Ecology Of The Bloody Arduin's Kill Kitten For Your Old School Campaigns

 "Sire, Master Lane is here from the university's Monsters & Curiosities department again" 
" Your excellence we need to speak about the recent incursion of the invasive species known as the Kill Kittens" 
"Are you serious?!"
"These creatures are legend and myth!" 
"No sire the Kill Kittens are not a legend or a myth but a deadly reality" 

Portrait of a gang of kill kittens sizing up it's prey. 

Kill Kittens are some of the most dark & dangerous species of mimic animals that has made it's way from Arduin's dimensional shores. The kill kittens are an ancient form of biological weapons system that has reproduced thousands of times over. The originators of this species of vicious mimic animal are lost to history. 
The kill kitten has two very advanced tactics in it's arsenal of tricks & traps behaviors. The animal is a dedicated pack hunter who prays on human sized prey with advanced nerotoxin cocktails as a part of the glands that surround it's fangs & claws. Secondly, the 'kill kittens' are fantastic mimics who imitate normal cats and kittens hijinks and behaviors. 
These monsters are incredibly cunning and resourceful hunters with common packs of five to sixteen easily taking down a full grown human male in less then 2 minutes. The neurotoxin cocktail is designed to cause insanity and beserk rages as the prey experiences extreme pain as the poison ravages thier nervous system. The prey is driven into a beserk rage for 1d4 days making the prey vulnerable to further attack. 
 

("Kill Kittens" art by Greg Espinoza used without permission. 

The rumor is that kill kittens were designed by the Elves during the Human/Elven wars thousands of years ago. These creatures bare the hallmarks of occult and magical tampering on a biological level. The Elven nations  deny any such wrong doing but there are the hallmarks of Elven biological chimeral weaponization techiques. These characteristics include the incredibly cute mimic behavior that marks these incredibly dangerous pack hunters. 
Other hallmarks includes the line of sight teleportation that these monsters use to pounce on thier prey seemingly from nowhere. This magically fueled hunting trick is especially good for taking nice juicy hobbits a favorite of the little monsters. These monsters have been found as far away as Barsoom however. 

The nature of kill kittens is completely artificial with thier poison glands in thier mouth and claws able to pump neotoxins deeply into prey after taking it down. This ensures the death of the prey. The kill kittens also have a highly advanced cunning minds akin to lions or tigers. Packs of kill kittens use advanced scouts as decoys which often mimic acting hurt or injured behaviors to attract kind hearted fools who become prey for the entire pack. The kill can feed a pack for almost a month making thier murderous behavior hard to detect. 
The claws of a kill kitten are almost iron hard made of a hollow chiten that regrows over time with use as they shed the outer sheath. The muscle structure of a kill kitten is more akin to a lion or dire cat species. They have bite force ten times that of a lion relative to thier size. 

The kill kitten is sentient but not intelligent in the usual sense. Thier minds are cruel and centered on hunting, torture, reproduction, and expansion of the species. These creatures are unnatural hunters with minds twisted to evil and cruelty. Again there is the fact that many consider that these tendencies are because of an artificial biological weapon origin. 
The kill kitten has come to be regarded as a monster of legend but this has allowed the monsters to expand dimensional beyond the shores of Arduin. And over the last  two hundred years thier numbers have increased to become a menace of horror & violence. 

Ecology Of The Bloody Arduin's Ibathene For Your Old School Campaigns

 "Sire, Master Lane is here from the university's Monsters & Curiosities department. " 
"Doctor Lane can you tell us what is eating our dragons and ruining my 20,000 acre game preserve?"
"The Ibathene, Sire!" 
"But that's only a legend, a myth?!" 
"No sire the Ibathene is our kingdom's reality!" 

There are monsters that even monsters of myth  and horrors of legend are afraid of. The Ibathene is one such creature that feeds on the the largest of prey dragons, wyverns, and even manticore. These creatures ran from 60 feet all the way up to ancient specimens that clock in at 120 feet.  These monsters are both hunters and ambush predators with a taste for any type of flesh that crosses it's sharp tooth maw. 

Many adventurers will go lifetimes without ever seeing the brilliant bright green scalelike armored carpace of the monster. Or having thier souls stared into by the single huge red alien eye on the 8 foot long stalk. Mere words can not describe how terrifying the  Ibathene is. 

Master Lane waited for the audtorium to die down as the murmers of fear from brave men & fainting of the ladies. The 60 foot creature had been captured near Redford Commons. The ancient artifact 'Calming Field' generators held and the giant batteries augmented the fields. 
" Ladies & gentlemen, I present to you the  Ibathene or dragon killer are found throughout the prime material planes & is now infecting our lands. "How do 'dragon killers find thier way to our shores?" They follow the dragons of course!"
"These horrors follow the planar migration routes of  dragonkind and the paths of great magicial enchantment." 

