Sanctuary & The Darkness of Space Between the Sectors - The Thieves World Box Set & the Cepheus Engine rpg

 Over the last twenty four hours we've been looking at original Dungeons & Dragons rpg & the original Traveller rpg on the OD&D forums here. And up pops up Chaosium's Thieves' World another artifact from an earlier time peroid in gaming. 
And let's look at the wiki for the  Thieves' World box set; "The Thieves' World Complete Sanctuary Adventure Pack is a boxed set published by Chaosium in 1981, containing: 1) The Player's Guide to Sanctuary; 2) The Gamemaster's Guide to Sanctuary; 3) Personalities of Sanctuary; 4) Map of Sanctuary; 5) Map of the Maze; 6) Map of the Maze Underground.^[1]

Just as the Thieves' World series of books was a shared universe with multiple authors using a common setting, Chaosium initially positioned the Thieves' World RPG as a setting that could be used with multiple game systems. The Personalities of Sanctuary included statistics and gaming notes for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Adventures in Fantasy, Chivalry & Sorcery, DragonQuest, Dungeons & Dragons, The Fantasy Trip, RuneQuest, Traveller, and Tunnels & Trolls. Later products in the series provided stats only for RuneQuest and Rolemaster/Middle-earth Role Playing. Thieves' World series contributing novelists Lynn Abbey, Poul Anderson, Robert Asprin, Marion Zimmer Bradley, John Brunner, Christine DeWees, David Drake, Philip José Farmer, Joe Haldeman, Janet Morris, Andrew Offutt, and A.E. van Vogt wrote descriptions, essays, and short stories for the player and game master volumes in the box set, and game designers Dave Arneson, Eric Goldberg, Rudy Kraft, Wes Ives, Stephen Marsh, Midkemia Press, Marc W. Miller, Steve Perrin, Lawrence Schick, and Ken St. Andre helped translate the world into the various game systems" 

What this little artifact from another era does right is actually merge Cepheus Engine style rpg rules with how to handle royals & planetary governors in 2d6 Science Fiction rpg's. And while Challenge magazine had a few articles on this very subject. These days the Barbaric! rpg would be perfect to merge your Cepheus Engine space elements with a Sword & Sorcery asthetic.. 

 Sword & Sorcery worlds such as Thieves World brings up the point that outpost worlds could hold far more then mere gold and glory. Looking over Stars Without Numbers rpg's  Distant Lights: Creating Borderworld Outposts then we get a  set of tools to build remote planetary outposts, isolated deep-space asteroid colonies, secretive exile stations, and other far-flung motes of human habitation in the sci-fi void. And those far flung outposts remind me of the classic H.Beam Piper's Space Viking. And because Distant Lights really is game generic it's tools and tags are easy to use for 2d6 gaming. 

The high frontier of the Earth Sector's outer edges might be just the place that may see raiders from worlds a sector away. And some of these might not even be remotely human. The fact is that Reticulan pirates or worse may have been forced far out into the void of space by their war with the Terrans. Remote backwaters such as Sanctuary may be the only places where the elders & the wizards still remember their inhuman trading partners. Perhaps the back corporate servers of the Clement Sector & Earth sector mega corporations might remember as well. But with such a glut of info would they know?! 

The void or that black wine ocean or the last frontier analogy that we play in is incredibly vast. And magick & psionics may be left in the darkness of the galaxy in the hidden places and more. There are however parts of the map that may be still marked, 'here be monsters'. And those might just swallow up a space craft without a care. 

Chaosium's Thieves World or Not?! Thieves World & The Hyperborea rpg Campaign Update

 Merry Christmas everyone & happy holidays to my readers. So early this week backers of the Hyperborea rpg got copies of the Hyperborea rpg formerly the Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea rpg. But DM Steve brought up an important point from last year's AS&SH games and that was visiting Sancuatary from the Chaosium Thieves World campaign box set. If you are not familar with the box set's history then I strongly suggest  captcorajus excellent review & break down of the Thieves World box set. 

