An Alternative Campaign Path For B10 Night's Dark Terror by Jim Bambra, Graeme Morris, & Phil Gallagher

"Barely one day's march from Kelven, the uncharted tracts of the Dymrak forest conceal horrors enough to freeze the blood of civilized folk. Those who have ventured there tell how death comes quick to the unwary - for the woods at night are far worse than any dungeon. 

But you are adventurers, veterans of many battles, and the call of the will is strong. Will you answer the call, or are you afraid of the dark terrors of the night?

This campaign adventure is for characters just beginning Expert play (levels 2-4) and hurls them into the exciting outdoor world which awaits in the Expert rulebook. "
B10 Night's Dark Terror by Jim Bambra, Graeme Morris, &  Phil Gallagher show cases everything that Mentzer's Expert Dungeons & Dragons set was meant to do. That is drown the PC's into a situation that will test the players to their limits. DM'ed correctly & this adventure could take the PC's into some solidly dangerous situations & could result in a TPK.




This module premiered in '86 & there's a unique history behind its publication; "B10: Night’s Dark Terror (1986), by the TSR UK crew of Jim Bambra, Graeme Morris, and Phil Gallagher, was the tenth adventure produced for the D&D Basic Set (1981). It was also a return to basics after the home office in Wisconsin had stopped producing new Basic Set adventures in 1985. It was published in February 1986."
B10: Night’s Dark Terror (1986), presents the wilderness as both foe & setting for a mid range party of adventurers & it does an excellent job of presenting the adventures with an 'edge of the  frontier' setting that reminds me of the best of Robert H Howard's "Beyond the Black River" The player's PC's are literally up to their necks in the depths of a hostile environment. They'll need to be fast, quick witted, & wily to survive the machinations of the module. The DM needs to pay attention to the contents of this adventure & yes I said contents; "With a 64-page booklet, 2 double-panel covers, and complete scans of the orioginal double-sided mapsheet, this super-module provides all you need for epic wilderness and dungeon adventuring." The journey across the Grand Duchy of Karameikos is a very dangerous one indeed for the players are going to need their wits about them. There are several instances where the updated fan made maps available from the Piazza are a must.  Created by Sarastro Magnifico
The module is basically an adventure tour of the campaign setting of the the Grand Duchy of Karameikos & the DM has to keep the action moving. Done correctly & this module goes like an 80's action movie. All of the while it show cases many of the advantages of Mentzer D&D Expert Rules highlights & really showcases the streamlining of the systems. 



But I want to bring up the Graeme Davis review of Night's Dark Terror from White Dwarf No. 78 from the B10 wiki entry; 

"Graeme Davis reviewed Night's Dark Terror for White Dwarf No. 78. Davis felt that the farmstead in the adventure's opening was nicely detailed, and that the counters to play out the action on the 25mm scale map for that location were a nice idea. He commented on the plot of the adventure, "There is enough here to keep the fastest-moving party going for some time, and a section of suggestions for further adventures can help the GM to open out a long-running campaign in the area."^[2] Davis did note that the numbering system for wilderness locations was confusing, with an example where a location has one designation at one part in the module, and at a later point the location has a different designation which does not correspond with anything on the map. However, Davis felt that everything else in the module was written and laid out very well, and that the module would be a tremendous help for any game master learning the Expert rules"
This confusion with the wilderness locations on the maps has been corrected in that fan made maps from the Piazza by Sarastro Magnifico. The Dragon's foot site has a good thread of suggestions for running B10 as well.

 But now I've got an idea for slipping in B8: Journey to the Rock as a campaign shake up before continuing onto X10 Red Arrow, Black Shield By  Michael Dobson. Not only does this give the player's a more even adventure path but it gives them time to go up the levels needed to tackle some of the challenges seen in X10. 



Of course this is going to depend upon if they survive the horrors, weirdness, events, & weather of 'B10: Night’s Dark Terror (1986)'. Because B8: Journey to the Rock builds upon the foundations of B10: Night's Dark Terror's wilderness exportation in spades & aces.
There are several reasons to do this: 

1. Using B8: Journey to the Rock with B10 Night's Dark Terror gives the module a frame work to build the campaign upon. 
2. There could be a connection between B10's baddies & the wizard which gives the PC's more puzzles. 
3. The deeper one goes with this there could be ties with X10 Red Arrow, Black Shield By  Michael Dobson's forces. 
4. The campaign context makes the armies of the humanoids very dangerous especially if coupled with B2 Keep on the Borderlands. 
5. The war depicted in this module, The Grand Duchy of Karameikos, has all of its moving parts & pieces in place. 
6. The forces of  Karameikos, are going to need all of the outside help they can get that's where the PC's form the internal chain. 
7. The wizard of B8 might have vital information to the cause of the PC's and done correctly this might spur them on. 
8. The wilderness of both B10 & B8 could hide any number of mini dungeons & these are the perfect bits for any campaign side quests. 
9. Be sure to take full advantage of the random encounter & weather tables when running these two modules. 
10. The PC's could become military spies or assets for Karameikos,& the DM should take full advantage of this. 

