OSR Review and Commentary On Expanded Ancestries -- A Shadowdark Supplement By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler For Your Old School Campaigns

" Expanded Ancestries -- Angelkin, Demonkin, Dragonkin, Fairykin, Geniekin, & Giantkin Ancestries & Classes

Designed for use with the Shadowdark RPG
By James Mishler and Jodi Moran-Mishler

Expanded Ancestries includes six new ancestries and ancestry classes for the Shadowdark RPG."

"New ancestries and ancestry classes are included for Angelkin, Demonkin, Dragonkin, Fairykin, Geniekin, and Giantkin.

Angelkin are able to call upon priest spells in a miraculous fashion; the angelkin class delved further into this ability and adds several celestial powers.

Demonkin are able to cast witch and wizard spells by calling upon their infernal relations and allies; the demonkin class increases this power, and adds full spellcasting abilities plus the ability to summon fiends!"

 Expanded Ancestries -- A Shadowdark Supplement By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler is an expansion on the usual racial options for the Shadowdark rpg and OSR systems. Clocking in with lots of options for the Talismundian campaign that we've been covering. Expanded Ancestries brings a whole new way of bringing to life your PC's with: 

Angelkin are able to call upon priest spells in a miraculous fashion; the angelkin class delved further into this ability and adds several celestial powers.

Demonkin are able to cast witch and wizard spells by calling upon their infernal relations and allies; the demonkin class increases this power, and adds full spellcasting abilities plus the ability to summon fiends!

Dragonkin are able to use their ancestor’s breath attack; the dragonkin class improves on this and allows the dragonkin to attack with bite and claw attacks, use their wings to fly, and grow in power like their draconic ancestors.

Fairykin are able to fly like their tiny ancestors; the fairykin class allows the fairykin to learn to cast witch and wizard spells, use fairy glamours, change their size, and otherwise survive in the borders between the human and fey realms.

Geniekin are able to manipulate and protect themselves from the elements from whence their ancestors arose; the geniekin class improves upon this ability, enables them to wield the powers of their genie ancestors, and summon elemental entities.

Giantkin can call upon the mighty thews and strength of their ancestors; the giantkin class allows them to more fully call upon their ancestral powers, and even transform into true giants, growing mighty in size and melee power

So what this does is expand on the Castles & Cruasades PC options by a wide margin. This means that the PC's are going to highly invested within a C&C the Talismundian campaign setting. Each of the regions and areas expands the culture and setting for these racial options! But is this also an expansion of the material presented within the campaign setting and the PC's as well as NPC character generation. This expands the options at the table top level. 

Expanded Ancestries is a reliable, great as a go too, and works great for PC demi human generation. This means that for your dollar Expanded Ancestries goes a long way too generating the PC's that you want! 

OSR Review & Commentary The Talismundia Campaign Region Maps By James Mishler Games

 "The Talismundia Campaign Region Maps are complete!"

"Well, complete for now. After stitching them all together, there are still a few bits and bobs on the edges that need to be rectified, and as always, there were some errors here and there, so I'll be correcting those over time.

But now, the entire continent of Magnaregia is complete, as is the northern tier of Meridiarcanum.

The "Peoples of the Cold Steppes" and "Places of the Cold Steppes" PDFs are already available with Region Map 01, and the rest will follow for the other eight regions as time permits.

Should sales warrant, I plan to do a full gazetteer for each region. I also plan to focus on specific regions for further cartographical works.

Please let me know what you think of the maps!"

RANDOM ENCOUNTERS
Talismundian hexes are 30-miles across; usually a two-day journey on foot or a single day journey on horseback through normal terrain (double or longer for difficult terrain). Random encounter rolls should be made once every one to six hours, depending on the level of danger and population in the area (more population + more danger = more chance for encounters). Roll a d6; on a 1, the party has a random encounter.

When determining random encounters in an area, first check the map to see if a settlement, stronghold, or name of a creature type is either in/touching the hex or an adjacent hex.

When dealing with settlement and stronghold hexes, as well as hexes that contain any part of a creature type name, there is a 2 in 6 chance the encounter is with someone or something from that settlement or stronghold, or with that creature type.

When dealing with hexes that are adjacent to settlement and stronghold hexes, as well as hexes that are adjacent to a hex that contains any part of a creature type name, there is a 1 in 6 chance the encounter is with someone or something from that settlement or stronghold, or with that creature type.