"Young  Ibathene are drawn to places of great magic along the planar routes with the wyverns that act as scavengers with  Ibathene acting as the dragon's predators"
"Young  Ibathene appear to be juvinale wyverns until thier first shedding and then the eyes are drawn together as the eye stalk comes into place" 
"Deer, elk, horses, small herds of sheep, & the occasional human family provide the  Ibathene with the much needed protein that it needs to grow" 
'The body of a  Ibathene is like a tuning fork alive with the senses that allow the horror to hunt'. 'It can sense vibrations up to one hundred and twenty feet away & hear a dragon's heartbeat close to a mile and a half away in total darkness'. 
" The main weapon is it's tongue which has a series of serrated edges like peusdo teeth on it capable of sherreding flesh from bone in moments. The tongue's real power is the fact that it a constrition weapon of incredible power" "When not in use the tongue is wrapped around the lower brain of the beast' " And once the beast has it's prey it is drawn into those powerful jaws capable of cutting through bone easily" 
" Ibathene armored skin is capable of taking on hydra acid and dragon's fire easily with minimum damage. Because the beast's pain receptors and nerves are not in it's primary brain! That's right because of it's bulk the beast has a secondary brain that helps process and move the horror! And this also includes a tail capable of smashing through an old growth tree!"
"The monster is primarily an ambush predator concealing itself in the undergrowth of the land. And then using it's  tongue and bulk to draw in prey. This is not it's only hunting option as the  Ibathene also sometimes actively hunts prey down attacking with a combination of tongue, tail,  and sheer bulk." 
'The powerful stomach acids of  the  Ibathene are capable of disolving steel easily and are worth two to three thousand gold pieces to the right alchemist. Almost every part of the monster is useful for some form of enchant. The fact that the  Ibathene are so dangerous has made them exceptionally plentiful in some regions!" 

" Ibathene have a primary diet of thunder lizards and the like with giant wyvern, hydras, and dragons being only occasionally seen making the deep wilderness of our lands it's natural habitat" 
" The Ibathene has been speculated to have originally been native to the planet Barsoom with the waning of magic having been the primary motivator for planar migrations" 
" The beast found it's dragonic prey niche about 6 million years ago which is relatively young in dragon's terms. This marks the beast as one of the main enemies of dragon kind. And hence the standing bounty of 10,000 gold reward for any confirmed kill from the council of dragons" 
"Ibathene are essentially roving monsterous locusts with these horrors going on destructive rampages eating everything within a 50 mile radius then moving on. 'These times of destruction"  bring out every monster hunter from even far away lands. Special shaped explosive alchemist's bombs fed to the  Ibathene are often the solution to killing these horrors. Disposal of the corpse requires the alchemist's guild's help. This can be quite expensive and costly" 
" And this ladies and gentlemen brings us to our own 'time of destruction' with the Ibathene massing for a massive feed and then mating frenzy.  These beasts lay 1d6 eggs which can sit for hundreds of years only to hatch unexpectedly with 6 of the young horrors consuming each other with only the strongest remaining" 
" Inconclusion the Ibathene is an exceptionally dangerous alien horror that should be hunted and killed wherever found!" 

Ecology Of The Bloody,Bloody, Arduin Octorilla For Your Old School Campaigns - Updated

 'There are strange and dangerous predators among the stars my friends and the octorilla is a fine example of an invasive and dangerous species of monster from the dimensional nexuses and gateways of Arduin'

'Behold the octorilla gentlemen, one the most dangerous and heinous of the mutant pseudo gorillaoids out in the wilds of the planes. But where did they come from and why do their numbers seemingly increase every year? And are such creatures naturally prone to violence and depravity when other species of gorillas are not?"  Marcus Flavous The Elder waited for the collective terrorized  sigh of the crowd to die down. As the  tentacles of the monster whipped the sides of the cage but the force field easily held its place. The royal xeno-biologist had made that mistake and had extra nuclear batteries in place to give the force field generator the required power. His party of loyal friends paid with their lives in the swamp world of Eldrad III. The force cage moisturized the horrid monsters and the filmy slime of the thing's tentacles left a smear down the side of the containment cage.


Marcus held his cybernetic hands up for silence in the great hall. 'There is no need for alarm my friends this speicimen was captured at great expense for the royal zoo of Atlantica.' 'Now we may proceed, the Octogrilla is a predator of enormous appetite and consumes at least twice his weight per week.' 'The monster seems an unholy combination of great ape and an octopoid life form. In point of fact these horrors are not simply carnivores but omnivores of the highest caliber' 

'These monsters are incredibly strong and are capable of splitting metal, wood, bone, and flesh with easy with their powerful tentacle attacks'  He indicated an array of broken and twisted samples on the table before him. There was a large glass jar with some sort of twisting slime covered muck inside of it held in place by a powerful metal screw top. Marcus regarded it for a moment seemingly locked in a distant and unpleasant memory of some past horror with the monsters. 

'These monsters feed on anything or anyone that they can get their tentacles on' 'They use a combination of powerful and intelligent eyes, ultra sensitive hearing, and sense organs that line the entire body of the monsters just below the fur,skin, and back of the tentacles'  'We estimate that the prey can be felt with fifty feet of the beast before the eyes ever lay sight of it. This gives these predators superior hunting skills'. 'And they are relentless sometimes tracking prey for fifty miles or more' 

"They dwell in both fresh water and salt water equally well. The Octorilla first subdues its prey with a series of powerful attacks by the tentacles and then wraps its prey in these tentacles constricting the victim. Only then is the powerful acidic ooze that the monster creates released upon the prey enabling the horrors predigest the poor fool for later consummation.' 'These tactic's are also one of the reasons why little treasure and relics are found within the bowels of the lairs of these beasts.'  

