OSR Review & Commentary On Oh My Lost Darklords By Kabuki Kaiser For Old School Essentials & B/X D&D style OSR Game Systems

 "This is the 1980s, not Hellfire Club, but close enough. C. plays Sadric, his avenger modelled after Elric, the one who wields Blackrazor since we went under a certain white-crested mountain and Y. plays his unstoppable Duellist. I am going with Kurtys Flameblade, my Fighter/Assassin, long before That Time He Was Reincarnated as an Ogre Mage.

A Collection of Thirteen Infamous Classes

for Amoral, Chaotic, and Evil Player Characters"

What is Oh My Lost Darklords? According to the deep introduction into the book; "This manual is a collection of longgone infamous character classes meant for chaotic campaigns where the player characters feature as anti-heroes and even villains rather than guardians. Out of the thirteen classes presented here, a grand total of five allow for neutral characters, and none of them for Lawful ones bar rare exceptions allowed at the referee’s discretion"  And it plugs into the classic versions of B/X versions of the world's most popular fantasy game.  Oh My Lost Darklords  highlights the evil optional PC's. 'Oh My Lost Darklords' plugs right into the original OSE rpg & OSE Advanced  rpg system. 
We get new player characters such as the Avenger, Cultist,Bandit,Bounty Hunter, Dark Mage, Death Knight, Demonist, Witch, Houri, Jester, Red Wizard,  Duelist, & Dark Creeper!  And   Oh My Lost Darklords  is well laid out, solid artwork throughout and brings the hotness for B/X. 

B/X gets the perfect upgrade in the form of  'Oh My Lost Darklords' & hits on several levels. We get variations on the familar PC's and hits the optional villain NPC classes button.  Veteran readers of old Dragon magazine issues will recognize these PC classes but they've been updated for OSE essentially. 
These classes also give the players options for a wide range of PC options at the table top levels.   Oh My Lost Darklords works as a fantastic supplement for OSE. It breaks down these classes & is a solid ulitity piece for B/X! 

Review & OSR Campaign Commentary On Through Ultan's Door Issue 1 By Ben Laurence

"Go through Ultan's door in this inaugural issue into the Ruins of the Inquisitor's Theater, a 30 room dungeon replete with oneiric puddings, delicate shadow puppets, giggling white swine, and much more. This 36 page zine contains everything you need to launch a D&D campaign in the Zyan, flying city of the dreamlands. Brought to life with a gorgeous map by Gus L and the stunning art of Huargo. It may very well have come from beyond the veil of sleep!"


There are very few zines or adventures that get me really excited or interested these days. Call me jaded & more then a bit OSR crispy. The fact is that perhaps maybe 2011, I'd wet myself over the latest module or OSR doodad. These days not so much but I was intrigued over  Ben Laurence's  Through Ultan's Door Issue 1.So much so that I plunked down the dough for a physical copy of the zine. Why? Because I'm looking for a bit of twisted & dark Little Nemo In Slumberland campaign action. This isn't it it kids because this one is much darker & twisted along the edges of Lamentations of the Flame Princess without the canned history. Ben's been a part of the OSR scene for years & I loosely follow his blog from time to time going all of the way back to 2015 or so. I know the name going back to Gavin Norman's excellent little free OSR adventure tie in From the Vats.

If you haven't picked that bit of OSR adventure/campaign starter I strongly suggest that you do. Through Ultan's Door Issue 1 is a very different adventure beast entirely. This is a lethal little creation that runs into the warped reaches of the authors mind pitting PC's against the  a 30 room dungeon replete with oneiric puddings, delicate shadow puppets, giggling white swine, and much more. This isn't the Dreamlands of HP Lovecraft although it could be; instead this is an acid trip combination of William Hope Hodgson's influence mixed with a hash fueled round of Lord Dunsany trapped in the madness of Edgar Allan Poe's dream cycle material. The artwork is top notch & the adventure material is darker then the usual OSR cutesy crap I've been seeing lately. There's a lot of hidden & double laden literature references scattered throughout the adventure. I asked for my pdf copy because I did back reading on the author's blog especially after reading City State of The World Emperor: Lessons from a Failed Experiment blog entry. 

