1d20 Mysterious Barbarian Sword & Sorcery Treasures Table For Your Old School Campaigns

 Barbarian tribes sometimes have some of the best metal workers in Sword & Sorcery campaigns. What happens when a party comes across a random horde or other treasures. These treasures of the horde define the identity and value of the tribe's worth. 

"Like gay-hued leaves after an autumn storm, the fallen littered the plain; the sinking sun shimmered on burnished helmets, gilt-worked mail, silver breastplates, broken swords and the heavy regal folds of silken standards, overthrown in pools of curdling crimson. In silent heaps lay war-horses and their steel-clad riders, flowing manes and blowing plumes stained alike in the red tide. About them and among them, like the drift of a storm, were strewn slashed and trampled bodies in steel caps and leather jerkins..."

"The Scarlet Citadel" (1933) Robert E. Howard 

Here then is a table for random Barbarian treasures and relics for your old school campaigns 

1d20 Mysterious Barbarian Sword & Sorcery Treasures Table

1. Three foot golden worked plate that contains an astrological record of the night sky worth 130 gold pieces. This piece allows a wizard or druid to track the god's stars of the local tribes. 
2. Great Torc made of gold and silver worth 200 gold pieces that allows +2 bonus to all melee strikes. 
3. Chalice made of bronze and gold wire that allows a shaman to cast 'speak with the dead' when filled with sacred wine once a week worth 300 gold pieces. 
4. Bronze dagger that floats in a bucket and always points to true north! The dagger is coated with silver and is a +2 weapon of kings worth 100 gold pieces worth to the right tribes or collector. 
5. Golden flute made from the thigh bone of a dead and glorious champion of Chaos. The flute will route out the heaviest infestation of Chaos in an area. Worth 200 gold pieces it is enshrined with many anti Chaos ruins. 
6. Torc of Law This torc is made from bronze heavily wrought with silver inlays that allows a barbarian warrior or shaman to purge Chaos from an area. When the command word is spoken. The torc is worth 100 gold pieces or 300 hundred to the right collector. 
7. The Hero's Bane - A bronze short sword is edged with silver and is the bane of lycanthropes because it acts as a +3 weapon against them. The sword must be bathed in the blood of a wolf to activate. Worth 200 gold to certain tribal leaders. 
8. A pound of unknown alien red gold coins These coins contain the dead spirits of warriors who fell in battle to the local tribes. They can summon the dead warriors spirits back to the mortal plane to fight for the tribe. Worth 400 gold to a dread or evil necromancer 
9. Green Ring - This green ring is wrought through with a red veined gem of green that allows the owner to know the heart of the coming war and it allows the owner to prophecy about coming battles. This ring is priceless to certain shamans or druidic members of the local tribes. 
10. The Eye of the Panther - This gem has been mounted on a crown of bronze and allows it's owner to summon the sacred panthers of the tribe. 1d6 prehistoric panthers will answer the owner's call and fight for the owner. The crown allows the owner to have darkvision within a 60 foot radius around them. The crown is worth 400 gold pieces and certain shamans will murder to own this treasure. 
11. Ring of Destiny - This gold and bronze ring allows the owner to once per day detect and elimatinate the effects of charm person or any charm like abilites. The ring is often seen as a sign of rulership and can cast 'command' as per the spell. The owner of this ring has all of the abilities of a barbarian chief but also the responsibilities. They are beholden too one of the local tribes and the ring is seen as priceless. 
12. The Horde of Copper Anger - This horde of gold and copper pennies is actually the loot from the slaughter of a tribe of barbarians and claims the owner to right the wrong of this ancient slaughter. The horde contains the souls of those slain and will pull the owner into the direction of those that murdered them. After the revenge is complete the horde will turn into a 1000 gold or silver pieces. 
13. The Amulet of the Agressor - This amulet allows the owner to enter a battle trace that shows the owner sight of  future raids and potentially rich targets. The amulet is actually the resting place of a small god of war and battle. The tribe that the amulet belongs to wants it back and is willing to pay 200 gold for it but the amulet worth 100 because of it's magick. 
14. Spear of the Slaughter - This +1 spear flies true made of meoteric metals and is named Slaughter. The spear has a twisted personality and is worth 200 gold because it often makes suggestions about acts of violence and plunder. 
15. The Ring of Terror -This ring causes the owner to battle spasm and twist his contenence without reason when entering battle. The owner will be subject to essentially a fear spell to anyone who sees him. The ring is worth 100 gold because it's silver and bronze make up is constaintly changing. 
16. Speak of Bronze & Fire - This bronze +2 spear is once a day able to alight with fire and fury able to move on it's target. The spear will roast any undead that it hits because it was made to kill a local lich lord. The spear is worth 200 gold and has developed a personality because it has a piece of it's ancient owner's soul and personality within. 
17. Rings of Free - These twelve rings once belonged to a prince of the Fey and allows it's owner to commune with the world of Fairy. The owner gains a +2 on all rolls involving Fey and Elves. The rings are worth 300 but will turn into Autumn leaves if the owner breaks a promise to a Fey or Dwarf. 
18. The cap of the Dwarves - This ancient cap is made of Dwarven fabrics with a brim of bronze. It allows the owner to find any hidden enterances to Dwarven Earth works. And it gives a +1 to all interactions or social rolls with Dwarves. Worth a mere 60 gold because it has fallen out of fashion with the Dwarves. Once per week the owner can turn invisible. 
19. Bowl of the Chief - This bronze and gold bowl allows its owner to magically have a meal of the ancient barbarian tribes appear once a day. This meal will be filling and feed 2 people with meat and vegitables. This bowl is priceless to one of the local tribes. 
20. A Sword Named Violence - This sword is made from the bronze and steel with the ruins of violence and hate spelled out on the blade. The sword contains the ancient spirits of fallen warriors within it. The sword is worth 500 gold and acts as a +2 short sword. 