Commentary On An OSR Combination of B10 Night's Dark Terror, & I6 Ravenloft As Fodder For Old School Campaigns

So I was talking with a friend of mine whose home for the Easter holiday today. He's a dungeon master of some experience & with an old school background. He was talking about using B10 Night's Dark Terror as the fodder for the lands surrounding the AD&D 1st edition classic I6 Ravenloft. This gives the over all campaign the look and feel of a wild Hammer style pseudo Russian or old world country without giving up the classic D&D Gothic feel. There are several reasons why this could work and work very well; one of which is because "Night's Dark Terror was designed specifically for campaigns transitioning from the D&D Basic Set to the D&D Expert Set. The player characters (PCs) journey from a farmstead into uncharted wilderness, where they encounter new hazards and contend with a secret society"



Apparently John got so fed up with his players knowing everything there is about the Ravenloft box set that he went back to the original source material where "PC's travel by river and over mountains, from the Grand Duchy of Karameikos to the chaotic lands. The characters encounter a town under siege by goblins, a ruined city, and a lost valley" . This means that the PC's are traveling through the fringes of the  lands of Count Strahd von Zarovich without arousing too much suspicions of the royal notice of the Count. "The module begins in a beleaguered farmstead. The PCs then explore more than 20,000 square miles (52,000 km²) of wilderness, with eighteen locations, including a number of mini-dungeons, a ruined city, a riverside village, a frontier town, and a lost valley, with the minions of the Iron Ring waiting for the PCs at every step." So is the Iron Ring one of the power blocks behind the mundane rise of  Strahd's rise to power. This could be hinted at the the gypsy camp on the Barovia borderlands. PC's are likely to encounter zombies, wolves, ghouls, ghosts, and other creatures. This helps to set the stage for the Gothic horror of  I6 & the tragic tale of love, lust, lost and more.

The combination of the two modules adds gravitas to the backstory of Strahd as well. "The master of nearby Castle Ravenloft, Count Strahd von Zarovich, tyrannically rules the country, and a prologue explains that the residents must barricade their doors each night to avoid attacks by Strahd and his minions. The Burgomaster's mansion is the focus of these attacks, and, for reasons that are not initially explained, Strahd is after the Burgomaster's adopted daughter, Ireena Kolyana." Its almost as if the countryside takes on the characteristics of the infamous vampire when the two modules are combined. Therefore the sum is now greater then the individual parts.


The DM gets the best of all possible worlds with this approach. Several mini dungeons & devilishly delightful mini wilderness encounters along with a mini dungeon crawl at lower levels that set's everything in the heat of the moment. There a little bit of everything before the main set up for the final show down with Strahd. 

 All in all this sounds like on paper a great way of having the best of all worlds by using this sort of old school hybrid approach. A bit of a Gothic guided wilderness crawl with lots of subtle changes that don't change the combination of awesomeness that is these two old school classics. 

An Alternative Campaign Path For B10 Night's Dark Terror by Jim Bambra, Graeme Morris, & Phil Gallagher

"Barely one day's march from Kelven, the uncharted tracts of the Dymrak forest conceal horrors enough to freeze the blood of civilized folk. Those who have ventured there tell how death comes quick to the unwary - for the woods at night are far worse than any dungeon. 

But you are adventurers, veterans of many battles, and the call of the will is strong. Will you answer the call, or are you afraid of the dark terrors of the night?

This campaign adventure is for characters just beginning Expert play (levels 2-4) and hurls them into the exciting outdoor world which awaits in the Expert rulebook. "
B10 Night's Dark Terror by Jim Bambra, Graeme Morris, &  Phil Gallagher show cases everything that Mentzer's Expert Dungeons & Dragons set was meant to do. That is drown the PC's into a situation that will test the players to their limits. DM'ed correctly & this adventure could take the PC's into some solidly dangerous situations & could result in a TPK.




This module premiered in '86 & there's a unique history behind its publication; "B10: Night’s Dark Terror (1986), by the TSR UK crew of Jim Bambra, Graeme Morris, and Phil Gallagher, was the tenth adventure produced for the D&D Basic Set (1981). It was also a return to basics after the home office in Wisconsin had stopped producing new Basic Set adventures in 1985. It was published in February 1986."
B10: Night’s Dark Terror (1986), presents the wilderness as both foe & setting for a mid range party of adventurers & it does an excellent job of presenting the adventures with an 'edge of the  frontier' setting that reminds me of the best of Robert H Howard's "Beyond the Black River" The player's PC's are literally up to their necks in the depths of a hostile environment. They'll need to be fast, quick witted, & wily to survive the machinations of the module. The DM needs to pay attention to the contents of this adventure & yes I said contents; "With a 64-page booklet, 2 double-panel covers, and complete scans of the orioginal double-sided mapsheet, this super-module provides all you need for epic wilderness and dungeon adventuring." The journey across the Grand Duchy of Karameikos is a very dangerous one indeed for the players are going to need their wits about them. There are several instances where the updated fan made maps available from the Piazza are a must.  Created by Sarastro Magnifico
The module is basically an adventure tour of the campaign setting of the the Grand Duchy of Karameikos & the DM has to keep the action moving. Done correctly & this module goes like an 80's action movie. All of the while it show cases many of the advantages of Mentzer D&D Expert Rules highlights & really showcases the streamlining of the systems. 



But I want to bring up the Graeme Davis review of Night's Dark Terror from White Dwarf No. 78 from the B10 wiki entry; 

"Graeme Davis reviewed Night's Dark Terror for White Dwarf No. 78. Davis felt that the farmstead in the adventure's opening was nicely detailed, and that the counters to play out the action on the 25mm scale map for that location were a nice idea. He commented on the plot of the adventure, "There is enough here to keep the fastest-moving party going for some time, and a section of suggestions for further adventures can help the GM to open out a long-running campaign in the area."^[2] Davis did note that the numbering system for wilderness locations was confusing, with an example where a location has one designation at one part in the module, and at a later point the location has a different designation which does not correspond with anything on the map. However, Davis felt that everything else in the module was written and laid out very well, and that the module would be a tremendous help for any game master learning the Expert rules"
This confusion with the wilderness locations on the maps has been corrected in that fan made maps from the Piazza by Sarastro Magnifico. The Dragon's foot site has a good thread of suggestions for running B10 as well.

