The Metal Moorcockian Con Job - Agenda of the Faceless Lord - Sword & Sorcery Observations On NeoPlastic Press's 'The Metallic Tome ' By Rafael Chandler

"Juiblex is deemed a lesser figure in abyssal hierarchy, judged Lord of Nothing by his peers. However, in my research, I have plumbed the foul mire to examine the full darkness that is this disturbing fiend.

”

— Demonomicon of Iggwilv

If there are heavy metal & death metal bands of adventurers roaming the wastelands raiding dungeons what happened?!  The big three Abyssial powers of the demonic lords Orcus, Juiblex, & Demongorgon are vying for worshipers, pacts, cults, & having demonic warfare with each other through proxie agents the world as we know it is going to be a mess. After having used The Metallic Tome now for several months for actual play what would a metal band of Juiblex even look like?! Could such a band of adventurers or agents of demonic power actually thrive in such an environment?!  Those sons & daughters of Juiblex are going to bear the mutations of oozes, slimes, jellies, puddings, and amorphous creatures. 

Covid really has taken its toll on a lot of my OSR rpg efforts including pursuing a bit of writing I've been doing when it comes to messing with  Castles & Crusades Tome of the Unclean & The Demonic Tome by Rafael Chandler.

So is Castles & Crusades a good fit for an rpg system for both  The Demonic Tome by Rafael Chandler &  The Metallic Tome?! Ultimately I think so. The scions of  Juiblex are ultimately rewarded by being turned into some of the more intelligent slimes, jellies, and oozes such as the slithering tracker. 
The slithering tracker knows & understands languages, it possesses an alien intelligence, & it has a demonic nature about it; "The ritual required the target to be willing and to be motivated by revenge. In the ritual, all the moisture from the target's body was drained, but their mind still lived on in it. Some considered this ritual a dubious origin for the slithering trackers, instead proposing the alternate theory that they were merely an advanced form of other oozes." 

Its implied to once been human but having left its humanity far behind ages ago in service to the 'faceless lord'. The heavy metal music of Juiblex is alien, demonic, & highly dangerous to the sanity of the world.
 

But how did the world come to this?! For that we dive into Dread: The First Book of Pandemonium rpg & a review of that game which reveals the events of  Sunday May 13 in Haywood, Oklahoma; "This change occurred on the night of Sunday May 13 in Haywood, Oklahoma. They went to bed that night. The next morning the entire population was dead. Slaughtered or suicide. Some of the deaths were extremely gruesome. Suspicion began with some type of gas attack by terrorists, but no evidence could be found to support this. It was inconceivable…until it happened again. At various locations around the world, the scene repeated itself. Since then, unexplained disappearances and phenomena have increased, as has seemingly pointless violence.

Characters have suffered tragedy before the game begins. Through circumstances beyond their control (or not beyond their control), they have reached the nadir of their lives. Things couldn’t be much worse, until something not of this world tried to kill them, or something unexplainable happened, and someone was there to save them. To take them in and bring them back. A Mentor to train them and give them purpose again. The Mentor made them part of a group with other Disciples like themselves, called a Cabal. The Mentor also explained the truth of May 13; that on that night the barriers between Earth and Hell dropped briefly. The same occurred later in other locations, releasing an unknown number of Demons into the world."

That game was the basis for the Demonic Tome's setting & background both are written by Mr.Chandler.  But what does it tell us about the alien agenda of Juiblex itself?! Quite a bit, we know its going to be going all out to foil the plans of its rival demon lords, this thing is a full on lord of chaos, & given its Abyssial nature there is no hiding its Chaotic orgins. This faceless demon lord  is also a part of the Tharzidun meaning that it has reason to smite the angels of this Earth at every turn; 'Juiblex's true origin was unknown, although there were many theories about where the Indescribable Darkness originally came from. At earliest, he was one of the original tanar'ri, somewhere around the age of Demogorgon, but many posited that he was far older than that.^[29] The obyrith lords Dagon and Pazuzu suspected that Juiblex was himself an obyrith lord who was mostly destroyed by Tharzidun, gradually declining in importance until eventually becoming an ancient relic of the past.^[4] Some cited the presence of certain obyriths on Juiblex's plane as a sign that he came before the tanar'ri, although this wasn't concrete evidence.^[30]

According to the research of some, Juiblex was originally just part of the Elemental Chaos, part of its raw essence until the appearance of Tharzidun. When Tharzidun first planted the seed of evil, it wounded the Elemental Chaos, and at the direct site of the wound was the first mass of infection, a black, bilious collection of fluids and solids awakened to wicked self-awareness."

