Shadows of Saltmarsh Amazing Adventures! Rpg Session Report #5 - Confronting Evil

   So tonight's session picks right up from last game session here on the blog.  We began by having our party let the Deep One hybrids let go & had the other half of the adventurers go upstairs in the house to free the captives! 

We got upstairs & almost immediately got into trouble with finding two giant spiders that dropped onto the party. Then it was a tangling fight in the hallway then up the stairs to free another sea elf that was being held. Afterward the party found that the house wasn't as unoccupied as it seemed. They found two secret rooms and the laboratory of the Alchemist. 
They also found the Alchemist's corpse & they examined the room. Things were going good for the party until the corpse moved! The Alchemist isn't dead you see but a lich! 
The party lost two members who were  hit by spells. Then it was gun fire and confusion! The party bolted! They left the haunted mansion so damn fast! 
Yes running is an option folks! They have no idea if thier team mates are alive or dead!
The party regrouped on the beach and needs another plan of attack! They have no idea what type of undead the Alchemist is. So thier going into the house by the use of the smuggler's caves coming up. I've gotten so damn tired of the players who have played this adventure calling it a Scooby Doo romp. Not this time folks. 
The Alchemist is a criminal mastermind and quite dangerous! He's also out for blood after using a speak to the dead spell on the corpses of the party members. 

The smuggler's caverns are now guarded by Deep One hybrid thugs. They've got four warriors covering the cavern & secret enterances. 
Then the party saw the rest of the Deep Ones exitting the sea. Things are getting dicey. They managed to get the two sea elven prisoners out! 
And they found a chest of weird greenish gold artifacts that seem to have been buried by the Deep Ones! We ended here. 

Shadows of Saltmarsh Amazing Adventures! Rpg Session Report #4

 Tonight's game sees the player's PC's finding the lizardmen tribesmen in dire straits because of the smugglers. This puts the PC's square in the middle of the Saltmarsh situation. This picks right up from the last week's game session. 

The situation is very dire because of the rise in the number of Deep One warriors who have been harrying the lizardmen's people. They were imported into New York City as workers for the harvesting of some of the underwater crops that are used in high end resturant food. They have also been employed for many of the high risk underwater & ship's repair  around the city's docks. These lizardmen have been managed from Plum Island's government facility. 
Deep One tribesmen and warriors have been raiding not only the docks but some of the local non humans. Waverider in last week's game got some of the lowdown. 
We've started exploring the house from the bottom sea caves up through the house itself. We've been exploring the upper part of the house when last week we heard noise from upstairs on the second floor. 
We the  heard noise from upstairs and ran straight into two pirate captains! They had short swords drawn and there was a fight in the stairs as well as the hallway. 

We retreated as guns came out our archer Red Arrow was able to disarm them. A close look showed that these two were Deep One hybrids! Now we had two captives and proceeded to question them about what they were smuggling. They have captives upstairs and if we didn't let them go they'd be murdered! We ended here! 

Shadows of Saltmarsh Amazing Adventures! Rpg Session Report #3

 We pick up with the party fighting smugglers on the beaches of the manor house in U1 The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh. Instead we were able to scatter the pirates with some carefully placed gas bombs.And we were able to sieze the Sea Wasp. This session picks right up from last week's session. 

We searched the beach and almost got ambushed by a pack of sea orcs, as well as mergnolls. These guys were part of the Deep Ones forces. 

Our own hero Waverider has been helping his own people the mermen around New York harbor. The Deep Ones have been battling them for centuries now. 
There have been incursions from the Deep Ones also on the Sea Elves terrority from Long Island. 
This goes back to the truce of 1952 which has been set up among the power house underwater humanoid tribes in the area. But something has been stirring up trouble among the tribes. The best guess of our two underwater heroes is that it's the Deep Ones. The village of Saltmarsh has been a haven for smugglers & pirates dating back before the 1700's. There have been rumors of undead horrors that date back to pre 1600's and can be traced back to Plum Island. 

The Plum Island facility has had rumors of lizardmen cryptids and strange monsters seen around the area. The mansion front door was locked and trapped. Nightslayer our night thief opened the locks without a problem. The interior of the house looked abandoned. However there were drag marks on the floor up too a book case. 
There were several bullet holes in the interior furnature of the house. The rooms looked lived in. 
We came face to face with two skeletons within the manor. Two of our party adventurers blasted the skeletons low and high with powers without report. This meant that the neighbors didn't see gun reports or gun play. We found sleeping bags and two ships log books. 
This is when we heard noise from upstairs & this is where we ended! 

