Review & Commentary on Advanced Dungeons & Dragons - REF5 Lords of Darkness For Your Old School Campaign

"The Undead. Denied the eternal rest of Death, cursed to wander the many planes and worlds forever, their very existence a mockery of life they constantly crave yet cannot have. Created by the foulest of magics, they have only one thought, on burning goal: revenge against the living. Or do they? "

Back in Eighty Eight I received  REF5 Lords of Darkness (1e) as a gift one Christmas from my family. The book is a great adventure anthology & one that's very fitting for Halloween. But confession time I hate the Forgotten Realms with the passion of a thousand suns. 

I loath the Forgotten Realms it represents everything I hate about harmonized Advanced Dungeons & Dragons second edition. From cookie cutter settings to having to buy tons of books just to learn the secrets of the setting which were well known to players. The Forgotten Realms remains my least favorite second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting. The fact of the matter second edition remains one of my least favorite incarnations of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Forgotten Realms sucks. It is the archetype of generic fantasy with no character whatsoever. I understand that dungeon masters like the Forgotten Realms  because it gives them a lot of flexibility, but  the trade offs are not worth it. I suggest choosing a more interesting setting. My opinion was formed because of the Forgotten Realms novels & no I will not read a single one ever again.
Now with all that said REF5 Lords of Darkness isn't any of those things at all. This book is a solid anthology of horror & the undead which shouldn't even have the Forgotten Realms label on it. Because REF5 Lords of Darkness works with just about any Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first or second edition campaign. It works very well for all of the right reasons & if you don't believe me then let's take a look at what Jim Bambra had to say back in Dragon magazine No. 151 (November 1989); "Jim Bambra reviewed Lords of Darkness for Dragon magazine No. 151 (November 1989).^[2] Bambra felt that the style of presentation for the fictional pieces describing the undead in action "is far superior to the dry style adopted by many supplement writers".^[2] He noted that four of the adventures lack maps, reducing their usefulness as plug-in scenarios, and that two adventures "are set in castles that cry out for at least schematic diagrams to show their layouts".^[2] Bambra felt that the quality of the adventures also varies greatly, and that while most are "fairly good", he continued "[a] few are so thin and underdeveloped that I wondered why they were included".^[2] He contended that the adventure dealing with zombies is "the worst of the lot", partly because the characters would be facing "opponents who are likely to stomp them into the ground", but called the mummies' tomb and the lich's lair "fine examples of the dungeon designer's art".^[2] He called the optional Horror Check rules "a laudable attempt to instill fear of the undead but not sufficiently developed to be effective", because "the system isn't integrated into the AD&D rules in a satisfactory manner, as characters will deteriorate to the stage where they are unable to function effectively—a situation contrary to the spirit of the game and more in keeping with the grim tone of Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu game".^[2] Bambra said the accessory "expands greatly on the background of undead in the AD&D game and provides a source of short adventure settings."^[2] He also said it was a good resource in terms of "new necromantic spells" and "information on the ecologies of the undead", but concluded: "its lack of maps and the underdevelopment of some of its adventures make it a merely useful rather than essential item.""
From here you can see REF5 Lords of Darkness is a solid addition to any AD&D dungeon master's tool box. These encounters & adventures represent everything right about this as a second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons product.

Everything within REF5 Lords of Darkness can easily & completely be used in an OSRIC or Labyrinth Lord Advanced campaign with little modification that's because of the nature & solid adventure construction within the contents; 

""Tales From Beyond the Grave" (pages 4–75) presents ten complete adventure scenarios, each one highlighting a "classic" undead type, with the challenges increasing from one scenario to the next. Creature notes accompany each adventure. The scenarios are from five to nine pages each, and include the following: "Skeletons", by Deborah Christian; "Zombies", by Michael Stackpole; "Ghouls and Ghasts", by Paul Jaquays; "The Tombs of Deckon Thar", by Steve Perrin; "Shadows", by Christian; "Mummies", by Jaquays; "Vampires", by Vince Garcia and Jean Rabe; "Ghosts", by Garcia; "Oriental Spectres", by Christian; and "The Dread Lair of Alokkair", by Greenwood.