The problem?! Sancutary became the preferred campaign venue when the player's PC's wanted to escape the Winter weather of Hyperborea. The Rakin empire has ties with the human Hyperborea royal houses. The PC's sold mamoth ivory, salted meats, etc along with primeval walrus tusks between adventures on Hyperborea.  The PC's acted as escorts & bodyguards  for a Sancutary wizard to the shores of Ixian for negoations. And there were several expediations from Sanctuary to Hyperborea within our campaign with the player's PC's being guides & experts. 

Now the question becomes do we continue this line of the campaign with the Thieves World adventure elements within our current Hyperborea rpg line of play coming up?! Only time will tell!? 

Agents Within The Blood Soaked Alleyways of SANCTUARY! A Cepheus Engine Rpg View Into Chaosium's Thieves World rpg Campaign Box Set

 "Skulk through the night on the heels of Shadowspawn . . . delve into the twisted tunnels of the Purple Mage . . . attend the court (or perhaps the harem) of Prince Kadakithis . . . dodge the keen-eyed Hell Hounds with Jubal's Hawkmasks . . . drink your ale and guard your purse at the Vulgar Unicorn . . . boldly walk the streets of the wildest, most varied, and most downright fascinating city in fantasy literature — SANCTUARY, the Thieves' World!"

* The Players' Guide to Sanctuary — the creation of Sanctuary; Thud and Blunder, Sanctuary chronology; 'Hakiem' and 'The Hell Hounds'; a stroll through the city; a captured llsigi document; magic, working ladies, and oaths; glossary /pronunciation guide; a map of the known world; a city map. * The Game Master's Guide to Sanctuary — palm-greasing and arrest procedures; a secret Carronnian report; city gods and religions; main city encounters; encounters for the Jewelers' Quarter, Processional, and Westside; 18 tables of specific encounters, descriptions/encounters for The Maze, Bazaar, Street of Red Lanterns, Downwind; business generators and tables by area; 6 area maps, 15 floorplans of typical buildings (including the Vulgar Unicorn); scenario suggestions.
* The Personalities of Sanctuary — story/character index; system notes as applicable and character stats for 9 RPG systems (minimum of twenty characters each, each system divided to Prince and Retinue. Transients, and Residents); general descriptions of other characters.
* Wall Map of Sanctuary. Referee Maps of The Maze, The Maze underground."

While doing some research last night for Sword of Cepheus, I ran across a little tid bit about Thieves World on Wayne's Books last night on Thieves World; "One of the first "Shared World" fantasy settings -- now commonplace -- was Thieves' World. Contributors to the first two volumes included Lynn Abbey, Poul Anderson, Robert Asprin, Marion Zimmer Bradley, John Brunner, Christine DeWees, David Drake, Philip Jose Farmer, Joe Haldeman, Janet Morris, Andrew Offut, and A.E. van Vogt.

The darkly grim city of Sanctuary was an immediate hit with readers. The series with its roots in fantasy roleplaying in turn inspired the Thieves World Sanctuary Adventure Pack. In keeping with the spirit of the montage of authors of the series, Greg Stafford, et al at Chaosium worked with with some of the brighter lights of the RPG industry (Dave Arneson, Steve Marsh, Midkemia Press, Marc Miller, Steve Perrin, Lawrence Schick, Ken St. Andre, and many others) to make the Thieves' World RPG compatible with 9 RPG systems: AD&D, Adventures in Fantasy, Chivalry & Sorcery, DragonQuest, D&D, The Fantasy Trip, RuneQuest, Traveller, and Tunnels & Trolls.

Truly a Rosetta Stone of early roleplaying.

-Wayne" This isn't the first time that Sanctuary has been mentioned on this blog. Back in February of this past year of Covid we were going to do something about one of the bloodiest fantasy cities in Sword & Sorcery. But what if Thieves World actually was a failed colony in Sword of Cepheus or Barbaric?! 

You've got all of the makings of a Sword & Sorcery fantasy city already done. But with Cepheus Engine there in the mix & Barbaric lurking in the background. Thieves World would be an easily slip into the background of some sector. 

A quick palace coup & then the agents come into help stabilize the royals & the  government of Sanctuary. Then things start to get interesting as they realize the extent of the riches of the world. Resources, mineral rights, and more on an Earthlike world with vast psionic & magic potential?! The mind boggles at the possibilities. Sanctuary needs to make a reappearance at the table top coming up! 