Shadows of Saltmarsh Amazing Adventures! Rpg Session Report #2

 Our party was called in because people have been going missing in the Saltmarsh village & neighborhood. All of our investigations centered around the old Alchemist's mansion. This mansion has been abandoned since his operations were busted up ages ago. 

This session report plugs right into our Amazing Adventures meeting right here on the blog.  We rolled in and were told that there had been activity within the mansion. Strange lights and weird creatures have been seen around the mansion. 
Our own Silver Spider has been keeping an eye on the mansion. He's detected cut throats and pirates around the mansion. His own team has been accosted by these ruffians several times. 
Own on Waverider the underwater wonder came face to face with Deep Ones. The waters off of New York City in 1952 was the terrority of the New England mermen. There has been a truce between these two underwater tribal powers. Something has stirred up these two powerhouses in the area.

Saltmarsh back in the 1700's were the abode of pirates and sea terrors. These forces never left according to the locals. And the 'Alchemist' & his brood has controlled the area since the 1700's. 

Now there's talk of strange lizardlike monsters out in the fens and salt swamps around the Saltmarsh neighborhood/village area. We found out that there have been a small series of explosions near the beach. The locals subscribe that it might be explosives left over from the War. 

Some of the locals aren't sure though. There have been lots of ships and other strange sail craft that have been seen around the beaches. 
After investigating the beach area we came across several rowboats and launches from several sail craft. Our party engaged in a small skirmish with a bunch of sea dogs on the beach. No shots were exchanged and fists flew. The sea dogs fled into the rowboats. Next we're going to begin investigating the mansion! 
Amazing Adventures! does a good job of blending the usual Castles & Crusades system to a more modern twist! 

Shadows of Saltmarsh Amazing Adventures! Rpg Session Report #1- Updated!

 

The Green Man a menace to the PC's coming up.


I've just started an Amazing Adventures rpg  by Jason Vey game last night. The PC's ended up crossing over into an alternative world time line of 2100. This blog post picks right up from November 19th blog post. 

The mono skyscrapers of the preserved New York Sky line greeted them. This was after tracking down the cybernetically enhanced courier of Nazi dimensional traveler  from 1952. The world of these Nazi is world where Operation Spark in 1943 succeeded in killing Hitler(or did it). Germany sued for piece in the world courts but continues hostilities with the Allies They turned over the hierarchy & infrastructure of the German high command responsible for the Final Solution  
Israel was founded much earlier in this world & continues to play a part in Western affairs.

This Nazi Germany has been locked in a Cold War with the Allies since the war's 'end' & continues to operate through powered agents, individuals, & teams. Now they've been raiding alternative dimensions & time lines. They've stumbled upon the world of 2100 where the countryside has mostly been abandoned & come across a Great Race of Yith library beneath the ruins of a castle in up state New York. These ruins have recently been unearthed in the upper part of New York state. Authorities have moved in to secure the site. 


What the characters also learned is the criminal mastermind known as 'the Alchemist' has been running a slave trade & human traffic ring in New York city of this alternative 1952.This bastard controls all of the major smuggling & drug traffic from the Salt Marsh neighborhood down on the water fronts. He has ties to the Nazi smuggling agents into New York. Their latest agent came in on the Sea Witch.



Yes I'm running U1 The Sinister Secret of Saltmash by Don Trumball with a Troll Lords Amazing Adventures pulp/super hero spin. So I'm dumping the whole Scooby Doo aspect of U1 & turning the Alchemist into a lich/pulp villain of incredibly evil aspect.

DM Paul's Hyperborea Rpg - U1 Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh & the Machinations of the Ixians - OSR Commentary

 "Desolate and abandoned, the evil alchemist's mansion stands alone on the cliff, looking out towards the sea. Mysterious lights and ghostly hauntings have kept away the people of Saltmarsh, despite rumors of a fabulous forgotten treasure. What is it's sinister secret?" 

