Commentary On B11 King's Festival (Basic D&D ) By Carl Sargent For Your Old School Campaigns

 "Someone has "borrowed" a cleric, and without him, the fabled King's Festival cannot go on. Unfortunately, it looks like the orcs have him, and your characters must rescue him."

I had an email request for B11 King's Harvest & while I have covered B11 in the past I wanted to do a fresh blog post on this classic module.  B11 King's Festival is by Carl Sargent can be seen as one of those modules that attempted to revive the Basic Dungeons & Dragons line of product at TSR during the '89 era. I have a very storied history with this module because of its Basic Dungeons & Dragons roots. The fact that its deeply rooted in Mystara or more importantly in as an  introduction to the Grand Duchy of Karameikos. This module can be seen as the Grand Duchy of Karameikos lite in a sense. The whole adventure centers around the region as a whole. The dungeon master has enough details to fill in all of the little layers of B11 with each of the classic elements of Dungeons & Dragons. All of the ins & outs of dungeon crawling along with investigative old school play is highlighted in B11 King's Festival.


While B11 King's Festival seems like its a straight forward adventure module, B11 in fact supplies all of the classic Dungeons & Dragons elements in one very tightly run adventure package. There's enough here to keep a minor Basic Dungeons & Dragons campaign going for months of game play. The overview of the module has the plot revolving around the major big bad at the center of the module. The truth is that B11 King's Festival if used right will put the PC's center stage for the royals in the Grand Duchy of Karameikos & not simply as flavor of the month. That is if they survive the experience & here's where the module really shines. This is another Basic D&D module that takes the PC's into the Dungeons & Dragons Mystara experience. The fact is that on the whole B11 King's Festival by Carl Sargent is a good set of 1st through 3rd guidelines on actually making, creating, & running a classic Dungeons & Dragons adventure. Scattered throughout B11 are tables, references, charts, & advice for actually becoming a better player & dungeon master. Today B11 King's
Festival almost seems forgotten & that's a shame because its a quality low level dungeon crawl adventure romp as much as an introduction adventure module.

For running B11 King's Festival through an OSR retroclone system there are a number of OSR systems on the table including B/X Rules Cyclopedia Dungeons & Dragons. B11 is a fairly easy to run introduction to the Basic Dungeons & Dragons game on its own. All of the classic D&D elements are here in force & the module moves quickly at a brisk pace. The dungeon master is going to have to be on his or her game when running B11 King's Festival. Taken as a whole the module will leave the PC's right in the middle of & at the attention of the royals of the Grand Duchy of Karameikos! This might not be a good thing depending upon the module's event's outcome. PC's may want to tread this path carefully.

OSR Commentary & Review - The Quest for the Silver Sword Adventure By William W. Connors For Basic Dungeons & Dragons

"Evil magic is afoot!

On what should be the hottest day of the year, snow blankets the tiny village of Torlynn. The winter weather wreaks its havoc week after week, and the people of Torlynn are forced to abandon their homes. Only a few hardy souls remain in the village, one being Burgomaster Gustovan.

So far the burgomaster's plans to save his town have failed, and now he has but one chance left to save his people. Gustovan seeks the aid of a band of young adventurers. If they can uncover the force lurking in the ruins of Barrik's Keep and destroy the cause of the vile curse, all will be well again. If they fail, no one will be left alive in Torlynn to mourn them."

"Quest for the Silver Sword" (1992), by William W. Connors, is the first Thunder Rift adventure. It was published in January 1992. But what is it really?! Simply another forgotten BASIC Dungeons & Dragons adventure or is there far more too this adventure then what it seems to be?!
This is an adventure designed to attack the PC's where it hurts in the players. This adventure was/is part of the black box Basic Dungeons & Dragons adventuring packages. According to the Drivethrpg blurb," This adventure is suited for a group of four to six characters of 2nd or 3rd level." Well, this was a part of the '92 revision of Dungeons & Dragons into the black box Basic edition of the game;
"In April 1991, TSR released The New Easy-to-Master Dungeons & Dragons Game (1991), an introductory D&D game better known as the black box. It was wildly successful, introducing many new players to the D&D game. So, TSR had to figure out how best to expand it. A series of black-boxed "adventure packs" (1992) were the most obvious expansions because they matched the style and contents of the original box. However, TSR also released some more traditional supplements, of which "Quest for the Silver Sword" (1992) was the first."
This is one of the adventure packages that actually manages to sneak in how to run an investigative dungeon crawl into the Basic D&D game. Back in the 90's I got roped into running Basic Dungeons & Dragons for a number of much younger  kids after school. Those kids are now dungeon masters of their own & we still get together for adult beverages from time to time. That's how much of a sense of social play & comradeship that the 'grand game' can create. You see  Black box Dungeons & Dragons is one of the best kept Basic secrets.  I picked up my copy for less then ten bucks back in '04 for five bucks at a Toyworks in Torrington,Ct.


