Free OSR PC Resources With First Edition Character Classes By Leonaru For First Edition AD&D, OSRIC Or Your Favorite Retroclone

 A couple of years ago I needed a first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Samurai character class for a remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese-language film Seven Samurai as an OSRIC one shot adventure. Now I've been a fan of the class since the original NPC class appeared in the pages of  Dragon magazine as a sub-class of the fighter in Dragon #3 (October 1976). Fortunately I was able to not only find that the class had been done for me for zero edition, AD&D 1st edition but second edition as well. It was also done very well and for free. The pdf comes with everything including the samurai's weapons, armor, and equipment.

You Can Grab All of PC Classes of Leonaru
right over here!


Leonaru also did a reworked Monk class, scout, barbarian, knight
& even alchemist for second edition  & even a duelist class for those Romance era types who want a sword swinger from Old Europe.  The classes are well balanced & can be used creatively to fill in a number of holes in a campaign for even NPC classes where necessary. Finally there's the Samaurai's old friend the ninja in zero edition flavor warning the Ninja class is over powered compared to some of the other styles of classes available & the class is done in a very cinematic style. The pdf of the ninja contains everything from equipment, tools, weapons, tactics, and more.

Finally Leonaru did the Full Metal Plate retroclone which has a few twists & turns on the world's most popular fantasy role playing game. You can check it out for free here  or you can buy a copy right over here.
Now these character classes can be added quite easily into the wastelands of your favorite post apocalyptic old school campaign for some extra cheesy weirdness or these classes could be used to represent some twisted version of Old Earth culture. These classes can easily be added into your favorite old school campaign for a twist on the usual PC classes that one finds in the various editions of  Dungeons & Dragons. Many of these classes are perfect for representing memorable NPC's. Anyway you slice it these are another welcome addition in the old school DM's arsenal of tricks to present to players. 
He even did a decent Lovecrafian monster book
with some of the usual Lovecraft alien races.

The Lulu Controversy & Free Castles & Crusades Material

So over the last couple of days I've been a bit overwhelmed by sewing machine repair work & the on going pandemic. Not to worry I've still managed to sneak in a bit of Patrick Wetmore lulu action with some mail call today.   Thanks Patrick! I look forward to using these at the table top!

Apparently I managed to sneak this in before the great Lulu controversy of 2020. Evil races not being considered canon anyone in fifth edition D&D? Who cares! Lulu completely changing their website format & locking out customers as well as  creators? Yeah that didn't hit Tanker's Tavern did it! Nope instead it hits the OSR Henchman Abuse blog. 

My fascination or obsession with Castles & Crusades continues & I came across Peter J Schroeder's 'Crusader's Companion'. A free collection of C&C rules variants & alternative classes! I'm really looking forward to using these at the table top level. 



I'm liking what I'm seeing in the Crusader's Companion! There's like three hundred pages of material here & man its been a Hell of a read through. If you haven't grabbed  the Crusader's Companion then my suggestion is to do so!
There's some good stuff in there. 

B/X Dungeons & Dragons Free & Pay Resources For Your Old School Campaigns

So yesterday around the table I heard some grumbles about the B/X Essentials review I did. Namely that there were no really free expansions for B/X Dungeons & Dragons. Oh but there are my friends! Way back in '09 there was a really well put together product for B/X Dungeons & Dragons from Barrataria Games called the Companion Expansion. There's a free no artwork version of this book which clocks in at a hundred & eight pages

Then there happens to be a print version of this book on lulu for sixteen dollars. 

Why should you as a player or dungeon master want or need this product? Well there are few reasons one its a very nicely designed rules rules set. Two the Companion Expansion brings lots of options to the Moldvay/Cook ruleset. Here's what the 'Companion Expansion' brings to the table for expert-level players and gamemasters, lots of additional  including 8 additional character classes (bard, druid, gnome, wildwood elf, half-elf/half-orc, half-ogre, illusionist, scout), expanded experience, combat, and saving throw tables, two additional types of magic (druid and illusion) and additional magic-user and cleric spells (90 in all), over 130 new or additional creatures (with a comprehensive index and suggested experience point awards), dozens of new or additional magic items, and extended treasure generation tables!' This book actually lives up to the hype on the tin and gives a good deal of bang for the buck.


While originally designed to expand the PC's hold in the' in house' campaign setting of the ' WORLD OF STRONGHOLD ' from Barrataria Games. This material is easily usable in the B/X Dungeons & Dragons Moldvay/Cook ruleset.

The Campaign Expansion is able in the No Art Work Version here. 

