OSR Review & Commentary On Forest Adventures -- A Shadowdark Supplement By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler For The Shadowdark Rpg or Castles & Crusades rpg campaign

 "The materials presented in this booklet are optional, providing a new ancestry, new class, new spells, and new patrons for players and new monsters, treasures, and a complete mini-campaign setting for the game master to challenge player characters.

This supplement is designed to expand options for any campaign setting or sub-region of a campaign setting that is based in a forested area.

Designed for use with Shadowdark, easily adaptable to any other classic style OSR Role-Playing Game.

Forest Adventures includes:

New Oozeling Ancestry
New Hermit Class
20 new Woodland Spells
Four new Patrons for Warlocks and Witches

15 new forest-themed monsters:
Brudnakula
Doe Maiden
Flitterswarm
False Satyr
Korrigan
Lamia
Lamia Princess
Leucrotta
Nix
Nixie
Plonakupa
Satyr
Schaedelbaum
Woodwyrm
Ywazent"

"10 new forest-themed treasures:
Horn of the Woodland
Nixie Ring
Potion of Ooze
Potion of Power
Rune-Carved Menhir
Saint's Cloak
Seed of the Outer Sphere
Stormcrown
Staff of the Woodlands
Woodwyrm Necklace

A Gazetteer of the15 new forest-themed monsters:
Brudnakula
Doe Maiden
Flitterswarm
False Satyr
Korrigan
Lamia
Lamia Princess
Leucrotta
Nix
Nixie
Plonakupa
Satyr
Schaedelbaum
Woodwyrm
Ywazent"

A Gazetteer of the Witchyflow Vale for James Mishler's Hawkmoor Campaign Setting, including:
Extensive Encounter Tables, with region guidelines and history;
25 Hex-based Encounters
d100 Specific Witchyflow Vale Encounter Table
Witchyflow 2 mile-per-hex GMs Hex Map
Witchyflow 2 mile-per-hex VTT Players Hex Map

Forest Adventures -- A Shadowdark Supplement By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler is the latest offering for the Shadowdark Rpg. Now anytime I get a Shadowdark supplement from it's a red letter day. Because these supplements can easily be translated over to Troll Lord Games Castles & Crusades. Now woodland themed supplements are not as common as one thinks.
This one Forest Adventures offers a slightly off center OSR theme of forrested areas to populate with new PC options, spells, & new woodland patrons for Warlocks and such. And there's the Oozeling ancestry options that work on two levels as an NPC optional background or for PC's to add another dimension for play. 

The woodland patrons could easily be used for druids or the other spell casters in Castles and Crusades. The newest monsters within Forrest Adventures are woodland and Forrest 15 new forest-themed monsters:
Brudnakula
Doe Maiden
Flitterswarm
False Satyr
Korrigan
Lamia
Lamia Princess
Leucrotta
Nix
Nixie
Plonakupa
Satyr
Schaedelbaum
Woodwyrm
Ywazent"

These monsters are all designed around the woodlands and they work on several levels. Level one these creatures are perfectly balanced to add new OSR weirdness to your OSR adventures. There are already overlap for many of these OSR monsters within Castles & Crusades but it's easy enough to have variety or subspecies of creatures. 
The Hermit class could easily be a guide or NPC class that takes care of the adventurers from a distance guiding them through the wilderness that is inspired by old school adventures. 
Note that the spells also reflect this theme of the wilderness as antagonist towards the player's PC's as well. Something we also see in the treasures that echo nature and the wild aspect of the woodlands. The woods are dark and deep, this brings us to the Gazetteer of the Witchyflow Vale for James Mishler's Hawkmoor Campaign Setting,
The Witchyflow is an extensive wilderness adventure for the PC's to adventure in. You get encounter tables, ruins and more that can easily be added into your own old school or OSR campaigns. 
Is Forest Adventures any good?! In a word, yes it's very good at what it does and that's add more OSR goodness to your own games if they happened to be centered on the wilderness or not. The material covered here is optional but adds a complexity to your own campaign. 

