lands with a twist of Ravenloft! Then whamo you've got a great on going Gothic Slavic campaign! The setting here is pure Castles & Crusades Slavic adventure setting with a solid overview of both the Slavic/Russian 'real world' & the spiritual world. This includes a good array of monsters, spells, Gods, interactions, low & behold a good damn solidly usable Slavic Shaman class!

House on Hangman's Hill shows up in your campaign, people go missing, the local undead population reaches & all time high, & murderous rival demonic & vampire slayers start killing everyone in sight. Suddenly there's a campaign!


Having run House on Hangman's Hill your probably talking about three or four months of a mini campaign at best & a two or three session one shot at worst. This is a deadly little twenty something page module. And I literally present this adventure as the rival to my planar traveling version of Tegel Manor. While it doesn't have Tegel manor's history or is as well known. This makes House on Hangman's Hill just that touch more deadly in my humble opinion. 

Some Thoughts on Appendix Arabian Nights - AL-QADIM Zothique OSR - Planar Matters

"In a lost land, that only dreams have known,
Where flaming suns walk naked and alone;
Among horizons bright as molten brass,
And glowing heavens like furnaces of glass,
It rears with dome and tower manifold,
Rich as a dawn of amarant and gold,
Or gorgeous as the Phoenix, born of fire,
And soaring from an opalescent pyre
Sheer to the zenith. Like some anademe
Of Titan jewels turned to flame and dream
The city crowns the far horizon-light
Over the flowered meads of damassin ....
A desert isle of madreperl ! wherein
The thurifer and opal-fruited palm
And heaven-thronging minarets becalm
The seas of azure wind....

(Note: These lines were remembered out of a dream, and are given verbatim.)"

The City in the Desert  (1922) 

by Clark Ashton Smith

So the more I go through  the Al- Qadim the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons second edition   Arabian Nights box set focused setting for Forgotten Realms. The more I'm convinced that it would make an excellent stand in for Clark Ashton Smith's  Zothique. The Earth of Zothique is a world that has seen the weight of a very occult & empire laden history. While its similar to '1001 Nights' in tone there is an occult  degeneracy about the tales. "Campaign Journal: Scimitars Against the Dark" (by Wolfgang Baur, Dragon magazine 198)  goes through some of the pit falls & campaign avenues to use to bring a dark version of Al-Qadim to life for old school play. But Zothique is a different matter & world whole cloth. This is a world that hasn't just experienced demons its a world that has endured them for eons & eons. The genie of Al Qadim transported over to the Zothique setting might be the most human of the elemental entities that wizards know.

Secrets of the Lamp by Wolfgang Baur makes a good starting place for such an argument that elemental or genie powered OSR warlock PC's  might best be confined to the outer fringes of Zothique. This is where the DM could & should grab his copy of the Fiend Folio & Monster Manual II. The weird elemental alien monsters hinted at in the Zothique stories are easily pulled from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons excellent weird old school monster sources.


Reading through CAS's Zothique cycle the setting's planar material must be made of Cheese Cloth. The planar veil is a forgotten & distant memory as the beleaguered churches of Law try to repair the leaking sieve of this far future Earth. Demons & worse from the Fiend Folio must regularly answer the calls & summons of necromancers on Zothique. 



Magic & occult rituals are going to be full on deadly. The sorcerers and occult masters are almost perfectly aligned with some of the degenerate wizards that we see in Dark Albion & Cults of Chaos which might actually make a perfect add on to this mix. The spells & rituals must be more balanced again with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition but the systems are too far apart mathematically. 

Appendix Arabian Nights - AL-QADIM Zothique OSR Campaign Commentary

"Ride a magic carpet to a land of a thousand and one adventures! Visit spired cities, lush oases, and mysterious isles set in glittering seas. Meet sultans and sheikhs. See genies and giants. Discover a trove of new magical treasures!"

Hmm this Jeff Grub setting box set  seems strangely familiar?! Over the weekend I've been doing a ton of thinking about Clark Ashton Smith's Zothique and I've been doing quite a bit of over the weekend reading. My reading was focused on the Al- Qadim the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons second edition Arabian Nights focused setting for Forgotten Realms. Since it came out I've always placed the Al Qadim setting  in Greyhawk & yes I know that there are others doing so as well. 

But maybe I've been going about using this whole Arabian nights inspired campaign all wrong!? What if Al Qadim is actually an Earth millions of years in the future!? "Campaign Journal: Scimitars Against the Dark" (by Wolfgang Baur, Dragon magazine 198) Is both my inspiration & not exactly my source book here.  Zothique shares many of the qualities of Al Qadim but comes closer to the classic Ray Harryhausen's Sinbad series of films.