Everything is self contained within the zine for acting as a stepping stone for a complete dreamland campaign. The Zyan, flying city of the dreamlands lives up to its name allowing PC's to get right into the deep end of the weirdness. The layout is by Matt Hildebrand & it can be easily read. The dungeon is weird as Hell & very cleverly lethal, the cartography is well done. The text is easy on the eyes. The artwork here is solidly done& there are some terrible things awaiting the PC's in the dungeon. Much of the dream world setting reminds me of the twisted Orientalism/Alienism of Professor Barker's Empire of the Petal Throne rpg.  I could definitely see Through Ultan's Door Issue 1 working whole cloth with Yoon-Suin, the Purple Land by David McGrogan.

Or even better yet for an OSR backbone for Through Ultan's Door Issue 1 I can really see dusting off P. Crespy's  Flower Liches of the Dragonboat Festival. 
All of the above titles have the weird & twisted alien OSR quality about them. There's a sense of the 'other reality' terror inducing dreamworld about these titles that fit. Perhaps Mad Monks of Kwantoom could be used as a campaign junction for the dreamworlds of  Through Ultan's Door Issue 1
This zine has been a labor of love for the author & with it being solidly OSR I can see this setting working with many old school & OSR systems.
Yes I could see using the alien dreamlands of Through Ultan's Door Issue 1 with Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea second edition but some adjustments might have to be made to the Hyperborea setting. That's a blog entry for another time.

For nine dollars you get a completely dangerous & original OSR dungeon with a complete setting city in the form of the Zyan the flying city of the dreamlands. The issue is printed on deluxe paper, and comes with a detachable cover that has a map printed on the interior by Gus L., and a separate card for encounters. I loved the ideas on the Mazirian's Garden blog that I ordered the zine myself. I give it a five out of five & I'm looking forward to the second issue which the author is working on currently.

OSR Review & Commentary On Flower Liches of the Dragonboat Festival From Kabuki Kaiser For Your Old School Campaigns

"When omens portend ill fortune for the city, the priests call upon a Dragonboat Festival: a racing competition gathering swift boatmen from all over the continent. Their ancient chants call forth the powers of the undying, waking the Flower Liches from their distant graves. For a week, the liches roam the city freely, and oversee the race, taking the losing crews as tributes and sacrifices. Once the Dragonboat Festival is finished and the liches disappear, the city's prosperity is magically replenished, and all the monetary wealth the citizenry had before the festival — player characters included — is doubled."
I was recently sent a copy of  "Flower Liches of the Dragonboat Festival" From  Kabuki Kaiser   is both adventure & setting  resource book that can be dropped into your home campaign. The adventure channels as much of the Wuxia ghost vibe as it does the Asian pulp Dungeons & Dragons vibe as the author can pack into one of his efforts. This is an adventure that dips liberally from its sources & the warped imaginings of its author. Much like his Mad Monks of Kwantoom   OSR campaign & setting book the mythological/pulp Asian world of  P. Crespy  Flower Liches presents a world & adventure that is both familiar & utterly new. In point of fact both of these products would work extremely well together.



The artwork, lay out, & presentation is a bit different then other efforts of the author/designer, in this adventure everything dovetails into a seamless product that presents a world of the weird & very dangerous centeral to its setting. There are things to do, experience, and dangers ever present within '/The Flower Liches of The Dragon Boat Festival'. This adventure centers around the party circling and creating weirdness for the party to get themselves into all kinds of trouble.
If presentation is everything within an adventure then this one has some stunning writing, plots, and OSR artwork. The combination reminds me of a Saturday afternoon Kung Fu theater flick. Slick on its presentation and long on its adventure hooks! Everything is double downed on in this adventure from the Kung Fu action to the supernatural horror.

