Taking On Venger Satanis With A Review & Commentary For "Save Yourself From Hell" For The Alpha Blue Rpg System & Your Old School Space Opera Rpg Campaign

"This is a scenario for my sleazy space opera RPG Alpha Blue.  It's funny, weird, gonzo scifi that references a number of familiar movies like Event Horizon, Hellraiser, Space Balls, Airplane II, various kung-fu films, and anything with Cthulhu in it. "


Right so I was handed 'Save Yourself From Hell' before Venger Satanis went on his familial vacation with the Satanis clan. The adventure clocks in a about twenty pages & like many of Venger's other 'balls to the walls' adventure this one is for Venger's Alpha Blue sleazy space opera rpg system. The adventure  set up has a lot in common with his 'How to Game Master Like A Fucking Boss' style.


"This is a one-shot Alpha Blue scenario for PCs who like to blaze through encounters. For those who prefer to take their time immersing themselves in this wacky scifi universe, it might take two or even three sessions before reaching the cataclysmic end.
This adventure attempts to blend sleazy space opera with horror while maintaining a sense of humor.
Accentuate those parts that the players respond to. If they like something, give them more. If they seem
bored, quickly shoo away whatever's currently on stage and bring out the next act."
The opening takes place with a douche of an NPC and no I'm kidding read that as you will folks. This is not an adventure for the KIDS OR The EASILY OFFENDED. Lots of blue & dirty humor throughout, 'Save Yourself From Hell'.
The real set up goes more along this line;"The X-III starship is an abyssal-class deep space exploration vessel that has successfully completed numerous missions on the outer edges of the known  universe.
The X-III entered Hell's Cluster, a treacherous region just beyond the Asmodeus sector of Galaxy 5, in order to answer a distress signal coming from a lunar base on the 7th moon."So we basically have Venger Satanis's breazy sleazy style of writing with a pretty good adventure set up that sort of whizzes around its plot and there's a cat. A ship's cat that resembles Jones from Alien but there might be more to him. There's a random table to determine this. Before you can blink the PC's are zipping across the adventure's plot erm universe. There's a truck stop 'Space Trucker's movie  references abound here with unwanted passengers and stowaways. 

One of my favorite bits is the 'Kung Fu Marauders in Hell's Cluster'. Who are the marauders?
'One part treasure-hunters, one part salvage team, one part nefarious martial arts school, and one part murder-hobos in space… the Black Dragon Fighting Society prey upon the weak, the rich, and those without honor. That means the PCs should be ripe for the picking.' Venger it seems like me was a watcher of those endless and endlessly cool 1960s & 70's Kung Fu movies. There's an escape pod because of course there is and Lovecraftian cultists. An 'Event Horizon' adventure plot moment and some really nasty bits when Cthulhu shows up!? There's a good bit of humor here but the over all adventure plot points are really directed toward its own internal Alpha Blue style setting.


Cthulhu from Freakazoid's episode 'Cthulhu Rising'


This is really where my problem is. Alpha Blue with each book that's come out for the gaming system has gone on to become its own thing in my estimation. I have no problems with its content but if I as an OSR dungeon master was to use this adventure I'd be gutting half of it. That's a shame because its a good solid adventure for Alpha Blue but I can't see running this adventure for anything else. Maybe a wacky DCC adventure campaign or one shot. I'm not savaging this adventure but I'm saying that its an animal that belongs to the Alpha Blue setting. Its short and well done but its not something that I would want to be running except as a one shot adventure and that's what Save Yourself From Hell is billed as. But is it good?! Yes if your looking for a humorously sleazy take on a one shot original Traveller game or as a one shot OSR space based adventure with lots of cracked up and sleazy humor. For Alpha Blue though? This is a whole other adventure really. For Alpha Blue this is a mid tier adventure that works as a bridge gap to get the PC's into some real danger and distress. Their going to have to think and keep the blasters on tap when their needed. Players are going to keep on their space scum toes. I'd give 'Save Yourself From Hell' a 3 1/2 for other OSR games and a solid four for the Alpha Blue rpg systems.

Grab The Alpha Blue Adventure
"Save Yourself From Hell'' HERE
for Four Dollars 

But what's really going on with Venger Satanis's Kort'thalis Publishing? For some months now I've been watching him working on and growing more independent from the both the OSR and the fifth edition crowd. Venger has been quietly been working on his own imprint now for many years. The latest Kickstarter for  Gamma Turquoise: Santa Fe Starport its basically another nail in the coffin of  table top codependence. Sure we've seen post apocalyptic adventures before but this is a homage to Seventies science fantasy after the big one scenarios.  The adventure plot is straight out of after midnight films on Channel eleven from the late Eighties.



"Gamma Turquoise: Santa Fe Starport emphasizes the American south-west (where I used to live for a little while - mmm... wish I was eating warm sopapillas with honey right now!) in the 25th century.  That area of the USA barely survived, dubbed Gamma Turquoise by the knuckle-dragging, one-eyed and three-breasted natives barely hanging onto the bottom of the evolutionary ladder.  High-tech meets sorcery in survivalist horror mode.  The hills have electronic eyes and traveling the road requires warriors with black leather balls!
There's a faction of shadowy militants led by an enigmatic sorcerer named Yrt'vash Saar (aka skull-face) threatening the safety of everyone in the Santa Fe Starport.  No one has ever seen these terrorists with their own eyes - only the robed cult leader Yrt'vash Saar - but they all live in the fallout shelter below New Albuquerque."
Post apocalyptic  isn't a genre that Venger Satanis has explored that often. I'd love to see this funded and color me curious to see what Glynn Seal does from Monkey Blood Design with this adventure project.