1d20 Random Sword & Sorcery Traits of The Nephilim Background Table For Your Old School & OSR Game Campaigns

Genesis 6:1–4,"The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them; the same were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown." 
     There are those adventurers whose ancestry was cursed & corrupted by the blight of the ancient Fallen children of the Watchers who came down to Earth and begat with the daughters & sons of man. The monsters and children of these couplings were then the parents of the next generation. And some adventurers count these legacies among thier own blood. This blood still flows through adventurers veins and it's nature is Chaotic and dangerous. Here then is a 1d20 table to add the weird and dangerous Choatic traits to your games! 

1d20 Random Sword & Sorcery Traits of The Nephilim Background Table

 

1. The PC's father was cursed with strange visions by his ancestry. Each 1d6 months he or she can make 1d6 prophecies connected to the party or random campaign events. These visions are couched in alagory and strange often terrifying symbolism. 
2. There are weird rock like growths that weave thier way in your arms and hands adding +2 damage to all melee attacks. 
3. Each new moon you bleed from your eyes and can curse a target like the magick ritual. 
4. Part of your grandmother's soul was dead and you are affected by holy symbols as an undead. 
5. Moon silver races through your veins and lycanthropes or undead can stand to be around you. 
6. Your strange parentage gave you strange semi demonic eyes and you suffer -2 on your Charisma each time some meets your gaze. 
7. Your mother has para elemental heritage in her blood and once a month you can command that element for 1d6 hours. 
8. There is undeath in your veins and once a week you crave flesh. This craving must be satifised or you begin to take a point of damage. 
9. When you grow angry you grow fangs and claws adding +2 to all melee attacks. These disappear when the PC calms down. 
10. There is ghoul legacy within your blood line allowing you to smell magick and foul Chaos on the wind. 
11. You have the gift of demonic music and can play any musical instrument as an unnatural talent. 
12. Metal burns the demonic part of your soul causing -2 Charisma to any witnessing this. This is especially true of the noble metals. 
13. Flames erupt from your mouth and eyes when you suffer a wraithful anger and fit! One hit point creatures flee from your continance as if you cast a fear spell. 
14. You are divinely perfect and it bothers each person around you. Many animals will seek you out but people are often charmed when you pay too close attention to them. 
15. Your parantage causes you to have one major and two minor mutations. 
16. You are 'coffin blooded' & gain +3 strength from attending funerary rites & rituals. Death is drawn to this character. 
17. Your spittle is laced with the acids of Hell and does 1d5 damage to anyone it hits. 
18. You have the 'gaze of a giant' and it causes melancholy and depression in anyone you stare at three times a day. The target must save vs spells or they might be driven to suicide or murder. 
19. You are 'double souled', you have demonic soul fragment that lives along side your own. You own soul pushes it aside. But every fort night your touch can and will kill plants and animals. 

1d20 Mysterious Sword & Sorcery Background Trait Table For Your Old School Games

 Lo did the heavens shake & mysterious hellish forces were unleashed beyond the Boreas winds. The very gods themselves perished in battles beyond the ken of human knowledge. They're blood was left on the battle field & incredibly it seeped upon the earth imbuing men with dangerous & mysterious destinies. Here is a 1d20 table to add a bit of the mythological and mysterious to your PC's.

1d20 Mysterious Sword &
Sorcery Background Trait Table

1.  You're father was cursed by an Ice Giant & now certain magical metals break in your possession after 1d10 months. You can not be killed by this metal but you can be very badly wounded & made to wish you were dead. It will take 1d6 months longer to heal from injuries caused by this mysterious and mystical metal. 
2. You have the gift of magic after a demon looked in from the black winds of Hell upon your mother bathing in the mystic stream near her home village. Every new moon you can speak with the spirits of the dead. Relatives & close family friends may seek you out for favors & jobs they couldn't complete in life. 
3. Your half brother is of the clan of mystics and seers; you are not blessed with his sight but only his reputation. Many seek you out for your gifts even though you don't have them. Mundane and legendary events are attributed to you even though you don't have them or do you? 
4. You are the great grandson or daughter of a legendary hero and your not aware of the staggering reputation that you must live up to. 
5. There is a piece of a mysterious manuscript tattooed onto your soul. 
6. Ancient dark gods urinated near the water supply of your village; you have 1d6 strange mutations waiting to bloom as soon as you go into battle against demonic or Lovecraftian forces. 
7. Ancient fairies have designs on your destiny and life. May you live in interesting times. 
8. You are related to an evil and despotic ruler of a far off land who knows you as his little cousin. You are forever in his shadow. 
9. Your reputation belongs to another who does great and heroic deed but you are constantly reaping his rewards without having ever met this person. 
10. You have six fingers on your life hand & a mysterious ring of silver grafted onto the flesh. None knows what this means. 
11. The mystic sight has changed your eyes to the colour violet and at other times these eyes appear in colours know man was meant to see. 
12. Ancient gods dwell in your blood line and your destiny is to do great deeds or die like a dog in an ancient sacrifice. 
13. There is no great destiny for you, your grand parent was deranged & insane he or she wanted so badly for you to have a great quest or legend behind your blood. There is not, you are ordinary but have grown up hearing great tales of relatives that don't exist or do they?? 
14. You have a mysterious sigil on your back. Orcs automatically don't like the way you smell but won't tell you why? 
15.  Your grand father or grand mother was very virile and there are blood kin and relatives all across the land. You can count on help with a 20% chance of some blooded NPC just over the horizon. There is a 60% chance of a warrior or minor wizard with a blood feud with your family or clan. 
16. Magic flows in your veins but your a clod and steel loves to cut you when it gets the chance -1 on Charisma for the number of scars that cover you. That being said many of the opposite sex love scars so you might find a partner or lover with a weird fascination of them. 
17. You have a tongue of Loki & your words are weird, twisted, & can get you in trouble 20% of the time. But you also have the lore of the mythological & local legends seem to come to you almost through the ether. 
18. You have several weird scars and marks on your hands, the riddle of steel responses to you. Gain +1 on all sword strikes. Magic twists in your hands as well watch well which spells you use or the magic will twist away from you. 
19. You have a evil mirror like twin out in the world that constantly causes trouble and as part of your destiny you must stop them. They are cunning, devious, and very dangerous. 
20. Marked by the gods you are a true child of the gods & heroes; great things are expected of you. Clerics and seers know the aura that cloaks you as you go into the world. 