"The Octogrilla is amphibious as well and capable of dwelling in a wide variety of environments and is considered an invasive species by many planetary authorities' 'For they are found in alien rain forests, hot jungle worlds, and other plant based ecological environments often near alien building ruins. Often this is right next to a large body of water as a river or a lake."" But why esteemed lords and ladies?!"  "Because my friends they have always been there"  A great murmurer rode its way through the crowd as  lords and lady scientists from across the empire began to question. Marcus held up his hands again. 

'My friends the reason why the Octorilla continues to flourish as an interstellar invasive species is very simple. The monster simply put is us.' 'I will have silence and you will listen to my findings!'

'We all know that throughout Earth's history there have been incursions by alien super scientists' 'These alien interlopers settled via time warp upon the Martian landscape. Starting in the pre dawn era of early mankind they began to mutate the DNA of early man, seeding the Earth with several strains of mutating viruses. These viruses were charged with certain types of mystical and very dangerous magick energies. A similar process was done upon Mars as well in its prehistoric era as well.' 'The results of these experiments upon early Martian kind were the creation of several species and strains of tool using, multiple -armed semi intelligent monsteroid creatures. The Great White Apes of Barsoom and Mars have appeared numerous times and are still a menace to any adventurers doing time prospecting'
'In 1841 a series of murders occurred in old Earth this was done by what was wrongly assumed to be a trained great ape. Time diving revealed a completely different story'
'It was in fact a mutated man which exhibited mutations similar to those found in the octorilla. Namely the immunity to paralysis,radiation, and toxicity from minerals such as lead or uranium.' 'These mutations were the result of rapid specialized Khoas virus overwriting of existing genetic code and forced mutational physical and mental changes' 'The type of change that we see with magical or super science tampering in native Earthlings' 'You know that this has been going on for centuries my brothers and sisters, it is only now that we have reached the stars that the evidence is overwhelming to you all!'



" There are further connections between the Martians of the 1898 invasion of Old Earth and the Octorilla.


The Octorilla can sustain itself upon only a few kills a month and slow down it's metabolism going into a fugue or hibernative state an adaption shared by many of the gorilla like mutant monsters that have plagued mankind throughout its history and prehistory. The Octorilla has many of the characteristics of the invasive Martian species tentacles, blood lust, extra senses adapted for hunting prey in swampy conditions, and a capacity for variations of mutated species. They kill by constriction and the slow dissolving of prey as well as feeding upon the blood of their prey. There is evidence that some variation of these monsters may have been seen within the various crystal eggs that were used by the Martian invaders more proof right over HERE

'Octorillas  are  be able to supplement its diet with plants, including fruit, roots, tubers, as well as insects, small animals and pretty much anything that might look like it can be eaten between meals. There have been incidents of other varieties of these monsters being found as well.' One of which is right over HERE.

In point of fact there have been several varieties of these monsters recovered from the interior of the Inner Earth from several Derro eco-vaults with evidence of Invasive  Martian technology intact. These showed several species of  mutated gorilloid monsters in various states of specialized mutations keyed for their environments  

Mutated Gorilloid  Monsters

           

Num. Enc: 2-5

Align: Chaotic Evil 

Move: 180' (60') swimming, swinging and climbing

AC: 3

HD: 7

Attacks: 2 claws  or 1 bite 

D/Att: 1d10/1d10/1d8

Save: F7

Morale: 10

Hoard Class: C 

XP: 1,400
There is strong evidence that super science processes and magickal arcane rites and secrets that continue to produce these monsters have circulated among cults, wizards, and other dubious super scientists of evil intent have been used for centuries. This is trend that shall continue my friends 

In conclusion the octorilla species will continue to be a plague upon us all, some of us have paid the price for this continuing problem of invasive magick from outside our normal space time continuum and the legacy of Arduin will haunt us for decades to come.

The octorilla has been taken from the Arduin Eternal Bestiary and Treasures book available right HERE. All ecology & supposition is by me and the items and monsters belong to respective owners. 

OSR Commentary On Winds of Chance (Arduin Grimoire volume 8) By Dave Hargrave For Your OSR & Old School Campaigns

 Winds of Chance (Arduin Grimoire volume 8) By Dave Hargrave  is one of those volumes of forgotten Arduin lore that covers the second part of the Arduin underworld & supernatural happenings of Arduin. Here the major & minor cults are on display of Arduin. 

Not only do you have David Hargrave running from a Ripley (1979 Alien movie stand in monster for Arduin). But we've got a deep dive into the following:Gods of Arduin, overviews of 67 major/minor religions and detailed descriptions of the “Tri-Moon Cults”, “Brotherhood of Blood” and the “Church of HIM”!

