Bloodshed & Conquest "Barbarian Warlords of Greyhawk" Part Nine Commentary - A2: "Secret of the Slavers Stockade" (1981), by Harold Johnson with Tom Moldvay

" A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade: The heroes  battle against the slavers continues! You and your fellow adventurers have defeated the slavers of Highport, but you have learned of the existence of another slaver stronghold, and you have decided to continue the attack. But beware! Only the most fearless of adventurers could challenge the slavers on their own ground, and live to tell of it!"


If you've been following the recount of events over the weekend. Then you know that the first of the Slave Lord saga modules was done when the PC's sacked the first of the slave lords strong holds. The problem is that  you've also got tons of humanoid raider tribes now dealing violence to the  interior of the heart of the the central Flanaess . A bit of background history on A2: "Secret of the Slavers Stockade".
" A2: "Secret of the Slavers Stockade" (1981), by Harold Johnson with Tom Moldvay, is the second of the "A" Slave Lords adventures. It was published in July 1981." So what's been happening while all of these events are boiling around the PC's and they've taken control of Highport? That's right 'the Slave Lords' have slipped in while the PC's have been embroiled in the inter politics of barbarian tribal events!
This is because the original line up of the Slave Lords is deeply connected with the Scarlet Brotherhood; " The Slave Lords evolved out of a similar organization known as "The Nine," which was founded by Stalman Klim, sometime between 569 and 573 CY. Klim, a human priest of the Earth Dragon from the hidden Pomarj town of Suderham, had left Suderham in 569 CY to explore the Flanaess, where he gathered a number of allies, including drow and members of the Scarlet Brotherhood."

You start looking into the make up of the Slave Lords original make up;"

In 574 CY, Klim and his allies returned to Suderham, where they slew its last king, Roderic and took control of the town. By 576, the organization had become known as the Slave Lords, though its ruling council was still known as the Nine. Known members of the Nine from 576-580 include:

• Stalman Klim (also known as Mordrammo).
• Eanwulf (Also known as Feelta), a human pirate lord.
• Edralve, an exiled drow priestess of Lolth from Erelhei-Cinlu.
• Lamonsten the Lazy, an illusionist from Dyvers.
• Nerelas, a human assassin.
• Slippery Ketta, a human rogue.
• Ajakstu, a human wizard.
• Brother Milerjoi, a human monk of the Scarlet Brotherhood.
• Brother Kerin, a human monk of the Scarlet Brotherhood, Milerjoi's assistant.
• Theg Narlot, a half-orc assassin." 

If the PC's have indeed toppled the original T1 Temple of Elemental Evil its the perfect time to use the Adventurer, Conqueror, King Heroic Fantasy Handbook to over run the PC's with scads of orcs & humanoid tribes!



The Hypeborean connection here is the high end of using the the Adventurer, Conqueror, King Heroic Fantasy Handbook  to create a raider & barbarian campaign dealing in the break up of Greyhak from within. Spell jammers & other worldly craft will be taking slaves off world to places like AS&SH's Hyperborea. Slaves are in dire need across many settings & the sacking of cities, towns, & villages leaves prime opportunity for such vile stock.  Those Hypeborean lords & wizards royal left in scattered mountains, isolated wizard towers, & colonies are only too happy to have new slaves. But where does this leave the PC's?! With several  prime opportunities. They have to secure their claim on Highport, take out as many of the humanoid tribes as they can, & cleanse their own lands of the slavers influence. ""Stockade" theoretically continues to detail the humanoid-infested Pomarj Peninsula in Greyhawk. It does so by revealing a fort in the Drachensgrab Hills, just a few hexes south of Highport. " The PC's are going to deal with the highly organized & very dangerous hobgoblins but have they taken down the rampaging orcs before this?! That fort is their ticket to conquest. 



They've got to secure Highport & then bring the fight to the Slavers from within but even this isn't gonna defeat the slavers right out. Your looking at a very entrenched secret organization within Greyhawk; 

"From 576 to 580 CY, the Slave Lords thrived, raiding for slaves in a number of towns on the Gearnat coast, making slaves one of the Pomarj's most valuable exports. The Slave Lords' operations came to an end in 580, due to the machinations of adventurers hired by a coalition of legal authorities known as the Lords of Gearnat, and the destruction of Suderham by a volcanic eruption.

Other known members of the Slave Lords during this period, who were not members of the Nine, include:

• Markessa, an elven wizard who performed arcane experiments.
• Icar, a blind human fighter, perhaps of Touv stock.
• Blackthorn, an ogre mage.
• Wimpell Frump, a human illusionist.
• Sturm Blucholtz, a human rogue.

