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. 

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. 

Review & Commentary The Expanded 20-Level Core Four Classes By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler For Labyrinth Lord and Advanced Labyrinth Lord

"The Expanded 20-Level Core Four Classes provides a new, expanded version of each of the four core Labyrinth Lord classes, for use with Labyrinth Lord and Advanced Labyrinth Lord. In the vein of the original concept of the “companion rules” to the original BX series, this gives players something to look forward to at higher levels – indeed, at every level!

In addition to the core class abilities of Spellcasting and Turning Undead (which now goes all the way to 20!), the Cleric gains Ritual Magic, Holy Smite, Divine Intercession, Guardian Angel, Sphere Spells, and the awesome power of Deus Ex Machina!

Fighters regain their long-lost Battlefield Dominance, Multiple Attacks, and Weapon Specialization, plus the ability to Seize Initiative and perform Heroic and Super-Heroic Surges!

Magic-users are no longer fire-and-forget one-shot wonders, gaining Magic Bolt, Magic Duel, Read Magic, Sense Magic, Counterspell, Invoke Entity, Enchanted Wand, Evoke Spell, the mighty Retributive Strike, powerful Personal Enchantments, and the ultimate Archmage ability!

Finally, the Thief gains the respect and versatility they always deserved, with an entirely new and expanded thief ability system! The thief can choose which of the core seven abilities advance each level, and how quickly they advance – plus, each ability is useful at 1st level, while only a 20th-level thief can attain true grand mastery at all thieving skills! Additionally, thieves gain the following abilities – Backstab, Artful Dodger, Luck Not Skill, Skill Specialization, Read Languages, Special Skills, and Read Scrolls. Special Skills choices include Acrobatics, Art of Distraction, Art of the Ordinary, Beggar, Buffoonery, Cantrips, Climb Overhangs & Ceilings, Dual-Wielding, Find and Remove Magical Traps, Gamble, Grifting, Hide in Plain Sight, Locksmith, Mimic Voices, Pick Arcane Locks, Read Lips, Stunning Blow, Swift and Silent, Tailing, Trapsmith, Troubadour, and Ventriloquism.

If you like these expanded classes, you will love the Expanded 20-level Demi-Human Racial Classes, also available!"

I started looking at James Mishler Games's Expanded 20-Level Core Four Classes that found its way into my email. I started thinking about Adventurer,Conqueror,King's rpg while reading it over. For Labyrinth Lord rpg fans this book takes PC's into some solid levels & directions by providing viable options. Because this rules supplement hits the solid four PC classes. 

There are several reasons for this. There's a huge expansion of Labyrinth Lord's play character resources within Expanded 20-Level Core Four Classes.  This means that the PC's have far more on the table top level but this isn't fifth edition style manure. Expanded 20-Level Core Four Classes takes the options from older D20 resources but given the Mishler family spin by taking PC levels up to level twenty. There in lays the ground work for racial/level abilities all of the while providing experience points. This provides the players & dungeon master with an alternative levels & PC options for table levels.For Adventurer,Conqueror,King's rpg this could add a very mythological option for adventures. Expanded 20-Level Core Four Classes takes the PC's as heroes & very dangerous options for thieves. The fact is that thief gets all of the gravitas that they actually deserve & can actually be effective.  In point of fact Expanded 20-Level Core Four Classes is perfect as an option for Labyrinth Lord as an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition.
Take for example part of the thieves PC package;"  Special Skill: Art of Distraction (Dexterity or Charisma) – This special skill enables the thief to distract a victim, usually providing another thief assistance on their attempt to pick pockets, or distracting a guard while another thief sneaks into a building, etc. Success with the skill indicates that the target is distracted or has otherwise been misdirected (or whatever ruse the thief desires). If the thief successfully distracts a victim to assist another thief to pick pockets, sneak past a guard, or otherwise, that thief gains a +3 bonus on their attempt to their skill check. Increase this bonus by 1 for every additional thief who successfully assists, up to a total bonus of +6. Note that usually if the thief is successful with this skill, the target gets no saving throw against the distraction, barring magical intervention or change of circumstances. This skill starts at a score of 10 at the level at which it is chosen and improves by 1 point for every 2 levels advanced. Thus, if chosen at 6th level, the skill starts at 10, then improves to 9 at 8th, 8 and 10th, and so on, to a best score of 3 at 20th level. NOTE: Thieves without this skill can certainly attempt to distract a mark, but do not have the advantage of the infallibility of the success of this skill."
This makes the whole affair a solid addition that can adds to the PC's tool box & as a great addition for the DM who relies on these books for creating memorable NPC's.

Expanded 20-Level Core Four Classes would be perfect to run Frank Mentzer's I11 The Needle 

Do I think James Mishler Games's Expanded 20-Level Core Four Classes is worth the money & is it good? Well I think that the book needs a bit more expansion in the material & is perfect for what it does but the PC options needed a bit more expansion & explanation for  Labyrinth Lord & Advanced Labyrinth Lord. So a four outta five in my option for Expanded 20-Level Core Four Classes