All ideas and opinions copyrighted & trademarked to the owner of this blog
  & Dark Corner Productions Inc.

Review & Commentary On 'Crimson Escalation' By Venger As'Nas Satanis, & Rob Couture For Your Old School Game Campaigns

 "I was looking for a way to make my D&D combat fast, realistic, and exciting.  I put forth a few ideas, but my friend Rob Couture had the idea of increasing the critical-hit range every round.  I took his idea and ran with it.

Included in this PDF is the cover image, Rob Couture's foreword, an explanation of the Crimson Escalation mechanic, a visual aid "tracker" so you always know what crits, some cool artwork and layout, my Ten Commandments of Immersion, and the credits." 

"If you want to start using Crimson Escalation on your own without purchasing this PDF, you have my blessing.  I know it will improve your battles and overall enjoyment of whatever D20-based fantasy roleplaying game you want to use."

Crimson Escalation by Venger Satanis is simply a very simple, easy to use, and reliable alternative combat simulator in hit point based games. Will this system be useful for Call of Cthulhu or even story teller style games?! Yes it will! Crimson Escalation only clocks in at nine pages but its actually a very useful nine pages at that. What Crimson Escalation actually is, is a series of simple & easy to use combat systems. what is it? Well in a nutshell according to CE kickstarter; "I received a lot of comments.  Rob Couture suggested increasing the critical-hit range by one every round of combat (Rob has graciously agreed to write the foreword for Crimson Escalation). 

Yes, that's basically the entire gist!  On the 1st round of combat, critical hits are on a "natural 20".  On the 2nd round, crits are 19 and 20.  3rd round, crits are 18-20, and so on..." But this is Venger Satanis so nothing is ever at it seems or so one would think right?! Wrong! Crimson Escalation is actually quite nuanced in its play style. The combat system is simply reliable and very brutal with both sides going into combat but one one surviving that being the idea here.  'Ten Commandments of Immersion' hits the high points & does so with little difficulty. These guidelines are common sense & very handy! 
Wait, isn't 'Crimson Escalation' simply someone house rules for combat?! Well yes & a big resounding, no! This is an well put together product & it shows. There has been some actual play testing here and it shows through. Is Crimson Escalation actually useful?! In my estimation? Yes if the DM & players actually follow through on using the Crimson Escalation system then its a good & easy combat system to use. Where would the Crimson Escalation system actually be useful to in an rpg system?! Personally I believe that CE would work very well within a Sword & Sorcery rpg adventure setting in spades. Do I recommend the CE system?! In a word yes! 
 'Crimson Escalation' By Venger As'Nas Satanis, & Rob Couture For Your Old School Game Campaigns Is Available Right Here For Purchase. 

Agencies of Violence & Warfare - Zozer Games Godstar & Warpland's by Gavriel Quiroga As Cepheus Engine Campaign Starter

 

So let's talk a wee bit more about Warpland's by Gavriel Quiroga today. The Eloi of the Warpland's setting may have originally been a client race of the fiefdom of Aurelia in the Godstar Rpg. Warpland's campaign setting is one part science fiction & two parts science fantasy shaken in with a core of Sword & Sorcery.  Zozer Games Godstar is a perfect contrast to the Barorque dark fantasy of Warpland.  Why?! 
 Because the factions on the face of Warpland's setting are not resting. The interstellar powers of Godstar have not been forgotten! No joke but imagine if you will that that Morlocks of Warpland not only remember the houses of Godstar but they want their blood.  Godstar's interstellar empires & houses represent everything that Warpland's powers & even the gods hate. Now give some of the factions of Warpland space craft & the stars will run red with blood. 

The high technologies & wild magicks of Warpland represent a quality that only appears in the myths & legends of the great houses of Godstar. 'The whole affair sets up a HeMan vs the chapter houses of Dune' on a bender feel. 
But what does that really mean?! The fact of the matter is that if we use both products as a campaign basis we get a very mythic or legendary quality about the affair. Think about it, Warpland is a world cut off from the hyperspace lanes. The gateways suddenly open up & a place spoken of in whispers appears across the maps once again. 
And should the warlords & magus of Warpland gain space travel capabilities?! All bets for the campaign universe are off! 
A great interstellar horde is going to go off into the greater universe on a rampage the likes of which Godstar's great houses haven't seen in centuries! Why?! 
Because the great houses remember the powers & dangers of the powers of Warpland. 

Read between the lines of Warpland & you can actually see the powers of Warpland could potentially have been great houses that have fallen into the great Abyss of interstellar history.  There's lots under the hood here to explore. More coming up! 

Review & Appendix N Commentary With C.L. Moore's Jirel of Joiry & Barbaric! By Omer Golan-Joel From Stellagama Publishing For Cepheus Engine rpg or Original Traveller rpg

 "The fierce, proud, and relentless commander of warriors, standing tall above her enemies and simmering with rage, Jirel bids farewell to the world of treacherous men and walks through a forbidden door into Hell itself in pursuit of freedom, justice, and revenge."