By 591 CY, however, reports had arisen that the Slave Lords had began their depredations once more, finding a new ally in the likes of Turrosh Mak, a powerful despot who had gained control of the Pomarj during the Greyhawk Wars. Their current leadership is unclear, though many suspect a number of the original leaders are still thriving.

The current Slave Lords consist of:

• Stalman Klim
• Turrosh Mak, despot of the Orcish Empire of the Pomarj
• Brother Kerrin
• Markessa
• Ah-Bey, a half-orge fighter and priest of Beltar
• Kent, a halfling thief
• Nadanru, human wizard
• Unjan, a fallen paladin of Mayaheine"

Even if a cell of the Slavers are defeated in  A2: "Secret of the Slavers Stockade" (1981), by Harold Johnson with Tom Moldvay its gonna take months of mop up duty to deal with the forces that the PC's missed because of those pesky humanoids. Tribes of these bastard mercenary forces are gonna be on the PC's backs so the PC's are going to have to space their forces as needed. This takes the PC's into the conqueror level of the Adventurer,Conqueror, King rpg. Add into this that the party has taken down one of the many Slaver satellite  headquarters & the slavers are gonna want the PC's heads not simply on Oerth either but on Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea rpg's Hyperborea as well. They've been running their operations there for centuries after the Green Death. The module THE ANTHROPOPHAGI of XAMBAALA by Corey R. Walden  gives some insight into the slaving operations on Hyperborea. It looks very similar to the operations that we've seen in A2: "Secret of the Slavers Stockade" (1981), by Harold Johnson with Tom Moldvay. Could this have been a slavers operation gone wrong? Very possibly. Hyperborea offers the slavers a prime setting to exploit, vast populations to exploit & a decedent royal culture ripe for corruption.


There's also a prime opportunity for PC's to take over yet another town on their quest for empire. These various games settings offer that in spades as well shall see in the next installment. 

Bloody Wheels Within Wheels "Barbarian Warlords of Greyhawk" Part Eight Commentary - A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity By David 'Zeb' Cook

"The heroes have entered the dungeons & ruins of The  Temple of Elemental Evil. Great deeds of valor & heroism were accomplished, & riches were taken from the belly of the beast. The greatest evil that Greyhawk has known has been vanquished back to the darkness of the Underworld & Abyss! "


"The horror & depravity has ended. Now the PC's can retire to a life of barbarian pleasure & decadence. Actually not quite!? "First of all you've got one of the main city states now a time haunted ruin! The city-state of Verbobonc  is going to take years to tame. You've also got tons of humanoid raider tribes now dealing violence to the  interior of the heart of the the central Flanaess . 

So given the tribes & options of The Heroic Fantasy Handbook play test document . What other possible deviltry could happen to Greyhawk? T1 Temple of Elemental Evil is going to take the PC's up the level ladder from one to nine.  Now given the amount of grief left behind from the fall out from the humanoid raiders, more dungeon clean out, the marauding tribes, monsters, battles, & inter tribal warfare. Its conservatively going to take between five to ten years campaign time to mop up all of the blow back from the awakening of the Temple of Elemental Evil. This power vacuum is going to be filled by all kinds of inner tribal turmoil as well. 
Local events are going to keep the players too busy to notice the raids by slavers on the coastal population along the Sea of Gearnat from Onnwal to the Wild Coast. Well that is until the local lords come to the PC's for help!
That's right 'the Slave Lords' have slipped in while the PC's have been embroiled in the inter politics of barbarian tribal events! 
"It is time to put a stop to the marauders! For years the coastal towns have been burned and looted by the forces of evil. You and your fellow adventurers have been recruited to root out and destroy the source of these raids—as hundreds of good men and women have been taken by the slavers and have never been seen or heard from again!"
The Slave Lords and their operations in the central and southwestern Flanaess are a perfect fit to bridge the gap into a coastal barbarian & raiders campaign. They'd take full advantage of the chaos of the fall of one of the major city states! "Slave Pits of the Undercity was published by TSR in 1980 as a twenty four page booklet, and was written by David Cook.^[3] The cover artwork by Jeff Dee features an illustration of two aspis fighting a party of adventurers (including a bearded female dwarf).^[4] The interior art was done by Dee, David S. LaForce, Jim Roslof, and Bill Willingham" 

