OSR Moorcockian Frankenstein Campaign Workshop Songs of Accursed Atlantis - The Neulow Games Files

  "Above its domes the gulfs accumulate.

Far up, the sea-gales blare their bitter screed:
But here the buried waters take no heed—
Deaf, and with welded lips pressed down by weight
Of the upper ocean. Dim, interminate,
In cities over-webbed with somber weed,
Where galleons crumble and the krakens breed,
The slow tide coils through sunken court and gate.

From out the ocean's phosphor-starry dome,
A ghostly light is dubitably shed
On altars of a goddess garlanded
With blossoms of some weird and hueless vine;
And, wingéd, fleet, through skies beneath the foam,
Like silent birds the sea-things dart and shine."

Atlantis  (1912) 
by Clark Ashton Smith

 'You owe us Fabiaschi & we've put up with a lot of your guff.', DM Steve wasn't letting me off of the hook easily. But what the Hell was I going to do if the PC's survive!? Their latest decent into  Black Blade of the Demon King by Ahimsa Kerp,  & Wind Lothamer from Knight Owl Publishing?! 



So today we were informed that two players who moved away about two years ago are moving back into Connecticut to take care of their eldery parents. They'll be working remotely as are a lot of people in this age of Covid. But now they'll be playing more the problem?! My sewing machine work takes up a good chunk of my schedule. Now Black Blade of the Demon King by Ahimsa Kerp,  & Wind Lothamer from Knight Owl Publishing is an adventure that I've been running with the OSR rules set up for this game has been the Fantastic Heroes & Witchery  Rpg. But with possibly eight players what can I possibly do for a ready to go campaign world yesterday?! Well wayback in October there were a few sessions of  Atlantandria Port City Of Accursed Atlantis. Now here's the problem there's not a huge amount filled in about the world campaign setting of Accursed Atlantis or is there?!  A while back I approached Steve Miller of Nuelow games to grab a copy of his Love Witch supplement.Which while it is D20 Modern OGL is actually easily convertable to both Castles & Crusades or Fantastic Heroes & Witchery  Rpg. 

Originally 'The Love Witch' was supposed to be an encounter for my Godzilla/War of the Worlds Victorious rpg 1898 campaign. And it still might be. But now the Love Witch has become an island off the coast of Accursed Atlantis. But that's not all! Miller's Jungle Terrors supplement has several nasty Chaos laden vampiric species that are going to be on another part of the extra dimensional isles surrounding Accursed Atlantis. 

Already I can hear the OSR fans sniping but there's no bleeding old school connections. But wait there's the vampiric cult of Drelnza on Accursed Atlantis. Her fearsome cult of blood sucking fiends grows nightly & her priests grow her flock in preparation from when she awakens on another world.  Drelzna, the vampiric daughter of long-deceased archmage Iggwilv. One of the biggest modules that had an impact on me was S4 The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. 

The players have already said they wanted a bit of an off beat campaign? And boy have I got them covered. Imagine if you will crossing slumberland & adventuring  with some of the horrors of both HP Lovecraft, & Clark Asthon Smith. Surely this would require an expensive book from the furthest reaches of the OSR? Actually it ran us about ten dollars with issues one & two of 'Through Ultan's Door'. 

And this leads me back to using Castles & Crusades Monsters & Treasure book to fill in the rest of this wonderful little solid gem of OSR weirdness.  Both Castles & Crusades Monsters & Treasure book & Castles & Crusades Classic Monsters & Treasure book are  effectively the C&C Monster Manual & Fiend Folio (sorta) but works well with Fantastic Heroes & Witchery rpg. 

This whole cloth idea came straight outta of Michael Moorcock's The Dream Thief's Daughter Tales of the Ablino along with an unhealthy dose of Lovecraft's Dream cycle. But remember Chaos will have its day folks. 

Two of our players are already agents of Chaos & one of em is an agent of  Law who seems to be inching towards Chaos.. But time will tell... That little incident involving on of the PC's  becoming a necromancer might have tripped a bit of a trigger.

 

Tegel Manor Crashes Into Atlantandria Port City Of Accursed Atlantis Session Report Four/Five - Halloween Game - The Hive & the Oasis

"The zombie things  came pouring out of the hive at break neck pace! The worm like bug jumpers made the party retch! " 

" It lies with in a land that is only seen by the sun and the moon and the horizon-questing stars. The sky-wrestled mountains, like sentries of Eternity, surround with their immemorial zone of azure-shadowed snows the serenity of the lake's unfathomable dream. They bar therefrom the sounds of the aeons that thunder on the shores of Eternity, and the winds that ring with the rumour of iron years, and shut from all save the azure infinite, and the fires and clouds and shadows of the sky.

