Memories of the Past Into Modern Campaigns From B/X Dungeons & Dragons

 We have the weekend and it's been one of both play as well as reflection. The Basic & Expert Dungeons & Dragons sets were in my hands again. And one of the most handy things to have is a Lists of Dungeons & Dragons monsters by edition Seventy Nine Through Nineteen Ninety Nine.  This gives a definitive monster listing across the board for B/X and other editions of D&D. 

The Expert set was the big score for many of us playing Basic and the Expert was the big upgrade. Expert introduced a host of new monsters, rules and materials. The B/X set back in the Eighties allowed us to expand outward. And the module that came with this set X1 Isle of Dread was so instrumental in the old days. 
Today the B/X set allows the DM to do a 'beer & petzels' mini campaign very quickly. Isle of Dread has a bit of everything that I love especially my Pulp interests. 

By turning Expert on it's ear with X1 we can easily place it within a post apocalyptic campaign as is. The sweeping mysterious island, the prehistoric lifeforms, etc. it all fits the asthetic of a Gamma World or Thundarr The Barbarian campaign like a glove. 

An OSR Commentary - Monster Matters From B/X Dungeons & Dragons In Old School Campaigns

 So on the phone yesterday I had a friend whose a Gamma World dungeon master exclusively. Yes there are folks still running Gamma World first & second edition games forty plus years on. So the big deal here is that & I quote there are no creditable threats left on Gamma Terrestria. The answer of course is B/X Dungeons & Dragons with a good helping of AD&D supplements!

Because the parties have gone up on levels & their kingdoms have power armor artifacts & so forth. Man, I have seen this before & its very easily solved. A quick thumbing through the B/X rule books will reveal some very interesting monsters that can cause all kinds of havoc in a Dark Ages setting. When it comes to on line resources don't think that Wiki skimps on actual useful bits such as the handy list of Lists of Dungeons & Dragons monsters by edition Seventy Nine Through Nineteen Ninety Nine. Nothing like a purple worm or two to undermine the foundations of fortresses for a bunch of orc tribesmen with some mutations & an orc shaman to ruin the day of some adventurers. Things only get worse when the Expert rule book gets pulled out!


Dragon Turtles are especially good at taking apart cities & the like. These horrors are perfect monsters to throw at parties of so called 'high level' adventurers. Giant scorpions are another favorite to pull out for the old Saturday night fire fights. The best part is setting up a bit of a gateway to explore & then drop the party onto the Warden from Metamorphosis Alpha first edition or a similar space craft.  This is a perfect opportunity to introduce some of the classic B/X undead in some of the cryo tubes of these space craft.


Another overlooked monster that can completely wreck a campaign is the not so humble doppelganger. This agent of chaos is perfect for taking apart a campaign from the inside out especially if said monster is among the royals or staff. Any of your puddings, slimes, & molds are great for taking out treasures & artifacts especially if they don't make their saves. Want to guard a temple or other exclusive set of ruins & don't want to spare a dragon or similar town wrecker?! Well the humble Basilisk is perfect for taking the wind out of the sails of adventurers!

Yes this is the Basilisk from the 1st Edition Monster Manual but its one of my favorite DAT pieces of artwork.

High level adventurers doesn't mean survival it means that the adventurers are bigger targets for many of the armies & powers around them. That means that just over the horizon might be an entire army of orcs, goblins, with hobgoblin generals on the march with a group of Minotaur warriors waiting to cut into your city.  A world in the grip of a Dark Age is perfect fodder for any demon lord & their armies looking to up the soul count on their plane of the Abyss. 



I haven't even gotten to the giant races & their kin but all of this actually from original Dungeons & Dragons plus bits of B/X thrown into the mix. Dragons are another whole blog entry but I've used both B/X dragons & the various Dragons from the Monster Manual as boss monsters for entire regions in various campaigns.



Ten Tips For Monster Placement In Old School Campaigns

1. Use common sense & look at the monster's environment but keep things exciting. The food source is important but a human population goes a long way for play. 
2. Monsters are adventures unto themselves they have lots of replay value & parleying with them can keep adventurers alive & offer more adventure opportunity for you. 
3. Artifacts & relics are often kept around to lure in more adventurers in old school campaigns & while a bit of a cliche it works. 
4. Monsters are often intelligent & should be played as any other NPC even if they are evil. 
5. Evil does not equal stupid & can be used to expand the PC's employment opportunities for taking out rivals. 
6. Dungeons are created & made, the lairs of monsters are often the dungeons themselves. 
7. Technology is not your friend when monsters can do a better job. Replace the security robots with orcs or goblins or kobolds. 
8. When it doubt add in kobolds, these things are ubiquitous for wastelands especially involving Arthurian lore. 
9. Dragons can control entire nations & should be feared! These things are directly rooted in the heroic mythologies of the East & Western civilizations there's a reason for this! 
10. Don't be afraid to hit the party hard & where it hurts in the pocket book! Many monster lords charge taxes & tolls!