Why is is this important?! Because on Arduin the movers & the shakers are the religions & cults. These religious groups are the glue that binds the Arduin society together. And they do it well. Want to get player's PC's motivated?! Bring a major cult of one of the gods offering a cash reward for an impossible tasks & adventure motives for said religion or cult. 

And make no mistake recovering treasure for a cult on Arduin is a major occuptation unto itself. These religions have power & are not affraid to use it & use it well. 
The Brotherhood of Blood for instance has its own motives and sometimes these can be down right dangerous. And these religions & cults goals & motives overlap the powerful NPC's who are  famous and notorious which  includes the members of the infamous Black Lotus Society, Thieves & Assassins Guilds, Arduin Nobles and Major Siege Lords, Dream Weavers (a new player class) , notable personalities from the Arduin II campaign and famous Player Characters!

When it comes to bloody,bloody, Arduin the sky is the limit when it comes to personality & power they go hand in hand. 

Dave Hargrave was from those who played with him & knew him a very grounded & down to earth DM. And it stands to reason that Winds of Chance reflect this in some solid approaches to his adventure style. His rules on PC skills is only matched by his new monsters, treasures, & spells. Hargrave knew his 80's audience & Winds of Chance reflects this in spades. 
Winds of Chance (Arduin Grimoire volume 8) By Dave Hargrave For Your OSR & Old School Campaigns Is Available Here. 

OSR Commentary & Thoughts on Dark Dreams (Arduin Grimoire volume 5) By Dave Hargrave For Your OSR & Old School Campaigns

 "The fifth volume of the Arduin Grimoire series presents a look at the “Dark Side” of Arduin, including an expose of the notorious “Black Rabbit Gang”, the infamous “Black Metals”, the secrets of ORC ALCHEMY and treatises on the” Fog of War” and “Death in Arduin”.

In addition to the myriad of new monsters, spells, potions and magik items, Dark Dreams presents a new brand of magik known as “Rogue Magik” and offers a revision of Arduin’s famous Prismatic Walls."

"Also included in volume five are more mystik metals, unique Arachnid silks, a rare breed of Mini-Dracs and a detailed presentation of the new “Gladiator” character class. Check it out!"

Its too bad that the Piazza did dive more deeply into Bloody,Bloody, Arduin as a whole.If there's an underworld book for Bloody, Bloody, Arduin then Dark Dreams has got to be it. There's a smattering of a bit of everything about Arduin's underworld here. From the infamous Black Rabbit gang to death as well some of the underworld in this volume. 

There's a real feel about Arduin as setting material in Dark Dreams (Arduin Grimoire volume 5) By Dave Hargrave. And the campaign setting of Arduin itself feels small in this book. And by small I mean as in that as power attracts power because the world setting is so small the PC's are going to run into the movers & shakers of Arduin. And in other setting is this better then in  Dark Dreams (Arduin Grimoire volume 5). 
There are lots of Arduin details here with the Mystik metals & Arachnid silks. And then there's the weirdness of  Prismatic Walls. 
The real star of the show is the gliadator class which has all of the hallmarks of the classic Roman empire within this class. But this fits the cosmopolitan nature of the gladiator class itself. 

Dark Dreams (Arduin Grimoire volume 5) By Dave Hargrave is awesome because it continues the Ardruin Grimoire tradition of blowing up & out the campaign world of Arduin. Is Dark Dreams (Arduin Grimoire volume 5) By Dave Hargrave For Your OSR & Old School Campaigns a must have?! In a word, I absolutely believe so because this is a volume that has all of Dave Hargrave's hallmarks bold design, incredibly interesting ideas, and Arduin goodness in spades. 

Dark Dreams (Arduin Grimoire volume 5) By Dave Hargrave For Your OSR & Old School Campaigns Is Available Right Here. 

OSR Commentary & Thoughts on Dave Hargrave's Shadowlands (Arduin Grimoire volume 7) For Your OSR & Old School Campaigns

While moving through the piazza tonight I was reexamining a thread from 2012 on Bloody,Bloody, Arduin.  It was Blackbat242's explaination on the Arduin campaign setting itself that caught my eye; "The "setting" was the World of Arduin... a planet with a recorded history several hundred thousand years old (not detailed very fully, more just outlined). Some historical details from millennia earlier showed up in ancient books and so on, others were legends and religious doctrine, and so on.

Arduin also sat at a multi-dimensional nexus, so races from every part of the "multiverse" (yes, that exact word was used early on) found their way to Arduin... and adventurers could travel to all those universes as well.

Oh there were classes like Technos, and so on... so there were tech devices, and so on.


The Ta'Vreen were explicitly stated to be members of a star-faring technological race (from another dimension), temporarily marooned on Arduin... immune to magic and equipped with tech weapons & devices.

Then there were things like the Vampusa... yep, that's right. Medusas that are also vampires!

Flying giant scorpions.

And so on.


Grimoire IV (1984) has a section on "Integration of Arduin rules in other role-playing systems"." 

Re-examining Dave Hargrave's Shadowlands (Arduin Grimoire volume 7) goes deeply into two very dangerous & forbidden areas one is of course 'the Great Wurm Road', the Shadowlands & the dangerous 'demonic magic'. The Arduin Grimoire volume 7 uses the David Hargrave set up of Arduin being campaign setting with the demonic lands just off screen. 