So why is this one of the best kept secrets in the hobby? Because it came packed with everything you needed to get started in the hobby except players. According to the Board Game Geek entry   the contents went something like this;

"The new D&D Basic revised edition that guides the RPG rookies through the first 5 levels of experience. It features pull-out cards detailing basic monsters and dragons, a dungeon map and cardboard stand-ups to play in a boardgame way and a simple dungeon adventure for inexperienced players and Dungeon Masters.
64 page rulebook, Dragon Card learning pack DM Screen, 48 stand-ups, dice and maps."
The Quest For the Silver Sword  has concise writing in an attractive & well made package. It complements the The New Easy-to-Master Dungeons & Dragons Game (1991) quite well as an expansion delivering some really cool twists & turns.



Curse of the Silver Sword adventure package came with stand up minis & two excellent maps, the adventure basically about a village that was descending into Eternal Winter because of a magical curse. But we get a lot of background on "Barrik's Keep" & the town of Torlynn. There's lots of hooks here to connect into both the setting of the Thunder Rift & back history of Mystara. The monsters of the module were nasty pieces of work that attacks add to the player's grief  about failing their saving throws!
You can get a bit of the feel of the setting from here but if your a player of this adventure stay the Hell out! Seriously don't make the dungeon master's job any harder.
The Thunder Rift region and Timeline  by Håvard  from the Vaults of Pandius has some very nice deeper background. And the Whose Who of Thunder Rift has some of the major NPC players of the area mapped out & its from Kyle Knight.
There was a question about Lizardmen on Facebook for old school or OSR Dungeons & Dragons. Lizardmen in the Thunder Rift get a bit of the lime light in this article by phoneixmcl.

The Quest For The Silver Sword presents a mini dungeon & adventure setting perfect to get players started a bit further down the path of level progression & into a higher standard of Basic play. The adventure itself is quite nicely laid out for an investigative game with a bit of action on both sides of it. The monsters are interesting & the region has lots of potential for dungeon master exploitation.

Could the Quest For the Silver Sword be used in OSR retroclone systems?! The answer is yes! Because of the very modular nature of the adventure package set up & marketing there's a bit of prep but a clever dungeon master could use both this adventure & the entire Thunder Rift region within their home games. The fact is that the Thunder Rift is so prototypical of a Dungeons & Dragons region that I've had players want to take it over for themselves as a domain.

 If you want to introduce the kids to Dungeons & Dragons then I highly suggest Black Box, its easy to get into & lots of goodies to keep the play going for years to come. Quest of the Silver Sword does the job of being a mid point adventure without being overly twee or stupid. It hits the high points & keeps things going without talking down to its audience or taking steps back with the players.

OSR Review & Commentary On The Book of Manos: A Grimoire of Handy Spells By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler

"The Book of Manos: A Grimoire of Handy Spells is a 16-page PDF that expands upon the classic “hand” and “fist” magic-user spells, providing a legendary historical context in which to fit them; guidelines on their use; 21 new magic-user spells; six new Manos-based magic items (including the infamous relic, the “Hand of Manos”); and not one but three Manos entities that a magic-user can evoke to gain power when casting Manos spells – though often at the peril of one’s soul!"

"Manos Fatidicas, the purported creator of the many spells that bear his name, is known only through myth and legend. He was active in the early days of the Empire, long before its fall and the rise of the Barbarian Realms and Successor Kingdoms. He was said to have been destined to weave great magic which created disembodied hands and fists, as his very name, “Manos Fatidicas,” translates in an ancient dialect as “Hands of Fate.” Some sages dispute these legends, however, and say that the stories about “Manos Fatidicas,” and even the name itself, were fabricated during the long Dark Age to explain the wide variety of spells of this sort."