OSR Commentary - Monsters, Law, Chaos, & B/X Dungeons & Dragons.

 Last night was a night of soul searching about several things when it comes to the recent Cowards of the Coast 1.01 debacle. It's got me remembering the Satanic Panic era & the evils of B/X Dungeons & Dragons.There were something about the monsters of Basic & Expert Dungeons & Dragons that everyone seems to forget. The monsters of B/X were Chaos & Law incarnate. 

According to a recent Wayne's Books article here the two rule books really do bounce off one another; "The Rulebooks echo each other strongly inside, differing only when their focus calls for it: Beginning characters in Dungeons vs. Higher-level characters exploring Wilderness. Basic is levels 1-3, Expert goes up though character level 14."
The B/X's rule books monsters have a raw feel about them. No unfinished mind you but the feel of creatures that with any opportunity would & will rip your PC's apart! And nowhere is this more reflected within B2 Keep on The Borderlands By Gary Gygax.

I've said this before a ton of times that 
B2 Keep on The Borderlands By Gary Gygax is ground zero for the war between Chaos & Law in B/X Dungeons & Dragons. This leads into the T1 The Village of Hommlet & all of the window dressing there. 
The keep is key to defining & defending the borderlands. The borderlands themselves were our campaign setting. Events may have happened in the wildernesses of Greyhawk & the Wilderlands. But it was the Borderlands that were our primary concern time & again.What defines this are the facts that B/X's rule books lent themselves so readily to these facets. And this is because of the nature of the monsters within the B/X D&D rules. Everything works like a well oiled machine to facilitate PC advancement. 
The wilderness that D&D Expert set talks about is all about the PC's. The Keep on the Borderlands is the literal base of operations & Hommlet is point of protection. The humaniod armies of B/X Dungeons & Dragons can & will take full advantage of the party the second that they can. 

There are more then a few reasons why the struggle of Law Vs Chaos is central to a good OSR campaign. 

1. B/X Dungeons & Dragons can be seen as a bit of a road map when it comes to laying down a convincing Chaos vs Law struggle campaign 
2. T1 & B2 are excellent wilderness outposts and can easily be worked into a Gamma World Rpg campaign. We've done this in the past with no one the wiser. 
3. Moving ahead with the events of the village Hommlet let's the DM ramp up the tension
4. Humanoid monsters as servants of Chaos makes PC's take notice really quickly. 
5. ACK's is a perfect transition rules set for a group of B/X players into the OSR. The Borderlands campaign fits easily into the background. 
6. B/X can give years of play before it's neccessary to move the PC's along. 
7. The wilderness is a great stand in for the 'lands of chaos' 
8. The Wilderness is also excellent as a bridge into a Gamma World 1st edition game. 
9. Struggling with a classic B/X game teaches the fundamentals of classic Dungeons & Dragons 
10. Hommlet is such a great counterpoint to the Keep from B2 

A Deep Look At Bill King's Wasteworld rpg

 "Enter the savage struggle for power and dominion. You can take on the role of a cyborg ninja, a potent psycher, or a fearsome alien. Fight mutant monsters and terrible robotic killing machines in a world gone completely mad"

The  Waste World Rule book written by Bill King. The combat rules are fast, deadly, & nasty.

 Waste World is the sort of game that gets over looked in this day & age. Why? Because really it doesn't know what it wants to be. Its sort like an old issue of Heavy Metal Magazine with a bit of a 40k or a Meta Baron's flavor thrown in.
Infact my history with the game is pretty much tied in with Heavy Metal because back in the 1997 when I first spied the game on the shelves of War & Pieces in West Hartford, Ct.  Not unlike SLA Industries ultra violent edge, Waste World was a post apocalyptic love fest to the genre that had spawned it! The game was/is tight in a cinematic way brings out the best in game play with little room for BS. Unlike SlA Industries it doesn't pretend to be something at its not with a disappointing "secret ending". Here's what you get:
The setting includes cybernetic warriors, powered armor, samurai with energy swords, giant robotic war machines, flying cities, psionics, alien species, and armies of undead. Immortal samurai with energy blades. Powered armor with razor-sharp wings. Armies of mad robots bent on destruction. Hardened wasteland warriors. Demons. Undead. Mutants. Ridiculously large guns. Sound like fun? Waste World may be the game for you.
Want to know more? Read a  Waste World Review I or  
Waste World Review 2  

 From Wayne's Books :
In the dark future of a dying earth five warrior civilizations prepare for the final conflict. In each mighty megacity, technology is an ideology that shapes the destiny of millions. The enigmatic Machine Gods of Prometheus grant their followers the gift of bionics, and faith in total war. The ever-reincarnating samurai defend their Shogun with swords of light. The Lords of Hydra sculpt their followers into superhuman soldiers, using the terrifying power of biotechnology. The decadent nobles of Ikarus descend from their flying city in razor-winged battlesuits to prey on the lands below. The exiled aliens of Janus defend the world's last starport and pray that salvation will come from the stars.