If there are two or more such possibilities, randomly determine which is encountered.

Otherwise, roll on the provided encounter table for that area.

The Talismundia Campaign Region Maps By James Mishler Games brings home the Mishler campaign setting that's been brewing for months now. I've covered the  Talismundia Campaign Region maps & setting before on this blog as events, maps, and encounters have evolved. These campaign lands have evolved over time and design along with play testing on the Mishler family part. Adventuring parties are going to find years & years of play here. 
The list so far of releases reads like a Sword & Sorcery campaign diary: 

The maps will be released in the following order:

Talismundia Region 01: The Cold Steppes [Northwestern Region]
Talismundia Region 02: The Dread Empire [North Central Region]
Talismundia Region 03: The Howling Wilds [Northeastern Region]
Talismundia Region 04: The Western Vales [Western Region]
Talismundia Region 05: The Shattered Realm [Central Region]
Talismundia Region 06: The Falling Empire [Eastern Region]
Talismundia Region 07: The Burning Wastes [Southwestern Region]
Talismundia Region 08: The Demon Seas [South Central Region]
Talismundia Region 09: The Death Lands [Southeastern Region]

 Note that these fantasy campaign maps & settings can easily be evolved and dabbled with by other DM's because that's their purpose really. Sure there will be plenty of room for dungeon masters and players to customize  Talismundia for their own use. This means that you've got an entire world setting to use and create your own adventures in. 

The Talismundia Campaign Region Maps has everything that you want with regions straightly laid out for monsters, demi human races, and more. The regions, cults, and ruins are all laid out. This allows for the interactions between these races with warfare and more also thrown into the mix. There's also enough detail within 'The Talismundia Campaign Region Maps' for DM's to add this world to their own campaign setting how? If the campaign world setting is a globe then 'The Talismundia Campaign Region Maps' might be the other side of the campaign setting. This allows the DM to add this world into their games as an alternative setting. 
In closing I definitely think that The Talismundia Campaign Region Maps are well worth the price of admission and will add a huge new campaign setting to your own games! 

Review & OSR Commentary On Talismundia Region 04: The Western Vales [Western Region] Talismundia, Region 05: The Shattered Realm [Central Region] Talismundia, & Region 06: The Falling Empire [Eastern Region] From James Mishler Games For Your Old School Campaigns

 "The next three maps from the Talismundia Campaign, the middle tier of the nine regions, are now available:

Talismundia Region 04: The Western Vales [Western Region]
Talismundia Region 05: The Shattered Realm [Central Region]
Talismundia Region 06: The Falling Empire [Eastern Region]

That's the southern half of the continent of Magnaregia; next, the three maps of the northern portion of the continent of Meridiarcanum, which will complete the Talismundia Region maps!

I've also added the 'Peoples of the Cold Steppes" PDF to Talismundia Region 01: The Cold Steppes; the "Places of the Cold Steppes" should follow soon."

James Mishler Games  just dropped Talismundia Region 04: The Western Vales [Western Region] Talismundia, Region 05: The Shattered Realm [Central Region] Talismundia, &  Region 06: The Falling Empire [Eastern Region]. These campaign setting maps are slightly different then other rpg setting maps that we've seen. This review continues the first part here on the blog. 

This is because these maps  highlight the serious OSR monster regions. These campaign maps are like instant campaign settings that you can drop into your own old school & OSR games.  These maps continue and expand the citystates of the lands of Talismundia. This is because these lands have a political scene that is dynamic and highly dangerous; "The world of Talismundia  is eternally stuck in the midst of a Late Medieval-Early Renaissance-Old West cultural, political, and technological phase.

Ancient civilizations and their histories go back tens of thousands of years, and that's merely what the sages know, not counting what has been lost.

Modern civilizations are built upon the ruins of an unknown and perhaps unknowable number of previous civilizations, the ruins of which are now buried beneath the feet of modern settlements and strongholds, either occupied by the descendants of those lost civilizations or monstrous creatures who have moved in since.

The treasures of those long-lost civilizations are there for the taking “ whether lifted from dusty, empty ruins; looted from the vaults of the (often decadent and degenerate) descendants of the original inhabitants; or won through wit or blade from the monsters that reside therein.

