OSR Commentary On The Mines Of Keridav By Kerry Lloyd Part of the Adventurers series

 "The Mines of Keridav is an adventure designed to be used with almost any fantasy role-playing system, including Chivalry & Sorcery, RuneQuest, and Dungeons & Dragons. The player characters attempt to travel through the valley of Tiraval to rescue the Princess from the evil wizard Keridav"

The Mines Of Keridav By Kerry Lloyd  is a module that resembles a  beast out of time from the late Sevenities and comes from Gamelords, Ltd. There are two versions of this vernerable module according to the wiki entry; "The Mines of Keridav was written by Kerry Lloyd, with a cover by Bob Charrette, and was published by Phoenix Games in 1979 as a 24-page book; a second edition was published by Gamelords in 1983 as a 28-page book including statistics for Thieves' Guild."  The Mines Of Keridav version of  that graces my collection is the 1983 version. The Mines Of Keridav is a departure from other modules that were out at the time of the module's publication because of the clever use of the wilderness in the module. There is overland exploration, wilderness encounters, and much more. And this was an innovative adventure approach that was used in 1979 within, The Mines Of Keridav. This is something that Richard A. Edwards noted within his review of The Mines Of Keridav in Space Gamer issue#33; ' Richard A. Edwards reviewed The Mines of Keridav in The Space Gamer No. 33.^[1] Edwards commented that "The Mines of Keridav is a step forward. No longer must other FRP systems adapt D&D-oriented material to theirs. The heavy emphasis on the above-ground adventure is a real bonus over the now-prolific use of underground room to room scenarios. This is a real bonus to any game master's library of adventures."'
And it's this coupled with several other factors that makes  The Mines of Keridav stand out as both module & supplement in many ways. 

This is because the adventure setting is baked into The Mines of Keridav in many of the same ways that it was in other '80's modules. The use of the setting around Keridav is key here as much as character as the vile villain, the princess to be saved, and the mines themselves. Is this good, bad or indifferent?! The answers are baked within  the adventure. 
The Mines of Keridav is a solid addition to an OSR dungeon master's tool kit. The mines themselves could easily be added into Greyhawk with little issue.Another small terrority in the expansive setting. 
For Adventurer, Conqueror, King this is a another kingdom & area to add into the PC's expanding crowns. For Castles & Crusades this is a classic module with potential. The AC has to be played with but the potential is there to use The Mines of Keridav as a jump in point for a classic campaign. Why? Because almost all of the action takes place above ground. Not what the players will be expecting at all from such a title as The Mines of Keridav. 
Now let's talk about the 1983 version of the mines shall we?! This module was created with the Thieves Guild system in mind fully. The Thieves Guild incorporates quite a few innovations for '83 which according to the Thieves Guild wiki entry includes the following; "Thieves' Guild is a fantasy system that originated as supplementary rules for thief-type characters and grew into a fairly complex system of its own.^[1] Emphasis is on outlaw characters with stealth and dexterity skills.^[1] There are 60 noncombat skills, each with four levels of mastery; there are no magic skills for characters.^[1] The "Basic Character Creation" book (32 pages) describes characters, abilities, skills, training, and equipment" 
All of this is perfect for running a full on outlaw campaign which is what my own experiences with The Mines Of Keridav bares out. We survived  The Mines Of Keridav by playing it coolly, keeping our heads, and dealing with the aftermath. 
Our escape from the mines however netted us a bounty on our heads to which a very dangerous bounty hunter came after us. This one! 

The Mines Of Keridav By Kerry Lloyd Part of the Adventurers series Is Available Here. 

Some Thoughts on Wererats In Old School Sword & Sorcery Campaigns

 So I started looking back at some of DM Steve's notes on Thieves Guild by Game Lord, LTD. Now back in June of 2020 I covered some of my experiences with Thieves Guild but then that business didn't go anywhere. And I shelved those notes.

Zipping through the Stackexchange I came across this post about to 'To what extent were Dungeons & Dragons were-rats based on The Swords of Lankhmar?'  And the post got me thinking about using were rats controlled thieves guilds as their elite leadership & as one of the controlling forces for the local beggar's guild. And there's an Arduin connection where Daniel Boggs said, 'At this point, no one seems to remember, although the connection seems very likely. However it wasn't Gygax who introduced wererats to the game or coined the term. The were-rat was first one of the Twin Cities monsters introduced by Dave Arneson and his players. Who precisely is responsible is unclear, but wererat first appears in David Megarry's prototype Dungeon! game (1973) and next in Greg Svenson's Tonisborg Dungeon (circa Jan 1974).' 

