OSR Commentary - Dragon Magazine Issue #90 & High Level AD&D First Edition Campaigns

 Ages ago back in the Eighties when one of my groups were playing Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition we did a Viking themed campaign. And to boot this was a high level campaign. There were a few magic items among the party but on the whole was between 10th to 12th level. And we had a revolving door of six to nine players of ages 11 through 60 with two or three dungeon masters at the time. All of this had started because of Dragon issue # 90 and the who thing revolved around the Nine worlds. Roger E. Moore was the behind part of the madness with his article on 'Plane Facts on Gladsheim'. And his high level  adventure Norse mythological  'Aesirhamar'. I'll say it before & I'll say it agian, Roger E. Moore doesn't get half the credit today that he deserves for his contribution to AD&D first edition. At the time we were being run through our paces with my uncle's campaign version of Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). So we were high level and cocky being kids. Were were about to get our lessons in humility really quick. 

Mr. Moore goes down the rabbit hole of dealing with high level PC's and several pieces of advice that moves around the weirdness of DMing these high level PC;"Running a high-level AD&D® game campaign involving deities and demigods is a very tricky business. In low-level and medium-level campaigns, deities are best kept out of sight. They would rarely have any interest in average adventurers, and the campaign has lots of other things to keep characters busy. At levels of play from 9th on up, it is more likely that player characters may legitimately meet and deal with deities and demigods, carrying out their missions and winning favors from them. Who or what will high-level characters fight when they go on such missions? Having characters duke it out with the gods themselves is not a solution. If the gods are properly and carefully played, and if the DM hasn't been handing out artifacts and levels to characters left and right, then fighting a god is just an easy way to die. However, there are beings around who can give even gods headaches. What if the gods want their higher-level followers to deal with such beings for a while, to give the gods a rest? It goes without saying that running a high-level adventure that involves both the Outer Planes and the deities upon them will be a lot of work. But it can, if properly done, provide hours of entertainment for everyone, and give powerful player characters a chance to match their skills against the best and the most dangerous of all opponents in the AD&D game system" And's wise advice when dealing with experienced players with high level PC's facing down NPC gods & worse. And there's much worse in  'Aesirhamar'. 'Aesirhamar' concerns a deal gone very wrong with the enemies of the gods getting their hands on a very dangerous magical  weapon.'
 'Aesirhamar' isn't simply a simple adventure as much as it's a mythological AD&D  mini campaign. We got our behinds handed to use time & again with many of the encounters in the adventure. Let's not mention the fact that several times the NPC's were the basis for lots of head aches for our group of faux Viking adventurers. Glaðsheimr  itself became a head ache as well when certain gods were accidentally crossed & we had to go on a quest to redeem ourselves in Odin's eyes. The fact is that with higher level adventures there were more headaches which is as it should be within a sense.  'Aesirhamar'  opened my eyes as a DM to the possibilities of high level adventures. And needless to say that Dragon magazine issue #90 led us into one of the longest running campaigns that we played going for almost five years of play. As PC's came & went we adjusted to the levels of play. 

Preparing An Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Veterans Campaign Using Spellbook Games Journey through Malebolge Book Two Part II

Introduction Down
Passed The Gates Of Hell




“Through me you go into a city of weeping; through me you go into eternal pain; through me you go amongst the lost people”
― Dante Alighieri, The Inferno

 Last night I got together with friends from Otis Massachusetts to go to a screening of Captain America Civil War and to discuss my upcoming Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Veteran game where we take the PC's straight down into Journey through Malebolge Book Two From  Spellbook Games. 

A friend of which has a copy printed out from Drivethrurpg. So over dinner we discussed the fate of the  the wizard Titrus Mire whose sacrifice allowed a party of adventurers to reach tenth level and a campaign to end back in '96. But now the gates of Hell were hollowing for the souls of his friends and we're coming up upon the season when they must once again take to the road paved with good intentions of suffer a fate worse then death. You can read the entire affair in part one right here


 GRAB IT RIGHT HERE

“Through me you go into a city of weeping; through me you go into eternal pain; through me you go amongst the lost people”
― Dante Alighieri, The Inferno

So what's taking so damn long if you'll pardon the pun? This is a veteran PC game using characters from a party of adventurers who found themselves in Judge's Guild's Inferno module. They reached tenth level and  their wizard made a pact with a minor demon named Azbenon lord of the Seven Darks. Now the demon has been sending dreams of the opening a certain door and the screams of the damned have been tormenting our heroes for months. At least that's the idea.  Well, when I began to approach this campaign after so long I began with contacting the players who are coming home this weekend knowing that these PC's were used in home campaigns to establish their own settings and begin leading other bands of adventurers themselves. The mini campaign has been delayed because I'm rereading bits and pieces of the Divine Comedy itself and then there's the matter of going over my notes for the adventure and end of the campaign.

 Staring Into The Depths
Of The Abyss



There are three things to know about Journey through Malebolge Book Two From Spellbook If you are expecting the Hell of Dragon magazine and AD&D 1st edition  you can forget it. This is a series of products that doesn't pull any punches and its very close with some modifications to the original sources & most of all its deadly as sin. That's not to say that it can't be navigated by a group of cagey and literate players but this is a series that can be very nasty on the PC's.