 But now I've got an idea for slipping in B8: Journey to the Rock as a campaign shake up before continuing onto X10 Red Arrow, Black Shield By  Michael Dobson. Not only does this give the player's a more even adventure path but it gives them time to go up the levels needed to tackle some of the challenges seen in X10. 



Of course this is going to depend upon if they survive the horrors, weirdness, events, & weather of 'B10: Night’s Dark Terror (1986)'. Because B8: Journey to the Rock builds upon the foundations of B10: Night's Dark Terror's wilderness exportation in spades & aces.
There are several reasons to do this: 

1. Using B8: Journey to the Rock with B10 Night's Dark Terror gives the module a frame work to build the campaign upon. 
2. There could be a connection between B10's baddies & the wizard which gives the PC's more puzzles. 
3. The deeper one goes with this there could be ties with X10 Red Arrow, Black Shield By  Michael Dobson's forces. 
4. The campaign context makes the armies of the humanoids very dangerous especially if coupled with B2 Keep on the Borderlands. 
5. The war depicted in this module, The Grand Duchy of Karameikos, has all of its moving parts & pieces in place. 
6. The forces of  Karameikos, are going to need all of the outside help they can get that's where the PC's form the internal chain. 
7. The wizard of B8 might have vital information to the cause of the PC's and done correctly this might spur them on. 
8. The wilderness of both B10 & B8 could hide any number of mini dungeons & these are the perfect bits for any campaign side quests. 
9. Be sure to take full advantage of the random encounter & weather tables when running these two modules. 
10. The PC's could become military spies or assets for Karameikos,& the DM should take full advantage of this. 

Some OSR Thoughts On Using B10 Night's Dark Terror, B2 Keep On The Borderland, & T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil As The Basis For A Campaign In Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea Second Edition

Barely one day's march from Kelven, the uncharted tracts of the Dymrak forest conceal horrors enough to freeze the blood of civilized folk. Those who have ventured there tell how death comes quick to the unwary - for the woods at night are far worse than any dungeon.

But you are adventurers, veterans of many battles, and the call of the will is strong. Will you answer the call, or are you afraid of the dark terrors of the night?


I've had one of those days where I speak to a friend & then we have a go around about a favorite module or two. In this case going over the merits of using Night's Dark Terror as a warm up to the T1The Village of Hommlet & Temple of Elemental Evil.
There are a variety of reasons for this for this but it really gives the PC's a chance to get a first hand nip in the hand with some of the humanoids infesting the wilderness around the Temple. This whole affair will take the PC's from first & beyond the ladder. B10 Night's Dark Terror has a weird sort of Slavic/Russian feel to it & with a bit of flavor tweaking it can be made into a killer Clark Ashton  background piece for the low land forests of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. Harry the PC's trail & give the PC's no time to think about things too closely just outside of the forests near the ruins of the ruined Hyperborean capital.

The tension between the Old Faith & the new in the village takes on a whole new aspect especially given the position of Druids on Hyperborea. This links up with the humanoid raids happening in the surrounding countryside. Then the adventure events  could shift over to B2 Keep On The Borderlands with the monster generators going full blast.



The country folk having only a bit of an insight as to how far events have gone in the past few months & with the ruins of B10 having come back on line the pulpy weirdness cranks up to eleven. Duality of  the Old Faith (druidical) and the New Faith (St Cuthbert) dialing in on the village & the surroundings speak volumes of the corruption bubbling just over in the Moathouse & the tunnels leading into the  temple itself.

This AS&SH's Hyperborea where the remains & ruins of the old world are always two steps away & the quasi IndoEuropean flavor is going to more then a little implied. This is the far end of the spectrum of Earth's former future here & the flavor is dark, gritty, & pulpy. The implications of the fixed locales & adventure events with a multi-episodic structure of B10 Night's Dark Terror suggests the almost dream like fairy tale quality of the adventure.




This basically means that the PC's are going to be dragged through the back end of the wilderness via the various humanoid menaces of the adventure. They're going to need the base of the Keep of the Borderland or village of Hommlet.
Let's quickly talk about the moat house location outpost of the Temple of Elemental Evil which is only two miles from the temple proper. This is a very dangerous & pulpy dungeon location extension & its purely Gary Gygax dungeon design in & out. The place reeks of the seedy, decayed nature of the temple's base evil & purely pagan religion.
This also gives the PC's an opportunity to be murdered by two of my favorite B/X & AS&SH monsters that seldom get mentioned let alone for players to expect. Vampires & werewolves fit the back bone Russian/Eastern European vibe of the B2/B10/ T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil campaign vibe.



Werewolf artwork from the AS&SH rule book & here.

What about B2 The Keep On The Borderlands? Suddenly everything about the place becomes key to maintaining the security of the backwater kingdoms of Hommlet & the surrounding countryside. Does the temple of Elemental Evil hook into the underworld of Underborea? Sure it does because its very nature demands it. The ancient Hutaakans and the Iron Ring slavers are simply an extension of the factions introduced in the Keep & Village. All together forming a union of Chaos & dark forces decisiveness that could bring the whole capital of Hyperborea to its very knees!