So last night it was a night with an old friend, that friend happened to be C.L. Moore's Jirel of Joiry in paperback. She was created in '34 by C.L.Moore as a reaction to the Sword & Sorcery tales of the Pulp magazine era. Reading through the stacks of Amazon book reviews is like reading through a laundry list of a comic book or Pulp letters column. The Amazon break down from one of their reviewers hits the high marks; "C. L. Moore created Jirel, ruler of Joiry, in reaction to the beefy total-testosterone blood-and-thunder tales of '30s pulp magazines, but Jirel is no anti-Conan. She's a good Catholic girl, stubbornly purposeful, relentless in pursuit of enemies or vengeance, hard-boiled and a little stupid, and cannot be distracted by mere physical attractiveness. Indeed, in Jirel's world, beauty = decadence = corruption. Were these stories written today, inevitably Jirel would have a lot of hot sex, but as they were first published in Weird Tales between 1934-1939, sexual attraction is mostly only vividly implied. No loss. Jirel's journeys through unnatural landscapes and her battles with supernatural opponents are still wonderful to read, and though newcomers Red Sonja and Xena are more famous now, Jirel rules as the archetypal, indomitable redheaded swordswoman in chain mail and greaves, swinging her "great two-edged sword."" 
The idea that a Sword & Sorcery character not only rules her own domain but that the supernatural won't leave her alone is something seldom seen. She's a warrior & a more then a bit fallible. This makes her far more relatable to the reader then some of today's characters. She's very much in a similar spirit to some of Clark Ashton Smith's characters in a sense. The ironic play of the setting, the masterful use of the English language, and the sly character development all built around C.L. Moore's weaving of the stories. 

And what does any of this have to do with Omer Golan-Joel new Cepheus Engine rpg powered supplement Barbaric! ? Everything really. Barbaric! is the Sword & Sorcery add on book that has the very essence to run a Sword & Sorcery based rpg 2d6 Sword & Sorcery based campaign from the ground up. This means that  C.L. Moore's Jirel of Joiry  world & setting could easily be adapted into a Barbaric! campaign. Or Robert E.Howard's works, mixed in Clark Ashton Smith, etc. all of the Appendix N writers are grist for the  Barbaric! mill. This book clocks in at fifty seven pages of good solid layout, a readable product, & the quality we've come to expect from Stellagama Publishing. 

If you want your own Conan wanna be slithering through the darkness, the barbarian hordes tearing down the sorcerer's tower, etc. within Cepheus Engine then Barbaric! is the supplement for you! Omer Golan-Joel does an excellent job of boiling down every Sword & Sorcery & Pulpy goodness of his take on Cepheus Engine rpg system weirdness in Barbaric!. We've seen this before in Sword of Cepheus. 

The difference between Sword of Cepheus & Barbaric! is day & night because of how & where Omar places the life paths, the humancentric elements, the Sword & Sorcery elements vs all of the High Fantasy flavor. This is 2d6 Conan like Sword & Sorcery play vs 2d6 High Fantasy, sure they have elements in common but you know the difference when you see it, read it, & play it. Barbaric! hits the high notes of 2d6  Sword & Sorcery play for the its publishing. Cepheus Atom could be used to plug into a whole new world of post apocalyptical goodness. 

For bringing to life C.L. Moore's Jirel of Joiry into Barbaric! there are several reasons why it would work.  Jirel of Joiry has all of the 'journey of a hero' elements in place, but what happens to her world when she's gone?! Surely there were adventurers looking for her?! Even on a quest for vengence nothing happens in a vacuum. This is where Barbaric! could come into play. The PC's are generated to go on a quest to find her & encounters with the supernatural result from there. Simple & easy to do a 2d6 campaign from there. Moore's Jirel stories include the following:

• "Black God's Kiss" (October 1934)
• "Black God's Shadow" (December 1934)
• "Jirel Meets Magic" (July 1935)
• "The Dark Land" (January 1936)
• "Quest of the Starstone" (November 1937), with Henry Kuttner
• "Hellsgarde" (April 1939)

For grabbing the  Jirel of Joiry  stories cheaply the Paizo's 

Black God's Kiss (Trade Paperback) is the best source in print at the moment. 

1d20 Random Deadly Sword & Sorcery Encounter Table With The Royalty of Undeath For Your Old School Campaigns

"Echoing foot falls sounded through the dusty canyon of the old mountains, older then when life had paid its tax to the universe. These rocks throbbed with occult energies beyond the ken of man's knowledge. For the three wizard's apprentices it just might become their graves. They had awoken something ancient, mean, & evil. Now it wanted their hides!
"Do you see it?"
"No but I can feel it, you didn't see those pits it had for eyes!"

"Shut up & run!" The words weren't spoken so much as croaked out of the throat of the poor fool.
"Can't do that I must turn back. He calls me. Can't you hear his voice", & with heavy foot falls the former wizard's apprentice turned & trudged the five miles back to the barely tumbled down pile of rocks & stone that might be ruins.
There were hoof beats approaching closer but in a lazy almost casual fashion. The flanks of the creature had almost horse like outlines but the black energies that passed for not flesh were incredibly alien. Their merest outlines hurt the eyes.

They left the poor fool there.When the thing crested the hill as the others had long since left. Black energies coiled out of what was once centuries maybe a thousand years ago a humanoid skull. The thing was majestic & the definition of evil in the rusted old armor, the weapons though were lovingly oiled, the leather bits worked with care. But that demonic horror seated on the back of a mockery of a horse was not even remotely human. Its eye sockets gleamed with energies from the deepest pits of a nether universe where dead stars gleamed around the souls of the damned. 
Urine rain down the leg of the apprentice as his will had long since faded as soon his life would. His soul belonged to the thing on the hillock not far away. What might have been mistaken for a smile crossed the countenance of the thing but it was only the moonlight gleaming off of the bones that pulsed with alien energies. A hand began to work the lovingly tendered sword & its side"

 

Cover of the pulp magazine Weird Tales (March 1946, vol. 39, no. 4) featured Twice Cursed by Manly Wade Wellman. Cover art by Lee Brown Coye.

The wastelands & graveyards of the dead are the fields & cities of the living, there are countless dead that do not rest easy in their graves. But there are far more alien things waiting in these places for PC's! The dead don't rest easy & don't want to give up their grip on reality, as they hunger for the life & souls of the living. Darker & far more sinister things fuel the lives of these monsters & there is a hunger that is never satisfied.