In Clark Ashton Smith's letter to  L. Sprague de Camp, dated November 3, 1953 we get Smith's own enfolding description of Zothique; "Clark Ashton Smith himself described the Zothique cycle in a letter to L. Sprague de Camp, dated November 3, 1953:

Zothique, vaguely suggested by Theosophic theories about past and future continents, is the last inhabited continent of earth. The continents of our present cycle have sunken, perhaps several times. Some have remained submerged; others have re-risen, partially, and re-arranged themselves. Zothique, as I conceive it, comprises Asia Minor, Arabia, Persia, India, parts of northern and eastern Africa, and much of the Indonesian archipelago. A new Australia exists somewhere to the south. To the west, there are only a few known islands, such as Naat, in which the black cannibals survive. To the north, are immense unexplored deserts; to the east, an immense unvoyaged sea. The peoples are mainly of Aryan or Semitic descent; but there is a negro kingdom (Ilcar) in the north-west; and scattered blacks are found throughout the other countries, mainly in palace-harems. In the southern islands survive vestiges of Indonesian or Malayan races. The science and machinery of our present civilization have long been forgotten, together with our present religions. But many gods are worshipped; and sorcery and demonism prevail again as in ancient days. Oars and sails alone are used by mariners. There are no fire-arms—only the bows, arrows, swords, javelins, etc. of antiquity. The chief language spoken (of which I have provided examples in an unpublished drama) is based on Indo-European roots and is highly inflected, like Sanskrit, Greek and Latin."

The wiki entry on Zothique goes a solid overview of the CAS's classic setting. But its the stories themselves that set the dreamlike  tone of the classic Weird Tales style series of stories.



The approximate location of the fictional continent of Zothique according to Clark Ashton Smith.
Map by Miihkali

So what is it about "Campaign Journal: Scimitars Against the Dark" (by Wolfgang Baur, Dragon magazine 198)? Well it goes through the following;
 This article gives tips how to create a dark, Ravenloft-flavored version of the Al-Qadim setting. But it also gives several character classes that can easily be adapted into a  Zothique campaign. But to really bring in the Harryhausen Sword & Sorcery 70's vibe  I strongly suggest backing into  Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. 



Not only is this going to bring home the character classes but the rpg system is going to take things up several notches towards bringing in a far more 'PG' rated Zothique flavor. I would be remiss if I didn't bring in the fact that many of the Dreamlands cycle of H.P. Lovecraft's stories fit the same area of drift of CAS's Zothique.

So what is it about the  Al- Qadim the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons second edition box set that makes it indespensible for setting up an Al Qadim campaign?! Well besides the maps, character classes, commentary, monsters, dungeon ideas, & quality of the product line?! Well there's a certain something about the material. Al Qadim wasn't as shoe boxed as some of the other campaign box sets of the 2nd edition era. The DM had a ton of lattitude to make the setting his own. This wasn't something I found with other 2nd edition product lines such as Ravenloft. I'm  going to be diving further into this campaign course coming up in future blog entries.


Personally I think that the Al Qadim line was way ahead of its time in terms of content, ideas,material , & all of those glorious maps. Could this line be a perfect for CAS's Zothique?! I think so.  

Return to Dwimmermount - Tides of Blood & War - Cha'alt & ACK's Dwimmermount

Its been a very busy morning but last night I wanted to get back to ACKs Dwimmermount within my Godbound/Cha'alt campaign. Way back in 2017 I stumbled upon this thread about Dwimmermount on the General ACKs forums. 

There are a few changes that would be made right off the get go. The fact that Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea's rpg system Hyperboreans & the Thulian empire are ancient enemies. These empires are too similar to get along. They compete for the same resources, the same turf, extra plus there are parallels with regards to the corruption that's been breeding through the lands of both.
Another change is the fact that I'd have the megadungeon existing in both Hyberborea & the campaign's Earth setting at the same time. That's right in the jungles of Bolivia & the high alien mountains of Hyperborea the mega dungeon would be sitting there 'lost'.


Lost is a relative term but one of the other things I'll be doing is adding in Lankhmar: City of Adventure (2nd edition) for the streets, cityscape, etc. of the the dismal City-State of Khromarium.  The reason is the over flow of the Hyperborean armies onto Earth side. 


