An Age Undreamed of With Jason Vey's Free OD&D Booklet Age of Conan For Your Old School Campaigns

"When I was a fighting-man, the kettle-drums they beat, Under the caverned pyramids great Set coils asleep; When the world was young and men were weak, and the fiends of the ight walked free; I strove with Set by fire and steel and the juice of the upas-tree; What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft and the lie? -Robert E. Howard, “The Phoenix on the Sword” "


So I've been down in the workshop trying to get caught up on repair work & some thoughts about what the OSR means to me personally. One of the first things I ran across was Jason Vey's original Dungeons & Dragons hacks he did of Conan under his nom de plume of Grey Elf. 
Now Mr.Vey went out of his way to really create a very usable & versatile booklet in under fifty seven pages. There are a number of free resources on his page which I think you should check out.
 

But let's talk The Age of Conan which delivers exactly what it promises on the tin an actual & usable original Dungeons & Dragons Conan campaign. Everything here is spared down to the wire & it captures the whole of Conan's world quite well.. It does this by using & recommending certain books that while they seem interesting are wholly useful for running a Conan style Sword & Sorcery campaign;
1. The Age of Conan (You have it in your hands!) 2. Dungeons & Dragons, Tactical Studies Rules, 1975-79 3. Chainmail, Guidon Games/Tactical Studies Rules, 1971-79 4. Supplement IV: Gods, Demi-Gods, & Heroes, Tactical Studies Rules, 1976-79

The following books and booklets are highly recommended for play 1. Supplement I: Greyhawk, Tactical Studies Rules, 1975-79 2. Supplement II: Blackmoor, Tactical Studies Rules, 1975-79 3. Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry, Tactical Studies Rules, 1976-79 4. Swords & Spells, Tactical Studies Rules, 1976-79 5. The Strategic Review, Issues 1 through 6 6. Return to the Road of Kings, Mongoose Publishing, 2007* 7. Conan Role Playing Game, TSR, inc., 1985*



I wrote all about using clerics but its really the material that's covered in the Age of Conan that set's off some of the most dangerous material that was lightly brushed over in the Gods, Demi Gods, & Heroes. But that Vey has brought to light with his great rules on magical corruption;
" Corruption The easiest way to track how many failed saves a sorcerer has, is to measure it in terms of levels of corruption. Whenever a sorcerer fails a corruption save, his level of corruption increases by one, and every five points of corruption applies a penalty to all future saves and ostensibly a slide in alignment. However, it is important to note that no matter what alignment with which a character begins play, the same number of failed saves are required to fall to the next level as would be required if she began play as good. Going from good to evil requires 15 failed saves—Five to go from good to unaligned, Five more from unaligned to balance, and Five more to go to evil. If a character begins play as unaligned, he still requires ten failed saves to go from unaligned to balance. Why? Just because a character starts off with lower or different morals from a human standpoint does not mean he is corrupted by sorcery. Characters who start off as unaligned still have corruption zero. They are just less likely to note the effects sorcery is having upon them until they rack up more corruption than a good character would. As in the first Age of Conan booklet, sorcerers begin to show physical (and metaphysical) effects of Corruption as they become more overwhelmed by the sorcery. For an excellent list of examples of Corruption effects, see Mongoose Publishing’s Conan Role playing Game."
This right here brings to light the very fact that wizards in a Sword & Sorcery game are at a strong disadvantage. They are playing & dancing with the forces of Chaos in a struggle of life & death for the very power of their own souls.



Savage Sword of Conan 141 cover artist  Bob Larkin 

 Age of Conan introduces a bard class which is the perfect PC foil for some of the horror bubbling under the surface of a Hyborian age game campaign. Jason Vey does a good solid job of getting across that while there may not be a world spanning war between Chaos & Law in Conan. There is certainly a whole other original Dungeons & Dragons black magick that can bring the pain to PC's. Age of Conan introduces who all kinds of dangerous & dire elements to throw at PC's in an age undreamed of !

(1967)

Illustration for 'Conan the Usurper' paperback by Robert E. Howard artwork by Frank Frazetta available here. 