Cover of the pulp magazine Weird Tales (January 1944, vol. 37, no. 3) featuring Bon Voyage, Michele by Seabury Quinn and The Golden Goblins by Manly Wade Wellman. Cover art by Harold S. De Lay. Published by Weird Tales, Inc.)

These dark thirsts summon demons & worse from the depths of the underworld to drag these horrors back down to the darkest depths. Dungeons, ruins, & other far more sinister place call to these horrors & PC's are the easiest prey for these monsters.


Cover of the pulp magazine Weird Tales (September 1944, vol. 38, no. 1) featuring The Long Still Streets of Evening by Frank Owen. Cover art by A. R. Tilburne.

“Denn die Todten reiten Schnell. (For the dead travel fast.)”

― Bram Stoker, Dracula


1d20 Random Deadly Sword & Sorcery Encounter Table
With The Royalty of Undeath 

1. A decayed lich prince of ancient aspect along with his 1d8 huntsmen from Hell have come to hunt for the souls of the living! 
2. An ancient decayed Viking berserk still animated by the souls of the slain come for more from the living. He has double the hit points of a wight and an enchanted +2 sword
3. An ancient queen fat with decay and souls of sacrificed victims has 1d6 ghosts astrally tied to her seeking victims for her hungers! She is a vicious zombie of incredibly dangerous intelligence. 
4. A lost zombie prince with a demon sword seeks to slay any living to feed his horrid habits and resurrect his people to slay the living. 
5. An ancient horde of undead ghouls is actually the former royal court of the land and now seek the flesh of the living to assume their chosen place and resurrect their king a death knight. 
6. An ancient explorer long expired in an ancient distant land now seeks to return to his former homeland four hundred years later after being lost in the underworld. He has been under a curse of necromancy and horror. Treat him as an embodied who anyone he slays joins him. Currently there are 1d10 zombies in bondage to him. 
7. A slain royal cleric has come back due to a curse and she now wanders the night as a ghoul to pray on the living. Her victims join her as her pack. There are 1d4 ghouls following and slaying for her. 
8. A royal burrow has been disturbed and the king wanders the night feeding upon the living passing the curse of the wight to others around him. They are forced to give him their souls as they pass on.
9. A princess slain eight centuries ago has come back as a semi living girl with no memory of  her time in the underworld. At night she roams the night as a vampire & witch slaying the living for their souls to fuel her revenge against a local royal family
10. Three ghouls wander the night in search of their princes lost among the living. They ride ghasts searching the kingdoms as unknown knights on a quest slaying monsters and other horrors. They are in service to a minor god of death. 
11. An ancient colour from space has been released from inside the body of an alien royal king. There are nine wights of alien aspect roaming the night feeding on the living and passing on the souls of them to the thing as it gets ready to break free from its nest. 
12. Twelve zombie disciplines search the night for their undead messiah of royal aspect. They slay anyone they come across. These horrors were all once princes of the local area. 
13. An alien tomb of a royal prince has been disturbed and a demon has been released it haunts the dreams of the living as it devours the souls of the local children. A prince's soul has been devoured and now he roams the night as a vampire seeking adventurers to slay him.
14.   1d4 zombies of royal priests roam the night in search for a magical artifact to cure them of their curse. But they must feed on the living and curse anyone they come across with their disease. 
15. Five ghosts of ancient kings need the souls of 12 maidens to join them in the afterlife of the underworld or they shall become the property of horrid demon lord. 
16. A necromancer to a royal court 2oo miles away released a demon from the king's private temple and he's become possessed by the thing. He's now a vampire of incredibly dangerous aspect and roams the night slaying any and all he comes across. The king has a bounty on his head. 
17. Eight queens of the night are shadows of themselves as  vampires & have been released by a careless princess. Their curse causes them to slay the living & seek the souls of innocents for their demonic succubus mistress. The princess has become a slayer of the undead but she needs help. Her curse is starting to take effect. Will she join them or not. 
18. Five ghoul princes seek the hand of a witch queen but she is trapped beneath a village in the underworld and only the souls of outlaws & adventurers can free them. Guess whose on the menu. 
19. Three vampire kings seek to conquer the land but they must have the sword of the ancient hero. The thing is guarded by a Lovcraftian horror and perhaps a group of outlaws can succeed. 
20. An ancient undead god of thunder & lightning has arisen from his ancient tomb and he seeks heroes to slay him or he will release a horde of zombie Viking warriors from their burrow.
    
    
    
    Who fares to find the sunset ere it fly,
    Turning to light and fire the further west,
    Shall have the veils of twilight for his guest,
    And all the falling of an ashen sky.
    
    On lands he shall not know, the splendor lies—
    A pharos on some alienated shore,
    In foam and purple lost forevermore,
    Where dreams are kindled in remoter eyes.
    
    Ashes of Sunset  (1922)
    by Clark Ashton Smith
    
    

1d8 Random Wasteland Warriors & Adventurers Encounter Table For Old School Games

 Wastelands are breeding grounds for the weird, strange, & just plain dangerous. Places of violence that attract the kind of men & women that high adventure calls. These warriors of the wastelands are a rare breed attracted to the wildness & wanton ruination that accompanies much of the landscape. These are men & women adventurers of unique aspect who wander the wastelands in search of adventure & the next score.

There is a 30% chance that these wanderers of the wastes were employed as mercenaries in one of the many local brush fire wars. These conflicts eat warriors & their fighting prowess up with rapid fire wars conflicts. The spoils of war have run out and these veterans have turned to the life of adventuring. There is a 20% chance of a wizard or warlock being among such rabble. Many local tribes look down on and will chase away such adventurers. They see these rabble for the scum they are as potential sources of possible violence & people whose profession are the ways of warfare.



There is a 40% that when encountering these various warriors that they may be opening to acting as hirelings for the party. They often have very 'colorful' backgrounds & histories with a 15 % chance of encountering an NPC adventurer with a murderous blood vengeance upon a wasteland adventurer. Wasteland warriors & wanderers always seem to attract violence & dramatically weird events with their very presence.



