OSR News from the Underdark Gazette - Sunday, May 22, 2011

Let's Kick Things off, With a Review!

Charles was kind enough to send me a copy of Old-School Magic for review. So, let's see what it's all about!

Old-School Magic by Charles Rice. Art by Dave Peterson and Cerebus. Vigilance Press. Available in PDF for $1.99. 29 pages. 

Old School Magic is the definitive resource for adding a personal touch to the magic of your old-school fantasy games!

Old School Magic features alternate rules of magic and advice for adapting your game into a low, medium or high magic setting.

It also includes 9 new classes, many of which are specifically tailored for low-magic settings, including the Alchemist, Artificer, Holy Man and Naturalist.

Other new classes include new specialist magic-users suitable for traditional old-school games, each with their own spell list, including the Conjurer, Elementalist and Seer.

Finally Old School Magic contains over 30 new spells, created for its specialist classes but available to traditional Clerics, Druids and Magic-Users as well.

The supplement starts out with an overview of what the author is setting out to accomplish, discussion of magic in AD&D/OSRIC and  the ways it might be utilized in individual campaigns. High, medium and low magic games are discussed, as is indicated in the blurbage above. Various ideas for tweaking magic, like introducing astrological factors, are given. Taking all three approaches to the campaign's level of magic into consideration, the supplement provides new MU sub-classes, to help the DM realize the one she's chosen. For the more traditional type of spellcasting, new spells are provided.

Nine new classes are included: The Alchemist, The Artificer, The Conjurer, The Elementalist, The Hermit, The Holy Man, The Naturalist, The Sage, and The Seer. There are 31 new spells, with spell-levels for both the usual type of caster and the nine new ones, save for a few cases where the spell is listed as only being available to the latter sort of mage. The new classes, or Archetypes as the supplement names them, which utilize spells, have lists which range from Level 1 to Level 7, as opposed to the usual Magic-User high-end of 9th Level. Spells within the new Archetypes' area of expertise are often available earlier than they are to their vanilla counterparts.

Five of the new Archetypes don't use spells at all, but have other powers at their disposal. These are rather specialized and are put forth for use in Low Magic campaigns. They would also make good NPC classes for more traditional milieu's.

The material is well crafted and I particularly enjoyed the new spells, many of which I would bring into my game. I'd also let a player try one of the new, spell-using Archetypes. I think the Seer would have problems hanging with a more traditional dungeon-delving team and the Hermit, which is really more of a Cleric sub-class, really doesn't make a good fit with the typical adventuring group, but the Conjurer and Elementalist would do well. I think they'd be fun and effective to play and not outshine their vanilla counterparts, but by their very nature, they are more limited in scope, so a PC caster would be foregoing quite a bit of his versatility. In the end, it's up to players, whether or not the fun of playing those Archetypes, combined with the special powers granted to the classes in question, is worth the trade-off.

Those running a real, low-magic type game, where a magic-guy without spells in the traditional sense would fit in, will find a lot of helpful thoughts and ideas. There's plenty of material for DM's running campaigns with a more typical level of magical power, as well.

The lay-out is two-columned. I recall one editing gaff. My only complaint here, is the stat-blocks for the classes. They're black on a totally grey background, which looked fine in PDF but was a bit of a strain on my middle-aged eyes, when reading from my printed copy.

Any other nits to pick?

I like the Conjuration Spells Mr. Rice wrote for Old-School Magic, a lot, but would have liked to have seen some more. The Conjurer's spell list is on the sparse side and I'd probably want to bring in a few of the Conjuration spells from the UA; Spiritwrack in particular.

There's a lot of fun and useful ideas in Old-School Magic. I can definitely recommend it and for  $1.99, it's a steal!

The Cold Text Files

Scottsz, whose awesome Cold Text Series has been running at Lord of the Green Dragons, now has a blog dedicated to the Cold Text Files. His analyses of WG4 and C1 are up and he's posted some information on his upcoming plans. For purely selfish reasons, I'd ask you to head over and encourage him to continue his research! It's bloody awesome!

The Latest from Small Niche Games

The Chronicles of Amherth by Peter C. Spahn. Art by Johnathan Bingham and Tony Mullins. Small Niche Games. Available in PDF for $4.95. 77 pages.

THIS PRODUCT INCLUDES THE LABYRINTH LORD ADVENTURE ATARIN'S DELVE FOR FREE AS PART OF THE DOWNLOAD

THE CHRONICLES OF AMHERTH

The Chronicles of Amherth is a Labyrinth LordTM campaign setting designed to provide new Labyrinth Lords with a ready-made, and most of all, manageable fantasy setting from which to quickly launch a new campaign. World history, backstory, timeline, and metaplot have all been kept to a minimum in order to help facilitate this goal. Amherth accommodates most of the well-known fantasy tropes including wizards, elves, dragons, dwarves, and many others. Veteran fantasy gamers will find much of the material contained within is easily adapted for use with existing campaigns.

Note to SNG customers: All future Small Niche Games adventures will be set in the world of Amherth, but still be generic enough to drop into any existing campaign world.