You Can Support This Kickstarter Right Over Here

Review & Commentary On The Battle For The Purple Islands By From Kort'thalis Publishing For Your Old School Campaigns

I have a very strong connections with The Islands of Purple Haunted Putrescence, its a very flexible & dangerous adventure location/setting from the warped mind of Venger Satanis. A gonzo science fantasy setting with  liberal doses of  'R' rated  sex, gore, & lots of mayhem. All of which collide with the  concepts from H.P. Lovecraft's circle of Cthulhu mythos writers. But what are the islands themselves & the brand new factions, horrors, & the adventure kit? Wait what?! Didn't you know that the new Heavy Metal style magazine aesthetic adventure & expansion book The Battle For The Purple Islands has hit the shelves of Drivethrurpg

"What are they? A forbidden sanctuary of weirdness in the middle of the ocean. Three large islands next to

each other with dark purple sand, unbelievable creatures, and treasures untold. It’s a gonzo science fantasy paradise!

You see, much of the dark forces reigning supreme over the purple islands were vanquished by adventuring heroes. They came, they saw, and they slaughtered. A few years went by without incident.

Everyone started coming to the islands after things quieted down—colonists, anthropologists, big game hunters, sightseeing tourists, etc. But then obscene purple blasphemies deep within the islands began to resurface"

The islands have a bit of an overhaul & get back into the multi dimensional madness that them great as an adventure location in the first place. There's lots of reasons for your PC's to be on the islands and the book actually provides a number of random tables to give your characters a reason to be there. The whole affair clocks in at about twenty three or so pages. There's Venger's usual OSR & O5R vibe through out but in this case that's not a bad thing. Basically this book is a number of interconnected adventure plot points with factional information scattered throughout as much adventure as tool kit. Battle for The Islands of Purple Haunted Putrescence is Venger's Seventies & Early Eighties wet dream love letter with blood slime from 'Cannibal Holocaust' mixed with 'Stop Motion' dinosaurs from 'Land of The Lost'.

There are expansions of existing Islands of Purple Haunted Putrescence factions & new ones like 'Cannibal' tribes that will eat your PC's in heart beat, yes you do meet HP Lovecraft & yes there is an Alpha Blue adventure in for you Satanis veteran players. This is an extremely dangerous little book with lots of new pit falls & weirdness waiting for PC's. I'm talking new factions such as the Sorcerers of the Crescent Moon who are serpent men from another time just waiting for PC's. "When at least one of the purple moons is crescent, a snake-man sorcerer named H'ssan comes down from the mountain to steal warm-blooded humans. Under cover of darkness, H’ssan procures sacrifices for Xivirinthi, the ancient wyrm who lives inside the third moon."
Then you've got Talking Apes an in for Apes Victorious if you ever needed one! Why? Why not because everything is better with apes! "The purple islands allow for travel through time, space,
and other dimensions. So, it’s no wonder that certain areas of the jungle have been altered by the
quantum upheaval. Such changes bring civilizations from parallel worlds and alternate universes. Talking apes that walk upright like men is just one example.
The apes are part of a community called New Ape City. They carry machine guns, attempting to conquer the purple islands whenever they meet a force that threatens them—both physically and intellectually… radical ideas that go against their
religious-scientific belief system."
The ones you really don't want to meet are the brotherhood of the Unquiet Void, "A religious order calling themselves Brotherhood of the Unquiet Void devote themselves to those outer
abominations whose slime drips down from another universe, a universe of throbbing, twitching, screaming
flesh, gory and insane and spilling out into the unreachable darkness. The brotherhood worships
entities that hail from such places, and they have a leader named Kaion Vasus" Sort of a combination of the underdwellers from Battle For The Planet of the Apes & what happens to the world population in the film In The Mouth of Madness. These are not folks you want to invite over for supper. Then there's encounters with Lovecraft younger & older(don't ask). Lots of encounter tables for hex crawling across the islands. This is where the book shines of OSR style games especially if your into own a couple of OSR retroclone systems and want to expand your players adventuring! This also takes place in a timeless setting meaning that this is the book your going to want to pick up to introduce new players to the gonzo Lovecraftian sleazy jungle dripping action of The Islands of Purple Haunted Putrescence.
Is Battle For The Islands of Purple Haunted Putrescence worth the five dollar price tag? In a word yes, even if you don't own the original then Battle is your entry level drug for the weird science fantasy setting. This book brings home the setting and there are several tables that should have been in the original book. Your not paying twice for same setting folks this book has lots and lots of new material that isn't the 'special features' that ended up on the cutting room floor. Instead this is an add on book for the setting. Which leads into the next question should there be another book in the Purple Haunted Putrescence setting series of books? In a word yes.
If your into the All Night Long USA style gonzo cheese and weirdness of Venger Satanis's science fantasy setting then this is book for you. Will I be using it in future and upcoming games? In a word yes!
But this isn't a perfect book, I wanted more awesomeness and cult crazy gonzo adventure but this is a gateway & continuation book. In this alone the book sustains and in some points exceeds its goals. I'd say an even five out of five for purple haunted weirdness!

GRAB IT RIGHT HERE ! 

The Continuing Legacy Of The Purple Islands Actual Play Event & Commentary On Battle For The Purple Islands Kickstarter

The PC's managed to drag the were bear shaman from the clutches of the demon chains & begin to heal his wounds from the last encounter with some of the ghostly inhabits of Tegel Manor. But the purple shadow of Venger Satanis's The Purple Islands of Purple Putrescence casts a dark reflection on reality.

