OSR Commentary On Flames of Doom MX4 By David 'Zeb' Cook For Marvel Super Heroes Advanced Rpg

 "Citizens of North America!" "It is your right to live free of fear! It is your right to choose your future! Do not support the evil work of an illegal government!" "The end of the Terror is at hand. Humans and mutants alike are rising up against the criminal agents who have usurped the rightful positions and duties of our government. Now is the time to strike! Only guns can free mankind!" "The Canadian Resistance Army is your ally. Strike down the Sentinels! It can be done!" --by order of Nick Fury, commander, Canadian Resistant Army It's no longer a game."

" It's not a fight for survival. It's not even hitting back at those who have hurt you. Now, it's all-out war. You have the chance to go from hunted mutant to leader of the revolution. Are you up to the challenge? How does the future end? Here is your chance to shape the world in the image you want. This adventure presents the end of a nightmare future, the fourth in the MX series of giant robotic mutant hunters versus super-powered resistance fighters. Can you prevail over the forces of tyranny and evil? Can you face the Flames of Doom?"  This blog entry picks right up from our coverage of MX3 Reap The Whirlwind. 

Flames of Doom MX4 By David 'Zeb' Cook is the fourth module in the series and the one where things got seriously weird for our group during the early Nineties. Flames of Doom appeared in Eighty Seven and acts as a bookend for the Nightmares of Future Past series. Make no mistake events, things, and sentinels are desparate. According to the Flames of Doom Wiki entry which has an adventure plot break down; " In the adventure, Mystique has become aware of the player characters, and sends the Sentinels to kill them. If this fails, Mystique meets the characters in disguise, and sets up an ambush. If this fails, Mystique offers a cease-fire in order to safeguard civilian lives if the characters will join her cause. If the characters reject her cease-fire, she declares all-out war." 

The USA is under Sentinel control but the Resistence has a plan involving the Iron Man armor. And the PC's are in the middle of it. Bear in mind that by this time our party of adventurers had been deeply involved in this campaign. We had been running resistence operations, blowing up Sentinel factories, running mutants through the underground. Flames of Doom has the PC's literally turning the war on it's ear. The PC's are the movers and shakers here. 
And this also means that the PC's are in the crosshairs and the sentinels as well as the Resistence.Even if the Resistence wins there's going to be decades of rebuilding of the world. And this means years of playablility & we went for another two years of actual Marvel Super Heroes Rpg Advanced play. 
David 'Zeb' Cook keeps his writing tight and the world building high with lots and lots of details on the Canandian Resistence, the Sentinel control zones, and more. Attitudes & reviews  towards this module go mostly postive; "  In The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games, Rick Swan called the Marvel Super Heroes game "a smooth introduction to role-playing for fans of the comics, and as such it's an qualified success." Swan went on to highly recommend Flames of Doom and the other adventures in the Future in Flames series, noting they "feature a future Earth where super-powered mutants are hunted down and imprisoned in camps." However, Swan warned that this adventure was not for the faint-hearted but rather for "ambitious players.""  We did a Hell of a lot with the Nightmares of Future Past series of modules from preventing the release of Sentinel Prime in the past, too taking out pockets of Human Supremecy cells, and taking out desparate mutant Resistence revenge weapons. 

OSR Commentary On Reap the Whirlwind (MX3) By Caroline and Warren Spector For Marvel Super Heroes Advanced Rpg

 ""You've been hounded by jack-booted, white-shirted vigilantes. You've been hunted by killer robots."

"You've lived like an animal."
You've had enough.
Now it's time for mutants to fight back, time for the hunted to become the hunters. You've learned to survive, to thrive, by striking from the shadows. A thrust here. A blow there.
Now word has begun to circulate of a mutant with power enough to frighten the sentinels ... of equipment which can give mutants a fighting chance against their oppressors ... of a man with a vision, a vision of a mutant army capable of overwhelming any foe.
You'll strike like a whirlwind and reap what you can. Your lives will never be the same.
The thought appeals to you."