Jason's Vey's material from Age of Conan  could be used in a wide array of original Dungeons & Dragons  campaign & adventure applications. The corruption rules,the magic items, the NPC stats, & more could all be used to enhance an existing original Dungeons & Dragons campaign. This means that the dark & dire evil of the Hyboria age could appear in a wide variety of classic or OSR campaign settings. The rules of evil are exactly the sort of horror & weirdness that players long for. The fantastic literature's settings  of Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, and Clark Ashton Smith are all done & PC's easily transported into worlds designed by you the DM & your players using Jason Vey's free OD&D booklet Age of Conan

Review and Commentary On" Taken from Dunwich" HYPERBOREA ADVENTURE #2 For The Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea Rpg On The Dark Corner Blog

Something very nasty and weird has happened in Dunwich and its up to your PC's to find out what in this review for the Astonishing Swordsmen and Scorcers of Hyperborea rpg!
Right over
HERE

Review and Commentary on The First Adventure For The 'Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea' Rpg ! The Charnel Crypt of the Sightless Serpent Advventure From North Wind Adventures For Your Old School Horror Campaigns

 Something ancient and deadly has arisen from the timeless crypts of deepest Hyperborea over on the
Dark Corner Blog. It can not be stopped, can not be reasoned with, and its coming for you next! 
Right over
HERE

Gamer Porn & The Unboxing of Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyberborea rpg On The Dark Corner Blog!

 Got home tonight and something really nice was waiting for me! We get into stripping down this bad boy and taking a look at the contents on the Dark Corner Blog!
Right over
HERE

The Free pdf Map Set From Dragon's Foot - The Dragon's Tower As Fodder For The Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea rpg

 You can download the Dragon's tower right over

HERE

Get Astonishing Swordsmen And Scorcerers right over
HERE

All right I'm jonesing for my box set of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea to arrive!

 Meanwhile I've been putting myself into the mood for this game with plenty of Old School Metal and Robert Howard Conan as well as the rest of the Lovecraft's circle's work. 

For the last week or so I've been looting and pillaging the Dragon's foot site for old school science fantasy resources. One of the items I came across was a rather brilliant map pack called the Dragon's tower. 

According to the blurb on Dragon's foot:

"A large towering edifice. Is it new or used? Beware whoever may be living inside, for you can see far from the battlements. And the main tower looms over all…"   This is a rather well put together 10 page set of maps that already has a great set of descriptions worked in. This might well be a fully functioning garrison or the lair of some serpent men sorcerers hatching dire do upon the land. This might also be the headquarters for a fully functioning cult of Set all you have to do is simply add monsters to stock. This is a pretty nasty dungeon crawl just as it stands and would make for more then a few nights of play with any old school retroclone or D&D oriented group. Very well put together set of maps and plans.

My other resource that I'm looking into is this resource from the Old 80's Marvel Conan. 

Ordered ASTONISHING SWORDSMEN & SORCERERS of HYPERBOREA

The above photo worked  on my little Lovecraftian heart. 
 Go here and take a look
HERE
For some months I've been contemplating this game. 

I'm both a Robert Howard and Lovecraft fiend so this game appears right up my alley.
So I've been saving for some months to get this one and I'm all in for the print edition of this one. 

According to the introduction on their website : 

ASTONISHING SWORDSMEN & SORCERERS of HYPERBOREA™ is sword-and-sorcery role-playing at its pinnacle. Play an Amazon fighter, Atlantean magician, Esquimaux shaman, Hyperborean warlock, Ixian necromancer, Keltic barbarian, Kimmerian cataphract, Pictish thief, Viking berserker, or one of many other possibilities.

I love box sets and this one's content's sound really nice. 

Product Format: 8 x 10 x 2.5-inch boxed set that includes a 252-page, 7 x 8.5-inch, spiral-bound Players’ Manual; 236-page, 7 x 8.5-inch, spiral-bound Referee’s Manual; a 22 x 28-inch poster map of Hyperborea, 6 character sheets, and 6 polyhedral dice.

This one sounds hefty and the play by play that I've read puts this game squarely in my sights. I love retroclones and I came out to ask if this one was compatible with the retroclones currently on the market? The answer I got back was a solid yes. 