The Book of Manos: A Grimoire of Handy Spells By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler, these spells are designed around  the classic “hand” and “fist” magic-user spells, such as Bigby's & the like. The Book of Manos: A Grimoire of Handy Spells with Labyrinth Lord and Advanced Labyrinth Lord. These spells are very much in the vein of many of the weirder & dangerous Eighties spells for Basic or Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition. This isn't a bad thing but rather it takes the material in some rather gonzo directions. 

MANOS SPELLS BY LEVEL
1st: Manos’ Iron Gauntlet (NEW)
1st: Manos’ Jarring Hand
1st: Manos’ Useful Hand (NEW)
2nd: Manos’ Burning Hand (NEW)
2nd: Manos’ Helpful Hand (NEW)
2nd: Manos’ Under Hand (NEW)
3rd: Manos’ Defiant Digit (NEW)
3rd: Manos’ Flaming Fist (NEW)
3rd: Manos’ Crooked Finger (NEW)
4th: Manos’ Malevolent Hand (NEW)
4th: Manos’ Harrying Hand (NEW)
4th: Manos’ Guarding Gauntlet (NEW)
5th: Manos’ Tyrannous Thumb (NEW)
5th: Manos’ Interposing Hand
5th: Manos’ Fists of Fury (NEW)
6th: Manos’ Hurling Hand (NEW)
6th: Manos’ Forceful Hand
6th: Manos’ Upper Hand (NEW)
7th: Manos’ Black Hand (NEW)
7th: Manos’ Grasping Hand
7th: Manos’ Haunting Hand (NEW)
8th: Manos’ Heart-Seeking Hand (NEW)
8th: Manos’ Clenched Fist
8th: Manos’ Mighty Fist (NEW)
9th: Manos’ Crushing Hand
9th: Manos’ Hand of Fate (NEW)
9th: Manos’ Maxima Manus (NEW)
The Book of Manos: A Grimoire of Handy Spells  is a basic send up & expansion upon the whole cloth of the hand spells of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition twisted through the Mishler's lens. But besides the usual sort of gonzo OSR spells these are are actually really well done take for example ;"Manos’ Defiant Digit Level: 3 Duration: 1 round per level Range: 10’ per level This spell creates a large, ghostly, disembodied hand that hovers 10 feet above the head of the caster. The hand performs all manner of inflammatory gestures and obscene motions at the enemies of the caster, such that the enemies of the caster who can see the defiant digit and are within range are infuriated and suffer a -1 penalty to all attacks, damage, saving throws, and morale checks. Conversely, however, the defiant digit gives gestures of encouragement to the caster’s allies, such that allies who are within range gain a bonus of +1 to all attacks, damage, saving throws, and morale checks."
 The Book of Manos: A Grimoire of Handy Spells  makes magic wielders & spell slingers far more useful & weirder. The Book of Manos: A Grimoire of Handy Spells  fits the OSR aesthetic  with gusto. 

I can even see using The Book of Manos: A Grimoire of Handy Spells  in Dungeon Crawl Classic or even Sword & Sorcery OSR Pulp games where PC's need access to spells that are just that more stranger then the usual Dungeons & Dragons lists. Is The Book of Manos: A Grimoire of Handy Spells  worth your time for down load? It depends upon two things in my opinion. One do you as the DM want this school of magic in your game OSR game systems & does it fit your campaign? For me the answer to  The Book of Manos: A Grimoire of Handy Spells is a solid yes! 

Deeper Readings Into Dungeons & Dragons - The Ranks of The Succubus

Now I've spoken about the Wraith of the Immortals box set before but I've been quietly on the side tracing a particular favorite type of demon that I love to use. The Succubus has been a staple of Dungeons & Dragons going all of the way back to Eldritch Wizardry:
"The succubus appeared under the demon entry in the Eldritch Wizardry supplement (1976)" Then they appear in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition Monster Manual in 1977.