 Reap the Whirlwind (MX3) By Caroline and Warren Spector For Marvel Super Heroes Advanced Rpg amps up the themes & tone of the other modules that we've covered in this series to eleven. The PC's are at the center of the Resistence & come in as experienced operators & agents. The plot according too the MX3 Reap The Whirlwind wiki entry goes something like this;"In Reap the Whirlwind, the player characters must find and free a mutant woman whose power allows her to mask her mutant abilities as well as the abilities of mutants near her from Sentinels. The woman, Gilda Ginsel, was accidentally captured by a Sentinel and is being sent to a research facility where her power will be unmasked unless she is rescued. Once the player characters have freed Gilda, they must make take her to the relative safety of Canada via an Underground Railway, where they will meet up with Nick Fury and Wolverine." 
Make no mistake MX3 Reap The Whirlwind is a campaign module in every sense of the word. Not only are the PC's embroiled in Underground Railroad for mutants smuggling into Canada. But they find themselves  taken to the Canadian headquarters of Stark Enterprises, and have to fight off a cross-border raid by Sentinels.Then there's also the mini adventure in which the PC's have to join a mutant army down in Texas to overwhelm the local Sentinels! 
 Reap the Whirlwind (MX3) is a campaign module in which the world & campaign of Nightmares of Future's Past come vividly alive. The PC's are heavily invested in & a part of this world. They are a party to the future of this Earth in every sense of the word. The MX series of modules isn't for the faint of heart and are highly flexible. Even if the Resistence wins there's going to be decades of rebuilding of the world. 
Are the Future in Flames series modules worth the download especially MX3 Reap The Whirlwind? According to the module's wiki entry;"In The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games, Rick Swan recommended Reap the Whirlwind and the entire "Future in Flames" series as an excellent introduction to the super hero genre, but warned that these adventures were for "ambitious players."" 
We were one group of  "ambitious players." back in '91 or so. We took our PC's and played for through months of operations, assignments, sabotage, heroics and more in order too thwart the Sentinels. We lost a ton of PC's through this series of module but they were a blast. 

OSR Commentary - Marvel Super Heroes Advanced rpg & MX2 The X- Potential By Mark Acres

 "One Hundred Thousand to Attend Mutant Execution," one headline screams. "Senator Hints at Link Between Mutant, Commie Plots!" shouts another. In the Streets, white-shirted men wearing distinctive armband of the Knights of Genetic Purity march in lockstep, treading underfoot any suspected of being soft on mutants. In the public schools, kindergarten children raise their arms in clenched fist salute of the National American Social Improvement Party and chat the party slogan, "One People, One Blood, One Nation!"

"Is this but a super hero's nightmare? No. This is America; home town U.S.A., 25 to 50 years in the future. In this America, constitutional government is all but gone. Real power is held by the sentinels, a group of powerful robots programmed to seek out and capture or destroy all human mutants and all beings with any hint of super poewrs. Sharing power with the sentinels are a handful of political demagogues who keep the population whipped into a constant frenzy about the mutant menace. Any super heroes who survive in this hostile environment do so by constantly facing the full military, political, and technological might of a new totalitarian state in the making."

Marvel Super Heroes rpg Advanced holds a lot of nosolgia especially from the Nineties. We pick right up from where last left off from MX1 Days of Future Past on the blog here.  From Gates of What if we jumped to our home town right into the arms of The Knights of Genetic purity along with representives of  the National American Social Improvement Party. 
Our party hid right away only to be told that we'd have been killed by the Sentinel purges that swept through New England. As critic James Wallis noted in his review of MX2 The X- Potential;"a change from most Marvel Super Heroes adventures, the player characters are not fighting crime but fighting for their lives."  And fought we did because this was our hometown were the Sentinels had taken hold. Our own hometown is a repair depot and facility for the Sentinels. There were jobs aplenty as long as you don't mind working for the bad guys. 
The representives of  the National American Social Improvement Party run the day to day business of the Sentinels. The rest of the town had two manufacturing plants for parts, weapons, and sensors for the Sentinels. When we gated in the Resistence in our hometown had been crushed. We took thier place almost seemlessly. 
According to the MX2 wiki entry;"The X-Potential is the first of three adventures set in this bleak future. It adds more details of the world, then describes the events that will happen around a large political demonstration over several days. The players are free to intervene as they see fit. At various times, the gamemaster supplies them with front pages of "The Daily Journal"." 
What MX2 The X Potential does is take what we saw in X1 Nightmares of Future Past adventure/supplement and then adds to it by bringing the nightmare to the PC's home town or campaign city. MX2 adds in too the feel of 'the old town goes to Sentinel Hell' and then some. The face of The X-Potential is your PC's faces as the party becomes embroiled in these nightmare campaign world.What this does is give the player's agency and accessibility within the campaign. The struggle for the PC's lives leads there to being much more at stake. These nightmare campaign worlds were places that we adventured in and affected on a much more base and basic level. 
MX 2 The X- Potential shows that the PC's could and would affect the world on a far more campaign effecting level. The PC's actions have significant effects on the campaign world especially thier own home town. There's a dedication here in MX2 that allows the PC's influence to add an extra layer to the player's actions during play.
All in all MX2 The X-Potential is a classic larger then life adventure that hits the vibrarant notes for classic Marvel Super Hereoes rpg Advanced. There's someting really sastifying about busting the heads of Sentinels & destroying thier plans. We played through MX2 The X-Potential many times and it continued to have a solid play value as both adventure and supplement. 