Return To The Blood Soaked Alleyways of SANCTUARY! A Cepheus Engine Rpg View Into Chaosium's Thieves World rpg Campaign Box Set

"Skulk through the night on the heels of Shadowspawn . . . delve into the twisted tunnels of the Purple Mage . . . attend the court (or perhaps the harem) of Prince Kadakithis . . . dodge the keen-eyed Hell Hounds with Jubal's Hawkmasks . . . drink your ale and guard your purse at the Vulgar Unicorn . . . boldly walk the streets of the wildest, most varied, and most downright fascinating city in fantasy literature — SANCTUARY, the Thieves' World!
* The Players' Guide to Sanctuary — the creation of Sanctuary; Thud and Blunder, Sanctuary chronology; 'Hakiem' and 'The Hell Hounds'; a stroll through the city; a captured llsigi document; magic, working ladies, and oaths; glossary /pronunciation guide; a map of the known world; a city map. * The Game Master's Guide to Sanctuary — palm-greasing and arrest procedures; a secret Carronnian report; city gods and religions; main city encounters; encounters for the Jewelers' Quarter, Processional, and Westside; 18 tables of specific encounters, descriptions/encounters for The Maze, Bazaar, Street of Red Lanterns, Downwind; business generators and tables by area; 6 area maps, 15 floorplans of typical buildings (including the Vulgar Unicorn); scenario suggestions.
* The Personalities of Sanctuary — story/character index; system notes as applicable and character stats for 9 RPG systems (minimum of twenty characters each, each system divided to Prince and Retinue. Transients, and Residents); general descriptions of other characters.* Wall Map of Sanctuary. Referee Maps of The Maze, The Maze underground.""
Write up of Chaosium's Thieves World Thanks to Wayne's Books Rpg resource.
 
Based on the highly successful Sword & Sorcery paperbacks series & shared universe, 'Thieves' World is a shared world fantasy series created by Robert Lynn Asprin in 1978'. Thieves World spawned a box set by Chaosium published in '81. We covered 'Thieves World' extensively right here on the blog. 

Its been a New York minute since anything has been done with our copy of Chaosium's  Thieves World. But recently something has been at the at the back of our  mind about the box set; "The darkly grim city of Sanctuary was an immediate hit with readers. The series with its roots in fantasy roleplaying in turn inspired the Thieves World Sanctuary Adventure Pack. In keeping with the spirit of the montage of authors of the series, Greg Stafford, et al at Chaosium worked with with some of the brighter lights of the RPG industry (Dave Arneson, Steve Marsh, Midkemia Press, Marc Miller, Steve Perrin, Lawrence Schick, Ken St. Andre, and many others) to make the Thieves' World RPG compatible with 9 RPG systems: AD&D, Adventures in Fantasy, Chivalry & Sorcery, DragonQuest, D&D, The Fantasy Trip, RuneQuest, Traveller, and Tunnels & Trolls." 

Because there is an original Traveller rpg conversion of Thieves World it makes the box set a perfect campaign setting for Cepheus Engine rpg coupled with Sword of Cepheus. Thieves World as a  possible star port destination for Cepheus Engine rpg combined with Sword of Cepheus makes a hot spot for Pulpy  interstellar science fantasy action. 

What makes this work is the fact that Thieves World sets the stage as a blood soaked backwater world with all kinds of possible uses on the galactic stage. What works to set this up are the following Thievs World stories: 
"Sentences of Death" by John Brunner;
"The Face of Chaos" by Lynn Abbey;
"The Gate of the Flying Knives" by Poul Anderson;
"Shadowspawn" by Andrew Offutt;
"The Price of Doing Business" by Robert Lynn Asprin;
"Blood Brothers" by Joe Haldeman;
"Myrtis" by Christine DeWees; and
"The Secret of the Blue Star" by Marion Zimmer Bradley

The PC's could be acting as agents of the local interstellar governement sent into handle Sanctuary itself. Thieves World was really the pioneering work for shared world building and eventually spawned a published RPG setting which we cheerfully used. Even my players loved playing in Sanctuary. But would they still love it using Sword of Cepheus? The setting was just as rich as we remembered with plenty of unsavory NPC characters running around, along with some that have a touch of inner nobility.The trick is  knowing which ones can add,hinder, or even soul dri erm kill a PC.. More to come as we continue to develop this into a possible fully releaized campaign setting & shared DM universe.  