The world above and below is a patchwork of petty states  there a kingdom, there a republic, hither a theocracy, thither a tribal confederation. Now and again, for a few decades or centuries, an empire might arise, but such is rare, as magic  the great equalizer  of the fantasy realm “ is ubiquitous, though never grossly common.

And so wandering adventurers make their way from one realm to the next, looting their way through ruins, paid to be mercenaries, reduced to thievery, or maybe, once in a while, even acting the hero (as it might suit them). Perhaps, when the gold loses its luster, and the jewels no longer sparkle, the wanderer might take up their sword or wand and seek to conquer a kingdom “ or even an empire “ for themselves." 

And that's the whole cloth of world of Talismundia where the DM or players can customize the whole cloth of the settings. The maps and cartography are very well done. These are really nice maps & easily useful for over all campaign design and placement. James Mishler will be expanding the peoples, setting, and more of  Talismundia. But for the moment we  can expand and design our own versions of these settings using these fantastic maps. 
These campaign settings can easily be used with Castles & Crusades with little issue and would make an excellent Late Medieval-Early Renaissance-Old West cultural, political, and technological phase campaign. So if one wants a 'black powder and pike' campaign with lots of fantastic races and monsters  Talismundia might be the answer.   For Castles & Crusades this campaign has a highly compelling setting that can easily be incorporated into your games with the inclusion of the brass gateways scattered throughout  Aihrde to allow easy access. 

So I think that Talismundia might be worth looking into?! In a word?! Oh yes! This is a great set of maps by James Mishler Games that works on a number of levels to create a compelling game world for your old school or OSR campaign. 

Review & OSR Commentary On Talismundia Region 01: The Cold Steppes Map, Talismundia Region 02: The Dread Empire Map, & Talismundia Region 03: The Howling Wilds Map From James Mishler Games For Your Old School Campaigns,

" The Talismundia Campaign is a series of nine maps each detailing a portion of the world of Talismundia, a classic fantasy role-playing game campaign setting.

The world of Talismundia is eternally stuck in the midst of a Late Medieval-Early Renaissance-Old West cultural, political, and technological phase.

Ancient civilizations and their histories go back tens of thousands of years, and that's merely what the sages know, not counting what has been lost.

Modern civilizations are built upon the ruins of an unknown and perhaps unknowable number of previous civilizations, the ruins of which are now buried beneath the feet of modern settlements and strongholds, either occupied by the descendants of those lost civilizations or monstrous creatures who have moved in since."

"The treasures of those long-lost civilizations are there for the taking  whether lifted from dusty, empty ruins; looted from the vaults of the (often decadent and degenerate) descendants of the original inhabitants; or won through wit or blade from the monsters that reside therein."

The world above and below is a patchwork of petty states  here a kingdom, there a republic, hither a theocracy, thither a tribal confederation. Now and again, for a few decades or centuries, an empire might arise, but such is rare, as magic  the great equalizer of the fantasy realm is ubiquitous, though never grossly common."

 Talismundia Region 01: The Cold Steppes Map From James Mishler Games is essentially band new campaign section and setting that Mishler has been developing for his own campaign for years now. This is a series of fallen empires and petty states; "The series of nine Talismundia maps detail an entire continent – Magnaregia, of late center of the fallen Majestatis Imperium (simply known to most as “The Empire”), and the northern portion of the southern continent, Meridiarcanum, the “Mysterious South,” so called by the Empire as the two previous empires that had fallen ere its own rise rose and fell on the southern continent." This means that Talismundia is a wide open OSR campaign setting for the DM to customize the way they want to. Talismundia Region 02: The Dread Empire Map is the whole cloth dark setting of this campaign. 

The lands of Talismundia is filled with the worlds of popular rpg races and monsters. This land is filled with city states and war is common as these fantasy races brush up against each other.  
There's plenty here for the DM to customize the setting without upsetting the campaign setting. Here's the thing there's plenty of city states  & the history of the setting gives the feeling of a lot of depth in the campaign setting itself. And the maps are very well done. The cartography gives the feeling of the depth of the campaign the more I look at it. Talismundia Region 03: The Howling Wilds Map brings everything full circle with a wilderness that feels open and yawning. Not boring but deep and highly dangerous where the PC's can deeply into trouble here. 

