The Borderlands Campaign - The Sinister Stone of Sakkara- Session One Report

 Go to sit in on a Castles & Crusades game of  "The Sinister Stone of Sakkara" & my Dwarvian Priest PC Mikia Mechanicus  got a chance to meet up with the party outside of the Greco Roman style desert fortress of Türos Tem. The regular  merchant caravans from the nearby town of Siadanos have come under attack! And so after doing a bit of recon and shopping. We laid in for the night and got a feel for the fortress & nearby villages. And we noticed several signs of increased beastmen & Chaos activity. All of this connects up with what I wrote about on the blog here back on August 22. 
 

And it's this connection that conerns us as players & DM's. There's a threat of the Lovecraftian within the "The Sinister Stone of Sakkara" that harkens around the cults of Chaos. These cults have been spreading across the world without mercy or end. There's been little to stop the corruption or the Chaos. 
And much of this connects with the musings of Brian Young's Castles & Crusades Codex Classicum which we used for gods, equipment, etc. in today's game. 

During today's game the party got caught in a sand storm and came faced to face with a party of gnolls just outside of one of the raided villages! Chaos itself is centered on destroying the pseudo-Roman empire keep in an Ancient Egyptian/Mesopotamian culture war. We were able to find this out after questioning one of the gnoll warriors that we managed to capture. 
He turned out to be one of the bodyguards of the local Chaos priests. The gnoll warrior turned on our knight of Horus The Avenger. But took him out before he had a chance to bite his throat out. We went back to the fortress to spend the night and rest up. 
We have yet to come across any sign of the copper rings from  "Stains upon the Green". 

S7 Stains Upon The Green, Adventurer, Conqueror, King Rpg, & the Borderlands Campaign - Castles & Crusades & Adventurer,Conqueror,King Rpg

 Its been extra busy at my day job and so this blog entry is a bit late today. And add to that I've had to go out as well. And this blog entry is going to pivot on yesterday's here. 

When it comes to Adventurer, Conqueror, King, Rpg the levels are similar to Moldvay/Cook. And this makes it easier to deal with when converting back and forth with Castles & Crusades. Where do I know this from Tim Brannon of the Otherside blog entry from June 12th of course; " Adventurer Conqueror King System also limits characters in terms of levels.  While AS&SH goes to 12, ACKs tops off at 14.  ACKs is also closer to my favorite version of D&D, Moldvay Basic/Cook-Marsh Expert.  In fact all three systems do work pretty well together.  In fact I tend to think of the world used in ACKs as being just a little "south" of the world in AS&SH.  I have not spent as much time with ACKs as the other games, but what I have played I do like." And all three systems work very well with Castles & Crusades. And yes, I do realize that ACKII is going be hiting kickstarer any day according to Autarch's twitter account; "A playtester of ACKS II has written a detailed write-up of his thoughts about the game. It's the sort of review that makes a game designer feel the pain was all worth it. Check it out here:

https://reddit.com/r/Autarch/comments/15xs8qm/1e2emy_experiences_so_far/?share_id=F8i8f6ms7Fa8mwGHPpaZE…" 

Back to the task at hand here, which is the fact that C&C & ACK's can work well together as an OSR combo pack. There are few factors here to consider. The levels of both games top out at about 13 or 14th.  And both games even though are OSR they have totally different end games. 
With this in mind is the fact that C&C has some excellent adventure modules that can be used with ACK's Mesopamian/Roman setting especially 

Castles & Crusades A1 Assault on Blacktooth Ridge

And this goes right into line with ACK's Borderlands campaign setting. And it comes right into play with Gry Gygax's B2 Keep on the Borderlands. A1 could be theoritically be set on the norther part of the Borderlands kingdoms. 

And the forces of A1 could well be linked as another series of agents of Chaos that have been put into play from within to destablize the Borderland kingdoms themselves. 
And this plays back into an idea that was born out  because Choas been setting this up for years now with Chaos monsters and agents endless sewing discord in the smaller hamlets and areas. Case in point is  Mark Taormino's Maximum Mayhem Dungeons #0 Village of the Borderlands. Here is where the humanoids begin to become a real issue. 