So last night I got together with my players inside Tengel Manor, one of my Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers Of Hyperborea PC's is a shaman that bares the marks & relics of his time on Venger Satanis's The Purple Islands of Purple Putrescence. His weaponry & power comes from the purple god things & crystals of the islands. The spiritual connection with the islands is strong and their gods take an active role in the PC's adventuring. This suits the shaman character as he continues to search for his people especially among the wilds of Hyperborea.


So in last night's game in Tengel Manor the PC's were dealing with some of the ghosts, ghouls, and zombies of the manor. They made it into the clacking hall and dealt with a wraith who wanted to drop one of the PC's into a trap door with a shoggoth below waiting to munch on him. That didn't work out for the wraith as he was discorporated by a lucky shot from one of the other PC's. This was after a lengthy rpg style argument with the wraith trying to maneuver the PC over the trap door. Things did not go well after that for the wraith!
The PC's managed to shut the trap door & search the room for treasure at least for a bit. They also discovered a journal & accounting ledger which detailed the various islanders,fishermen,etc. the wraith/slave trader had sold from the dungeons under Tegel manor. The journal detailed some of the explorations of this depraved member of the Rump line who spent time on the purple islands.

Shoggoth monster from The Lost Continenent 1961 from Hammer studios
 
The PC's continued to explore coming across a bedroom that belonged to one of the members of the Rump household. Striges attacked the PC's and they burned the room except for the valuable sword hanging on the wall a memento of one of the many wars of Hyperborea. There's a deep and abiding tie in with the islands of Purple Putrescence but it gets even more exploited in The Battle For The Purple Islands Kickstarter coming up. So what essentially are the islands?

'The purple islands (there's three of them very close together, and are usually considered a single place) is an eldritch science-fantasy setting with gonzo sword & sorcery.  Both books will be usable with any sort of Lost World, Mars, Dream Lands, Hyborian Age, alternate Earth ruled by civilized apes or menaced by dinosaurs and sleestak, or a world of savagery, super-science, and sorcery.'
So how does this all tie into my own twisted version of Tegel Manor? Notice I said that these plot points didn't tie into the The Battle For The Purple Islands ... yet.   Well the players moved the time table up for me on this one. They met with a vital NPC & discorporated him for the moment.


In yesterday's update Venger dropped a vital clue to the tie in between the purple islands and my twisted  version of Tegel Manor.
"I re-watched The Green Inferno today.  Going to incorporate some of that in Battle For The Purple Islands.  ;)" Thanks for spilling that little vital clue that ties back into one of the Rump line who was an explorer or should I say exploiter of weird little corners of the multiverse. Passel Rump wasn't the kind of a guy you really wanted to hang around unless it was to have a slave collar round your neck or to be sacrificed on a stone altar in some godless corner of the various universes. This all ties back into an NPC I created that one of the players killed about three campaigns ago when I first laid hands on the Islands for Purple Putrescence. The Battle For The Purple Islands is going to push up certain time table events for my players and the clock is ticking not only for the Kickstarter but for my PC's to save those islanders before they become a sacrifice to some ancient & malevolent Lovecraftian god. And why is the manor moving across time and space?! How does this tie into a dimensional traveler whose been watching the PC's from the shadows of Tegel Manor?


What sort of shadowy corruption has Sir Tristan the knight from Albion stumbled into? The PC's have found several corpses in the gardens of Tegel Manor, the Keltic were bear shaman was a part of the mercenary knight's party. What other secrets has the fool stumbled upon and be corrupted by? He's far from home and the clock is starting to tick, tick, down for not only his party but for you too! The Battle For The Purple Islands is moving closer to winding down and now its your turn to help bring this project to life!
Time to open your hearts and wallets for the The Battle For The Purple Islands Kickstarter As The End Draws Naught!

Tick, tick, tick, ...

How Will 'The Battle For The Purple Islands Kickstarter' Be Affecting My Campaigns - Actual Play Commentary

The Islands of Purple Haunted Putrescence are in my campaigns one of the sources of all kinds of crossover potential because they're adventure location holes in the cheese cloth of the multiverse. So while my campaign of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea has been incredibly active with the islands apparently Venger Satanis the original author has wanted to go back to them.



While my players have managed to escape the islands some months ago, their PC's were incredibly changed by the islands themselves. Remember that this is an 'Adult' title with a completely over the top and gonzo comic book style brought to you by Venger himself. This was one of the reasons why I surprised to see another Kickstarter going from Venger about the Battle For The Purple Islands the basic plot is, 'an OSR scenario of warring factions competing for dominance in a purple world gone mad.'


I was very surprised to see that MonkeyBlood Design (Glynn Seal)  
was already involved in this newest Kickstarter venture from Venger Satanis, because he's got his own Midderlands campaign Kickstarter wrapping up within this week!  Go here To Support It



So how will the Battle For The Purple Islands be affecting my on going campaign? Well let's look into the book's book's background;
"Battle For The Purple Islands will be a 12 - 15 page PDF adventure that uses the purple islands as a backdrop.  While the original book was a hex-crawl full of encounters, scenario seeds, random tables, magic (items), and helpful advice, this will be a specific, focused adventure involving various warring factions competing for dominance in a purple world gone mad... or is that a mad world gone purple?
You see, much of the dark forces reigning supreme over the purple islands were vanquished by adventuring heroes.  They came, they saw, they slaughtered.  A few years went by without incident.  Everyone started coming to the islands after things quieted down - colonists, anthropologists, big game hunters, sightseeing tourists, etc.  But then obscene purple blasphemies deep within the islands began to resurface."