 



Now between the Campaign Expansion & the  B/X Companion from
Running Beagle Games  there a lot of  options at the table.
Of course if I wanted to really keep the ball rolling I'd throw in Running Beagle's The Complete B/X Adventurer. This brings more new classes, new spells, new character options, and rules options for beginning PC's. These are B/X gaming materials not found in the the Advanced Edition Companion™ for Labyrinth Lord™.

The B/X Companion & the B/X Adventurer is available in print through the B/X Black Razor blog. All of the material I've covered so far is completely compatible with Labyrinth Lord. Which makes the entire affair sweeter in my humble opinion. Yes I also know about Barrel Rider Games Class Compendium for Labyrinth Lord. Yes this is a great PC class book that expands the gauntlet of classes for LL & B/X Dungeons & Dragons. I heartily recommend it for dungeon masters looking to expand their B/X range of material. Yes it really well done quality OSR material.



Now this being said if you as a Dungeon Master & your looking for a good free value download, AA2 Adventure Anthology Two just broke for the Basic Fantasy Rpg by James Lemon, Chris Gonnerman, and Contributors is solid.

 Also grab Chris Gonnerman's other Basic Fantasy rpg materials whist your there at the downloads section you won't be sorry.

 Another option that you have at the table for B/X OSR play is another favorite of mine which is Dark Dungeons which is a retroclone of the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia along with its attendant supplements. 

Following this path for B/X Dungeons and Dragons PC design and class options at the table gives the DM a ton to work with for both his campaign & his players. There are far too many resources to name in a simple blog post but this is a starting point.

I'd also like to mention that the guys at Frog God Games  have a 30% off Coupon for PDF Purchases - Benefits Catholic Charities Houston who were affected by Hurricane Harvey and that there are LOT of Texas gamers are affected by this, including S&W creator Matt Finch, and several other OSR regulars that I know.

Review & Commentary On CBI-2 The Thonian Rand Source book By Havard & Friends For Your Old School Campaigns

Blackmoor the name conjures up images of everything from the First Fantasy Campaign to some of the corner stones of Dungeons & Dragons as we know it. I'm not going to get bogged down in gushing about Dave Arneson  co creator of Dungeons & Dragons. But I quietly keep my hand churning in the Blackmoor fandom. When Havard's Blackmoor blog & the Comeback Inn  announced a new free Blackmoor supplement well I had to get in on the action CBI-2 The Thonian Rand Source book 

"The Comeback Inn is proud to announce the second in the series of Thonian Empire Province Sourcebooks. Written by Havard and friends, this sourcebook details the northwestern border province of the Thonian Empire. "




According to Havard himself, "I tried to include the most important things for running a campaign in that area as well as making the Province feel unique or at least different from other Provinces" The introduction goes deeper into this point; "What follows is the second booklet detailing the provinces of the Thonian Empire, a realm in the world of Dave Arneson’s Blackmoor. This is my take on the Province known as the Thonian Rand While much of it is based on published information from the DA modules and the FFC as well as some ZGG material, the final interpretation is my own. I make no claim for it being any official interpretation. Thanks to Rafael, LoZompatore, Aldarron, James Mishler, Agathokles, RobJN, Cthulhdrew, Greg Svenson and many unnamed members of the Mystara Community and the people of the Comeback Inn Forum for research and ideas that was used in this PDF. This booklet details the Thonian Rand in the year 1030, the time of the ZGG Blackmoor product line, 5 years after the DA modules"

This timing distinction makes the placement of this sourcebook incredibly important for its use as an adventure jump off point. Here the player's PC's are going to be in the thick of this twenty two page book. This book has annotations about past products such as 

DA3 City of the Gods.  In fact scattered through out the book are references to other Blackmoor & Dave Arneson writings. 