Journey through Malebolge Book Two picks right up from book one one in the series and casts light on circles six through eight in extreme detail. When we're talking circles here I want to get across the scale of these settings, these are mini campaign settings that could take years to deal with. The circles and locations are very well laid out what you get is:
  "the middle area of Hell, the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Circles, including more than thirty-five encounters.  The major locations include the River of Blood, Chiron’s Hall, Wood of Suicides, Harpy tribal trees, dens of Infernal Hounds, the Harpodrome, the Oasis of Ezrabah, the Hidden Stairs, Geryon’s Treasure Cave, and the Alchemist Keep.  The important denizens include Chiron Lord of the Centaurs of Hell, the Grand Matriarch of the Harpies of Hell, Kemmelnesses, the Diabolic Earl Geryon,  Bonifaec, and Nimrod of the Nephilim."  But not only that but you get details of the setting right down to weather and more;"important denizens of each Circle, the sins and torments, weather, specific rules pertaining to the physical challenges faced by mortals in crossing each Circle, and random encounters."  As I said this is a very, very, dangerous and challenging setting and PC's are going to die at least a few times here. These are gaming locations that live up their hype and a literate as well as intelligent group of players is going to be challenged. This is hence why these books shouldn't be taken lightly. 



So how does this live up to the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 1st edition game ethos and how hard is this going to be deal with? Well in actual practice its not. Spell Book games very cleverly and backhandedly got around the OGL and actually the books are easily converted over to your favorite old school system here's how.

This role-playing game Adventure describes the environs
of the Hell of the Devils, situated on the Infernal
Plane, Gehenna. It is generally based on the descriptions
of the Divine Comedy (Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso) by
Dante Alighieri, and updates, expands, and completes
the 1980 Judges Guild module, Inferno. This game product
is intended for use by a Games Master as a role playing
game scenario, and contains the information necessary
to guide the actions of a party of adventurers as
they travel through the Inferno and its environs. It is not
intended for reference or use by players, particularly
during game sessions. This game module is not intended
to be a stand alone product. Reference is made throughout,
to a variety of unique monsters, spells, prayers, and
enchanted objects. It is assumed the Games Master has
descriptions of these standard creatures, magic, and objects
available, or has created their own information.
The intended descriptions are found in the following
references, all available from Spellbook Games: Gehenna
Primer, Codicil of Maladies, Inferno: Bestiary,
and Inferno: Treasury. In addition, this volume is intended
to be used in close conjunction with Inferno:
Journey through Malebolge, Books One, Three, and
Denizens, which together form the whole of Journey
through Malebolge.
This Adventure is written using the Spellbook Games
RPG rule set, Portal to Adventure. Little to no conversion
is required for use with the Advanced Dungeons
and Dragons rule set or any similar rules. Extensive advance
conversion effort will be required by the Games
Master to use this Adventure with the Dungeons and
Dragons Revision 3.x or Revision 4 rule sets, or any
similar game system.


Actually its not as big of a problem as a dungeon master might think Spellbook games has done a killer job of mapping out not only the environs of Hell but the sections as necessary and they are very dangerous. Hell is brutal, nasty, and very, very, dangerous in a twisted dark fantasy sort of way of epic proportions. Think of the 1985 film Legend's set pieces and production for imagery that we're talking about here.

Does Journey through Malebolge Book Two live up to its infernal and damned reputation among gamers? Its really hard to say but it sure is damn good fun. This would definitely be a great setting to play and romp in. The ideas and themes that this book lays out for the dungeon master are much darker then I was expecting without crossing the lines of weirdness that other material that I've seen deals with. What the product does do is live up to the middle depths of Hell as described in the Divine Comedy with plenty of room for a dungeon master to leave their thumb print on the setting and location but we'll get into that in book three in one week the next time I get together with my fellow friends and players.
Below is another classic art piece on the journey into Hell from Dante and I can tell you without a doubt that each and everything depicted is in Journey through Malebolge Book Two.

Preparing An Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Veterans Campaign Using Spellbook Games Journey through Malebolge Book One Part I

Introduction


GRAB Spellbook Games Journey
through Malebolge Book One HERE

There are times when the forces of Hell will not be put at bay and this weekend is going to be one of those times!  What was wrought ten years ago will be unleashed once again. The forces of Hell seek out the adventurers and Outlaws known as Callahan's Crew to drag one of their number down into the depths!
Once upon a time there was a group of adventurers who reached tenth level and after braving the depths of Hell managed to escape their shackles of damnation. This was of course after cutting a deal with a seemingly minor demon a life time ago in '96. Well,Hell doesn't wait and it claimed the soul of  the wizard Titrus Mire and dragged him off to the depths. Now his friends have to brave e depths of the darkness to either bring their friend back or set their friend's soul free from the clutches of damnation itself!