Orc by Tim Truman  from D&D module X5: Temple of Death, TSR, 1983

The orc tribes from the Temple of Elemental Evil are going to be seeking employment & who better to go with then the next power block on Greyhawk. The fact is that in a 'Sword & Sorcery Greyhawk ' slavers are going to be a major power block raiding, taking slaves, causing organized violence.
Just the sort of thing that Adventurer, Conqueror, King's system excels at! If the PC's have gotten too powerful or to high of a level then its time to introduce the PC's children or legacy characters to take over in the family's tradition. Could the slavers have been funding the various dark magick cults, black wizard cabals, etc. behind the resurrection of the Temple of Elemental Evil this whole time? Why?! A simple power grab sets up & destabilizes the entire empire of Greyhawk from within.



So what does this have to do with Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea second edition ? There's always a connection according to some of my critics?! Well, that's a fair assessment but this time the connection isn't as obvious as it first appears.
The ant-like aspis of my version of Greyhawk have their own pulpy origins on Hyperborea & the Slavelords have been importing them onto Greyhawk across the Boreas winds disrupting their natural migration patterns.

So why use  A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity By David 'Zeb' Cook as campaign adventure bridge gap? Well because its the perfect module to use for what happened to many of the humanoid tribes after the fall of the Temple of Elemental Evil. This was a tip that I picked up reading over the commentary in the description of the module on Drivethrurpg yesterday;
"The Slave Lords are raiding along the Wild Coast and into nearby lands. The actual adventure is set in Highport, a city south of the Wild Coast, in the Pomarj — a peninsula overrun by humanoids. With that said, there's almost no detail on the adventure's locale, probably due to the its origins as a tournament. Instead, the details all focus on the two delves: a ruined temple and the city's sewers."

Tomorrow we'll be getting into more of the Hyperborean connection, alternative setting details on the movements of the Slavelords operations, & the focus of the Sword & Sorcery elements for dealing with this campaign. So stay tuned!

The Dangerous Violence & Conquest of T1 The Temple Of Elemental Evil By Gary Gygax & Frank Mentzer - Barbarian Warlords of Greyhawk Part Seven

"Thousands of humanoid tribes of orcs, ill spawned things of chaos have come from out of the hills! They've laid waste to hundreds of villages, farms, & set fire to ancient groves. There are whispers of demons, wizards, & worse commanding them! But the worst of it was when the raiders came! "
Lets face facts war breeds opportunity & the barbarian tribes of Greyhawk are not going to sit still while hundreds of humanoids raid their lands & slaughter their people under the influence of some ancient Lovecraftian demoness. The T1 The Temple of Elemental Evil by Gary Gygax & Frank Mentzer are hates of old. Their pits of incredible evil that allows the evil influence of a vanquished demoness to influence Greyhawk's people & its most foul sorceries. 



So continuing on with 'The Barbarian Warlords of Greyhawk' campaign setting today. I want to look at the quick & bloody rise of black sorcerous violence  in the central Flanaess  with the rise of the various humanoid races being spawned by ancient generators. If you've played through the moat house dungeon & then linked it up by tunnels to the Caves of Chaos from B2 Keep on The Borderlands then you know that those caves are only one set of these ancient hell hole creations. The rest of them have been churning out thousands of humanoid warriors ala the video game Gauntlet. So what brings down  the city-state of Verbobonc? A hybrid army of humanoids & human raiders under the hellish influence of the demoness Zuggtmoy
 

So where did the other barbarian tribes come from then? The refugees & survivors of these raids who survived the sacking of the city-state of Verbobonc! I've said that this is an alternative version of Greyhawk which I'm testing various systems of   The Heroic Fantasy Handbook play test document . Events here go quite differently during the sacking of the the Horde of Elemental Evil. What I'm I talking about? According to the Wiki Entry here's where things start going in a different direction;"

In 569 CY, a combined force was sent to destroy the Temple and put an end to the marauding. This allied army clashed with a horde of evil men and humanoids, including orcs, ogres and gnolls, at the Battle of Emridy Meadows. Men-at-arms from Furyondy and Velunaunited with dwarves from the Lortmils, gnomes from the Kron Hills, and an army of elvenarchers to face the threat of the Horde of Elemental Evil, consisting largely of savage humanoids such as orcs, ogres, and gnolls. The arrival of the elves from the shadows of the Gnarley Forest turned the tide of battle, trapping the savage humanoids against a bend in the Velverdyva where they were routed and slaughtered.