"The Thonian Empire is a tyrannical realm ruled by an evil and corrupt Emperor and his lieutenants in an oppressive system.", and this book dives right into the hows & whys of it with notes right off the bat for PC's coming from the empire itself. The layout is easy on the eyes & the font works very well for the book. Each province is given over to detail but not overly so that one sometimes find in other Dungeons & Dragons products. There's a coherency that one finds throughout the source book according to Havard this was a labor of love; "I actually started working on this book back in 2014, but only recently got back to it. One reason it took me so long is that I am writing one book for each of the 10 Provinces and trying to make them feel coherent" We see this throughout the twenty two pages details from Blackmoor permeate the book such as the new updated version of the Tarnsmen ala Gor who have been decoupled from their Gorian past. Now their Hawkriders even though the term Tarnsmen is still used; "Believed related to the Peshwa, Hawkriders is a culture of humans living in the various mountain ranges of the North. Sometimes known as Tarnsmen, this people are best known for those among their numbers who ride gigantic Warhawks. Although the term Hawkrider is used to refer to the group as a whole, only a few of each clan have the gift allowing them to ride these creatures. " I'm glad to see their inclusion in this book & their legacy carried on & throughout we get more details & ideas.
We really get into the factions of the Thonian empire & there's lots of good stuff to get into. Then we dive into the geography, regions, politics, etc. of the Thonian Empire & make no mistake this is a dangerous region. This book can be used for PC's but the Thonian Empire sourcebook in many ways reminds me of the Greyhawk box set & folio. Areas that have interesting factions, ideas, & really dangerous NPC's. The section on Rogues, Rascals and Regents of The Rand has some fantastic NPC's & let's take this gnome mover & shaker for example; 
"Artigan of Foglesby
 Neutral Good 11th level Gnome Inventor,
Str 13, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 17, Wis 11, Cha 15
This Gnome is a colleague of astronomer Galen of Lato. Artigan was working closely with Galen when Artigan built a mechanical sparrow for his daughter around 40 years ago. This resulted in a number of mechanical animals being created in Evedhar. Every noble in Thonia wanted one so Gnomes began working hard to supply those in demand of such a toy. (This character is briefly mentioned in Clock & Steam, by Zeitgeist Games)"

All of Artigan's stats tie deeply back into the regions & other locations described within the  CBI-2 The Thonian Rand Source book  This is something that we see again & again with each & everything covered. This is the mark of a good & solidly useful product in my mind.
So how can the  CBI-2 The Thonian Rand source book  be used? Well that's where things get really interesting. The sourcebook can be used to update existing adventures such as 

DA4 The Duchy of Ten by David J. Ritchie to a more updated campaign..

 Or CBI-2 The Thonian Rand Source book  could be used to fill in many of the Blackmoor puzzle pieces that have over the years slipped through the cracks. But in point of fact the book could be used to start a brand new campaign set within the Rand setting itself. The cartography is well done & Blackmoor's evil empire never looked better. Do I think you should download the CBI-2 The Thonian Rand Source book? In a word absolutely! 

Get this sourcebook at the Comeback Inn

Ships of the California Lost Wastes - An OSR Encounter Or An Encounter Setting For Any OSR Old School Campaign

A wind comes in from the sea,
And rolls through the hollow dark
Like loud, tempestuous waters.
As the swift recurrent tide,
It pours adown the sky,
And rears at the cliffs of night
Uppiled against the vast.

Like the soul of the sea—
Hungry, unsatisfied
With ravin of shores and of ships—
Come forth on the land to seek
New prey of tideless coasts,
It raves, made hoarse with desire,
And the sounds of the night are dumb
With the sound of its passing.


The Soul of the Sea  (1912) 
by Clark Ashton Smith

For most treasure ships seem like something that would be found in a garden variety Dungeons & Dragons game instead these ships are found deep in the deserts & post apocalyptic wastelands of California luring adventurers, cowboys, capes, pulp adventurers, & many others to their deaths.



The small communities around  Lake Cahuilla (also known as Lake LeConte and Blake Sea) in the Great California Wastes experience time mirages that cross space & time itself after the use of the Entropy weapons used during the End War. These communities have been receiving help from Project Over Reach to help reestablish satellite communications & they've reported strange wreckage of ships & other alien craft out in the Great California Waste basins.



The Salton Trough and Colorado River Delta from space


The fishing village of Last Blake has seen an uptick in Morlock raider activity but there have been a number of time lost adventurers who have come looking for the lost vessel of Spanish explorer Juan de Iturbe. Many of these adventurers have strange radiation burns & injuries reportedly having been attacked by giant scorpions, mutant rattle snakes, & worse.



The legends of the Spanish explorer always seem to go like this; 

"This legend may refer to the same ship as the Lost Galleon, but its own story has always placed it in a distinct location, closer to the sand hills west of El Centro, California. Descriptions suggest it is closer to the size of one of Christopher Columbus' small caravels. The pearl ship is rumored to have been seen as recently as the 1970s^{[citation needed]}.

The story goes that in 1615, Spanish explorer Juan de Iturbe embarked on a pearl-harvesting expedition, during which his crew sailed a shallow-drafted caravel up the Gulf of California. A high tidal bore carried him across a strait into Lake Cahuilla, a postulated contemporaneous saltwater basin periodically connected to the gulf which was already in the process of drying up permanently. After exploring the lake for several days, Iturbe found himself unable to sail out again, whereupon he beached his craft and made his way back to the nearest Spanish settlement on foot, leaving behind a fortune in black pearls. Sixteenth-century records from New Spain indicate that the De La Cadena family had a pearl-diving monopoly in Baja California.