Ages ago my buddy DM Paul took over a version of our Saltmarsh series Hyperborea rpg campaign. The campaign focuses heavily on the pirate & sailor aspects of the Hyperborean setting. There are ton of changes to the U series of modules for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons starting with the organization that the pirates belong to and working it's way down from there. Here's some of the changes: 

1. The Alchemist isn't dead and rotting in the 'haunted house' instead he's a high level lich running his criminal empire from the house. 
2. The pirates are a part of the Slavers of the 'A0 -A4 Against The Slavers' series of classic novels. The Slavers are a dimensional spanning organization that ranges from Greyhawk to Hyperborea. This council of slavers is simply the latest incarnation of the council.
3. The pirates employ local Viking and other raiders to take on raids for them. 
   
   
4. The 'haunted house' is located in Butcher's Bey with Saltmarsh itself being a smaller subset of the Bey. 
5. The pirates are most active during the Summer months and they have ties to the Ixians of Hyperborea who supply the pirates with most of thier magical muscle. 
6. Hyperborean alchemy plays a big part of DM Paul's campaign. 

Yes, I know there's a Hyperborea rpg Kickstarer on but this ties deeply into the Ixians agenda in Hyperborea. The Ixians trade in magical expertise and forbidden magical devices. The Ixians deal heavily in alchemy & work to expand thier influence among the Hyperborean ruling elite. This is because the Ixians  trade in items, magical favors, advisory positions and expertise. This has enabled these enigma peoples to be secreted in almost every high profile royal courts in Hyperborea. 

The Ixians use the pirates for clandestine missions that they pay and sometimes oversee through thier cat's paws. 

The Ixians are playing a dangerous game and have been using the pirates to seed a war between the humans & the Deep Ones.This war is being orastraded on the Deep Ones behalf.  This war is actually over the strange radioactive green crystals that the Deep Ones mine. The village of Saltmarsh sits on a depoisit of these crystals. And by returning the village lands to the sea the Deep Ones gain access. 
What do the Ixians gain out of it?! Several loads of Green radioactive crystals that are then used to grow Green or Greenite Lotus. A dose of this lotus enables one to endure without harm the sanity blasting radiation of the Boreas winds within Sarnath temporarily. The Greenite lotus must begrown on the decaying hills of the corpses of ancient wizards bathed in the radioactive green crystals weird radiations. A dose of Greenite Lotus enables the user to endure the sanity blasting boreas winds for one day per dose. But the imbuer must make a poison vs save or the poor wretch takes a lethal dose of radiation poisoning. Thier veins and skin begin to bleed out green glowing ichor. There are several ancient artifacts lost in the sands of Sarnath that the Ixians would like to recover 

1800's Nightshift Veterans of the Supernatural Wars - U1 Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh - Against The Alchemist - OSR Campaign Set Up

 " Desolate and abandoned, the evil alchemist's mansion stands alone on the cliff, looking out towards the sea. Mysterious lights and ghostly hauntings have kept away the people of Saltmarsh, despite rumors of a fabulous forgotten treasure. What is it's sinister secret?"

The once quant neighborhood of Saltmarsh in New York City has been a hidden sea side gem. Almost a small village within the giant backdrop of the slumbering 1800's urban giant. Below the  glitz & glamor of the city the once thriving abode of the Alchemist people are going missing & strange phantom lights are being seen on the sea right off the coast. Rumors of ghost ships & other strange goings on! 
So the other day I was asked about expanding upon the Christmas mini game. Since this is the case we've decided to resurrect a few ideas & my current group of idi, erm players wants to run this using Nightshift Veterans of the Supernatural Wars. 

Several crimelords have gone missing around the Saltmarsh bough & the rumors are that 'The Alchemist' has returned. This can't be right because he's dead killed by a local rival in the thieves guild. Now, 'the Alchemist' is back as a lich along with his crew of smugglers & cut throats! And it's supernatural war! The lizardmen who have been a staple of the supernatural landscape for decades are being pushed to the brink! 
Deep Ones silent for a hundred years or more are on the move! And these Deep Ones are pushing the lizardmen to  extinction! And this has upset the supernatural balance of the city itself! 

Can our heroes stop all out war & the coming storm that threatens to engulf the whole of 1800's New York?! 

Nightshift Veterans of the Supernatural Wars - U1 Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh - To Stop The Alchemist - OSR Campaign Set Up

 " Desolate and abandoned, the evil alchemist's mansion stands alone on the cliff, looking out towards the sea. Mysterious lights and ghostly hauntings have kept away the people of Saltmarsh, despite rumors of a fabulous forgotten treasure. What is it's sinister secret?"