I really want to bring home the Hyperborean menace home coming up! Squad to squad level combat with Earth forces, Hyperboreans, & especially the high tech forces of the Cha'alt raiders. Here's where I start dusting off Adventurer, Conqueror, King's Domains at War: Battles. But before doing that I've got to look deeper into AS&SH's wargaming potential. 



I've got a lot of options on the table to pull this off? But the question is what to use? The Cha'alt hard back by Venger offers quite a few insights into the mind set of the Cha'alt forces.


Can the PC's survive in a three way toss up with events accelerating?! There are certainly some options that my players have brought to the table over the last month or so. They might even shut me down with some clever moves. Tonight I'm gonna grab my copy of David Cook's X4 Master of the Desert Nomads & bring on the Cha'alt mutations! 



Why does Dwimmermount's appearance matter? The other mega dungeon's influence is huge! I can't stress this enough. The adventure location is like a beacon to the forces of Chaos in my campaign.
There are several reasons for this: 

1. The corruption that Dwimmermount represents is huge. The impact of death & destruction is gonna be felt on a 'Lord of the Rings' level across the planet. 
2. Artifacts & treasure bring the pain to the locals & could spread across the planet. This lures more adventurers. 
3. The forces of evil themselves are drawn to the mega dungeon as well. 
4. Night roads are twisted around the place making it very lethal. 
5. Dwimmermount itself is seen as a prize for both the forces of law & chaos. 
6. The slavers are going to come calling for it. 
7. Blood & warfare follow in the wake of Dwimmermount. 
8. The planar nature of the megadungeon is lethal to all in its wake. 
9. Is there are greater force within the megadungeon that is advancing its agenda? 
10. Dwimmermount brings the pain when it comes to OSR adventure. 

From Epic To Urban - The Uses of Lankhmar City of Adventure (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 2nd Edition : Official Game Accessory) by Anthony Pryor For Your Old School Campaign

"LANKHMAR...city of thieves, city of the night, city of adventure. Home of Fritz Leiber's famous heroes, FAFHRD™ and the GRAY MOUSER™; greatest adventurers in the world of Nehwon. The city of Lankhmar springs to life as an exciting Setting for the AD&D® game.
Visit the fabled Rainbow Palace, stroll the surly streets of the old town, haggle at the market place or risk the winding maze of the Tenderloin, From the wharves and shipyards to the dark sewers of this mighty metropolis,. LANKHMAR takes you on a full tour.
Also included are many encounters in LANKHMAR and adaptations of the adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Its unique approach makes LANKHMAR a living, changing city.
Leave the dungeons and wilderness and step into a new world of intrigue and adventure. Enter the city of LANKHMAR; if you're lucky, you'll get out alive."

Lankhmar City of Adventure (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 2nd Edition : Official Game Accessory) Paperback – November 1, 1993 by Anthony Pryor (Author), Fred Fields (Editor)

Way back in the 90's I was running a complete Grimjack comic book from First comics  rpg campaign. I learned a lot back then. one of the things is never listen to the 'community' & that's because often over looks the good stuff. Manos review on Amazon  from 2011 encapsulates my feeling about Lankhmar: City of Adventure (2nd edition); "Now this is THE city supplement to buy.The streets are named, the map is very well setup for modding or using as-is, and just so much more.The only thing I didn't care for was in the very center on each district, the GM had to use a geomorph from the book. (The idea was to make each city unique, which was not really needed.)Having said that, it's still a 5+ item. In the second edition they added the sewer maps which just pushed it over the top for great that much more. (And all the Skaven, err... "Ratkin" scraps.)

(IMO) The best part? Most younger gamers have no experience with the old stuff, so you can just mangle it as you wish without breaking any of their sacred cows.

Lord knows this city had multiple names in multiple systems for me: D&D, RoleMaster, Palladium Fantasy... the game might have changed, but same city remained. The players actually dug it."

Here's the thing original Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition's Dieties & Demigods could be scaled back to fit the player's PC's as needed. So could Lankhmar: City of Adventure (2nd edition) a lesson I learned from Grimjack's Mortal Gods story.  Its not about killing gods but bringing in the lessons of mythology. 



 Homer's The Iliad and the Odyssey, killed more gods & demigods then I've personally ever seen in a D&D campaign. The fact was & is that  Fritz Leiber's famous heroes, FAFHRD and the GRAY MOUSER, the greatest adventurers in the world of Nehwon showed that gods were alien, flawed,highly dangerous & profitable from time to time. Trust me I heard about using a second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons book back then as well from the old timers & from the then 2nd edition crowd of DM's as well. If you've got the players sometimes its best to turn your back & play at your table. Just because its a popular consensus doesn't make it right. Its only an opinion. At the end of the day its about what the players want.