The lake is feed with the snows of the mountains, and with silence that flows from the mien of space, and is filled with the blue splendour of the sky. Infinitely finds itself doubled herein.

On the shore of the lake grow the blue and white amaranths of a perennial summer, and there is no life save that of butterflies and the most beautiful birds. He who penetrates this land may drink the silence of the lake, and look upon it till the image of infinity fills imperturbably the depths of a mind that has become as calm and smooth as the waters."

The Lake of Enchanted Silence  (1922) 

by Clark Ashton Smith

Picking up on events that happened last session & putting to campaign events into high gear! 

The party found themselves by a wasteland oasis by a mountain fed lake & some ruins that looked very inviting. And the first kill of the night happened when a hopper assassin bug took out one of the party's clerics. He decapitated him in one pass! And that's when the bug infested zombies poured out from underground!  Because I'm using Adventurer,Conqueror, King as the base system  we decided to use Night Owl Workshop's Beasties as the monster book. We had a crowd of eight players & their PC's during last night's game. The other player's cleric's  turning didn't work on the zombies because technically they weren't dead!  It took three charges from a wand of fire balls by one of the party's wizards to finish even a quarter of the zombies as the party made its way into the hive! 

Because we've been on a time line with work we also cut a corner or two by using ACK's Lairs & Encounters book for portions of the bug's hive! The party found themselves within the lair of the bugs & they knew that they were in the thick of it! 
The party became very quiet was slowly picking its way through the hive when they came across plasma bugs along with the brain bug programmers. These were feeding instructions to the bastard things while several Kephri masters. Nearby soldier bugs milled around acting as body guards. Now the party was joined by their wizard who nearly was infected by jumping parasitic bug embryos. The  question of the next move is the players!  

Tegel Manor Crashes Into Atlantandria Port City Of Accursed Atlantis - Session Report Two

 Twilight ascends the abandoned ramps of noon

Within an ancient land, whose after-time
Unfathomably shadows its ruined prime.
Like rising mist the night increases soon
Round shattered palaces, ere yet the moon
On mute, unsentried walls and turrets climb,
And touch with pallor of sepulchral rime
The desert where a city's bones are strewn.

She comes at last: unsepultured, they show
In all the hoary starkness of old stone.
From out a shadow like the lips of Death
Issues a wind, that through the ruins blown,
Cries like a prophet's ghost, with waiting breath,
The weirds of finished and forgotten woe.

A Dead City  (1912) 
by Clark Ashton Smith

So over last twenty four hours we've been picking up the parts & pieces of our Atlantandria Port City Of Accursed Atlantis game last night. This game has been on hiatus since August due to the death of two of our regular players. We're using a heavily modified Adventurer,Conqueror,King rpg system. Last night's game saw the party bargaining with inhuman powers. The party went to deal with a regional leader of the Greys to bargain with a superscience cure for their paladin Sir John. Many of the adventure elements were taken straight from Adventurer, Conqeuror, King's Barbarian Conqueror's of Kanahu 

The Greys being the demonic half breed  bastards that they are demanded a power crystal from a bug hive on the Southern tip of Accursed Atlantis. The bugs in question come straight outta of  Night Owl Workhop's Colonial Troopers. The Terrans are in an all out protracted war with 'the bugs'. 

The party wanted to think about the bargain but later that night at camp they were attacked by a group of vampire cultists! There was an all out fight & gun shots were fired.  The cultists were captured & staked out for the morning suns. They then contacted the Greys & accepted the bargain for the power crystal. 

Meanwhile the Rumps are not staying quiet & their own operatives have been moving across the wasteland toward the party. They picked up the trail back in Atlantandria & talked with several folks who had dealings with the party. This included a rather snutty  Terran ambassor & operative. 

Tegel Manor Crashes Into Atlantandria Port City Of Accursed Atlantis Session Report Two - Fang & Super Science

  "Above its domes the gulfs accumulate.

Far up, the sea-gales blare their bitter screed:
But here the buried waters take no heed—
Deaf, and with welded lips pressed down by weight
Of the upper ocean. Dim, interminate,
In cities over-webbed with somber weed,
Where galleons crumble and the krakens breed,
The slow tide coils through sunken court and gate.

From out the ocean's phosphor-starry dome,
A ghostly light is dubitably shed
On altars of a goddess garlanded
With blossoms of some weird and hueless vine;
And, wingéd, fleet, through skies beneath the foam,
Like silent birds the sea-things dart and shine."