"The people of this ravaged planet fight for Drakonium, the most precious substance in the universe, the ultimate energy source. They know that without it, their cities will fall, their civilization will collapse and the poisoned deserts will claim their homes. They know they can never falter, never retreat, never stop fighting. There can be no mercy. There can only be conflict. It is all they know, and all they will ever know.

"In the Waste World Roleplaying Game, you can enter this savage struggle for power and dominion. You can use the flexible design rules to create the charater you want to play. You can take on the role of a cyborg ninja, a potent psycher, or a fearsome alien. Using the super-fast and ultra-deadly combat system, you can fight mutant monsters and terrible robotic killing machines in a world gone completely mad. Waste World Roleplaying Game provides you with all the rules you need to get right into the action in this harsh and dangerous world."

Still don't have enough post apocalyptic action? Want to dive deeper into to the gene pool? There were 2 world splat books:

From the back of the Shogunate book: "The immortal Shogun rules a land of mystic violence where honor counts for more than life. The reincarnating samurai face countless foes, ranging from cyborg ninja to evil psychic sorcerors. The alien Kitsune shapeshifters weave a web of intrigue that ensnares the lives of billions. Journey to this savage land and carve out your destiny..."

Then there are these creepy bio dudes!

From the back of the Hydra book: "The genclans reshape entire nations using the sinister secrets of biotechnology. They grant their followers superhuman powers. They use life itself to create awesome weapons. Their ruthless pursuit of power threatens to change the destiny of Waste World. This source book allows you to visit their ancient homeland, take part in their deadly intrigues and fight in their brutal wars."
Review of Hydra: The game and world of Waste World is unlike any other I've come across, and I've came across plenty. With their main book you can create virtually any type of pc, high technology, psionics, bio-technology, or just a tough survivor. The in-game balance is pretty good and the rules simple, fast, and brutal, just like a game called "waste world" should be.

But what makes the world and game great is the story, Avernus itself and that is why this book is a must have for anyone who wishes to play Waste World. It details the city of Hydra in beautiful detail including the Genclans that rule and the various powers that each of the Genclans can possess.

  
This is one hell of a nifty GM screen & believe me when I say that some of the company's operating today might learn a thing or two about designing a GM's Screen. I bought 2 of them in '97 & I'm still using them today! What does that tell ya about quality?

Background & System
A far-future post-apocalyptic RPG, set on a planet ravaged by ten millennia of total war, where five gigantic city-states ("metrozones") are struggling over dwindling supplies of Drakonium, the ultimate energy source. The warfare has spawned mutation-causing weapons, bio-engineered plagues, robots turned amok by a computer virus, and a Galactic interdict trapping unpleasant aliens on the planet. Resolution is a simple d20+stat+skill+modifiers, where an 11+ succeeds. A roll of 1 fumbles, while 20 is roll again. Character creation is open point-bought. There are four attributes (Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Psyche) rated -3 to +3, and skills rated 0 to 9 (divided into Easy, Normal, and Hard). Combat bases damage on the degree of success, with a possible multiplier and/or additive bonus. It also has hit location and critical hits.

Game Use & The OSR!


There is so much for a game master to mine that its not funny. Waste world is sort of like Gamma World without the artifact finding issue. The world is detailed & can handle anything from the intrigues of a Dune style political game to the shooty, shooty, bang, bang of the ABC warriors or Judge Dredd comic. Gamma World D20 might have learned a bit from the writing of  Waste World. 
Economically its a pretty good buy at 288 pages for 50.00  on Amazon or Flea Bay.
The Splat books sell for about if you can find them. 
Please note that I'm bias & love this game.
With a little thought, long campaigns of deceit and intrigue could be run. Or tons of good, mindless, violence. All possible in the Waste World

1d10 Minor Weird Artifacts Table For Your Old Wasteland & Post Apocalyptic Campaigns

During last night's game there were a number of odd and weird minor artifacts that cropped up in a small bazaar and alien market place here's a quick table of some of the objects and minor 'treasures' that turn up in the Martian wastes and death lands surrounding the various city states. From time to time some of these may crop up in the wastes of other worlds.