 The PC's do not have the advantage in any of these realms or citystates within the lands of Talismundia. These are citystates on the edge if you carefully look at the monsters, the areas and monsters that are concentrated within these lands. This is a world that has been under constant conflict and minor strife throughout it's history. And it's waiting to be popped into and customized into your world. It's a perfect little setting for Adventurer, Conqueror, King second edition or Castles & Crusades rpg. 
And in point of fact it's perfect for the DM to pull it into an existing campaign world as the older and other side of the globe of such a world setting. Everything here within the Talismundia world is perfect for mining, campaign conquest, conflict or even all out war! I really like what James Mishler has done with these campaign maps and settings. 

Raising The Undead - OSR Commentary On Dark Wizard Game's Shadow of the Necromancer Levels 1-3 By Mark Taormino & Some Sword & Sorcery Options

 "Fear stalks through the darkness of night in the form of the walking dead! They attack innocent travelers and merchant caravans in

the moonlight! Animated skeletons have also been seen digging up the recently dead and carrying them into the nearby ruins of an
old abandoned keep! Rumor spreads fast from lip to ear amongst the locals, whispering that a sinister hooded figure has been seen
directing the undead and is taking up residence in that foul dungeon! Your stalwart group of adventurers has decided to take on this
challenge, get the treasure you know is in there and defeat this evil menace known only as the Shadow of the Necromancer!"

Tonight we've been meeting & talking with fellow dungeon masters about our recent dust up with the  Hyperborea rpg & the idea of possibly running a first level adventure connected with the system. And one possibility is Dark Wizard Game's Shadow of the Necromancer. 

There are few reasons for this right out of the gate & this ties back into James Mishler's Necromancer Class – Masters of Death and Undeath which we covered at length right around Halloween time here on the blog. 

The idea here is that someone has gotten a hold of the Demonicus Ex Mori a dire book of Hyperborean necromatic lore stretching back to the age of the Green Death. The magicks of this book are far more dangerous then the standard necromancer's rituals. 
And things begin to spiral out of control as the undead become an issue straight out of the gate. The circumstances become much more of an issue as the dead begin to distrupt the seasonal stock up of the harvest before the Winter of Hyperborea. 
And here's where Lamentations of the Flame Princesses Death Frost Doom might be the second adventure in this trilogy of Christmas terror. 

The second adventure might be an encounter with one of the undead of Death, Frost, Doom which is animated by a demon simliar to one seen in the Army of Darkness movies aka the ASIMANTOS. These horrors can be seen in the mouths of the undead as the animating force. And Mishler has made it worse by including several low level demon orders  that the necromancer can summon; 'ASIMANTOS (Lower Order Demon) No. Enc.: 1d3 (1d6) Alignment: Chaotic (Evil) Movement: 120’ (40’) Armor Class: 4 Hit Dice: 1 Attacks: 1 Spear Damage: 1d4 Save: F1 Morale: 8 Hoard Class: VII XP: 25 Asimantos demons, known as the “Pick-Nose” demons, are among the least of true demon kind, usually quasits or other lower order demons transformed into this form as punishment for lesser infractions. Asimantos demons stand merely one foot tall, with a spindly malformed human-like body, and carry a simple wooden spear. They gather in small groups, as misery loves company. Asimantos demons have all the standard demonic abilities and weaknesses afforded to lower order demons. They are immune to normal weapons, but can be hit by silver, iron, or magical weapons. Asimantos demons attack using their tiny spears (melee only, they are too weak to throw them), or by flinging a ball of flaming mucus picked from their nose. The mucus has a range of 10/20/30 feet, and deals 1d4 points of fire damage. Plus, a hit target must make a saving throw versus Spells or be sickened and suffer a - 2 to all attack rolls until they can clean off the mucus with a vial of holy water. Asimantos demons can use the following spelllike abilities at will: detect good, detect magic, and polymorph self (form of a frog, rat, or a slithering tracker).' 

Undead in these adventures are actually Lovecraftian demonic forces making things that much deadlier & more dangerous. 

Once you dispose of the undead horrors then you've got to banish or destroy the ASIMANTOS in all of it's grotesque glory. And of course this could all be taking place just outside of the Hyperborean capital. 

The recovery of the Demonicus Ex Mori a dire book of Hyperborean necromatic lore is going to be on the minds of the players. Could they succeed?! That's a qood question & not one easily answered. 