Iturbe's alleged ship has been seen and lost several times, and there are several stories about it having been looted. A mule driver traveling with the de Anza expeditions through Alta California was said to have removed the pearls in 1774. Around 1917, an El Centro farmer named Jacobsen was said to have found a very small chest of jewels, which he quietly sold in Los Angeles, and to have used timber from the pearl ship to build his pig pens." 

Travelers from an alternative 1900 expedition  timeline deep into the in the wasteland badlands west of Mexicali, Mexico. have reportedly been searching for the Serpent Necked Canoe. They came to the small community of Julian, California, after nearly dying from an encounter with a giant mutant tarantula species. They were following the following legends; "The Viking stories originated around 1900 from the Mexicans and Indians who live in the Colorado River delta region near the Laguna Salada basin. The ship is consistently described as an open boat with round metal shields on its sides in the badlands west of Mexicali, Mexico.

Around 1933, Myrtle Botts, a librarian from Julian, California, had an encounter with an old prospector who showed her photos of what she called a Viking ship. He gave her and her husband directions to the location but an earthquake prevented the Botts from following the prospector's trail to the ship. Julian's Pioneer Museum, which inherited Myrtle Botts' papers, also inherited those directions.

The Julian Pioneer Museum is not in possession of any records regarding the Viking ship mentioned in this story."

The Restorers post apocalyptic faction has been able to telepathically reconstruct most of the data from the scrambled remains of some of the expeditions members after being telepathically attacked by a giant floating mutant head. They reportedly came in contact with a cache of green radioactive diamonds they found scattered on the ground.

Finally there is the tale of two separate expeditions that were found wandering in the desert after brief encounter with the wastes around the Salton Sink has been dried out around the Salton Sea. They have reported a dangerous encounter with monsters, the wreckage of a paddle wheel ship beached in stinking fen & a fevered encounter with a wizard. They had several small caches of gold & jewels but some of the members were insane.

1d20 Random Encounters Out In The Wastelands of California 

1. 1d6 gunfighters & adventurers on horse back lost & looking for a way back from their nightmare. They are haggard in bad need of water & are completely lost. 
2. Mutant adventurers armed with bows & arrows on the backs of giant spider like mutants. They are bounty hunters after an alien outlaw. 
3. 1d10 American first nationer warriors out on a hunting party. They are friendly & armed with guns that do 1d8 points of damage at a range of 50 yards. These are 4th level fighters and not to be trifled with. 
4. 1d6 desert Gnoll warriors on horse back looking for a raid to cause problems.  They are armed with short bows & long swords. 
5. 1d6 goblin raiders on giant coyotes they are a hunting party looking to slay humans & eat man flesh for the evening. 
6. A very pissed off war golem armed with shoulder mounted  heavy crossbows, he's hell bent on revenge for being lost in the wastelands for weeks 
7. 1d6 human prospectors leading mule train completely unaware that their out of their own time lost element 
8. Cowboy nearly dead on a mutant horse mount with his pockets stuffed with bones & map to the lost mines Hollywood 
9. Group of traveling Hollywood silent era  cowboys & production company  on route to a movie location but getting very worried by the moment! 
10. 1d20 1300 Spanish missionaries from South America on their way to the missions of California but now armed with 1d6 energy weapons they took from a band of mutant marauders that attacked them. Their trigger happy & highly dangerous! 
11. 1d8 Green Martian warriors on Throats on a raid! 
12. Green skinned mutant tribesmen on their way to a meeting with another tribe who have food & water to trade. 
13. 1d8 D&D adventurers of 2nd level who on their way to the ruins of a former wizard but a bit shocked at their surroundings. 
14. A posse of 1d20 cowboys, lawmen, etc. on the hunt for an escaped fugitive on horse back 
15. Demon in human disguise looking for an escaped  soul of a damned man 
16. A female first nationer princess whose escaped a group of orcs from the San Bernadino tribes. She's armed with two crossbows & some ammo but is running out of food & supplies. 
17. Undead prospector looking for gold & souls! 
18. Restorers expedition on their own in the middle of the wastes but armed with energy & gun powder weapons. 
19. 1d20 bandits & marauders on the hunt for victims to murder, rob, & eat. 
20. 1d10 giant blood sucking mutant hornets in a swarm looking murder their latest meal! 

