Commentary On The Free OSR Adventure Resource : Fortress, Tomb, and Tower: The Glain Campaign By Chris Gonnerman For The Basic Fantasy Rpg or Your Old School or Retroclone Rpg System

So a couple of days ago I promised a friend that I'd get another Basic Fantasy Rpg adventure review done, so let's do one of my favorite titles Fortress, Tomb, and Tower: The Glain Campaign. This is a good solid campaign to base a game around. Its got a bit of everything from a demonic prison to a lizard man artifact  that can expand to a bit of longer sword & sorcery action.


Its got action, romance, lots of dungeon exploration & far reaching sword & sorcery weirdness:"Fortress, Tomb, and Tower: The Glain Campaign is a multi-module for use with the Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game. This module includes adventures for low to mid level player characters. The book includes: Fortress of the Iron Duke, an adventure in a castle which has been taken over by an evil force; Tomb of Karsma Megalos, an expedition to the last resting place of a great barbarian chieftain; and Crooked Rock Tower, an adventure which sees unlikely allies raiding an old wizard's tower." Here's what I really love about this campaign everything is set up right out of the gate for expanded campaign play. Simply drop in PC's & go, a lot of this module could be used as the set up for a domain or for kingdom play. The action is swift & very dangerous expect PC deaths at some point here. PC's in this adventure have motives for characters to do things & this happens throughout the adventure &  built up around and through the whole affair. This makes this an adventure that works better then Morgansfort. Here the basis is on the PC's and their contribution to the events of Fortress, Tomb, & Tower.


What I want in an adventure is an old school adventure that is going to work at my table, the kind of adventure that will have my players talking about it for months to come after its over. Fortress, Tomb, and Tower: The Glain Campaign  has plenty of DYI D&D avenues for expansion for PC's to have a place within the campaign setting. This is extremely important for a DM with long term plans at the table. I can't tell you the number of game worlds where the world setting is far more important then the PC's. The PC's are the stars and heroes of the campaign, the players the engine that drives forward the action. Fantasy worlds with lots of cool bits and pieces are nice but give me a world that I can leave my own thumbprint on and I'll be a happy camper/dungeon master. This is one that does exactly that and it can be combined with other OSR products on the market for real not in some backhanded esoteric weird way.


Do you already own Morgansfort and you want to drop in Fortress,Tomb, and Tower? Boom there you go and its put into your game as an adventure location with no tears and even less of a hassle. The adventure location has everything you need to hook it into an existing OD&D or retro system game such as Labyrinth Lord with little issue.
Here are few of the reasons why this is a good choice for an old school campaign: 

1. Its free and easy to access for the DM and dirt cheap compared to other OSR resources. The material is very sword and sorcery oriented making it easily adaptable to any number of OD&D style settings. 
2. Its got some challenging bits to it because its made for  For 2-8 Characters, Levels 2-6, which means that you don't have to hold back on PC's they're going to take a bath in this one at some point. 
3. The adventure has room for expansion into a mini or full campaign and can hook into an existing campaign with little problem. 
4. Dark and dangerous villains with motives who can be used as hooks for further world adventures. 
5. Weird sword and sorcery setting bits that you can warp and twist to fit your own home campaigns. 
6. A full roster of weirdness to take PC's off guard. 
7. Great good resource for ideas and nice layout that's easy on these old eyes of mine. 
8. Because of the adventure locations and dungeons this book is like having three adventures in one. 
9. Lots of good replay value and potential for creating your own spin off dungeons from several of the adventure bits in this one one.  
10. This is a puzzle piece adventure campaign that fits in with the rest of The Basic Fantasy rpg adventures and can take PC's beyond their comfort zone and prepare them for the bigger and more dangerous challenges that await them!
    
     GRAB  Fortress, Tomb, and Tower: The Glain Campaign By Chris Gonnerman RIGHT HERE 

Commentary On The Free 'The Basic Fantasy Rpg' Open Gaming Philosophy For OSR Campaigns

So I got a bunch of emails asking me about the Basic Fantasy Role Playing Game & why it was included in yesterday's blog entry. The fact is that I consider Basic Fantasy a totally separate retroclone/emulator rpg system. What I mean by that is that it is a retroclone but its a totally self contained rpg system right from the beginning. "Basic Fantasy RPG is a retro-clone written by Chris Gonnerman that emulates, and is largely compatible with, the 1981 Basic and Expert sets. Its differences from B/X D&D include d20-style ascending armor class and separation of character race and class."  Everything in the book echoes B/X in its graphic, layout, and artwork. This isn't a retroclone of the D&D Rules Cyclopedia instead its a game that addresses the three 'c''s its a system that is complete, clever, and comfortable. This is a bare bones D&D B/X  emulator from the the ground up.