 1d10 Minor Weird Artifacts Table

1. Nanite grown crystals which can be shaped into various lens and optics. They change color depending upon the psychic potential of those handling them. After 1d8 days they may take on the form of an abstract piece of artwork reflecting the inner thoughts and spirit of the handler. Sometimes these crystals may retain a minor charge of magic or psychic energy, there is a 4% chance of the matrix of the crystals being near the death point of some Martians from the apocalypse and a minor undead spirit inhabiting the thing. 
2. A jar of psychic glass beads filled  from the glass plans of Azzru. The beads retain the blood shed and anger of the events that they have borne witness to. They may upon command flare into a fiery display of violent energy and burn with a minor 1d4 damaging unatural flame. There will be 1d30 of these objects. 
3. A Crazon statue depicting the fall of the God Cu, the statue will seemingly animate and tell the story of the god/goddess. The object de art is actually a minor treasure map to the weak relic fields of what was once the city of Cu named after the Martian god. Those watching this display will feel every point of terror,anguish, and more locked in this object. 
4. A blue cloak of Tee , this minor cloak is woven from the psychic threads of one of the great worms of Tee. The thing will grant the owner safe passage among the giant mutant ant lions of some deeper wastes. The cloak is actually a survival map of clean water sights and pools of deep basin creeks. The details of these routes will quietly enter the mind of the owner. 
5. A hook of Vas Created by the mind weavers, the hook is able pull the soul of a target from its body. This is done by the mind weavers to heal the spirit of some of those who have been drained by certain undead horrors found within the deep desert. The hook can also be used to pull the spirit partway from a body to check for signs of possession, level drain or worse. The hook is not a weapon and will shatter if used for non healing purposes within 1d6 rounds of such and act. 
6. The blue gum of Hriu - This candied confection is made from certain psychically reactive waxes and gums. It is sweetened from the honey of certain ancient mutant insects. The gum can be blown into a bubble upon whose surface the dreams and eroticisms of certain sentient species may be projected. A very rare delicacy 
7. The Farisu wood of Fale this incredibly weirdly coloured wood grows into fantastic shapes and when burned the scent of it grants incredible visions of vistas of unknown dreams and the ancient visions & tales of those who have gone to the beyond and further into the unknown. Care must be taken or else those whose journey upon such sights may not return. 
8. The Orb Galen  this orb of ancient psychic circuits and deep cut geode crystals creates sensations of the far planes and ancient places. It gives deep insights and knowledge of ancient ruins and artifacts through a data base of legends, tales, and bardic Martian lore passed from ancient times and different ages but seen through alien eyes. 
9. Psychic Infinite Knotting Torc - This single piece of infinitely knotted psychically sensitive metal will protect its owner from the trepidation of certain ancient and malevolent alien creatures of Outer planar darkness and essence. The thing will grow warm to the touch in presence of such thing especially if they are possessing another.  These were once made as a novelty by certain tribes of extinct humanoid aliens now long passed but their art remains.
10. The  crystals of the elemental prince - These blue ancient crystals bare the elemental essence of ancient planar elemental prince whose defeat at the hands of the lords of higher logic were so complete that his being were scattered to the four corners of the planes. These crystals will hold the body and mind together in the deep wastes and not allow the psychic winds of disharmony and horror to blow and shatter the soul of  the owner. The Lords of Higher  Logic's seal is marked upon each facet of these crystals and are gateways for the energies of the elemental prince permitting  him to keep the souls of owner whole and safe. A final insult and curse upon this horrid being for all eternity or so it is hoped by those who deal in such things. 
    
    
    
    
    

Appendix N & Deeper Reading Into The Lovecraft Circle of Writer's Creations for Campaign Creation

Sometimes going back to the root of your old school games is necessary to get into the right frame of mind for a game. I've written extensively about H.P. Lovecraft's Shadow Out Of Time & the works of the Great Race of Yith. There's something to be said for growing up with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons especially Kuntz's & Ward's Deities & Demigods. This wasn't my first exposure to the Lovecraft Mythos but it was my constand reminder of the Mythos when playing AD&D first edition. For a moment take a look at the Deities & Demigods stats on the Great Race of Yith. These guys are psionic bruisers.


I was going over my notes from the weekend & rereading several of the free "Fantastic Story Quarterly" pulps which I've blogged about before.  But what if the Great Race of Yith was operating across a multitude of time streams & epochs. Could even the gods stand against them?! It really got me thinking about Godbound & the Great Race of Yith. Back in 2017 I blogged about a Frank Belknap Long story called 'The Museum' ; 

' 'The Museum' by Frank Belknap Long is a whole other matter. This story services a perfect bridge gap between the Mythos and traditional science fantasy adventures. The concept is about a museum which alters its visitors and staff into alien life forms shapes ala polymorph spell technologies.  Perhaps your adventurers might work for the staff on a few expeditions across time & space. Again this sounds very similar to Great Race of Yith technologies. HP Lovecraft's 'The Shadow Out of Time' contains many of the technologies described in these stories implied or within the background of the novella.' 