Grimjack is the copyright & trade mark of Tim Truman & its writer John Ostrander. They went through Hell & back to secure the rights to their characters. This is a blog post for educational & entertainment purposes only. Not a copy right or trade mark violation on my part.

I never used the character of Grimjack only the idea of the city setting of Cynosure. What I used instead was Jeff Grub's Manual of the Planes from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.  This allowed me the AD&D's planes without the cannon baggage of the upcoming Planscape setting.



The real turning point for me was using The Best of the Dragon volume II's article by Ed Greenwood Theory and use of gates: From the city of Brass... to dead Orc Pass. There's a solid love of the hobby in these early issues of The Dragon for me. Its something I return to again & again.


I got really super tired of hearing all of the grumbling of the gamers & dungeon masters at my local hobby shops & what not. So I started doing things with the enthusiasm of the originators of the games that we loved.
Even gods could be scaled up or down for encounters with party members as needed there has never been a fear of not doing things 'right' for encounters. Next time another game takes me in a new direction. Keep em rolling.. 

Into The Fire Game Session Report One - Eldritch Wizardry & The Sword of Kas

Deep in my heart, as in the hollow stone
And silence of some olden sepulcher,
Thy silver beauty lies, and shall not stir—
Forgotten, incorruptible, alone:
Though altars darken, and a wind be blown
From starless seas on beacon-fires that were—
Within thy tomb, with oils of balm and myrrh,
For ever burn the onyx lamps unknown.
And though the bleak Novembral gardens yield
Rose-dust and ivy-leaf, nor any flower
Be found through vermeil forest or wan field—
Still, still the asphodel and lotos lie
Around thy bed, and hour by silent hour,
Exhale immortal fragrance like a sigh.

Sepulchre  (1918)  by Clark Ashton Smith

If you've been keeping up with my Cha'alt/Godbound Las Vegas campaign then you might have found out that last week that my player's PC's got sucked from the campaign fantasy world into the vast alien desert right in the middle of the Cha'alt rift!

What no one realizes is that since I took a bit of time off I've been rereading my original Dungeons & Dragons collection. One of my favorite OD&D books is Eldritch Wizardry. The Original Dungeons & Dragon's Eldritch Wizardry rule book by Gary Gygax & Brian Blume which hit the book stands in 1976. This book has an amazing array of artifacts  &  these would later be republished in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide. 


The player's PC's are about to run smack into a horde of zombies summoned by one of the factional villains of my game. The Sword of Kas has for its host a Godbound of dangerous aspect. The Sword itself has control of its host body. For those of you not familiar with the Sword of Kas here's the updated history of it from the Wiki entry;

"Kas the Bloody-Handed was the most trusted lieutenant of the despotic lich Vecna, and wielder of the Sword of Kas.

After many years of loyal service to Vecna, Kas eventually betrayed his master. It is said that the sword itself whispered to Kas, convincing him to slay his master and usurp his power. The battle destroyed Vecna's Rotting Tower, and cost the lich his left hand and eye. Kas himself was flung across the multiverse to Vecna's Citadel Cavitius on the Quasielemental Plane of Ash. The time he spent so close to the Negative Energy Plane changed him into a vampire, and he decided he would be called "Kas the Destroyer".

The first edition of Dungeon Master's Guide does not specifically state that Kas severed Vecna's hand and eye, only that they, and the Sword of Kas, were the only objects that survived the battle. Vecna: Hand of the Revenant depicts the lich losing his left hand and eye to destructive magic casts by priests of Pholtus (presumably to be restored at a future point in the story). Numerous third edition sources state with certainty that Vecna's hand and eye were severed by Kas's blade. Sources are also not in complete agreement as to when or how Kas became a vampire, as some state he gained his dark gift before his betrayal, while others state that he gained it after.

When Vecna was defeated during his bid for control of Oerth, Kas was freed from his centuries of imprisonment, only to find himself facing a shapeless wall of mist. When it cleared, he was master of the domain of Tovag, across the Burning Peaks from Vecna's domain of Cavitius. Kas waged an endless war of attrition with Vecna's forces in the hopes of retrieving the Sword of Kas from Vecna's citadel, where he erroneously believed Vecna held it.