Here's an adventure where the dangers to PC's pale in comparison to the weirdness infecting the adventure throughout. PC's are going to have their hands full and clocking in at ninety five pages there's plenty of dungeon and supernatural action to be had. This is a Labyrinth Lord adventure but it has the look & feel of a Lamentations of the Flame Princess line effort but without the lingering adult nonsense to get in the way of play.  'Flower Liches of the Dragon Boats' is clearly easily adaptable to any OSR game.


There is a sense of whimsy but deadliness about this adventure & it stands to reason that it would given the writer's passions for Asian culture & pop culture Kung Fu. The fact is that dungeon master has another full stop world book & source book in this adventure for a full South Asian style setting. This works as a set up for a full campaign starting city point in such a campaign. From hirelings to starting equipment 'Flower Liches of the Dragon Boats' is clearly designed for such a purpose & very well designed to do this at that!  'Flower Liches of the Dragon Boats' works with both Labryth Lord & The Advanced Companion in equal
measure.



The real strength of 'Flower Liches of the Dragon Boats' lays in the fact that it serves as a fantastic source book for  'Mad Monks of Kwantoom'. In this regard its a great source book & add on for this or really any pulp Asian flavored style campaign setting. But it really fits into the world of 'Mad Monks'. Because of its mini game included the adventure has some solid replay abilities. The hirelings, background, encounters, etc. are all inductive of a popculture far East and it works.



I can also see 'Flower Liches of the Dragon Boats' being used for a post apocalyptic world such as Mutant Future in which cultures are looking to the 'Ancients' for their divine inspiration. The liches take full advantage of the gullible human fools & the result is the world spot lighted in this adventure/source book. 
Another possibility that  'Flower Liches of the Dragon Boats' could be used for a human centric land in 'Apes Victorious' where these humans have used the power of the liches to resist the onslaught of the advancing ape army. So adjustments will have to be made to use
'Flower Liches of the Dragon Boats'  with Apes Victorious. Another possibility for campaign use is to drop the setting of 'Flower Liches of the Dragon Boats'  into 'Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea second edition' whole sale again there is a bit of adjustment as a possible South Asia analog. For Sword & Sorcery play this is an excellent book & tool kit to add such a mix.
In closing is this isn't a perfect to kit to add to the mix of campaign play for old school style campaign. It clocks in at ninety five pages & to tell the truth I wish there was a bit more fluff connective tissue with this book. There needs to be more here and it I want to know more about 'this' world and not simply use this book as another drag & drop book for campaign play. So in closing a solid four out of five for 'Flower Liches of the Dragon Boats'. 

Flower Liches of the Dragonboat Festival Is Available Right Here

Review & Commentary On The Seven at One Blow Rpg System From Kabuki Kaiser For Your Old School Campaigns

There are games with a degree of  old school comedy and a sort of dark fairy tale vibe to them; then there is the Seven At One Blow rpg. This game thrives on a dark comedic mess for an OSR retroclone system meaning that the system runs like a well oiled machine but it takes PC in very strange directions. This game takes every trope from D&D & turns it on its ear. This is a dark and very funny game on many levels. You play the ordinary guy whose thrust into a terrible and dark adventure, will you survive? This doesn't mean the game isn't fun by any means. This is a 'Pay What You Want' OSR retroclone gaming system.

GRAB IT RIGHT HERE

This game is perfect to play a pick up game as a beer and pretzels game on the weekend but its one that takes full advantage of those 80's comedies and 90's survival  horror movies that plugs into the dark fairy tale aesthetic;
"A survival horror comedy plug and play hack compatible with everything OSR, that you can play right off the bat.

SEVEN AT ONE BLOW is an OSR RPG hack in which the characters are always ordinary people cast into extraordinary situations. Because of this, the world is insanely cruel, and even the lowest monsters are creatures which seem to come straight from horror movies, possibly teenager action-horror movies. That would probably be the end of it if the characters weren't so lucky. They have this luck on their side, a perpetual beginner's luck that will help them escape the most desperate straits and let the situations explode into nonsensical hit and miss heroism."



