Saturday Mail Call - Troll Lords Castle Keeper's Guide 3rd Printing Unboxing

 Today's been a great mail call as Troll Lords sent me a copy of The Castle Keeper's Guide that was on sale. The box arrived today in the mailbox & I couldn't be happier. This is a book I've been quietly been waiting to be on sale and then snag a copy. 

One thing about all of my independent OSR makers & sellers is that they pack their books right. And Troll Lords is no exception. And the Castle Keeper's Guide is a particularly thick tome with everything the DM needs to run his or her campaigns. The Trolls did an exceptional job packing this bad boy up with the recent problems that I've had with the United States post office. 

The Castle Keeper's Guide hits all of the high points for Castles & Crusades for me as a dungeon masters including using Science Fiction or Science Fantasy gadgets within their Castles & Crusades game adventures. The book covers everything but the kitchen sink and more. 

There more then enough DM goodness here to shake a troll at. Alright that was bad but in reality this is a fine grade DM's book for Castles & Crusades that covers almost everything that the DM is going to need. There's lots of material in the Castle Keeper's Guide  for the dungeon master to push thier games into the next level. 

The break down on the Siege Engine is key running a successful C&C game campaign. The complete mass combat system is a welcome addition to my C&C toolkit. 
And an actual Domain land as treasure system works very well for expanding C&C into the lordly domain's kingdom realms. Castles isn't just a part of the title anymore. 

Troll Lords Castle Keeper's Guide 3rd Printing For Castles & Crusades Is Available Right 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! 

Troll Lords Mail Call & Unboxing of A Jason Vey Special

 Its been a while since we've done anything with Troll Lord's Amazing Adventures rpg. But with a soda spill disaster last year it was time to get in on the action of an AA rpg bundle that they've got going on for thirty dollars.  Getting the books through the door was a bit of a saga however as the postman put them on the otherside of the house?! 

There's something to be said for old school Siege Engine rpg Pulp role playing. Because its cross compatible with Castles & Crusades Amazing Adventures! rpg remains a favorite at the table top level. Having another set of books at the home for a reference minus the soda stains is priceless. Troll Lord knows how to package their books. 

Had a blast running Amazing Adventures! Rpg in the past & mixing it in with OSR titles for all kinds of mayham on my players. Given its a mix of Flash Gordon, Indiana Jones, & tales from the past this was a no brainer for me. Can't say that we've cracked the new fifth edition of the Amazing Adventures game but the classic Amazing Adventures! is the one for the table top level for our players. 

So what's in the AA! bundle?! The almost whole line of the Amazing Adventures rpg line : 

Amazing Adventure Core Book

Companion Book

Manual of Monsters

I said almost the whole line because the one book that really for me completest this has got to be Amazing Adventures  The Book of Powers. This book really is one of the end caps of the AA! rpg classic line. You can create your own powers, creatures, etc adding or customizing as necessity or adventure dictates. 

So this was a no brainer for me to grab the books for an upcoming game next week. Anyhow there's more Amazing Adventures! rpg action coming up! 

Troll Lords Castles & Crusades Unboxing & OSR Commentary

A week or so ago there were several issues in my personal neck of the OSR. I went to look around for some books that I've been missing in my personal Castles & Crusades collection Expanding Classes, Classic Monsters & Treasure 2nd Printing, & Castles & Crusades Character Classes.  These  books were holes in the C&C collection especially the two PC books for expanding the player's options. The delivery was very fast for a package arriving from Arkansas. 



These books were properly packed & the transaction was smooth. A few emails shot back & forth with the Troll Lords led to some ideas for my current OSR campaign. The PC selection options are fantastic with these two books. 



Expanding Classes written by Mark Sandy has some interesting variant PC options; "Expanding Classes is just that angle. Herein we delve into the 13 standard C&C classes, and the Rune Mark, and unleash the power of multiclassing, enhanced classes and switching classes."Readers can expect an upcoming review for Expanding Classes on this blog.

The next book is " Character Classes, you’ll find just that, with all the classes presented in the C&C Players Handbook and C&C Adventurers Backpack in one convenient book. The entries in Character Classes are alphabetized for quick and easy reference."Though slim this volume seems to really pack in the PC  information & looks like its got some great C&C system crossover. The last book is  Castles & Crusades Classic Monsters & Treasure  book in the mix. This book is a combination of monsters from the Monster Manual II, Fiend Folio, & several Dragon magazine articles. 