So it looks like there's some solid adventure hooks and plot lines to throw at your OSR players & some really well thought out gonzo weirdness to exploit for your own in home campaigns. The fact is that this can't affect what I've got going on in my home campaigns.



I've been doing what I've been doing for a long time and earlier today I talked about back calling. This is a situation where none of my players or their PC's have even begun to scratch the surface of the islands, the Lovecraftian powers, or the time & space warping plot lines.
So do I think that you shouldn't be supporting the Battle For The Purple Islands?

No, I think you should be! The fact is we want more OSR material from Venger Satanis. I think that the O5R material is fine but lets face facts, its easier to use material for the retroclone systems that we already own.

So go to the kickstarter open your wallets and support what looks like a great adventure resource coming up!

Review & Commentary On Adventure Writing Like A F#$%ing Boss By Venger Satanis From Kort'thalis Publishing For Your Old School Campaigns

I'm doing this review as a favor to Venger Satanis, because I got sent a copy of 'How To Write An Adventure Like A F@#@ing Boss'. This is a part of an O5R product line by Venger which is really a set of guidelines where Venger lays out his philosophy of old school gaming & advise, guidelines for game preparation, dungeon mastering the Satanis way, & now how to write an adventure. So we get 'How To Write An Adventure Like A Fucking Boss' which is an on the ground practical guide contained within fourteen pages.
This book doesn't fool around it gets right into the heart of the process and walks you the prospective DM step by step from inception to practical completion. This is a system neutral book & there's not a lot of B.S. in this book its straight up advise and practical hands on process & operation. The tone is easy, the layout straight forward, & the end result isn't half bad for three dollars.

The ideas here are workable, consistent, & have been done by someone whose actually run an old school campaign or two. This isn't necessarily going to be for the great & powerful DM's out in the wild but there's some very practical and time saving ideas here. Is it worth the three dollar price tag? I think so actually here's why:

• This book takes the DM by the hand and leads them step by step through the adventure writing process. 
• Real advise for at the table and on the ground adventure writing right from the ground up. 
• In depth take down from resources to practical table top prep work. 

If I have any real complains its that there's not enough background material on the part of the writer. Venger is a more is less kinda of guy which is fine but this is a system neutral book & I'm an OSR guy who wants a bit more explanation in certain areas especially in the departments that newbies to the hobby are going to need such as fleshing out background, working in more adventure exposition during play, & following through with dovetailing in the adventure into fully fleshed old school campaigns. But this is probably going to be the next book 'How to Run A Campaign like A F$#ing Boss'. In my humble opinion this should have been what we've seen in another section of this book. Fourteen pages isn't enough when your taking about writing adventures from start to finish. 
Is this a bad book? No its quite good at what it does and does it well with common sense advise and at the table commentary. The book is selling for three dollars and its well worth the price tag but this needs to be a fully fleshed out book on its own so its going to get four out of five stars from  me tonight. Get this book if you want a no nonsense common sense at the table approach to writing good adventures with a practical process for creating adventures that are going to get you players at the table.


GRAB IT RIGHT HERE

Review & Commentary 'Play Your Character Like A Fucking Boss' By Venger Satanis From Kort'thalis Publishing

Play Your Character like a Fucking Boss is the latest title from Venger Satanis and is his book end to his other work How To Game Master like a Fucking Boss. Clocking in at about fifteen pages this book is really geared towards OSR style players, well mostly. What this book is actually is a primer or manifesto for Venger's wit and wisdom when it comes to his style of gaming for the player. So what your getting is a primer for the player's side of the screen. 

The cover is pretty awesome with a Venger style wizard taming his three headed dragon and yeah the cover is boss. The advice inside is as well for players up to a point, the break down here is the finer points of this book is the fact that at certain levels its not really a primer for players. But a set of guidelines for smoother play & more cooperation between dungeon masters & the players. It has more between its pages then a simple review of it can kinda of encompass. There are some ideas for PC guidelines, quick idea backgrounds, how to approach both both play at the table, and how to deal with the dungeon master at your table. All of this is done with Venger's usual unique take. It kinda boils down like this.
Without the players you don't have a game & its really not about being a complete jerk. Talking & having complete communication across the table is key here. Which basically makes this book something  a look into a set of opinions, PC guidelines, & some solid advice. This isn't so much a book of incredibly awesome ideas but simple on the ground common sense. That right there makes this book far more valuable to me as a player. Do I agree with everything in this book, umm no but then I'm not meant to and neither are you as a player. Play Your Character Like A Fucking Boss is a box of chocolates in this regard. Pick and choose the pieces of advise that are in  there for you.
If your DM is like Dexter then run now!