Wastelanders often have deep associations with local gangs of cut throats, bandits, murderers, and worse. These outlaws often use reputations of the wastelanders to foster their own reputations. There is a 20% chance of a wastelander having a relic or magic item. These are often used to bargained with if their lives are in danger or used when supernatural enemies show up. There is also a 10% chance that these adventurers will have type B treasure or better if they are 3rd level fighters or better.


1d8 Random Wasteland Warriors
& Adventurers Encounter Table

1.  Truu Ro & his party of adventurers are actually a tribe of time lost survivors who have ended up in the wastelands. They have sold their services as mercenaries to other adventurers and have made a tidy profit killing outlaws and collecting bounties. 
2. Brabarus Russ - Russ is a murderer of the highest caliber and works with several groups of adventurers as a professional assassin. She made her way here from her home world across the cosmos. She has acquired several contracts in recent years by simply observing local politics.
3. Georgus The Bold - This warrior is the head of several large mercenary families that farm their services out to the local black market, assasination guilds, and has made his money from the adventure opportunities afforded her. 
4.  Grut The Mighty is actually the head of a local tribe of warriors who often raid money lender caravans.The locals want to know if this barbarian is building an army of professionally trained merc troops. He often raids lone travelers. 
5.  Truss - An android warrior from the far future that is actually a 5th level fighter with a terrible past who is now committing crimes in the wastelands to cover his actual assassinations of key players in the local government positions while taking the treasures and relics for his group. 
6. Fel The Amazing  is actually a warlock of incredible power that has thrown his lot in with the wrong crowd. He has become a jaded almost demonic figure with the wasteland community with a passion for collecting valuable artworks. 
7. Kalus The Cat - This strange almost cat like mutant humanoid might be a traveler from another world or another dimension. She has a band of misfit warriors 2nd level who take it upon themselves to rob and steal from the locals. 
8. The Grinning Skull is a local home grown wasteland adventurer whose got his tendrils throughout the wasteland underworld. He has amassed a sizable fortune through racketeering & running deadly raids on travelers.

Swords & Sorcery With Some OSR Campaign & Game Commentary

 Sorry that we've been off line for three days because of a massive power outage & the resulting stumbling around in the dark because of it. So one of the things that's been evident too me is the fact that I spend way too much time in the realms of social media. That's gonna change pronto. Anyhow besides being in the dark there was a lot of time to do some reading & mine was filled with two systems. One was Troll Lords  Castles & Crusades books which are always entertaining. But I've really been missing my Swords & Sorcery taste. 

Now for years back in 2004 I ran a very successful Conan D20. Now there's always been friction between the 3.5 Dungeons & Dragons crowd & the D20 Conan crowd. Why?! D20 Conan was plagued with all kinds of editorial issues, systems gaffs, etc. This was mostly cleaned up in CONAN THE ROLEPLAYING GAME ATLANTEAN EDITION which got a B- on Rpgnet back in the day. The reason why the D20 Conan books are still used by many OSR designers is the game system is both OGL & one of the Open-source tabletop games. One of the big open secrets of the OSR is that the underbelly of the 'movement' is the OGL & D20 mechanics. Quite frankly I've been getting a bit sick of writing, designing, & playing everyone else's copyrighted & trademarked world setting or campaign. 

Over the last couple of years the closer the OSR & lately the Wizards of the Coast  controversies have come to my table the further away I wanna get from them. So its either going to be me leaning into D20 Conan more or the Siege Engine. Its gonna be me leaning into Siege as time goes on. But it might just be me combining, adding or stripping away the system elements of C&C as the players need or want. 
The real kick in the teeth for me has been grabbing a physical copy of 'The Spider God's Kiss' By Xoth Publishing. I'll review that lovely Sword & Sorcery product coming up. If you haven't toured around 'The Hyborian Age site' I highly suggest you do. 

So why the switch up?! An Amazon review by 

Trulle Yors reminded me of one of my loves of the D20 Conan rpg. This review hits the high points of the magic system ; "Onward to magic! What can I say? This is what D&D spell casting should have been. The spell list is not too long, although you can easily enough drag a spell from a Conan book into this system. The spells are relatively powerful, most require only Verbal and Somatic components and Material ingredients aren't designed to to empty your purse.

All the magics are arranged into Styles (schools). The Hypnotism style, for example, has mesmerizing tricks that are available early on and that would be high-level in D&D. Here it doesn't take years of adventuring before you can be the Sorcerer and turn make a guard or several into brainwashed zombies at your beck and call, but neither can you fire off spells at every tun, thus cheapening the effect. Spells cost Power Points, and no wizard has too many of those, even though it is possible to go into the negative at the risk of fatigue. Spell Points are slowly recovered, but Mongoose unabashedly presents a wide gamut of means for regaining them and acquiring a temporary heap of new ones. You can sacrifice people, in game terms, by delivering a coup de gras to a helpless creature or, better yet, by torturing it to death, or you can inhale the narcotic fumes of Black Lotus.

You can also make pacts with eerie entities and demons which, however, will tend to increase your Corruption score, eventually making the sorcerer so obviously inhuman not just in thought but in appearance that he will have to go NPC. To the careful player, however, even this presents unique opportunities: if you manage to avoid crossing the final threshold, you can be a paragon of vice, whereupon you'll get to add your Corruption score to Intimidate checks, even when dealing with demons! Other rules make sure magic remains your obssession, since you begin to lose power if you become distracted with love or worldy pursuits. The wonderfully amoral game practically bedazzles with excellent, sinister ways of running a sorcerer - although if you really want to, you can try to stay "white." There are fairly innocent tricks like prestidigitation or non-magical mesmerism.

