OSR Commentary On (MLBA1) Mutating Mutants Module By Bruce Nesmith Advanced Marvel Super Heroes Rpg

" A mutant role playing game from Marvel Comics. "Being a mutant is tough. Being a New Mutant is even tougher. I think I'll pay those kids a friendly visit. Y'Know. I may be Wolverine, but I don't have many friends who aren't out to use me. These kids haven't gotten hard-bitten and cynical like this old warrior. Yep, time for a drop-in..." "Somebody is after these kids. Trying to hurt them and hurt 'em bad. Somebody just made a big mistake and I intend to see that they find out just how big. Somebody's gonna pay for what they've done to the kids..." Wolverine watches as the New Mutants slither, crawl, and hop toward their goal. He knows they'll never be the same again. What's worse he also knows He'll never be the same again"

 Bruce Nesmith's (MLBA1) Mutating Mutants Module is a solid 1990 module that hits the high mark for the Marvel Super Heroes Advanced Rpg. This book delves right into the deep end of the Marvel's 'mutant menace' issue. We dived into this module in about 1991  & I've resurrected it after our recent brush with Nightmares of Future Past. 
We recently had to go after someone who was targetting Wolverine who was targetting the New Mutants! One thingthat this module brings to the table top is a plethora of Xmen & mutant themes centered around 'The New Mutant'. 

  (MLBA1) Mutating Mutants Module By  Bruce Nesmith fits right into the Marvel Super Heroes Advanced Rpg according  to the September 3, 2007; "A really quite good module for the mutant types, with Sebastian Shaw and his plotting at the heart of it."

"It is well detailed, and thought out, with some definitely useful instruction at various points for the Judge, even some karma award guides." Because Sabastian Shaw is at the heart of this module we combined this module with Days of Future Past's Sentinels. This means there's a mutant enemies link up with the Days of Future Past modules allowing Mutating Mutants to be an alternative timeline. 

(MLBA1) Mutating Mutants Module By  Bruce Nesmith is a solid module and tightly written. It's a great module to run for three reasons. The module is great to run, and it works very well as an adventure to get the player's PC involved in the deep end of the mutant issue. There are some strong encounters in (MLBA1) Mutating Mutants Module & it still works at the table top level. 

OSR Commentary On Marvel Super Heroes rpg MH AC2 Avengers Assembled By Bruce Nesmith

" The greatest collection of heroes, ever, annouced by their famous battle cry: Avengers Assemble! Includes a 32-page sourcebook with complete information on 30 past and present Avengers, 22 of their enemies, the Avengers mansion, and SHIELD! "
 The year is 1984, and we're deep into Marvel Super Heroes here comes Marvel Super Heroes Avengers Assembled by Bruce Nesmith. This blog entry is going to pick up right from here on the blog.  This supplement was a bit of a game changer for our group of players. Why? Because of the fact that all of the original Avengers and thier foes plus equipment, SHIELD, & more were laid bare. 

According to the Marvel Super Heroes rpg Avengers Assembled wiki entry; " Avengers Assembled! is a supplement presenting game statistics for 30 characters that have been members of the Avengers team, as well as 22 of their enemies, the Avengers Mansion, and the organization S.H.I.E.L.D.^[1] Avengers Assembled is a 32-page book, with a removal cover that has a detailed map printed on it of the Avengers' mansion.^[2] The supplement explores the mansion, S.H.I.E.L.D., and Nick Fury, 30 team members (two of these characters have additional secret identities, meaning there are actually 26 separate characters), and two Avengers associates.^[2] Each character has an illustration, as are some S.H.I.E.L.D. equipment and personnel" 

 Marvel Super Heroes rpg MH AC2  Avengers Assembled By Bruce Nesmith really has all of the makings of a first class campaign for the Marvel Super Heroes rpg. This supplement really sets the tone for the basic MSH rpg in spades. This is a sentiment echoed by Imagine magazine reviewer Pete Tamlyn; ""Avengers Assembled! will be an essential product for most players of the game".^[3] He stated: "Personal preferences aside, the Avengers are probably the ideal group to choose if you are going to run an extended campaign using MSH. There have been so many members and roster changes that your players are almost certain to be able to pick a character each without conflict over who plays which particular favourite, or someone getting lumbered with a character that doesn't suit their style of play."^[3] He continued: "There are a few grossly powerful characters among them, and I'd recommend that Thor in particular be kept as an NPC who can rescue the players in times of dire emergency, but the only real wimps, Wasp and Hawkeye, are among the most interesting characters to play. My only complaint is that many of the villains are also very tough, the sort of folks who take on the Avengers single-handed and are normally only defeated thanks to their arrogance and over-confidence, and will therefore be quite difficult for the GM to handle."^[3] Tamlyn concluded by saying: "Overall, a much-needed publication which will sell very well."
Sell well it did and laided the foundation for many of the Marvel Super Heroes rpg supplements that would follow.