Many of the technologies & things discussed in the Museum are very much in the fashion of the Star Trek especially the television pilot  "Assignment: Earth".  Certain details that were in the wiki entry on  "Assignment: Earth" made me think of the Great Race of Yith; Although not revealed in the Star Trek broadcast, according to "Assignment: Earth" researcher Scott Dutton's sources, "Gary Seven is a man sent back in time from the 24th century, the only Earth man to survive the transit."^[1] His goal in the original series proposal would have been to defeat the Omegans, a race of shape-changing aliens who have sent agents back in time to change Earth’s history so they can defeat Earth in the future.^[3]

Seeing humans and Vulcans together, Seven realizes that the starship has come from the future, while the crew suspect that Seven is also a time traveler.

Seven, assigned by his planet's agency as a Class One Supervisor known as Supervisor 194, has been sent to determine why two resident agents, colleagues Agent 201 and Agent 347, had stopped reporting to their superiors. When he discovers that they have been killed in a traffic collision, he takes over their immediate task of sabotaging the launch of an orbital missile platform by the U.S. to prevent nuclear war on Earth"

The whole thought experiment had me thinking about TSR's Gamma World & specifically the Famine in Far Go adventure from '82. The adventure debuted in 1982. But there's more to Famine in Far-Go by Michael Price then might meet the eye.



I remembered a comment from the Grognardia blog entry on Famine in Far Go by Reverend Keith; "What amazed me about the factory wasn't this coincidence, but the impact dropping a huge functional pre-apocalypse chunk of technology into your game. I mean, after decades of collapse, here is a fully operational building with a nuclear power plant, robots, food and guns all being managed by a non-homocidal computer you can negotiate with. Add in the fact that your PCs have literally saved the plant from destruction, you can see how it can impact the setting and should be taken into consideration if you plan on playing more games around Far-Go after the adventure is over. If anything, it sounds like great fodder for basing a campaign around it. Neighboring communities, cryptic alliances, and wanna-be dictators will be doing whatever they can do to get control of the La Prix Industries Automated Chicken Processing Factory."

The implications of the technologies of the the La Prix Industries Automated Chicken Processing Factory run amok are the stuff of dreams or nightmares of dungeon masters if they take the scenario to its logical conclusion. But what if this is being done on purpose?! A guiding set of hands if you will? What if the Great Race of Yith has been using time & dimensional technologies to move entire space time continuums to their advantage. What if First & Second Edition Gamma World's Gamma Terra is a broken time & planar setting? What happens if the Great Race of Yith has been lining up entire worlds, times, & dimensions to favor their own hyper cosmic racial consciousness & circumstances for thier contiued existance. What would happen if their living among us & they continue to poke & experiment right across Advanced Dungeons & Dragons campaign settings. Greyhawk might be a good example of this.


If we were to take  "Assignment: Earth" as proof of the continued experimentation & interference with Earth's affairs. We are left with the fact that the Great Race might be a god level cosmic set of intellects who could be using Godbound's words for many of the effects of their technologies. The word of 'Artificial Intelligence' might account for the beta five computer series.


The implications of a race of time manipulating advanced godlike alien intelligences guarding its own lawful neutral existence is indeed beyond scary. But do these intelligences know about the hungry lean things that exist at the edges & angles of time? The Hounds of Tindalos were also the creation of  Frank Belknap Long. One wonders if not only the gods but also others worry about the coming of such entities into the realms of humans. Perhaps its right that Great Race of Yith fears for its own continuing existence across time & space. The implications are very frightening indeed folks. 

Using The Free Gamma World Adventure GW5 Rapture Of The Deep As Post Apocalyptic Dungeon Crawl Classic's Wasteland Adventurer Funnel

So I'm speaking with friends last night about the last travesty of my using Legion of Gold as a funnel for a post apocalyptic Dungeon Crawling Classics game using the Crawling Under A Broken Moon rules. So the big complaint that I heard from my friends and players was that they couldn't afford Legion of Gold but loved the ideas of such a funnel. Too bad there isn't a free Gamma World module that could be used in much the same way? Well actually there is! In fact this module has a straight up dangerous high level and very lethal faction from Gamma World introduced way back in an early issue of Dragon magazine. It really doesn't matter which one because everything you need is actually in GW5 and its free. It happens to be for second edition Gamma World and that's really not going to be a problem.

GRAB IT RIGHT HERE 

So what exactly is GW Five Rapture of The Deep and why is it free?
It's a fan made module created to fill the gap in the TSR GW sequence, GW5. For intermediate to advanced players. Here's where the funnel takes place your PC's are some of the victims caught within the attacks happening along the former Florida panhandle.