While  Dark Wizard Game's Shadow of the Necromancer could be played in a few sessions, the module could act as a bridge into events surrounding T1 The Village of Hommlet by Gary Gygax. The foul magicks unleashed by the necromancer dove tailing into the elemental evil forces of the cults that surround T1-4 The Temple of Elemental Evil! 

This could go into the fact that the necromancer of Shadow of the Necromancer could be working for or with the elemental evil cult providing cannon fodder in the form of foul undead horrors.  There's a lot of potential here with many of the adventure elements cross polinating for a very successful campaign set up especially for Hyperborea or your favorite OSR system. 

The Propercare & Maintence of the Incorporeal Undead With Castles & Crusades Monsters & Treasure Book For The Castles & Crusades rpg

 With the Halloween season almost upon us Castles & Crusades Monsters & Treasure jumps into one's hands to take a look at the more traditional Siege Engine rpg systems for OSR style games. The number of undead within this tome is fantastic. But sometimes the DM needs a bit of extra edge & with Halloween only eleven days away it's time to bring in a bit of back up. 

James Mishler gets B/X style rpg's & he's been proving it again & again over time. Now we realize that C&C isn't B/X but it trails down that same Gygaxian old school trail. And that's where Ghosts -- The Incorporeal Undead By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler From Mishler Games comes in really handy.

 Take your favorite incorporeal C&C  undead & add in a plethora of ghostly abilities such as the following:
List of Ghostly Special Abilities
Acid Ghost
Alien Ghost
Ancestral Ghost
Animal Ghost
Animate Corpse
Armored Ghost
Blinking Ghost
Bloody Ghost
Chained Ghost [Earthly Remains]
Chained Ghost [Location]
Child Ghost
Create Remnants
Cursed Ghost
Damned to Walk the Earth
Daywalker
Demon Ghost
Dream Killer
Drowned Ghost
Drunken Ghost
Ectoplasmic Blast
Ectoplasmic Touch
Embodied Ghost
Entropic Attack
Environmental Ghost
Fast Ghost
Fiery Ghost
Fortean Apportation
Friendly Ghost
Frightening Ghost
Frost Ghost
Ghost Lover
Ghost Magician
Ghost Object
Ghost Priest
Ghost Ship
Ghost Sovereign
Ghostly Head
Guardian Ghost
Headless Ghost
Hungry Ghost
Hypnoghost
Keening Ghost
Laser Ghost
Lifelike Ghost
Lightning Ghost
Material Susceptibility
Monster Ghost
Multiattack
Nanny Ghost
Negative Energy Blast
Nightmare Ghost
Object Animator
Pipeweed Ghost
Plague Ghost
Poltergeist
Poison Ghost
Possess the Living
Radioactive Ghost
Robotic Ghost
Shackled Ghost [Item]
Shrouded Ghost
Skull Thrower Ghost
Special Immunity
Spectral Music
Spectral Steed
Stuck in Time
Tasked Ghost
Teleport
Thunder Ghost
Trickster Ghost
Unwitting Ghost
Vengeful Ghost
Wandering Ghost
Warning Ghost [White Lady]
Wind Ghost

 
Not only will have your players guessing but they'll hate you for 'ruining' the standard C&C Monsters & Treasure book. Well not really your simply applying a different slant to the classic ghostly & incorpeal inhabitants of your ruins or dungeon. Don't believe me check out Gregory B's review highlights of Mishler's Ghosts The Incorpreal Undead; 

"GHOSTS offers a complete paradigm of incorporeal undeadness for any D&D-ish style rules set. There are completely statted ghost types, discussion of how mortals interface with the sidereal world, and a good number of new spells to enrich your game's ghostly experiences." This brings up a very important point for Ghosts, it can move the simple one dimensional ghosts into being an important & unique undead horror NPC that can add a bit of tragic or down right disturbing dungeon decor.This NPC can come in handy  to your favorite ruin or adventure location by adding a key piece of campaign lore or dungeon trival.  Another aspect that Ghosts offers are simple & highly effective rules on the sixth sense  & sensitives being able to sense the spirit world. Mishler has done some highly effective rules regarding Mediums and Séances.   These rules helps move ghosts from a monster with X amount XP to something that can be worked into an adventure  plot. We also end with  information on ghost-sensitive animals & how they interact with the spirit world..  All of this material folds into the Monsters & Treasure book allowing the DM to go that extra mile from turning a simple ghostly horror into a giant encounter of epic proporations.  Ghosts -- The Incorporeal Undead By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler From Mishler Games Is Available Right Over Here