The monster content in the Castles & Crusades Classic Monsters & Treasure  book is as follows:
algoid, ascomoid, aurumvorax, babbler, behir, berbalang, boggart, carbuncle, catoblepas, crypt thing, dark creeper, demilich, derro, disenchanter, firbolg, flumph, grue, huecuva, keck, korred, mephit, mudman, nilbog, ogrillon, peryton, phoenix, revenant, russet mold, selkie, tarrasque, thoqqua, vargouille, volt, xsayarsa, yeti. Here's where Castles & Crusades gets the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Fiend Folio treatment. This works as a way of flogging these classic monsters into my campaign adventures.

Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea Unboxing & Campaign Building Commentary

If you've been following this blog for awhile now then you know of my all consuming love of Jeff Talanian's Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea second edition from North Wind Adventures.

 So imagine my surprise when I received a great big package( alright don't because I was informed bout this about a month ago by the author himself. I nearly nerdgarmed right on the email. Merry Christmas to Jeff, The North Wind Adventure crew  & The Talanian family)!

The North wind packing & packaging was excellent. They did this the right way unlike some of my packages in the past from lulu publishing which has gotten better.

 But this fantastic Christmas present got me thinking about the on the table use of classic B/X Dungeons & Dragons & Advanced Dungeons & Dragons adventures with AS&SH. This comes adapting other OSR adventures as well but we'll get to that in a second.

Jesus you could kill someone with this book don't mind my hairy Bigfoot like arm in the picture but check the quality of the binding on the side that's what I want to see in games.

The whole centeral focus of AS&SH system & campaign settings  are the writings of Clark Ashton Smith  & the Lovecraft circle of writers 
But the DM shouldn't feel crippled by an official setting for AS&SH at all. Instead they should be making it their own. But the fact is that a lot of DM's & for that matter players don't have the time to do a lot of prep work & whatnot today. So instead their going to focus no classically published B/X D&D or AD&D first edition adventures. But I just briefly want to talk about the focus & flavor of AS&SH second edition. On the whole it can seem right out regular Dungeons & Dragons but its not. Instead the setting echoes the classic pulp era with HP Lovecraft & Robert Howard's mythos writing but it might also be the far future where Hyperborea is in its last gasps before the whole mass sinks into that bloated red sun.

 
I really appreciate the sentiment Jeffrey seriously I do & right back at you.

For my 'Old Earth' campaign setting Hyperborea is a echo of a bygone war torn age. But for running something like the T1 The Village of Hommlet, the place is a bastion of civilization in the wilderness of cavemen,giants, etc. that are waiting to meet & eat your PC's head on. The PC's are going to need the Keep from The Borderlands  & want a base of operations straight out when adventuring on Hyperborea.The town of Swampgate & the introductory adventure does the exact classic bastion of civilization. The technological levels of AS&SH run from secondary Ice Age cavemen to Greek & perhaps in some of the most civilized areas mid period empire Rome. This means that wilderness adventuring  can be the rule not the exception on Hyperborea. And its that Weird Tales wilderness where villages & entire farms can be swallowed up by some Lovecraftian horror or nameless thing. Classic campaign run modules such as the Temple of Elemental Evil should be adapted to AS&SH not the other way around. There are the classic D&D monsters but in AS&SH they've been given a Hyperborean coating. Should the DM work with them they can surprise & kill even seasoned veteran player's PC's easily.

The page meet is solid meaning that the binding is quality.Notice where the meet points are & how the pages are balanced.

This means that AS&SH is wearing its Sword & Sorcery origins quite literally on its sleeves. So I have a tendency to run classic Dungeons & Dragons modules with a twist or two that the players who have played the classics before are not expecting. Because let's face it 'gamers' in general are a pop culture wary & jaded lot. AS&SH's Hyperborea isn't drawing from one cycle of  Clark Ashton Smith's cycles or H.P. Lovecraft's writings its drawing from many of them. Stealing from them in the night & then moving on. This makes campaign play not only doable but it demands it. This isn't to say that you as a player or DM can't run one shot adventures in fact I would suggest a television episode style of adventures to expand & flesh out their Hyperborea setting because Sword and sorcery commonly overlaps with heroic fantasy.

The color plates really do add to the spice of the setting and give the DM fodder. They lay the ground work with regards to the hows & why's of Hyperborea as a living breathing campaign adventure setting. They're gorgeous.

On the whole AS&SH is a classic OSR retro clone system & many of the fine OSR adventure products on the market can easily be adapted to the system. This also includes settings as well. Because in my mind AS&SH takes place in the far future its easy to adapt them to the AS&SH system. I reading some of this minor blog entry I make the whole thing sound plodding & as a stick in the mud serious retroclone. AS&SH can easily do classic Saturday morning cartoons such as 'The Herculoids' or 'Thundarr The Barbarian' as easily as Robert Howard's Conan.