Hyperborea rpg Commentary On I2 Tomb of the Lizard King By Mark Acres For Advanced Dungeons & Dragons First Edition

 "The southlands of Eor are being despoiled. Merchants will no longer run their caravans on the main highway past the quiet village of Waycombe. The peasants are fleeing their lands, and all are demanding protection from the powerful Count of Eor. The goodly count has sent a troop of his trusted fighters to exterminate the brigands believed responsible for these outrages, but weeks have passed, and still there is no word from this force."

 

"Now John Brunis, Count of Eor, has turned to you for aid. After taking counsel with the High Priest of Eor, he believes that a small party of cunning, bold adventurers may succeed where armed might has failed. You find yourselves faced with many mysteries!"

 

"Why has robbery suddenly erupted in the peaceful southlands? How could mere brigands be as powerful as the foes described to you by their numerous victims? Is this really mere robbery? Or is there some truth to the rumors, told only in hushed whispers, about the beginnings of a hideous plot being hatched by an ancient, vile, and evil foe of all mankind?"

One of the modules that I've been mulling on running again for the Hyperborea rpg is I2 Tomb of the Lizard King By Mark Arces an adventure for players 5-7 level. Transporting this module from Greyhawk to Hyperborea is going to present some challenges to the DM. First is the fact that it should be run in the mid beginning of Spring on Hyperborea. And secondly it should be run with either a Norse or Keltic bent. And for myself I'd go with a Keltic kingdom not too far from the capital of Hyperborea presenting a real Sword & Sorcery threat to the heart of the campaign setting. Bandits are attacking the roads outside of Swampgate and John Brunis, Count of Eor is responsible for maintaining these roads. So his head is on chopping block of the merchant guilds, traders, slavers, etc. So he's put out a call for adventuring parties. 
 There will be rival adventuring groups of NPC's until the party is brought into the presence of John Brunis, Count of Eor. And PC's should be offered lands & a minor title to go along with the high stakes of this adventure. Waycombe is a place with a lot of history & danger around it. And its really the key to running this adventure on Hyperborea. Waycombe used to be the seat of the lizardmen empire on Hyperborea. Especially the area around the villages, ruins, etc. all around the ancient lands. The key here for running this is the sleight of hand set up of the module;"Tomb of the Lizard King is a three-part adventure involving a wilderness trek, a battle against brigands, and a foray into the tomb of the Lizard King" The lizard men are forth ring down servant races of the ancient Serpent Men and so Waycombe was really a vassel area. 

This vassal area is a part of the old Serpent Men empire that now extends down into Underborea. And so the lizard king himself is actually carrying out the will of his former masters the serpentmen. The cult of the Serpent Men is ancient & old extending back into the capital of Hyperborea and all of the way out to the steppes. This area is where the ancient  serpent men had the seat of their empire and because of I2 Tomb of the Lizard King's deep Greyhawk connections I've had several star gates connecting back into the old school classic campaign.  Continuing what I said in my review of N1, The reptile cult should be a thinking man's enemy, they play for keeps & fit right into the Robert Howard/Clark Ashton Smith mold.

 

I2 Tomb of the Lizard King By Mark Acres  isn't for the faint of heart players of old school games. And it could well be the follow up to N1 Against the Reptile Cult By Doug Niles. On Hyperborea this is all a part of a grand plan by the Serpent People to restore part of their empire and hold on Hyperborea. The Hyperboreans themselves ages ago threw off the yoke of the serpentmen & their attendant races. This makes  I2 Tomb of the Lizard King By Mark Acres a follow up to these events in its own right. Is I2 Tomb of the Lizard King By Mark Acres no it has its own flaws. 

Retro - Review & Commentary On I2 Tomb of The Lizard King By Mark Acres For Your Old School Advanced Dungeons And Dragons First Edition Game Campaigns

 

Welcome back kids to another bit of patter about the days of yore and high adventure in other words I'm looking into another module for a bit of OSR sword and sorcery fun. There are modules and then there are modules that can give a play or a dungeon master fits and bouts of madness. For me this would be I2 Tomb of the Lizard King.  This module is devious, devilish, and twisted in its old school style for an Advanced Dungeons and Dragons adventure.
GRAB IT RIGHT HERE

The southlands of Eor are being despoiled. Merchants will no longer run their caravans on the main highway past the quiet village of Waycombe. The peasants are fleeing their lands, and all are demanding protection from the powerful Count of Eor. The goodly count has sent a troop of his trusted fighters to exterminate the brigands believed responsible for these outrages, but weeks have passed, and still there is no word from this force.