What MH AC2 does so well is lay out the Avengers, SHIELD, etc into a usable format for both new players & DM's respectively. Sure Avengers Coast to Coast has it over MH AC2 in spades but Avengers Assembled came out first and laided out the blue print for the classic FASRIP rpg that we've all come to know and love. 
So is Avenger Assembled still useful today?! In a wood of course, this is a classic supplement & it's easy to use with all of the 1960's and 70's Avengers and thier villians! 

OSR Commentary On Sabre River (CM3) By Douglas Niles Along With Bruce Nesmith & Adventurer Conqueror, King 1st edition Rpg

 "You are a guest of the count, one of your allies and the strongest man in the region. Your sojourn has been pleasant, a nice change after weeks of battle. Suddenly the courtyard below your window is filled with the noise of galloping horses. More guests?"

"You yawn as you look out. But these people arriving look more like tax collectors than guests. You decide to give your attention to something more interesting, like dinner."

"Relax while you can, friend, because these new arrivals are about to lead you to a crimson sailor, a cozy Tower of Terror, and a river with an aching heart."

Sabre River (CM3) By Douglas Niles Along With  Bruce Nesmith hit the stands in Eighty Four. And there's something interesting going on with CM3 that makes it perfect for Adventurer,Conqueror, King Rpg. Especially given the fact that this module has something something that not only ties in with the dungeon crawls of this module but makes it incredibly necessary. And that's the horrible 'Curse of Sabre River.' 
CM3 Sabre River is a high level module with Conqueror to King level encounters we're talking table X (10) encounters. And the then there's the fact that the players can be challenged  to high level  wrastling matches. And there's a good chance that one or more of the party will die. And did I mention the dungeon crawls are cleverly woven into this one. 
If there was ever a module that cleverly worked it's Mystara and high level end encounters it's CM3. 

And if there's a single adventure that could benefit from the Adventurer, Conqueror, King Heroic Fantasy Handbook Sabre River CM3 is it! From the adventure setting curse, to the wrastling encouters, to the meaty NPC villagers, to higher caliber monsters CM3 is ripe for the Heroic Fantasy Handbook treatment. The player's PCs definitely have the chance to carve out thier own legendary domains while threading through the epic upper levels 18-22 of PC's. This is base level of eight and above for ACK's. 

CM3 if picked up and taken place right after the events of CM1 which we cover here on the blog. Allows the PCs to carve out thier own little piece of Mystara and expand thier influence all of the while solving a supernatural dilema that affects the whole region and looking like heroes while they do it. That is if they survive the experience. 

Updated & Expanded Review & Commentary On The Basic D&D Adventure CM3 Sabre River By Douglas Niles and Bruce Nesmith For Your Old School Campaigns

"You are a guest of the count, one of your allies and the strongest man in the region. Your sojourn has been pleasant, a nice change after weeks of battle. Suddenly the courtyard below your window is filled with the noise of galloping horses. More guests? 

You yawn as you look out. But these people arriving look more like tax collectors than guests. You decide to give your attention to something more interesting, like dinner. 

Relax while you can, friend, because these new arrivals are about to lead you to a crimson sailor, a cozy Tower of Terror, and a river with an aching heart. 

Sabre River includes a complete campaign setting, new NPCs, dungeon and wilderness encounters, and a mysterious story."

Tonight I was asked which module I thought could be adapted into an OSR Sword & Sorcerers campaign module with the zeroing in on task of taking on the higher levels of play. That was a simple one for me its CM3 Saber River by Douglas Niles. Yes you read that right Sword & Sorcerers because this is style that CM3 Saber River catters to. A clever series of dungeon crawls & delving that are centered around involving politics, warfare, and the rule of domains. This is exactly the sort of module & adventure that Adventurer, Conqueror, King, Rpg's Heroic Fantasy Handbook was designed to handle. 