 But its when we get into the release of the Wraith of the Immortals box set that things get interesting for me ;"This edition of the D&D game included its own version of the succubus, which is known as the whispering demon, first appearing in the Immortal Rules set, in the DM's Guide to Immortals (1986).^[4] The whispering lesser fiend appeared in the Wrath of the Immortals set, in "Book One: Codex of the Immortals" (1992)"
The name 'whispering demons' describes a phenomenon on two levels of the name. The idea that these demons whisper forbidden secrets of magick & the occult to drive men mad. But the other idea that comes to mind is the idea that these demons whisper into the ears of rulers & kings. They whisper things to sew chaos, bloodshed, insanity, & insanity. A concubine or seductress ( or male paramour)  that shares the bed of a ruler or king's adviser could cause untold harm. Even the folklore & mythology behind the succubus supports this ; "As depicted in the Jewish mystical work Zohar and the medieval rabbinical text Alphabet of Ben Sira, Lilith was Adam's first wife, who later became a succubus.^{[3][unreliable source]} She left Adam and refused to return to the Garden of Eden after she mated with the archangel Samael.^[4] In Zoharistic Kabbalah, there were four succubi who mated with the archangel Samael. There were four original queens of the demons: Lilith, Eisheth, Agrat bat Mahlat, and Naamah.^[5] A succubus may take a form of a beautiful young girl but closer inspection may reveal deformities of her body, such as bird-like claws or serpentine tails.^[6] Folklore also describes the act of sexually penetrating a succubus as akin to entering a cavern of ice, and there are reports of succubi forcing men to perform cunnilingus on their vulvas, which drip with urine and other fluids.^[7] In later folklore, a succubus took the form of a siren.

Throughout history, priests and rabbis, including Hanina Ben Dosa and Abaye, tried to curb the power of succubi over humans.^[8] However, not all succubi were malevolent. According to Walter Map in the satire De Nugis Curialium (Trifles of Courtiers), Pope Sylvester II (999–1003) was allegedly involved with a succubus named Meridiana, who helped him achieve his high rank in the Catholic Church. Before his death, he confessed of his sins and died repentant."

Right now I've talked about one of the more forbidden aspects of the succubus but their ability to reproduce could cause all kinds of havoc with the forbidden aspects of royal birth lines;

"According to the Kabbalah and the school of Rashba, the original three queens of the demons, Agrat Bat Mahlat, Naamah, Eisheth Zenunim, and all their cohorts give birth to children, except Lilith.^[10] According to other legends, the children of Lilith are called Lilin.

According to the Malleus Maleficarum, or "Witches' Hammer", written by Heinrich Kramer (Institoris) in 1486, succubi collect semen from men they seduce. Incubi, or male demons, then use the semen to impregnate human females,^[11] thus explaining how demons could apparently sire children despite the traditional belief that they were incapable of reproduction. Children so begotten – cambions – were supposed to be those that were born deformed, or more susceptible to supernatural influences.^[12] While the book does not address why a human female impregnated with the semen of a human male would not produce regular human offspring, an explanation could be that the semen is altered before being transferred to the female host. However in some lore, the child is born deformed because the conception was unnatural.^{[citation needed]}

King James in his dissertation titled Dæmonologie refutes the possibility for angelic entities to reproduce and instead offered a suggestion that a devil would carry out two methods of impregnating women: the first, to steal the sperm out of a dead man and deliver it into a woman. If a demon could extract the semen quickly, the substance could not be instantly transported to a female host, causing it to go cold. This explains his view that succubi and incubi were the same demonic entity only to be described differently based on the tormented sexes being conversed with. The second method was the idea that a dead body could be possessed by a devil, causing it to rise and have sexual relations with others. However, there is no mention of a female corpse being possessed to elicit sex from men"

I want to go back to the origin point of original Dungeons & Dragons Eldritch Wizardry for a moment. Succubi are some of the most dangerous NPC villains a group of adventurers can encur the wraith of. These beings of the Abyss use every single trick in the book to sew the seeds & fruits of chaos within the hall of power & in the bed chambers of the elite. There were scores of these succubi in the Abyss according to the original demons entry in OD&D's  Eldritch Wizardry book. But where are these demons actually coming from?