So this begs the question, 'Are wererats the perfect monster hybrid to bridge the gap in a Sword & Sorcery' game?! I believe the answer is yes & there are several reasons why:

1. Wererats are an urban monster & ideally suited to city life and flourish there. 
2. Wererats are never alone and always socialize in packs. 
3. They have inherit aspect that ties directly into giant rats which go all of the way back to original Dungeons & Dragons. 
4. Wererats are masters of the sewers & the seedier parts of cities. This ideally suits the monsters. 
5. Wererats are a dangerous part of an alien eco system that humanity simply doesn't understand. 

Flying Buffalo Catalyst system books coupled with Thieves Guild books gives legs to a possible network of wererat controlled thieves guild holdings. And as a part of an information selling network a perfect addition to a Sword & Sorcery campaign. 
According to the Forgotten Realms Wiki entry on Wererat's ecology;"Ratmen were cannibals, eating uninfected humans and subsisting on what they could scavenge or steal. Wererats were noted to rarely mate with other wererats, instead mating with uninfected humans. The progeny of a male wererat and a human woman was human, but the child would inherit many of the physical characteristics of its father in his human form. The child of a female wererat and a human male were giant rats with paws that resembled human hands known as ratlings. These ratlings grew to maturity by the age of two and had the ability to transform themselves into human children who appeared to be roughly three times their real age" 

So this speaks to the fact that wererats are being very careful to whom & where they're bestowing their curse or gift upon. 

The wererats are certainly masters of the night & given their abilities within urban environments make formidable NPC adversaries; " Wererats were weaker than normal humans but they were more intelligent. Only silver or magical weapons could harm them and they were adept at surprise attacks.^[6]

Wererats shared the animal instinctiveness of all lycanthropes and were markedly more dexterous than humans as well as a little more hardy. Any damage caused by a weapon not made of silver or coated in alchemical silver would be reduced. Wererats were often carriers of filth fever due to the environments that they lived in". 
I have no idea what 'fifth fever' is but wererats are perfectly suited to the role of thieves guild leader or as chaos priest go between for the forces of darkness. In Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea they were the last surviving true Ancients according to them. An analog surviving hold over of some of the Hyperborean's human slaves. They used foul magicks to curse themselves with the wererat curse. 

Reivew & Commentary on 'Thieves' Guild 2' By Kerry Lloyd, Richard Meyer, & Michael Watkins for Your Old School Campaigns

 "Thieves' Guild 1 challenged fantasy gamers with a new kind of role-playing aid — a book of rules and adventures designed for a particular class: the maligned and misunderstood thief. Now, in Thieves' Guild 2, the tradition is continued — with additional rules and guidelines, and new adventures."

"Roam the stone corridors in the burial vaults of the ancient city of Shale-Chuun. Match wits with the tomb designers of old to detect and disarm diabolically devious devices of doom (say that three times fast!). Leave with treasure worth a kingdom, or maybe you won't leave at all...
And ten highwaymen encounters, plus expanded rules for handling combat, magic, and hireling procurement, and much, much more...""

Wayback in 1980 Gameslords was churning out some really excellent products one of these was the Thieves Guild rpg system. This system was made to highlight the dark underworld of Sword & Sorcery Appendix N of classic Pulp & dark fantasy paperbacks. Thieves Guild charted out many neifarious & criminal acts that PC's could become involved in. And the system was very well done. 

I had the opportunity to grab a whole bunch of the 'Thieves World' titles & jumped at the chance. Why?! These are very old & seem to be relics of another age. Because 'Thieves' Guild 2' By Kerry Lloyd & Richard Meyer & Michael Watkins actually still has merits today in 2021. These rules are actually geared towards low level magic & high adventure encounters & scenarios. 'Thieves' Guild 2' has additional rules, encounters, etc. all laid out from the dawn of the hobby. Because the OSR uses older rules sets & retrclones as its basis. 'Thieves' Guild 2'remains revelant! 

One can easily adjust, convert, & use the whole cloth underlying ideas from the 'Thieves' Guild 2'  supplement into one of the many retroclone systems. 