Now John Brunis, Count of Eor, has turned to you for aid. After taking counsel with the High Priest of Eor, he believes that a small party of cunning, bold adventurers may succeed where armed might has failed. You find yourselves faced with many mysteries!

Why has robbery suddenly erupted in the peaceful southlands? How could mere brigands be as powerful as the foes described to you by their numerous victims? Is this really mere robbery? Or is there some truth to the rumors, told only in hushed whispers, about the beginnings of a hideous plot being hatched by an ancient, vile, and evil foe of all mankind? So the PC's are employed by the Count of Eor to investigate a monstrous force that has been terrorizing caravans and peasants near the village of Waycombe. This is one of those adventures that fits very well for a larger group of PC's and is easy to use as a convention set adventure. With the levels being set at five through seventh level, this adventure could also be used with smaller groups of adventurers of higher levels and still remain very,very challenging. This is a adventure that has three main parts to it including a trek through the wilderness, a battle against high end brigands and finally a confrontation with the Lizard King in his tomb. I've seen and died numerous times as folks over the years have linked this adventure with Against The Cult of the Reptile God .

Something about this adventure has always made me think that somehow the Lizardmen in this one were somehow connected with the Lovecraft/Howard cycles of the Earth bit from the Cthulhu mythos. Somehow this became lodged in my brain as the PC's were battling their way across adventure. According to Wiki I2 was shunted into Greyhawk but it wasn't meant to be; "While Tomb of the Lizard King could originally be played in any setting, it has since been retroactively placed into the World of Greyhawk campaign setting. In an article by Gary Holian in Living Greyhawk Journal, No. 1, it was revealed that the County of Eor had been absorbed into the Kingdom of Keoland"  

Personally because of its very nature I can see this adventure being retroconned into deep parts of the fens and swamp lands of Russia for Lamentations of the Flame Princess or into the dire deeps of Dark Albion.  Its one of the better adventures to feature the Black Dragon of Monster Manual fame and a very interesting variation of the Lizard Men in the form of a vampiric offshoot. Something that hearkens back to the Conan comics from Marvel. Encounters with things and monsters from another era that intrude onto the normal scheme of mundane reality. This is a module for those players who want to be thoughtful, opportunistic and resourceful, this is a thinking man's module in the sense that players have to think about actions or death could easily follow closely on their heels.

The module is a play on words of the real lizard king of the Doors rock band even if it might have been unintentional. The material here is pure pulp driven adventure with an adventure path that follows closely on itself; "It starts out with a set-piece plot encounter (which was fairly unknown in 1982), continues with a short episodic wilderness trek, and then moves into a village. From there the adventure contains more traditional dungeon delving: into an ancient temple, a brigand's lair, and then a tomb" This doesn't take away from the fact that players have a very challenging time dealing with the driving forces of this adventure and if their not careful could end up very dead.
This is a module with very detailed NPC's with motives and backstory enough to be branched off into other campaign opportunities if the DM wants them. They can also be very dangerous antagonists even in a minor way to PC's reflecting the old school nature of this adventure. One factor here in Tomb of the Lizard King is the idea that the PC's are walking on the graves of a long lost empire some place from the campaign's past. An adventure element that a DM could fully exploit with a long term campaign in spades.



 

This seems like a standard dungeon crawl with a standard dungeon, it isn't at all. This instead is a tightly packed adventure with several challenging events that once the trigger for these events are pulled the adventure proceeds. A note about I2 is the fact that there is an element of the Lizard men  Lovecraftian taint among the adventure and several times now I've seen this element exploited by several AD&D groups I've been a part of. This makes the Tomb of the Lizard King something of an interesting mix of dungeoneering and some aspects of investigative adventuring all within the confines of a thirty two page adventure.

I2 Tomb of The Lizard King suddenly fleshes out Lizard Kings from the Fiend Folio, it gives these bastards weight and more background. Couple this with N1: "Against the Cult of the Reptile God" (1982), and you've got the makings of a sweet jump off point for a mini campaign or fully flesh out investigative horror adventure in spades. This makes Tomb of the Lizard King one of my go to adventures for a weird Lovecraftian horror fueled sword and sorcery nightmares for a Saturday night.