AMHERTH OVERVIEW

The people of Amherth are descendants of a long-extinct race of godlike beings known only as the Ancients. Humanity is the dominant force in the Known World, while most of the nonhuman races have retreated from public view. The wilderness is a dark and dangerous place, filled with monsters and other perils, and the threat of war is ever present, with civilization constantly hanging on the brink of collapse. With its bleak world history, apathetic gods, and evil magics resurfacing from the past, the Chronicles of Amherth lends itself towards a darker fantasy style of play.

CONTENTS

-The Gods of Amherth: Twelve detailed gods and how they fit into the setting.
-History of the Ancients: Details of the powerful beings who almost destroyed the world and the legacy they left behind. 

-The Known World of Amherth: A detailed overview of the setting's major realms and regions, including the Duchy of Valnwall. (Gazetteer-style guidebooks to follow!)
-New Flora: Twelve new magical plants.

-New Monsters: 40 fully detailed races and monsters for use in your Labyrinth Lord campaign.

-New Magic Items: 22 new magic items.

LABYRINTH LORD COMPATIBLE

With the cooperation of companies such as Goblinoid Games, Faster Monkey Games, and Brave Halfling Publishing, Small Niche Games has created an alternate version of the Duchy of Valnwall setting that is still compatible with the one given in the Labyrinth LordTM core rulebook. The names of previously published places, cities, and in some cases even NPCs are used with permission, so Labyrinth Lords who have been running games in the Duchy should have no trouble adapting their game to the Duchy of Valnwall detailed later in this text and in future Small Niche Games products.

ATARIN'S DELVE (available separately for $2.95)

Also included with this product is the sample adventure Atarin's Delve. Atarin's Delve is a short, site-based Labyrinth LordTM adventure designed for 4-6 characters of 1st-3rd level (about 8-10 levels total). The adventure takes place in a cave system that was once sacred to a humanoid race known as the cathla, but has now been taken over by a cult of the water goddess Makil from the Chronicles of Amherth setting.

CHRONICLES OF AMHERTH ADVENTURE BUNDLE (Available for $9.95)

Want more adventure bang for your buck? Pick up the Chronicles of Amherth Adventure Bundle which includes the Chronicles of Amherth setting overview, the sample adventure Atarin's Delve, and critically acclaimed adventures Blood Moon Rising, The Inn of Lost Heroes, and Pyramid of the Dragon all at a hugely discounted price.

If you haven't read anything from Small Niche Games I'd recommend the bundle, which includes the new Setting and all four of his modules. Peter's stuff kicks-ass, as several reviews on blogs and forums will attest and for $9.95 it's a great bargain!

What's Dyson Logos Been Up To?

Reposted from goblinoidgames.com:

This Week at a Character For Every Game
by Dyson Logos » Sat May 21, 2011 10:20 am

While I've been spending a bunch of time with deadEarth lately, I decided I could make it somewhat useful to everyone else by including Mutant Future stats for my deadEarth creations.

• Inquisitor Crocodiles - Mean mind-controlling crocodiles, the alpha predator of my game.
• Award-Winning Dungeon Design - Check out the winners of the 1 Page Dungeon Contest (including my own entry!)
• Erdea Manor, Level 2 - Exploration following the footsteps of Vera, our Ogre Adventuress.
• Random Thursday - Tournament Games - What event do you get drafted into while the level 9 fighters are out there jousting?
• Friday Map - Erdea Manor Catacombs - The fourth and final map of Erdea Manor.

For All You DIYers Out There (OK, Pretty Much Everyone Reading This.)

Matt released the rtf file for Swords & Wizardry Core, 4th print.

Basic Fantasy News

The latest update of BF2 Fortress, Tomb, and Tower, is available. That would be Release 11. 

I Love the Freakin' Cover!

Center Stage Miniatures and Pacesetter Games & Simulations are teaming up, to bring you U1 - Dark Eye of the Hurricane, a module/miniature set combo! Let's hear from Center Stage:

May 18, 2011 - Pacesetter Games & Simulations and Center Stage Miniatures have teamed-up to produce U1 - Dark Eye of the Hurricane, a First Edition quick play module which will be available June 1st in the online store at www.centerstageminis.com.
U1 is the first in a three-part series of modules available exclusively through Center Stage Miniatures. The series picks up 30 years after the official "U" series ends.

"This is a great way for Center Stage customers to learn about the fantastic adventure modules Bill Barsh makes available through Pacesetter," said Matt Solarz, owner of Center Stage Miniatures.

This product not only includes the written module, but miniatures to go along with it. The complete set is $29.95 and includes 1x Lord of the Eyes miniature and 3x Sea Devils, as well as the 8-page module with color cardstock cover. Limited to 100 copies, U1 will not be reprinted as a stand-alone module.

"When Matt first approached me with this idea I immediately jumped on-board. This game is a visual game and pairing a module series with a fantastic miniature line is not just a great idea, but something that has to be done," said Bill Barsh, owner of Pacesetter Games. "Center Stage produces many of the old-school miniatures people want to see, and I'm pleased to be working with them on bringing the original "U" series to a new conclusion! This series is not for the weak of heart. After all, the first module features a lord of the eyes, and it gets nastier from there!"