The other thing that convinced me that this one might be a solid investiment was the contents of the player's hand book. 

Here you go. 

• Introduction (brief introduction to game)
• Dice Conventions (how to use dice)
• Character Creation (steps to creating a character)
• Attributes (strength, dexterity, constitution, intelligence, wisdom, charisma)
• Races (Common, Amazon, Atlantean, Esquimaux, Hyperborean, Ixian, Kelt, Kimmerian, Kimmeri-Kelt, Pict, Pict Half-Blood, Viking)
• Physique (height, weight, age determination, etc.)
• Classes (fighter, magician, cleric, thief)
• Subclasses (Fighter) (barbarian, berserker, cataphract, paladin, ranger, warlock)
• Subclasses (Magician) (illusionist, necromancer, pyromancer, witch)
• Subclasses (Cleric) (druid, monk, priest, shaman)
• Subclasses (Thief) (assassin, bard, legerdemainist, scout)
• Alignment (Law / Civilization vs. Chaos / Barbarism; Lawful Good, Lawful Evil, Chaotic Good, Chaotic Evil, Neutrality)
• Other Statistics (armour class, fighting ability, hit dice, hit points, movement, saving throw)
• Background (secondary skills, languages)
• Weapon Skills (favoured weapons, adding new weapon skills, weapon mastery, melee attack rate / missile rate of fire)
• Money (gold, electrum, silver, copper; exchange rates; starting gold)
• Equipment (armour, shields, melee weapons, missile weapons, general equipment, provisions, religious items, clothing, livestock, tack and harness, vehicles, services)
• Spells (starting spells, acquiring spells, spell memorization, spell casting)
• Spell Tables (seven disciplines of magic: magician, cleric, druid, illusionist, necromancer, pyromancer, witch)
• Spells A–Z (over 400 spells)
• Adventure (adventuring party, hirelings, henchmen, loyalty and morale, base of operations, adventure preparation, adventure actions and procedures, non-standard action resolution, etc.)
• Time (10-second round, 10-minute turn)
• Movement (dungeon movement, wilderness movement, transportation methods, getting lost, encumbrance, etc.)
• The Encounter (encountering beasts, monsters, and men; reaction and evasion rules)
• Combat (melee, missiles, magic, movement; attack roll, combat matrix, attack modifiers, combat steps, action resolution, morale)
• Combat Actions (charge, flaming oil, holy oil / water, magic, melee, missiles, mounted combat, movement, turn undead, unarmed combat)
• Advanced Combat (Optional) (22 advanced combat actions, critical hits)
• Saving Throw (saving throws, spell resistance, item saving throws)
• Damage (wounds, death and dying, healing, falling damage)
• Special Damage (energy drain, lycanthropy, madness, poison)
• Experience Points (gaining XP, gaining levels of experience)
• Aerial Combat (rules for aerial melee, missile, spell casting, etc., covering a variety of flight methods)
• Waterborne Expeditions (vessels, weather, wind, icebergs, whirlpools, getting lost at sea, and sea encounters; naval combat is discussed, including rules for catapults, ballistas, grappling, oar shearing, and ship repair; underwater combat)
• Castles and Strongholds (castle and stronghold construction, costs, personnel, resources, and of course: the angry villager!)
• Warfare and Siege (rules for handling mass combat using a calculator system that accounts for a variety of circumstances from troop types, to locations, to PC / NPC involvement, siege weaponry, troop movements, provisions, etc.)
• Cooperative Gaming (closing advice for all participants of the game)
  
  I heard a metric ton of advice from friends saying that the players book was only 10.00 for the pdf but call me old fashioned but I want a solid dead tree edition of a book. Seriously, there have been winter's here where the power has gone down and lap tops, cell phones, tablets, etc are all useless.
  A flashlight, some glow in the dark dice, and a cup of tea then its game on.
  While I do think that the 'official game world' looks fantastic I've got my own campaign world looking right at me.
  
  Look for a unboxing photos to follow in two weeks! So looking forward for this one and don't think I've forgotten about Crypts and Things as well here. More on that later!
  
  I'd like to have gotten the adventures
  
  

And this one but money is a wee bit tight right at the moment. So reviews are going to have to wait a bit yet.