OSR Commentary On CM4 Earthshaker! By David 'Zeb' Cook & Adventurer Conqueror, King 1st edition Rpg

 " Into your hands has been thrust a great responsibility: the management of a growing domain. It has been a hard winter. Now, with the coming of spring, the populace looks to you for leadership. It will take a careful and generous hand to restore your subjects' confidence."

"But even as you hold your first courts of the new season, an ominous shadow falls across the land. Earthshaker - wonder of the world - has arrived! Will its arrival be a curse or a blessing? With bold action and skillful diplomacy, you may yet divert disaster. But if you fail, the consequences will certainly be the subject of many a minstrel's tragic songs for years to come!"

CM4 Earthshaker! By David 'Zeb' Cook features the Earthshaker and this means that levels 18-20 are not levels to be trifled with. This is a 'King' level adventure in every sense of the word with a dungeon/menace that is the size of a domain and can flatten one. CM4 features some very high level encounters a high level module with Conqueror to King level encounters we're talking table X (10) encounters. And Earthshaker is a return to both Blackmoor and S3 Expediation to the Barrier Peaks Science Fantasy turf because the Earthshaker is described as follows; " the Earthshaker is described thus: "[It] was built at least 3,000 years ago, probably by a race of evil gods similar in skill to dwarves or gnomes." Since Blackmoor is set 3000 years before the modern day of the Known World, and since its science-fantasy technology is sometimes said to come from "gods," many presume that Blackmoor is the source of the Earthshaker technology." 
And for Adventurer, Conqueror, King's Dwarven Craftmen PC's and NPC's the Earthshaker technology is a return to form. Studying it can yield incredible innovations. And this is a return to form with Autarch's By This Axe: The Cyclopedia of Dwarven Civilization.

 CM4 is a return to menaces that are both the menace and partially the dungeon in one neat package. And make no mistake there are monsters, encounters, menaces that can end a party with a quick snap of a finger. And there are not one but three domains up for conquest according to the CM4 Earthshaker wiki entry; "Expanding the Known World. In case players don't have their own dominion, "Earthshaker!" offers up the dominion of Vyolstagrad for use. It also mentions the nearby dominion of Stamtral. Both are located in Norwold, but as was the case with the Barony of Twolakes Vale in CM2: "Death's Ride," the adventure doesn't specify where exactly. The Italian MMB suggests placing Vyolstagrad southeast of the Azure Lake.

Vyolstragard also marked the first use of a Russian-like culture in Norwold. It's since been associated with the "Vatski" culture."  So this makes adventuring interesting from an ACK's perspective. The players can really make Mystara thier own setting by taming it if they survive! The dungeon crawls are cleverly woven into this one. 
And once again if there was ever a high level adventure that clocks in on the ACK's ten and above level CM4 Earthshaker is it! This adventure has the ACK's Heroic Fantasy Handbook written all over it! 

Deadly encounters, high level politics, a kingdom wrecking warmachine, and more! CM4 Earth shaker can pick up right after the events of  Sabre River (CM3) By Douglas Niles Along With  Bruce Nesmith. In Earthshaker the PC's are the heroes & kings of yore returned to the shores of Mystara especially with ACK's in the campaign wheel house. And now with Adventurer Conqueror King System Imperial Imprint (ACKS II) - Kickstarter happening. Now is the perfect time to get into an ACK's Mystara campaign. 

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.