Down The Blood Soaked Alleyways of SANCTUARY! A Deep Dive Into Chaosium's Thieves World rpg Campaign Box Set

"Skulk through the night on the heels of Shadowspawn . . . delve into the twisted tunnels of the Purple Mage . . . attend the court (or perhaps the harem) of Prince Kadakithis . . . dodge the keen-eyed Hell Hounds with Jubal's Hawkmasks . . . drink your ale and guard your purse at the Vulgar Unicorn . . . boldly walk the streets of the wildest, most varied, and most downright fascinating city in fantasy literature — SANCTUARY, the Thieves' World!
* The Players' Guide to Sanctuary — the creation of Sanctuary; Thud and Blunder, Sanctuary chronology; 'Hakiem' and 'The Hell Hounds'; a stroll through the city; a captured llsigi document; magic, working ladies, and oaths; glossary /pronunciation guide; a map of the known world; a city map. * The Game Master's Guide to Sanctuary — palm-greasing and arrest procedures; a secret Carronnian report; city gods and religions; main city encounters; encounters for the Jewelers' Quarter, Processional, and Westside; 18 tables of specific encounters, descriptions/encounters for The Maze, Bazaar, Street of Red Lanterns, Downwind; business generators and tables by area; 6 area maps, 15 floorplans of typical buildings (including the Vulgar Unicorn); scenario suggestions.
* The Personalities of Sanctuary — story/character index; system notes as applicable and character stats for 9 RPG systems (minimum of twenty characters each, each system divided to Prince and Retinue. Transients, and Residents); general descriptions of other characters.* Wall Map of Sanctuary. Referee Maps of The Maze, The Maze underground.""
Write up of Chaosium's Thieves World Thanks to Wayne's Books Rpg resource. 

Today was one of those days where I was messing around with some older materials of mine & doing research after work. This isn't a light weight sort of day, today was the day that kinda hits you between the eyes.  I was deep into the depths of a sewing machine & up to my arm pits in grease. But was thinking about my first exposure to some old friends. Those friends were at the
'Vulgar Unicorn' & that place was located in vaults of the city of Sanctuary. This was the first time I experienced the bloody & dangerous backstreets & alleyways of the city of  box set of 'Thieves World' thanks to Chaosium games. Little did I realize the significance of this box set. Thieves World book reared its head back back in 1978. The box set reared its head in 1981 & Wayne hits it on the head as why the box set is so beloved;"One of the first "Shared World" fantasy settings -- now commonplace -- was Thieves' World. Contributors to the first two volumes included Lynn Abbey, Poul Anderson, Robert Asprin, Marion Zimmer Bradley, John Brunner, Christine DeWees, David Drake, Philip Jose Farmer, Joe Haldeman, Janet Morris, Andrew Offut, and A.E. van Vogt.
The darkly grim city of Sanctuary was an immediate hit with readers. The series with its roots in fantasy roleplaying in turn inspired the Thieves World Sanctuary Adventure Pack. In keeping with the spirit of the montage of authors of the series, Greg Stafford, et al at Chaosium worked with with some of the brighter lights of the RPG industry (Dave Arneson, Steve Marsh, Midkemia Press, Marc Miller, Steve Perrin, Lawrence Schick, Ken St. Andre, and many others) to make the Thieves' World RPG compatible with 9 RPG systems: AD&D, Adventures in Fantasy, Chivalry & Sorcery, DragonQuest, D&D, The Fantasy Trip, RuneQuest, Traveller, and Tunnels & Trolls.

Truly a Rosetta Stone of early roleplaying.

-Wayne"

Chaosium's Thieves World box set is the product of a Sword & Sorcery movement that began in the Sixties & Seventies among some of the most important writers of Fantasy & Science fiction. Their legacy bleeds through the 1978 anthology setting book. This shared universe was unto itself both unique & vital. A sort of alternative setting that had in its essence all of the best of 70's high weirdness & the unpolitically correctness of its time. I got to tear into & read tons of my uncle's Sword & Sorcery anthologies, pamphlets, etc from the Sixties & Seventies.