Hargrave has an incredible sense of detail about his setting & addings bits or pieces to it with each volume. The Great Wurm Road is an incredible underworld that runs the gamit of Arduin & in my mind it impacts many of the dungeons of Arduin. Enterances & exits come in & out of these dungeons. Shadowlands (Arduin Grimoire volume 7) is one of my favorite of the Arduin reprint series because it addresses many of the dungeon master's wide spectrum needs for ruins & dungeons.  Dave Hargrave's Shadowlands (Arduin Grimoire volume 7) is one of the volumes that really addresses new spells, new PC optional races, and much more. Even Emperor's Choice's description hits the high points of this; "This tome also presents new Rune Singer and Rune Weaver magiks; details on “Demon Magik” and “Psi-Rogue” characters; new Thief and Courtesan encounter charts, special abilities for “really nasty” characters, more orc alchemy, new herbal concoctions, Arduin Techno weapons and other technological doo-dads,. And of course, a new assortment of monsters, treasures, spells, magik items and potions. "

And this all loops around to Blackbat242's comments because they address the Arduin campaign setting itself as a viable campaign for those old schooler who want to use it. 

 Dave Hargrave's Shadowlands (Arduin Grimoire volume 7) 

Dave Hargrave's Shadowlands (Arduin Grimoire volume 7) Is Available from Emperor's Choice Games Here 

Arduin's Cailban & Adventurer, Conqueror, King's Secrets of the Nethercity - An OSR Commentary

 So it looks like the Emperor's Choice site is back in place & we've got Arduin coming up in our Adventurer, Conqueror, King rpg campaign. And it brings up the fact that Vault of the Weaver is one of the foundation books for our setting. 

This is a collection of the Arduin adventures & dungeons including: 

– Caliban
– Howling Tower
– Citadel of Thunder
– Death Heart

– and a couple of more books thanks to Paul Mosher:

– Hive Home
– Heart of Darkness

Also included is the Tomb of D’Haera

These dungeons were the creation of the Elder races including the Elves who during the earliest days turned to the worship of Chaos. These dungeon  is very much a hold over from the ancient days of the corrupted Elves.  And this brings up the adventure within the vast kilo-dungeon as a part of the Secrets of the Nethercity ACK 's supplement. 

In the back of my mind is the idea that Dave Hargrave's flying Dutchman of dungeons Caliban is a hold over from the earliest days of the Elves. A place of sheer evil that carved its due out from the planes over & over again. The dungeon blitzing across the planes washing into & out of reality like a parasite taking the best & brightest from the ranks of adventurers. Caliban is a sink of evil that  AX2 Secrets of the Nethercity ACK 's supplement kilo-dungeon could hold long lost secrets about. 

This brings home the point that these Elves of Chaos may have done themselves in. And looking over the Graphite Prime blog I noticed his version of the classic Monster Manual II Drider. And a thought has been bubbling in my head, could the classic driders be a race unto themselves & a cursed race within this campaign unto themselves?! A cursed race of Elven chaos worshipers who went from Elves to spider hybrids?! 

Drider artwork by Griphite Prime blog artwork used without permission. 

So were the Elves of old cursed to become a hybrid race of spider monsters because of the creation of Caliban?! Its very possible! There are secrets beyond mere treasures within the dungeon walls that no sane man knows! 

Campaign Session Commentary - Bloody,Bloody Arduin rpg & In Praise of the Deodanths

 We're gonna start temporal adventuring once again & I wanted to take a moment to talk about my running family obsession with the Deodanths from Arduin. 

When it comes to Bloody, Bloody, Arduin there's one race that I've used since I was a kid & that's the Deodanths. The evil, nasty, undead semi Elven race whose origins stretch back into the realms of their dealings with fell powers. Forget Drow, the deodanths make them look like 'rank & file' demi humans at this point in 2021. Now I've covered Bloody,Bloody, Arduin on this blog before. 

One of the best adaptations of the Deodanth race comes from 'The Doberman Defense' blog & yes this is a D20 version of the race but it covers all of the bases. The Deodanths have been a family favorite of ours going back close to forty years now. Mostly because of the fact that so many players insist on using Elves as PC's. So there's a standing dungeon hit squad of Deodanths within my campaigns. 

Far future and in space? No problem the 'death claw' clan has an operative there. The astral?! Yup there's one there as well and they have a running hatred of Githyanki as well. These guys have worked for Mind Flayers or Aboloths as well. Deodanth mercenaries are one of the most heinous & reliable alien races from my campaigns. Its not been a question of if they will show up but when. 
But what makes these guys so fun to use?! The look of utter confusion & anger at the blood claw clan has been so worth it. Especially when the mercenaries began to shadow the player's PC's and take treasures that were theirs. 
Tortured NPC villager? That was the 'Bloody Claw'. The contact poison at the orphanage?! That was the 'Bloody Claw'! 
And the list goes on. 

 Cushous Lightbreaker was a vampusa leader of the Bloody Claw whose behind the scenes throwing 'his' mercenaries at the party from the time shadows of the past. 

