OSR Commentary On Adapting Dark Wizard Games's Maxium Mayhem Dungeons#3 Villians of the Undercity By Mark Taomino Into A Sword & Sorcery Campaign

 "Danger lurks at every corner of the small coastal city of Los Farport. The locals insist people are being abducted in the night and taken into into the bowels of the rumored “Undercity Dungeon” below. A lone survivor managed to escape and give some information before dying in your arms: “Secret door… Tavern of the Wiley Wench… Ugh!”

" You and your brave team of adventurers have decided to investigate these rumors, plunder the dungeon and destroy the dreaded “Villains of the Undercity!”…right after you loot his still warm body, of course."
This blog post is going to pick right back up from here on the blog. 

Dark Wizard Games's Maxium Mayhem Dungeons#3 Villians of the Undercity By Mark Taomino doesn't seem like the kinda of module that could have life as a Sword & Sorcery campaign. While this might on the surface be true in actuality & practice it's far from the truth. Los Farport has been a silver of 'Old Earth that has survived the Great Disaster & been flung deep into space just off the South of Hyperborea's deep aural North Winds. Los Farport & it's environs maintain a late Roman Empire style level of technology with pockets of early elecricity & other odd bits of seemingly modern technologies. The truth is that these are one off inventions created by the odd inventor or dark wizard. Warmed by the burning corpse of a dead fire god Los Farport is almost but not quite your seemingly 'normal' world's most popular fantasy rpg table top world. In our version of Villians of the Undercity the 'fantasy' races are actually the former troops of Ragnorok left behind.

 The Elves are from the realm of the Light Elves, the descendants from the  dökkálfar and ljósálfar respectively. The  dökkálfar includes the Norse Dwarves who are from the same realm as  the svartálfar ('black elves').  Los Farport is also the home of numerous human variant races & others. 
This is a world that one upon a time before the Green Death traded with Hyperborea. That's ancient history now. Or is it?! There are various time & space gates that still exist deep in Underborea. The PC's might just find themselves stuck on a one way trip to Hyperborea through a long thought abandoned dungeon. 
The plot of Maxium Mayhem Dungeons#3 Villians of the Undercity By Mark Taomino  remains the same. However the vile villian really is actually working for the cult of Elemental Evil. And he's responsible for turning the heat up on events within the Hyperborea rpg version of T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil. 

Dark Wizard Games's Maxium Mayhem Dungeons#3 Villians of the Undercity By Mark Taomino Is available right from here! 

OSR Commentary On The 'Pay What You Want' Adventure 'The Demon Stones ( Swords & Wizardry) version by Glenn Seal For Sword & Sorcery Campaign

" The sun had set an hour ago, and the rain lashed down and the wind howled on the dark moor. A storm this late in the season was unusual, but this one seemed different. The clouds were more menacing, tinged with anger, the rain colder and more biting than usual.

Skerrill had to find the lost calf and get him back to the farm before his father came back from the city on business. He’d been looking for two hours now, and he was right in the middle of the moor when the storm hit. He knew he should have turned back as soon as darkness fell, but then he was never the brightest boy in the valley. If only he had remembered to lock the farm gate."

"The calf was now likely dead anyway having stumbled among the boulders and rocks, panicking in the dark, and then fallen in a floodwater stream and drowned. Either way, he was in more trouble than he could imagine." 

"Suddenly, a bright flash of white light and a roaring peal of thunder were preceded by an explosion as a huge object fell from the sky and impacted the ground of the moor no more than a stone’s throw from him. Dirt, mud, water, and debris erupted from the impact site, flying high into the air and then covering the moor for hundreds of feet all around."

Skerrill was knocked to the ground instantly and covered in the fallout from the blast. His ears rang and his head spun, but he staggered to his feet in a daze.

He stumbled to where the blast had happened only moments before, and in a depression in the ground lay a huge stone glowing orange as if hot. Skerrill passed out.

Two more thunderous explosions crashed in the distance.”

This blog entry is going to pick right up from here for more Hyperborea rpg high jinks. 