"The Night Gallery" (pages 75–84) details the main character or creature of each adventure and can be used to plan a series of encounters. "A Mundane Guide to Wards", by Greenwood (pages 85–91), explores the magic and lore of dealing with undead. "The Lords of Darkness", by Greenwood (pages 92–96), presents new spells for necromancers.

Cover art for Lords of Darkness was done by Jeff Easley and interior art by Karl Waller, and the book was published by TSR in 1988 as a ninety-six page book.^[1] Editing was by Scott Martin Bowles, and cartography by Dave LaForce.^[2] This supplement was perfect bound, and released for the first edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons^[2] with product code TSR 9240."

What makes REF5 Lords of Darkness work is the sheer variety & depths of these adventures & how they can even be applied to a product such as Lamentations of the Flame Princess or even the Sword & Sorcerous depths of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. 

REF5 Lords of Darkness is one of those books that I feel should be on the shelves of any series OSR or old school dungeon master. Five outta five in my archives. 

Some OSR Ideas & Thoughts About The Lure & Lust of Hoards, Treasures, & Artifacts

"I, Satampra Zeiros of Uzuldaroum, shall write with my left hand, since I have no longer any other, the tale of everything that befell Tirouv Ompallios and myself in the shrine of the god Tsathoggua, which lies neglected by the worship of man in the jungle-taken suburbs of Commoriom, that long-deserted capital of the Hyperborean rulers. I shall write it with the violet juice of the suvana-palm, which turns to a blood-red rubric with the passage of years, on a strong vellum that is made from the skin of the mastodon, as a warning to all good thieves and adventurers who may hear some lying legend of the lost treasures of Commoriom and be tempted thereby."The Tale of Satampra Zeiros by  Clark Ashton Smith

Once again I was looking over some of the Grenadier advertising literature that I've collected over the years. The mid point product line of miniatures for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons miniatures & figures were all over the table top in '83.



Grenadier models Inc. were the go to line for serious AD&D players in my neck of Connecticut & my uncle often took me right down into the bowels of West Hartford. The sunny, quite small town New England bowels that looked like they came straight off of a Norman Rockwell painting at the time. My young mind was on the 'game' & what the dungeon master had cooked up for us that week. But what it was really about was treasure & the "gold stuff". But what the hell is treasure & where's it come from? Why is it valued by monsters, evil forces, & vile villains. Why are people risking their lives, their souls, & even their sanity in the pursue of this material? Like I said yesterday there are places that man wasn't supposed to go & yet dungeons call to these fools.
Dungeons are created & not build but that's another blog entry. Treasure defines the Dungeons & Dragons & marks the souls of adventurers with experience. Why!? Because there's a supernatural or occult aura about treasure similar to 'gold fever'. Just give an adventurer a taste of the favors, social position, & mental wealth that treasure can bring & their hooked. If they're really lucky then they retire & operate through proxy adventurers & hirelings. Treasure itself is a left over from the 'old world' or the cycle of ages preceding the 'current age'.
"Now Commoriom, as all the world knows, was deserted many hundred years ago because of the prophecy of the White Sybil of Polarion, who foretold an undescribed and abominable doom for all mortal beings who should dare to tarry within its environs. Some say that this doom was a pestilence that would have come from the northern waste by the paths of the jungle tribes; others, that it was a form of madness; at any rate, no one, neither king nor priest nor merchant nor laborer nor thief, remained in Commoriom to abide its arrival, but all departed in a single migration to found at the distance of a day's journey the new capital, Uzuldaroum. And strange tales are told, of horrors and terrors not to be faced or overcome by man, that haunt forevermore the shrines and mausoleums and palaces of Commoriom."