At some point in this battle, Serten, cleric of Saint Cuthbert and member of the Citadel of Eight, was slain. The Citadel was notable for its absence at this pivotal moment in the history of the Flanaess, and their failure to take part in the Battle of Emridy Meadows contributed to the group's decline and eventual disbandment.

After dispersing the Horde of Elemental Evil, the allied forces laid siege to the Temple of Elemental Evil itself, defeating it within a fortnight. Spellcasters loyal to the goodly army cooperated on a spell of sealing that bound the demoness Zuggtmoy (a major instigator in the Horde of Elemental Evil) to some of the deepest chambers in the castle's dungeons."

Yes the demoness Zuggtmoy was sealed away but she did not go quietly. She took out Serten, cleric of Saint Cuthbert  & various  members of the Citadel of Eight.

Hundreds of humanoid tribes have overrun the Pomarj peninsula  from Tim Truman, Dragon 167

Over the centuries her black influence continued to fester through cults, agents circling through Greyhawk, bandits & brigand forces loyal to her, thieves & assassins guilds whose inner circles were loyal to her, & finally those cults who maintained the spawning mechanisms of Luz.


The dusanu, or rot fiend  also by Tim Truman is a perfect example of the undead monsterous horrors stalking  in the shadows of Greyhawk during this time.

What about Vecna? Well Vecna is an Osris god of necromancers & black wizards whose worship will get your throat slit during the night. The undead are a curse on the living & another hate of old, one of whom the warriors will have to deal with in time. But not right now. At the moment his cult is one that deals as if one would if they were old black magick in ruins dealing  from the shadows bidding its time & amused at the events around it.

Meanwhile hundreds of raiders take to the saddle, foot, boat to take out other citystates taking full advantage of the chaos to get their own pieces of Greyhawk. The chaos has emboldened the various factions. More blood shed & violence are sparking off of the paranormal chaos of the Elemental Evil Temple.


T1 The Temple of Elemental Evil's fires were stoked by the sacking  of the city-state of Verbobonc  & the activating of one of the primary artifacts of Greyhawk killing hundreds in its wake & shattering the time space continuum of the nearby army & innocents across the countryside.
Here's where the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide comes in and yes I'm playing fast & loose with the DM's Guide's artifacts to keep my players guessing.



The  the city-state of Verbobonc  is a smoldering ruin where the screams of the damned, the dying, & those taken as slaves are the lucky ones. The humanoid armies haven't had time to enjoy their victory as they too have fled the scene as magical plagues have been unleashed, demons & monsters stalk the ruins & strange warriors from other lands across the Boreas winds have made 'the crossing'.
This turn of events might not be the one that the demoness Verbobonc was counting on. Yes I'm going to use Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea second edition & the Fiend Folio to fill out some of the ruins of  Verbobonc .

AS&SH second edition cover by Charles Lang.

Why? Because the heart of the the central Flanaess   needs another dungeon location to test the mettle of the players once the Temple of Elemental Evil has been conquered. 

So what's happening here? Well there are several reasons why this is happening: 

1. There are several high end treasures that are up for grabs during the events surrounding T1 coming into its own of evil. This gives the perfect opportunity to test out some of the sacking options that   The Heroic Fantasy Handbook play test document . 
2. I've already had various Greyhawk purists getting on my case. This is an alternative Greyhawk where the Sword & Sorcery & Weird Tales elements are turned up to 'eleven'. 
3. Events of campaign can go in lots of directions during play & that's what we're looking at. 
4. Blood, battles, broadswords are fun & this is a round about 'what if' campaign. 
5. So far I'm not disappointed by The Heroic Fantasy Handbook play test document.
6. The ACK's system seems to handle this whole affair quite nicely. The PC's can start at first level & retire on the high end of the ACK's scale if they survive. 

Black Sorcery Most Foul Behind The Barbarian Warlords of Greyhawk Setting - More OSR Side Setting Commentary Part Six

What foul forces have been unleashed upon Greyhawk from a source of evil fouler then the imaginations of man? Where does the corruption of chaos & depravity come from? Whose let loose  foul secrets that man was not mean to know come from? Today we'll take a look in this quick interlude! 

Alright I got an email asking me what could possibly shatter the time/space continuum of Greyhawk to such an extent that nearby dimensional gates & time slips might be the possible order of the day in the city state ruins of Verbobonc?
Well there are certainly are weapons of mass destruction capable of releasing time shattering effects & these are royal level weapons scattered throughout the Barbarian Warlords of Greyhawk's setting. These are called artifacts and there's an entire section on them in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition Dungeon Master's Guides. These are the items that entire governments go to war over in Sword & Sorcery Greyhawk. Artifacts such as 
Machine of Lum the Mad. And many others are more then capable of altering the cosmic fabric of  the central Flanaess. 