These adventure elements are from 1980 but they are not only usable but solid for those who want to run Sword & Sorcery adventures with quite a bit of criminal underbelly elements.  The burial vaults of the ancient city of Shale-Chuun is an excellent low magic high adventure location. Tricks, traps, etc. are all in evidence here in 'Thieves' Guild 2'. 
'Thieves' Guild 2' takes  the 'Thieves World'  rpg system & expands upon it. For modern Sword & Sorcery  retroclones such as Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. The 'Thieves' Guild 2' material is a welcomed expansion! That's right there's no reason not to run the adventures, encounters, etc. found in 'Thieves' Guild 2' for your own home groups. 

The Upside Down City - Blood Soaked Travels With Game Lords LTD's Thieves Guild & The Catalyst series By Flying Buffalo - More OSR Campaign Commentary

"A complete rules system for fantasy thieves!
This new, completely revised second edition of the Thieves' Guild™ rules now provides more ways than ever for players to experience the danger-filled life of a medieval brigand, burglar, or cutpurse. Thieves' Guild™ gives thief characters opportunities to use a wide range of thieving skills and abilities to plan and commit the perfect crime. In addition to basic game mechanics, system rules cover every aspect of thieving activity, including:
• Basic Thieving Abilities • Thievish Combat Tactics • Disguises and Diversions • Tailing and Surveillance • Poisons and Venoms • Fencing Stolen Goods • Medieval Justice • Ransoming Prisoners • Underworld Organizations • And Much More!"



Its been a few years since I busted out my box set of Thieves Guild the Fantasy system from 

1984  by  Richard Meyer & Kerry Lloyd & Michael Watkins aka  GL 3901.  This was a glorious box set from a very different era. A glorious era in fantasy table top gaming called Nineteen Eighty Four & Game Lords were a very cool company. You can read all about their history & products right over at the Black Gate Blog here 



Now flash forward to the Nineties when lo & behold I was able to pick up the whole range of Game Lords product on the cheap. Then I began to run a first edition AD&D style game with sprinkles of Flying Buffalo Catalyst system books you remember those right?! Butcher,Baker, Candlestick maker well the line had one particularly nasty book called Deadly Nightside. As the Amazon reviewer called 'the dude' puts it; "Admittedly, the art is a bit stiff, but the stories make up for it. There are settings like "The Bloodmoon School" for training in the martial arts - replete with a thematic system of advancement and a mysterious sensei with a hidden purpose. There are organizations like the "Beggar's Guild" that establishes an information network and suggests that your best friend might secretly be one of the "changelings" exchanged for deformed children at birth. There's an assassin's "guild" called "The Steel Man" that is over the top on atmosphere. But best of all is the metaplot - there's a connection between the "Steel Man", the "Shadow Riders" (caravan raiders on the route into town), and a slave trader. Played right, it's an epic campaign... And I haven't even mentioned the time traveler!"
Now back in the 90's I used the Thieves Guild box set to give legs at the table top level among my players with the Flying Buffalo Catalyst rpg seamless  system. 


Now I used Deadly Nightside  quite lines up nicely with its sister book Citybook V: Sideshow which both of these line up almost but not quite with 'The Thieves Guild' books. Christ, I got a ton of use out of the Catalyst series of books including using them for a Vampire Dark Ages game in the early to late 00's.  But now seems like the perfect time to bust out Thieves Guild & the Catalyst series.  The inhuman terrorist cell, the strange almost Night Breed businesses, and more all cry out to be used including Thieves Guild. I have a cunning plan! 


What I'm going to do is add in these books to my Castles & Crusades rpg/Victorious rpg campaign now that the player's PC's have been brought to New York City in 1870;

"Imagine if you will that usual hum drum city of 1870's New York isn't, imagine just for a moment that half a step away & around the corner is another city a world away. A city if you will full of danger,excitement, fairies,dragons, & thieves. Now imagine that at certain hours, days, & times of the year that people can cross between these worlds only a foot fall away. "  Imagine if you will desperate thieves & adventurers stalking the night of 1870's New York City for any booty they can find. A shot rings out & the player's PC's find themselves in a whole cloth different world! The Upside Down city a far from conventional York City of the Castles & Crusades or Dungeons & Dragons variety with overtones of Lord Dunsany thrown into the mix. Elves, gods, & worse exist right around the corner in this fictionalized heavy dark fantasy New York..


As for Games Lord LTD. they still exist after a fashion right over here.  This campaign aspect is still brewing in my head at this point but this is what I've come up with tonight.
Apparently Tunnels & Trolls rpg has a humble bundle & Eric Tenkar is covering that here.