The Tale of Satampra Zeiros by  Clark Ashton Smith

But this isn't the only explanation about treasure & it goes much deeper into the gut of adventurers. The fact is that treasure is the root & spoke around which all of the dealings of Dungeons & Dragons adventures & campaigns revolve. I've a few thoughts as to why, how, & where these treasures come from & why they seem closely tied in with adventurers:

1. Treasures are part of the spoils of war between the forces of light & darkness or Chaos & Law. That is to say that natural order of these multifaceted conflicts across the ages creates treasures.Many times this is to fuel the war machines for both sides & war costs money, time, & the spoils of conflict. The aura of fortunes lost & won gets imbued into these articles.  
2. Monsters & alien  forces come to see that these items & artifacts have value to humanity & their gods. Since the dawn of time these forces have aped both the gods & man giving these items places within their own evolution. The occult forces of magick & chaos divines this as the cycles of ages continue. This has reinforced the aura & allure of these objects. 
3. Old gods die & the cycle of adventure continues leading the gods to creature new treasures & artifacts so that they have material anchors into the world of men & monsters. 
4. Supernatural auras change men & women in subtle ways maturing them, radically changing their life outlook, greed has its hooks in adventurers hearts & minds. Greed is the motivator for treasures & experience is the best teachers. Greed & lust for treasure is the engine for adventure! 
5. Thieves move treasure & artifacts to spread the allure of these objects for the same reasons that magpies & crows are attracted to shiny objects. The occult power of these treasures grows & changes calling to monsters & men alike. This is the germ of dungeons & ruins of power. 
6. Treasure equals power & wizards know this better then anyone. It is liquid asset for the making of war & campaigns for adventure. Wizards & dragons know the power of gold & treasure much of which comes from the elemental plane of Earth. The world of men & wizards is very different but the ability to move or wreck the economies of nations is true power. Power enough for the gods to notice & power enough for kings to murder wizards. 
7. Treasure & the supernatural are tied together like the ecologies of nature. These hoards call for guardians & monsters of chaos for they are drawn like moths to the flame. 
8. The aura of lust & greed is so strong around some treasures & hoards that it can call the forces of chaos or even open doors to Hell itself. These guardians are the worst of the lot & require their own blog entry. 

As I said yesterday I think that treasure has far deeper meanings & is closely tied in with war & violence. Why? Because these same supernatural auras never entirely leave these objects especially in old school campaigns. Can I prove my point here? We played in a long running hybrid AD&D,OD&D, & B/X campaign based on the Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) opera cycle throughout the Eighties and Nineties. All of the above was taken from this old school campaign. Next time hirelings, thieves,tramps, & alchemists.

Some Thoughts On the Adventurers Lifestyle & Thier Place Within A Campaign Society

Looking through old Grenadier Models  advertisements for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons miniatures. These adds are full of memory & nostalgia for the middle part of the D&D product line for me. These miniatures held a lot of imagination & possibilities for the dungeon master's imagination.

My thoughts often turn to what types of men & women become adventurers. Desperate men & women trying their hand in the game of delving into the darkness of half forgotten tombs, places of legend, & possibly forgotten civilizations in some back water wilderness. These are places mankind wasn't supposed to journey into.
Here are six reasons why I think that adventurers are on the prowl  in ruins & dungeons:

1. Adventurers are going to be lower echelon men & women of society  who crave adventure, quick cash, & the brotherhood  that the dungeon delve  life brings. The promising  lure of exploration & exploitation. 
2. Adventurers have to be a dreg caste of society unto themselves looked upon the same way as actors, performers, and veterans of wars were in Europe. Directionless yet a necessary evil of society with back door admission into academia & governmental positions such as espionage. 
3. Reputations of of the adventurer life style has to have legendary status within urban & polite society. Many boys & girls dream of it the same way that they might of war but the realities are vastly different. Bards are partially responsible for keeping these sorts of things alive among the populace. 
4. The line between hireling & adventurer is a fuzzy thing at best in society. Many down & out adventurers & outlaws become hirelings but drift into the adventurer life style based on opportunity & circumstance. 
5. Retired adventurers are often tomorrow's patrons living vicariously through others but exploiting the class & careers of others as needed. The cycle keeps the wheels greased based on the ploys. But monsters often become adventurers as wars & conflict create more ruins. These ruins are exploited by the forces of darkness. 
6. The life of adventurer is a very dangerous one & circumstances often force disgraced nobles & mercenaries to try their hand at it. Again warfare & conflict the opportunity for the life of an adventurer to be inflicted upon a PC.
   