I Suspect That Bloggers Adult Filter May be Messing With My Links to Certain Posts

Besides, if you've missed Zak's Redoing The Fiend Folio series, that means you're probably new or something and just haven't found Playing D&D With Porn Stars, yet. In which case, I recommend going to the main page, as soon as you've finished reading The News.

Pre-Order The Tome of Horrors and save $10!

The Tome of Horrors, for Swords & Wizardry and Pathfinder is now available for pre-ordering. $89.99.

But it’s more than just that, because the entire compilation has also been updated to the Swords & Wizardry rules for release as another version of the volume. And in this version, the space freed up by the smaller stat blocks is filled by sample monster lairs and encounters with the hundreds of different monster types featured in the tome. Never before has this massive selection of monsters been updated and brought with these resources all together in one place for use in your own game. And before any Pathfinder players cry foul over the monster lair additions in the Swords & Wizardry version of The Tome of Horrors Complete, this lair information will be available as a free download at the Frog God Games website talesofthefroggod.com for you to use as well.

The Tome of Horrors Complete sample lairs will be included in the Swords and Wizardry volume and as a free download for the Pathfinder volume! This will be comprised of hex-style lairs by a writing team led by John Stater!

Books will be shipped August 2011. Buy before June 1, 2011 and save $10!

Per Matt Finch, not many more books will be printed, above and beyond the number pre-ordered. So, if you're interested in this title, you may wish to act accordingly.

It's Coming!

Trey of From the Sorcerer's Skull posted some sample pages of his upcoming Weird Adventures!

On Playing Roles and Telling Stories

Roleplaying Games vs. Storytelling Games from The Alexandrian.

Congratulations to the One-Page Dungeoneers!

The 2011 One Page Dungeon Contest winners have been announced! While you're there, be sure to scarf up all those dungeon pdf's, singularly, or in the two compilations!

A Sneak Peak at Stonehell Part Two

Here, from Michael Curtis, of course!

Hot Damn! It's Mazes & Minotaurs Time!

Minotaur Quarterly Issue 9: Midgard & Mythika! Available as a Free Download.

This 70+ page issue includes a gazetteer on the Centaurs of Sicania, an epic adventure set in a hitherto unknown part of Mythika, new abilities for creatures, optional rules for flying creatures and plenty of other wondrous M&M stuff - including a special Vikings & Valkyries section with a complete adventure, mythic items and more!

The previous issues are still available, of course. There's also a collection of Compilations from the MQ at the Minotaur Classics page. And for those new to M&M, go thou here, where you can download the PDF's of the Original or Revised edition, along with a ton of supplemental material, all for Free! I hadn't thought to check on M&M for a while, so thanks to the venomous pao for the head's up!

Chainmail!

Chicagowiz has some Chainmail Reference Sheets/Unit Record Sheet for you miniature wargaming needs!

Paper Minis from Ze Bulette

At his Dungeons & Digressions Blog. Witch and Watchers. 

And From Telecanter's Receding Rules

More Silhouette's from Telecanter.

Podcast Interviews with James Raggi, Zak S. and Mandy Morbid

At Yellow Menace, where, I understand, you can snag a really good discount code for use at the LotFP store.

And at RPG Circus.

While I'm on the Subject of Podcasts and Such

Save or Die Podcast Adventure #32: Harpy Attack!

The Latest from Samwise7.

And Bighara's Echoes from the Geekcave.

May 31 is the Deadline for the Fight On!/Magicians Manse Random Table Contest

Let's hear from calithena:

Fight On! and Magician’s Manse are Proud to Announce -

A Contest for Fantasy Gaming Tables!

Entry Deadline: May 31, 2011

Send your random tables via email with the header TABLES to tombowings at gmail dot com!

Rules: Maximum 3 tables per entrant, OR 2 tables per entrant if either or both of them are ‘multiple tables’ tables (e.g. a connected set of dungeon or wilderness tables).

For some gamers, there is nothing – not even a good ruleset – that beats a good collection of random tables. So we’ve decided to run a contest to put one together! 

By submitting your table, you give us permission to re-print that table in the upcoming Fight On! Big Book of Tables (or whatever we eventually decide to call it). You continue to own your own table and all rights to it other than our right to publish it in various iterations of that book and may re-use or re-publish it elsewhere as you see fit. Likewise, tables you have already published elsewhere may be submitted to this contest so long as you still have the rights to them to give to us to publish in this way.

We are looking for overall quality, game-usability, creativity, better mousetraps, and/or gonzo! Our Judges include S. John Ross, Jeff Rients, Tim Kask, Paul Czege, and Ian Burns, as well as Ignatius Umlaut of Fight On!

Prizes!