The Burning Peaks cluster did not appear in the 3rd Edition Ravenloft Campaign Setting, because White Wolf Game Studio did not license characters that are explicitly tied to other D&D campaign settings.

When Vecna escaped from Cavitius, both realms were destroyed (explaining, in-fiction, their absence from 3rd edition). Kas was caught up in the destruction and very nearly obliterated; he survives only as a vestige, a soul outside time and space whose powers can be used by binders.

Kas is known to have authored Legendry of Great Arms and Fabulous Heroes.^[83]

In the adventure Die, Vecna, Die!, a death knight calling himself "Kas the Bloody-Handed" serves Vecna in the deity's palace in Ravenloft. This death knight is not the true Kas, though he believes himself to be, and his real name is not given. This false Kas seeks to redeem himself for "his" betrayal of Vecna centuries ago."

The Sword of Kas has its own agenda & has been brought to Vegas because of the blood, violence, bloodshed, slaughter, & mythological divine battles. Let's also not mention the two Greyhawk quesi divinities walking around. Can Vecna or Orcus  be far behind?! There are rumors about the powers of the Sword of Kas & according to the Dungeons & Dragons fan wiki ; "In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, the Sword of Kas was the mighty blade used by Kas the Bloody-Handed, the dreaded lieutenant of Vecna. It was by this blade, some say, that Vecna lost his Hand and Eye.

The sword, variously described as a short sword, longsword, or greatsword, was crafted by Vecna. The blade is said to have been magically honed to a razor's edge, enhanced the wielder's strength, and could be used to call down lightning bolts from any storm clouds that might be overhead. The sword itself is intelligent, possessing a vile and murderous spirit."
The sword has its own agenda & is in possession of a vile & murderous spirit plus its able to shape shift from short sword, to long sword, or great sword. If you've been paying attention then you know that I'm using Eldritch Wizardry which means that I can randomly fill in the powers of the Sword of Kas myself. 


The Sword of Kas is more then capable of slaying a godbound or god all on its own. The question is whom has the sword possessed & what evil agenda is the sword following? The Greyhawkery blog goes into a very solidly done & well researched blog entry on the various incarnations of the Sword of Kas. The fact is that I might crack open Vecna Lives by David Zeb Cook after the suggestion of the Greyhawkery blog.


What's so damn important about WGA4 Vecna Lives! a 2nd edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons box set from 1991? We have Vecna going from mysterious background lich to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition villain of renowned. The whole plot hinges on events in Greyhawk; "and so, after the Rain of Colorless Fire, the One-Named-In-Whispers ascended to the Spidered Throne. In the third year of his ascendancy, Burgred, King of the Mara, refused the tribute of heads the Whispered One demanded. The One-Named-In-Whispers took only himself and Kas, his evil counselor, and devastated the land of the Mara with his magic. Burgred paid with his own head.

Upon their return, Kas struck against his master, so that he might become the master of the Spidered Throne. In the end, both were slain and good people rejoiced.

It is said that not all of the evil Lich was destroyed. So great was his power that his Hand and Eye have lived on, working evil over the centuries....

For centuries, Vecna - archmage, despotic tyrant, the most fearsome of all liches - has been nothing but a fearful legend to the honest folk of Greyhawk. Once the supreme master of all undead sorcerers, even today his Hand and Eye are objects of immense power.
Now something evil is stirring in the lands around Greyhawk. The Hand and Eye of Vecna have been found - and Vecna wants them back."

The pot is just starting to be stirred now with the players in the cross hairs of the Sword & the undead hordes making their way across the desert. Yes this blog is back but because of work my blog entries are going to be sporadic at best for the next couple of months. 

Review & Commentary On Castles & Crusades Rpg The Hanged Man Adventure By Davis Chenault For Castles & Crusades Or Your OSR Game System

"A long journey under an azure sky filling with brackish, boiling clouds ends at a large oak tree. Here, from a muscled branch, a man hangs limply by a thick rope strangled around his neck. Beyond, a dim, rising, yellow moon silhouette’s a village. Snaking, ashy tendrils of smoke coil above rooftops, lights glitter in windows while a miasmal fog creeps down upon the village from freshly churned fields. Then, as sudden as lightening, a fife and fiddle begin a joyous tune. This stops as abruptly as it started. All that now can be heard is a rope straining and groaning with the weight of the hanged man.

A bizarre and humorous adventure where absolution is as important as keeping one’s head."