But for me its my late uncle's blood that seems thunder through the memories of this box set. His voices that he'd do as our DM & the NPC members of Sanctuary's various establishments, back alleys, & slave markets.  My friend Dirk The Dice covers the box set & you can see his enthusiasm for the box set.

But digging out my copy of Thieves World box set & it was a trip down the memory hole. To say that it was light a weight trip was not doing it justice. Suddenly I was back at my uncle's table with dice in hand & surrounded by my cousins gripping the dice as adventure events got more then a bit dicey. The trouble these young adventurers got into could fill days of blog entries!


Yeah we young,dumb, & full of 'thud & blunder' back then. We went through gold, treasure, etc. like water often having PC's resurrected by the Spider goddess cult and then having the PC get counted out recovering from the resurrection. There were repercussions of those & they caused us no end of headaches. Still don't believe that Chaosium's Thieves World box set was that good? Fine check out this video review by a friend.

Not long after the box set the Thieves World Companion came out in '86 and it shadow lighted the changes that the anthology books had wrought on the setting;

"The Thieves' World series began in 1979 to instant acclaim. Not long after, Chaosium published a boxed Thieves' World roleplaying supplement, which gathered awards and more acclaim. Since the first book hit the newstands, more than 2200 paperback pages and eight additional Thieves' World volumes have been printed - a phenomenon others imitate but cannot duplicate.

Sanctuary, the town too mean to die, has changed a little from the time it first saw print, but many new characters now stride the city's streets, pillage the foolish in its alleys, and connive in its back rooms. Lalo, Ishcade, Roxanne, Niko, Mradhon Vis, The Beysa, Chenaya, Zip, and many more have come to life, and are now included in the Companion's full character stats for the RQ3 and MERP systems.

New essays consider Rankan, Ilsigi, Beysib, and Outsider deities in the light of further tales of Sanctuary, that place which is the funnel of the gods and the eye of the Rankan hurricane. The excellent encounter tables from the Thieves' World box have been revised to reflect later events and personalities, and are presented her in full. There are also floor-by-floor isometrics of the Great Dungeon. Though adjacent to Kitty-Cat's palace, nobody seems to go there. Now you can study its defenses and understand why.

Alone or with the Thieves' World box, the Companion rekindles the fabulous world of Sanctuary - Thieves' World."

So the 'Thieves World Companion' was an  important book for me because it opened up a couple of letters to Greg Stafford at Chaosium about this book, Runequest, & 'The Knights of Pendragon' Rpg. I have a life long love of this rpg table top game that came out in '86 and it also kindled my love of Arthurian legend & lore. Its also partially responsible for me meeting my wife. But that's a whole other blog entry.

Many of the lessons of the Pendragon rpg I would apply to my Greyhawk DMing years & much more. Pendragon would prove pivotal for running the Stormbringer rpg for many years as well as the crossovers with Runequest.

But what about the OSR of today?! Thieves World is perfectly suited to be slotted into the back end of an OSR campaign! Now more then ever I can see this venerable classic box set coming into its own!  There are so many retroclone systems that this box set could slot into that its not even funny.
For Castles & Crusades this beautiful Sword & Sorcery style box set lines up on all of the running lights!  Gritty back alleyways, dirty deals, daring deeds, & occult action make Thieves World a perfect add into the campaign settings of C&C.

In fact many of the elements of Thieves World are ideal to add to the retro clone feel of the system as campaign elements. Bring this product into a whole new light & to a new generation of players! The C&C adventures & modules could use Sancuaray as a staging area for classic adventures. A trade point for the treasures, spice, slaves, & more of campaign.



But for Adventurer,Conqueror, King rpg Thieves World becomes something else. It becomes a staging area off of the routes of many spice, trade, and even as the point for war! Thieves World's material is ideal suited to run a down & dirty campaign in which the players are carving out their own piece of the action!  The late Roman Empire feel of ACK's fits well into the Rankin empire very well.


The history of Sanctuary fits as possible border nation against the empires of the official world setting of ACK's. The filler books of ACK's supplement material provides the DM with plenty of adventure fuel a Thieves World campaign! 