"A terrible menace from the sea is threatening villages all along the coast. Whole shoreline communities have been disappearing without a trace.
After going through the usual DCC funnel style experience using a bunch of aquatic mutants and their gear, the PC's should have a small side adventure in the ruins of Florida.  Then this bit get's them straight into the action;
"The remaining area inhabitants have banded together and sent for a group of experienced heroes to help. They want to know what could be causing these horrible events, and more importantly, what can be done to put a stop to them. Is it some new terrifying monster from the depths? Or is there something more sinister at work? "
The biggest hurltle the dungeon master and players might have is the use of the underwater rules for DCC but they are out there in the wilds of the internet if you do a bit of research. Here's some that might be of use. 
"The adventurers will travel deep beneath the waves to discover the answer. Can they survive the strange and dangerous ocean depths of Gamma World? Can they solve the mystery before it's too late? " This adventure is an extended campaign for underwater post apocalyptic adventure and there is a ton to encounter and deal with in Rapture of the Deep. This is an underwater sandbox that I've seen several side adventures worked into the background of play over the years and even with DCC it shouldn't be any different.
So that's really the set up for the post apocalyptic DM and his players. The adventure contains a whole plethora of Gamma World underwater madness including: " game master notes, background information, maps, rules for underwater adventuring, new equipment, and over 30 new aquatic creatures."

Rereading through Rapture of the Deep it brought home the opportunities for expansion of several set pieces I've seen used in Gamma World, Mutant Future and other PA games that other DM have used one of which has been floating space ship launch sites controlled by A.I.'s and machine intelligence gods. Many of these ideas were perfect for off of the coast or Florida and Gulf of Mexico, this fits in perfectly with the Merica of Crawling Under A Broken Moon. There are some free resources to that end right over HERE 


Rapture of the Deep features an extensive style of underwater campaigning and this adventure could take months for a group of experienced players to go through. Have several PC's ready and make extensive use of this time to establish an underwater domain or base for PC's because by the time they're done your going to have very high level adventurers at least three or forth level in DCC. If they survive the experience. For myself I used the pattern of the movie Leviathan from 1988 as the pattern for the domain that the players had. A roving under sea mining and scavenging  platform that the PC's managed to free from its A.I. god became they're domain. This same formula could easily work for a DCC game.

GW 5 has its own set of challenges but also an extensive set of rewards and ideas for a range of extended post apocalyptic play. The module remains a favorite of mine. For issues of Crawling Under A Broken Moon that would help I suggest issue #11, 10, 7, UX01: High Caliber Hijinks, and more. Hell just buy the whole damn run and you won't be sorry. More Gamma World and DCC goodness coming up.  

OSR Commentary - The Expert Book By David "Zeb" Cook and Tom Moldvay As OSR Adventure Campaign Backbone

Come with me down the mists of time to an age when Pintos roamed the streets & a little outfit out of Lake Geneva Wisconsin sold Dungeons & Dragons called The Dungeon Hobby Shop. Long distance phone calls were expense & I racked up quite a phone bill speaking with Gary Gygax's son Ernie. True story by the way & didn't sit down for a week back in '74.
The campaign world we adventured on back then didn't even have a name yet but it wasn't Greyhawk or Blackmoor but Greg's world. It wasn't until much later when we journeyed to Greyhawk & back again that it got a name. Ernie's advice to me still resonates , 'Don't worry about it but have fun & create your own world!'



That's exactly what we did! We started in the dungeon, mapped then the outside wilderness, & then we kept going. Our dungeon master Greg eventually took a map of Europe from one of his many war games from the Sixties & laid our map on it. It fit roughly in what was France at the time but became his own swashbuckling pulp busting adventure setting inspired by the classic movies & the Pulps. Little did we realize that this was the Gygax method?! The Greyhawk Wiki entry has the scoop on this;
"In response to this, Gygax changed his mind and decided he would publish his private campaign world, but with some important changes. Rather than using his own map, which was simply the real-world Earth overwritten with his cities, towns and regions, he decided to create a new world called Oerth. Gygax joked, "Say it as Oi-th as if you were from Brooklyn, and that's the way I pronounce it. That annoys all who take a fantasy world far too seriously."^[85] Once he had sketched out the entire planet"

There wasn't anything we didn't do with original Dungeons & Dragons back then mostly fueled by a combination of cheap science fantasy paper backs, classic movies out of New York city, & a boatload of Western & Eastern mythology. The scene was very different in New York state where I grew up. It didn't last & by Nineteen Eighty I was back in Connecticut with my family. Everything changed in Eighty one with the release of the Expert book because it was the golden age of the Hollywood fantasy films from Time Bandits to Excalibur this was it for Appendix C for cinema films.