Cultists among humans are going to be the worst examples of humanity & any pustules or covens of Juiblex worshipers are obliterated by both Control or Angels when found;"His worst worshipers tried desperately to earn his attention, spreading terror, despair and death in the hopes of appealing to Juiblex.^[3][25] The madness of Juiblex's wretched supplicants was often rooted in desperation born from sickness, physical or otherwise, terrible afflictions that brought their victims such pain that they were willing to turn to the Demon Prince of Ooze.^[4][25] After reaching the heights of depression, the deluded madmen, often humans, turned to the Glistener in the hopes that he could cure them or, failing that, ruin their minds so that the pain would be bearable."

Any concerts or gatherings of bands of metal heads dedicated to the Demon Prince of Ooze are often nothing more then sacrifice events where the entire audience is turned into or infected with slimes. These events are often held underground or in abandoned sections of sewers. The bands in question are often sought by vigilante adventurer posses that seek them out to eradicate them. In the wastelands of the Metal Future these are often good paying adventuring gigs. The faceless lord is one of the most hated entities on any plane Prime. 
There are temples rumored to be in Texas, California, the Mexican pan handle, Flordia, and other Southern areas of the United States. The faceless prince likes the hot climates & area of the United States's jungles & fetid swamps of the South American pan handles. 

The Metal Moorcockian Con Job - Some Sword & Sorcery Observations On NeoPlastic Press's 'The Metallic Tome ' By Rafael Chandler

 Wayback in July of this year I had two of my regular players take sick & then pass on me. This really put a kink in my plans not to mention it hit everyone pretty damn hard. But life moves on as it does & after attending funerals. Mourning & keeping details off of this blog & social media in general things have moved on. The empty chairs have been filled & the table is full again. In no way is there anything glib about the above paragraph. 
In July there was a blog entry on the big three of demon lords being Chaos Lords. Aquiring 'the Metallic Tome' pdf has put this whole campaign hot mess back into my lap.

Ever since this illustration by  created by Paul Jaquays now Jennell Jaquays appeared in 'The Dragon' magazine I've been wanting to work on an Orcus inspired Abyss chaos inspired army. I've been going over campaign notes on the Michael Moorcock's "Melnibonéan mythos" in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition  Deities & Demigods by James M. Ward and Robert J. Kuntz. 

This brings me back to a very strong OSR system contender to work with for this style of OSR campaign Castles & Crusades! Since Orcus,Juiblex, & Demogorgon have a dead on rivalry does this also mean then this also extends to popculture as well? Are there then death metal & heavy metal bands dedicated to these Abyssial tyrants?! After all metal is the music of the demons & devils! 


What would happen if Earth Chandler as we'll call this setting is actually the demon Kings & Abyssal queens's chaos laden metal end game?! Could there be agents of chaos out in the field causing havoc for the sake of 'metal'?! Or is it simply the reign of chaos & blood across the globe! 


But what about the powers of Law & goodness?! They are around as a point of fact & that's where 'Law' as we know it may also pertain to 'order' as well. The fact that demons are running around & are very much a part of the landscape dicates that the power of law is fact in affect. This lines up very nicely with some of the cannon with C&C's 'OF Gods & Monsters '.

This puts boots on the ground some of action as the PC's might indeed be a mix of modern humans & possibly a group of Castles & Crusades high fantasy PC's. This lines up quite nicely with the implied harsh Sword & Sorcery nature that we find in  Castles & Crusades Tome of the Unclean! Perhaps chaos really does have its way! 