So over the years I've used U1 Sinister Secrets of Saltmarsh by Dave J. Browne with Don Trumball as the basis for a great variety of OSR games. But I've been asked for a Halloween mini game happening for or after Halloween. Since this is the case we've decided to resurrect a few ideas & my current group of idi, erm players wants to run this using Nightshift Veterans of the Supernatural Wars. 

It is the near future & the once quant neighborhood of Saltmarsh in New York City has been a hidden sea side gem. Almost a small village within the giant backdrop of the slumbering urban giant. Below the corporate glitz & glamor of the city the once thriving abode of the Alchemist has become the sight of many rumors & whispers of midnight lights, & even people missing.

 

There are three things happening within the village of Saltmarsh, the evil Alchemist (a lich ) has returned a member of the cabal of the Phantom. The Phantom's cabal has been using the neighborhood to increase it's profits by smuggling in slaves & human trafficiking to the local Deep Ones population.  the Deep Ones have been putting pressure on the uplifted Lizardmen & the 'Freaks' (local humanoid races & uplifted mutants) in the area know that war is coming. 

The Alchemist has been profiting by selling weapons to both sides. But now events are coming to a head. 

The A$$ets have been called in to deal with the situation on the quiet. A$$ets are Assured Supernatural Superhuman Equalizers Terrorism Squad a highly paid party of mercenary indivduals who are paid as corporate  problem solvers on the quiet. 

Running A Hyperborea rpg One Shot With "And The Sea Shall Give Up Her Dead" By Joseph A. Mohr 'A Pay What You Want Adventure 'As Prelude To U1 Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh

 "This is an OSRIC adventure for characters of 1st to 3rd level of experience. As the adventurers arrive at a sleepy little sea side town not all is as it seems. The town is under attack by pirates. But these are no ordinary pirates. These pirates are undead and their nightmare ship is just off shore waiting for the plunder to be brought aboard. This adventure allows the players to explore the mystery of these undead buccaneers and find out why they still sail the seas." 

If you've been following this blog then you're going to know about my fasin erm obession with U1 'The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh'  written by Dave J. Browne with Don Turnbull. What if there were events that proceed 'U' series of ocean based modules?! What if the undead  criminal mastermind 'The Alchemist' had raised a group of undead pirates to raid the Hyperborean coastline around Brigiand's Bay?! Well this is where  "And The Sea Shall Give Up Her Dead" By Joseph A. Mohr 'A Pay What You Want Adventure ' could be used as a sort of side prelude to the 'U' series. 

Picture it if you will that the oceans of Hyperborea begin to come into their Summer season. And the arcane energies flood into the sea surrounding Saltmarsh once again! A lone figure of undeath & darkness stands atop a rock & begins calling back the undead pirates & raiders long moldering under the seawater. Hyperborea is mostly a huge bowel of ocean & undead raiders under the control of one of the most dangerous villains on Hyperborea calls for a solution?! And the Alchemist is using these undead pirates and raiders to sew fear into the citizens of the coastline. With so much of Hyperborea's being sea bound and the citizens tied into the ocean. This is going to open a whole cloth can of worms for the lich and his undead minions. 

These events act as a sort of destablizing element for the 'u' series of modules setting. The ocean is the life blood of Hyperborea providing food, shelter, and is the primary bringer of life for those in that fish it's waters. 

Why does this make things that much more complicated?! Oh yes, because of the fact that the Deep Ones are the ones that paid the Alchemist to lead off on the summoning of the ghost pirates! Why because of the fact that this leads down into the events of the 'U' ' series of modules. The undead pirates has to be dealt with to pave the way for the smugglers & the coming war. 

"And The Sea Shall Give Up Her Dead" By Joseph A. Mohr 'A Pay What You Want Adventure Is Available Here 

Mail Call & Unboxing - North Wind Adventures's Hyperborea rpg Unboxing & Saltmarsh Campaign Update

 Couldn't plan this mail call today any better today when a giant arrived on our doorstep! This lovely box was packed to the gills with Sword & Sorcery goodness. And North Wind Adventures filled their Kickstarter rewards very quickly. 

Now this couldn't come at a better time because we've got a Hypeerborea rpg game tonight. These beauties are going to be for adventure & campaign design. We've got other Hyperborea rule books spiral bound for players in tonight's Hyperborea rpg game session. 