Atlantis  (1912) 
by Clark Ashton Smith

There is a ton of stuff going in last night's Atlantandria Port City Of Accursed Atlantis  but check out August 30'th session report why?! Because the player's PC's have run into some cultists whilst searching for a cure for one of their own. There's a lot happening so let's dive right into it.  Tegel manor itself is caught between two campaigns right now stretched beyond its limits. 

The party is trying to find a cure for Sir John' vampiric kiss & John has started to dream about his 'lover'. He longs for her but the party's thief has staked him out in the desert & put him under the noon day sun! The other player has been quickly making rolls & making a new PC. The party meanwhile has been going through several back water villages & visiting priests. They had a very nasty parley with general of the forces of chaos. Although they did get to speak with several lesser Brain lasher leaders the general' wasn't around. 

Now the party  started to head back to camp but were attacked by an elite group of human cultists. These cultists were sporting Khepri artifacts & were backed up with some very dangerous giant ants! Shades of Them! Things got weirder 




The party of adventurers were not happy one little bit but they were rescuced by pig faced orcs! The orcs sported long guns & several volleys later on there were some dead cultists. The Orcs sporting black powder weapons wasn't a surprise to the party because they came via front & center from Guns of War. 

The orc chief explained that this alliance was in its words 'temporary' & they could offer a temporary cure for Sir John via the infinite mercy of their mistress. A strange potion of green & jade coloured liquid flowed in a vial could restore Sir John to almost full strength but there would be strings attached. Any interfernce with the liquid via sorcery or magick would nullify its effects. The chief laughed like a squeeling pig knowing he had the party over a barrel. 'Do you accept the deal or not?!' My mistress has little patience pittiful humans?' Squeelll 

The chief of the orcs was Otherworld Miniatures 
HT3n - Pig-faced Orc Sub-chief

The orc warriors looked very nervously around the wastelands & there seemed to be 'calm before the storm' moment. The orcs made piggy squeeling noises that passed for nervous laughter & they withdrew very quickly. Their guns were ready! The party noticed the enchanted shot being pasted out! And that's when the ground erupted! A tanker bug exploded into view from below the ground! And it was barbacued pork time! 

The party ran and didn't look back! They didn't even look back! Just in case your wondering the forces of chaos are in a protracted war with the bugs & I'm going to be pulling from Night Owl Workhop's Colonial Troopers. The Terrans are in an all out protracted war with 'the bugs' as well! 

The party got back to Sir John & gave him the potion. He quickly recovered & all his hit points were restored! He was back into action within a few hours. But there were a lot of questions about whose pulling the strings of the party. There were jokes about Venger from the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon?Umm Hell no folks! 
There's a ton of connections via the Terrans from The Barbarian Conquerors of Kanahu setting sourcebook.

The party was followed but their not sure whose following them in the wastelands at present. They have to get re equipped now & get back to Tegel Manor. But the player's general sense is they want to get Sir John straightened around. There was also some sense about whose pulling their strings so for now its time to find a major city which means the port of Atlantandria. 
In the villages they heard rumors about the ancient rulers of the wastelands who might know of a cure. But a very small hireling called 'Herdus' who seemed to be a human/grey hybrid warned them not to seek these ancient kings for they are pure evil. The party hired  'Herdus' for twelve coppers  a day plus meals & medical attention.  Hedrus knows of a powerful healer of his people who might be able to help Sir John.. But that's a game for another time.. 

Alright what's happening is that the player's PC's have met some of the forces & factions of  Atlantandria Port City Of Accursed Atlantis. The big bads behind the bugs & their rulers are the Khepri from the Ack's Lairs & Encounters books. But their not the only ones! 

The Khepri hold the desert & good chunk of the wastelands but their grip isn't as tight as it seems. Why are the Terrans so scarred of what lies out in the desert & whom do the Elves have alliances with? 
There's far more going on bubbling beneath the surface of  Atlantandria Port City Of Accursed Atlantis. 

Tegel Manor Crashes Into Atlantandria Port City Of Accursed Atlantis Session One - Fang & Super Science

 "Above its domes the gulfs accumulate.

Far up, the sea-gales blare their bitter screed:
But here the buried waters take no heed—
Deaf, and with welded lips pressed down by weight
Of the upper ocean. Dim, interminate,
In cities over-webbed with somber weed,
Where galleons crumble and the krakens breed,
The slow tide coils through sunken court and gate.

