OSR Commentary - Beer & Dragons - In the Shadow of Monsters Campaign Set Up

So last night it was beer & getting together with friends for the holidays & lots of talk about old school Dungeons & Dragons, Pulp adventuring, & OSR stuff. The most difficult part is going to be the scheduling on the part of the players. We settled on Castles & Crusades as the in house system but the setting was something else entirely.
 

Two of these players Jan & Steve were in an old campaign of mine which resulted in me findout that there was a louse in my midst years ago. We did a lot of DCC during that time period & it was an interesting ride. But now they want to bring back their beloved PC's. So I'm dusting off my science fantasy campaign 'In The Shadow of Monsters.'..  A decidedly different take on the usual fantasy D&D world. Inspired by the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jules Verne,etc. Scanlon is a world plagued by magic, doubt, & worse.
The background for In The Shadow of Monsters places a mythic European colony of D&D races down in the bowels of the Inner Earth where they fled during the 'The End  of Magic'. Since then races of pseudo Vikings, barbarians, Europeans, all live in a massive cavern the size of Europe surrounded by an inner Earth sea. These city states are always in an uneasy series of cold wars & peaces over resources & economics of the caverns. This cavern isn't the true inner world however merely another in a series of caves, tunnels, etc. all reaching to the inner world with its true miniature sun & moon. The place is lit by phosphorescence phenomenon that mimics sunlight & lave tubes of incredible complexity.



Elves & Fey exist along side their neighbors with an incredible divide between the two races along with the ancient Pagan gods. Certain caverns lead to other worlds, times, & places. They have black powder weapons  & advanced metallurgy techniques putting them on par with Europe around 1500. But because of the strong magical influence black powder is an iffy propitiation at best. The reason why are the dragons & monsters that use these caverns as nesting sites. They dwell in ruins that were ancient when the first of the peoples were led down into the depths of the Earth.



These dragons sleep for ages & project their minds into the deepest parts of the Outer Darkness & beyond. Hunting & killing the deadly spawn of the Outer Gods that dwell there. They keep the human population safe even on occasion walking among them to take a wife. The unions of such couples become great heroes in their own right. But the dragons know that the true heart of horror lurks in mankind itself.


Chaos & worse lurk on the fringes of Scanlon, there are tribes of marauding barbarians from places like Hubris & from the other worldly caverns where dwell titanic Chaos Godlings and their unsavory cults.

There are terrible dragons dwelling under each of the major cities of the world & many of the wizards of Scanlon are predicting disaster. The signs are starting to appear in the sky of Earth & the auroras are shifting meaning the time of awakening is happening.
This is another world in desperate need of heroes & adventurers, there have been knights & other heroes who have appeared upon the surface world but they have been dismissed as insane or delusional. But now the tremors have started & heroes are starting to gather.


 So I'm going to start rounding up all of my OSR resources & they'll include :

1. The Teratic Tome from Neo Plastic Press  
2. Dungeon Crawl Classics 
3. Labyrinth Lord\
4. Mutant Future rpg  
5. Amazing Advenures rpg 
6. Castles & Crusades  

These are just a few of the OSR resources that I'm going to be using in the coming weeks I'll post more rpg campaign fodder as it comes up. This is comprise with both the fantasy & the super heroic pulp elements.. 

Possible Mid Winter Mini Campaign On Dungeon Crawl Classics #84: Peril On The Purple Planet But With An OSR Twist

"The Purple Planet: Where tribes of man-beasts wage an endless war beneath a dying sun. Where mighty death orms rule the wastes, befouled winds whistle through ancient crypts, and forests of fungi flourish in the weirdling light. Where ancient technologies offer life … or a quick death.

Bereft of patron, friend or god, your survival depends on quick wits and a strong blade. Will you and your companions stand as conquerers atop this alien land? Or will you fall beneath the blast of an ink-black death rays, just another corpse left to litter the wastes of the Purple Planet?"

Over last twenty four hours I've had my back to the wall with work quite literally & I've been trying to deal to deal with a small but vocal group of players. Over the last couple of months I've had friends want me to run a Dungeon Crawl Classics set of adventures but not with the DCC rpg. So I've had time to think long & hard about it. Earlier this year I was given a gift of Dungeon Crawl Classics #84 also known as Dungeon Crawl Classics #84: Peril On The Purple Planet (box set).