The HYPERBOREA Player's Manual & HYPERBOREA Referee's Manual couldn't have come at a better time. We've got the Hyperborea rpg campaign set up for our game campaign adventure tonight Tegel Manor. The haunted manor will set up the events of the upcoming U1 Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh marathon. My version of Tegel manor by Greg Gorgonmilk used with permission of the artist made with the Midjourny A.I. program. 



The manor & it's valley will be appearing around the Lizardmen Swamp area & then on the Hyperborea coast near Saltmarsh. 

I guess  we should talk about the Hyperborea rule book because it is quality and very solidly done. The artwork is very nice and the whole package says OSR to me as a DM. 

North Wind Adventures packs em right & delivered the goods today! Let's find out how all of this works out when we start chucking dice! 

The Rise of the Haunted Manor - U1 The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, The Hyperborea rpg, & Judge's Guilds Tegel Manor

 

So the other day we were talking about the role that the oceans of Hyperborea has in the average Hyperborean's lives on the blog here.And this has been at the back of my mind with the advent of reading through U1 Sinster Secret of Saltmarsh, again. U1 Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh by David J. Brown along with Don Turnbull has an undercurrent of desperation about it. 

At the end of the events of U1, the PC's should end up with a sweet little boat which will come in very handy coming up as the party ends up in the lap of the lizard men. 
Why are the lizardmen so riled up to begin with?! If we're looking at U1 taking place on Hyperborea then we've got a partial answer. If U1 Sinster Secret of Saltmarsh's  Saltmarsh is placed  near Brigand's Bay. Then these are the fishing grounds of the tribes of lizardmen who for thousands of years have been fishing these waters peacefully with the human population.So what's put the screws to them besides the Deep Ones?! Well, the undead  leader of the Deep one corrupted smugglers for one. 

The smugglers in U1 in my version are actually headed by the Alchemist a lich who simply watches the PC's as their looking around the 'haunted house' & whose also the head of the knarly group of slavers. The Alchemist is deeply connected with the undead of Tegel Manor. Yes that Tegel Manor which is a deeply cursed haunted house that dimensionally travels between Hyperborea & Judges Guild's The Wilderlands of High Fantasy. 

This is how OSRIC, Castles & Crusades, and other OSR game's  PC's have come to Hyperborea in the past through Tengel Manor. The manor's undead are not entirely static. The haunted house because of it's dimensional cursed nature regenerates but the undead don't forget. These undead continually make sport out of any other dimensional travelers who fall into their midsts. And through lesser undead have forged a network of criminals across a few worlds over the centuries. The coming Deep One, human, and lizardmen war is simply another diversion in their eon's long undead existence. 
These bastard undead are not done with the party in Hyperborea, yet.. This is just starting. 

Blood In The War - A Fresh Look At U1 The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh & the Hyperborea rpg

 

When one begins to read through the Hyperborea rpg books both the player's manual & the referee's guide along with the maps. One begins to find one very epic fact the seas of Hyperborea play a huge part in the welfare of the Hyperborean's lives. 

If the seas are vast then the question becomes whatelse lurks within them?! In the past we've seen U1 Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh by David J. Brown along with Don Turnbull used in past Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea campaigns. Perhaps its time to look at U1 with fresh Deep One eyes. In the latest edition of Hyperborea the campaign setting has been tightened up quite a bit. So U1 Sinster Secret of Saltmarsh places Saltmarsh near Brigand's Bay.

The Deep Ones have been for centuries going along the coast corrupting the local ports with their hybrid progeny. This has put pressure on the local lizardmen & the uncorrupted locals which has resulted in the increases of piracy & smuggling by the Deep Ones. The church of Cthulhu has been turning the heat up by taking more slaves for sacrifice & as offerings for its smaller Old One cults. The Alchemist isn't simply a corpse for the PC's to find but a lich priest of old working for the church of Cthulhu among others. The clouds of war have been gathering as the fish monger's guild has stopped all trade with the capitial of Hyperborea. This is because the clouds of war are gathering for the humans, the Deep Ones, & the Lizardmen. The reasons for this are also due to the Summer season ending & the Winter phase of Hyperborea beginning.  So we have the 'U' series of modules enabling the Deep Ones to rise towards war and this is rounded out by 'The Mystery At Port Greely' being another twist towards the human/Deep One war.