This is a game that has a few twists such as experience based on killing monsters & not treasure. So that's a bit different then what a B/X dungeon master might be expecting. This is a system with lots of great systems including optional rules, a meat & carrots magic section, some excellent monsters with nice artwork & this is a fantastic game system with tons of on line support. This is a very user friendly B/X clone, and this is a game that can easily teach the old school Dungeons & Dragons experience.

 My perspective that this a complete old school package in my opinion, all you have to do is download the free system, email the pdf to your players, grab some dice  & get your players together then go!

There is also rule books of Basic Fantasy available on Amazon for five dollars here.

GRAB THE FREE BASIC FANTASY RPG HERE!

This leads right into one of my favorite Monster Manuals from the OSR, The Basic Field Guide of Creatures Malevolent & Benign. This is support book for the Basic Fantasy Rpg that has inside of it over two hundred monsters! So why I'm praising this book another cheap monster book so what? Well monsters are the flavors of adventure, they set the tone of adventures, add color to the setting, and offer some of the most lethal challenges in an old school game.

 How this book works is simple its packed with back to back old school monsters from the silly to the horrid. They're all here in this book and they can easily be adapted to your favorite old school retroclone system. That's one of the beautiful parts of the OSR, that its easy to convert & adapt your favorite bits & pieces as needed. And that's one of the great things about this book the ability to go from the normal to weird in one simple creature. Are your players way too used to orcs? You've got a ton of humanoid options or other weird monsters to add into your games.

GRAB The Basic Fantasy Field Guide of Creatures Malevolent and Benign HERE

 

 This is another system that comes under the purview of gaming for the sheer enjoyment of it because of the fact that the entire catalog of The Basic Fantasy Rpg is available through the Internet Archive. That tells me volumes about the intentions of the creators of Basic Fantasy from the ground up. They want  you the DM & the players to download and continue the tradition of old school gaming. It also takes the support material straight into the players and DM's hands to use as they see fit. This is attitude of use and open gaming ethos is a central pillar of the OSR. Because of the minimalist nature of The Basic Fantasy Rpg, these two books are all you really need to get your creative adventure & campaign construction groove on. The Basic Fantasy game doesn't get nearly enough air play or blog play  and its a perfect introduction into the world of OSR gaming for kids, teens, and adults. This open spirit of the Basic Fantasy rpg is its core and bare back bone of this retroclone. The idea that old school play should be enjoyed and available to all is at the roots and heart of the retroclone movement or at least it is for me. Friends getting together to chuck some dice, drink some soda or favorite beverages, and having a blast. So why does The Basic Fantasy  gets own blog entry because its a self contained product & system with lots of old school goodness between the pages. Plus a ton of support and an on line organic community that supports the Basic Fantasy gaming system itself.

Open gaming, OSR Commentary, & Free Retroclone Systems

Lately I find myself drifting back into the roots of the OSR & rereading many of the retroclone systems that first drew me into the OSR. The OSR is the legacy of the D20 bust, and its clearly evident from the Wiki entry on open gaming;"

The most common open gaming license in use by commercial role-playing game publishers is the OGL. There are many publishers currently producing material based on the first System Reference Document, and many which make their products available under the OGL but which use game systems not based on the SRD.

Wizards of the Coast used the non-open Game System License for the 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons, but released a new System Reference Document for the 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons in 2015."  This includes fifth edition which led the way and opened up the third spawning of the mainstream popularity of D&D in mainstream culture evidenced by shows like Stranger Things & even Big Bang Theory. The big free four in the retroclone scene are OSRIC (based on 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons), Labyrinth Lord (based on Basic Dungeons & Dragons), and Swords & Wizardry (based on original Dungeons & Dragons) & Lamentations of the Flame Princess .(. the text of LotFP is 100% open game content.)