Review & Commentary On Manavores -- A Shadowdark Supplement By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler For The Shadowdark rpg & adapting It to Castles & Crusades rpg

 

"Manavores
By James Mishler and Jodi Moran-Mishler"

"Manavores provides 16 new and strange monsters for use with the Shadowdark RPG and other Old School RPGs."

"All the creatures herein are manavores, which eat or absorb magical energy and convert it to other sorts of magical or non-magical effects."

"All originate in areas of high concentration of magical power, and so can readily be found in just about any dungeon or area of high native magical or extra-planar power."


"Charm Cat – these felines possess the power to charm creatures into service.
Dweomer Dog – these dogs absorb magic and provide it for their master’s use.
Enchantment Eater – these chimerical creatures consume and destroy magic.
Glamour Bug – these insects use their glamour to drain spellcasters of life.
Heka Hound – these dogs are used to hunt spellcasters and magic monsters.
Hexrat – these rats are carriers of baleful magic in the form of curses.
Hypno-Ooze – these oozes absorb magic and exude hypnotic patterns.
Incantarnate – these living spells seek out spellcasters to feast on their magic.
Mana Mite Swarm – these swarms drain magic from items and spellcasters.
Mana Moth – these giant moths eat magic and excrete it in magical dust.
Necrotoad – these giant toads swallow the living and spit out undead.
Phantasmic Presence – these strange entities are only quasi-real.
Pishogue Pig – these swine absorb curses and harmful spells for their master.
Spell Slug/Snail – these giant gastropods eat magic and expel it in pure form.
Witching Wolf – these beasts provide allies with power and protection.
Wizard Worm – these tiny annelids provide magic power at a cost"

So there have only been a few times that I've played the Shadowdark rpg. However the overlap with Troll Lords Castles & Crusades is pretty obvious in the similarities of the rpg systems. So there's a certain amount of cross compitibility within these OSR rpg systems. Manavores -- A Shadowdark Supplement By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler  is the perfect way to take the magical bite of our favorite OSR glass cannons the wizard or magic user. These monsters are not your average monsters and horrors that are hunting and eating magic. Instead these are creatures that have evolved in a highly magick charged enviroment. This is a fact brought home in the introduction; " The materials presented in this booklet are an optional, providing additional monsters as challenges to and perhaps allies of player characters. All the creatures herein are manavores, which eat or absorb magical energy and convert it to other sorts of magical or non-magical effects. All originate in areas of high concentration of magical power, and so can readily be found in just about any dungeon or area of high native magical or extra-planar power."  
Manavores is a well laid out and solid book that presents a really nice font, layout and basic graphic presentation that is easy on the eyes. 
   

  This makes   Manavores -- A Shadowdark Supplement  perfect for 

Castles & Crusades Codex Celtarum 2nd Printing

. Because of the magick rich enviroment that C&C campaigns present. And this is especially true of the Castles & Crusades Reforged books that will be coming out after  the current Kickstarter. 

The Manavores presented in the book are both wild and having been captive bred making them incredibly dangerous to PC wizards. Some of these Manavores could be used as pets or companions but keep them far away from party wizards. 
Within  Aihrde the manavores would certainly fit in nicely as there are already some monsters that would certainly fit the manavore moniker. I could also see using the manavores within Greyhawk. 
Is the manavores supplement worth getting?! In a word yes there's a good range of magick eating creatures and monsters within to leave even the most cynical wizard shaking. 

OSR Review & Commentary On Hawkmoor Geographica -- A Shadowdark Campaign Setting By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler For Castles & Crusades, Labyrinth Lord, & Shadowdark RPG

 "Hawkmoor Geographica describes the geography of the Great Enchanted Vale, a campaign setting designed for use with the Shadowdark RPG."