The part about the OSR I agree with mostly but then again I don't; "Players, you have a lot more power than you realize.Banding together with common goals is the equivalent of forming a union. If I was part of this player union, my first order of business would be to find an easy, fun, rules-lite system that the majority will enjoy. I'm sure you can think of several off the top of your head, but indulge my blatant pimping… Crimson Dragon Slayer, The Outer Presence, and Alpha Blue are prime examples of simplistic yet awesome
roleplaying games. On the flip-side, strong unions - when thoroughly corrupted by power - deserve to be broken. By the way, I feel the same way about strong, corrupt corporations. That's all part of the fascinating pushpull dynamic between the Game Master and players. Neither side has absolute power, and thank the gods for that, as the game would lose its fun. The second old school element I dislike is that player  characters were occasionally… what's the opposite of putting something on a pedestal? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for initiation - the risk of a quick, unceremonious death comes with the old school territory. However, when you beat the odds, make the right decisions, and lady luck smiles upon your character, succeeding despite all the nasty shit the  GM throws at you… I expect a fucking parade!"  Which I mostly agree with but many OSR games find their own level and quite quickly.  This is one of the reasons why its been easier to get players to play Dungeons and Dragons rather then Alpha Blue. This product is part manifesto and part advise primer by someone whose been in the hobby a long while. The artwork is very well done and the layout is top notch. The advise is right on target & for what it does 'Play Your Character Like A Fucking Boss' By Venger Satanis gets five out of five.
GRAB IT RIGHT OVER HERE

Commentary On Slaves of Tsathoggua From Kort'thalis Publishing For Crimson Dragon Slayer & Your Old School Campaigns

So recently I provided a bit of advertising for Venger Satanis's Trilogy of Awesome kickstarter, well today I received my review copy of Slaves of Tsathoggua From Kort'thalis Publishing & it wasn't at all what I was expecting!? First of all before the set up and plot work for this adventure you need to understand that, "this is the first adventure creates specifically for Crimson Dragon Slayer, edition 1.11.  However, it's compatible with the original Crimson Dragon Slayer RPG and relatively easy to convert to any other fantasy RPG."




Otherwise everything after this isn't going to make a lot of sense, Slaves of Tsathoggua takes the idea of the 'beast in the cave' cliche & turns this into an adventure of weird proportions.
"There's something in that cave... the cave all those villagers are afraid of.  What's inside?  Will the adventurers be able to leave once they enter?  What does this have to do with Tsathoggua?" This adventure clocks in at fifteen pages and is filled with memorable NPC's, lots of weird situations, and a ton of strangeness that connects in deep with the latest incarnation of Crimson Dragon Slayer 1.11

From  Kort'thalis Publishing.

This adventure is a bit different then other Crimson Dragon Slayer affairs, it combines many of the author's usual themes but has something a bit different too it. Basically this adventure can act similar to a DCC funnel taking PC's from inexperienced yobs to fully fleshed and blooded adventurers in one shot. It uses a series of balanced and very dangerous encounters to really get into the psyche and gonzo pulpiness of the PC's who experience it.

Slaves of Tsathoggua could be put between adventures in a campaign to test the mettle of adventurers from from the Crimson Dragon Slayer rpg system and it would do a good job of it. This adventure takes place in the village of  Needham is home to around 300 people. About half of them are farmers, the rest owning various shops like the baker or providing services such as the blacksmith.A short distance from the village is a cave & its hiding a secret of dangerous providence. This is Venger at his  best dishing out old school adventure with a dollop of pulpy gonzo aggression in equal measure. The stakes here are very high and in fact a bit epic for any party exploring the ins and outs of the Caverns. Slaves of Tsathoggua is a mix of Eighties sword & sorcery fantasy that has mated with an episode of the Outer Limits with a bit of Clark Aston Smith  thrown in for good measure but bring some extra PC's.  This adventure might be a great one to run with Dungeon Crawl Classics because everything here is a perfect funnel to throw some PC's through to take them from green horn to experienced in one shot. The fact that this is a Crimson Dragon Slayer adventure makes this a gonzo must  buy. 

Did I happen to mention that  Slaves of Tsathoggua is a perfect gonzo dungeon crawl of psychotropic proportions to link up with  +Venger Satanis' The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence. 
There are few if any naughty bits in Slaves but the material in this adventure has a perfect link up device for the PC's if the DM wants to take advantage of it.
Basically Slaves of Tsathoggua From Kort'thalis Publishing is a great direction to take the Crimson Dragon Slayer game and one that I think is going to be great for future publications. I'm very pleased with Slaves of Tsathoggua From Kort'thalis Publishing and give it a five out of five, for only three dollars this one hits my gonzo pulpy heart of old school goodness. 
GRAB Slaves of Tsathoggua
From Kort'thalis Publishing
HERE 

Mere Hours Remain For The S'rulyan Vault by Venger Satanis Kickstarter

Have you ever wanted a huge dungeon map that you can plunk down on the table top to bring your friends into your world's epic adventure? A place where the dungeons are deep, the dragons are Lovecraftian, and the dangers a wait around every corner? Well the The S'rulyan Vault awaits you! Mere hours are ticking down now to the end of a fantastic Kickstarter by Venger Satanis

Bojan Sucevic wanted to do some color artwork for the S'rulyan Vault and I think that the PDF cover looks fantastic.
 GO SUPPORT IT HERE

Here's the pitch;"

I don't know about you, but I love those old school "blue maps" from the inside of late 70's and early 80's RPG modules, the outside illustrated with dragons, dungeons, elves, demons, warriors, giants, wizards, and undead.  

Last month, I decided I wanted my own map - one that I helped design with Glynn Seal (from MonkeyBlood Design) - nearly as big as the table I game on... a visual aid that not only helps move the adventure along but also makes us feel like we're 15 years old again, playing AD&D for the first time.  Incidentally, the main picture above is from a previous blue map of his.  