What would happen if the endless planes of the Abyss are merely the production facilities for the demonic evil for all of the multiverse of the prime material  planes? The manufacturing point for every demonic entity that exists? These demonic horrors are traded & modified among the evil entities & overlords of the multiverse. While doing research into the succubi I remembered my Dante's Inferno & the Malebolge.  The Abyss could be thought of as the factory or production area for Hell. Hell is the main attraction for the damnation of man across the planes. The succubi & incubui are created from the lustful, the murderous, & the damned from the Malebolge; "In Dante Alighieri's Inferno, part of the Divine Comedy, Malebolge (/mælˈboʊldʒ/) is the eighth circle of Hell. Roughly translated from Italian, Malebolge means "evil ditches". Malebolge is a large, funnel-shaped cavern, itself divided into ten concentric circular trenches or ditches. Each trench is called a bolgia (Italian for "pouch" or "ditch"). Long causeway bridges run from the outer circumference of Malebolge to its center, pictured as spokes on a wheel. At the center of Malebolge is the ninth and final circle of hell." 


Succubus often find themselves traded among demons, devils, gods of evil, etc. but their loyalties always belong to the Abyss. Why? Because the so called 'Prince of Demons' is their lord & ultimate master. Demogorgon might not seem like the likely creator of the Succubi. Make no mistake the Lord of the Ninetieth layer of the Abyss craves power & knowledge above all else. The succubi & incubui are hand picked from the most twisted souls of men & women his demonic lords can find. Then the bizarre & humiliating process of demonic transformation happens. I said his but in reality Demogorgon is beyond our human understand of sex or gender; "

In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting, Demogorgon sometimes goes by the ancient name "Ahmon-Ibor", or "the Sibilant Beast". He is responsible for corrupting the paladin Sir Kargoth and transforming him and thirteen of his fellow Knight Protectors of the Great Kingdom into Oerth's first death knights." And within Mystara, "Demogorgon is described as female in the 1986 Dungeons & Dragons Immortals Rules."

All of this corrisponds to Demogorgon's place in the Abyss & his alien demonic horror nature;

"Demogorgon lives on the 90th layer of the Abyss, known as Abysm, the Brine Flats, or Gaping Maw. This is a layer consisting of a great sea of briny water broken by tall, sharp, ugly, rocky prominences rising out of the endless murky water into a sky of yellow mist. Demogorgon's palace is two twin towers shaped very roughly like tightly coiled serpents that are covered with sharp, ugly fin-like features and spines, and crowned at the top with skull-shaped minarets. The two towers are linked by a bridge near the top. Beneath the fortress are reefs and caverns where aboleths, kraken and ixitxachitl dwell, constantly warring with each other and worshipping Demogorgon in his palace above. His towers are said to extend so far beneath the sea that they connect to the layer beneath him where he speaks with the obyrith lord Dagon.

Numerous isles dot the layer, but they all resemble Demogorgon's palace: twin rookeries rising straight out of the sea and into the sky. The only significant landmass of the layer is a vast jungle-covered continent. Here, Demogorgon's capital city of Lemoriax is located."

What's really happening is that Demogorgon's heads are in telepathic contact with his vast spy network across the multiverse & planes. It rather enjoys spreading its own sinister brand of mayhem plus chaos where & wants to. In fact it loans out succubi to many other powers including various Great Old Ones & Outer Gods. 

DCS Demogorgon from the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 

Monster Manual..

With such a demonic  spy network in place across the multiverse is it any word or turn of a phrase is instantly at the beckon & call of the Abyss. Suddenly those tidbits of information add up to nothing but trouble for those adventurers who come under the  baleful eyes of the Prince of Demons. For no good reason the succubi not only are in the bed chambers of the powerful but in the halls of damnation spying on the very essence of their prey. 

Some OSR Immortal Thoughts on IM2 The Wrath of Olympus (Basic) adventure by Robert J. Blake

"Immortals lie chained atop a mountain in the Broken Lands. Their bonds relentlessly drain their power while demons cavort with glee around the wispy barrier, as strong as any prison.

Have you the courage to embark on a dangerous mission for the materials necessary to craft an artifact? If you survive that task, you must then assume the Identities of legendary heroes of Darokin and face deadly Immortal foes without revealing your Immortality! The demons of Entropy stand between you and your final goal. Have you the power to rescue the imprisoned Immortals and preserve the Prime Plane? The future of the Prime Plane is in your hands!"

Today was one of those days where I was thinking about Mystara & its Immortals especially the IM2 The Wrath of Olympus (Basic) adventure by Robert J. Blake.  This is one of those high level modules that actually answers the age old question of Mystara why are there immortals but no gods. I really wanted to focus on one of the central statements that I came across in the module's Drivethrurpg entry; " Immortals rule author Frank Mentzer first revealed how to create an Immortals adventure in IM1: "The Immortal Storm" (1986). Now, Bob Blake was able to offer an alternative view.