"It is the second installment in the Hawkmoor Campaign Setting and includes:

• Descriptions and encounter tables for 70 geographical regions of the Great Enchanted Vale, including Accursed River, Aerie Stream, Alicorn River, Alicorn Vale, Black River, Boneholt, Cliffs of Insanity, Doomfells, Dreadwood, Druasweald, Druidholt, Dwarrowbergen, Edhelwen, Enchanted River, Fireswamp, Frogmarsh, Frostfields, Gigabolt Stream, Giggleflow, Glitterstream, Goblinskull Meadow, Goblintops, Goldflow, Grayflow, Great Alfweald, Green Vales, Hawkmoor, Hellflow, Horrible Highlands, Howlingwood, Mt. Icingdoom, Indigo Plain, Ironflow River, Jundian Meadows, Madmarsh, Obsidian Peaks, Ogrish Uplands, Old Dwarf Road, Orcian Wastes, Orcrise, Pagena Plains, Plateau of Pagena, River Icingdeath, River Jorn, River Jund, River Kelume, River of Doom, River of Flowers, River of Lost Souls, River of Shadows, Scarlet Stream, Screaming Stream, Silverstream, The Sink, Skullmire, Star Ruby River, Stardust Ridge, Stonethorn Plain, Sweetwater, Talath Meril, Thunder Peaks, Toadsquat Fields, Vile Stream, Violet River, Viridian Doom, Weeping River, Windrush, Witchyflow, Wizard Vale, and Woodflow.
• D100 Random Encounter Tables, each including 100 lines of encounters with guidance, for Farmland Encounters, Fey & Sylvan Encounters, and Highway Encounters.

"This booklet provides you with everything you need to get started adventuring in the Great Enchanted Vale. Of course, at this broad and shallow level of detail, the Game Master still needs to do some work to make the setting their own. More details on the City and realm of Hawkmoor will be made available as they are revealed."

 Hawkmoor Geographica -- A Shadowdark Campaign Setting By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler is a sweet forty eight page campaign world that we saw with the with the release of  The Map of the Great Enchanted Vale is available separately, at the Pay What You Want rate. 
With the poliferation of Shadowdark titles on Drivethrurpg the Hawkmoor Geographica campaign setting belongs in classic Castles & Crusades or classic Labyrinth Lord rpg. Hawkmoor presents a world in conflict and ripe with adventure locations. And this makes it rife for use with classic Castles & Crusades. 

The Hawkmoor Geographica campaign setting has everything a party of adventurers need to begin thier quests and adventures in the wilds and urban locations of a world. There are vast tracks of wilderness, vales and garden locations and more. 
Enchanted highlands, low lands of mystery, and more. The Hawkmoor Geographica campaign setting does this within forty eight pages allowing the action to press on with little to impede it. And it continues with just enough to get things started. But not enough to trip up the DM who wants to make Hawkmoor thier own. 
And because Hawkmoor is easy to port over to C&C, it's the perfect location to start adventuring in today. 
The fonts are easy to read, the text and font are easy on the eyes. Layout is standard and well put together. 
Hawkmoor has some history behind it but not enough to trip up the DM or players. And unlike other titles this one has just enough campaign setting to make things well worth your time with adventure hooks and dungeon plots in the wings. All this within forty eight pages makes the Hawkmoor Geographica campaign setting well worth your time. 

OSR Review & Commentary On Expanded Monsters: Eldritch Eyes for the Shadowdark RPG By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler From Mishler Games

 "Expanded Monsters: Eldritch Eyes provides Shadowdark RPG game masters with a new order of monstrous creature with which to bedevil their players. The Eldritch Eyes are strange and powerful creatures with a terrifying origin. The booklet provides several ranks of Eldritch Eyes that can challenge characters and players of all levels!"

Expanded Monsters: Eldritch Eyes by  Mishler Games  showcases one of the strengths of  James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler's writing as well as the design work. That is adapting existing iconic monsters of the world's most successful fantasy role playing games into  a usable format for OSR games today. This includes some of the most iconic members of a certain armored floating sphere like monster family; 

"This booklet includes:
General Description
Eldritch Eye Eyestalk Powers
Eldritch Gas Spore
Least Eldritch Eye
Minor Eldritch Eye
Lesser Eldritch Eye
Greater Eldritch Eye
Major Eldritch Eye
Eldritch Eye Lord
Petty Eldritch Eye
Magic Item: Arcane Orb
Magic Item: Eldritch Eyestalk Wand
Equivalent Hit Die System
Minimum Experience Point Award System"

Expanded Monsters: Eldritch Eyes  goes the extra mile to present a totally usable set of eye themed horrors for your old school campaigns. The Shadowdark RPG is a solid set of old school style OSR rules. The Mishlers do an excellent job of bringing down high end eye themed horrors for your old school games! And these include treasures & magic items with the greater eye monsters to guard them. These eye horrors are perfect for porting over into your old school or OSR rpg campaign dungeons. 
The lesser eyes are some of the more devestating horrors that you can throw into a dungeon or set of ruins. 