This is an experiment to see about combining Labyrinth Lord, Mutant Future, Amazing Adventures!, & Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea into a OSR setting. I'm also throwing in a bit of the free adventure The Wreck of the Anubis byGus LaRu.
I was also thinking of throwing in a wreck or two from Bruce Heard's Calidar 

Four Free OSR Monster Books For Your Old School Campaigns

Old School dungeon masters can't have enough monsters & sometimes you've got to dust off some old favorites to throw a scare or two into the players.  Last night I was pursuing through the Planet Algol blog & dusting off some old ideas for my inner Earth campaign. Keeping to the gonzo pulp aesthetic of the campaign has taken me down a short path of memory lane to a few years ago. The first thing I noticed were two monster books that had escaped my notice for a long while. The first one was Varlet's & Vermin from the Roles,Rules, and Rolls blog;"It's a collection of monsters and related ideas for challenge levels 1 and 2, written for Swords & Wizardry but easily adaptable to other systems." I had forgotten how good some of these fiends were. I also really like the Man of Wounds, and the rat variants are very nicely done.

GRAB IT RIGHT OVER HERE 


The second monster book is Telecanter's Deadly Distractions from Telecanter's Receding Rules blog and these are perfect beasties to challenge as well as dismay your party of adventurers. These are low level creatures with a twist or two. They're very well done and quite weird fitting in a number of criteria that I've had.
Download Telecanter's Deadly Distractions

Finally there's The Basic Fantasy Field Guide of Creatures Malevolent and Benign which has a ton of monsters that are usable with a number of retroclones with minor adjustments. Did I mention that their free and you should also check out some of the other free downloads while your there on the Basic Fantasy website as well.

 Grab The Basic Fantasy Field Guide of Creatures Malevolent and Benign Here

 There are two free nearly forgotten tomes of monsters from Dragon's foot. org Monstrous Tome - Volume One which contains new dragons , demons, monsters and all original content for AD&D first edition.  Be careful with these monsters some of these creatures have the potential for an old school party wipe of adventurers. GRAB Monstrous Tome -
Volume One RIGHT HERE 



Then there's the second volume of The Monstrous Tome which adds a whole other layer of weirdness & nastiness to the monsters in your dungeon. The second volume of the Monstrous Tome seems to focus on monsters of the planes, some deadly dungeon deviants, and more horrors to throw into old school campaigns.

GRAB THE 
Monstrous Tome 2 - Book of Beings HERE

There's a good mix of old school style original creatures to populate your dungeons, megadungeons, and campaigns. Then of course there are the various creations of Ancient Vaults whose Senufio: Lords of Misrule  are going to get a workout as the heads of some of the heads of cults of Chaos that the party will be encountering. 

OSR Commentary - Episodic Adventures & Quick Old School Campaign Design

"There is much to worry about in the mutated world of the future, but Baron Jemmas, Warder of Horn, has more on his mind than most. In recent weeks several of the outlying towns of his Barony have been wiped out by a band of mysterious golden marauders."


I've been mediating on Gamma World's Legion of Gold module & wishing that B/X Dungeons & Dragons had followed this adventure's example. Legion of Gold was written in 1981 by Gary Gygax with his son Luke and Paul Reiche III.

"This is the first GAMMA WORLD module to be produced by the Game Wizards at TSR Hobbies, Inc. This module includes the main Legion of Gold adventure, several mini-adventures which lead up to it, background information, suggestions for the referee, a special players' map and numerous referee's maps."
This module does exactly what it says on the post apocalyptic tin. But today we're going to be talking about the anthology location adventure approach of a Legion of Gold formula campaign set up. 

The sand box anthology approach allows the DM & the players for that matter to determine the tone & direction of their own home campaign. Legion of Gold has been my go to Gamma World module because of its short anthology adventure style. It gives the Dungeon Master just enough with a minimalist approach to the post apocalyptic material to get the DM started.
When we start talking about B/X Dungeons & Dragons these mini sessions allow the dungeon master to take a series of miniature adventures & string them together to form an over arching campaign. This approach has been something I've liked & used as old style television episodes in the past. Isolated adventures that form the back bone of an episodic campaign played quickly and with little fuss.

This brings me to the point here of Holmes Dungeons & Dragons with its dungeon of the skull mountain example in the classic rule book. I mentioned this dungeon to a younger friend of mine whose in his twenties & he had no idea that such a dungeon existed. Each room & location within the skull mountain dungeon could be played like a separate television episode forming an over aching epic campaign.

Let's take this approach to the next logical step with the Legion of Gold model then we could have a series of small wilderness adventure encounters which take the PC's from first through fourth levels. A mix of ruins, a mini dungeon, & perhaps an underwater adventures. Then bring in something like Faster Monkey Games Skull Mountain adventure which is based on the classic dungeon for Labyrinth Lord. Faster Monkey Games Skull Mountain was six dollars but all of their adventures & supplements have been free for a year or so.
Then your cooking up an epic campaign with minimalist fuss & you get to have a convention style game with an episodic set up.