Ensorcelled items are rare and very expensive and hard to make, they tend to have specific bonuses rather than confer a wide range of benefits. Created minions acquire Corruption until they turn on you and so on. Still, magic can save an entire adventure, although its main goal, I believe, is to emphasize the lush and exotic nature of the setting. Hyboria is fairly low-magic but deadly and serious; you'll not find any of the cheese from D&D paperbacks in Howard's succint, vivid tales which have been influenced, as any fan will tell you, by H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos. Horrid things lurk in ancient ruins, vampires stalk their own tombs, cannibals feast on strangers, memories of Acheron still waff of fear, but there is also zest, drink, women and plenty of great steppes, seas and jungle to cross beneath an open sky. Your best friend, as befits Conan fiction, is a good trusty sword or bow."

One of the other OSR products that really started me down this path was CASTLE OLDSKULL - The Oldskull Necronomicon I. This isn't really an OSR book as its a splat book ala some of the older original White Wolf game system books. This is a fluff book through & through written as the actual account of the Mad Arab prophet himself. 

I long to be able to use the OSR as a platform to launch game campaigns that have a sustainability & a far reaching end. There's a really solid review of CASTLE OLDSKULL - The Oldskull Necronomicon I. right over here. 
Some of the material in the CASTLE OLDSKULL - The Oldskull Necronomicon I is perfectly suited to roll into a Sword & Sorcery game. There's lots of kit bashing that can be done with this book to really bring home the scope of such a campaign. 
I'm thinking of switching up my campaign notes on David "Zeb" Cook's X4 Master of the Desert Nomads for this campaign. But we'll talk about this one coming up tomorrow! 

1d10 Random Sword & Sorcery Occult Fetish Skull Table For Your Old School Games

“There are black zones of shadow close to our daily paths, and now and then some evil soul breaks a passage through. When that happens, the man who knows must strike before reckoning the consequences.”
― H.P. Lovecraft, The Thing on the Doorstep

There are artifacts & occult talisman's left over from rites & rituals in the remote corners of ruins,dungeons & other gathering places of the supernatural. These artifacts often gain power from the very nature of the far flung fabrics of unknown universes between the shadows. 

“The end is near. I hear a noise at the door, as of some immense slippery body lumbering against it. It shall not find me. God, that hand! The window! The window!”
― H.P. Lovecraft, Dagon et autres nouvelles de terreur

Each of these skulls has been around for more then a few hundred years. During these times the skulls have accumulated powerful curses, weird energies, & dangerous sigils. Should the owner concentrate on trying to unravel the occult & dark meaning. There is a 20% chance of any demonic sigil having the powerful devil, demonic lord, or lady to appear before the skull's owner. 
These skulls are actually cursed objects as per the 1st edition Dungeon Master's Guide & they will uncannily follow the owner appearing randomly even if destroyed. 

The "sigil of Lucifer" By Ssolbergj

These skulls are often abandoned or left in ruins or  dungeons as traps for the stupid & unwary. Often an aura of power seems to surround these skulls & they appear to be worth 100 gold pieces or more. 

1d10 Random Sword & Sorcery Occult Fetish Skull Table

1. A small bronze & gold covered skull belonging to a small humanoid. The eyes have been replaced with small garnets. The skull allows the owner to cast a 'speak with dead' spell once per week. 
2.  Ancient beyond belief this man's skull has been covered with silver wire & the eyes replaced with two rubies. The skull allows one to gaze two weeks into the future during the new moon when seven drops of blood is placed on the skull's forehead. There are instructions writ in common on the back of the skull. 
3. A giant humanoid frogoid's skull has been worked & carved with a strange glyph & alien writing. Once per week the skull allows one to dimensionl door into Shadow Realms. 
4. There is a deadly alien worm living inside this small humanoid skull. The thing attacks like a flesh eating rot grub of unusual size & intelligence. 
5. This bejeweled skull of some unknown humanoid is the home to an alien ghost of level draining capacity. The ghost will try to engage its own in a telepathic conversation hinting at its dire occult secrets. This is a ruse to get the owner to give into the influence of the skull. The thing will slowly level drain the owner every seven nights until the owner is dead. 
6. A strange onyx skull is home to a possessor demon that uses the skull as base to spread its evil influence among teens & the unsuspecting. The thing will use a 'magic  jar' ability to remove the spirit of a victim & replace it with a demonic thing. The skull appears to be worth 200 gold pieces. 
7. A very heavily painted & old skull is the home to a very malevolent jinn. Thing is guarding a priceless ruby within the skull & will engage a telepathic riddle contest to try to consume the soul of the victim. 
8. This skull is actually made of gold & provides the owner with true sight every new moon. This skull's owner can see through illusions, cons, & even elaborate spell disguises.The skull is made from the head of former high priest. '
9. The living skull of an adventurer named Ernie. The skull provides a map to two nearby dungeons. 
10. Two former adventurers now make up this composite skull. The owner is able to commune with spirits. These spirits will try  to direct the victim toward the nearest death dealing trap.. The skull itself will try & consume any stranglers that it can! 

1d20 Random Deadly Sword & Sorcery Encounter Table With The Royalty of Undeath For Your Old School Campaigns

"Echoing foot falls sounded through the dusty canyon of the old mountains, older then when life had paid its tax to the universe. These rocks throbbed with occult energies beyond the ken of man's knowledge. For the three wizard's apprentices it just might become their graves. They had awoken something ancient, mean, & evil. Now it wanted their hides!
"Do you see it?"
"No but I can feel it, you didn't see those pits it had for eyes!"

"Shut up & run!" The words weren't spoken so much as croaked out of the throat of the poor fool.
"Can't do that I must turn back. He calls me. Can't you hear his voice", & with heavy foot falls the former wizard's apprentice turned & trudged the five miles back to the barely tumbled down pile of rocks & stone that might be ruins.
There were hoof beats approaching closer but in a lazy almost casual fashion. The flanks of the creature had almost horse like outlines but the black energies that passed for not flesh were incredibly alien. Their merest outlines hurt the eyes.