This one is going to be in the "middle ground" between standard dungeon and mega-dungeon.  Not too busy, but lots going on... and huge!  Each quadrant of this map will be created by Glynn so they can be printed out as one big map or used separately as 4 smaller maps (individual dropbox links will be provided for everything), arranged as you like.  And if this goes well, it's possible we'll immediately have bonus quadrants or giant maps available to us."
But this isn't an ordinary dungeon there's a whole back story here;"
For as long as anyone living can remember, the world was full of men and the darker, stranger forms of life remained at the farthest edges of it. But the scrolls contained within the many temples of Tyr’Urden tell us that this was not always so.    Demonic things came in the night to feed upon mortal souls, ripping and tearing at humanity’s soft, exposed belly. Our people lived in fear. Like children, man was afraid of the dark and what lay beyond the walls of his cities. Then, one day, a champion came. He slayed many of the evil ones, the creatures who looked like walking serpents. Eventually, his mighty deeds became so numerous that thousands followed him into battle against the forces of evil. Man had both the numbers and the will to push back against these malevolent beings until his cities and forests were relatively free of hell-spawn. Snake-men were the most powerful humanoid creatures, as they knew the secrets of blackest sorcery, having made a pact with the Demon Lord known as S’rul. Under his satanic tutelage, the snake-men became powerful enough to slaughter the armies of mankind. Before long, the entire race of snake-men were known as the Sect of S’rulyan… (S’rulyan meaning the great and terrible wisdom of S’rul). At the height of their serpentine reign, a subterranean domain was constructed on the outskirts of the human realm. It became an outpost from where the snake-men continually raided – taking weapons, gold, slaves, and sorcerous objects from man’s cities. This vault was the crowning glory of S’rul and his loathsome worshipers. Just as the Sect of S’rulyan could see the extermination of man in sight, a large band of adventurers retrieved a lost relic - the Helm of Power, an artifact that siphons the magical energy from everything surrounding it… and gives that magic to the wearer. The Helm of Power protected the adventurers as they waded into the darkness of S’rul’s foul dungeon. Only three heroes emerged from the S’rulyan Vault, victorious over the evil ones with their spiked armor covered in gore and shreds of serpent flesh. Alas, the Helm of Power was destroyed in the final battle against S’rul. Yet, the Demon Lord was also destroyed, and so the people rejoiced! The three surviving heroes, Artello, Urden, and D’meskus, established themselves as Kings of the central territories. For decades they ruled and now their children’s children are crowned Kings and Queens of Razira. One such present-day ruler is Queen Zinnia, an alluring but jealous and ill-advised woman. She reigns over the smallest realm with the greatest ambition for power. Queen Zinnia forced her royal wizard to search deep within the magical abyss where hideous horrors frolic and feed. Upon her instructions, the wizard awakened an entity strong enough to shatter her siblings’ kingdoms – the Demon Lord S’rul. S’rul’s first order of business was to revive his slumbering legion of snake-men far below the S’rulyan Vault. Brought back to life, the walking serpents felt their sorcery invigorated as never before and concocted a spell that would mean sickness and death for thousands of men, women, and children. Almost three-quarters of a century after S’rul’s original defeat, nary a snake-man has been seen upon the surface of Razira. Today is the 74th anniversary of the assault upon the S’rulyan Vault. The entire realm celebrates the snake-men’s defeat with feasting, dancing, and merriment. Unfortunately, such revelry was not to last. At mid-day, the celebration ended with black skies, a broken blood-red moon, and some mysterious plague that immediately killed off a fifth of those living in Tyr’Urden, the largest kingdom and closest to the S’rulyan Vault. King Urdenson’s seers know that S’rul and his snake-men slumber no more. The King decreed this a time of war, and those who return from the S’rulyan Vault with the Demon Lord’s severed head in hand shall share in the reward: one million pieces of gold… a King’s ransom, to be sure!"
The mythology and history of the place echoes the awesome ideas and artwork that centers around this style of dungeon. This is the kind of place that could really bring a campaign setting together for a group of players and the DM.



As a dungeon master I began to think what would I personally put into The S'rulyan Vault ? My thoughts are that there would be some very dangerous and deadly minor  Lovecraftian magic items. So here's what I came up with
1d6 Random  Minor Lovecraftian Magic Items Table 

1. The Orb of O'mas - This orb is the black heart and soul of a minor elder demon, this orb allows the owner to surround themselves with a protective aura once per day that will block minor black magic spells. 
2. The altar stone of K 'ar'a - This stone drips with the venom of the serpent gods but it allows a wizard to cure light wounds once per day but the regions healed are mutated and weirdly whirled affairs. 
3. The dagger of the serpent warrior - This is a serpent man warrior's horridly wicked +2 dagger that drips with the ichor of ages. The merest nick and the target will begin to age 1d10 years as the dark purple magicks consume the target. The thing is sheathed in a great half serpent's ancient skin. 
4. Howard's bracers - These bracers were created from the tanned leather and weirdly worked bones of Sir Howard a knight of exceptional skill and grace whose sacrifice allowed his friends to escape the wrath of the great purple wizard of Krolish a demon god of ill aspect. The bracers grant the owner a burst of strength once per day as a hill giant and will fill the owner with horrid rage but they consume any magick from those around them. 
5. The Box of Forbidden Mysteries - This box allows 1d6 minor spells to be cast from it once per week but the owner must place 1d6 drops of blood into it as payment. There is a 20% chance of a minor imp or other demonic creature attempting to use the box as a doorway into our realm. 
6. Eddy's Right Eye OF Trouble - This glass eye belonged to the dread pirate and thief Eddy The Vengeful or Eddy the Crazy. The eye allows one to gaze past the illusion of reality once per day and summon forth a minor creature of the damned. The eye also grants darkvision but the owner must sacrifice one of their eyes in order to use the powers of this device. 