Grand Prize: 1 Roll on the Gold Table, 1 Roll on the Gems & Jewelry Table, 1 Roll on the Magic Items Table, a Trade Paperback Copy of Roll the Bones, and a set of Dwarven Metal Dice provided by DEI Games (deigames.com)

Second Prize: 1 Roll on the Gold Table, 1 Roll on the Gems & Jewelry Table, and 1 Roll on the Magic Items Table

Third Prize: 1 Roll on each of any Two Different Tables Below (your pick)

First Honorable Mention: 1 Roll on the Gems and Jewelry Table or the Magic Table (your pick). All prizes except FHM guaranteed; we will use this category for entries that were extremely painful to exclude from the top three.

Honorable Mention: All honorable mentions and all prizewinners above will receive a free PDF copy of the Fight On! Big Book of Tables (when it comes out) and a free PDF of a randomly determined issue of Fight On! magazine! And we intend to give Honorable Mention to ALL submitted tables meant for eventual inclusion in the Big Book of Tables, so there will be a lot of these prizes to go around!

All product prizes below are provided by Fight On! and do not represent the endorsement of or cooperation with the authors, publishers, or manufacturers of said products, although we like them all and think they’re cool guys.

Gold Table (d100) - USD:
01-25 $25
26-50 $50
51-75 $75
76-95 $100
96-99 $250
00 $500

Gems & Jewelry Table (d100) – only one of each, rolled in order of prize received:
01-30 About 30 or so mostly unpainted old-time Grenadier minis, mostly from the Dungeon Explorers and Tomb of Spells Sets
31-40 Beautifully Painted Owlbear, Otyugh, and Ogre Mage Minis (sculptor unknown, but I think they’re old-tyme)
41-50 Provocatively Painted Marilith and Succubus (Marilith is Reaper, not sure about Succubus)
51-60 Battle Scene 1: 4 Beautifully Painted Crocodile Games Wargods of Hyperborea Wendigo (Yeti) Warriors versus 6 Well Painted Privateer Press Hordes Everblight Archers and Swordsmen
61-70 Battle Scene 2: 4 Excellently Painted Tom Meier Thunderbolt Mountain Elves on Foot versus 4 Excellently Painted Tom Meier Thunderbolt Mountain Orcs
71-75 Battle Scene 3: 3 Excellently Painted Tom Meier Thunderbolt Mountain Elves on Horseback versus 3 Excellently Painted Emperor’s Choice Miniatures Goblin Grey Knights Mounted on Air Sharks
76-85 Against the Giants 1: Exceptionally Painted Otherworld Miniatures Hill Giant and Stone Giant
86-95 Against the Giants 2: Well Painted Ral Partha Frost Giant and Cave Giant
96-99 Random Dwarven Forge Custom Dungeon Piece: 1 Wall of Fire Short Passage, 2 Moss & Fungus L-Shaped Passage with Mushroom, 3 4x6 Cerberus Fountain Floor Piece, 4 Room Corner with Banner and Crystal Ball. (May reroll if you don’t use DF.)
00 Beautifully Painted Complete Ral Partha Wasteland Raider Set

Magic Items Table (d100) – all are physical print copies:
01-03 $50 donation to Friends of Starship Warden in your name
04-06 Apocalypse World
07-09 Arduin: World of Khaas Worldbook (First Hardback Printing, OOP)
10-12 Backswords & Bucklers AND Ruins & Ronin
13-15 Book of Ebon Bindings
16-18 B/X Companion
19-21 Carcosa 
22-24 Charnel Crypt of the Sightless Serpent
25-27 Dragons at Dawn
28-30 Drowning and Falling AND Elfs
31-33 Dungeon Alphabet
34-36 Empire of the Petal Throne (HOG Reproduction)
37-39 Encounter Critical
40-42 Exquisite Corpses
43-45 Fight On! Magazine, 1d6 Randomly Determined Print Issues
46-48 Grinding Gear AND Weird New World
49-51 How to Host a Dungeon
52-54 Inferno: 1980
55-57 Majestic Wilderlands
58-60 Miscellaneum of Cinder AND Ye Olde Book of Spells
61-63 Mutant Future
64-66 My Life with Master
67-69 Mythmere’s Adventure Design Deskbook I and II
70-72 Necropolis (Necromancer Edition), autographed by Gary Gygax, slightly used
73-75 Petty Gods (if it is out, otherwise Cursed Chateau)
76-78 Realm of Crawling Chaos
79-81 Secret of Smuggler’s Cove AND Skull Mountain
82-84 Sorcery & Super Science
85-87 Spellcraft & Swordplay
88-90 Stonehell Dungeon
91-00 Trade Paperback copy of Roll the Bones AND Roll Again, ignoring results of 91-00

So what are you waiting for? Let’s see your tables!

Of Cults and Nazis

Fitz of Shouting into the Void has a useful Cult-building template.

Some More Work with the Sample Dungeon

From David of Tower of the Archmage.

For the Stars Without Number fans

Omer Golan has been working on some new material, posted at his Alkonost Rising.

One Grognard's Opinion: Reviews

WrathofZombie has been playing with Vornheim. And Here(more links within that post.) Ah, and Here (I may have already listed this last, but what the hell.)

Berin Kinsman has some things to say about Vornheim, as well.

Simon of ...and the sky full of dust has some things to say about Vornheim, LotFP Grindhouse and Blackmarsh. 