From out the ocean's phosphor-starry dome,
A ghostly light is dubitably shed
On altars of a goddess garlanded
With blossoms of some weird and hueless vine;
And, wingéd, fleet, through skies beneath the foam,
Like silent birds the sea-things dart and shine."

Atlantis  (1912) 
by Clark Ashton Smith

The game started off with quite a bang as the players PC's were tracking a necromancer to the multiverse's most haunted house of Tegel Manor. Simple premise enough unto itself but with DM Steve among the players events soon got complicated! Very complicated in fact! 




During last night's dimensional traveling Tegel Manor regular play session the party confronted a necromancer who had gotten his hands on a particularly nasty wizard's staff relic. The PC's wrestled with the staff & the player who was grappling rolled a '1'. Things got rather  complicated because during last night's gaming session using Adventurer,Conqueror,King rpg. I was using the original Tegel Manor & so I wasn't really prepared for a PC death that early in last night's session. The staff broke in half & there was a tremendous explosion. A sound of a million souls & the  wrenching of reality collided  as the plane's most haunted house was forced between dimensions! 

After rolling a D20 & taking 'smoke break' ( no one smokes but we needed air). The party awakened to day light & the smoking remains of the necromancer. The party finds itself in a wasteland sorrounding the valley of the manor. They make their way outside but I asked the party's fighter to make a saving throw as he subcombed to blood loss. The PC John the Brave had gotten a vampire's kiss as he slept! This came about as a result of grabbing a copy of ACK's revised vampire rules via their patreon. 

 Would our fighter subcomb to his curse?! And where the Hell was the group?! The party grabbed horses & made their way to edge of the valley after a day's right. They were greeted to desert & wasteland surrounding them! 
They made their way to a series of pyramids & ruins being surveyed. The party engaged several royal surveyors. And that's when DM Steve piped up, 'I know where we are!' You bastard you pulled out your 'Atlantandria Port City Of Accursed Atlantis' from your ass!!?' 
I simply smiled as the trap was sprung. 


The royal surveyors offered to take the party into the capital city as their guests to see the king & maybe get some healing  for the fighter. DM Steve was a part of the last time I had run this campaign setting. 
Atlantandria Port City Of Accursed Atlantis is my OSR test bed setting. A campaign setting where I can literally drop anything into the sword & sorcery mix and not break the science fantasy setting. I created Atlantandria Port City Of Accursed Atlantis in response to constantly having to shift and move around game resources constantly to accommodate another fantastic OSR piece of supplemental material. So instead I made the material accommodate the world where any time lost piece of technology or adventure might & could show up. Atlantandria Port City Of Accursed Atlantis is my OSR test bed campaign world where adventure is right around the corner.

In my own campaign other dimensional location the city states of
Atlantandria are a mix of energy weapons and black powder. They follow by route the ancient ways of technology and super science as well as black sorcery.

DM Steve had played way back in 2016 & back then I didn't have access to the Adventurer,Conqueror, King rpg. 
When Atlantis sank beneath the waves there were many ruins left within the wastelands. An entire country full of the ancient remains of this once spectular ruler of not only this world but the once might colony worlds of Mars and Venus as well.
But now only the jade lined ruins and gleaming stoneworks remain above ground.
Below are mazes of corridors, dungeons of horror, and far more.
These wastelands are the home to roving tribes of barbarians, desert dwellers, and inhuman monsters.

 

The wastelands of the god kings is the home to numerous ancient pyramids, ruins, and far worse wonders for time itself is broken in these places and many strange things come through the once stable gateways.

“By such reflections and by the continuance in them of a divine nature, the qualities which we have described grew and increased among them; but when the divine portion began to fade away, and became diluted too often and too much with the mortal admixture, and the human nature got the upper hand, they then, being unable to bear their fortune, behaved unseemly, and to him who had an eye to see grew visibly debased, for they were losing the fairest of their precious gifts; but to those who had no eye to see the true happiness, they appeared glorious and blessed at the very time when they were full of avarice and unrighteous power. 

Zeus, the god of gods, who rules according to law, and is able to see into such things, perceiving that an honourable race was in a woeful plight, and wanting to inflict punishment on them, that they might be chastened and improve, collected all the gods into their most holy habitation, whch being placed in the centre of the world, beholds all created things. And when he had called them together, he spake as follows --” 
― Plato, Timaeus/Critias
There are dungeons and ruins a plenty here to tempt adventurers and explorers into their depths, strange alien creatures stalk the wastelands and kill with little provocation.
It is a dangerous time for this world. A place of mystery and horror just waiting for adventurers to set foot within its confines. 