Lareth the Beautiful is serving far more then one demonic spider mistress & he has deeper connections to the various spider gods of Underborea. His mythos connections might be far more deep & abiding then the PC's realize especially if he's recast in AS&SH. Could this NPC be an envoy for the faith of the upstart spider demoness Lolth on the distant shores of Hyperborea?


There are some guidelines to help take the dungeon master along the Hyperborea flavor of this weird Sword & Sorcery combination;

• Let the fighters have a bit of a wider range of weaponry especially from AS&SH to give it that Hyperborean flavor
• Give wizards & magic users the widest possible range of minor magics from AD&D 1st edition including cantrips and the like at least till they get to third level then let the patrons begin from AS&SH.
• Clerics should have their gods at their shoulders because of the evils of the temple. They're going to be reactive, proactive, and frankly on edge because of the stakes of the temple's evil
• Hirelings & mercenaries should be a mix of  AS&SH  &  Greyhawk types to show the dimensional instabilities and gate effects of the temples 
• Don't be afraid to use Greyhawk deities as patrons in the classic DCC & ASSH style with lots of weird wrinkles on them. Use DCC magic rules here. Imagine Luz as a patron!? Why would he do that well because he's a dirty double dealing floor flusher of the highest order and he'll turn on his fellow gods in a black cold heart beat.
• AS&SH witches can come in very handy under certain circumstances and a party should have one. They make excellent additions to an adventuring party. 
• Feel free to incorporate the various AS&SH second edition  PC types with all of the bells and whistles intact. The adventure of Temple of  Elemental Evil 's elements will indeed set the tone and background as needed. From traps to major NPC's its all their waiting to take PC's up the long ladder from first through their ending levels.

Why would the T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil be involved with the far shores of Hyperborea? In a word, the high stakes occult powers dwelling under the dungeons of the temple & its ley lines of power in Hyperborea. The fact is that many of the factions of Hyperborea both alive & dead are interested in clawing their way back up the long ladder of royal power including the royal dead of the various Hyperborean lines. While their gone they have not forgotten the taste of power or glory.


Something no one ever talks about is the ambitions of the gods of Greyhawk. These are not static deities & powers here & they desire more worshipers & power always. Theses include the dark gods of Greyhawk & I can easily see the various cults taking a hold of & rooting their rotten way into Hyperborea. This can easily be all of the motivation for the PC's to kick them out of the setting once again.

B10 Night's Dark Terror By Jim Bambra, Graeme Morris, Phil Gallagher For Your Old School Pulp Adventure Campaign

"Barely one day's march from Kelven, the uncharted tracts of the Dymrak forest conceal horrors enough to freeze the blood of civilized folk. Those who have ventured there tell how death comes quick to the unwary - for the woods at night are far worse than any dungeon. But you are adventurers, veterans of many battles, and the call of the will is strong. Will you answer the call, or are you afraid of the dark terrors of the night?

Way back in the early Eighties I read a lot of X men comic books & I noticed that the group did a ton of wilderness based adventures. In fact if you begin looking into super hero comic books & graphic novels there's tons of lost world & such settings thrown into the mix. B10 Night's Dark Terror.  B10: Night’s Dark Terror (1986) was made  the TSR UK brain trust of Jim Bambra, Graeme Morris, and Phil Gallagher. 


B10: Night’s Dark Terror (1986) is an old school adventure that I've used time & again with a wide variety of old school & OSR retroclones. Dungeon mastering B10: Night’s Dark Terror (1986) includes OSR systems like  Dark Albion & Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea 2nd edition recently.

But I can already hear the groans from the reading audience, what the hell does one module have to do with two OSR game systems  & does this tie into the Thirty Year War? Wherever Chaos touches or washes against reality we've got mutation, supernatural issues, and the old Elven hills & pagan groves in some places are still opening upon Fairyland."The characters encounter a town under siege by goblins, a ruined city, and a lost valley" The Elves are doubling down on taking over a wide variety of realities & Fairyland is basically using old fairy rings & ruins across the planes. How does this work?
Fairyland is a rolling planar demi realm accessed as a higher parasitic dimension that touch on other realities.


For my purposes of 'The Otheworld' is another aspect of the realm of Fairyland that reflects the weirdness & the dangerous occult chaos of the other dimensional realm of the Elves. Each & every time these higher parasitic dimensions touch a reality they bring the subtle energies of chaos with them. So essentially each time a cult accesses an aspect of Fairyland it brings these places back into the world along with the chaotic ecological system. Dungeons are not simply created their borne of the chaos of the realm of Fairy.


D&D Supplement IV: Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes (1976), by Rob Kuntz & James Ward, is the fourth of four supplements for the OD&D game. It was published in July 1976 & has a solid roster of Celtic gods & heroes who have fought the powers of Fairyland to a stand still.  The 'Otherworld' is also an origin source of kings, heroes, & the destiny place  of warriors, knights, & wizards.

"The Otherworld was also seen as a source of authority. In the tale Baile in Scáil ("the phantom's ecstatic vision"), Conn of the Hundred Battles visits an Otherworld hall, where the god Lugh legitimizes his kingship and that of his successors.^{[1]"These various rolling dimensional aspects of  'the Otherworld' empower both the adventurers & heroes as well as fuel the whole of Fairyland. The original purpose of the place has been perverted.}
B10: Night’s Dark Terror (1986) is a perfect pulp adventure to use because  this is a transition module and takes PC's into the big leagues! That's right set B10: Night’s Dark Terror (1986) in some back part of Europe in middle of the Pulp Age or  the Golden Age of Superheroes and they're going to get noticed big time! 