^{Yeah, yeah, there are lots of other pieces of artwork now being used for OSRIC cover art but I started with this one & its the one I happen to like.}

^{So why is this all important ? Because all of these rules sets are free to legally download and play. The whole reason why I got into the OSR is because of these rules, I'm no longer bound by the whim of Wizards of the Coast, other OSR publishers, nor even the will of other gamers. The old school Renascence basically puts the power of table top role playing back into the hands of the players & the dungeon master in that order. This is incredibly important to understand about the hobby;}

"Role-playing game publisher Matthew Finch was involved in the development of Castles & Crusades, serving as editor of the Player's Handbook, and was the initial author of OSRIC, which was afterward taken up by Stuart Marshall and released to the public in 2006 as a retro-clone of the first edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1977–1989). The release prompted another game designer, Daniel Proctor, to write and release Labyrinth Lord in 2007, a more complete retro-clone of the 1981 version of the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set and its accompanying Expert Set. The following year, Finch announced the release of Swords & Wizardry, ostensibly a retro-clone of the original Dungeons & Dragons game.

Many variants have appeared since the original release of OSRIC, as well as restatements of other editions of D&D and other adventure role-playing games. The games are fostered and supported online by various forums and blogs, sometimes collectively referred to as the Old School Revival (OSR), but are also increasingly finding their way into brick and mortar game stores."

 ^{We define what is the world's most popular fantasy table top role playing game is.
"The term "retro-clone" was coined by Goblinoid Games, the publisher of Labyrinth Lord.[4]" When I stumbled upon the Planet Algol OSR blog followed by Tim Snider's The Savage Afterworld my mind was blown back in 2008. The gaming world of Algol is defined as} OLD SCHOOL PULP SWORD, SAUCER AND SORCERY ADVENTURES IN UNIVERSES OF WEIRD SCIENCE FANTASY. The blog is unapologetic gonzo, smart, funny, and incredibly inventive. The fact that suddenly I didn't have to be ashamed of running games set in bloody,bloody Arduin, Gamma World, or Empire of the Petal Throne. The Planet Algol blog hasn't been updated in a very long time but here's the thing. The spirit of defining your gaming is yours not a writer's, publisher's, bloggers,etc. or anyone else. The whole experience is defined by your player's & the dungeon master.

Mixing & matching classic old school resources as well as OSR systems are a great way to pull players into the campaign world. The play is really the thing & the open gaming statement allows the OSR to continue its existence. The key aspect is that copyright holders license their works under public copyright licenses that permit others to make copies or create derivative works of the game.

Anyhow you can download  OSRIC right here

Grab Labyrinth Lord From Here

Grab Swords & Wizardry From Here

Grab Lamentations of the Flame Princess
Here

No matter what OSR upsets and controversies happen, the gaming will go on. These systems are out in the wild now and its easier now more then ever to make your own way in the old school table top world. Take control of the worlds of imagination and remember to play. Keep those dice rolling until next time.

Labyrinth Lord Rpg Redux & Commentary

 



Recently I was able to buy  the complete run of Goblinoid Games Labyrinth Lord rules. I've been spending a bit of time re reading the retroclone system. The fact is that as good as I remember & one of the reasons why I got into the OSR in the first place. Just in case you don't know, "Labyrinth Lord (LL) is a fantasy role-playing game written and edited by Daniel Proctor and published by Goblinoid Games. It emulates the rules and feel of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) using the Open Game License (OGL) from Wizards of the Coast. LL is based on the 1981 D&D Basic Set edited by Tom Moldvay, and its accompanying Expert Set by David "Zeb" Cook"

GRAB IT FROM
HERE

Yes there more modern covers for Labyrinth Lord
but I happen to like this one.

 So one thing that Labyrinth Lord does is to take the OD&D limitations on level and simply does away with them. The wiki entry dives into this;"Any adventure written to be played with classic D&D can be run using LL with little or no adjustment. However, there are a few differences between the two games. It extends the rules so characters can advance to 20th level (the 1981 Expert set only included levels up to 14). In addition, the cleric class in LL can cast spells at first level, unlike in the 1981 rules." The retroclone system appeals to me because of the fact that you can use your old Dungeons & Dragons adventures with LL. The system is streamlined and open as well;"Goblinoid Games was the first retro-clone publisher to both make most content open under the Open Gaming License (OGL) and create a free trademark license with few restrictions. The material contained in the LL rules is available to others with few restrictions, allowing fans and other publishers alike to create their own derivative material for use with the system." Yeah, this is one of the reasons why I've stuck with Goblinoid Games products over the years



So while the latest OSR kerfuffle rages  Labyrinth Lord gets me back to basics. Since the Advanced Companion came out this retroclone system has been a favorite of mine.