First of all grab the Adventuring in the Northlands by Giampaolo Agosta from Threshold Magazine issue 6 over at the vaults of pandius website. And the Norwold Region
by members of the Italian MMB. These two lovely add ons are going to help fill in background & gaps so that you the DM can decide how & what you want to add or subtract to the adventure module experience. For the final article grab Mages of Mystara, AC 1000 by Marco Dalmonte. Why? Because the biggest flaw according to the Drivethurpg product entry & some of the reviews I've seen on line; " the adventure also reveals its biggest problem: the River is assumed to be in the domain of a player, acting as a new domain-level problem for them … so the designers couldn't explicitly define where the river fit in the lands of Norwold! Most fans have identified it as one of the two major rivers running south of the Alpha Peninsula, from the Wyrmsteeth Range to the Great Bay."
The Crones of Crystykk, who debuted in CM1: "Test of the Warlords" are back & wyrd as ever their perferctly suited for this style of adventure where the high end of ruler ship is at stake. There's a great discussion on the Piazza about the Crones here.  Then you've got an entire bit on the crones & Nortwold gods here. 
My advice is for PC's not to cross the Crones or you could be ripped apart by the whims of fate. The real key issues for this module are in the fan magazines: Threshold #6 (2014), Threshold #7 (2015), and Threshold #8 (2015).
 CM3 Saber River by Douglas Niles, is a really clever combination of adventuring, dungeon delving, & out & out deadly fun. Though not a complete TPK the few times I've run this is a deadly adventure. Know that the players are not going to thank you for running CM3 but they will be entertained & romanced as the life force is sucked from their PC's.  CM3 Saber River by Douglas Niles.Relax while you can, friend, because these new arrivals are about to lead you to a crimson sailor, a cozy Tower of Terror, and a river with an aching heart" There is literally a ton to mine from CM3 including a good solid dungeon romp and even though this is a part of the domain level of high end play this is one of those adventures that actually lives up to the great cover art. This adventure features an  a dungeon inside an active volcano, an underground river trip, and a new monster called the sabreclaw how cool is that. There's plenty to mine from this module but the actual adventure is quite good, there's plenty going on and enough high level material for at least two mini campaigns within Sabre River. The plot involves;" The waters of the Sabre River have been tainted, bringing death or evilness to all who drink from them." and it does live up to the premise in spades! 
Much of Sabre River revolves around the plot elements being present in the kingdom of Norwold, but really because of the very nature of CM3, the events could be moved right into the back part of your own world or even an alternative world or Earth. The Empire of Alphatia might be reconned out of the adventure entirely and the events of CM3 moved onto Hyperborea or some latter day stand in of the late Roman Empire.  There are plenty of pulpy elements to go around in Sabre River and because this is a higher level OD&D module its quite easy to adapt and twist this adventure to suit your own retroclone adventures. Both Lamentations of the Flame Princess and Dark Albion sprang to mind whist reading this one. The DM is going to have to be careful to balance certain adventure elements and expect some PC deaths while moving though the adventure with his players and also even though this is a companion adventure, Sabre River takes full advantage of some of the Expert D&D rules.  All in all Sabre River might be right up your alley if your looking for a high level but differently woven adventure in the old school tradition that mixes high level play and dark pulpy adventure in one package.
I really don't think that CM3 Saber River by Douglas Niles gets any of the recognition that it deserves these days. 

Agents Of Blood & Fate - OSR Commentary On CM3 Sabre River (Basic) By Bruce Nesmith & Douglas Niles

"You are a guest of the count, one of your allies and the strongest man in the region. Your sojourn has been pleasant, a nice change after weeks of battle. Suddenly the courtyard below your window is filled with the noise of galloping horses. More guests? 

You yawn as you look out. But these people arriving look more like tax collectors than guests. You decide to give your attention to something more interesting, like dinner. 

Relax while you can, friend, because these new arrivals are about to lead you to a crimson sailor, a cozy Tower of Terror, and a river with an aching heart. "
CM3 Sabre River by Doug Niles and Bruce Nesmith, CM3 involves an expedition to the Tower of Terror and an adventure romp through an active volcano! 
GRAB IT RIGHT HERE 




Well its game day again in the Northwest corner of Connecticut & I'm being buried under sewing machine repairs. But I've taken a bit of time to dig out one of the more criminally underrated. This is a high level companion adventure & one where the PC's are literally pulled from court into an active dungeon crawl adventure. This is a massive high level romp through the back end of Greyhawk or Mystara. 

