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. 

OSR Commentary On CM2 Death's Ride By Garry Spiegle & Adventurer Conqueror, King 1st edition Rpg

 "A cloud of death hangs over the land, as an unlikely trio of evildoers orchestrates a reign of terror over the tiny Barony of Twolakes Vale. Because of these fiends' actions, hordes of undead have escaped through a gateway from the Sphere of Death, laying the peaceful lands of the barony to waste and terrorizing its citizens. Can the undead be stopped?"

Right so let's pick this  right where we left off from yesterday with CM2 Death's Ride by Garry Spiegle, with cover and interior art by Jeff Easley. Let's get some history on this one from the CM2 Wiki entry;"Death's Ride (ISBN 978-0-88038-117-8) is a 1984 adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. Its associated code is CM2. The module was designed by Garry Spiegle, with cover and interior art by Jeff Easley." The main reason that we got involved with CM2 Death's Ride is because of the incredibly iconic Jeff Easiey cover. But the module has solid footing as the PC's pick right up from CM1; "The barony, which is ruled by Baron Sir Maltus Fharo, has sent no taxes, caravans, or messages in several months. A small body of troops sent by the king to investigate has not returned. At this time, Ericall doesn't have the resources to send a large body of troops, so he is asking the characters to go to the barony, find out what's wrong, and if possible, restore contact. The king gives the characters a royal warrant and permission to act in his name." 
Right so the situation is far worse then the king even remotely suspects with three NPC  villains combining thier strengths; "Wazor an "Atlantean Mage", Ulslime a cleric of "Death" and  Korbundar the huge blue dragon who have opened a gateway into the literal sphere of Death'.  There is a huge horde of undead bearing down on the PC's. If we look at CM2's plot from the perspective of the Wiki entry here's the PC's break adventure plot breakdown;"A strange black cloud hangs over the Norworld barony of Two Lake Vale, which is cut off from the rest of the world. As the player characters move to investigate, they encounter armies of the living dead and other vile creatures besieging the last pockets of human resistance. The only relief is to find and destroy the dreadful Deathstone, which is responsible for the black cloud, thereby facing the united forces of an evil sorcerer, a powerful priest, and a mighty dragon' 
CM2 Death's Ride by Garry Spiegle is a perfect module to couple with the  Adventurer,Conqueror, King rpg! This is especially true for an epic or heroic level mini campaign. 

For Adventurer, Conqureor, King rpg CM2 is going to be run with PC's on the Conqueror's level. And that is from 7th level and up. And I'd say on the upperside of the ACK's level because this is such an epic module. CM2 for ACK's is one that could be run using ACK's Heroic Fantasy Handbook. All of the adventure elements are here within CM2 Death's Ride. From the kingdom details of the  Barony of Twolakes Vale, to the external threat presented by the undead horde and the three vile villains responsible.What is there within CM2 for the ACK's player's PC in CM2? Well besides an entire kingdom up for grabs and hordes of literal undead. There's plenty of twists and turns to keep the PC's interested. And besides t the Barony of Twolakes Vale is a perfect spot for the PC's to take over. 

OSR Commentary On CM1 Test of the Warlords by Douglas Niles & Adventurer Conqueror, King 1st edition Rpg

 "The king requests your presence in the honorable kingdom of Norwold. If you're worthy, you may be appointed lord of a dominion filled with friendly villages, sturdy fortresses, and raging band of monsters."

"Raging bands of monsters?

Well, yes, and you may have to lead your forces into a war or two. But you'll be ready for the challenge. You'll be ready for treacherous spies who conspire to steal you land. You'll be ready for a foul band of giants that raids your dominions. And you'll be ready for the inevitable clash of empires, the outcome of which may alter the fate of millions. You'll be ready! Won't you?'

CM1 Test of the Warlords by Douglas Niles takes the PC's from 15th and above PC levels into the world of managing kingoms, retaking lands, and literally magaging a whole cloth domain.And it's even in the module's set up; "With the fall of the Black Eagle Barony and its allied forces, the settled lands of the continent are now peaceful. Most of the land's dungeons have been plundered, and monsters have been driven from all but a few of the civilized dominions. Prosperity reigns throughout the land now, which is just how the rulers want it. The government is stable, and day-to-day life is routine. Prospects for adventure, however, are minimal. Then comes word from the north: the empire of Alphatia has claimed the vast lands of Norwold, and has appointed a king to rule over those lands. This monarch is in need of steadfast characters to administer the many dominions that may be carved from the wilderness of Norwold!" Anyone worth thier salt knows that this is BECMI's fabled Mystara. But how could CM1 Test of the Warlords by Douglas Niles be used with the modern clones such as Adventurer,Conqueror, King rpg?!Because CM1 was written for the Dungeons & Dragons Champion Box set then we're fading into ACK's Conqueror phase of PC level requirements. 

 This basically means that the forces of  the empire of Alphatia & all of it's allies are going to be on the middle end of the ACK's scale so between 7th level and upward. The PC's are going to have to deal with all of the problems that surround the world of the wilderness of Norwold! And that's no joke. The encounters of CM1 Test of the Warlords by Douglas Niles are going to test and could easily kill a party of ACK's PC's. This is especially true in the 'Conqueror' phase of an ACK's campaign. Mystara in CM1 is an untamed land & the the empire of Alphatia are seriously expanding it's borders. 