Trollsmyth has some things to say about Vornheim, in this post, Twisted Cheetos.

Brad of Skull Crushing for Great Justice has some things to say about Judges Guild's Ready Ref Sheets and holy crap, you can still get new copies, Here! Cheap!

A fiction review from Trey of From the Sorcerer's Skull - The Merkabah Rider Series. 

David of Tower of the Archmage has a review of Stonehell 2.

Carter Soles of The Lands of Ara has a review of Fight On! #11.

A four-part review of the latest printing of Swords & Wizardry Core by Josh of Grimmhaus!

Higgipedia of Gaming All Over The Place plays some LotFP Grindhouse.

Tenkar has a review of Where Heroes Fear to Tread, a Chivalry & Sorcery product. And Part 1 of his review of LotFP Weird Fantasy Role playing Grindhouse Edition!

Beedo of Dreams in the Lich House posted a play report of Hammers of the God. 

Maptime!

James of The Underdark Gazette posted an updated version of The Black Mete.

Jeff of Jeff's Gameblog posted an updated version of his Wessex Map. 

John Laviolette of The Nine and Thirty Kingdoms continues his awesome Geomorph work and has a PDF available of his G-Series. 

Thomas Denmark of Original Edition Fantasy has some more Geomorphs as well. 

What I'm Pimping This Week

Dyson's Delve - A Mini-Mega-Dungeon by Dyson Logos. Available as a 31 page PDF for Free!

For the next while I’ll be focusing on a mini megadungeon. I’m looking at 11 levels or so, but each level being relatively small (200 feet x 200 feet at most). Each will be posted with a plain map that you can use yourself, as well as fully stocked one-page-dungeon PDF of the level for B/X D&D (or Labyrinth Lord).

And since I can’t come up with a good name for the dungeon, I’m going with the egotistical choice of calling it “Dyson’s Delve”.

The stocking of the dungeon has been done pretty much using the B/X rule books as given. Most monsters have treasure according to their treasure type, and monster appearance is based on the “level” of the dungeon using the tables in the Basic and Expert rulebooks – although the level of the dungeon is set by my XP calculations of the adventure thus far, not based on the physical level below ground (so levels 1 and 2 of the dungeon have level 1 encounters, and level 3 and 4 have level 2 encounters and so on).

Dyson’s Delve was started as a bunch of small dungeon level maps in my Moleskine reporter’s padstyle notebook. Then I started stocking it and posting the levels as one-page-dungeons to the blog.

In all, there are 11 levels to Dyson’s Delve, and it takes a group of 4-5 B/X or Labyrinth Lord characters from level 1 to level 6.
— Dyson Logos

About The News

Unless otherwise noted, all links to products and files are to the individual authors sites, pertinent posts, or sales pages. I don’t link directly to files, unless that is the only link available. The OSR News is produced as a service to the community and is entirely a non-commercial endeavor on my part. I have received no remuneration for advertising or reporting on any of the items appearing herein. Occasionally, the News might feature an item, which the author has sent me a complimentary copy of, for purposes of writing a review.

As always, the What I’m Pimping This Week section of the OSR News and its accompanying blog widget, feature products which I have purchased (or items which are available for free download) and wish to support. At times, the item I'm pimping may be one which I received a complimentary review copy of, from the author or publisher. No one has asked me to spotlight their material in this section and I have received no payment of any kind for doing so.

Please feel free to send me information on any new releases, events, or other items of interest, which you would like to see mentioned

That was a Close One!

Making an Adventure with "Mythmere's Adventure Design Deskbook Volume One"

There were two volumes of the Mythmere's Adventure Design Deskbook series released thru Black Blade. As I understand it, the original plan for the series has been scrapped and a one volume hardcover design book is planned. I don't know the details. The two volumes which were released, Principles and Starting Points and Monsters, are still available in print from Frog God Games' Swords & Wizardry Legacy Products page.

As this could possibly be construed as a review and as far as I know, Congress still says I have to be all kinds of up-front about that sort of thing, I'll mention that I purchased the PDF from Black Blade and wasn't asked to write this post.

Today, we're going to use the random tables contained in Volume 1, to make an adventure!

I'm feeling sluggish, uncreative and generally out of sorts, today. So, my current emotional reality will make for a fine test of the material.

"This first book is about the topmost level of adventure design: a cardinal rule, the elements of a good adventure, the location, the villain’s plan, and the adventurers’ mission. These all provide context – the framework upon which the details hang. Oddly – and I’ve had this confirmed to me by several brilliant adventure authors – the context is often not the starting point for creating an adventure." - Matt Finch, ADD V 1

I'd better quote Matt's Cardinal Rule, as well:

A good adventure should maximize meaningful player decisions.

Today, since we're using Volume 1, we will indeed be going with context. So, the book kicks off with three sets of tables for generating a location. The last, takes a more abstract approach. (rolls d6.) The d6 tells me to use the second table. :)

There are four sub-tables within Table 1-1B: Locations. Each sub-table has 100 entries.