Well how can you mix together C&C with a mega dungeon that will have all of this awesomeness under one Gonzo roof?! The Anomalous Subsurface Environment modules by Patrick Wetmore have just the right mix of menace & weirdness to port right over. 

But how does one run such a put together campaign of OSR metal mayhem?! We'll get into that coming up tomorrow folks. 

Review & Commentary On 'The Metallic Tome' For Your Old School Heavy Metal & Doom Core Campaigns erm Old School Campaigns

 "Pollution chokes our seas, nuclear war has destroyed our cities, and worst of all, guitars are illegal. Surveillance satellites monitor our every move. Conformity is the law! There is only one thing that can save us: METAL."

Last call in Connecticut is 2:00 A.M. right now its around one or so give or take five minutes. Tonight its me sitting with my back to a very empty bar with DM Steve & me speakng about Rafeal Chandler's Metallic Tome. 



'The Metallic Tome' is done in the same style as 'the Demonic Tome'. The heavy metal  Apocalpyse has happened or is happening. The Earth's internet is down & the world is ripe for the taking! This is every heavy metal or death metal album cover ever done brought to life. The book follows the standard OSR PC status of character types. But the difference here is the fact of how this book plays the elements out. Sure this is Gonzo heavy & death metal campaign & system book  but there's far more here going on then simply meets the eye. 
'The Metallic Tome' is a whole cloth campaign setting unto itself & its not necessarily a 'modern' setting per say. The reason why I say that is because as an OSR setting it can easily be translated over into a pre or post apocalpyse heavy metal setting where magic is returning hard core. The forces of Heaven & Hell are waging a war for the soul of the world this is the implied setting of the Demonic Tome.

I go into far greater detail about 'Demonic Tome' here.  The implication is a modern or alternative Eighties heavy metal world sliding into the frying pan of the lake of fire back lit with a heavy metal sound track. But seriously this isn't the only use of either the 'the Demonic Tome' or 'The Metallic Tome'. 

'The Metallic Tome' has some serious implications for Dungeons & Dragons with its PC's heavy metal options & implications. Try & imagine your standard Greyhawk campaign setting characters being sucked straight into this heavy metal Earth. 

Greyhawk's factors for being interested in this metal Earth is the 'cosmic balance'. The party of adventurers have their work cut out for them. There's a ton of infernal monsters that are going to have interest in the party as 'fresh meat' on the block from Greyhawk. With 'The Metallic Tome' I started to heavily think about the movie Heavy Metal. 

With  'The Metallic Tome' the Earth might be ripe for  interstellar affairs with the arrival of the metal apocalpyse. Believe it or not this is a perfect set up for a White Star: Galaxy Edition campaign which makes an excellent compliment for 'The Metallic Tome' 

Why? Well because the rocker class is included in the 'galaxy edition' so there's the heroic in for the PC's to help counter Chandler created  darkness of 'The Metallic Tome'. The campaign would be one part 'Star Wars' three parts Greyhawk, & the rest someplace West of Iron Maiden's 'Somewhere in Time''s album. 

This is the campaign world that I'm planning on refining, designing, & taking out with Venger Satanis's Cha'alt especially Cha'alt: Fuchsia Malaise. The heavy metal trappings of 'The Metallic Tome' hit hard core withe rebellious nature of some of the factions of Cha'alt who need their teeth kicked in. 

This brings up the fact. Is  'The Metallic Tome' worth the price of admission?! In a word yes! There's plenty of death metal weirdness & OSR doom that this book brings to the table. I've got a playable copy for the table top bring printed as we speak folks. 

The Moorcockian Con Job - Some Sword & Sorcery Observations On NeoPlastic Press's 'The Demonic Tome' By Rafael Chandler

Over the last two weeks there have been numerous times when my campaign note books have been coming back into my hands. This campaign is point of fact the Castles & Crusades hybrid game that I was planning that exploded in my lap. Details on that will be covered in another blog entry. 



Events refer back to the fact that I've been going over campaign notes on the Michael Moorcock's "Melnibonéan mythos" in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition  Deities & Demigods by James M. Ward and Robert J. Kuntz. 