But how does one go about running a gonzo Sword & Planet adventure with a traditional Dungeons & Dragons style game or retro clone?
The answer is Troll Lord Games Castles & Crusades & I've already been running a supers game using Amazing Adventures! Rpg by Jason Vey. Its not that much of a stretch to take the Siege engine that much further & conversion is a snap. But these days I'm much more inclined to create my own fantasy world for a C&C campaign.
In my local area its a lot easier to get folks to play a retroclone of Dungeons & Dragons then it is to get them to play Dungeon Crawl Classics.

Dungeon Crawl Classics #84: Peril On The Purple Planet (box set)

has quite a bit to offer but its going to really depend on the route that the players want to go. I'm going to have my work cut out for me. There are more then a few people who have experience with my style of gaming & the fact that their are rumbles of adding in super heroes & pulp adventurers into the mix. So there may be more DYI Dungeons & Dragons & OSR elements on my part.




Another option to get the players into the bowels of this campaign is to go the route of adding in the PC's to the Purple Planet via  a doorway via  Jason Sholtis's Operation Unfathomable mega campaign dungeon. For months now Jason Sholtis has teased Unfathomable artwork & concepts via G+ & Me We.
The science fantasy gonzo aspect fits the bill for adding in the right fictional elements to the back end of a campaign.





Operation Unfathomable isn't the only possibility to play the long card of DCC mix & match OSR goodness. Mike Evens also had a lovely little world of hellish violence & possible weirdness to add to the mix. Hubris dives right over the edge into the pulp, sword and sorcery roots of the fantasy genre with an ultra violent twist on things.


I have a meeting in the afternoon tomorrow & we'll see what happens but these are not the only OSR titles I have up my sleeves. There are several other options on the table so to speak that may be used.

Commentary On A Mash Up Campaign Idea With AD&D's Adventure T1 The Village of Hommlet, Temple of Elemental Evil & The DCC Hubris Setting by Mike (wrathofzombie) Evans Part II

A sinister force, long thought destroyed, stirs from the black hole that spawned it. Like an ebony darkness it prowls the land and safety is but an illusion, for it watches from every shadow and ponders possibilities.
What began years ago, with the introduction of the players to the quiet village of Hommlet and the amazing lands of Greyhawk, at last is complete. Here is the long-awaited campaign adventure, featuring the ruins of the Temple of Elemental Evil, where a great evil broods and grows beneath its blasted stones. This is your chance to drive it back and scatter its force again. Its also the perfect time for a band of outlaws, renegades,scum, and adventurers to make their mark from a world called Hubris. Perhaps if their really lucky they might make some coin, save the universe, and not get murdered in the process. Nay, a few are going to die along the way!

Alright let's pick this idea right up in the next location where the PC's are going to be heading, I'm talking about  the next section, T2, the adventurers move on to the nearby village of Nulb to confront several highly dangerous  opponents, including agents from the Temple. After reading through a good portion of Hubris last night again, the surroundings of the Temple of Elemental Evil wouldn't be out of place on the world of Hubris. Seriously patrons, monsters, environs, and such are more then a match for Zuggtmoy herself as well as her followers. In fact I think that the patrons & gods of Hubris would be seen as nothing but competition by the Elemental Evil faith. The key here is in the parsona of the leader  Lareth the Beautiful from the moat house. Her mettling with some of the forces of the moat house might just provide the in that the dungeon master is looking for.


Based on the outcome of these from T2's encounters, the player characters can then enter the Temple itself to interact with its many denizens and test their mettle against Zuggtmoy herself. I've had a couple of emails regarding if I thought that the inclusion of the black powder fire arms, racial varieties, and classes of Hubris would make a difference to running the gauntlet that is Temple of Elemental Evil? In a word, no. The village of Hommlet, The Temple, the dungeons and the evirons surrounding the temple are deadly. Because of the background of Tharizdun, Zuggtmoy, and the insanely metal aspects of the Temple of Elemental Evil it might have an extradimensional shadow on Hubris. In fact the sleazy & scuzzy town of Nulb could fit right into the habitats of Hubris. 