Where Mentzer focused his adventure on the setting by designing a magical mystery tour of the planes, Blake instead focuses on the immortals themselves, centering his adventure on the conflict between different immortals and on the immortals' prime directive — that they not interfere on the Prime Plane.

Blake does repeat a few of Mentzer's tropes: the adventure starts off with a delegation from the hierarchs … then moves on to another multi-part MacGuffin hunt. And, he still does let players travel across several planes before landing back on the Prime Material Plane."

Now anyone that actually knows me knows that I'm a fan of Frank Mentzer's Immortal rules box set. When I was younger back in the '87 I actually got a chance to take these rules out for a very high level unholy Basic/AD&D  hybrid campaign based on Richard Wagner's opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen & a good number of classic Marvel Thor comic books.  It was a vicious campaign & many of our PC's were killed in the attempt. This module answered the question why are there immortals & no real gods within Mystara. The answer was because the immortals were a few steps below the 'true gods' but there were lots more of them.


The module is average but the mythological & occult premises are very well thought out. There's also several hooks that I might incorporate into a large scheme for a planar magical mystery tour. IM2 The Wrath of Olympus (Basic)  is also one of the reasons that I separated Blackmoor & Mystara into two separate but interconnected realms. If the immortals are jealously guarding the realm of Mystara what happens when the mortals of Blackmoor begin to really start twisting the fate of nations? Blackmoor as it stands is a realm of mortals & has its own particular set of problems. This would later on become even more evident within the D&D Rules Cylopedia 


This is the module that put Mystara on the map for me as a major setting into which to set adventures. IM2 The Wrath of Olympus (Basic)  is a good addition to the archives & the idea of fighting demons atop mount Oymplus is a big plus from where I'm sitting as both a dungeon master & player. But should there be fall out from the events depicted in IM2? In all honesty I think that there should. This adventure is major incursion into the spheres of the immortals & the trespassing on their turf should leave a streak of distrust among the immortal councils of Mystara.
These days if I was to run  IM2 The Wrath of Olympus (Basic) by Robert J. Blake I'd pull out my copy of Dark Dungeons By Blacky The Black Ball. The Dark Dungeons game is a bit more streamlined & has some advantages to it. The OSR game is complete & its one that I've run in the past.


Dark Dungeons is very easy to add or subtract Basic D&D systems. Since this is the case many of the immortal set's monsters can be ported over & that makes it extremely positive in my mind. Many of the adventure elements from  IM2 The Wrath of Olympus (Basic) by Robert J. Blake fits the general bill of Dark Dungeons so its a win/win situation. Anyhow I'm still talking to a few people to see if I can get another bi weekly game going. 

The Specter of Kelek the Cruel & Fan Speculation From XL1: "Quest for the Heartstone" (1984), by Michael L. Gray.

"The king is dead. And the queen is in trouble. She has chosen you to find the fabled heartstone, which is buried somewhere deep in the Mountains of Ice.

 

Is the gem in the hands of the corrupt Master Thief? Has he harnessed its powers for his own vile purposes? Or does it lie unguarded in the frozen ranges to the north, which teem with horrible creatures?"

 

Right so life has been playing squeeze play with me again & work has been very busy but just last night I was speaking with a friend about  XL1: "Quest for the Heartstone" (1984), by Michael L. Gray.  XL remains the first and only adventure in the "XL" series for Expert D&D. It was published in 1984 during the Frank Mentzer D&D era. According to everything I've read in White Dwarf & wiki  its a terrible module; Graham Staplehurst reviewed Quest for the Heartstone for White Dwarf, and gave it 4/10 overall, calling it, "no more than a sales exercise for AD&D Action Toys".^[3] Staplehurst felt that the module was "very reminiscent of everyone's first dungeon: a collection of randomly placed monsters with a random selection of Good Guys going off after some magic item and having to hack through them," criticizing that "No thought has gone into this at all, as far as I can see, although TSR have done their best with the artwork and maps to try and remedy the situation."^[3] Staplehurst pointed out some of the many references within the module to the LJN AD&D toy line ("You may use the Five-headed Hydra Bendable Monster for this encounter", and "the Dragonne monsters produced by LJN Toys Ltd"), noting that "As the adventure progresses ... it merely degenerates into excuses to introduce monsters that happen to be in the TSR figures or LJN range."^[3] He also pointed out some of the more bizarre encounters of the adventure, such as two giant crab spiders living in a cabin, and the "Golem Storage Room"
But that's not really the focus here & instead I want to speak about one of the most dangerous NPC bastards that your party of adventures  can encounter. I'm speaking of Kelek the Cruel & XL1 The Quest For the Heart Stone would take place long before the Season 1 Dungeons & Dragons cartoon episode "Valley of The Unicorns".  During XL1: "Quest for the Heartstone Kelek is a mere 7th level wizard of some renowned. 