Results

• Structures Description: Coastal
• Structure: Sanctuary
• Feature (First Word): Mutant
• Feature (Second Word): Spawn

That seems really on the nose. The results can generate some mind-bending gestalts and I'd prefer something more wild and woolly! I almost scrapped that and re-rolled. But, let's see where it's going.

A set of tables for generating adventures starting with a Mission is next. I'm not going that route today and will instead jump right into the meat of the matter. Most of the tables in this volume are about generating a Villain!

Table 1-11 is the Master Table of Villainous Plans. There are 15 entries on this table. Result:

• Food – the villain seeks to get food for himself, a monster, or for his organization.

There's more detail in that entry and indeed, many of the tables and entries have extensive commentaries. I'm only aiming to show the results, though, not reproduce the book, so I'll keep things as bare bones as possible.

OK. I could stop here. I can immediately think of several directions to go with this thing. I'm glad I didn't scrap those first results, because it's starting to sound pretty cool! But, since my main goal here is to explore Matt's book, I'm going to continue and see what else the Tables have to say!

There are sub-tables for each of the Villainous Plans entries, more than one for most of them. 21 pages worth, so they get rather detailed.

The Food thing is one of the simpler choices, with only one table to further flesh things out. We now turn to Table 1-23: Food-Related Activities. There are 20 possible results, here. Result:

• The villain/monster’s food processing operation outside a community is causing environmental-type damage in the community (fouled water, poisoned grass, clouds of poison gas, etc) 

So, we go to Table 1-35: Unusual Minions and Lieutenants.  Three sub-tables of 20 entries each. Results:

• Nature of Minion: Sorceress
• Unusual Characteristic: Very Concerned with Personal Appearance
• Reason Why in Villains Service: Unwilling Minion.

Allright. As Matt says:

"Virtually every prominent adventure author I’ve talked with about this question has answered it in the same way. A creative adventure begins with a visual image of some kind."

Matt's preface has a lot to say about the creative process and use of random tables. From my experience, I agree with Mr. Finch and visual imagery, daydreaming, etc., always take me where I want to go. So, I'm gonna go and smoke a cigarette and daydream about that ecological thing. Be back in a minute.

Ok. I'm back. As an aside, this type of creative daydreaming is the quickest and surest way I know of, to pull up personal psychological data. Once you start learning your personal bank of symbols, there's a lot of places you can go.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled adventure.

About ten or so miles outside a population center, an estate sits upon the coast. The Sorceress living there, has three children. These children are all gifted Psionics. Who are emotional vampires needing the fear, pain and terror of sentient beings, to survive. The Sorceress is horrified at what she has to do to feed her children, but what choice does she really have? The nearby town has, for years, been subject to disaster, deprivation and violence. Which grows worse and more frequent, as the children grow older. When the children were younger, she would damage herself to feed them. Hidden beneath her clothes, are horrid scars and grotesque alterations. As her offspring grew older, their need outstripped her ability to provide for them.

Allright then! In a way, I wish some results involving more detailed tables had come up, but, this smaller Random Table path proved itself, admirably! By the way, I love this book. You should get one, before FGG runs out!

Repost: Go To Hell! Revisiting Ed Greenwood's The Nine Hells

I was thinking about Mr. Greenwood's articles and decided to repost this, with a few revisions. The Nine Hells, remains one of my favorite Dragon articles of all time and probably my absolutely favorite thing by Mr. Greenwood.  

Go To Hell! – Revisiting Ed Greenwood’s “The Nine Hells.”

(Since this is some kind of review, I'd better mention that no, no-one has paid or enticed me in any way to write about this series of articles, written over 25 years ago.)

“Yes,” agreed the Paladin who had fought at his side. “You have joined an endless battle, my lord. But if you weary of fighting it here, amid that which you hold dear, then come with me – I ride on the hells tomorrow.” Ed Greenwood – The Nine Hells, Part 1.

That Paladin lives eternally in the front-piece to the first part of one of the most famous articles ever to grace the pages of Dragon Magazine. The art, by Larry Elmore, depicts a Paladin standing by the side of, presumably, a Name Level Fighter. At their feet lay the smoking corpse of a devil. Judging by the depiction and speech, our Paladin has the kind of poise worthy of Dr. Who. But, he has another thing coming! He’s about to storm Ed Greenwood’s Hell, and in the July 1983 issue of Dragon Magazine, # 75, we followed him.

The article was split into two parts, the second was published in issue # 76. Two follow-up pieces, “The Nine Hells Revisited” and “Eight Devilish Questions” appeared in issue # 91. Taken all together, the series runs to a little over fifty pages and gives the DM a wealth of information, for running a game in the Infernal Realms.

Part 1 deals with a few introductory matters, like what to do with all those pesky, LE deities. Then, plunges into a plane by plane description of the Hells, from Avernus, to Stygia. Part 2 covers Malbolge to Nessus, then lists the changed ways in which spells, magical items, and character abilities will operate in the Hells.

The entries for the individual planes start with short descriptions of the levels and their common inhabitants. These run about two-thirds of a page, or so, in length on the average, with Avernus being the longest, at a little over a full page (aside from any artwork.) But they give the DM enough information to take things from there. Someone once said that true evil was banal. The landscapes of the Hells are uninspiring, for the most part. Drearily predictable. But, Hell itself is anything but boring.