I haven't talked much about North Wind Adventures other official adventures like Beneath the Comet , Forgotten Fane of the Coiled Goddess, or Ghost Ship of the Desert Dunes 

but especially The Mystery at Port Greely. 

The Mystery at Port Greely is a recasting of  HP Lovecraft's The Shadow over Innsmouth onto Hyperborean shores. This adventure has given me the most campaign adventure hooks, player reactions, & TPK's of the AS&SH line. Why? Because its one of the defining Lovecraftian  adventures of Hyperborea. The adventure seems to fade from players minds for some reason but the events of the adventure point to a world baring threat with implications of Lovecraftian wars brewing on Hyperborea. This adventure has some very dire implications for my own 'Old Earth' campaign but we'll get to that soon enough. Mental note to self get a physical copy ASAP. Seriously I keep forgetting to order the physical copies of these adventures because last year I gave them to a friend as a Christmas present.


For me Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea second edition isn't just a gorgeous book but a setting that I want to play in  again & again.

 If You Want Your own copy of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea second edition Grab It Here

Have a great afternoon & Trouble says hi folks. Remember to keep those dice rolling!

Warriors of The Red Planet Second Edition Rpg System Unboxing & Commentary

 So today brought me a brand new gift from the other half The Warriors of The Red Planet Second Edition book from Lulu. The book has left me somewhat speechless, the author and artist did such a great job with the retroclone system. There's a lot happening here for your old school Mars role playing. The box was solid and no cracks or dents, the tracking went off without a hitch.

 Lulu packed the book up very nicely and the new book looks fantastic, the system has gone over a bit of a revision and there are are new PC options on the table along with expanded set of skills for the scoundrel class and plenty of tables for adventure generation. No longer are PC's bound to Mars either, this seems to be the first in an expanded range of interstellar and solar system adventures.

 The cover art reflects the old school OD&D homage right off the bat and there's plenty of self referencing going on in the book. The DM is really in control right out of the gate and there's a ton of old Mars action happening right between the pages. This book could be used as both source book and as rule book for your old school games and even though its a retroclone sort of it takes its own liberties and directions with the old school vibe straight out of the gate.

 As I said the packing job was up to Lulu's usual standards. I think I like the company's books a bit more then Drivethrurpg's and this is a personal opinion rather then fact. Another thing I think that the Pdf doesn't do the physical book half of the justice it deserves. The artwork, layout is gorgeous and very well done.

 The physical cover just pops and has such a vibrance as well as old school edge to it in my opinion.It just makes you want to actually play the damn game. 

 The print is clear and the binding is tight as hell which is nice and since this is my fourth or fifth book from Lulu I'm pretty damned stoked to have this piece of old school retroclone fun. Warriors of the Red Planet brings a nice fresh and upbeat sword and planet vibe to the table top scene.

 All of the familiar faces are there from Edgar Rice Burroughs and the Lovecraft circle including Albert Otis Kline but there's plenty of new material to bring a fresh Martian prospective to life on Mars. The speed of the system is as good as OD&D and  in some places far more clear.

 The racial choices and classes are really very nicely done bringing to life not only a sword and planet but any number of science fictional creations can be brought to life on your version of Mars. The ideas and reflections of the WoRP system are pretty endless and the idea is brought home in the DYI OD&D ethos of the system itself.

The rulebook is really very well done and I couldn't be more pleased on any number of levels. Knowing my passion for old school pulp roleplaying this game has been a God sent on any number of levels and now even more so. Everything here is crisp and very well done reflecting a simple and intuitive D&D style with echoes and touches from the authors making it their own. This marks a nice bench work in sword and planet systems.

 The back half of the book is the meat and bones of the Warriors of the Red Planet system for me. It is taken up by planetart dungeon and underworld design and its very well done. Much of this material could be used to create material and generate old school planetary dungeons for any number of old  school science fiction or fantasy systems.

 Tables and skills have been tightened, equipment expanded, material in WofRP edited & tightened up then dovetailed into other areas. The book does a good job of prepping up any number options for both high test science fiction and planetary romance adventures

 The central affair of this game book is generating the adventure and getting you the DM as well as your players onto the table and rolling some dice. The systems are tight, crisp, and exuberantly old school in both ethos and practice.

 Monsters are well laid out and there's lots of red man action as well as the usual exotic Martian horrors to make your PC's life a red hell on Mars or the solar system choice of yours a real adventure.