The party made their way to the inner capital after a few days as Sir John stuggled with the ever worsening vampiric curse via Tegel Manor's more toothy inhabitants. When they got to the capital things had umm changed?! They were greeted by several Dragonborn royal guardsmen & Tertius Aelius Domitianus is the new emperor! Wait what?! DM Steve's face dropped as I said that over eighteen years had passed instead of the four of real time! There were several elven 'advisors' around the emporor. The Elven healers could offer Sir John some temporary relief they handed the 'patient' (victim) off to Terran Cosmonaut ambassors tender mercies of super science. 



But what really confused the party was the inclusion of several Terran Cosmonaut ambassors whose super science could not haul the spreading vampiric  infection. They advised seeking out several healers in the outer lands of Atlantandria on the tip of the old remanant of Atlantis who might know more. But its here where the forces of chaos are concentrated! Hoards of pig faced orcs via Underworld Miniatures under the control of shamans, champions, & generals. 

So the party wants to look for alternatives in  Atlantandria Port City via some of the back alley doctors & possible cures found via 'Terran super science'. So this is where events are getting interesting because I'm including some of the PC  races from The Barbarian Conquerors of Kanahu setting sourcebook. 



There is a ton to unpack here & one of which happens to be the fact that there's a dragon behind the throne of Accursed Atlantis. The players have started to figure this out already & several possible lead ins from other campaigns. The truth is much more dangerous then they know with the dragon ruler derived from the Heroic Fantasy Handbook for ACK's. The chaos tribes however are straight out of Domains At War with black powdered long guns being front & center from Guns of War. 


But its really the specter of ACK's Dwimmermount someplace near  Atlantandria that has the players really worried. The megadungeon draws the forces of chaos like flies to a fresh maggoted corpse. 

But what the players don't realize is that I'm not going to be using White Star to flesh out the Terrans. Rather its a gonna be Night Owl Workhop's Colonial Troopers. The Terrans are in an all out protracted war with 'the bugs'. 


But the forces behind 'the bugs' isn't the tradition Robert Heinlein 'Star Ship Troopers' bugs. Rather these are sort of like those bugs but they have a far more Adventurer,Conqueror,King connection with a caste of rulers at the top of the pyramid. ACK's Lairs & Encounters owners & DM's will know whose incharge & its not pretty. 



We ended with the party delving deep into the city state capital of Atlantandria & this was only the first session! 

1d6 Random Shadow Stained Other Worldly Weapons of War For Your Old School Campaigns

It was great pity, so it was,
That villanous saltpetre should be digg'd
Out of the bowels of the harmless earth,
Which many a good tall fellow had destroy'd
So cowardly; and but for these vile guns
He would himself have been a soldier.

Act I, scene 3, line 59.

William Shakespeare,
Henry IV, Part I (c. 1597)

Do not pick up that lonely & forgotten weapon from that vault for you don't know where it has been or who hath wielded it.

In long forgotten hallways & time haunted places that have been forgotten by man. There are weapons of warriors & outlaws long passed. These weapons await new masters but have the touch of long forgotten conflicts etched on them. They yearn for the action & blood of new owners. They have passed from shadow to shadow of Earth's past, present, & perhaps the darkest of  futures.

These weapon's minor names & enchantments have long since passed into the lowest of ethers returning to their dead demonic & god like masters. But these weapons have hungers that can not be satisfied by mere storage in some dusty & remote corner of the other dimensional realms.
Each of these weapons will bond with its user on a successful Wisdom roll. The wielder & owner's mind will be flooded with visions of shadows of what was, echoes of distant events swathed in blood, thunder, & perhaps some grain of wisdom that might save their party. These weapons gain a +1 on their damage because of their eagerness in violence.


Because they've been partially in the other dimensional shadows they are often subject to all kinds of weird energies.  These weapons often have a random weird trait grafted onto them taking the place of their ancient names.

1d8 Random Weird Weapons Trait Table

1. glows green in the presence of the undead, but will turn blue in the presence of black magick with a twenty foot effect. 
2. The weapon draws & drinks the gore of its victims doing an extra 3 points of damage. The blade's metal absorbs the bloody mess gaining a bloated reddish luster. 
3. Weird lights play from the blade when drawn or attacking causing confusion in the enemy as per the spells effects. 
4. The weapon howls causing fear in lesser hit dice creatures who must save or flee the area as per the spell. 
5. An ancient name of power appears on the blade when blood is spilled on it. The name acts as a power word stun effect! 
6. Those who gaze on the weapon despair & are filled with a lust for their own deaths. They can do nothing for 1d4 rounds as the blackest of thoughts & dreams fills their souls. 
7. The weapon summons 1d4 hungry ghosts of its past who will attack the target and consume its soul. They may 5% chance attack the owner of the weapon unless a wisdom check is made. The will of the owner baying them into submission.
8.  Sands of Time - The weapon ages its target by 1d1000 years on a successful hit but the power is fickle and can only be used once a day. 