I picked up Castles & Crusades 'The Hanged Man'  adventure up from Drivethrurpg to sort of take a break from my writings & ramblings on about Godbound/Cha'alt for a moment. The adventure clocks in about nineteen pages & the layout as well as cartography are up to Castles & Crusades rpg standings.
This is a Halloween themed adventure & since I've been reading through the old Dragon Magazine Halloween issues the Castles & Crusades 'The Hanged Man'  adventure is a welcome bridge gap adventure. But be warned this is middle of the road & higher level adventure for the Castles & Crusdes rpg. The adventure is solidly done but its for PC levels 4 -6. Note that Castles & Crusades goes up to level ten but that ten is a king of the land or lady royal queen. 



The adventure location, the adventure elements, circumstances, etc. are all handled with a deft hand by writer/designer Davis Chenault. He turns in a solid adventure with all of the bells & whistles that you expect from Troll Lord games. The material here is straight up fun & very much in the vein of old school Halloween & Dungeons & Dragons weirdness.
I don't want to give the adventure details & Halloween horror themes away in Castles & Crusades 'The Hanged Man'  adventure but this adventure wouldn't be out of place being dropped into a Lamentations of the Flame Princess campaign.  The Hanged Man has legs enough to be run with a solid OSR system behind it.
With a bit of work I can see simply dropping this adventure into the Ravenloft setting. 



All in all Castles & Crusades 'The Hanged Man'  adventure is a solid go too adventure for experienced Castles & Crusades Rpg players & their characters. The adventure ideas here are original enough to keep the DM interested & the players coming back for the three or so sessions that it would take to run this advenure. Would I run Castles & Crusades 'The Hanged Man'  adventure? Well I bought the adventure with my own cash & so in a word yes! For some reason Drivethrurpg isn't taking my reviews today? But no matter I've already emailed them & I've got another trick up my sleeve.

There's Castles & Crusades NPC Almanac! kickstarter & this thing has been going & going. I've been keeping track of it & it looks amazingballs for the Castles & Crusades fans.


 

Gaming Memories Meeting Nigel D.Finley & GenCon's Past

There was once upon a time when I used to follow role playing game writers like some folks follow veteran sports players. The guy I followed went by the name Nigel D. Findley. He was one of the most excellent science fiction & fantasy writers I got the privilage of meeting back at a GenCon back in the early Nineties. The night  I met Mr.Finley was blur of beer, bravo, & memory at this point. Let me give you a bit of background on Mr.Finley from the wiki entry;"Nigel Findley was born in Venezuela, in 1959.^[1] Findley was raised in Spain, Nigeria, the United States, and England before his family settled in Vancouver in 1969.^[1]

He got his start as a role-playing game author in the mid 1980s during his business career. By 1990 he had become a full-time writer, and had authored or coauthored over one hundred books, including twelve novels, before his death.^[1] He wrote for most game companies in the industry, including TSR, but is perhaps best known for his game products and fiction for FASA's Shadowrun game.^[1] Findley's adventure The Universal Brotherhood (1990) for Shadowrun was well received.^[2] He got his start writing for Dungeons & Dragons, and won a 1992 Origins Award for GURPS Illuminati.^[3] In 1994 he was inducted into the Origins Awards Hall of Fame."  

But we spoke about a few things that night, his design contributions in Greyhawk Adventures & his upcoming plans for Greyspace.  By the time I had met Mr.Finley he was well established  & entrenched in the rpg industry. Nigel D.Finley was a brilliant, creative, & excentric genius in many respects. I only got to speak with the man for fifteen minutes total but I got a pretty good grasp of him.  He was beyond literate in every sense of the word. There are some folks that you meet who have a light about them.  Nigel D. Findley was that guy. 


He told me to buy something called the Primal Order 'Pawns The Opening Move' after he had helped with working on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Tome of Magic. So this would have been about 1991 GenCon? About ten minutes of throbbing music & lights a crowd of designers & writers had taken him off of my hands.


Had I known what I know now I would have tagged along with those folks to the bar instead of going on to my next late night event. He died of a heart attack in '95 of a heart attack. He was thirty five years old. Had he lived I know he probably would have changed the face of table top role playing & science fiction.  Most of my rpg collection including the signed Tome of Magic for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons second edition burnt in an apartment fire in the 90's.
The first two books that I required were The Tome of Magic & The Primal Order:Pawns The Opening Move by Nigel D. Finley.



This blog post is for Grodog who wanted some background on my meeting with Mr. Finley. He was taken from us way too soon & has never been forgotten. I still love that Primal Order: Pawns The Opening Move cover.