OSR Commentary & Thoughts on Dave Hargrave's Grimoire IV (1984) For Your OSR & Old School Campaigns

 So I was zipping round the Piazza as I'm apt to do and ran across this thread about Arduin here by Bobby Knock but it was Blackbat 2442 who piqued my interest in this 2012 post; "The "setting" was the World of Arduin... a planet with a recorded history several hundred thousand years old (not detailed very fully, more just outlined). Some historical details from millennia earlier showed up in ancient books and so on, others were legends and religious doctrine, and so on.

Arduin also sat at a multi-dimensional nexus, so races from every part of the "multiverse" (yes, that exact word was used early on) found their way to Arduin... and adventurers could travel to all those universes as well.

Oh there were classes like Technos, and so on... so there were tech devices, and so on.


The Ta'Vreen were explicitly stated to be members of a star-faring technological race (from another dimension), temporarily marooned on Arduin... immune to magic and equipped with tech weapons & devices.

Then there were things like the Vampusa... yep, that's right. Medusas that are also vampires!

Flying giant scorpions.

And so on.



Grimoire IV (1984) has a section on "Integration of Arduin rules in other role-playing systems"." Yes it was the talk of Dave Hargrave's Grimoire IV (1984) that has my interest. Now you'll see lots of videos & essays on the three other little brown books. But hardly anyone talks about Grimoire IV The Losr Grimoire. And this one is one of my favorites & probably the one that has had had some of the most workout in my hands. Why?! Because Dave Hargrave's Grimoire IV (1984) has some of his best DMing & gaming philosophy. Sure there's a ton on of Arduin material but this one gives the DM the integrated philosphy of Mr. Hargrave. Which really does picking from column A. & column B. of the Arduin books & that's actually alright. But what's actually in Grimoire IV (1984)?! Well that's the other interesting bit ; "The Arduin legacy continues with 147 pages jammed packed with new ideas, tips and tricks to delight even the most discriminating gamers.

* 40 new arcane spells, conjuration's and divine rituals, as well as a look at seven (7) new specialty mages and their craft.

* New character races, such as "Swampers", "Red Dwarves" and the rarest of all Arduin races - the mysterious and elusive "Tzikki" folk.

* 30 new potent potions, lotions and amazing alchemical concoctions.

* 25 new horrific monsters to challenge even the most accomplished adventure seekers.

* 17 legendary weapons and other renowned magikal treasures.

* A brief visit to one of Arduin's famous taverns for a glass of "Black Heart Brandy" or any one of Arduin's 37 other distinctive ales, beers, wines and liquors.

* A short jaunt into the undercity and lunch at "Dirty Dorgs", one of Arduin's most notorious restaurants - where anything can be had for a price!"
Mr. Hargrave was nothing if not prolific & this book has a ton of good stuff including some solid alchemy items. Arduin is not so much a setting as it a series of campaign ideas infecting other gamers OSR & old school adventures. The fact is that so much brought out by 'The Lost Grimoire'. Many of the adventure & campaign elements within the book are central to Arduin. But the main philosophy of the book boils down to 'Take this & try it'. No arm wringing or pulling or deep artistic lectures. But down to Earth practical knowledge of game play & DMing. And that's really the essence that Dave Hargrave is trying to put forth within the  Arduin Grimoire IV 'The Lost Grimoire'  from  1984. 
You can grab  Arduin Grimoire IV 'The Lost Grimoire' Right over here.. 

OSR Commentary - Dragon tree Press's Delos Campaign Setting & Veterans of the Supernatural Wars

 

One of the events that's happened over the weekend is myself & the gang of players  getting together for a beer. The biggest problem getting together has been playing around everyone's work schedule. Back in the day we did quite a bit of adventuring on the world of Delos. The shores of Delos border many pan dimensional realms . It's a place that borders Arduin, Narnia, Fairyland, Oz, and many other worlds. There is more of the touch of Faerie here. More on that in in a hot minute. Delos comes from the pens of Ben & Mary Ezzell.

From the Dragon Tree Home page : 

"Delos is a planet near neighbor to that best of all worlds which is Arduin^®, and doth much traffic therewith. However the mana here is richer and more erratic, and the Theologian Newton describes it thus:

Here they need not store nor hoard their mana for it floats rich in the air for all, and nay they cannot hoard it for it slips and slides and sputters, all in and out of the Mage and the air and the ground and the Shadows. And here they cast and cast and there is no lack...and no grievous burden on the Mage to draw it neither. But as the mana slides about so often slide the spells and so they miscarry to the shame and sorrow of all....

American mages name this mana as 'Percentage and Fumble System'. The casters have aplenty to work with but tis like steering a ship in a storm or runaway horses, and caster's skill is all to turn it as he wishes and he fails to his woe.

Like Arduin^®, Delos hath never built fireish machines but offtimes spaceships land here from the techno worlds and trade their goods or mayhap are robbed of them, and starrish beasties leave ship to roam in our woods. And here Multiversal can sell many strange goods from many strange worlds, but some they cannot sell because of the Prime Directive. And the rich living mana hereabouts offtimes sparks cross-Shadow making natural gates as those from England to Narnia, whence persons come through by mental inclining from many strange Shadow-worlds and times, by the strength of their hearts' desires."