Expanded Monsters: Eldritch Eyes has everything the DM needs to get an eye themed set of horrors into their campaigns. On a side note cults of eye themed horror cults have been a staple of my old school campaigns for years & Expanded Monsters: Eldritch Eyes is just the thing to add eye themed horrors into your games. Expanded Monsters: Eldritch Eyes at a dollar this eight page supplement is great little investiment for the DM's tool box! 

Expanded Monsters: Eldritch Eyes for the Shadowdark RPG By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler From Mishler Games Is Available Right Here 

Review & Commentary On Summoning 'Magical Beasts for Fun & Profit' By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler From Mishler Games For Your Old School Campaigns

"Have you ever wanted to go out into the wilds and capture and train Magical Beasts as companions, friends, and your helpful bodyguards/prize fighters?

Have you ever wanted to show up that snarky friend of yours who said you just didn’t have what it takes?

Have you ever wanted to be the Very Best, Like No One Ever Was?"

 So today has been a hot, blistery, and coma inducing heat wave here in the Northwestern corner of Connecticut. But last night James Mishler contacted me with a new product to review & now I've got a certain animated children's show from the 90's humming through my head. Anyhow, Summoning Magical Beasts for Fun & Profit By James Mishler,  & Jodi Moran-Mishler clocks in at sixty four pages of OSR goodness. 
This must have been a labor of love for the Mishlers because he covers everything from the PC summoner class to every aspect of magical beast ownership, training, and overlap.  Summoning Magical Beasts for Fun & Profit hits literally all of the aspects of the class & running a magical beast campaign. Here's what's behind the PC class itself: 
Starting Magical Beasts
Binding Magical Beasts
Healing Magical Beasts
Summoning Magical Beasts
Training Magical Beasts
Companion Magical Beasts
Bonus Special Abilities
Summoner Specialties
Beast Master
Beast Lord
Building a Summoner Organization

Mishler has been running a full on OSR style campaign using his  Summoning Magical Beasts for Fun & Profit & the crazy thing is that it could well work as a full on add in to your own OSR campaigns. And here's exactly which old school book I would use  Summoning Magical Beasts for Fun & Profit for and that's the AD&D first edition Fiend Folio.

The idea of a pack of trainers joining adventurers in the campaign wilds and then trying to cope with the murder rage of something like a devil dog or some of the other nasties in the Fiend Folio is great. 
 Summoning Magical Beasts for Fun & Profit gives all of the guidelines as well as the weirdness factor in spades for a full on expedition into say Greyhawk to go and collect em all. 

Sorry please forgive me but in sixty four pages  'Summoning Magical Beasts for Fun & Profit' is both frightening and awesome to think of this supplement's applications. Imagine heading into the dungeon to collect your magical beasts and things go either very wrong or very right depending upon your perspective. On the one hand there's more then enough information to integrate this supplement into your old school campaigns. And on the other hand  'Summoning Magical Beasts for Fun & Profit'. 

Sky is the limit when it comes to using  'Summoning Magical Beasts for Fun & Profit' because there are several OSR campaign settings where this supplement could easily be dragged and dropped. First of all  'Summoning Magical Beasts for Fun & Profit' could easily be dropped into a LoFP Carcosa campaign where the guidelines provided for 'magical beast or monster' creation could have entirely different blend. A more insane Lovecraftian bent to be exact.   'Summoning Magical Beasts for Fun & Profit' could also be used for a down right crazy Castles & Crusades rpg campaign. The foucs turns on itself & now the player's PC's  are running for their lives! They're  trying to deal with the consquences of screwing up in a dungeon whist running for their lives from a dragon after waking it! 