   
   
   Can one leave the adventurer life entirely? I'm reminded of late Roman Empire soldiers & generals talking about war campaigns. The marks that these left upon them & their lives is something that has an echo for me as a dungeon master. Do adventurers ever really leave the life behind them?
   Where do the hoards that are in the dungeon come from? Again I think that the treasure in dungeons are closely tied in with war & it has far deeper meaning than we usually know once its retrieved. We'll get into that in another blog entry coming up.

Adapting Lamentions of the Flame Princess's Adventure Tower Of The Star Gazer By James Edward Raggi IV For Old School Pulp Style Campaign Play

"Legends tell of a wizard so arrogant that he felt the entire sky was naught but a lens for him to view the stars. So great was the hubris and defiance of this man that the gods smote him with the power of storm and fire. Oh did the wizard laugh at such a pathetic gesture. He did not fear the gods, for he drew his knowledge from something greater. Something darker.

The legend of this wizard grew, first whispered by men in fear, and later in awe. The wizard, they said, attacked the gods just as they had attacked him. And his joy only grew as the land around him died.

But then there was no more news. No more talk. Something had finally brought the wizard low, for though the sky still blazed down on him and his abode, he no longer blazed back.

And now you’re going to walk right through this wizard’s front door."

So begins Lamentations of the Flame Princess's Flame Princess's Tower of the Star Gazer adventure.
We're going to dive into adapting this adventure for another style of play.

Last night I came home after my weekly OSR game. I started thinking about Lamentations of the Flame Princess's Tower of the Star Gazer adventure & adapting to my own Pre WW I game. The idea here is a legendary isolated wizard's tower that adventurers & outlaws have heard about in the middle of no place square in Europe. The Romanian border or the wilds of  Bohemia is an ideal location for this tower
The tower itself is designed as a beginning level adventure but many of the rooms, their weird contents,etc. can & should be customized to the dungeon master's needs.  Tower of the Star Gazer is designed to introduce the Lamentations of the Flame Princess retro clone game ethos to the table & it does an excellent job.

Pre WWI was a power keg waiting to happen & the areas around Bohemia are isolated, wild, & still very dangerous during this time.
The themes with Tower are very much in keeping with both the OSR & to a certain extent 70's & 80's classic Heavy Metal magazine. The dark fantasy aesthetic at work here in spades with the author giving the DM advice & an overview commentary of how to run the adventure.


Many of the ideas presented in Tower of the Star Gazer are right along the lines of the dark classic fantasy of Clark Ashton Smith. The tower will not survive the coming days of the World War I & suddenly its going to be erased from world history. But not before adventurers loot it. If they survive the experience that is. The adventure location itself might be from another world crossed over into real world history. This lead in presents all kinds of questions for the dungeon master as to the fact that Tower is bit of a complex beast. Not everything in the tower can be solved by mere 'hack & slash', the players are going to have to think their way out.
In some respects this Tower of the Star Gazer is a hearken back to the Weird Tales pulp stories as a PC adventure & this makes it perfect fodder for a pulp or low powered supers game.
Yes I'm thinking about using Tower of the Star Gazer with Amazing Adventures! rpg from Troll Lord Games.Everything in the tower lines up perfectly with the Weird Tales aesthetic as a beginning adventure but would the characters survive? Especially given the weird & very dangerous contents of the adventure?


Artifacts, treasures, curious objects, etc. all reside within the legendary confines of the tower. Villagers don't go near the place & the village near the tower has always had a sinister reputation among the locals. Rumors of the tower & its wizard may have reached the outside world through a modern lone survivor with some of the contents & notes of the wizard perhaps even a map?! Cliched perhaps?! Sure but it gets the players every time & suddenly their off on the hunt for fortune & glory.  Given the weird shifting nature of history Tower of the Star Gazer is likely to haunt players for many years to come. 