OSR Commentary On Necromancer Class From James Mishler Games By James Mishler & Jodi Moran-Mishler For Labyrinth Lord Rpg

 "Necromancer Class – Masters of Death and Undeath includes the following new additions to Labyrinth Lord:

• Necromancer Class details;
• Necromancer Spell List, including 23 new spells and modifications for four existing spell groups;
• New necromantic magic items – bone armor, cloak of the necromancer, ghoul ring, ring of undead detection, staff of necromancy, wand of wounding, and the mighty vampire cape!
• Three new lower order demons for necromancers to summon and heroes to slay.

Designed for use with Labyrinth Lord, easily used with any Old School RPG system!"

15 page PDF (10 pages of content)"

Let's talk Necromancers & specifically James Misher's Necromaner class for the Layrinth Lord game. We're going to be talking about the necromancers use in Castles & Crusades tonight. 

 And there's a reason for this for the Halloween season! This necromancer is a complete from the ground up reoutfitting of the necromancer class. The necromancer is a fine tuned PC & NPC class as a sorcerer whose studied undeath, the negative material plane, & everything about the dark occult. And the necromancers revel in chaos & depravity because they can use, manufacture, & develop poison; " "Poison Use: Necromancers learn the manufacture of poisons as they advance in level; they learn one at each level including 1st level. They must learn the lower classes of each of a poison type first before learning a higher-class of the same type. Thus, a necromancer must learn class 1 contact before they can learn class 2 contact; class 12 inhaled before class 13 inhaled; and so on. A necromancer can manufacture a dose of poison at half the sale cost, requiring one day of time per 100 gp cost or portion thereof (minimum one day)."

 Even the magic items & treasure are completely made for the grave with things like - bone armor, cloak of the necromancer, ghoul ring, ring of undead detection, staff of necromancy, wand of wounding, and the mighty vampire cape. And the demons complete the picture. 
For the Castles & Crusades rpg the necromancer is a straight up NPC villain that can torture the Hell out of the players. And Mishler has made it worse by including several low level demons that the necromancer can summon; 'ASIMANTOS (Lower Order Demon) No. Enc.: 1d3 (1d6) Alignment: Chaotic (Evil) Movement: 120’ (40’) Armor Class: 4 Hit Dice: 1 Attacks: 1 Spear Damage: 1d4 Save: F1 Morale: 8 Hoard Class: VII XP: 25 Asimantos demons, known as the “Pick-Nose” demons, are among the least of true demon kind, usually quasits or other lower order demons transformed into this form as punishment for lesser infractions. Asimantos demons stand merely one foot tall, with a spindly malformed human-like body, and carry a simple wooden spear. They gather in small groups, as misery loves company. Asimantos demons have all the standard demonic abilities and weaknesses afforded to lower order demons. They are immune to normal weapons, but can be hit by silver, iron, or magical weapons. Asimantos demons attack using their tiny spears (melee only, they are too weak to throw them), or by flinging a ball of flaming mucus picked from their nose. The mucus has a range of 10/20/30 feet, and deals 1d4 points of fire damage. Plus, a hit target must make a saving throw versus Spells or be sickened and suffer a - 2 to all attack rolls until they can clean off the mucus with a vial of holy water. Asimantos demons can use the following spelllike abilities at will: detect good, detect magic, and polymorph self (form of a frog, rat, or a slithering tracker).' 

This necromancer class could also easily be adapted into Lamentations of the Flame Princess or Dark Albion rpg setting. The fact is this necromancer is one of the most corrupt NPC class & PC classes that one can encounter. These necromancers  are straight up villains & capable of causing havoc even in a Lamentations or Lion & Dragon rpg. Yes they have definitive D&D style connections but that makes them even a bit more unpredictable.  Straight up I'd use this class to torture the heck out of the PC's. And where could this class really shine?! For LoFP's  Death,Frost, Doom, adventure might be in order with necromancer NPC trying to figure out why he or she can't control the undead of the advenuture.