And the third option is to use  'Summoning Magical Beasts for Fun & Profit' for a Mutant Future or Gamma World style post apocalyptic game campaign & man would absolutely insane. 

This could easily work with either Mutant Future or Gamma World as the mutant animals are taken through the Magical Beast Ability Scores,  mutated through the 14 Energy Types. 
Magical Beast Experience vaule is calculated and then  Magical Beast Experience Value is worked through. And then  Magical Beast Loyalty & Morale comes into play with 
Breeding the Magical Beasts. 
And there's going to be a lot of mayhem & death with a campaign like this making it all the more fun. And deadly among the irriated ruins of  your favorite post apocalyptic landscape. 

And further given how much work the Mishler's put into  'Magical Beasts for Fun & Profit'  it's easy to see further campaign options. But is it worth the eight dollar price tag?! Well yes because there's even a 'magical beast PC class as well. And yes I know what your thinking but the Mishlers have created a whole book load of options for the class & it works! The levels, experience charts, campaign options and more are well done and easily droppable into your favorite OSR game system. Get this if your into a quirky off beat and easily playable OSR option. 

Summoning 'Magical Beasts for Fun & Profit' By James Mishler,  & Jodi Moran-Mishler From Mishler Game For Your Old School Campaigns Is Available Right Here! 

OSR Review & Commentary On The Centaur Race By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler From James Mishler Games For Your Old School Campaigns

 "This booklet contains all the information you need to create a centaur player character for Labyrinth Lord or Advanced Labyrinth Lord (and is easily adaptable to other OSR systems). Details include both a centaur race and a centaur racial class, as well as information on creating centaur bands and camps. 12 pages (6 pages of content)."

So lately over the last three weeks we've been looking into possibly going back to OSRIC as a possible alternative OSR retroclone rules set. And one of my players has expressed a more then a passing interest in using a Centaur PC. And that's when it struck me James Mishler Games sent me a copy of  the Centaur Race by James & Jodie Moran Mishler. Centaurs have  certain connotations within Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition games as Dragon magazine paints them in solid Sylvan & Fey terms. James Mishler keeps this set of expections; "Centaurs are a sylvan race of forest and meadow. They tend to be atavistic and live in primal harmony with nature, abiding with dryads, nymphs, satyrs, treants, and other woodland folk and creatures. They tend to eschew contact with non-sylvan, non-fairy races, preferring to live in woodland and meadows in the wilds. Generally, males are wandering warrior-hunters while females are gatherers and gardeners who tend to the young. Males are also known for being wild and violent, especially when confronted with anything from the outside world; they sometimes raid settlements, especially for wine, which they consume with much gusto"
The Centaur racial type or PC class or race could easily be adapted into OSRIC with little issue allowing the race to become a part of are campaigns. 

My beat up copy of OSRIC 

The Centaur Race By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler puts down the details into twelve pages. No more & no less except for the fact that we also get details on  information on creating centaur bands and camps. These bands could be perfectly aligned for creating violent & far more dangerous NPC centaur raiders or brigands. These centaurs are often raiders who give into the more chaotic & violent tendencies of their Slyvan nature. 
The Centaur Race from James Mishler Games centers its subject matter and focuses itself on only on the PC  essentials & little else. And this appeals to the player from the ground up. 

OSR Review & Commentary On The Centaur Race By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler From James Mishler Games For Your Old School Campaigns Is Available 

OSR Review & Commentary On Shortcuts to Adventure #3: Monstrous Reflections By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler From Mishler Games

 "The third Shortcuts to Adventure module is Monstrous Reflections. This one is a doozy. The party finds themselves in an area where they can all too easily get in over their heads. A simple clan of refuge goblins seeks to save their skins by offering up information on their neighbor… a crazy old and very wealthy magic-user. He has a giant crystal, they say, and he stares into it all the time. If taking out the magic-user is so easy, though, why do the goblins have such a look of terror in their eyes?"

Designed for a party of 1st to 3rd level adventurers (maybe…), this adventure can easily be adjusted to higher levels by altering the mix and number of monsters present."

