OSR Commentary - Free OSR Resource Spirits of Heaven & Hell By Daniel James Hanley For The Castles & Crusades Rpg

 " “Spirits of Heaven and Hell” includes both “An Account of the Angels” and “A Directory of Devils”.

" 16 Celestial and Infernal beings in all, ranging from the tricky Pact Devil who makes deals at lonely crossroads, to the mighty Seraph, whose mere presence can burn mortal creatures to cinders."

"Inspired by real-world legends, folklore, art, and mythology, they’ll give your games a touch of authenticity."

Spirits of Heaven & Hell By Daniel James Hanley For The Castles & Crusades Rpg came into my possession by DM Steve today. I wasn't aware that this lovely little PDF was out in the wilds from 2011. This is a really nice little break down of angels & devils for the Castles & Crusades rpg. And could possibly be seen as a free side book for the Tome of the Unclean. The author Daniel James Hanley has obviously put some hard work into this little supplement because it covers an array of devils, demons, and angels all for Castles & Crusades rpg. 

Spirits of Heaven & Hell By Daniel James Hanley clocks out at a healthy fifty three pages worth infernal & angellic  goodness. Hell & Heaven themselves as adventure locations & planar destinations are also covered here in vivid detail borrowing heavily from Dante's Inferno & Paradisco as well as healthy heaps from popculture.
Common devils include: 
Accuser, Craft, Corrupter, Luminious Devil, Pact Devils, Seducer, Tormentor, & Wraith devils. All of these are far more subtle then the usual Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition devils. These devils are powerful but their proper use is as an adventure fulcrum or machinery. 
And the angels are just as well represented in the Spirits of Heaven & Hell. Angels of Death, Mercy, Chariot, Cherub, Guardian, Herald, Seraph, & the Warrior angel. Angels shouldn't be taken lightly, the idea of game balance within Spirits of Heaven & Hell By Daniel James Hanley is out the window here. But Spirits of Heaven & Hell isn't about balance it's about using the forces of Heaven & Hell within Castles & Crusades. 

Castles & Crusades doesn't seem like a subtle game but with the right blend of players & DM's Spirits of Heaven & Hell By Daniel James Hanley could easily become a center piece of a campaign. This is especially true of a campaign centered around a historical Europe. 

Spirits of Heaven & Hell By Daniel James Hanley For The Castles & Crusades Rpg Is Available Right Here. 

The Whole Wide World - OSR Commentary on Lion & Dragon rpg By RPG Pundit

 "Lion & Dragon is a Medieval Authentic OSR game. Until now, you only thought you were playing "medieval fantasy"!

"With Lion & Dragon, the rules of the original tabletop RPG have been adapted to create a more historically authentic medieval experience, to reflect the grittier and yet more mythic world of a magical medieval Europe."

"L&D includes new rules governing social class and materials on culture to help a GM craft a world that feels closer to the world of the 100-years war or the War of the Roses. It has a grittier and more dangerous feel to reflect the cheapness of life at the time. Also included are sections on medieval economics, law & justice, and chapters with monsters and magical items based on authentic medieval legends. Finally, a completely revamped magic system is based on actual grimoire-magic as the medieval magicians really envisioned it."

It's only recently that I've unpacked my copy of Lion & Dragon rpg & the primary reason was the fact my last game broke up after a friend of ours moved away. Lion & Dragon takes it's setting within the Rose War quite well. 
But there's so much more then to Lion & Dragon then simply the Rose War. And that's the fact that Europe is in flames around the Rose War itself. Sure, England is the center mass of a very large web of conflict & trade. But Europe itself is a mere player at the edges of Chaos which wants to tear the web of the Old World apart unto itself. One of the things about Lion & Dragon is the modular nature of the rpg. And no where is this more represented by the Rpg Pundit Presents title Hecate's Tomb. 

Hecate's Tomb is one part dungeon crawl, one part investigative mystery, and one part horror novel with Midevil flare; "A series of disappearing travelers. Stories of frightening owl-like birds and talking ravens. Stop at the town of Blackheath, a crossroads at the center of these mysteries. Is the largest farmstead in the area connected? How about the mysterious catacombs of a bygone era?" 

Paul C's Drivethrurpg review covers the highlights of Hecate's tomb and hits on one of the advantages of the adventure;"Overall, a fairly solid adventure. Hecate's Tomb assumes you are using Lion & Dragon, but can easily be converted or used with any OSR.

The adventure provides a solid mix of mystery, exploration, and interaction, combining several tropes. There's a cult, a well-developed dungeon, brigands, some magic, and an optional hidden boss built in that can really ratchet up the danger.

Blackheath is the main town supporting the action and mystery of the adventure. From this town, the characters investigate mysterious disappearances and rumours in the surrounding areas.

There are some great antagonists developed as adversaries for a party of low-level adventurers. I would suggest a party of four from 1-2nd level. I played with three 1st level players, and they were nearly wiped out by the first real encounter." 
The encounters, webs of secrecy, and more are a little more then the average 1st level PC is going to be able to handle. And the review up points my own experience actually playing Lion & Dragon at first level in Hecate's Tomb. There's far more going about the player's PC's paygrade. And this happened quite often but as we as a party had to learn to adjust so did the other players. 

And this included our experiences with other true era NPC's especially traders, craft's men & more. Europe is much bigger place then we as players were expecting. We encountered Spainards, Italians, Swiss, French, and more which opened our eyes to the fact that we might be making incredible journeys to faroff lands than we might be expecting. 
And we also dealt with undead who dated back before the empire of Rome and much worse. And it has been this eye towards detail that has been my own experience playing Lion & Dragon. This is a game that is far more then the sum of it's parts. 

Players are not expecting the modular nature of Lion & Dragons which enables the DM to slip back door resouces time & again.