So what was the big change that happened when the Expert set hit? The Isle of Dread & Keep on The Borderlands because of where it took the entire take of the game. Our group back then had a DM who was a huge fan of the House of Hammer films.  We often had combination games of Gamma World second edition mutants inhabiting other continents in our home games.  This film always was playing on cable every other weekend back then from channel eleven out of New York.

So why does the whole dinosaur angle play into this commentary on the David "Zeb" Cook and Tom Moldvay Expert set. Because of the Isle of Dread adventure?! No because both the Expert box set & Gamma World second edition both have a design angle on the untamed wilderness & the rugged unexplored frontiers.


The same campaign & adventure techniques apply to the OSR scene just as they did back then. For example today we've got Mutant Future that can easily be used in the place of Gamma World Second edition. Since the Gamma World Fourth edition came back into print on demand. Tim Snider's Mutant Future monster & adventure books can be used to expand the range of mutant madness.
All of this campaign wilderness fodder could be twisted to sew the seeds of the PC's discovering that Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea second edition world of Hyperborea  is merely another continent. The two new adventures for  AS&SH: "The Anthropophagi of Xambaala", by Corey Walden, and "The Beasts of Kraggoth Manor", by Tim Callahan use the themes of exploration in very different ways. I'll get into these themes & more coming up when I review them.




Yes there are other OSR products that use this same technique to great effect but it was really original Dungeons & Dragon's lineage followed all the way through to Isle of Dread that gives us a solid reason to venture into the wilds. Expert Dungeons & Dragons by David "Zeb" Cook and Tom Moldvay  focused this style of adventure into a viable option for both old school campaigns & OSR play. 

Old School Post Apocalyptic Gaming & OSR Commentary

I haven't updated the Dark Corner blog quite while & so I wanted to do a bit of post apocalyptic commentary today. Don't worry we'll be right back to the D&D & OSR material on the blog for for tomorrow. In the meantime if you wand a bit of Gamma World style weirdness & OSR commentary.



Go Right Over Here For
Your Post Apocalyptic Commentary!

OSR Commentary On Kellri aka Scot Hoover's Go Fund Me Campaign & Free OSR Resources

Over the years I've made no secret of the fact that I'm a Gamma World fanatic. In point of fact it was Gamma World that was one of the underpinnings that brought me to the OSR in the first place. I could mention that it was Mutant Future by Goblinoid Games that really started me on this path. Or I could mention Thundarr Thursdays from the Savage Afterworld blog are actually what made me start this blog in the first place. Instead, I'd like to take a moment of your time to talk about the OSR blog Kellri aka Scot Hoover. For most Scot has been a bombastic fountain of OSR creativity especially when it came to Gamma World & many old school games. Scot also happens to be my real life friend, we've never met in person but like Venger or Rpg Pundit or any number of OSR people he's a real friend.
He's had a stroke at the age of forty nine. Let that sink in for a moment. A stroke like one of those life changing bits that sneaks up on you in the middle of the night. He also happens to be a father or in his words he's an " English teacher living and  writing in Vietnam for the past 19 years.I  have been a single father supporting my  two teenage children Sam,  and Siobhan for the past 6 years in Vietnam."
Now he needs a life saving MRI and Scot hasn't got any back up insurance.
" Last week I suffered  life threatening and debilitating stroke which has left me unable to write. According to my doctor I need to get an MRI as soon as possible.  I have no health or medical insurance this campaign will mean I will be ale to pay my rent an medical expenses and continue supporting my children until I am on the road to recovery "



So once again I'm sounding the trumpets & banging the drums to help out one of us. If you're so inclined you can donate to Scot's Go Fund Me campaign here. All of the proceeds will go to helping him & his kids for real & no B.S. Trust me Scot is a straight shooter and one of the most honest people I know. So every last dollar is going to go exactly where it belongs!


Now on an unrelated OSR note if you haven't checked out Kellri's OSR resources then you have no idea of the depths of resources that your missing out on. Not just Gamma World but also a huge number of old school retro clone stuff that can be used with ANY Dungeons & Dragons style game from B/X to Fifth edition if that's your inclination. There's some top drawer Stars Without Number stuff that is fantastic!


Thanks to looking over Kellri's OSR resource I've been planning a Gamma World game mini campaign. More on that later on. For the moment thanks for your attention & anything will be appreciated by the Hover family. Cheers & keep em rolling!


Take A Look At  Scot Hoover's "Go Fund Me" Campaign & Thanks For Any Support!

Air Borne Monstrosities For Your Old School Fantasy & Post Apocalypse Games

Sometimes all it takes is an off handed remark or odd off the cuff bit by a friend to get your brain racing. I wrote about Ancient & Accursed Terra yesterday & what modifying out as well as the importance of tone in a setting. We today I was going over several of the options for my new campaign when a friend brought up how neat it would be to have air ships in this upcoming campaign. He was referring to our storied history with the Champions of Mystara box set way back in Ninety Three from the pens of Bruce Heard & Ann Dupuis. Its an odd beast of a box set but very much beloved by the B/X D&D community.