T1 The Temple of Elemental Evil is unto itself another such artifact but instead of it being merely an adventure location this is a sink of pure chaos & magical evil. Its spell of corruption weaving its way across the landscape for thousands of years. Artifacts such as the Staff of Fraz-Urb'luu & others are magical & psychic keys capable of unlocking the full devastating potential of these adventure locations. And there's one group of learned idiots who keep messing with such powers again & again as any reader of Swords & Sorcery fantasy can tell you about, its almost always the various dark wizards & foolish magi.

Nobiran Wizard, Charles Myers


One of the things that  The Heroic Fantasy Handbook play test document 

goes into is this sort of highly charged black magick wizardry and adds it in spades into Adventurer, Conqueror, King but also adds it onto the Sword & Sorcery battle field. This is stated right up front on the Kickstarter; "  Magic in heroic fantasy is more subtle and nuanced than in contemporary fantasy. It works with what is, rather than creating what is not. A magician cannot teleport straight to his friend’s distant castle, though his whispered dreams might reach his friend across the black gulfs of space. A magician will not fling magic missiles, but he might call down lightning from a storm, or capsize a boat with a wave. Working magic might require lengthy ceremonies, terrible sacrifices, or the power of primeval places. And those who use magic risk corruption. Even the wisest can lose their mind, body, and soul if they tamper with dark magic. "

Combined this with the sort of artifacts in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition Dungeon Master's Guide you've got the potential for a recipe for disasters that leave kingdoms devastated, weird magical radiations pouring into Greyhawk, & alternative dimensions bleeding into the landscape. The demoness Zuggtmoy 

is representative of the types of horrors that have been let loose on Greyhawk for thousands of years to wage war.  Wizards have been summoning these horrors to do their bidding since mankind crawled from the caves.

Zaharan Sorcerer, Alexander Macris

Tribes of wandering barbarian warriors have come from the devastation left in the wake of the destruction of the city state of Verbobonc. A lost people who remember a gold age in song's of their bards & the legends told around the camp fires of sword wielding warriors & wanderers. Druid groves gather to try & heal the land but the weird radiations spawn horrors from beyond the pale of the Outer Darkness. Cults of chaos are going to be a huge problem in this style of campaign because people will gather for simple survive & power against the massive influx of humanoids from the Temple of Elemental Evil.
This is the perfect opportunity to trot out the First edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Fiend Folio for those random wilderness encounters. Tons of cool & downright cold blooded raiders to throw at jaded players.  With desperation comes opportunities for rewards of all kinds including the opportunities to carve out kingdoms & petty tyrant holds. 


Conquest attracts the parasites & hangers on from across the cosmos. This means that PC's could be facing down very dangerous critters & humanoid mercenaries from across time & space. Clark Ashton Smith often had one off & cast off monsters littering his stories.  The power of the demoness Zuggtmoy 's influence is the perfect excuse to unleash mutant & twisted chaos horrors upon your players. 

An ogrillon, from the first edition AD&D's Fiend Folio is a great style of mutant horror to fill out the ranks of roving bands of mutants & worse in a Barbarian Warlords of Greyhawk campaign.

Wizards & various cabals are going to be an incredible hazard to contend with especially if cells of these these human vermin serve the demoness Zuggtmoy. 

Cold steel & violence might not be enough to deal with the circumstances that the players are going to face down. Perhaps they may need to seek the add of other warriors & barbarians who deal with such things during their day to day struggle for survival. Here's where Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea second edition might come in handy yet again. Crossing the Boreas winds might give the PC's the extra edge needed in their struggles against the darkness of the Temple of Elemental Evil.  
Cover artwork by Charles Lang. 

Blood On The Battlefield The Road To T1 Temple of Elemental Evil By Gary Gygax & Frank Menzer Adapted For The Barbarian Warlords of Greyhawk

"Once far from any important activity, the Village of Hommlet became embroiled in the struggle between gods and demons when the Temple of Elemental Evil arose but a few leagues away. Luckily for its inhabitants, the Temple and its evil hordes were destroyed a decade ago, but Hommlet still suffers from incursions of bandits and strange monsters."