OSR Commentary Thieves' Guild VI By Kerry Lloyd, & Richard Meyer & U1 The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh by Dave J. Browne with Don Turnbull For Your Old School Campaigns

 Avast, ye swabs!

Now here's yer chance fer a rollickin' good time out on the rolling waves of the high seas! Don yer bandanna and tie on the old eyepatch ... fifteen men on a dead man's chest! Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! Make 'em walk the plank, me hearties!

At last, Theives' Guild has gone to sea! Here are complete rules for designing and sailing ships, for sea chases and bloody boarding actions, and what's in the holds of the wallowing merchantman you just overhauled and captured."

"And ... lots of encounters at sea!! Ships by the score! Broad-beamed merchantmen loaded with luxury merchandise bound for exotic ports in faraway lands, or wondrous treasures to enrich the coffers of powerful empires! Slim deadly warships, to guard these golden argosies, or to seek freebooters out in their own lairs and put an end to their larcenous careers! Even fellow pirate vessels, to sail with at sea or to sail on!!"

Merpeople, herds of whales, world-lashing storms, exotic uncharted lands, omens of disaster and great good fortune, even sea-serpents will be met in the pages of Thieves' Guild's latest trimph.

Error Flynn never had it so good!!!"

High seas adventures at their very best!!!

 Thieves' Guild VI By Kerry Lloyd, & Richard Meyer is another one of those titles from 1982 that tackles the choice subject of pirates & sea dogs.  And Thieves' Guild VI does it's job quite nicely with gusto & old school sea borne weirdness. If your looking to add in a bit of old school piracy & sea dog borne adventure to your campaign then  Thieves' Guild VI might be a good option. Remember in Thieves' Guild VI it's still all about the thieves! 
Here's what we've recently done this past weekend. Used Thieves' Guild VI to add in details on the operations of the Alchemist ( the undead power behind) the events of U1 The Sinster Secret of Saltmarsh. 

 Thieves' Guild VI By Kerry Lloyd, & Richard Meyer contains everything from random sea borne encounters to named ships as well as everything inbetween to get a piracy fueled campaign off the ground. So do you need old school stats for an sea monster? Covered! Need a polar bear' stats? Covered! Need random rival pirate gang ships to try and destroy your party's PC's?! We've got those as well as an entire ocean as well as ports?! We've got you covered! 
And all this makes  Thieves' Guild VI an excellent book to do a Castles & Crusades pirate campaign straight off! This is perfect to add in background to the fresh water cargo smuggling sugggested by U1 Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh! 

And all of this set's our PC's up for the adventures of the 'U' series where in human eyes have been watching them from the deep oceans & nearby saltmarshes. Is this is perfect set up?! No but it lends weight to the smuggling operations of the 'Sea Ghost' & it's attendant secret organizations. 

Specter of the Knife - - The War 1870 Tegel Manor Session Report #6 Now With More Zarak!

In tonight's Tegel Manor game it was full on Castles & Crusades rpg/Victorious rpg action! The manor crossed into 1870's New York City! The party had to deal with fulfilling a contract for Amazon Mutual after the poisoned knives of Zarak the half orc assassin took out the nobles who was key in this alternative Earth's  Franco/Prussian war.
The party had to recover the body of a European kingdom of Lutha minor noble for resurrection. The noble's body had an alchemist poison that was narcotizing the flesh of the corpse that could prevent the resurrection of the body. Party had to deal with the hostility & murderous handy work of Zarak. The party's bard has had experience with the assassin's knives & murder's before! 
 

New York is the center of the campaign & goes back over four years when the assassins had their way with one of the royal targets. New York City 1870 has been the target for several different groups because of its proximity to occult activities & supernatural ley line gates.

 

This goes back to the fact that my version of Mystara & Greyhawk crossover to other places allowing NPC's causing mayhem free reign! Zarak may not be the only assassin operating within the city?



Even for an alternative Earth Steampunk this campaign has had a ton of Dungeons & Dragons inspirations. This seems to have the 'AC1  The Shady Dragon Inn' by Carl Sargent influence pouring through it. 

What does this have this have to U1 The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh by Dave J.Browne With Don Turnbull . The alchemist isn't a Scooby Doo mystery villain instead he was a villainous lich straight outta of Advanced Dungeons & Dragon's first edition's Appendix N Pulp origin. 