"Developed from the original DRAGON® Magazine series, Champions of Mystara™ is a major compilation of the Princess Ark adventures, a magical flying ship that explores the World of Mystara. Discover the heroes of this legendary skyship, their deadly foes, and their wondrous ships. Packed with background information and adventure ideas, this set allows DMs and players to run a long-lasting, globe-trotting campaign based on a unique flying ship.

Champions of Mystara goes an extra step and also provides experienced players with new rules on magical flying ship construction, operation, and movement! As a final gift, this set offers a Gazetteer developing the region west of the Known World, from the burning lands of Sind to the mysterious jungles of the Serpent Peninsula. A make-your-own world guide finally helps DMs expand the horizons of their favorite campaign world."

I still have my box set & the rules for creating, maintaining, running sky ships were easily some of our group's favorites in the past. But could these craft of the sky be adapted to other OSR mediums such as post apocalyptic or science fantasy?

So I'm zipping around the Mutant Future Wiki and come across their air ship rules there.

Along with several key air craft rules for Mutant Future . Sometimes ideas just won't let go and Dark Roasted Blend has several pages of retrospective air ship articles just brimming with inspirational art wok, photos, advertises, and more. See I have a soft spot for air ships because my grandmother once upon a time as a teen rode on one. She was very fond of them late into her life.

Then I start seeing all of the familiar pulpy fifties magazine artwork  influences & even earlier Twenties as well as the Thirties stuff. This includes this  Airship Skyport from the November, 1939 issue of Popular Science which would make an excellent adventure location or ruin for any OSR game.

Let me give you the scale of the sorts of engineering we're talking about here according to the article;"US Navy actually built two zeppelin aircraft carriers: USS Macon (info) and USS Akron ZRS-4. You can see them on the archival photos shown below: these tiny dots at the bottom are people!"
This sort of scale is very similar to the level of "Thundarr The Barbarian" war machines that everyone loves. In fact the Arkon was beginning to head that way in its design generation;"

"Akron" could carry four airplanes, "Macon" could carry five, and the further models were designed to carry up to 22 airplanes!... All of this found its culmination, perhaps, in this idea: "The Aerial Landing Field" from Modern Mechanix, October 1934

This is just the sort of technology that we see in Michael Moorcock's steampunk novels;"A Nomad of the Time Streams^[1] is a compilation volume of Michael Moorcock's early steampunk trilogy, begun in 1971 with The Warlord of the Air and continued by its 1974 and 1981 sequels, The Land Leviathan and The Steel Tsar.^[2] The trilogy follows the adventures of Edwardian-era British Army Captain Oswald Bastable in alternate versions of the 20th century." A future version of passenger luxury might be this extreme beast; "screwy-looking dirigible from Modern Mechanix (August, 1930): revolving spiral vanes propel it through the air, while the ENTIRE gas shell revolves around the stationery aluminum framework!"


This might be rich pickings for a group of post apocalyptic or wasteland adventurers indeed it could mean the difference between starving or gaining back several systems that a community could use to begin unraveling the secrets of this type of travel or military applications. That's when the real dangerous stuff comes to the surface especially in one of the weirder war machines that seems like it came straight out of a Thundarr episode. "Frank Tinsley drew this image for the 1957 book "Airships in the Atomic Age", including the interior for the Atomic Airship"  The addition of nuclear or atomic power is something that is going to affect a community or city across the board. The ripples are going to change the entire economy and dynamic of a city state or other post apocalyptic fantasy world.


So what does this have to do with Adventurer,Conqueror, King? Everything because once the atomic genie is out of the bottle then a city state's manufacturing base, market's, everything across the board changes. This makes adding in the atomic option very tricky and I've done it with several post apocalyptic campaigns. There is very little balance in games such as Mutant Future or even Apes Victorious, but a weird mix comes into a game such as B/X style D&D and it raises some very interesting issues. Given the advanced manufacturing  base that the Apes have in Apes Victorious and the Animal kind of DC's Kamandi have this type of weird technology would be right up their alley.

In fact entire quests and campaigns might revolve around the recovery, retro engineering  & manufacturing of such craft. You'd need to have some very solid numbers across the board. And we'll get into those in part two tomorrow. You can find the original article here.


All images and artwork belong to their respective owners & Dark Roasted Blend. 

No copy right nor trade mark infringement is meant to the owners of the artwork,trademark or copy right holders  of the original artwork nor Dark Roasted Blend.
None of the table top role playing writers,game systems  nor companies mentioned in this article are in anyway responsible for the content of this article. This article is for entertainment & educational purposes only. The ideas are my own and the content of the opinions are expressly the writer's.