Theses weapons have warped & strange personalities that they pick up over the centuries from the countless hands of owners. The weapons are not sentient per say but fickle & strange in their own traits of the shadows from which they come. They may give the owner a problem or hint of something vital with shove or push in a certain direction if they will it.

1d6 Random Shadow Stained Other
Worldly Weapons of War Table

1. Vrrus The Crossbow - This crossbow has a string made from the hair of a nymph the weapon can strike a demon or otherworld creature without penalty. The crossbow has seen action in a variety of wars and there are thirty two notches along its length. Each notch is a conflict by running your hands over the notches you may gain an insight into a coming conflict. The weapon hates demons on sight however and may 2% chance fire at one on its own. 
2. The daggers of Serusos Sha - This brace of sixteen throwing daggers were owned by the insect man pirate Serusos Sha & point the way to any near by gold. But they also can also pierce the shadow of a mankind and hold him or her fast like a hold person spell. The daggers have other abilities but these are undiscovered 
3. Shadow Vine - This weapon still has its name but its other powers have faded. The weapon can once per day act as a holy symbol even in the hands of a fighter and it loathes vampires decapitating them whenever possible. It also remembers past owners and bleeds sweet blood to lure a vampire to its owner. 
4. An Wra The Ax of Life - This war ax doesn't remember its owner & its personality is long since gone but the weapon can attack with a vengeance & slice through any magical bonds. The thing hates black wizards & necromancers with a reckoning. It gains a +2 against all such vile practitioners.
5. Trident of the Long Forgotten Sea - This weapon is able to summon a thunder clap once a day & is +1 against any mummies. The trident is of long forgotten sea god & can allow the owner to breath under water as per the spell.  It may have other abilities that are sleeping within its enchanted length. 
6. Srsus The Spear - This war spear can cut through the spells of deception with easy. This spear once belonged to a demi god of war & it has its rage inside it once per day the owner may berserk for 4 rounds gaining +2 on all attacks with this weapon. 

1d10 Random Swords of The Ancient & Violent Ones For Your Old School Campaigns

Ahimelech Giving the Sword of Goliath to David By

Aert de Gelder  (1645–1727)

The fire-eyed maid of smoky war
All hot and bleeding will we offer them.
William Shakespeare,Henry IV, Part I (c. 1597)

Act IV, scene 1, line 114.

Swords have a power & legacy beyond the violence that they are often employed. They are a part of the souls of their owners. The blood & violence that coats them sometimes imbues them with far greater energies then were ever intended for their shiny blades. The supernatural or occult  power of the acts of their owners often make them forever! They are passed from hand to hand & person to person on a journey throughout eternity.


Zrínyi's Charge on the Turks from the Fortress of Szigetvár

By Simon Hollósy  (1857–1918) 

Each of these blades is +1 impregnated by the acts of depravity & violence that they have done. There is a 20% chance of a demon or other ancient essence of evil having taken up residence within the blade. Make no mistake these blades have seen & been marked by their course in history. They are not instruments of war & violence to be trifled with.