Tower of the Star Gazer Is Available Here

The OSR Many Facets of C2 The Ghost Tower of Inverness By Allan Hammack For Your Old School Campaigns

"A shadow from the past, the Ghost Tower of Inverness has loomed ever larger in the mind of the great Seer of Urnst. Now he has convinced the Duke that an expedition should be organized to go to the ancient keep and recover its greatest treasure - the fabled Soul Gem. "

Its been a long time since I've dusted off my copy of C2  The Ghost Tower of Inverness By Allan Hammack & this module has turned a lot of characters of mine into potato salad. And yes its one of the infamous fun house dungeons & yes I've talked about it before.There are several reasons why C2 has come back up on my radar kids. The backer copies of ACK's Heroic Handbook have gone out tonight & yes I did a review of that tome. But I've been doing a lot of reading of Clark Ashton Smith again in the meantime & I've got some thoughts about the tower. Gut the whole the adventurers are prisoners & going dungeoneering because their going to get their sentence commuted  bit. Players hate the all aboard the magic rail road bit.


Instead go read the Clark Ashton Smith all powerful sorcerer Maal Dweb cylce of stories because he's exactly the sort of demi god as wizard character whose going to be behind the tower.
The sort of occult technologies in this module is just the sort of high magical work that we see in the same style as Maal Dweb. The Maze of Maal Dweb,  (1938) contains many of the same elements that C2 contains & these elements get expanded upon in the second story The Flower-Women, (1935).
What does this have to do with "The Heroic Fantasy Handbook"? Quite a bit actually. Parts of the interior plot, elements, etc. are going to have to be altered but the devil as they say is in the details.

C2  The Ghost Tower of Inverness is a structure that has stood since before recorded time. This means that the players are going to be stumbling into deep & high magic here. The tower & its artifact are way too good to pass up as a possible base of operations. The mix of Sword & Sorcery & high fantasy.

There are in fact several resources within the tower that make it far too valuable to have a lich or another arch wizard take it over after the PC's clear it out. C2  The Ghost Tower of Inverness has tons of potential as a potential strong point or adventurer's fortress. The guidelines for maintaining the place are build right into ACK & Heroic Fantasy Handbook. The soul stone artifact's powers are going to have to be changed & altered. Possibly more sinister or arcane based as the campaign calls for.

• Monsters may need to be altered to fit closer to the Adventurer, Conqueror, King ideal & perhaps several beasts from ACK's Lairs & Encounters might be good stand ins. 
• Rail road encounters are going to have to be drastically altered to fit into making not only a challenge but a fully realized winnable situation.  
• Gut background & placement as needed for your own home world. 

Now I'm going to flip C2  The Ghost Tower of Inverness right over to Hyperborea with Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea second edition. The fact is that this module would make an excellent abandoned pleasure house for a wizard after the Green Plague has ravaged the world. Placement for this little gem is right on a nearby island off of  Port Zangerios! The pirates have been trying for centuries to get into the ruins & the tower. Soul gem is actually the resting place for a dying god secreted there when Hyperborea went to the Great Old Ones.

Again C2 is definitely too valuable of a location to allow it to fall into the hands of one of the myriad horrors of Hyperborea. Several of the portals in the tower might even lead into Underborea.
Then there's the fact that C2  The Ghost Tower of Inverness By Allan Hammack could be used to run an adjunct to the Lion & Dragon retroclone with a bit of adaption on the DM's part. The tower & its environs are the perfect location to come back from the depths of the Celtic other world. The place was used by a fairy lord for his amusement by torturing its prisoners in a wide variety of amusing & various ways. But now its returned from the depths of Fairyland its placement off the coast of England possibly near edge of lost Lyonesse especially dangerous & its artifacts very precious!

Oisín and Niamh approaching a palace in Tír na nÓg, illustration
by Stephen Reid in T. W. Rolleston's The High Deeds of Finn (1910)