This brings up the campaign point that both the fact that both Orcus & Demogorgon have a dead on rivalry. This means that the kings & queens  of the Abyss have a twisted chess game against each other using humanity as a dangerous agents! 


This means that both Orcus & Demogorgon along with Jubilex are in point of fact not only powerful demonlords but chaos lords. These demon lords have been playing their usual games through agents for all of this time! But to what end?! Back on July 15th I wrote about & reviewed  NeoPlastic Press's 'The Demonic Tome' By Rafael Chandler. What would happen if Earth Chandler as we'll call this setting is actually the demon Kings & Abyssal queens's chaos  end game. 


When your campaign setting's end game is built on Sword & Sorcery fantasy classics & high weirdness could these apocalyptic tidings be far behind?! Its not at all far fetched to think that the random demon generator from the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition Dungeon Master's Guide could easily be used along side  NeoPlastic Press's 'The Demonic Tome' By Rafael Chandler to create a perfect 'End of Times'  OSR setting. 

This all lines up very nicely with the material within Castles & Crusades Tome of the Unclean! Perhaps chaos really does have its way! 

Time, space, & different eras are open to the forces of Chaos & the Abyss . Now before this blog entry ends up over here at this blog like my Pan Tangian take on the Moorcock stuff or the fact that over half of a blog is built on copying this blog. I want to get this material into your hands dear readers & Castles & Crusades fans. 
But all of this blog entry goes back to my late night forays into reading through the 'Power Word Kill' blog entry from 2015 & being inspired by its take on the classic devils & demons of Dungeons & Dragons. 

Review & Commentary on The NeoPlastic Press's 'The Demonic Tome' By Rafael Chandler A Pay What You Want' Setting Book For Your OSR Or Old School Campaigns

"The world's last line of defense is a group of ultra-violent cannibals wielding unholy magic. They needed a hero, but instead they got you." Demonic Tome is available now! This OSR sourcebook (previously released as Dread: The First Book of Pandemonium in 2002) features magic, demons, setting information, and enchanted shotguns."




Two days ago with zero fanfare & absolutely no announcement that crazy metal headed bastard of the OSR Rafael Chandler released 'The Demonic Tome' onto an unsuspecting OSR as a pay what you want title.  "Dread: The First Book of Pandemonium in 2002, and later re-released as Pandemonio. This book contains previously published material." I've been waiting for this title going all of the way back to December of  2013 or so! Two days ago I look on my friend's wall & no gout of hellfire or spewed slime but 'The Demonic Tome was on Drivethrurpg! 
How do you describe this one hundred & thirty two page OSR  supplement/modernish campaign setting!? Well try & imagine the Bible's  Book of Revelation combined with White Wolf's Hunter The Reckoning but with an OSR death metal  paint job this is 'The Demonic Tome'! The setting is the world of 'now' but through the lens of 'Chandler vision'. There's firearms of course in 'The Demonic Tome' because there has to be! The PC's are gonna need all of the help they can get. 


Don't let that smile fool you! 

Each of the old D&D character classes are now almost modern arch type PC classes & they are balls to the hunters of the demons & demonic! The clerics & wizards have some of the most twisted spells to hit pages of a supplement! Both cleric & wizard's spell levels hit nine & they are nasty,brutish, & very violent! 
 Here's a clerical spell as an example;
"Perdition
Duration: 1 round per caster level
Range: Self/5'
When this spell is cast, the Disciple's hand is transformed into a monstrous claw, and she can vomit up a huge quantity of black bile. If the Cleric hits with the claw, she inflicts 1d3 damage, plus 1 per caster level, and if she has been injured, she recovers that same number of hit points (up to her maximum). If the Cleric instead chooses to vomit on her prey, the monster must save vs. Spell or take 1d3 damage, plus 1 per caster level (and again, the Cleric may recover that many hit points, if she's been injured)." 