Chaos setting itself up for a protracted gorilla war within the Borderland kingdoms could in essence be the start with a huge war with Chaos itelf. Perhaps the 'abandoned'  Dwarven City in Stains on the Green is actualy a trap left by Chaos forces within the Borerlands to keep the PC's guessing or to end them or other adventurers like them. 
This harkens back to Dwarven legends from ACK's

By This Axe: The Cyclopedia of Dwarven Civilization

. 

S7 Stains Upon The Green, Adventurer, Conqueror, King Rpg, & the Borderlands Campaign - The Sinister Stone of Sakkara

 Sometimes one has to come at a campaign ass backwards. And in this case it's with "The Sinister Stone of Sakkara" By  Matthew Skail, & Alexander Macris. And this picks up from here on the blog. Clocking in at eighty pages AX1 The Sinister Stone of Sakkara is an introductory adventure for the Adventurer,Conqueror, King system hearkening back to classic TSR era B/X adventures such as Keep of The Borderlands.

And it's this connection that conerns us as players & DM's. There's a threat of the Lovecraftian within the "The Sinister Stone of Sakkara" that harkens around the cults of Chaos. These cults have been spreading across the world without mercy or end. There's been little to stop the corruption or the Chaos. 
Chaos grows unchecked without pattern or rhyme or so it seems and yet if we look deeper;"For over a century, the stronghold of Türos Tem has guarded the borderlands from the beastmen of the wild lands beyond. Now, despite the ever-watchful eye of Türos Tem’s guards, beastmen raiders have somehow gained a foothold in the Viaspen Forest to the north, from which they have begun striking at the nearby settlements. Local farms and hamlets have been sacked and pillaged, and entire families have gone missing." 
Chaos itself is centered on destroying the pseudo-Roman empire keep in an Ancient Egyptian/Mesopotamian culture that they have yet conquer. And the keep itself in "The Sinister Stone of Sakkara" can serve as a microcosmic reflection of the themes of the decline of the Dwarves within "Stains upon the Green". 

But there's a doorway between the keeps & the power of civilization represented by the PC's through the 'Rings of Brass';" Rings of Brass, magical portals that lead to dwarven roads carved through the planes. It is specifically designed for use in bridging the Lands of Ursal in Aihrde with the Free City of Eskadia in the Haunted Highlands." And it's through the 'Rings of Brass' that the PC's are going to win! How?! 

'Beastmen. The savage swords of chaos, are unleashed! ' From Axioms Compendium 1-8 From Autarch For Adventurer, Conqueror, King rpg

The hordes of chaos are unleashed in Adventurer, Conqueror, Kings rpg as the warriors of evil become an infection on the face of a campaign! 

The Adventurer, Conqueror, King rpg has a number of rpg options thanks to the Axioms Compendium & one that comes to mind is unleashing  the hordes of Chaos! 'Beastmen. The savage swords of chaos, are unleashed' is a great mini sourcebook for ACK's.  Beastmen are the barbarian forces & army  to the ACK's late Roman empire. As the beast men move into an area they go from being simple dungeon dwelling monsters to full on forces of darkness. And these hordes literally lower the property value of any place they move. 

Swamp Troll by Severdhead on Deviant Art 

The humanoids become organized under chieftains & leaders changing the tribal dynamics. Areas can fall under the evil influence of these monsters. The most experienced warriors become the leaders of the new face of the tribe of monsters. No where is this more evident then in AX1  'The Sinister Stone of Sakkara' which sets up the hordes as one of the game's main optional enemy. 