Shortcuts to Adventure #3: Monstrous Reflections sticks with Mishler games usual winning  formula of eight to ten pages of no nonsese OSR  adventure. And it all starts with the goblins in this dungeon location;"This portion of a mysterious, magical labyrinth or long-lost section of ruins beneath a city is where two very different areas accidentally meet. In the SW section lairs a clan of goblins, fleeing from the destruction of their tribe. In the NE section stands an area of strange magic and terrible danger, normally isolated from the rest of the labyrinth. The goblins simply want to be left alone, to recover their strength and eventually find a new home. They are terrified of what they have found to the NE. They gladly provide information to the party to spare their lives." 

What the goblins have found within the dungeon is utterly dangerous and because Shortcuts to Adventure #3: Monstrous Reflections builds on the previous Shortcuts To Adventure series entries this one takes into account adventure elements made in other entries in the series. While Shortcuts to Adventure #3: Monstrous Reflections is supposedly for levels 1-3 this adventure features wizards, warnings, and iconic monsters that will challenge even 3rd level PC's. 
The cartography, artwork, of the Shortcuts to Adventure #3: Monstrous Reflections has improved as well. 

Needless to say that Shortcuts to Adventure #3: Monstrous Reflections is a good & solid middle of road & mid tier OSR or old school adventure. Yes, Shortcuts to Adventure #3: Monstrous Reflections would do nicely as a mid tier dungeon for Castles & Crusades. And because it features such iconic monsters it a perfect OSR to Old School dungeon location. 
And because of this Shortcuts to Adventure #3: Monstrous Reflections would be perfect to place within an a Greyhawk campaign. This fact allows for the dungeon to drag & drop Shortcuts to Adventure #3: Monstrous Reflections into your own Greyhawk Campaign especially around the ruins of Castle Greyhawk especially the outskirts. 

The fact is that Greyhawk as a campaign setting works very well for Shortcuts to Adventure #3: Monstrous Reflections. And this because of the fact that Greyhawk's turbulent history and battles attract the evil & chaos of monsters & horrors like moths to the flame. And evil attracts heroes to itself. The treasures of Greyhawk offers the lure of quick riches and quick rewards. But also offers quick death to the unwary.  

Shortcuts to Adventure #3: Monstrous Reflections keeps this formula going & even the old ways are the best in my humble opinion. A fact that Mishler Games keeps taking advantage of & one that DM's can inflict upon their players. Shortcuts to Adventure #3: Monstrous Reflections  is a good & solid offering in the Shortcuts to Adventure series. 

Shortcuts to Adventure #3: Monstrous Reflections Is Available Right Here 

Review & OSR Commentary On The Tavern from Hell By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler From James Mishler Games

"A local tavern, known as a hive of scum and villainy, has fallen under the powerful curse of an angry wizard. The locals and the heirs of the taverner are offering an exorbitant sum for adventurers to go in and perform the needful actions to lift the curse."

"It is a LOT of money. And the adventurers get to keep all the treasure they find in the tavern. And the local authorities have even suspended their usual taxes on treasure.

Too good to be true?

As a down-on-your-luck adventurer, you are probably too poor to care…

Designed for use with Labyrinth Lord, easily adaptable to any Old School RPG system"

Let's do a follow up to last night's Greyhawk Castles & Crusades post with a review of The Tavern From Hell. The Tavern from Hell is a Labyrinth Lord adventure for 4 to 6 characters of 1st to 3rd level. And we're looking at a solid first level adventure that will bring the characters up to 3rd level. There's a good number of twists & turns in the Tavern From Hell. The Tavern from Hell has some solid maps from Dyson Logos. Sixteen pages is a solid page count for this adventure. The Tavern From Hell is a good first level adventure to take the PC's into the depths of the dungeon of the adventure. 

The Tavern from Hell is a Labyrinth Lord adventure but it could easily be adapted to the Castles & Crusades rpg. And this is a perfect adventure to drop into the scummier areas of Greyhawk. 

The World of Greyhawk is a solid place to drop into The Tavern from Hell By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler. I'm trying really hard not to spoil the Tavern from Hell. Is it worth the three dollars?! Yes in my humble opinion it is. 

The Tavern from Hell By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler From James Mishler Games Is Availabe Here