Modern weapons are not going to be a huge deciding factor if your adventurer or pulp hero is looking down the business end of an owl bear! Way back in the Eighties many of the independent comic book companies had their own super hero & pulp teams encountering & recruiting wizards, clerics, thieves, etc. from Dungeons & Dragons style worlds into their ranks.

No one batted an eye & the number of Arthurian heroes that Marvel & D.C. used is numerous. The fact is that dungeon masters back in the Seventies & Eighties used whatever mythical or  fictional characters they needed as NPC's.

B10: Night’s Dark Terror (1986) is a stepping stone module & even with modern pulp style adventurers is going to be a challenge. With the Amazing Adventures! rpg from Troll Lord Games the challenge will be keeping the PCs alive to get to the back bone of this adventure!

A Totally Different Take On B10 Night's Dark Terror By Jim Bambra, Graeme Morris, Phil Gallagher For Your Old School Campaign

"Barely one day's march from Kelven, the uncharted tracts of the Dymrak forest conceal horrors enough to freeze the blood of civilized folk. Those who have ventured there tell how death comes quick to the unwary - for the woods at night are far worse than any dungeon.
But you are adventurers, veterans of many battles, and the call of the will is strong. Will you answer the call, or are you afraid of the dark terrors of the night?"

So I've been thinking of aligning the events of the  Thirty Years War  with B10 Night's Dark Terror.  B10: Night’s Dark Terror (1986) was made  the TSR UK brain trust of Jim Bambra, Graeme Morris, and Phil Gallagher.  You can't possibly use B10 with the Lion & Dragon rpg system?! Right? Wrong given the fact that there are a few improvements in black powder weapons, medicine,etc. from the Medieval period its not a stretch to move the time line forward a bit after the Rose War. Cut the reload time in half, adjust some of the healing checks, update the maps, revamp the religious issues & your ready to go! The Thirty Years war is perfect campaign fodder. We'll see where religion plays it hand in this campaign!
"The Thirty Years' War was a war fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648."  Why would Night's Dark Terror work for a Dark Europe game? Fairyland has suffered extensively during the history of the world up till this time. Well sort of.
Fairyland is a collection of heavens, Hells, & pure Chaos where the dreams & souls of mankind are the stuff supernatural fuel. Given the religious nature of the Thirty Years War well this is perfect fodder for bringing goblins back into the world. Certain groups of Elves have been using the cover of the war to move among humanity almost undetected. Wherever Chaos touches or washes against reality we've got mutation, supernatural issues, and the old Elven hills & pagan groves in some places are still opening upon Fairyland. So the Elven courts are taking full advantage of the foolishness of Humanity & in someplaces opening the gates to Fairyland where their own alien wilderness is taking over! That's right Night's Dark Terror is the Elves uncovering the ruins of a former fortress right in the middle of their realm that hasn't been used in centuries. They're going to feed on the souls of those fools who fall into the wilderness to expand their own empire. This means that Night's Dark Terror could be set in Hungry, Bohemia, Austria, or the Black Forrest of Germany.


 

Don't forget this is a wilderness crawl and it can swallow entire parties quite easily and even with black powder weapons parties can easily die in the blackness of this adventure. I would probably set B10 Night's Dark Terror in the realms of the Hungarian wilderness. The elements of the slavers and more cry out for it. The realms of  Russia are way too far away from the clash of the Thirty Years war. When could this adventure be set? Right around the time of the Bohemian Revolution of 1618.
"The Bohemian Revolt (1618–1620) was an uprising of the Bohemian estates against the rule of the Habsburg dynasty that began the Thirty Years' War. It was caused by both religious and power disputes."
The Thirty Years War is just starting, events are far more up in the air in Europe then they've ever been. And there's rumors of the Devil about in every nock and cranny of Europe especially around the Czech lands.


But B10 Night's Dark Terror is a second level to forth level adventure & players want an adventure path right back into something resembling a character level  ascendancy. Fear not because by using Gary Gygax's  B2 Keep On The Borderlands its possible to get the PC's right into the thick of events!  The PC's are minor noble or upper class adventurers who get themselves sent onto the border of Bohemia or Hungry to look into rumors of supernatural horror. The woods, dungeons, etc of the Caves of Chaos are actually in Fairyland. The keep itself has been touched by the forces of Chaos & everything begins to come together from there. The PC's are low ranking royals whom the various families want out from under foot. They have the important job of investigating the border and they're out of the way of the events of the new Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II, coming to power!


B2 could get PC's up to level second or even third level but B10 Night's Dark Terror is perfect for shunting PC's with Elven fairy slavers taking full advantage of the chaos & fog of war. Even with black powder weapons its not going to make a blind bit of difference against an owlbear or worse.


So why use B10 Night's Dark Terror for Thirty Years War Campaign? Because this is a transition module and takes PC's into the big leagues. Should they survive they'll know of the dangers & possible alien threat that Fairy posses to the world of men. Beyond the petty religious squabbles of Europe there are alien things nipping at the heels of the world.


So how does a dungeon master deal with the serious nature of the Thirty Years War? There are lots of old wounds & prickly bits to deal with. That's actually very simple, you treat them as you would with a bit of humor & go the route of the classic BCC Black Adder television show. Have a good time and make sure everyone is open season and I do mean everyone! Don't leave your players hanging!



Don't worry dear readers I haven't abandoned Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. We've got a hook up campaign & adventure point coming up!