Half demons, murder machines, blood witches, shadow dancer assassins, etc. all from Hubris might feel right at home in Nulb. The Welcoming Wench is a good location to start things off especially if the PC's have managed to complete the Moat House dungeon & the surrounding landscape. There's something very iconic & weird about The Temple of Elemental Evil, it seems to revel in its deadliness & reputation.

Its within the history itself of the Temple that we get some very powerful clues how to integrate it between Dungeon Crawl Classics, Hubris, & Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition here's a break down of the history of the Temple of Elemental Evil;"
The temple referenced in the module's title is an unholy structure located in the central Flanaess not far from the city-state of Verbobonc. In 566 CY, forces of evil from Dyvers or the Wild Coast constructed a small chapel outside the nearby village of Nulb. The chapel was quickly built into a stone temple from which bandits and evil humanoids began to operate with increasing frequency.
In 569 CY, a combined force was sent to destroy the Temple and put an end to the marauding. The army included regular forces from the human kingdoms of Furyondy and Veluna, dwarves from the Lortmil Mountains, gnomes from the Kron Hills, and elven archers and spearmen.
This allied army clashed with a horde of evil men and humanoids, including orcs, ogres and gnolls, at the Battle of Emridy Meadows. Men-at-arms from Furyondy and Veluna united with dwarves from the Lortmils, gnomes from the Kron Hills, and an army of elven archers to face the threat of the Horde of Elemental Evil, consisting largely of savage humanoids such as orcs, ogres, and gnolls. The arrival of the elves from the shadows of the Gnarley Forest turned the tide of battle, trapping the savage humanoids against a bend in the Velverdyva where they were routed and slaughtered.
After dispersing the Horde of Elemental Evil, the allied forces laid siege to the Temple of Elemental Evil itself, defeating it within a fortnight. Spellcasters loyal to the goodly army cooperated on a spell of sealing that bound the demoness Zuggtmoy (a major instigator in the Horde of Elemental Evil) to some of the deepest chambers in the castle's dungeons.
At some point in this battle, Serten, cleric of Saint Cuthbert and member of the Citadel of Eight, was slain. The Citadel was notable for its absence at this pivotal moment in the history of the Flanaess, and their failure to take part in the Battle of Emridy Meadows contributed to the group's decline and eventual disbandment.
The forces of good were victorious and the Horde of Elemental Evil was scattered. The Temple was then besieged and fell within two weeks, although a few of its leaders managed to escape.
The site itself remained, however, and over the following decade rumors of evil presence there persisted. The Viscount of Verbobonc and the Archcleric of Veluna became increasingly concerned, and cooperated to build a small castle outside the Village of Hommlet to guard against the possibility of the Temple rising again.
For the next five years, Hommlet gained in wealth thanks to adventurers who came to the area seeking out remnants of evil to slay. Things quieted down for another four years as the area returned to peace and normalcy, but in 578 CY evil began to stir again, with groups of bandits riding the roads. In 579 CY, the events in the T1-4 module occur."
There's a completely casual attitude by the commoners & the sweeping events of Temple of Elemental Evil that dovetail in with the metal like attitudes of Hubris. Given AD&D's gaming structure & rules, I can see easily using the rules within Hubris to generate those commoners & randomly give them backgrounds to become the heroes needed to confront the evils of the Temple. Here's the thing no one's going to save you from the hell about to engulf your village or town. Does this sound like a funnel? Well yes because the Moat house from T1 is can be used for exactly that. Hubris's random PC characters are perfect in this regard.

So what might the background for an AD&D 1st edition and DCC system mix be like for PC? Well here's a few suggestions from my end of things:

• Let the fighters have a bit of a wider range of weaponry especially from Hubris to set the stage 
• Give wizards & magic users the widest possible range of minor magics from AD&D 1st edition including cantrips and the like at least till they get to third level then let the patrons begin. 
• Clerics should have their gods at their shoulders because of the evils of the temple. They're going to be reactive, proactive, and frankly on edge because of the stakes of the temple. 
• Hirelings & mercenaries should be a mix of Hubris and Greyhawk types to show the dimensional instabilities and gate effects.  
• Don't be afraid to use Greyhawk deities as patrons in the classic DCC style with lots of weird wrinkles on them. Use DCC magic rules here. Imagine Luz as a patron!? Why would he do that well because he's a dirty double dealing floor flusher of the highest order and he'll turn on his fellow gods in a black cold heart beat.
• Blood witches can come in very handy under certain circumstances and a party should have one. They make excellent additions to an adventuring party. 
• Feel free to incorporate the various Hubris PC types with all of the bells and whistles intact. The adventure of Temple of  Elemental Evil 's elements will indeed set the tone and background as needed. From traps to major NPC's its all their waiting to take PC's up the long ladder from first through their ending levels.
  