I've done a rather long & rambling review of Skull Mountain in the past so I'm not going to retread over old territory.

Skull Mountain is a perfect stand alone location based adventure that can stand quietly off in a campaign world. Its ideally suited for a Sword & Sorcery campaign world such as Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. Because of the very nature of 'Skull Mountain' it lends itself to the anthology location adventure approach of a Legion of Gold adventure formula campaign. In point of fact Skull Mountain could be used as both the final goal & big evil of such a campaign.
You as the DM don't have to write an over blown  or aching script for such a campaign, the players will fill in the gaps, corners, colour in all of the blank spots so fast it will make your head spin. In the down time between playing sessions the action & pulp adventure style will have their imaginations working overtime. The products of their imaginations will become your old school campaign quickly & with very little effort on your part but keep a note book handy.

B/X Dungeons & Dragons Free & Pay Resources For Your Old School Campaigns

So yesterday around the table I heard some grumbles about the B/X Essentials review I did. Namely that there were no really free expansions for B/X Dungeons & Dragons. Oh but there are my friends! Way back in '09 there was a really well put together product for B/X Dungeons & Dragons from Barrataria Games called the Companion Expansion. There's a free no artwork version of this book which clocks in at a hundred & eight pages

Then there happens to be a print version of this book on lulu for sixteen dollars. 

Why should you as a player or dungeon master want or need this product? Well there are few reasons one its a very nicely designed rules rules set. Two the Companion Expansion brings lots of options to the Moldvay/Cook ruleset. Here's what the 'Companion Expansion' brings to the table for expert-level players and gamemasters, lots of additional  including 8 additional character classes (bard, druid, gnome, wildwood elf, half-elf/half-orc, half-ogre, illusionist, scout), expanded experience, combat, and saving throw tables, two additional types of magic (druid and illusion) and additional magic-user and cleric spells (90 in all), over 130 new or additional creatures (with a comprehensive index and suggested experience point awards), dozens of new or additional magic items, and extended treasure generation tables!' This book actually lives up to the hype on the tin and gives a good deal of bang for the buck.


While originally designed to expand the PC's hold in the' in house' campaign setting of the ' WORLD OF STRONGHOLD ' from Barrataria Games. This material is easily usable in the B/X Dungeons & Dragons Moldvay/Cook ruleset.

The Campaign Expansion is able in the No Art Work Version here. 

 



Now between the Campaign Expansion & the  B/X Companion from
Running Beagle Games  there a lot of  options at the table.
Of course if I wanted to really keep the ball rolling I'd throw in Running Beagle's The Complete B/X Adventurer. This brings more new classes, new spells, new character options, and rules options for beginning PC's. These are B/X gaming materials not found in the the Advanced Edition Companion™ for Labyrinth Lord™.

The B/X Companion & the B/X Adventurer is available in print through the B/X Black Razor blog. All of the material I've covered so far is completely compatible with Labyrinth Lord. Which makes the entire affair sweeter in my humble opinion. Yes I also know about Barrel Rider Games Class Compendium for Labyrinth Lord. Yes this is a great PC class book that expands the gauntlet of classes for LL & B/X Dungeons & Dragons. I heartily recommend it for dungeon masters looking to expand their B/X range of material. Yes it really well done quality OSR material.



Now this being said if you as a Dungeon Master & your looking for a good free value download, AA2 Adventure Anthology Two just broke for the Basic Fantasy Rpg by James Lemon, Chris Gonnerman, and Contributors is solid.

 Also grab Chris Gonnerman's other Basic Fantasy rpg materials whist your there at the downloads section you won't be sorry.

 Another option that you have at the table for B/X OSR play is another favorite of mine which is Dark Dungeons which is a retroclone of the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia along with its attendant supplements. 

Following this path for B/X Dungeons and Dragons PC design and class options at the table gives the DM a ton to work with for both his campaign & his players. There are far too many resources to name in a simple blog post but this is a starting point.
I'd also like to mention that the guys at Frog God Games  have a 30% off Coupon for PDF Purchases - Benefits Catholic Charities Houston who were affected by Hurricane Harvey and that there are LOT of Texas gamers are affected by this, including S&W creator Matt Finch, and several other OSR regulars that I know.

Commentary On The Free OSR Resource - Companion Expansion From Barrataria Games For B/X D&D & Retroclone Systems

Ask any OSR blogger or publisher & they'll tell you that they publish for the sheer love the of old school rpg hobby. Today there are literally hundreds of good, solid publishers out there but there are lots that have fallen through the cracks. Which is a shame.