Just around my birthday back in about 2016 in June the 'Pay What You Want' Adventure 'The Demon Stones ( Swords & Wizardry)  appeared. I've DM'ed 'The Demon Stones ( Swords & Wizardry) a multiplicity of times over the years as mini campaign. The adventure clocks in at about sixty one pages & has Glenn Seal's usual thumbprints. Solid cartography, easy to read layout, & interesting adventure plot that keeps the players actually interested at the table top. And them wanting to return. This all goes back to some articles that I found back in 2016 or so about the origin of the Demon Stones adventure back when I did the original review; "While it was an adventure that was designed for Pathfinder to me and some friends it didn't work on that level apparently the author saw that there was room for OSR expansion. "When I wrote The Demon Stones, I had envisaged it being compatible with the latest edition of the world's most popular role-playing game, currently now in its 5th Edition. At the time, a system reference document did not exist, which meant that a decision was made to switch to the Pathfinder system (© Paizo Publishing) which was a safer bet. A dreamier foreword lies in that version. The Pathfinder version was released, but I still wanted to create an old-school version with less rules-crunch. It could easily be adapted to other OSR systems on the fly. It would also be a homage to my gaming roots. For that, I chose Swords & Wizardry, primarily for its popularity amongst the OSR communities. Luckily, Edwin Nagy stepped up to the plate to provide his wealth of expertise and knowledge, and was already a fan of The Demon Stones story. It has taken a little longer than I hoped to release it, with commissioned works taking priority, but you now hold it in your hands or on your screen. I hope you have as much fun playing it as I did creating it. Until our paths meet again, Glynn Seal (MonkeyBlood Design) - May 2016"

So what I'm I doing trotting out the Demon Stones now?! Well the Demon Stones has one part feel of an early  White Dwarf magazine adventure & some foreshadowing of Glenn's highly successful Midderlands campaign that would come later on. What if we took the Demon Stones and stoked the adventure for a Sword & Sorcery campaign?! Hear me out here. Given the origins, backdrop, etc. the 'Demon Stones' could be rather easily slipped into Hyperborea. 
You've got the otherworldly elements, slip in some Weird Tales back door traits, add in a few Cthulhu references, and then allow it to simmer during the Summer seasons of Hyperborea. And there's a strong possibility that the Demon Stones could work as a Hyperborean mini campaign. Add in the fact that 'the Demon Stones' adventure plot could tie right into events around the Hyperborean version of T1 The Village of Hommlet. And you're off to the races with a Hyperborean version of T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil. 

How?! Easy the black magical forces that cults of Elemental Evil are unleashing are attracting the Demon Stones from the Aboreus Winds around Hyperborea. The demon stones themselves were never meant to fall! The evil that they imprison was supposed to stay caged for eternity. But now the forces surrounding Hyperborea are in a state of flux resulting in this invasion of the farmlands! Only brave adventurers can set this right! But wait there's more! Because this is a mid level adventure it's perfect for intermediate level PC's! Yet challenging enough to keep even veterans entertained! 

Because of the necromancer's tampering with the delicate forces surrounding the bounds between life & death the demon stones may hold part of the key to putting this to bed. A brave fool must venture deep into the abandoned fortresses where the key to these events might be found. We'll get into that next time. 

The 'Pay What You Want' Adventure 'The Demon Stones ( Swords & Wizardry) version by Glenn Seal 

OSR Review & Commentary On The Swords & Wizardry Adventure Behind The Walls By John Large From MonkeyBlood Design

"The adventure takes place in the north of Havenland, near to the Scrottish borders by the Kelderwater lake (see Hex M09 of The Haven Isles map).

Ebeneezer Garbett, a local farmer from the mushroom-filled valley village of Otterdale, returned to the hamlet with tales of riches he had found. Now, no-one has seen him since, and he villagers are becoming ill with a strange fungal infection."


Set within the Midderlands Behind The Wall by John Large is an adventure with  Scrottish fungi weirdness happening around the party as they run into legacy of  the ruins of an ancient Goman fortification recently. And this is a well put together but deadly adventure centered around the events of the  farm stead of Ebeneezer Garbett & his ill dealings with the Mullach Dubh. This fungi is a mould that grows on the dead, absorbing their memories and re-animating their bodies into a terrible half-life. But this isn't a simple face down the zombie hordes adventure.
Instead this is a thinking man's adventure where the player's PC's are going to be dealing with the slightly off kilter weirdness of the Goman empire of the Midderlands. And some of the horrors of the alien invasion like take over of the Mullach Dubh.
The layout & artwork are top notch & the cartography is of course up to Monkey Blood Design standards.
"This adventure is intended for low level play and can be scaled up or down accordingly. It should work best with 4× Level 1-4 player characters." Now according to the read through I had this is a fairly low level adventure but you should have four or more players with PC's from the Midderlands. The adventure Behind The Wall by John Large is very hex location based & has a solid quality about it.