Try and imagine being in one of those classic fairy tale cartoons or movies. Now try to imagine that you as an ordinary person are trying to survive against the darkness of a D&D adventure with a twist. This is a dark comedy game with its heart and soul dedicated to having your PC's having a good time. They have several systems in the game such as luck, and other minor abilities that can aid you in surviving. The systems here are perfect for the sort of mucking about with things that are best left to adventurers and the like. Since they're not available well you and your lot will have to do. Everything is complete here from PC generation to fully realized to a setting sand box adventure straight out of the gate. This is a perfect game to get kids into an adventure campaign  with some cartoon hijinks deep into world of high weirdness. This game excels at pre code cartoon weirdness and its fully compatible with other OSR games. Which means you could effectively run Tomb of Horrors with this game system with a little conversion.


Here's what I love about Seven at One Blow, everything is right between the covers from PC set up to fully scored characters out the gate and it includes a great little sandbox adventure setting to boot. Also its compatible with  Castle Gargantua for a whole campaign settings worth of adventures. What I really love about this game is that there wasn't a Kickstarter, endless internet commercials for it, or a ton of repeat OSR marketing. It has been simply published and its gloriously dark, fun, and works on so many levels.


Want to play a game where your PC's are classic cartoon characters but cast in the roles of butcher, baker, and candle stick maker trying to survive against a witch, hag, vampire,etc. This is the game to use. The systems are well laid out, the play very intuitive, and the game design is sharp. Seven At One Blow comes just in time for the grim days of 2016 as a breath of funny and terrifying fresh air. Grab this one, I highly recommend it.

Review and Commentary on The Castle Gargantua Adventure From Kabuki Kaiser For Your Old School Campaigns

There are mega dungeons, mega adventure locations, then there's Castle Gargantua a gigantic sprawling location with incredible campaign exploration potential straight out of the twisted fairy tales of the early days! This is one of those magical locations that sets up everything straight out of the the gate, I mean everything there are remours tables for each of the playable races about the castle, rooms, weird events, etc.. But what is the set up for the adventure location: "Whoever built Castle Gargantua is long gone. It could have been a
mad wizard. He would have been called Gargantua and lived in a tower looming over the castle. Or it could have been a giant so tall that when his shadow was cast, people thought it was the night falling; a giant so primeval that he could barely be distinguished from nature itself, his feet like the trunks of sequoia trees—a primeval ur-giant from a time bygone. Since your players will roll for rumors known by their  characters, they will come with their own version. Let them, just  remember that whatever created this place, it's gone.Time has passed since its creator vanished and the castle has been plundered several times. There's nothing much left of its original riches and most of its legendary monsters have been dispatched by  past heroes. An awful lot of adventurers and bandits still roam the castle halls, often butchering each other and shaping opposed factions where they’ve taken over. In many areas, these ruffians are the real threat. In other places, lingering Chaos magic has turned harmless critters, animals, and normally trivial monsters into gruesome gigantic creatures in proportion with the castle."
This place is sprawling, massive, and incredibly complex as large as the Empire State building and the design here is tight. Basically this is a mega dungeon is the love child if David Lynch and The Brothers Grim had sex and Tim Burton was the nurse maid. Then raised the same adventure location and its made to be cross compatible with almost all OSR system, well not quite. It's made to be cross compatible with Labyrinth Lord, Labyrinth Lord Advanced, and Lamentations of the Flame Princess. And its made to be different each and every time because the burden to roll up the contents of the place are on sort of on the DM but this is in keeping with the DYI D&D aesthetic of the OSR authors. Lay out here is top notch, maps and cartography are by Dyson Logos, lots and lots of art throughout the adventure.
Grab It Right Over HERE


Here's the thing this adventure goes with the early D&D and AD&D trope that no adventure location is going to be abandoned for long. I'm all for this bit of dungeon adventure ecology and this adventure takes that to its extremes. There are dozens of halls, rooms, treasures,etc. that have been passed around and over here. There are themes to room and complex weirdness waiting to twist PC's into knots and whatnot. There's lots that can happen to them. And the maps are concise enough to make it happen. Did I mention the gorgeous and slightly disturbing artwork?