 The races of Mars are well represented and easily incorporated on any number of levels of old school adventure play. These races are high test and old school facets of the Edgar Rice Burroughs school and all of his imitators who came after them and they're perfect choices to get the players in the right frame of mind for a planetary romance or old school science fiction adventure romp.

 As I said the binding is very nice and the quality for this book is surprising on any number of levels.

 There are a ton of random tables to get the DM's juices flowing and ebbing with adventure design, there's enough material here for six to eight campaigns with a quick toss of the dice. Did I mention the artwork is spectacular

 There's lots of adventure design choices from weird science artifacts to fully blown horrors waiting in the wastelands to a ton of NPC tables all waiting for your adventurers. There's enough here to transport a ton of D&D or Sword and Wizardry characters into the deep end of the Martian pool.

 Oh I do love the air  ship to ship rules and artwork of Warriors of the Red Planet, it hearkens back to the OD&D wargaming roots while blazing its own trail against the back drop of the planetary tales of Mars.

 They're concise, intuitive and well done and they tie everything in the book together. The whole game is aimed at creating and running adventures on Mars and aboard, I'm really impressed with the other all system and care that went into this product. I have plans for the second edition of Warriors of the Red rpg system.

Egyptian Adventures: Hamunaptra (d20) Unboxing

 

Recently Paizo.com had a sale on Egyptian Adventures: Hamunaptra (d20). I've been lusting after this box set for a long time & a friend of mine Mick Leach one of the founders of the OSG group on facebook was kind enough to send me this!
From the Description : 

'Towering pyramids rise from the sands, speaking of the glory of kings long gone. Three mighty pharaohs, kings and gods, rule over a land divided-- over nations hovering on the brink of war. Priests of mighty deities guide the lives of peasants and nobles alike, as all struggle to make the most of the fertile lands that line the mighty river Yor, whose rushing waters are at once the symbol and the source of all life. But all around, the desert grows, encroaching nearer each day to the last remaining refuge of a once mighty civilization.

Egyptian Adventures allows you to play the world's most popular roleplaying game in the sands of Hamunaptra, a new fantasy setting inspired by the myths, legends, and culture of Ancient Egypt. Neither the Egyptian feel nor the playability of the game has been sacrificed. The classes and races that populate the lands of Hamunaptra are still recognizable as your own favorites, yet re-imagined to convey the feel of a time of pharaohs under the shadow of war.

This boxed set includes three separate books, each of which presents vital setting information. From the classes, races, feats, and magic of Hamunaptra, to a complete gazetteer of the continent of Khemti and a book of GM-only secrets, this boxed set contains all you'll need to explore the world of Hamunaptra. Battle foul beasts of the desert, excavate the curse-warded tombs of dynasties past, sabotage and spy upon the armies of rival nations, master ancient magics, or simply attempt to solve the riddle of the expanding Red Land before the desert overtakes the last, dwindling bastions of civilization.

This is an age of legend. Make it your own.'
 This whole set was about 5.00 & worth every penny in my book. I've been looking for a decent Egyptian themed set for Crypts & Things for awhile now & I think that this might fit the bill. I'll end up retro fixing everything into the system. This isn't as big a deal as it sounds. 

All in all the setting seems very pulpy & reminds me of the box sets of yesterday. It looks like a nice mix of stuff here. 

The Book of Days is the players hand book & the thing is pretty darn awesome. It explains & lays out the character classes very well & adds some dimension which reflects some major changes to the usual D&D tropes. Most of the major races are specifically tied to their gods. Elves are children of Isis, etc. 

The Book of Gates is the day to day life book in the setting & adds some awesome twists on the religions of  the realm. Be warned though these aren't even remotely historically accurate. They're created right into the setting. 

 The Book of Law are all of the DM's secrets & contains some interesting tidbits on the religions, monsters, tribes, inner plots, etc. This is a nicely laid out little book 

This is the map that comes with the set. Very cool, quick, & seems like a nice reference piece

Some of the Egyptian Style artwork 

Not bad for 5.00! These normally sell for 25.00 but if you keep your eyes open you might find one on sale!

Paizo's was Here

A much more detailed review of the stuff Here

 A Quick Note: The Old School Gamers group on Facebook is perhaps one of the most dynamic & fun bunch you'll ever meet. The  topics fly fast & furious. If you have a Facebook account ask to join & you won't be sorry. They're are gobs of  gamers, game professionals, & all kind of old school goodness there!

Here

Also while your there be sure to check out the Mystara Reborn group which is actively working on new material, exploring the old school world, & getting into some really cool topics!

 Check them out right Here
 Thanks Mick!