“Through me you pass into the city of woe:
Through me you pass into eternal pain:
Through me among the people lost for aye.
Justice the founder of my fabric moved:
To rear me was the task of power divine,
Supremest wisdom, and primeval love.
Before me things create were none, save things
Eternal, and eternal I shall endure.
All hope abandon, ye who enter here.”
― Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy


This is a veteran PC game using characters from a party of adventurers who found themselves in Judge's Guild's Inferno module. They escaped when their wizard made a pact with a minor demon named Azbenon lord of the Seven Darks. As good as his word they did indeed escape but the cuts that the demon made on the wizard's flesh bled and he was damned whisked off to Hell itself. But things have changed as I'm now using Spellbook Games Journey through Malebolge Book One

“Into the eternal darkness, into fire and into ice. ”
― Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy



  So what's really happening here and what is a Veterans campaign? Well, when I began to approach this campaign after so long I began with contacting the players who are coming home this weekend knowing that these PC's were used in home campaigns to establish their own settings and begin leading other bands of adventurers. The matter of Azbenon lord of the Seven Darks was brought up by one of my players But then I began to do some research into Journey through Malebolge Book One

and this one is a nasty piece of work. But why use this version of Hell for an AD&D game? There are several reasons right out of the gate. The first is because this is a far more expansive and dangerous version of the classic Hell that sticks very close to the original Dante literature.And its down right weird and nasty, it also happens to line up exactly with the situations that the PC's found themselves in originally. There's a nasty sort of honesty about this version of Hell. A sort of aura of evil hangs over every single entry and drips down through the situation even the dark woodland entry is a character unto itself:

"Every 300 to 400 yards the Adventurers pass the ruined remnants of stone buildings, mostly consisting of
piles of cubic stones, empty rectangular foundations, and one-story pieces of stone walls standing
alone. Many appear to have been set afire at some past time. If characters use spells or prayers
to determine alignment, these ruins have an aura of goodness associated with them. If characters closely examine, or dig into, the remains of these buildings they find unidentifiable bones, broken wood from furniture, small household objects, and various small twisted metal pieces"

Evil here is both subtle and brutal in its depiction and its not meant to be an easy place to adventure at all. This really is a place for veteran adventurers who might stand chance of survival and might even be able to return to the DM's regular campaign world.


This is not a book that takes the road map approach but the type of adventure setting that not only emulates but build upon itself one horror at a time while at the same time leading the adventurers deeper into its infernal mysteries and misery all of the while using information that  is provided about important denizens of each Circle, the sins and torments, weather, specific rules pertaining to the physical challenges faced by mortals in crossing each Circle, and random encounters. This is Hell in every sense of the word and a world unto itself. The maps are professional and well done, the encounter lists are written so that DM can actually use them and interlock them with his own campaign setting. What makes this a nice OSR adventure setting material is the set up that Spellbook Games uses for their material its easily adaptable to OSR gaming:"
Journey through Malebolge is written for the Spellbook Games RPG rule set, ‘Portal to Adventure,’ but is usable essentially ‘as is’ with Advanced Dungeons and Dragons or any similar rule set with very little adaptation. A Games Master using Dungeons and Dragons versions 3.x, 4, or 5, or any similar rules, will require additional preparations." Does it live up to this style of promise? Yes it does as a matter of fact. All of the classic adventure locations from the source material are here and more;"
an area of Gehenna above the Great Pit, the Gates of Hell, and Outer Hell, consisting of Circle Zero through the Fifth Circle.  More than thirty encounter areas are described, including the Shining Hill, Vile Forest, Gates of Hell, Noble Castle, the River Archeron, Cave of Tantalassus, Minos’ Palace, the Garden of Succubi, Cerberus’ barn, and the treasure caves of Plutus, the swamp Styx, Phelgyas’ Tower, the Walls of Dis, and the City of Burning Tombs." Yeah they're all here and more. The magick items are both vile and deadly as well as cursed but there are reasons why and explanations of their existence within the confines of Hell as its defined by Journey through Malebolge Book One

But Hell isn't simply a location of horror and degradition well it is but there is also the fact that the demons and devils are not simply another experience point on the PC's character sheet. These are demons & monsters willing to engage the PC's in conversations and able to show them the ten cent tour of the horrors of Hell. They might toss them into the Pit if it suits them. This is a Hell setting that has its roots in classic literature and the pulp era of horror equally and it draws deeply from both settings. This makes it a perfectly dangerous place for adventurers in equal measure.

 One  Thing Leads To Another


This is not a setting to take lightly and its evil is neither comforting nor easy to deal with on any level of play but it sure is damn fun. The PC's are going to be in for an expansive and hard time dealing with the horrors and degradation of the setting on multiple levels of play. Each and everything is keyed to doing them harm on some level from minor inconvenience to major NPC encounters & if your thinking that this is going to simply be a matter of killing X and Y for its treasure & experience points your going to be joining the damned here on a permanent basis.  I've had lots and lots of experience playing in Geoff Dale's version of Hell and it's really nice to see this beast of a setting getting its due and expansion. But I will caution those using this setting to use either high level PC's or very experienced players because you're going to need a stack of character sheets. One wrong move means that your PC is going to be dealing with the fall out from a stupid decision. This setting doesn't kill PC's but bad decisions will cost you in PC's lives and time in the setting's circles. I do strongly recommend Spellbook Games Journey through Malebolge Book One.