'Are You Not Entertained?' Commentary On An OSR Combination of DDA1 Arena of Thyatis & Chaosuim's Thieves World 1981 Box Set As Fodder For Old School Campaigns

I got a chance to play catch up over the holiday with some very interesting old school dungeon masters whom I usually catch a beer or two with. We were talking about low level adventures & introducing sword & sorcery PC's into a higher level old school campaign setting without slaughtering them. There were some interesting discussions but one of the more interesting options that came up was using Thieves World Roleplaying Game (Boxed Set)  & DDA1 Arena of Thyatis to introduce the PC's into the urban wilds of the edge of the Rankan Empire. "Thieves' World is a role-playing game published by Chaosium in 1981, based on the Thieves' World series of novels." So its right in that old school Eighties Sword & Sorcery campaign melting pot.


In the original module the plot goes something like this;"the PC's become involved with a Thyatian senator and end up fighting in the Coliseum of Thyatis"
So basically we switch out the Thyatian elements  & insert in Rankan NPC's &  campaign elements instead.Why do this? Because this is a low level adventure & enables the PC's to climb the ranks & come to hate the Greco Roman aspects of the old school campaign world. There are samples of the type of dungeon crawling that one might find in a sword & sorcery world.


Here the PC's have a completely difference focus on a vile villain  and in this case its the Thyatian (Rankan) senator & end up fighting in the Coliseum of Thyatis (The Rankan Empire). By the time they get to the second module in the Legions of Thyatis series they'll be at least 2nd or 3rd level if they survive. Which means the second adventure module  Legions of Thyatis gives them a whole level bridge gap to deal with. "Legions of Thyatis contains a scenario in which the players continue to oppose a corrupt Thatian senator. The players have to venture into a labyrinth of catacombs to prevent the senator from eliminating the wards that protect Thyatis City from the monsters in the subterranean realm beneath it." So this takes the party of adventurers & PC's up to forth level. This is just in time to smuggle them into Sanctuary and its dangerous environs. Thieves World was completely shared world that worked along a Gygaxian NPC ecology. This makes it perfect sword & sorcery fodder by taking the PC's from the lower tier into the ranks of adventurers without whole sale BS slaughter. This is a chance for the PC's to be in the central lime light. It can also become a transition point for AD&D 1st edition adventures later on.

So why use gladiatorial games as a way of introducing PC's into an urban old school campaign box set environment like Sanctuary? There are several reasons for this; the bonding process of the arena is one aspect because it teaches the players to rely on one another even though any of them might die at any time,the stakes of play are higher in a sense, & as PC's they have the juxtaposition of the arena audience with the campaign city itself.

So what does this have to do with Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea? Well quite a bit. Its very easy to add the Thieves World campaign setting as simply another country in the world of Hyperborea. Because the Thieves World campaign setting is humancentric the elements are all there to plug in and get going for play. All of the equipment and elements are there to simply start a game campaign going with the toss of the dice.

So here are ten more reasons why this combination of old school adventure campaign elements would work:

1. Old school pulp play at its Eighties & Nineties best with low level play to start the PC's on their journey up the PC ladder. 
2. Thieves World isn't that well known today among new players and neither is the DDA1 Arena of Thyatis so there's the element of surprise. 
3. B/X & AD&D first edition goodness means that these modules could be used with your favorite retroclones and their easy to adapt. 
4. The Thyatian (Rankan) senator is a great SOB NPC & players love to hate the NPC. It doesn't matter which players I run this one through they loath this guy. 
5. The technological levels of Sanctuary never break the Sword & Sorcery basis of these adventures. 
6. Because of the Greco Roman background these adventures are easy to adapt to the far flung edges of empire ala Dark Albion or Lamentations of the Flame Princess. 
7. The DM can pull from real world history of the Roman Empire for added sword & sorcery punch to move their campaigns along. 
8. There are not nearly enough Gecro Roman old school adventures and no I don't count Dark Sun because of its science fantasy or dark fantasy aspects even though you can pull from those campaign sources. 
9. Thieves World is a rich & vibrate campaign setting but this could also work with The City State of the Invincible Overlord
10. There is a ton of adventure ideas and replay with this old school hybrid campaign.