Between the events of XL1: "Quest for the Heartstone  & the "Valley Of The Unicorns" cartoon episode Kelek gained Venger as a demi god demonic patron.
Yup that's right I said demi god DCC style patron. Over & over again the evil Venger survived being 'destroyed' by the Dungeon Master's Young Ones. Kelek was completely obsessed with gaining  immortality & in Venger's service went to tenth or beyond level as a wizard. He has moved from Mystara to the Realms where he helps Warduke during Venger's campaign of terror to bring the Realms to heel. Afterward he would join Warduke on Greyhawk during the Greyhawk Wars. Possibly in the service of Luz after escaping the prison of Venger from the "Valley of The Unicorns".  In Luz's service he becomes even more dangerous making pacts with the 'unnameable' Venger's Abyssal patron. Helping broker deals on Warduke's behalf for rebuilding the Horned Society, and was instrumental in eventually helping Warduke become  a Hierarch himself. This didn't take long & he cut infernal & Abyssial deals towards the ultimate goal of lichdom. 



By this time Kelek had learned to stay to the background & finally after helping Warduke build his base of power & continue his existence.  Kelek gained lichdom & immortality of a sort. He's run afoul of Gort The Rogue once but that encountered led to a hasty retreat back to his own backwater planar base. He's really maintained a low profile because he still fears the wraith of Venger. There's a lot of bad blood between him & his old patron. Kelek the Cruel has quietly been building a large army of gnolls, orcs, & other humanoids on the far end of a Prime Material plane.

He often now employs parties of adventurers to recover relics, occult treasures, scrolls, etc for him. Kelek pays on time but often takes a swift revenge on any who cross his path with his own assassins. Rumors are spoken of him building his own power base with an aim of returning to his own home plane of Mystara for a bid to take over a nation or two. The ultimate goal could be revenge against Venger at some point. 

What Ever Happened To Warduke - Fan Speculation From AC1 The Shady Dragon Inn By Carl Smith

So last night I met with a friend & we were discussing the "The Shady Dragon Inn " adventure accessory. Warduke came up & we discussed how we'd bring him into our campaigns. The following is the fruit of that discussion after looking through several incarnations of the character. The following is beyond mere cartoon fan speculation & just a quick thumbnail campaign sketch. 

There was a time when Saturday mornings back in the halcyon days of the D&D cartoon were looked forward too by many kids across the world. Warduke was a personal favorite of many kids & possibly one of the most bad ass characters to appear in the action figure line. He appeared in the episode 'The Search for The Dungeon Master' which aired in October of '83. The Shady Dragon Inn adventure accessory came out that same year;
"The Shady Dragon Inn is an accessory designed for the Basic Set or Expert Set of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. It was published by TSR, Inc. in 1983. Written by Carl Smith, The Shady Dragon Inn is a supplement used to help dungeon masters introduce fully designed characters into any scenario."  The Shady Dragon Inn details Warduke & many of the D&D cartoon characters & figures including their stats. 


One of the distinguishing differences between the accessories line of products & the cartoon is that the The Shady Dragon Inn takes place on Mystara not within the Realms of the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon.  Its location is still up for debate according to the Drivethrurpg write up;  ""The Shady Dragon Inn" in The Polyhedron #16 (1983) includes a bit more info on the inn, including stats for its proprietors.

The iconic heroes of "The Shady Dragon Inn" would also make a few later appearances, though D&D games were inconsistent about where their home was.