Expanding The Campaign Frontier With B10 Night's Dark Terror by Jim Bambra, Graeme Morris, and Phil Gallagher For Your Old School Sword & Sorcery Campaigns

Barely one day's march from Kelven, the uncharted tracts of the Dymrak forest conceal horrors enough to freeze the blood of civilized folk. Those who have ventured there tell how death comes quick to the unwary - for the woods at night are far worse than any dungeon.

But you are adventurers, veterans of many battles, and the call of the will is strong. Will you answer the call, or are you afraid of the dark terrors of the night?
Night's Dark Terror is the module for campaign expansion after your traditional Keep on the Borderlands introduction module run through & the next connecting module Horror on the Hill. Night's Dark Terror pulls the PC's into what remains of the ruins of an empire long gone to seed but vital enough to kill them quite easily.
"This campaign adventure is for characters just beginning Expert play (levels 2-4) and hurls them into the exciting outdoor world which awaits in the Expert rulebook.

With a 64-page booklet, 2 double-panel covers, and complete scans of the orioginal double-sided mapsheet, this super-module provides all you need for epic wilderness and dungeon adventuring. Journey across the Grand Duchy of Karameikos in a desperate race against time and the forces of evil."B10 Night's Dark Terror is one of my all time favorites because it's a true location based adventure & its got the look plus the feel of the classic Conan novels with an over arching Russian look about it. It can be used as a point crawl or hex crawl or as a full up action oriented adventure with a classic siege mentality about it. There are mysteries, weird events, plenty of unresolved adventure elements, & political intrigue. Sure I've written about Night's Dark Terror before. But I'm going to take this in a slightly different direction.



Night's Dark Terror brings several things to the table in terms of what it can do for the PC's:

• This is also a great module to let those rangers & scouts shine at what they do in their classic elements. This module also has plenty of hooks for a shaman or druid to come into their own for a party of classic 
• The action is pretty high enabling a DM to keep the encounters dangerous and yet build up their campaign world within the adventure context. 
•  As a Dungeon master you get an entire mini-campaign in 56 pages, and it's the type of by the seat of your pants action I like, complete with mystery, a siege, and a pulp-style Conan lost valley.

This means that Night's Dark Terror can be used to expand the frontier/wilderness of your own home campaign. This wilderness is the 'dark wood' of so many fairy tales & pulp adventures. The placement of  Night's Dark Terror in campaign world has one very interesting factor about it. The adventure takes place almost but just out of reach of the capital of Mystara. You can see this in Mystara Module and Placement by Andrew Theisen  at the Vaults of Pandius site. This means that all of action takes place just out sight of the campaign world's capital & help isn't coming. It also indicates an empire gone to seed as the wilderness has crept back to get an almost strangle hold around the throat of civilization.
The fact is that throughout the Night's Dark Terror there's a sense of the pulpy Sword & Sorcery  weird that runs throughout it. Things are over the edge of the strange wilderness & the PC's are in way over their heads. This is another of those modules that seems dangerous to many levels of  player characters because of the type of monsters and the danger the at PC's seem to face at every turn. There's a sense of the authentically violence that seems to bubble just under the surface of B10 that gives the adventure gravity implied in Keep On Borderlands a reality during play.


The wilderness surrounding the Keep could mate up with the events of 'Horror on The Hill' & then B10 Night's Dark Terror for a sprawling wilderness campaign with plenty of room for even more ruins & dungeons to be thrown in. I had a sense reading through Night's Dark Terror of Clark Ashton Smith's  Hyperborean cycle whispering in my ear. I felt like there would be shrines to the toad-god Tsathoggua sprinkled near some of the trails that the PC's tread.


This is one of the strengths of the module is how adaptable it is for campaigns & even retroclones. The fact is with  few elements of CAS thrown in Night's Dark Terror could be mated up with events happening around or near the borders of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerer's capital.  The reason for this adaptability of the adventure is because it serves as bridge gap between B/X Basic D&D & Expert. This was done by the team of authors who would later on go on to create the seminal Warhammer Fantasy Rpg.

 There has been an issue with missing maps in the past with Night's Dark Terror but thanks to thread on Dragon's foot that's not a problem.

Thanks to member Mike:
"Here is what I found on the Vaults of Pandius:
Replica map of The Lost Valley of Hutaaka from B10 by Thorfinn Tait, from the Mystara Message Board posted 16 May 2006.
Replica map of Foamfire Valley from B10 by Thorfinn Tait, from the Mystara Message Board posted 14 May 2006."


B10 Night's Dark Terror could be used in conjunction with  Dark Albion to create the beyond the edge of empire feel with both Keep On The Borderland & B5 Horror on The Hill. The events of  the War of the Roses might not have happened.. yet. The PC's however have been dealing with the forces of Cults of Chaos for months before hand lending them a sense of wisdom of the depth & corruption of Chaos.


This is part of the flexibility & the customization factor that allows early modules to remain classics for a reason. In fact with a little work B10 Night's Dark Terrors can be one of the pivot modules in a DM's collection allowing them to set up multiple events helping to build a dangerous wilderness frontier where death is only a knife's blade away.


Ten Ways That B10 Night's Dark Terror Can Work For You

1. Cults, factions, slavers are all in the module waiting to be expanded and fleshed out as powers of incredible potential for campaign play. 
2. Lots of room for sticking in your favorite set of ruins or lost super science artifacts in a dungeon. 
3. The module can even be used as a  Assault on Precinct 13 or edge of the wilderness Western style adventure set in a dark fantasy world. 
4. Up the fairy tale elements and add in horror for a Ravenloft style Gothic edge of the wilderness horror survival adventure.This works well with Lamentations of The Flame Princess. 
5. Turn up the volume on the lost world cult for a far more conspiracy style game to weird out the players. 
6. Set B10 during a post apocalyptic game for a twist on the Gamma World classic adventure. Thundarr & Moks not included and sold separately. 
7. Change up the Russian elements and add in more Fiend Folio monsters for a completely weird fantasy realm. 
8. Add in traveling ancient Chinese merchants to form a bridge gap into another Orientialist sword & sorcery realm. New factions can be created for the expanding frontier feel. 
9. Exploit the native NPC's by the slavers for an almost but not quite quasi historical feel.  
10. Expand the wilderness for more 'old world' European encounters but add in more Lovcraftian cults to up the weirdness & pulp. 