After setting the scene for each level, Mr. Greenwood begins describing the various important NPC’s inhabiting these places and this forms the main part of his Hellish Gazetteer. Considering who the author is, it comes as no surprise that this is both the focus of the work and where it truly shines. 

We get Dukes, Chancellors, Outlaw Devils and more than enough Hot Devil Babes (the various consorts,) to fire the imagination of this DM, especially when he was 15. We get motivations, alliances, enemies, frenemies, personality traits, hobbies and machinations, as well as troop lists for the various Dukes.Of course, we get the stats and powers of all these movers and shakers, as well. The Infernal courts are a dark imagining of the byzantine political climate of our own governmental institutions, and the juicy “court gossip” of the Hells is definitely entertaining.

“Phongor is the dreaded Inquisitor of Hell; he is responsible directly to Asmodeus for the provision of complete and accurate news of the hells and other planes. To do this, he has subverted the spies of Adramalech (so that they report first, and most fully, to him), enlisted spies of his own (and spies to watch his spies; he trusts no one), and perfected the art of torture on devils, the lesser creatures of the hells, and intruders alike.” Ed Greenwood – The Nine Hells, Part 1.

"Lilis, consort of Dispater, is one of the older and weaker female devils, but her careful diplomacies and strategies and her attention to events in the hells and elsewhere (her network of spies is said to be second only to that of Asmodeus) has kept her own position in the infernal regions as secure as that of any of the nobility of the hells. Lilis and Biffant (q.v.), Dispater’s provost, are as trusting and as close as two devils ever become – but they are (thus far) unswervingly loyal to Dispater, making his control of Dis the envy of other Archdevils.” Ed Greenwood – The Nine Hells, Part 2.

“The Nine Hells Revisited,” provides more “Outcast Devils,”those natives who are Unique in the Monster Manual sense, but have been cast out of the hierarchy and are forced to eke out an existence hiding in Avernus, all the while scheming to force their way back into their society. Information on how devils become Greater Devils is provided. The unique Arch-Devil Gargoth, is introduced, a being who is perhaps, as powerful as Asmodeus, but who lives on the Prime Material and may, or may not, be in league with the Lord of Nessus. Several pages are devoted to the various kinds of treasure which may be found on the various levels of the hells (woo-hoo!), providing some more flavor to the various planes, as well as their inhabitants. A few more odds and ends, such as travelling the Styx, round out the article.

Lastly, in “Eight Devilish Questions,” Mr. Greenwood provides some answers to a few questions submitted by readers of the original two-part article.

In his work on The Hells, Mr. Greenwood wrote a very entertaining D&D supplement. We get a description of a setting which fascinates many DM’s and players, along with details of the major NPC’s which make the place tick. Also, the rules necessary for running such an alien environment, new lore and answers to various questions concerning the Devils and their home. A few maps of interesting locations, would have been appreciated, though.

Even if the DM never plans on actually sending his players to Hell, the various personalities presented can have a major impact on PC’s who are on the Prime Material. All those shadowy schemers and homicidal plotters are the real heart of “The Nine Hells,” and poor fools on the Prime can become involved with those dangerous beings in a host of ways. 

But, I loved this article so much, that I gave my players a reason to go to Avernus. Their 14th level characters managed to survive the thirty or so in-game minutes it took to accomplish their snatch-and-grab mission and escaped right as an infernal army was descending upon them. 

The truth is, I set it up so that they wouldn’t have too much difficulty, so long as they kept their heads down and played it smart. It became apparent, rather quickly, that they couldn’t afford to dawdle. I just wanted to give them a taste of Hell. Surviving that environment for any length of time would require a lot of stealth, guile, power and luck from PC’s. Unless they somehow got themselves invited, which would be a dangerous situation in and of itself. Mr. Greenwood’s Hell is very well organized, and its armies will swiftly mobilize, dealing with any intruders as decisively as possible. A “Ride on the Hells,”a la the crazy Paladin we met at the beginning of our journey is sheer suicide. He just doesn’t seem to be the stealthy, keep your head down, type.

In Paizo’s last issue of the magazine, they listed their “Top Ten Issues of Dragon.” Numbers 75 & 76 were the first two presented. I can only suppose that the TSR policy of appeasing the Satanic Panic crowd, kept them from including the articles in one of their Best of compilations. So, if you don’t already have these, you’ll need to get the original issues. “The Nine Hells” issues are definitely worth going to the trouble of procuring.

Reviews: Splinters of Faith: Adventure 5 - Eclipse of the Hearth

Splinters of Faith: Adventure 5 - Eclipse of the Hearth by Gary Schotter and Jeff Harkness. Cover art and cartography by Rick Sardinha. Interior art by Char Reed. Layout  and production by Charles A. Wright. Edited by Bill Webb. Published by Frog God Games. Available in a Print/PDF combo for $8.99 plus shipping and in PDF alone for $4.99. The PDF version totals 32 pages. Available in versions for Swords & Wizardry and Pathfinder. 