• XL1: "Quest for the Hearstone" (1984) features the Heartstone quest that is described in some of the character descriptions here. That adventures places the heroes (and presumably the Inn) in the Kingdom of Ghyr — an otherwise unknown land.
• X10: "Red Arrow, Black Shield" (1985) instead depicts some of these icons as rulers of the Kingdom of Ierendi, though later sources suggested it was 200 years in the future.
• Finally, Capcom's Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom (1993), a side-scrolling video game for the CPSII (and later the Sega Saturn) places the inn (and presumably the iconics) in the town of Darokin.

Meanwhile, this wouldn't be the last "AC" product to focus on tactical play. A few later "AC" supplements beginning with AC3: "3-D Dragon Tiles Featuring The Kidnapping of Princess Arelina" (1983) would feature "3-D Dragon Tiles", which took the innovative battle map of this adventure to the next level."
Does this mean that the Realms on occasion merged with Mystara?! I think so not only that but Warduke's origin is closely tied to Mystara & Greyhawk's history.



According to his own bio from the 3.0 Tales From Mystara website; Warduke wears a suit of half-chain and a black, winged helmet. His shield bears the sign of a demon’s head. He was an old friend of Strongheart’s (good paladin), but now the two are enemies. Both were exposed to the Heartstone, and Warduke’s cruel nature was brought out while Strongheart’s just nature became stronger….

[He] especially hates Strongheart, who he feels wastes his time protecting the weak and helpless. “A true fighter,” Warduke feels, “makes himself rich and powerful by the strength of his sword arm. He takes what he can—if you would keep your possessions, kill those who seek to take them.” He calls his sword “Nightwind.”

The Unnameable Hierarch managed to rebuild his organization so quickly in large part due to the influence of a ruthless fighter named Warduke, a mysterious and relentless killer who emerged from nowhere after the Greyhawk Wars to spread terror and uncertainty among mercenaries, soldiers, and fighting societies from the Barrier Peaks to the Solnor Ocean."
But is Warduke still around?! Yes without a doubt & that goes back to his old unicorn obsessed friend Kelek or Kelek The Cruel to his enemies & friends ;"Kelek the Cruel was an evil wizard who ruled over a domain in the South Marches during the Age of Silence. Kelek was known for his attempt to achieve immortality by hunting Unicorns for their horns.

Kelek was also known for his use of a Dire Wolf as a mount and a pack of Wolven to assist in his hunting of the Unicorns - completely removing them from the Rose Wood. 

When Kelek was ultimately defeated, the three Alicorn which he had been able to acquire were stolen from him and hidden. The fortress he once held between the Rose Wood and the Bronzewood Forest was originally known as Direfang Keepand located at the western edge of the Stagwood." He eventually escaped Venger's prison at the end of Valley of The Unicorns 

Kelek was obsessed with his quest for immortality & was well on his way to transforming into a lich. But he was able to talk Warduke into being a subject for his 'treatments' in preparation for the creation of a phylactery for lichdom.  Warduke's soul  becomes sealed within his dark prison of a  helm. It went  on to be a living black sorcery  relic of the mad mercenary warlord. 
This might help explain his appearance across eons & world settings. The changing bodies, tactics, & perhaps even his varying magical weapons. The helm sits in one of Warduke's many former bases after the body lives out its allotted life span. A dungeon is set up & salted for the coming ritual. Warduke has over the centuries surrounded himself with any number of secret societies of mercenary warriors. He's surrounded himself with fighters,wizards, & thieves from Greyhawk to Mystara who share his quest for power & profit. In fact these societies are how he's been building up his mercenary armies. 

The evil secret society of warriors that surrounds Warduke begins to spread rumors of the founding of a dungeon, monsters are released into it, 'treasure' is spread, & the dungeon is ready. A suitable candidate/host  is found & hired. The party ventures into the dungeon & is killed off one by one. Our candidate reaches the alter niche where the 'Warduke' along with his weapons, signature armor, & accountants have been lovingly kept. The poor fool is caught by the gaze attack of the helm & then its save or die as the helm attacks its victim.  The victim is caught within the continuing madness of destruction & evil as 'Warduke' lives again!  
This is mere fan speculation on my part & that the character has gotten over the years any number of upgrades from the explanation of his armor found here from Wizards of the Coast. There's a complete &  a full 3.0 write up over here.  that could be used with Dungeon Crawl Classics. The real question is what happened to Kelek or Kelek The Cruel ?