1d10 Random  Swords of The Ancient & Violent Ones

1. Vetrsra The Ripper of Wombs - This sword carries with it the blood of a thousand victims & the souls of its victims ripple in the blade's length in certain lights. The blade occasionally drips blood or sweats tears of its victims. Every new moon it will balance & point its way to a treasure or minor artifact. 
2. Rtea The Reaper of Men - This blade has a handle of bone & ivory made from the spine of an innocent man. The blade cuts the cords of the soul to the afterlife and it can point to the nearest entrance to the underworld.  
3. Brus the Mirror - This blade has been fashioned from the metals left after a battle field has been stripped of most of the debris of war. The sword marks its owner with quick 1 point wound. The blade hungers for the blood of warriors & will lead its owner to a dungeon scene where it can slay monsters & adventurers alike. It will twist its owner's reflection in certain lights into a monstrous form perhaps his or her future self.
4.  Trisus's Razor - This blade has been hand crafted as the highest example of a sword maker's art and was used in twelve campaigns by one family of minor royals. The blade was turned into a weapon of murder & since then it now hungers for the blood of murderers & mad men. The blade can slice through spells & weird magicks as its power flows from the soul of those it has killed. Once per day this blade can slice through 1d6 spells of power. 
5. 43:5 is named from an unknown verse in the Christian Bible & has as it hilt the pages of twelve Bibles of the town of Trell. The town was plagued by undead horrors & this sword took the heads of the undead & the necromancers who summoned them. But the blade slayed the priest who wielded her. She now sings with the power of his tragic soul. For his truest love lived in the town & he had to put her to eternal rest. The blade has a 20% chance of doing a decapitation on a critical roll.  Each new moon there is a 10% chance she can banish a minor undead horror.
6.  Betty - This blade has been fashioned from Detroit steel & was used to slay a minor demon lord. The blade was lost too history as it was flung into a time warp. The blade drips demonic ichor when a monster of the Outer Hells is nearby. It loves to slay monsters and cultists of the darkest stripe. 
7. Brsru Rue - This sword was made from the remains of a steel mirror that was used as an entrance to the underworld. The necromancer who used it was slain by cracking the mirror in two. His soul is trapped within it but now is used to slay murderers & outlaws. The sword loves to hunt the souls of the wicked & feeds on them for eons. Once per new moon it will give its owner visions of violent & horrid crimes being carried out within a 6 mile radius. The sword will point the way to the guilty. 
8.  The White Blade - Made by the last dying remains of a long lost people this blade  contains their frustration & anger over their unnecessary deaths. The blade is used to deal violence to those that would violate the lives of the lost & dead. Each time the blade is unsheathed it will shine with a white hot light capable of dealing 1d6 points of damage to those within 15 feet of the blade. In addition the owner will speak in the tongues of several lost tribes now extinct. He or she will seek out their works. 
9. Ugg's Folly - This blade once belonged to the family Ugg, a group of traveling jesters & performers. The sword can dance once per day but seeks the murderers of its former owners. A cult of child killers & madmen who use the moonless nights to travel from place to place & world to world murdering wantonly. 
10. Simon's Slayer - This blade once belonged to the sell sword Simon L & it is rumored contains his soul. The sword hungers for adventure & can point the way to any dungeon but the sword must each fort night be blooded by an innocent. This is not a killing blow but a simple drop of blood. The sword also hates all servants of Chaos & the owner may 20% chance fly into a berserk rage gaining +3 against all who serve Chaos. 

1d20 Random Deep Wasteland Encounters With Cybernetic Entities & Robotic Princes Table For Your Old School Campaigns

Cybernetic entities have come into their own after the 'Fall of Man', these creatures with artificial souls & minds have carved out their own place within the wastes. Taking what they want and for good or evil they have become a force to be reckoned with. Many android princes & cybernetic warlords are some of the most dangerous beings parties of adventurers and outlaws can face. They often have 1d8 or more robotic or cybernetic 'improvements' and are more then a cut above the usual wasteland robotic rabble that many adventurers are used to encountering in ruins and other dungeons. These cybernetic princes of the wastes are often fighters of 3rd level or above and more then a match for beginning parties. Many have 1d6 minor artifacts or relic technologies. Here then are 1d20 encounters to confound and cause your parties grief.



1d20 Random Deep Wasteland Encounters
With Cybernetic Entities & Robotic Princes
Table