And there's are five reasons why CM1 Test of the Warlords works: 

1. The CM1 campaign module allows the DM to show and demonstrate through actual play how to run and maintain a domain against external and internal threats.
2. CM1 takes the player's PC's through actual dangerous encounters where PC death is an all too real reality. 
3. The Test of the Warlords tasks the PC's to become royal vassels and to have them bare the burden of leadership. 
4. CM1 introduces another aspect of Mystara into the world of Dungeons & Dragons and it can do the same for ACK's. 
5. The module is a classic from another era before WoTC. 

OSR Commentary - Weird Tales Judges Guild Wilderlands of High Fantasy - CM1: "Test of the Warlords" (1984), by Douglas Niles & More

 "The king requests your presence in the honorable kingdom of Norwold. If you're worthy, you may be appointed lord of a dominion filled with friendly villages, sturdy fortresses, and raging band of monsters.

Raging bands of monsters?

Well, yes, and you may have to lead your forces into a war or two. But you'll be ready for the challenge. You'll be ready for treacherous spies who conspire to steal you land. You'll be ready for a foul band of giants that raids your dominions. And you'll be ready for the inevitable clash of empires, the outcome of which may alter the fate of millions. You'll be ready! Won't you?"

If you've been following the many Astonishing Swordmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea blog entries on this blog then you know all about the backroom prattle that's been going at our table top. The idea here being using the AS&SH rpg to run Judge's Guilds Wilderlands of High Fantasy campaign setting. But wait why is a Douglas Niles high level module written in Eighty four here?! And why CM1 'Test of the Warlords'?! Well besides the fact that module takes place in a Norwald setting there's a wee little tid bit that got mentioned in the Wizbro's Drivethrurpg entry for CM1 'Test of the Warlords'; "

Mark Bertenshaw notes that some of these primordial details of Alphatia and Thyatis that are found in this adventure are later contradicted by Dawn of the Emperors, including the age of the two countries. "Test of the Warlords" also claims that Alphatia is secretly the empire of Atlantis, something that's repeated nowhere else in the literature on the Known World."  Well that's merely an interesting foot note in BECMI history.. Umm yes & no. First the product history;" CM1: "Test of the Warlords" (1984), by Douglas Niles, was the first of nine Companion-level adventures for Basic D&D. It was published early in 1984." 
If we examine the fact that perhaps Alphatia is secretly the empire of Atlantis's remains within the Wilderlands of High Fantasy. Then it makes a bit more sense that Atlantis's barbarian remains are scattered across the Wilderlands. I'm not talking about the whole of Mystara being a part of the Wilderlands far from it. Instead that the Dawn of the Emperors campaign setting  in the world of the GAZ series is another country in the greater part of the Wilderlands. 

This gives a Roman like empire right on the heels of the Wilderland's next door neighbors. And a possible set of nasty trade partners for The City State of the Invincible Overlord. And it means a Frazetta style world with a nasty Roman Empire mini empire right in the back pocket.

So what does this mean for  CM1 'Test of the Warlords'?! It means that the vast  hordes of humanoids breathing down the neck of the frontier are going to be very dangerous to handle. It also give the PC's the chance to go from mercenary company to full fledged royals in one shot. 
You get Frazetta style Sword & Sorcery adventuring with Roman empire shadow play all within the context of a possible style simple Chess meneuver adventure. 
And what about the City State of the Invincible Overlord itself?! 

And what is it they say?! Higher levels higher troubles?! Remember we're talking about AS&SH which means that the savage swords & super science is turned up to eleven. Then it breaks the knob off. CM1: "Test of the Warlords" (1984), by Douglas Niles is empire building pure & simple. But there are still legendary savage swords & super science   artifacts within the Wilderlands. These are not going to be easy to recover for use in warfare. Countries & mini empires could go to war over these items. 

Higher levels means higher level problems & this also applies to Hyperborea where the events of CM1: "Test of the Warlords" (1984), by Douglas Niles could theoretically kick off some rumbles of rebellion among Hyperborea's human &  humanoid tribes. Nothing happens in isolation. Control of artifacts might also mean control of the Wilderlands Nexus Gates & this could theoretically kick off another Nexus Gate War.  CM1: "Test of the Warlords" could become the opening salvo in a royal war of epic proporations. Those royal titles within CM1: "Test of the Warlords" could come with far more responisibility then the PC's might know. Imagine that all of this aligns  with the events of the  English Civil War of  England Upturn'd for Lamentations of the Flame Princess?! Well the fires of war are truly stoked. 

How?! Well what if the powers of the Chaos Lords decide that its time for a little game of 'war' & their actually the reason for the humanoid horde push & the little occult goings on in England Upturn'd. But why would the powers of Chaos do this?! Short answer?! Because they can! The powers of Chaos in Michael Moorcock's fiction don't play favorites except when it comes to the agenda of extinction in the sagas.