Commentary On An OSR Combination of B10 Night's Dark Terror, & I6 Ravenloft As Fodder For Old School Campaigns

So I was talking with a friend of mine whose home for the Easter holiday today. He's a dungeon master of some experience & with an old school background. He was talking about using B10 Night's Dark Terror as the fodder for the lands surrounding the AD&D 1st edition classic I6 Ravenloft. This gives the over all campaign the look and feel of a wild Hammer style pseudo Russian or old world country without giving up the classic D&D Gothic feel. There are several reasons why this could work and work very well; one of which is because "Night's Dark Terror was designed specifically for campaigns transitioning from the D&D Basic Set to the D&D Expert Set. The player characters (PCs) journey from a farmstead into uncharted wilderness, where they encounter new hazards and contend with a secret society"



Apparently John got so fed up with his players knowing everything there is about the Ravenloft box set that he went back to the original source material where "PC's travel by river and over mountains, from the Grand Duchy of Karameikos to the chaotic lands. The characters encounter a town under siege by goblins, a ruined city, and a lost valley" . This means that the PC's are traveling through the fringes of the  lands of Count Strahd von Zarovich without arousing too much suspicions of the royal notice of the Count. "The module begins in a beleaguered farmstead. The PCs then explore more than 20,000 square miles (52,000 km²) of wilderness, with eighteen locations, including a number of mini-dungeons, a ruined city, a riverside village, a frontier town, and a lost valley, with the minions of the Iron Ring waiting for the PCs at every step." So is the Iron Ring one of the power blocks behind the mundane rise of  Strahd's rise to power. This could be hinted at the the gypsy camp on the Barovia borderlands. PC's are likely to encounter zombies, wolves, ghouls, ghosts, and other creatures. This helps to set the stage for the Gothic horror of  I6 & the tragic tale of love, lust, lost and more.

The combination of the two modules adds gravitas to the backstory of Strahd as well. "The master of nearby Castle Ravenloft, Count Strahd von Zarovich, tyrannically rules the country, and a prologue explains that the residents must barricade their doors each night to avoid attacks by Strahd and his minions. The Burgomaster's mansion is the focus of these attacks, and, for reasons that are not initially explained, Strahd is after the Burgomaster's adopted daughter, Ireena Kolyana." Its almost as if the countryside takes on the characteristics of the infamous vampire when the two modules are combined. Therefore the sum is now greater then the individual parts.


The DM gets the best of all possible worlds with this approach. Several mini dungeons & devilishly delightful mini wilderness encounters along with a mini dungeon crawl at lower levels that set's everything in the heat of the moment. There a little bit of everything before the main set up for the final show down with Strahd.

 All in all this sounds like on paper a great way of having the best of all worlds by using this sort of old school hybrid approach. A bit of a Gothic guided wilderness crawl with lots of subtle changes that don't change the combination of awesomeness that is these two old school classics. 

Adapting & Exploiting B5 Horror On The Hill, B8 Journey To The Rock, & B10 Night's Dark Terror For An Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea & Adventurer, Conqueror, King Rpg System Domain Level Mega Wilderness Campaign

Imagine the the wilderness of such depth that not even the sun can occasionally shine between the trees, fill it with blood thirsty children of demons, giants, and stir with a pulpy spoon waiting for adventurers to venture into the darkness. This is the set up for a sword & sorcery mix of the 'B' series of modules jumping off after the PC's have completed the iconic Keep On The Borderlands. The PC's are brought into the cross hairs of B5 The Horror on The Hill;""The end of the road. A lonely fort stands on the banks of a mighty river. It is here the hardy bands of adventurers gather to plan their conquests of The Hill, the hulking mass that looms over this tiny settlement.

The Hill is filled with monsters, they say, and an evil witch makes her home there. Still, no visitor to The Hill has ever returned to prove the rumors true or false. The thrill of discovery is too great to pass up, and only the river stands in the way. The adventurers' boat is waiting!" This is the beginning of the affair as they push into the temperate and unforgiving wilderness. Here the old ruins lay after the Green Death has taken down everything. The wilderness has come to reclaim everything and ruins are overgrown with the weight of ages. Scattered like islands of civilization are minor city states & kingdoms that have endured the centuries. Half inbred & decedent nobble families vie in warfare that only weakens them and ancient horrors from beyond the Outer Darkness prowl the forests.



There are towns(more like settlements) that have sprung up here and there along the rivers. But there are dark things in the night, "The Hill is filled with monsters, they say, and an evil witch makes her home there. Still, no visitor to The Hill has ever returned to prove the rumors true or false. The thrill of discovery is too great to pass up, and only the river stands in the way."  Here you put together the ingredients for a fully realized sword & sorcery campaign. The legacy of Hyperborea is just under the roots of trees that have sprung up. The half breed remains of a once proud people are found in the forests while the degenerate remains of the giants children the hobgoblins seek your life at every turn then there is the matter of the witch
& her machinations.