1. A wasteland warlord in search of his own kingdom to rule surrounded by a war party of 1d6 androids. He rides in a hover car over which he has complete control. There are 1d4 relic weapon systems aboard. 
2. A war robot on a mission for his princely master, this entity controls 1d8 drone combat droids. Very dangerous to cross and with a mean streak a mile wide. 
3. A robotic dragon in the shape of a black metallic prince riding in a sky chariot. He is looking for the ruins of his place of birth. 
4. A robotic knight riding through the wastelands looking for his six brothers who have been driven into the wastelands. He is armed with a +3 sword and he is able to sense chaos, he has been driven to kill. 
5. Assassin to a robotic wasteland ruler is on a mission, she is looking to kill a few humans along the way. She has the ability to hover and fly as a class C entity. 
6. Composite entity from another dimension on a mission from his god seeks to slay one member of the party. He or it is ruthless and very dangerous. 
7. A former human has had his consciousness up loaded into the very bowels of a war prince's chassis. He is armed and very dangerous with 1d6 energy weapons. 
8. A former warbot has become an android after a series of adventures and now seeks his master. 
9.   This incredible android is a wasteland god able to fix any device, he rules over four minor kingdoms and is hiding from assassins. 
10. A former mutant giant has been transformed into a war android and he seeks to protect his former kind from a wizard who cursed him with this condition. Will you help him. 
11. War party of androids seeks their former android master who was lost in the waste. They are angry and armed with energy weapons but are seeking help. They can pay in artifacts and expertise. 
12. A former A.I. has become an android ruler of a clan of mutants whom are slowly becoming cyborgs but he needs a certain artifact will you help? 
13. Wizard turned android seeks the heart of ruler ship from an extinct war robot and your help is needed. 
14. Ancient vile villain has risen from the ashes of the 'Fall of Man' and is now on an extinction agenda against three or four kingdoms of mutants. 
15. Cyber prince is recruiting for a dangerous adventure and there is consciousness uploading into android bodies are you aboard with this? 
16. A former cheerleader is now a wasteland android princess and is seeking to unite four kingdoms but there are three A.I.'s standing in her way she seeks adventurers for a quest in her name. 
17. Nine dangerous war robots are threatening an android prince's domain and kingdoms he seeks a powerful weapon to help take these bastards out. He is willing to pay allies. 
18. An ancient army of war robots has been activated and is on the war path. A wasteland cyber prince knows the deactivation code to put them back in the wasteland grave yard. Will you seek him out? 
19. A dangerous cache of weird technology has awoken an ancient power and its vassal princess of the wastelands. She is an assassin of exceptionally dangerous cybernetic and shape changing qualities. Will you seek her prince to put her back to sleep? 
20. A cyber god has awoken and now seeks to slay all within reach. One a band of nine cyber princes can hope to stand against it. But several key relic weapons are missing will your party quest for them? 

Some Thoughts On Monster Ecology - Juggernauts & Living Statues From Original Dungeons & Dragons

So last night I'm reading through my original Dungeons & Dragons Rules in the monster section and came across this curious reference to a Juggernaut," Huge stone statues on wheels which crush anything in their path. They are motivated by some unearthly force."
What a great concept for a temple guardian that moves under its own power to crush interlopers and trespassers in ruins or dungeons. A quick check of the internet turned up this illustration of a 'real'  juggernaut from India. Then I came across this explanation of these devices from The Ruins of Murkill OD&D forum poster the Archivist here," The English loanword juggernaut in the sense of "a huge wagon bearing an image of a Hindu god" is from the 17th century, inspired by the Jagannath Temple in Puri, Odisha, which has the Ratha Yatra ("chariot procession"), an annual procession of chariots carrying the murtis (statues) of Jagannâth, Subhadra and Balabhadra (Krishna's elder brother).

The first European description of this festival is found in the 14th-century The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, which describes Hindus, as a religious sacrifice, casting themselves under the wheels of these huge chariots and being crushed to death.

The figurative sense of the English word, with the idea of "something that demands blind devotion or merciless sacrifice" became common in the mid-nineteenth century. For example, it was used to describe the out-of-control character Hyde in Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Other notable writers to have used the word this way range from H.G. Wells and Longfellow to Joe Klein."

A further search turned up this wheel from  The Sun Temple. Konarak. India its a Stone Wheel Juggernaut. So these things are giant mechanisms that guard dungeons, ruins,etc. crushing anyone or anything that gets in their way for their gods. Can you imagine something like these horrors equipped with eyes from Empire of the Petal Throne or weaponry? The mind boggles at the possibilities for using these.
Where the heck have these things been and why haven't I been using them!?!


When I first read about them at about six am this morning I suddenly thought of Ray Harryhausen's Talos from Jason & The Argonauts. I can see these things guarding the workshops of the ancients or the gods.  The awakening of Talos was one of those,"Oh crap' moments from movies when I was a kid. It also had me thinking for years about what else might be in that valley from Jason and the Argonauts. This brings up the 'living statues' from OD&D. These can be some of the most dangerous and vicious monsters in a dungeon if used right.

Over the years I've used living statues as a sort of pesdo life form sort of as a warm up by the gods to mankind. Various wizards & Magus have wormed the secret of their construction from the ruins, workshops,etc of the gods. Dreams in the Lichhouse goes into a lot more details about them and has a very good breakdown of them.
I definitely can see using Living Statues in my own Accursed Atlantis setting where they're guarding and dwelling within the ruins and workshops of the ancients. They maintain and guard as best they can the places of the gods and Order even as time has its way with these ruins.


These two monsters scream sword & sorcery to me and seem to be some of the most under utilized monsters in the dungeons.