The whole cloth idea of Amazon Mutual is that deceased adventurers bodies would be recovered for resurrection by various temples & organizations to bring the dead adventurers back to life. Adventures with or on Delos often crossed into the ' modern Earth' of our old original Dungeons & Dragons games which often involved Arduin. Delos was its own campaign setting back in the early 80's. The problem as DM Steve reminded me about tonight. The villian of our early adventure from '82 still exists. The undead  Pharoah Ka Su servant of Nyarlathotep wiped out our party! So the bastard is still out there & only two of our players were the lone survivors. This villian was a murderous stalker who would not rest until it gained its revenge. 

Flash forward to now with Veterans of the Supernatural Wars rpg that's now an ongoing campaign. Could Ka Su be behind the recent events within the on going Veterans of the Supernatural Wars campaign?! 

Can we get away with adding in these Dragon Tree Press & Adruin elements into an on going B/X Dungeons & Dragons campaigns that uses Veterans of the Supernatural Wars rpg. The fact is that variety may be the spice of life but OSR gaming thrives on consistence of play. Bottom line?! We'll have to see how this plays out in the coming months.One thing we did notice is what a genius David Hargrave's genius. Hargrave adapted so many weird tales style elemenets with Tolkien like high fantay within spiting distance of each other. Hargrave knew how to make all of these elements work together easily. That takes some incredible skill to pull this style of campaign off. 

Some Thoughts The Arduin Rpg & Free ' Ruins of Arduin' Swords & Wizardry rpg retroclone

" Rules for Fantastic Campaigns with Paper and Pencils

User summary:

A fan-created adaptation of the Arduin campaign setting to the rules for Swords & Wizardry Light."

Its been a long time since we dusted off our notes on the Bloody,Bloody, Arduin rpg campaign & some of the weirdness that's flowed under the campaign  bridge here. The fact is that the Ruins of Arduin Blog is now gone & only reachable by the Waybackmachine.  That's fine because some choice bits remain such as the free Ruins of Arduin rpg retroclone by John Miskimen 

What 'Ruins of Arduin' has is an OSR  engine based on Swords & Wizardry light with a whole cloth Aruin setting build into it. Because its free there's quite a bit that can be done with it. Arduin remains one of the best of the gonzo old school settings created by game designer/DM legend David Hargrave. 

All of the major player PC alien races of Arduin appear in 'Ruins of Arduin' , the most interesting monsters, different magic item options, Arduin treasures, etc. There's just enough of the Hargrave magic in there to make this so worth downloading. 

There's just enough of the weirdness of Arduin's setting to get & keep a game rolling for years. And its this element that we're going to be plugging into. Over the years various bits & pieces of Arduin have appeared in my games & Ruins of Arduin has made it far easier to do on my part. Deodanth bounty hunters, Star Mage NPC's & patrons, the occasional very nasty version of a slaver, etc. 

What makes 'Ruins of Arduin' work so well is the 'Swords & Wizardry light engine', its easier to use, simple to get into, & highly reliable when it comes to actual play. Its literally a page of 

'plug & go play'  game.                                                                                                                                        

What works with 'Ruins of Arduin' is that essence of the Arduin experience is there without the extrainous manure that crops up in some of the experiences that have happened to me with D&D's 'other three brown' books. Arduin is the mother ship of gonzo gaming that we love & from a time long before the OSR was a twinkle in the eyes of anyone. 
What's going to happen with me taking on Ruins of Arduin?! Well its gonna be interesting & somethings really are gonna change in the coming months. If you haven't got a copy of Ruins of Arduin then grab it now before its gone into the ether. 

Set Up, Back Stage, & Lovecraftian Maintenance For Dungeons With Adventurer,Conqueror, King, Arduin, OSR, & Classic Old School Flavors

The concept of the kilodungeon goes back further then most folks realize & pops up in places that dungeon master's least expect it. All the way back to T1 The Village of Hommlet By Gary Gygax. Hommlet's moat house is the perfect metaphor or preview of coming attractions for PC's before they get to the main event.



Everything about Hommlet is the perfect PC base that mirrors many of the elements later found in the the rest of the Temple of Elemental Evil. That is once its been cleared of any & all resistance by the player characters. The dive into the moat house is a dive into the evil of the Underworld infecting the rest of the campaign world. That is to say that its a boil on the face of world & its not one to be taken lightly. This is a mini dungeon setting with plenty of 'shoot from the hip encounters'. The second the PC's enter this place is the second that they're taking on Chaos in all of its glory! Chaos in Advanced or Basic Dungeons & Dragons has always been there as soon as the player or dungeon master has read his first monster alignment that says 'Chaotic' or 'Chaotic Evil'.