There is life beyond death, I know, and I know this, too, Conan of Cimmeria"--she rose lithely to her knees and caught him in a pantherish embrace--"my love is stronger than any death! I have lain in your arms, panting with the violence of our love; you have held and crushed and conquered me, drawing my soul to your lips with the fierceness of your bruising kisses. My heart is welded to your heart, my soul is part of your soul! Were I still in death and you fighting for life, I would come back to the abyss to aid you--aye, whether my spirit floated with the purple sails on the crystal sea of paradise, or writhed in the molten flames of hell! I am yours, and all the gods and all their eternities shall not sever us!"
Robert Howard "Queen of the Black Coast" (1934)

There are rumors in some of the forest villages of Lirdrium Arkayz a wizard who seeks to know about the Hyperborean ruin know as the Rock. "The road to The Rock leads to danger and hidden peril - dangers that have claimed the lives of many brave adventurers. Rashness and folly will lead to quick death, but riches await the clever and the brave." this is the talk of old women & cunning folk. There are forest demons and other horrors that await the brave or foolish if they journey to the Rock. There are many leagues between here and that pile of rot and ruin.

The city state of Tuma has many opportunities for the wise and willing adventurer, the Rock is a place of death and destruction though, its trails and byways are dangerous & deadly.



But the wilds and wilderness of this trackless country has many challenges including the impenetrable Dymrak forest where rumors of cults, strange things & even trolls await you fools after growing fat & foolish sampling the pleasures of the city of Kelven. "Barely one day's march from Kelven, the uncharted tracts of the Dymrak forest conceal horrors enough to freeze the blood of civilized folk. Those who have ventured there tell how death comes quick to the unwary - for the woods at night are far worse than any dungeon.

But you are adventurers, veterans of many battles, and the call of the wild is strong. Will you answer the call, or are you afraid of the dark terrors of the night?"

So this sort of a sword & sorcery campaign cycle for use with Astonishing Swords & Sorcerers of Hyperborea or Adventurer, Conqueror, King. This grouping of modules provides the DM with hundreds of miles of manageable wilderness set in a proto Russian campaign setting rife with opportunity and danger. Here the sun doesn't even touch the ground! There are influences of Hyperborean, Norse, Russian, and far weirder influences still.


How does this work? Well this series of modules is put together in a rather large stretch of wilderness kingdoms that have become intertwined with the Green Death. Huge swath of abandoned cities, ruins, etc. have returned to the wilderness. This is prime real estate waiting for the right adventurers to carve out their own domains but even while Hyperborea has gone on with itself. These lands have become reoccupied & inhabited by monsters, men, and demons. This is the perfect time to introduce monsters from the Fiend Folio Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition into Hyperborea especially those monsters with an Eastern or Near Eastern Russian style flare. Everything from throat leeches to apparitions are perfect fodder to throw in. They'll be completely unexpected and very dangerous to PC's.


So how do these old school resources match up and why go this route? Well there are several reasons why this is going to work and work out very well. The fact is that each of the above modules have factions, ideas, adventure hooks, etc. all relating to the wilderness elements of old school gaming. Here's ten reasons why the 'B' series is perfect adventure fodder for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea:

1. Horror on the Hill has some really choice pulpy elements that a DM can exploit & use to motivate his adventurers and especially the players. These factions and encounters are really well done if used correctly. The wilderness is actually manageable for the DM even though it looks 'huge' on paper. 
2. Classic adventure can be given the AS&SH twist to get the players to be a bit off guard especially if they've played these classics before. Look to mythology and legend for a plethora of influences that you can use. 
3. Journey To The Rock can be twisted a bit to provide further adventure hooks by limiting the paths or later opening them up for more adventure! The plots hooks & encounters are already built in. 
4. The expanding frontier of adventure is perfect for the adventurers to actually be the ones to be exploited instead of the natives! This means they might end up penniless and very desparate! 
5. Picts and minor undead are your friends! Have a favorite Russian or Mongolian animal? Create a fictional tribe of NPC's based on it and go to town! Twist the Picts by making them far more 'civilized' then the city state dwellers! Turn the city state into a cannibal nation ala Edgar Rice Burroughs. 
6. Do you have dungeon or adventure location of ruins that you've always wanted to run? Now is the opportunity to throw it into the mix. With miles of abandoned cities and ruins there is the opportunity to throw in anything and get away with it. 
7. Witches, hags, and horrors are perfect NPC's to throw at the players these are corner stones of this style of adventure campaign. Conan literally ran into hundreds of these in the Marvel comics and magazines. Perfect excuse to exploit these for your gain. There is a strong Norse influence felt throughout this sort of a campaign. Use tons of NPC's with these influences to help reinforce the adventure aesthetic. Traders, merchants, slave traders are all found wandering though and selling their wares.
8. Never underestimate the power of Indian or Mongolian monsters. There are literally hundreds of these monsters that never get used in traditional D&D games now is the time to change that. These can be used as boss monsters especially with Adventurer, Conqueror, King's sink of evil rules!
9. Vampire species make perfect Hyperborean undead nobles and horrors use them. 
10. There are several Lovecraftian elements in these adventures use each and everyone of them to their fullest extent. 

 When in doubt turn back to Robert Howard  or your favorite sword & sorcery author for even more ideas. These three adventures have tons of wilderness or hex crawling goodness and can be used to weave together an entire wilderness mega campaign!

"Conan stood paralyzed in the disruption of the faculties which demoralizes anyone who is confronted by an impossible negation of sanity." Robert Howard "The Devil in Iron" (1934)