The Crones of Crystykk who appeared in Test of the Warlords are back and just as bat %@% cryptic and weird as ever. Every thing about this adventure screams high level and very dangerous, have a few extra character sheets standing by for your players. Lots of treasure but also lots of classic OD&D death to go around. The Crones of Crystykk have me thinking about Clark Ashton Smith's  Averoigne stories especially the witches of the Mother of Toads (1934). 
Now the last time I wrote about CM3 was way back in Feburary of 2016. Whoa has it been that long?! 
I spoke back then about transporting the module over to Hyperborea from Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. But after reading through this entry on the Piazza website on CM3 this set of resources popped out; 

"Kit Navarro's Extended Northman Pantheon references them, the Italian MMB members have a Norwold timeline that mentions the Crones and a possible origin, and- going along with that- Marco Dalmonte has a list of Immortals Actively Worshipped in the North that includes the crones as a mystic Triad of Skulk clerics."

Why is this important to  Clark Ashton Smith's  Averoigne stories ? We know that there's an Arthurian connection because of  Averoigne's placement in France. Clark Ashton Smith's  Averoigne is part of a  " region in France, heavily forested — located somewhere between Tours and Moulins; a "main highway" between those two cities goes through it (The End of the Story, Clark Ashton Smith)." 

This means that there may be a deep connection between the Morgause's witches blood line & the Le Fey's . All of which ties into both  The Crones of Crystykk &  Sephora The Enchantress of Sylaire By CAS.
Arthur had appeared in both Mystara & Greyhawk his mythology following him like a thunderclap as the hero king journeyed. His & Merlin's foot prints having appeared in the Realms themselves ala the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon. 

These witch families held or hold lots of sway over both royals & commoners alike. This is one of the central themes that we see in Shakespeare & Arthurian mythology over & over again. These bringers of chaos & guardians of fates roles in the planes should not be underestimated by dungeon masters or players. 
We know that there is a long tradition of studying magick & occult practices throughout the Le Fey family's holdings; "Middle English writer Thomas Malory follows the mostly Post-Vulgate French portrayals of Morgan in his late-15th-century seminal work of the selective compilation book Le Morte d'Arthur (The Death of Arthur), though he reduces her in role and detail of characterisation, in particular either removing or limiting her traditions of healing and prophecy, and making her more consistently and inherently evil just as he makes Merlin more good.^[12] He also diminishes Morgan's conflict with Guinevere, as there is no motif of Guiomar and Accolon (there Sir Accolon of Gaul) is her first named lover, but does not clarify Morgan's motivations for her antagonistic behaviour against Arthur.^[49][67] Malory scholar Elizabeth Sklar described Morgan's character here as "an essentially sociopathic personality, respecting no boundaries and acknowledging no rules save those dictated by her own ambitions, envy, and lust."^[80] Up until the war between Arthur and Lancelot and the rebellion of Mordred, it is Morgan who remains the main and constant source of direct and indirect threat to the realm.^[49] As noted by Mary Lynn Saul: "Curiously, in spite of all her powers, Morgan is rarely successful in any of her plots. Nevertheless, she remains a medieval symbol of the potential danger of uncontrolled female power."In Malory's backstory, she has studied astrology as well as nigremancie (which might actually mean black magic in general rather than "necromancy"^[83]) in the nunnery where she was raised, before being married to Urien (Uriens) as a young teenager; in this narrative she did not study with Merlin.^[49] Her powers seem to be inspired by fairy magic of Celtic folklore rather than by medieval Christian demonology.^[32] Malory mentions Arthur's attempts to conquer at least one of her castles, which originally had been his own gift to her, and which he could not retake (apparently due to magical defenses^[81]). She also plots an elaborate ambush in "The Book of Sir Tristram de Lyons", after learning of the death of one of her favourites in a tournament, but Tristan ends up killing or routing thirty of her knights when the ambush ends in a disaster. Morgan is widely feared and hated, so much that "many knights wished her burnt." She is now the leader of the four (not three) witch queens who capture Lancelot (the others being the Queen of the Northgales, the Queen of Eastland, and the Queen of the Outer Isles). In an episode that had been first introduced by the anonymous writer of the earlier Prose Lancelot, Lancelot rescues Elaine of Corbenic from being trapped in an enchanted boiling bath by Morgan and the Queen of the Northgales, both envious of Elaine's great beauty (echoing Circe's treatment of Scylla^[12]). However, despite all of their prior hostility towards each other and her numerous designs directed against Arthur personally (and his own promise to get a terrible revenge on her as long as he lives^[49]), Malory's Morgan is still redeemed and is one of the four grieving enchantress queens (the others being Nimue, marking the end of conflict between her and Morgan,^[84] and two of Morgan's allies, the Queen of the Northgales and the Queen of the Wasteland) who arrive in a black boat to transport the wounded king to Avalon in the end. Unlike in the French and earlier stories on which Le Morte d'Arthur is based, and where Morgan and Arthur would either have first made peace or have just never fought to begin with, here her change of attitude towards him is sudden and unexplained.^[4][49][85] Arthur is last seen in Morgan's lap, with her lament of sorrow referring to him as her "dear brother" (dere brothir), as they disappear from the work's narrative together" 
  