They left the poor fool there.When the thing crested the hill as the others had long since left. Black energies coiled out of what was once centuries maybe a thousand years ago a humanoid skull. The thing was majestic & the definition of evil in the rusted old armor, the weapons though were lovingly oiled, the leather bits worked with care. But that demonic horror seated on the back of a mockery of a horse was not even remotely human. Its eye sockets gleamed with energies from the deepest pits of a nether universe where dead stars gleamed around the souls of the damned.
Urine rain down the leg of the apprentice as his will had long since faded as soon his life would. His soul belonged to the thing on the hillock not far away. What might have been mistaken for a smile crossed the countenance of the thing but it was only the moonlight gleaming off of the bones that pulsed with alien energies. A hand began to work the lovingly tendered sword & its side"
 

Cover of the pulp magazine Weird Tales (March 1946, vol. 39, no. 4) featured Twice Cursed by Manly Wade Wellman. Cover art by Lee Brown Coye.
The wastelands & graveyards of the dead are the fields & cities of the living, there are countless dead that do not rest easy in their graves. But there are far more alien things waiting in these places for PC's! The dead don't rest easy & don't want to give up their grip on reality, as they hunger for the life & souls of the living. Darker & far more sinister things fuel the lives of these monsters & there is a hunger that is never satisfied.


Cover of the pulp magazine Weird Tales (January 1944, vol. 37, no. 3) featuring Bon Voyage, Michele by Seabury Quinn and The Golden Goblins by Manly Wade Wellman. Cover art by Harold S. De Lay. Published by Weird Tales, Inc.)
These dark thirsts summon demons & worse from the depths of the underworld to drag these horrors back down to the darkest depths. Dungeons, ruins, & other far more sinister place call to these horrors & PC's are the easiest prey for these monsters.


Cover of the pulp magazine Weird Tales (September 1944, vol. 38, no. 1) featuring The Long Still Streets of Evening by Frank Owen. Cover art by A. R. Tilburne.

“Denn die Todten reiten Schnell. (For the dead travel fast.)”

― Bram Stoker, Dracula


1d20 Random Deadly Sword & Sorcery Encounter Table
With The Royalty of Undeath 

1. A decayed lich prince of ancient aspect along with his 1d8 huntsmen from Hell have come to hunt for the souls of the living! 
2. An ancient decayed Viking berserk still animated by the souls of the slain come for more from the living. He has double the hit points of a wight and an enchanted +2 sword
3. An ancient queen fat with decay and souls of sacrificed victims has 1d6 ghosts astrally tied to her seeking victims for her hungers! She is a vicious zombie of incredibly dangerous intelligence. 
4. A lost zombie prince with a demon sword seeks to slay any living to feed his horrid habits and resurrect his people to slay the living. 
5. An ancient horde of undead ghouls is actually the former royal court of the land and now seek the flesh of the living to assume their chosen place and resurrect their king a death knight. 
6. An ancient explorer long expired in an ancient distant land now seeks to return to his former homeland four hundred years later after being lost in the underworld. He has been under a curse of necromancy and horror. Treat him as an embodied who anyone he slays joins him. Currently there are 1d10 zombies in bondage to him. 
7. A slain royal cleric has come back due to a curse and she now wanders the night as a ghoul to pray on the living. Her victims join her as her pack. There are 1d4 ghouls following and slaying for her. 
8. A royal burrow has been disturbed and the king wanders the night feeding upon the living passing the curse of the wight to others around him. They are forced to give him their souls as they pass on.
9. A princess slain eight centuries ago has come back as a semi living girl with no memory of  her time in the underworld. At night she roams the night as a vampire & witch slaying the living for their souls to fuel her revenge against a local royal family
10. Three ghouls wander the night in search of their princes lost among the living. They ride ghasts searching the kingdoms as unknown knights on a quest slaying monsters and other horrors. They are in service to a minor god of death. 
11. An ancient colour from space has been released from inside the body of an alien royal king. There are nine wights of alien aspect roaming the night feeding on the living and passing on the souls of them to the thing as it gets ready to break free from its nest. 
12. Twelve zombie disciplines search the night for their undead messiah of royal aspect. They slay anyone they come across. These horrors were all once princes of the local area. 
13. An alien tomb of a royal prince has been disturbed and a demon has been released it haunts the dreams of the living as it devours the souls of the local children. A prince's soul has been devoured and now he roams the night as a vampire seeking adventurers to slay him.
14.   1d4 zombies of royal priests roam the night in search for a magical artifact to cure them of their curse. But they must feed on the living and curse anyone they come across with their disease. 
15. Five ghosts of ancient kings need the souls of 12 maidens to join them in the afterlife of the underworld or they shall become the property of horrid demon lord. 
16. A necromancer to a royal court 2oo miles away released a demon from the king's private temple and he's become possessed by the thing. He's now a vampire of incredibly dangerous aspect and roams the night slaying any and all he comes across. The king has a bounty on his head. 
17. Eight queens of the night are shadows of themselves as  vampires & have been released by a careless princess. Their curse causes them to slay the living & seek the souls of innocents for their demonic succubus mistress. The princess has become a slayer of the undead but she needs help. Her curse is starting to take effect. Will she join them or not. 
18. Five ghoul princes seek the hand of a witch queen but she is trapped beneath a village in the underworld and only the souls of outlaws & adventurers can free them. Guess whose on the menu. 
19. Three vampire kings seek to conquer the land but they must have the sword of the ancient hero. The thing is guarded by a Lovcraftian horror and perhaps a group of outlaws can succeed. 
20. An ancient undead god of thunder & lightning has arisen from his ancient tomb and he seeks heroes to slay him or he will release a horde of zombie Viking warriors from their burrow.
    
    
    Who fares to find the sunset ere it fly,
    Turning to light and fire the further west,
    Shall have the veils of twilight for his guest,
    And all the falling of an ashen sky.
    
    On lands he shall not know, the splendor lies—
    A pharos on some alienated shore,
    In foam and purple lost forevermore,
    Where dreams are kindled in remoter eyes.
    Ashes of Sunset  (1922)
    by Clark Ashton Smith