Commentary On The S'rulyan Vault Kickstarter by Venger Satanis For Your Old School Campaigns

 So we've gotten a great map from Monkey Blood Design for the The S'rulyan Vault map, pdf, and more. Little by little from the dim echoes of the mysterious history of the vaults we see more is being revealed.



 GO SUPPORT IT HERE

So over the past week or so I've been playing catch up with work, repairs, and some of the Kickstarter goals and what not of Venger Satanis's The S'rulyan Vault. What are the Vaults? The The S'rulyan Vault are an O5R "blue map" dungeon from the early days of fantasy roleplaying games; high-rez files for 34" x 44" printing. But this isn't an ordinary dungeon there's a whole back story here;"
For as long as anyone living can remember, the world was full of men and the darker, stranger forms of life remained at the farthest edges of it. But the scrolls contained within the many temples of Tyr’Urden tell us that this was not always so.   
Demonic things came in the night to feed upon mortal souls, ripping and tearing at humanity’s soft, exposed belly. Our people lived in fear. Like children, man was afraid of the dark and what lay beyond the walls of his cities.
Then, one day, a champion came. He slayed many of the evil ones, the creatures who looked like walking serpents. Eventually, his mighty deeds became so numerous that thousands followed him into battle against the forces of evil. Man had both the numbers and the will to push back against these malevolent beings until his cities and forests were relatively free of hell-spawn.
Snake-men were the most powerful humanoid creatures, as they knew the secrets of blackest sorcery, having made a pact with the Demon Lord known as S’rul. Under his satanic tutelage, the snake-men became powerful enough to slaughter the armies of mankind. Before long, the entire race of snake-men were known as the Sect of S’rulyan… (S’rulyan meaning the great and terrible wisdom of S’rul).
At the height of their serpentine reign, a subterranean domain was constructed on the outskirts of the human realm. It became an outpost from where the snake-men continually raided – taking weapons, gold, slaves, and sorcerous objects from man’s cities. This vault was the crowning glory of S’rul and his loathsome worshipers.
Just as the Sect of S’rulyan could see the extermination of man in sight, a large band of adventurers retrieved a lost relic - the Helm of Power, an artifact that siphons the magical energy from everything surrounding it… and gives that magic to the wearer. The Helm of Power protected the adventurers as they waded into the darkness of S’rul’s foul dungeon.
Only three heroes emerged from the S’rulyan Vault, victorious over the evil ones with their spiked armor covered in gore and shreds of serpent flesh. Alas, the Helm of Power was destroyed in the final battle against S’rul. Yet, the Demon Lord was also destroyed, and so the people rejoiced!
The three surviving heroes, Artello, Urden, and D’meskus, established themselves as Kings of the central territories. For decades they ruled and now their children’s children are crowned Kings and Queens of Razira.
One such present-day ruler is Queen Zinnia, an alluring but jealous and ill-advised woman. She reigns over the smallest realm with the greatest ambition for power. Queen Zinnia forced her royal wizard to search deep within the magical abyss where hideous horrors frolic and feed. Upon her instructions, the wizard awakened an entity strong enough to shatter her siblings’ kingdoms – the Demon Lord S’rul.
S’rul’s first order of business was to revive his slumbering legion of snake-men far below the S’rulyan Vault. Brought back to life, the walking serpents felt their sorcery invigorated as never before and concocted a spell that would mean sickness and death for thousands of men, women, and children.
Almost three-quarters of a century after S’rul’s original defeat, nary a snake-man has been seen upon the surface of Razira. Today is the 74th anniversary of the assault upon the S’rulyan Vault. The entire realm celebrates the snake-men’s defeat with feasting, dancing, and merriment. Unfortunately, such revelry was not to last.
At mid-day, the celebration ended with black skies, a broken blood-red moon, and some mysterious plague that immediately killed off a fifth of those living in Tyr’Urden, the largest kingdom and closest to the S’rulyan Vault.
King Urdenson’s seers know that S’rul and his snake-men slumber no more. The King decreed this a time of war, and those who return from the S’rulyan Vault with the Demon Lord’s severed head in hand shall share in the reward: one million pieces of gold… a King’s ransom, to be sure!"
 So the vaults have a background, history, and a reasonably legendary connection with Venger's variation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Alright that works for me because of the tie in with the treasure of the place. What really kinda got me thinking was this little bit here about the humanoids of the vaults when Venger did this update today;"Today I came up with a d20 table for what a group of humanoids might be doing when encountered.  Personally, I think it gives humanoid encounters an extra dimension.  Because room after room of dudes just waiting for the party to barge in and start brawling seems less than believable. "
What would I add into the The S'rulyan Vault if I was adding it into a campaign as an adventure location? What sorts of tables would add a bit more of a dimension to the table top? One of the things that you want to back tie into an adventure location and weave it into your own home campaign. One of the easy ways of doing this is a simple random table and in the case of an adventure location such as The S'rulyan Vault, this is a place with secrets. Dark and dangerous secrets that you as the DM can tie back into your version of the Vault. Here then are 1d20 dark and dangerous random secrets of the The S'rulyan Vault to taunt your adventurers with.