This is just the sort of demonic modernish brutal weirdness I'm talking about!  With dungeon master's section events start to make sense with species of demons & their ilk showing their true colours! Take for example the 'defiler' species; "Defilers A Defiler demon will possess its victim (known to Disciples as a skell) and force that person to commit evil acts. When tracking a Defiler, the Cabal doesn't always know who the skell is. Often, all they know is that something weird is going on. To exorcise a demon from the body of a skell, a Cleric must perform a Rite (described in the Cleric spells section). The demon can also be injured (and killed) once the skell is dead." 

If this sorta stuff seems vaguely familiar that's because many of the themes of 'The Demonic Tome' are echoed in 'The Teratic Tome'! In point of fact 'The Demonic Tome' might be considered the demonic minion book while both Lusus Naturae & 'The Teratic Tome' are the upper tier & boss books respectively torn from the Books of Pandemonium! The Books of Pandemonium serve as the bridge adventure element to this damned  corner of the Chandlerverse. Even the situation in LoFP's 'No Salvation For Witches' could lead to the modern world of destruction portrayed in 'The Demonic Tome'. 



If there is a theme to the Chandlerverse then it exemplifies itself in the Narcosa setting that weaves & bobs its way through the 'higher then a kite drug plane.' There are hints here & there in the Demonic Tome that Narcosa is there sitting & waiting its turn! 


With all of the recent Lamentations of the Flame Princess controversy  its nice to see Mr.Chandler coming back into the OSR fold with his recent Metallic Tome kickstarter. And because of the infernal nature of the  elements of  'The Demonic Tome'. These two universe settings  might not only be connected but different aspects of the same campaign setting. 



But is ' The Demonic Tome' any good?! Well the demons are original, nasty, & are part of a twisted S.O.B's OSR campaign. The demons themselves are far from the standard Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual first edition  demons or are they?! 
While the 'Demonic Tome'  demons are absolutely nasty, twisted,  dangerous because these demons are laid out in an OSR fashion the Vrock & its ilk would feel right at home next to a Qavaad's machinations  or feeding on the remains of issoac's victims! 

And this is part of the strength of the OSR based products. Being able to adapt & overcome many campaign difficulties while mixing & matching what the dungeon master needs or wants for his or her campaign. 
As a pay what you want title I think that 'The Demonic Tome' is well worth your time & money. As a part of the expanding Chandlerverse?! 'The Demonic Tome' is invaluable for an addition to the DM's tool box! Glad to have my copy from my local printer! 

Gods, Monsters, & Metal - Godbound/Cha'alt Campaign Prep Work - Ground Zero Session Report #1

Adventurer, Conqueror, King Rpg weekend has come to a close. Over the weekend between work,family, & Friday's Castles & Crusade game. We were able to sit down & get some family time, & reading done with the books that I had printed up. AX1: The Sinister Stone of Sakkara by Matthew Skail,  & Alexander Macris has been on my list along with The Auran Empire Primer By Alexander Macris. Finally rounding off this collection has been AX3: Capital of the Borderlands Alexander Macris, & Newton Grant. 

As per usual my local printer did an ace job on the books along with Axioms Compendium 1-8 From Autarch. The collection came out like a peach from the printer. But what's happening here?! People thought that I was doing a Godbound /Cha'alt game right!? That's been delayed while prep work is going on. I'm working one Hell of an NPC as the backbone & spine for that game campaign. Going over older OSR products that I've downloaded. And this includes Buckytheblackball's Immortal Companion because not everyone whose in the Incel Cantina is as they appears. See not only do I review the OSR stuff but make notes on what titles I'm going to be using for campaign play.
 


There's a highly dangerous artifact in play right now in my home campaigns 'The Wand of Orcus' but is it the real wand or something else?!

And what does it have to do with ACK's version of Dwimmermount?! Where is the dungeon of doom at this time?! These are matters of immortals & gods folks because its prep work for the big show with Neoplastic Press's Teratic Tome. Because the undead & horrors in that book are really the 'big guns'.



This goes right back to The Metallic Tome on Kickstarter by Mr.Chandler. Its all gonna tie in & weave around I assure you! 


Cus this is all gonna tie into T1-4 The Temple of Elemental Evil or at least my version of it.. But how does this tie into the plane's most haunted house?! Wait & see my friends!