We know that there have been more then one Morgan Le Fey queens along with the more then one Morgause  over the centuries. Each of these has been  involved with the realm of the Fey. All of this up points the fact that wherever a member of Arthur's court is & one of these fairy witches sheer chaos follows.  This is a perfect opportunity to grab & use Troll Lords The Codex Celtarum to help flesh some of this out. 


What does all of this have to do with CM3 Sabre River by Doug Niles and Bruce Nesmith? Quite a bit as the PC's are involved in an extraordinary quest that determines the fate of Mystara's Northwold. Here the agents of fate move both chaos & Heaven to get the dark fate of the world into their chosen ones hands. The level of PC execution within events gives the module its pulpy feel but its very possible to tie in the fates of those involved with  CM3 Sabre River by Doug Niles and Bruce Nesmith in with other worlds & possible campaigns.  I've got more thoughts on how this all comes down into the backdrop of a home campaign & how the echoes from events in both Mystara & Greyhawk can have far more reaching effects then what at first they might seem coming up. So stay tuned! 

 

The Royal Treatment Of CM3 Sabre River By Douglas Niles and Bruce Nesmith For Your Old School Campaigns

"Have all of your characters settled down and started dominions? Have you wondered if they'll ever get a chance to fight their way through an old-fashioned dungeon again? Yes, they will!"

The CM series of modules isn't really one that you hear to much about today even with the OSR raging on about classic modules. I first encountered CM3 Sabre River in about '85 when I got involved in playing a friend's dad's higher PC level game.
"CM3 Sabre River was written by Douglas Niles and Bruce Nesmith, with a cover by Keith Parkinson"

The module is mostly forgotten today as a classic of higher PC level domain & dungeon crawl play. You see this module concerns the fact of what happens when the PC's settle down for domain level play & all of the headaches that come with it. Like Robert Howard's Conan who sits on the throne of Aquilonia. The PC's have to look into why & how a curse has been affecting the lands of Norwald on Mystara. "A mysterious curse has hit a barony in the realm of Norwold: The waters of the Sabre River have been tainted, bringing death or evilness to all who drink from them." There's far more going on here then simply healing the land of its curse & the PC's are in the cross hairs every step of the way. The adventure involves an actual investigation besides the expedition to the Tower of Terror. This is a high level adventure for Basic PC's levels 18 to 22, The PC's are put through their paces because CM3 Sabre River actually uses 'the D&D Companion' set.


"What's so important about Frank  Mentzer's Dungeons & Dragons Companion set? Well at its heart everything is built around the PC's domains & strongholds;
"The Player's Companion covers information on character levels 15-25.^[5] The book begins with commentary on the changes since a character began as an adventurer at level one.^[6] It introduces new weapons, armor types, and unarmed combat rules as well as providing details on running a stronghold and its recurrent costs, such as wages of the castle staff.^[5][6] The Player's Companion details the new abilities and increases in skills, spells, and other abilities that accrue to members of each character class as they rise in level. This section concentrates wholly on human characters, treating dwarves, elves, and halflings separately.^[6] The concept of "attack rank" is introduced for the three demi-human classes; although, per the Expert Set rules, they are capped at a specified maximum level. Further accumulation of experience points increases their combat abilities. It also introduces the optional character class of druid, presented as a special progression for clerics of neutral alignment"

We've seen the role that Norwald plays in B10 Night's Dark Terrors but its really in B12 Queen's Harvest by Carl Sargent that sets up everything for the politics of Frank  Mentzer's Dungeons & Dragons Companion set! Yup that's right the steps, rules, etc. are all there in the second part of B11 King's Festival.