  
  But why would Hubris PC's even remotely be interested in The Temple of Elemental Evil? Well besides the usual treasures & glories? Well in a word 'supernatural power', the temple, moat house, & adventure locations are filled to the brim with all kinds opportunities to make the reputation & retirement of some minor Hubris PC. Seriously this kind of motivation for PC's from a world of wanton destruction and mayhem is enough to bring Joe Bob the dirt farmer from his Hubris hovel.
  This is one of the things that makes this mash up work so well the opportunities for motivation and murder in equal turns.
  
  Keep those dice rolling. There is more coming up!

Commentary On A Mash Up Campaign Idead With AD&D's Adventure T1 The Village of Hommlet & The DCC Hubris Setting by Mike (wrathofzombie) Evans

"Legend states that Hubris was created from the fetid corpse of a long-dead god. Hubris is a land of terrible creatures, grand inequality, strange and cruel gods, dangerous magic, opulent nobility, destitute commoners, people that have become corrupted and turned to savage beasts, constant wars, and worse. " Hubris has been sitting on my hard drive for over a month or so, I've done some reading, picking through, & more. Then Jeffs game blog did a review & it got my gears spinning on how would I actually use the setting with with something like say AD&D first edition? Is it even possible? In a word, yes its very possible in fact. But this is all a thought exercise in my twisted head.

I've been in crisis management mode over here with work & its kept me hopping all day long. But I was strolling through G+ and noticed that Mike (wrathofzombie) Evans was pitch hitting his Hubris setting for the Dungeon Crawl Classics rpg.  He's got good reason to be proud of the setting, its a really weird & twisted setting as well as creation. What's it all about? Well let's look back at the Kickstarter video for some answers. Hubris is available right here.

So I was thinking of mixing and matching bits and pieces of Hubris, DCC, AD&D 1st edition & the AD&D Temple of Elemental Evil. So where does all of this madness begin? Well in a little place called Hommlet. I stumbled across this little thread on the DCC forums way back from 2012. I was mostly looking for some information on combining DCC & the Adventurer, Conqueror, King system but that's another blog post. This bit is what really got my wheels spinning, "AD&D has Temple of Elemental Evil start out with adventurers looking for wealth coming to check out what's going on in the hills around this "village" ...in my DCC adaptation, the village will be sending its own out into the hills because nobody else cares about their village or it's well being, not even the Viscount of Verbobonc, and he is having a friggin castle built there!" I would have my PC's start straight out from the village, down on their luck adventurers who stumble upon the evil of the temple.

To give the wizards a fighting chance I'd borrow heavily from Bill 4935's suggestion,"
I like to try having my cake and eating it too. So if I run a campaign, I'll let human wizards access "Hedge Magic" (cantrips and some Level 1 spells) without mercurial effects or needing a patron, but anything more powerful risks the touch of Chaos.

...Plus that gives me time to devise a story-appropriate introduction to higher power and infernal/dimensional pacts, when the magic-user reaches Level 3 and wants a 2nd level spell."

So what does this have to do with Hubris? Well given some of the darkness, evil, and mayhem happening from the temple I'd have a few dimensional doors opening upon the setting of Hubris to give that retro vibe that DCC is always talking about. The Temple's of Elemental Evil is such a sink hole for chaos and depravity that the powerful magics of the place are a perfect excuse to blend the two. But the village of Hommlet provides a very dangerous proving ground for PC's.

As for a mixed party of Hubris & AD&D PC's I can see Advanced Dungeons & Dragons actually providing the structure and mixed systems that this style of mash up campaign almost demands it. The factions of Hommlet almost but not quite mirror many of the weird attitudes of Hubris in a very twisted way. The dungeons below the ruined moathhouse could be used as a funnel of epic proportions & many an adventurer has started & ended his or her career there.
So what does Hommlet have offer Hubris? Besides a stable base of operations between two evils of epic status?