Of Humble Bundles, Castles & Crusades, & Fishmen - OSR Campaign Commentary

When it comes to getting invested in table top OSR gaming its never been about the games but about the content. Troll Lord Games, Frog God Games, and many others have put together a solid bundle & its fifth edition books. Fifth Edition Dungeons,Mazes, & Barrows don't let the name fool you. This is a great little bundle. Here's the thing its a charity called the Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation & its a charity that I believe in; "For more than twenty years, the Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation has helped bookstore and comic book store employees and owners who encounter unexpected financial crises. The Binc Foundation works to keep book people in their homes, in their jobs, and with their families – stabilizing the brick and mortar bookstore community. The Foundation is the only 501(c)(3) in the country dedicated exclusively to strengthening the book industry by supporting the people who work in bookstores and comics shops. Since its inception, Binc has provided more than $7 million in financial assistance and scholarships to more than 7,800+ families. Support for the Foundation’s programs and services come from all sectors of the book industry. Imagined and built by booksellers, Binc proudly continues to be their safety net."  But there's a far more sinister reason for me grabbing this bundle & it has to do with my War 1870's campaign. I noticed that there's a very relentless sea theme running through many of these adventures from Frog God & co. 

Oh yes true gamers this all ties back into when I ran U1 - U3 The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh trilogy by Dave J. Browne, Don Turnbull as a Pulp or Victorious rpg campaign last year!


Now this follows closely on the heels of Ghosts of Saltmarsh with the alternative cover  which my wife had gotten me as a birthday present last year. 

Running U1 last year there were a lot of changes:

1. The alchemist was a lich of some very nasty abilities. 
2. There were Lovecraft ties through out this series of adventures. 
3. I ran this with a stripped down & very lean version of Castles & Crusades. 
4. This was a part of an over arching plot involving an alternative version of New York City & New England on a vastly different Earth. 

All of this tied into not having the Saltmarsh series be a 'Scooby Doo' adventure & instead part an over arching & vastly dangerous conspiracy involving Tegel Manor's Romp family. The smugglers of the sea ghost were not only very real & dangerous but strongly connected to the Slavers of the classic A0 -A4 Against The Slave Lords Series of adventures.

There's wheels within wheels folks here & they go across planes prime all over the place. But what does this have to do with the appearance of the rod of Orcus in my campaigns.

Lions, Dragons, Dinosaurs, & Slavers - Wrapping the Campaign World Setting Up -Tegel Manor Session Zero Play Report Part II

Off the California coast strange prehistoric beasts have been seen. The locals are trying to mount an expedition but there's been rumors of strange lights, 1400 century pirate ships,etc. Alright so I converted my old copy of X1 Isle of Dread over to my current Castles & Crusades campaign.



I'm getting a real Valley of Gwangi feel about this version of X1 in the campaign setting so I'm moving the isle down more into Baja California coast region. For 1870 this means that the isle of dread itself has some very dark & sort of sinister connotations for the locals. 

This is an island of the lost & of castaways with a strong connection to the elemental plane of water. For my games these isles have a very nefarious history with several of my Lion & Dragon rpg games in the past. Strange otherworldly pirates praying on vessels off the English coast only to vanish when given chase. System wise with Castles & Crusades converting the Lion & Dragon rpg shouldn't be a problem at all. That means that on the isle of dread or my version of it there's a small colony of Albion castaways

You can think of my games as the sort of underbelly of the OSR & I have zero problems with that. But now whose been using the dimensionally unstable isle of dread as their home base across any number of planes?! The one group that I can think of that I've used in the past  couple of months has been 'the slavers' from A0-A4: Against the Slave Lords by David "Zeb" Cook, Allen Hammack, Harold Johnson, & Tom Moldvay.


All of this goes back to me running the U1 Sinister Secret of Salt Marsh modules. The Sea Wasp was actually a ship in my games belonging to the slavers. The alchemist wasn't simply a corpse but a lich who was operating in his old haunts for the slavers with connections to the local Deep Ones. Yes this flies completely in the face of U1 but it worked out very well at the time for the Castles & Crusades game I had going. 


I used the Slavers organization like something straight outta of Palladium Fantasy or Rifts. I've done this repeatedly over the years & my players continue to use the various campaign histories tangled together. Why because they like me DMing Castles & Crusades like a free wheeling Rifts game & I'm perfectly happy to do so. More as this as it develops tonight.


Tegel Manor is going to cross over all of this material coming up depending upon how the PC's go with the adventure elements.