If you like the Midderlands then you're going to love Behind The Wall by John Large. It has that same White Dwarf magazine old school quality about it. The humor is right center point but this is still a take down aspect to it that will slaughter your PCs. This is a really flexible & customizable for your own old school or OSR games especially Swords & Wizardry.

Really comes down to the random tables & ideas scattered through out the product & it makes good use of them. Behind The Wall by John Large retains the charm & deadliness of the Midderlands line.



Played wrong & Behind The Wall by John Large will slaughter PC's without remorse & not even give the party a second glance. This is a solidly done adventure that does what it sets out to do. The events in the villages of Behind The Wall will challenge & possibly kill a novice group of players. But will vex even the most jaded experienced gamers. Highly recommended.

Review & OSR Commentary The Murder Knights of Corvendark From Monkey Blood Design For The Swords & Wizardry Retrolcone & Your Old School Camapigns

"No one knows from where they came. All feathers and spite. Their vile beaks spit angry screeches, and beneath their wing beats, acrid miasmas swirl.

Within the subterranean caverns beneath Wychington — on the shores of Lake Grimwater — a small part of a region from long ago, or maybe a time yet to pass, has come into existence. Malign and abhorrent half-men, half-crows inhabit this harrowing place. Standing menacingly, clad in the darkest armour, or on their pitch-black wings protected by lighter, piecemeal leather armour, they murder men and feast on their flesh. Strangely resentful of their barely-feathered gods, they despise other living creatures for taking their breaths.

This is Corvendark, and under the sign of an inverted, five-skulled star, the Murder Knights dwell.
Since the coming of this otherworldly realm, the Grimwater Lake region has been plagued by the atrocities of the ‘harpies’ — as they have been incorrectly named — regularly raiding the surface lands. None have been ravaged more so than Wychington, a small town on the northern lake edge at the mouth of the Lesselling River.

It is now that heroes are needed. Who will destroy this menace, or send them back whence they came?"

So begins The Murder Knights of Corvendark From MonkeyBlood Design

& the product is full of full on maps! This is an adventure location module. But when I received the email I grabbed my comp copy from Drivethrurpg I was astounded at the number of location based maps & yes this does bloody well plug into the Midderlands setting. But not necessarily for all your OSR campaign needs & I was pleasantly surprised by this. The Murder Knights of Corvendark From MonkeyBlood Design is designed for use with Swords & Wizardry but can easily be adapted for use with OD&D.

There are a lot of traditional Dungeons & Dragons elements within this adventure & that's a good thing. The fact is that many of today's OSR designers & writers try to reinvent the adventure formula. The Murder Knights of Corvendark doesn't do that. Instead it presents the adventure elements in such a way as to give the players & the dungeon master some time get through the adventure in challenging & engaging way. This adventure can be played over six or so sessions in my opinion but if the players are stupid they're going to die in glorious & gory ways.

The cartography is excellent & the writing is up to Midderlands standards. For the most part everything in the The Murder Knights of Corvendark clicks all of the right buttons.  For adapting it to other OSR & old school campaigns. The Murder Knights of Corvendark could with some work be placed within Mystara or perhaps the lands of Greyhawk. Blackmoor might be a bit of a stretch but it would work.  
The Midderlands campaign setting is where The Murder Knights of Corvendark 

is going to work best. The tone & setting details picks everything in this adventure up with gusto & runs with it.
I can hardly see using The Murder Knights of Corvendark with Lamentations of the Flame Princess or another dark Europe OSR setting. This adventure would suit Dark Albion & other Europe based OSR games. The theme of the Old Warhammer / White Dwarf old school adventure weirdness is certainly here in
MonkeyBlood Design's efforts in The Murder Knights of Corvendark. Because this is a fifty page adventure location based adventure there's lots to do & events happening within the adventure itself. Sure there is a spooky theme here but its not flat hitting you over the head with itself. There is an investigative & solid way of dealing with players in the module's method. The adventure location areas are well fleshed out but not overwhelmingly so like other OSR adventures. The full theme runs well though out the text here & the dungeon master can & will have to run with certain adventure hooks. Overall I really liked The Murder Knights of Corvendark .
I hope to see more adventure location based modules from MonkeyBlood Design crew. I'd give this a five out of five because of the above the cut quality efforts from the rest of the OSR crew.