Grab your sword, your shield brothers & sisters, for something stirs from the blackness as a hate of old. The grand temples of darkness & depravity come to the fore! This module holds deep and dangerous memories for me, six year after the release of The Village of Hommlet we were led to this hell hole on Greyhawk.

So last night during Christmas dinner I was thinking about the T1 The Temple of Elemental Evil. I'm not going into the infamous history of T1 The Temple of Elemental Evil because Wiki has a complete breakdown of this epic adventure's history;"The Temple of Elemental Evil is an adventure module for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, set in the game's World of Greyhawk campaign setting. The module was published by TSR, Inc. in 1985 for the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules. It was written by Gary Gygax and Frank Mentzer, and is an expansion of an earlier Gygax module, The Village of Hommlet (TSR, 1979)." 
Instead I'm going to focus on what T1 would mean to a "Barbarian Warlords of Greyhawk" campaign. There are several assumptions to make about this sort of a campaign starting with an altered history of the temple itself.  The temple was a large military installation critical to the history of an alterative Sword & Sorcery Greyhawk. Many varieties of humanoid species were turned out of the temple's laboratories & humanoid generators ala the old arcade game "Gauntlet".  So grab your quarters cus you're going to need a lot of healing potions for this one! Also there are dimensional gateways that lead to alternative Greyhawk's & other settings but more on that in a moment. 


Giant Rats Again (Dave Trampier, AD&D module T1: The Village of Hommlet, by Gary Gygax, TSR, 1979)
So let's assume that you've taken my advice & plugged in B1 The Keep on The Borderlands's Caves of Chaos  ala the tunnels in the moathouse of  The Village of Hommlet. The PC's havedived their resources between the keep & the village. They've gone up a level or two fighting the forces of the caves of chaos. Are they ready to take on the Temple of Elemental Evil? Hell no! 
They are going to be licking their wounds from the 'Caves of Chaos' dungeons & the moathouse dungeon. From a military stand point the tunnels from these locations are nothing but a huge gap & hole in their defenses. New hirelings, reinforcements, tribal alliances, double crosses, and double agents are going to make things very interesting.


All of this gives a ton of time for the forces of chaos to line up more humanoids & even more exotic defenses because what the PC's don't know is that the Temple of Elemental Evil has been operating on auto pilot for decades.
The black cyst has been stoking the fires for the freedom of the demoness Zuggtmoy! And that's when the whole heat sink of evil aspect from Adventurer, Conqueror, King comes to life. Now hold on here, The Temple of Elemental Evil is located in the central Flanaess not far from the city-state of Verbobonc or should I say the ruins of Verbobonc for our purposes.
The raids by various barbarian tribes has caused the fall of this once great citystate leaving PC's up to their necks in bringing in help from other tribes of barbarians. Don't make this easy. The Heroic Fantasy Handbook play test document  has bunch of tables for this purpose.


The ruins of Verbobonc are a time haunted place that crosses into a whole bunch of other places dimensionally & across time. This means that PC's could be crossing paths with barbarian warriors from other worlds & places. Yes this is straight out of a Clark Ashton Smith story.  It also gives a great excuse to throw in your favorite warriors or monsters from Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea second edition as well. 
Cover artwork by Charles Lang.

There are further reasons for this because the ruins of Verbobonc give the DM the perfect opportuninty to throw in some of the lesser known humanoids from the Fiend Folio or Monster Manual II. These monsters are prototypes or specials that were used for large scale sieges & battles. The evil of Zuggtmoy reaches across dimensions to push her range even further! There are several fungal monsters that can clearly ring her identity large for players but could be saved for special encounters! 


On the whole the forces of chaos are going to be spreading out & moving across the landscape under the influence of a very nasty influence & only the PC's are going to be able to stop it but its going to take an epic effort and well get to the whys & hows in the next part!



Tide of Throghrin, Wesley Marshall Heroic Fantasy Handbook kickstarter.

There are six reasons why this sort of campaign is going to work: 

1. The players are not going to be expecting that the forces of chaos have been operating in the area for so long. 
2. Various sinks of evil have been spreading the corruption for many years on the quiet. This gives the players some very nasty elements to think about. 
3. Cults can operate with impunity and act as on the ground agents for a variety of purposes and give a double blind for players & their PCs to worry about. 
4. Monsters are more dangerous & blood thirst emboldened by the influence of the Temple of Elemental Evil. 
5. The pulp Sword & Sorcery aspect should be turned up to eleven for this campaign. 
6. Rewards should be rich but the take for lands & power are far more important. Level counting is going to equal greater reward.