This is a campaign waiting to happen, seriously this place could take months and months of exploration and discovery. There's a ton going on within this place and once again this is a book with its adventure location in play. Things are happening here and your adventurers are going to blunder head first right straight into the whole of it all.

The entire adventure location gives a sense  of helplessness and being caught in a trap that has been sprung. Castle Gargantua is the type of place that exists in some ancient fairy tale as a rumor or legend but the reality is that much more dangerous and nasty. This is one of those adventure locations that's going to change a party seriously they will not be the same after a trip to Castle Gargantua.
Page after page of incredible description and weird rooms, this isn't a fun house dungeon its a weirdness sink with your PC's names on it. Its all here and waiting for the PC's. There is a story to this place and throughout the 114 pages of the place you can see bits and pieces of the castle's tale here and there just as all of the best tales of dungeons and mayhem. This isn't a place for the faint of heart.


 

This is a dungeon or adventure location as wilderness setting, something out of the sprawling tales of giants and they're left behind one incredible location! And this is one place that can take on all comers, your levels and skills don't count for anything when a giant sized curtain is falling on your PC's head! You get dust storms rolling across floors and terrifying wilderness encounters with all kinds of horrid monsters from myth and legend against a wilderness background of a giant's former playground. One really nice part to this one hundred and fourteen page book is the price point the pdf is five dollars!

Is there anything that I don't actually like in this adventure? Not really it clicks all of the right buttons for a grand style dungeon romp through one of the most complex dungeons I've seen. The tone, horrid fairy tale feel gone wrong and more is perfect for a dark game of Lamentations of the Flame Princess or a huge sprawling game of Labyrinth Lord. Its all there waiting for your PC's and they're not going to know what hit them. Grab this one! Five out of five stars! Highly recommended!



Because of the nature of the various tables and random encounters etc, this adventure is different each and every time your adventurers enter the location folks!

Review of Mad Monks of Kwantoom From Kabuki Kaiser

This is a book that can be thought of in two ways as one a complete tool kit to run an incredible kick ass oriental adventure campaign & it contains everything your going to need run this for yourself as a solo player.
 And it does contain Ninjas as well. The book is jam packed with everything you need to generate a ton of lost pagodas, a ton of oriental monsters, new PC classes and right now its five dollars.
 Is this title worth it? Yes, and then some. Mad Monks is well written and perfect for the retroclone and traditional OD&D style gamer. The material is really a labor of love on the author's part and I'm happy to have taken a look at this one. 

Grab It Right
HERE

So what's in it? Well according to the Drivethru Blurb:
In a nutshell, Mad Monks of Kwantoom features a wondrous Asian setting with new character races and classes, crazy unique creatures inspired by matchbox pictures coming straight from ancient China, alternative petty magic items, tables for random dungeon generation and simple house rules for all of this to run smoothly. In addition, you'll find campaign rules to help you flesh your characters out and embed them in the setting, which they can change and mold according to their whims as they proceed to glory, prosperity and — who knows? — immortality.

This material will work easily as well for both Advanced and Basic D&D quite easily. The author manages to capture the look and feel of  a Far Eastern setting with an equal mix of panash and style in equal measure.
This is an expansive campaign tool box with lots and lots of bells and whistles to play with. The fact that's its a labor of love is really something that shines through and a lot of effort went into the setting and background. And all of this is at your finger tips in spades.
The appendixes, background, monsters, dungeon elements add to this one with a twisted sense of  a nod and wink to the DM to put this material to good use. The author knows the ins and outs of  dungeon design and the workings of the Old School asthetic and how to use them to best effect. There isn't a sense of , 'You must use this material this way'. Instead we are given an expansive palatte of old school goodness to design everything you need for a variety of old school far Eastern adventures and an entire campaign setting which you can fill in and DYI to your heart's content. A very well done and fantastic product. This book needs far more attention and is really my go to source for all things Oriental in D&D lately. Do yourselves a favor & grab this one!