1d20 Random Dark
& Dangerous Secrets Table of The The S'rulyan Vault

1. The lowest points of the vault might still contain he eggs of the serpent kings waiting for the right alignments of the damn stars to unleash their foul taint upon the world once more.
2. There is a Lovecraftian demon bound into one of the statues of the place should it awaken it will spell doom for the world. 
3. A king's ransom was taken by the serpent men raiders back in the days of yore and it might still be in one of the hidden ante chambers of some secret and hidden room. 
4. Several human tribes were collaborators with the demonic serpent folk and they carry the ancient taint in their blood lines. These mages might be able to read some of the powerful magics that are still contained in the vault's treasure chambers. 
5. Human skulls with jeweled eyes are rumored to have been secreted in the vault, these objects of cosmic and damned power could read men's minds, alter the courses of mighty rivers, and change the nature of reality itself. They are also said to  contain the souls of ancient damned serpent kings. 
6. There are said to be ancient cults of humanoids who gather at certain times in the vaults to pay homage to dead kings, they bring with them ancient treasures and powerful magicks. 
7. There are several bound creatures of myth and legend who are tied by powerful black magicks to the vaults themselves . These things bring fortune and ruin in equal measure to those who find them in their hidden secret chambers. 
8. There are several ancient inhuman books of power hidden in the vaults bound in man flesh, writ with the black blood of the Earth and human souls. These things gibber with power and sheer horror. 
9. Warriors of ancient hate wander the halls damned never to rest and slay anyone they come across. This is the fate of ancient warriors and heroes who came to the vaults to slay the serpent priests. 
10. There is a cup of gold that has been bathed in the serpent flesh of the most ancient black mages and wizards. The cup grants a sort of eternal life or damnation, this cup is hidden in a special alter in the vaults but it has been lost to antiquity. 
11. Twelve priceless jewels show the alignments of the stars of the damned in one of the rooms in the vaults they have been bathed in the blood of countless sacrifices. These gems are worth a king's ransom. 
12. Thirteen ancient crones have been buried in this ancient ruin. They mark the passage of time by the rot that eats their flesh. These crones are quite mad but they are very prophetic and they whisper ancient hates and secrets to their admirers. Mages and wizards seek their chamber below the Earth.
13. There is a pool that shows your successes and greatest soul crushing defeat, it also shows you how to avoid the potential doom that awaits you. 
14. There are a series of candles made from the fingers of the damned that can show the true nature of all realities. This also makes getting and avoiding certain alternative futures very easy. 
15. Ancient weapons of power have been hidden in the vault, they will be found by their chosen champion. Could that be a member of your party. 
16. The vaults are the buffer zone between this reality and the gathering threat from the other dark Lovecraftian dimensions where things wait to burst into our home dimension. 
17. There is a key to the world engine hidden within the vaults and the serpent men lost it. The thing might be unto another dimension having been cast their in the womb by an ancient hero. 
18. Five thousand gold piece  reward has been hidden inside the body of a zombie that wanders the halls and rooms but no one has seen it in years. 
19. A champion of horror and chaos wanders the halls slaying anyone it runs across. There is a hidden room where all of its trophies have been kept. The slaying continues. 
20. The spawn of an ancient demon dragon cult is said to have been trapped down in the vaults doomed to slay anyone it comes across.

Commentary On The S'rulyan Vault By Venger Satanis Kickstarter For Your Old School Campaigns

So I see a ton of snarky comments on various Kickstarters and other projects on G+.  Those are with some damn good reasons I might add. But let's talk about Venger Satanis & the various books that he's done for a moment and come through on those Kickstarter projects. Well, he's back with another fifth edition old school module Kickstarter along with Glynn Seal of Monkey Blood design. So colour me excited about his latest bid for our cash. No, seriously I think he's got a winner here.Watch and then you'll understand what I mean.
GO HERE TO FUND
& GET IN ON THE ACTION!

So who cares about a huge map? Well yes its a huge map with a lot going on that you can customize into your own adventure location for your PC's to explore and plunder; "The map will also come with a 5 - 7 page PDF.  This document will contain a brief history of the dungeon, as well as, various random tables for helping the GM spontaneously come up with content, description, rumors, factions, and encounters (including traps, monsters, NPCs, weird stuff, etc.) so that each adventure into the S'rulyan Vault can be unique."
This is one of the things that makes it interesting and unique in some respects. Sure there have been other projects going on with Kickstarter by Venger but this is one of the first times he's getting into a fully customization old school style adventure setting set up for this style of play. There are a couple of things that are going on here that have caught my interest:

• This is a very large setting with plenty of room for the DM to do their own set up and take on the dungeon itself. The fact is with a map this big its going to be quite easy to cut some cardboard or white board and block off the sections that you don't want players to see. This means that the DM can cruise into the adventure as they want to. They can also add or subtract dungeon adventure elements as they like. 
• Knowing Venger's style of writing and design as I do this project will get bigger then it is now. What that will mean in terms of page count and contents is your going to get more for your money without a doubt. 
• These Kickstarters deliver just look at Alpha Blue, Girls Gone Rogue and his earlier projects. 
• This is going to have the usual Venger Satanis twist to it without a doubt. That also means that this is going to be another project that a DM can re purpose to their own campaigns. 
• Monkey Blood Designs always does great cartography and artwork Again knowing Venger's style and gravitas as I do your going to see something different, unique, perhaps controversial, and highly entertaining. 
• There are already backers for this project and we're only a few hours into it. So its a good sign that we'll be seeing some fun stuff. 

Bottom line, I personally think that this is a fun Kickstarter, and Venger as well as his crew have a few surprises up their sleeves for this. So go fund this one and let's see where this is going to go!  

Update we've now got more to go on about the  The S'rulyan Vault Adventure location map  from Venger and Glynn over at Monkey Blood Design " I just posted an update on the KS page.  Glynn provided me with a sketch.  Still early days, but at least now people have something to go on." If you have questions contact Venger through the Kickstarter page. He'll be happy to answer any questions about the kickstarter or the adventure.