Oh and if you don't think that the occult forces of Law & Chaos are just as important in OSR games such as Adventurer,Conqueror, King? Well let me let you feast your eyes on the Kickstarter for Secrets of The Undercity;
"The adventure takes place in the Auran Empire campaign setting, the default setting for ACKS. The eponymous Nethercity lies below the city of Cyfaraun, just fifty miles northwest of Türos Tem, making it a perfect sequel to our introductory adventure The Sinister Stone of Sakkara. But if you don't play in the Auran Empire, don't worry - a special appendix in the book offers advice on how to adapt the adventure for use with our Kanahu setting or with your own favorite campaign world. The Nethercity can be placed under any long-inhabited urban settlement that's changed hands between law and chaos over the centuries."
The really important bit here is,"The Nethercity can be placed under any long-inhabited urban settlement that's changed hands between law and chaos over the centuries."This is exactly what we see in T1 The Temple of Elemental Evil By Gary Gygax & Frank Mentzer. The moat house of Village of Hommlet is the set up for the bigger & nastier temple which we got a taste of.

The Auran Empire campaign setting,has had its major bush fires with Chaos before & destroyed it outright time & again. But Chaos is a festering disease that breeds in the hearts & minds of the campaign setting. The results can be & are catastrophic for a world. Don't believe me? Just take a look at Barsoom whose Green Martians consumed the entire world of Mars & whose presence is found all over early Dungeons & Dragons adventures encounter tables. Edgar Rice Burroughs creations are some of the most destructive warriors your party is ever likely to encounter. And they are the symptom of a much larger disease. The death of your campaign world should the forces of Chaos get the upper hand.


For world of Dave A Hargrave's Arduin there's one dungeon that consumes the heart of chaos & comes back for more that's Death Heart. This living & breathing chaos magnet lays at the core of a tractless wilderness. The place is pure evil, simple & quick to understand as an adventure location. Its a horrid place that deals in pure chaos and should not be placed too close to a civilized area. There's no warm up dungeon location for Death Heart merely a lone sentinel of evil & choke point for the forces of chaos in Arduin.


 Now I've talked about Lovecraft's Dream cycle & I'm going to again. The Underworld of the Dreamlands represents what happens after the battles have been lost & one. There was an apocalyptic battle in the Dreamlands, the cost was horrid for the gods of Earth. A deal was struck & the role of the gods of Earth was reduced to a mere shadow. Then you might ask where are the forces that fought in this apocalyptic event? Does the Vale of Pnath contain them? Yes it does but these of Chaos forces are right where they were when they were banished! The ghouls & ghasts are some of the most common inhabitants of HP Lovecraft's Underworld. But its in the Gugs of HP Lovecraft's The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (1926) that we get our answers about this apocalypse.
The Gugs were partially responsible for this apocalyptic event, "The gugs were banished to the underworld by the earth’s gods, the Great Ones, for an unnamed blasphemy. Now they reside in a terrifying, underground city, dwelling in lofty, round, cyclopean towers. Nearby, colossal monoliths mark the cemetery of the gugs."

Whose responsible for what happened during all of these events? Well the answer is writ large all over the events of the background of The Dream-quest of Unknown Kadath & its easily Nyarlathotep.

 He holds the keys & the ruination of mankind. Chaos was given a stale mate  but the cost was terrible to the dreams of mankind. There are more hints about it in the writings of Zothique by Clark Ashton Smith.

 The real question for Secrets of the Nethercity what's the mega dungeon that Secrets is warming the characters up for? After the events of the adventure location for Adventurer, Conqueror, King what comes next. This is only taste of what's to come & we get a similar vein of adventure in T1 Village of Hommlet.
Secrets of the Nethercity's Cyfaraun might be the PC's base of operations for connecting the kilodungeons of the Nethercity with some of the upper levels of ACK's Dwimmmermount. Many of the hoards described in this product have direct corroborations with Labyrinth Lord's treasure & horde tables.

Chaos never sleeps & sooner or later the PC's are going to be confronting it again. This is where Dark Albion comes in very handy. Cults of Chaos for Dark Albion goes down exactly the same route as Barbarian Conquerors of Kanahu . Lovecraft's mythos forces are chaos unbound in all their glory & they're dangerous as Hell itself.
This is the same treatment that we see of the Mythos from the Arduin books where Lovecraft's creations jump from one civilized world to another destroying wantonly and dangerously again & again.

Most folks don't know that the Arduin books don't have this take in the main rule books but in the adventures themselves as a part of the monsters & NPC forces of the dungeons of Dave A. Hargrave. These forces though are left overs from apocalyptic events of Arduin's campaign setting.
Here are six rules for bringing the pain of the Mythos to your favorite science fantasy game setting: 

1. Its not always about Cthulhu, there are literally legions of Great Old Ones & Outer Gods to use in adventure settings. 
2. Alien artifacts & treasure can convey far more then miles of exposition during an adventure leading to rolls to help figure out the item 
3. Make up stuff on your own, got a Lovecraft scholar among your ranks than create your own Old One or Outer god for fun & profit during adventures. 
4. Don't get bound by the scale & BS of the Mythos. If you need a god or other thing to be certain way for an adventure then change it. There are so many contradictions in the Weird Tales literature. 
5. Make the Mythos your own & let it work to enrich & not hinder your campaign world. 
6. Earn treasure & items as needed during adventures especially with a cult or mythos flavor.