Though they can remain trading partners & the like in ACK's these forces are pure evil. They entrench the forces of darkness within a campaign setting. 'Beastmen. The savage swords of chaos, are unleashed' sets up not only the range of these hordes but echoes the economic realities of living with scourge of the humanoids within a campaign. Why!? Because the places where the beast men settle becomes the perfect breeding ground for greater evils to come. This is a pattern that we see over & over within ACK's itself. And this 'Russian doll' nesting of the forces of chaos is evident by the AX2 Secrets of the Nethercity as well. Make no mistake the forces of chaos are the shock troops of the greater fold & the leaders. Evil begets evil. 

And the forces of chaos have fallen way down the long ladder of civilization because while they can use the tools of mankind to reach the stars. These horrors can & do adapt the tools of mankind ie space craft. They can't create new innovations that mankind can or at least this is how it is within my own campaigns. 

Revisiting Adventurer,Conqueror, King rpg Adventure AX1: The Sinister Stone of Sakkara By Matthew Skail, & Alexander Macris

"Over a millennium ago, when the borderlands were in the dark grip of the Zaharan Empire, the empire’s sorcerer-priests erected a profane temple to house the terrible artifact known as the Stone of Sakkara. Using the Stone, the sorcerer-priests could birth monsters and abominations with frightening ease and magically command the loyalty of chaotic creatures. The Stone brought its evil masters great power throughout the fell empire.

In the centuries since the fall of Zahar, the Stone has lain dormant and forgotten. Now it has awakened, and warbands of beastmen have begun to gather sacrifices to power the Stone’s birthing pools again. Local farms and hamlets have been sacked and pillaged, and entire families have gone missing. The local legate has too few men to even patrol the border; he has none at all to hunt down the source of the evil. Adventurers are needed…"

Not wanting to rest on my laurels after today's post about some campaign commentary I dug out my copy of Adventurer,Conqueror,King's AX1: The Sinister Stone of Sakkara. The reason for this is pretty simple looking back into ACK's has always given me ideas & how to use Dungeons & Dragons style games in a different light. This is especially true of certain styles of OSR settings & campaigns especially space dungeons, night roads, other transcosmic settings.
The borderlands of  AX1: The Sinister Stone of Sakkara has a pseudo-Late Roman empire keep in an Ancient Egyptian/Mesopotamian culture setting that is rife for further adventures. And I've used this adventure to flesh out other settings as well. The late Auran Empire in this adventure has all of the feel of a governmental body stretched to the maximum.  This feels to me not only as a homage to Gary Gygax's B2 Keep on the Borderlands. The Auran Empire could be a part of a greater galactic empire & for me this comes through loud & clear in the Auran Empire Primer. 

Adventurer,Conqueror,King's forces of Chaos never sleep & are almost always at the door of the game's setting.   AX1: The Sinister Stone of Sakkara  puts this idea front & center then slams it home! Humanoids, abominations, shoggoths, & a wide variety of the usual Dungeons & Dragons suspects are present in ACK's. To me ACK's feels like a setting with all of the bells & whispers of an empire that was part of something greater that was suddenly cut off the intergalactic stage. The Heroic Fantasy Handbook  & Barbarian Conquerors of Kanahu have this same lost empire  feeling built right into these book's fluff & background.


The stone is the focus of the  AX1: The Sinister Stone of Sakkara but this adventure has seen a lot of use at my table since its publication in 2015. Parts of this adventure would make an excellent addition to Dreams in the Lichhouse's Black City project from back in 2011. The alien feel of the Black City seems like its Grey have taken over parts of H.P. Lovecraft's Elder Thing City from At the Mountains of Madness.


But part of me can't shake the feeling that the official setting of ACK's itself presented within AX1: The Sinister Stone of Sakkara is somehow the lower quarter rung of adventurers even within a science fantasy setting. Chaos is always just somehow nipping at the adventurer's heels. These adventurers cross over into transcosmic settings such as Lamentations of the Flame Princess's Carcosa. If they make it back to the nice comfort of a normal camp fire or bed nothing is ever going to be the same.


Over the course of the next couple of days I'm going to have to dive back into AX1: The Sinister Stone of Sakkara again. There's far more below the surface then meets the eye folks & I think its gonna get interesting.