Case in point with  Barrataria Games which produced one of the best damn B/X D&D & retroclone companions out there going all the way back to 2009.
Like I said I'm digging deep here folks but what's in it? Well according to Barrataria himself on Dragon's foot; "The Companion Expansion presents additional classes, spells, weapons and equipment, creatures and magical items for fantasy roleplaying games for basic- and expert-level players and gamemasters. It includes 8 additional character classes (bard, druid, wildwood elf, gnome, half-elf/half-orc, half-ogre, illusionist, scout), expanded experience, combat, and saving throw tables, two additional types of magic (druid and illusion) and additional magic-user and cleric spells (90 in all), over 130 new or additional creatures (with a comprehensive index and suggested experience point awards), dozens of new or additional magic items, and extended treasure generation tables. There are also expanded spell tables for use with Labyrinth Lord, Basic Fantasy, and Swords & Wizardry.

These rules will be the basis for the WORLD OF STRONGHOLD gazetteer(s) as that setting is further developed. There will be additional or variant monsters and classes presented, and other information including stronghold establishment and management and additional information on maritime adventuring and combat, but I felt that a "world neutral" version could be immediately useful to GMs running basic- and expert- level games."

So what happened to Barrataria Games? 

I don't know but hope that Barrataia is doing well. What happened?  I have no idea at this point but the OSR market isn't an easy place to make a living in.  One thing I've learned about being in this hobby since 1977 is that there are no winners or losers in a zero sum game only to be the last man standing. The idea is to have fun at the table & for this hobby to create new friends and continue gaming with those friends. This needs to happen or the hobby of table top rpging will die a slow death.
Surely some free OSR download from 2009 can't be relevant to today's OSR games? Well actually I would say its even more so. The The Companion Expansion is a tool kit for B/X D&D that can also be used with Labyrinth Lord, Basic Fantasy, and Swords & Wizardry. Which means that it can also be used with Adventurer,Conqueror, King,  Stars Without Number & other retroclone systems with some adjustments. This basically means that your range of material for everything is expanded by three fold. This means you can take your home campaigns up the level  ladder without spending a huge fortune & the quality of material is there.



This companion expands the products of the imagination with new races, classes, kits, etc. all done with NEW thief skills, new spells, monsters and magic items etc. But I've got  the Rules Cyclopedia or the free  Dark Dungeons retroclone system From  Gurbintroll Games. 

That's perfectly fine & this companion actually complements those fine products but the focus here is narrower. This companion focuses on PC expansion with lots of interesting little twists.
Here's my advice if you own B/X D&D or Dark Dungeons, Or any of the retroclone systems  then grab this one too.
Alright So You Can Grab The Companion Expansion From Barrataria Games For Free  Here

Since there are plethora of lulu codes floating out there, you might want a physical copy which is available through Lulu HERE   

I'm not in anyway affiliated with  Barrataria Games but I do think they make excellent quality products .

The Free OSR Weird Fiction Resources of A.Merritt & Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea As Well As Your Old School Campaigns

My schedule has been more then a bit erratic as of late with work to say the least, so I've been dividing up my time over the last couple of weeks here at Casa De Fabiaschi to concentrate on OSR sword & sorcery & pulp material that I already have. This turn of events has not going unnoticed in certain corners of the OSR namely those garage band marketing publishers and firms who are pumping out the usual fire hose of titles. So I've put a moratorium on reviews for the next six months because of work & familial concerns at home. Work has been going like gang busters with work. So  I've had to devote my time to getting articles,blog posts, & whatnot ready to go for readers of this blog. So where does that leave us with? Well. it left me to dip my wick into the deep end of weird fiction for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea in the stacks of my gaming collection. I was specifically looking at AFS magazine issue #4, which if you're lucky enough to have a copy is one of their best. The contents speak for themselves and reads like a whose who of OSR gaming. But there's a specific adventure I'm going to be talking about tonight.