The Dungeons & Dragons companion set takes the PC's from being middling of the road adventurers straight onto the path of being eventual royals themselves. Don't worry you don't need to grab the Dungeons & Dragons companion box set because all of these rules & such are in the Dungeons & Dragons rules Cyclopedia.
CM3 Sabre River introduces a monster that will haunt my dreams, the sabre claw. A humanoid demon like creature which a flock of which can dispatch even high level parties of PC's. Back in '85 we had half of our seven player's PC's slaughtered by these winged horrors. These monsters were only ever featured in the Creature Catalog & CM3. There are reasons for this. They are monsters that can cause havoc for small parties of adventurers.


But is CM3 Sabre River a good module? I happen to think so because in many ways it helps to fill out another very weird & slightly terrifying corner of Mystara. The whole module has the vibe of a thriller movie where your not quite sure where the next issue is going to come from. The fact is another plus is the way everything is laid at the dungeon master's feet. The whole of CM3 is placed on the shoulders of the players & from their its sink or swim.

Retro Review & Commentary On The OD&D Adventure CM3 Sabre River By Douglas Niles and Bruce Nesmith For Your Old School Campaigns

Imagine that your PC's are relaxing at court and suddenly their pulled into the back end of an adventure head first without warning and you've got the beginnings of CM3 Sabre River by Doug Niles and Bruce Nesmith. CM3 involves an expedition to the Tower of Terror and an adventure romp through an active volcano!
GRAB IT RIGHT HERE

This is a Mystara adventure and not one of the ones that get's much press these days and that's too bad because its a well done adventure that works on the companion level of OD&D style of play and does it very well. The Crones of Crystykk who appeared in Test of the Warlords are back and just as bat %@% cryptic and weird as ever. Every thing about this adventure screams high level and very dangerous, have a few extra character sheets standing by for your players. Lots of treasure but also lots of classic OD&D death to go around.

"You are a guest of the count, one of your allies and the strongest man in the region. Your sojourn has been pleasant, a nice change after weeks of battle. Suddenly the courtyard below your window is filled with the noise of galloping horses. More guests?

You yawn as you look out. But these people arriving look more like tax collectors than guests. You decide to give your attention to something more interesting, like dinner.

Relax while you can, friend, because these new arrivals are about to lead you to a crimson sailor, a cozy Tower of Terror, and a river with an aching heart"
There is literally a ton to mine from CM3 including a good solid dungeon romp and even though this is a part of the domain level of high end play this is one of those adventures that actually lives up to the great cover art. This adventure features an  a dungeon inside an active volcano, an underground river trip, and a new monster called the sabreclaw how cool is that. There's plenty to mine from this module but the actual adventure is quite good, there's plenty going on and enough high level material for at least two mini campaigns within Sabre River. The plot involves;" The waters of the Sabre River have been tainted, bringing death or evilness to all who drink from them." and it does live up to the premise in spades.


There's plenty of action in Sabre River and also plenty of death awaiting PC's around every turn. The action keeps moving and the PC's are joined by Cutter whose a lot more then he seems and pretty damn pivtol to the plot CM3. The cartography is well done, the writing pretty solid, but Sabre River is pretty much tied into the bed rock of Mystara or is it?


Much of Sabre River revolves around the plot elements being present in the kingdom of Norwold, but really because of the very nature of CM3, the events could be moved right into the back part of your own world or even an alternative world or Earth. The Empire of Alphatia might be reconned out of the adventure entirely and the events of CM3 moved onto Hyperborea or some latter day stand in of the late Roman Empire. 

 
There are plenty of pulpy elements to go around in Sabre River and because this is a higher level OD&D module its quite easy to adapt and twist this adventure to suit your own retroclone adventures. Both Lamentations of the Flame Princess and Dark Albion sprang to mind whist reading this one. The DM is going to have to be careful to balance certain adventure elements and expect some PC deaths while moving though the adventure with his players and also even though this is a companion adventure, Sabre River takes full advantage of some of the Expert D&D rules.  All in all Sabre River might be right up your alley if your looking for a high level but differently woven adventure in the old school tradition that mixes high level play and dark pulpy adventure in one package.