The evil of the elemental cult could well be operating on Hubris almost but not quite completely unnoticed. Simply one more cult in the wastes of the world where almost everyone is trying to deal in and cheat death. The village itself is ripe with cultists and there's lots of history going on in the village  to cross back & forth. The whole thing is going to rely on how the dungeon master wants to approach mashing up a balls to the walls setting like Hubris & The Village of Hommlet.  The village is detailed but not too detailed so there's room to add or subtract as needed. Then there's the lurking evil of the moathouse only a mile or so down the road. Would the wheel lock weapons of Hubris make that much of a difference? I think not.  I think that the village itself might provide a valuable group of NPC allies for any Hubris or AD&D party of adventurers in the future.


We'll tackle the Temple of Elemental Evil & Hubris tomorrow if anyone's interested? Let me know and keep those dice rolling. There is more coming up!

Three Days To Go On The Hubris Dungeon Crawl Classics Adventure Campaign Kickstarter.

There are worlds that authors imagine that are original,brutal, honest, weird and dangerous all at the same time. That's what Hubris reminds me of and its for the Dungeon Crawl Classics game, its by Mike (wrathofzombie) Evans  and there's a kickstarter for the setting/campaign book and you've only got three day to get in on the action. So for the past two weeks I've been seeing this piece of artwork floating around G+  and I finally broke down and took a look a the Hubris A World of Visceral Adventure Kickstarter. There isn't one square inch of safe area on the plane of Hubris, its weird, wild, insanely dangerous and incredibly detailed.


Here's the back story according to kickstater  and the campaign's author :
"Legend states that Hubris was created from the fetid corpse of a long-dead god. Hubris is a land of terrible creatures, grand inequality, strange and cruel gods, dangerous magic, opulent nobility, destitute commoners, people that have become corrupted and turned to savage beasts, constant wars, and worse.  
Its kingdoms are not kind or benevolent: In the Blighted Sands the Klind are slavers and openly practice sorcery, offering sacrifices to their depraved serpentine god, Set. Across the continent the Fairweather kingdom is governed by a corrupt and inbred royal family with the nobility following suit. Esenbar is ruled by a staunch xenophobic theocracy that tolerates little outside of their strict doctrine. The barbaric Ingvar of the Frozen Wastes wage vicious battles against the savage frost giants of The Crag, and care little about the goings on of the world; their life is cut from battle with an axe or sword. The Black Queen rules the citizens of the Floating Island of Terror from her throne of bones and dreams terrible machinations for Hubris. Shadowfall, built in the remains of the burrow of a gigantic worm is ran by vampires and their thralls, and welcome all who are devious, vicious and cunning. 
There are no easily recognizable heroes in the world. You wander the wilderness or delve into ancient ruins: out of desperation, some crazed need for adventure, or for some bizarre belief that the world can actually be made a better place. Though civilization offers you security and comfort, you shirk those in the hopes of gaining riches and power. But when you die, no one will sing songs of your deeds. You will die a horribly bloody death at the hands of some twisted abomination or by the knife of an assassin sent by some fat, scheming noble. 
Your epic tale will be forgotten in days as the dangerous world continues on without you and the apathetic masses stay complacent to dogmatic control of their government. 

This is not a fairy tale or an epic ballad. This is a savage world. This is Hubris."
I've been quietly looking at Mike's posts on Hubris on his blog today and he knows what he's doing with this setting in spades. He get's its and knows how to weave his setting together to make it compelling and interesting. All of this presents a setting with original races, ideas, monsters, weird setting material and much more. The author has his setting sources in the right place for this project;Hubris is a weird fantasy setting inspired by various things, such as: Alice in Wonderland, Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard, HP Lovecraft stories, Vornheim by Zak Smith, Lamentations of the Flame Princess RPG by James Raggi, Labyrinth, The Thing, Hellboy comics by Mike Mignola, Hellraiser, Evil Dead and Army of Darkness, and not to mention the awesomeness that is Dungeon Crawl Classics and the whole DIY RPG community!
Mike Evans already has a bunch of resources and material that's going into Hubris on his blog right over HERE

The problem is that you've only got three days to get in on the action, and after  taking a look at this project its going to be time and cash well spent. Do I think you might be interested in this campaign world? If your a DCC fan this one is a no brainer! I wish that I could have gotten in on the action sooner!