FS Magazine #4   - Table of Contents

New Monster – The Gurondu by Tim ‘Turgenev’ Hartin

Variant Class – The Burglar by Scott Moberly (written for Holmes Basic)

Artifact -  The Iounic Loop – Reimagining the Ring of Gaxx by Allan T. Grohe Jr. (grodog)

Fiction – A Blizzard in the Sahara by Aleister Crowley (1911)

Table of Items – High Value Treasures by Scott Moberly

Variant Class – The Purloiner by Jeff Talanian & Colin Chapman (written for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea)

Adventure – The Lamia’s Heart, An Adventure By Jeff Talanian (set in Hyperborea

For 2–5 Zero Level Thieves)

Table – One Sentence Plot Hooks for Sandbox Gaming by Various (named) authors

Adventure – Theme for a Jackal (an adventure set in Hyperborea for character levels 2-3) by Scott Moberly

Article- Crawling Without Hexes by Chris Kutalik

Map – The Nooks & Crannies Level by Allan T. Grohe Jr. (grodog)

AFS magazine jacked up the idea of OSR fanzine & took it in a different direction. The thing about the OSR material  was the quality of the articles. The magazine covers every retroclone from Swords & Wizardry, AS&SH, & even Holmes Basic. Do yourselves a favor and pick up copies the next time the magazine is published.

Theme for a Jackal  by Scott Moberly really got me thinking about taking AS&SH's Hyperborea in a different direction & showed me a really well done Weird Tales style of campaign kit. The whole issue is outstanding really and acts as a sort of AS&SH preview of coming attractions for AS&SH second edition. But once again I digress. The adventure has a sort of Clark Aston Smith feel mixed with something I couldn't quite put my finger on. Then it hit me early this afternoon, it reminds me of A.Merritt's science fantasy/sword & sorcery pieces of fiction. His life is as interesting as the fiction he wrote & he remains one of my all time favorite writers bare few. His writing have a timeless and almost dreamlike quality that reflects many of the ideas that seem to present themselves in  the Theme For A Jackel adventure and earlier Moberly AS&SH adventures.


If H.P Lovecraft is the father of cosmic horror then A. Merritt is the father of his own pulp style & sure has hell doesn't get his due today. "Merritt's writings were heavily influenced by H. Rider Haggard,^[6] Robert W. Chambers,^[7] Helena Blavatsky^[8] and Gertrude Barrows Bennett (writing as Francis Stevens),^[9] with Merritt having "emulated Bennett's earlier style and themes."" Umm. no I think Merritt doesn't emulate but improves upon Bennett's style of writing & makes it his own.



"Merritt's stories typically revolve around conventional pulp magazine themes: lost civilizations, hideous monsters, etc. His heroes are gallant Irishmen or Scandinavians, his villains treacherous Germans or Russians and his heroines often virginal, mysterious and scantily clad." Once again more pulp hand waving dismissive B.S. by Wikipedia. What really set's A.Merritt's work apart is his worlds, settings, originality, & pulpy sensibilities. Many of his novels & stories are now within the public domain. So let's get you some decent public domain downloads

• The Moon Pool (fix-up, 1919) Grab it Right Here
  (The Moon Pool (1918) + Conquest of the Moon Pool (1919))
• The Metal Monster (1920) Download Right Here
• The Ship of Ishtar (1924) Download Right Here
• Seven Footprints to Satan (1927) Download Here
• The Face in the Abyss (fix-up, 1931) Download Right Here
  (The Face in the Abyss (1923) + The Snake Mother (1930))
• Dwellers in the Mirage (1932) Download right here
• Burn, Witch, Burn! (1932) Grab It Here
• Creep, Shadow! (1934) Grab it Right Here 
• A Merritt's Collected Short Stories  Grab That Here.
• The Challenge From Beyond Features C.L. Moore, A. Merritt, H.P. Lovecraft,Robert E. Howard, Frank Belknap Long & it showcases the vastly different styles of these giants of fantasy as each one picks up and takes over their parts of this entertaining piece of weird fiction. Grab That Here
  
  I've written extensively about A.Merritt before but he shares a sense of the alien & the lost world ethos that echoes many of the themes & ideas that creep through Astonishing Swords & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. I think that his writings exemplify some of the best of the pulp authors making them perfect fodder for old school campaigns.
  
  
  While A Merritt was presented as a part of Appendix N for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragon's first edition Dungeon Master's Guide, he seems almost forgotten today by many of the fans of weird fiction and sword & sorcery literature. His writing reflects many of pop culture ideas of his time about Atlantis that one finds sprinkled throughout his work. There's some really incredible stuff to mine for adventures and campaigns especially for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. He's another writer that I'll be dipping my wick into for this upcoming campaign I've got happening soon.
  
  
  

  This post is not an attempt to violate the copyrights or trademarks of any 
  of the films nor properties named in this post. All ideas are for a 
  private table top rpg campaign. None of the ideas or opinions expressed 
  in this post are meant to violate the trademarks nor copy rights of any 
  of the table top rpgs discussed nor are they in away responsible for the
   thoughts or opinions of the author. The writing, ideas, and opinions 
  are copyrighted and trade marked to the author and Dark Corner 
  productions. This post is for entertainment & educational purposes 
  only.