Ancient Evil Awakens
In a long-buried tomb, a grave robber restores a death-cult leader to life, and his cloud of evil spreads across the land. Left behind are the broken Scepter of Faiths and a litany of shrines to restore the weapon. But the evil one and his minions wait to destroy any who try...

Temples of faith, bastions of evil

Splinters of Faith^TM is a collection of 10 adventures for characters of levels 1 to 15 that can be played individually or as part of an epic campaign to restore the Scepter of Faiths. Adventure in 10 fully detailed temples such as the Shield Basilica of Muir or the dwarven city of Anvil Plunge, and conquer the nightmarish Nether Sepulcher to restore the balance of good.

• Ten complete adventures for low- to high-level characters, usable separately or as a massive linked campaign.
• Eighteen unique temples (10 fully detailed) ready to drop into any campaign world.
• New monsters and magic items to discover, and ideas for further adventures

Splinters of Faith 5: Eclipse of the Hearth (Levels 5 through 7)

The pyramid Seraph, once a holy temple, now lies under the sway of darkness. Breaking into the temple is hard enough, but braving the sinister twists awaiting in the dark catacombs will test the strongest PCs

The Necromancer and Me

My mid 3.x years, is when I first started using modules. I ran Rappan Athuk, as the tent-pole mega-dungeon, for my longest running 3.x campaign. The party never descended into the lower levels, wisely leaving it behind, after finding what they were looking for, therein. Great Stuff! If you're running a version of 3e, I Highly recommend Rappan Athuk!

For my last 3.x campaign, I ran The Vault of Larin Karr. Karr is a mini-sandbox, with lots going on and the ultimate goal of finding and looting the Vault. It's a large module, giving the PC's plenty of non-linear adventure and several levels of gaming, before they finally find what they're looking for. Great Stuff!

As you can see, the common element is that both are Necromancer Games products. With one exception, the only adventure modules I purchased for 3e, were made by Necromancer Games. By the way Bill, I would buy a Swords & Wizardry version of Rappan Athuk or The Vault of Larin Karr, in a heartbeat! :)

Of Swords, Wizards and Frog Gods

Which, brings us to Frog God Games and their Swords & Wizardry Line.

Bill Webb, as most of my readers are no doubt aware, was one of the Principal's of Necromancer Games. After forming Frog God Games, Bill teamed up with Matt Finch to bring us the Swords & Wizardry Complete Rules edition, along with a slew of support products. When the announcement was made I had some concerns, but the prospect of FFG getting behind S&W, was certainly an exciting one. As I've said before, Matt Finch is my favorite living designer. Would Mr. Webb bring that old Necromancer magic to the table and how well would that compliment S&W? The Complete Rules, showed that the answer to those queries was Yes and Very Well! Eclipse of the Hearth provided me with my second opportunity to answer the same questions.

OK! Time for the Actual Review!

Ok. Eclipse of the Hearth is part 5 of a series of interlocked adventures. An Epic Quest, no less. It's also designed to be usable on it's own as a site based adventure. As I understand it, this is true of all the modules in the series. Matt Finch sent me a copy for review and this is the only one of the series I've seen. While I can't review it from looking at its place in the over-arching adventure, I can certainly do so, treating it as a stand-alone adventure module for whatever your gaming needs.

Let's Get This Out of the Way

First, the production values are top notch, as one would expect from FGG. Formatting, layout and style all pretty much match the S&W Complete Rules book. Meaning it's snazzy as all hell. Rick Sardinha's art is always welcome. I liked Char Reed's interiors. Nice cartography, with a greyish background, which should go easy on your printer (and if I like a PDF module enough to use it, I'm gonna make myself a nice home print-out copy.) I noticed no typos, etc. The only conversion issue relating to proofing I noticed, which Matt pointed out when he sent the module, was on page 13 where the Encounter Area headers have a (CR #) notation. No big deal, there. 

A few paragraphs gives the background and tie-in for those using the whole series. A couple of hook ideas are given for those not using the other modules. From what I've gathered, the various adventures in the Splinters of Faith series all involve site-based adventures at various temples.

Part, The First

The temple in SoF5 was originally dedicated to a LG deity named Arden, who takes a lot of his style from ancient Egyptian religious symbolism. Several pages near the beginning of the module, detail Arden's Ziggurat Temple in a time either long ago, or after the temple has been cleansed, with Clerics and Paladins of Arden, as well as a few other denizens occupying the Ziggurat. A map of the land where the Temple resides is also provided. The temple is well detailed, giving a full picture of life in Arden's Ziggurat and plenty of useful information about the god and his cult. Most of those details are provided in the area keys, so there's a nice economy of space and design. I liked the cult and it's familiar yet different symbolism. I'll use this!

A very nice touch, here. I can use the temple as a bastion of Law and Good, or, as a former center of Light, now fallen to dark forces. This is the kind of thing I want out of a module. Utility, options, time-saving tools and ideas, ideas, ideas. 

Kali-Shar uses the golem as a walking “notepad,” pushing

clay against its body and then writing “notes” until she can record the

information. Patches of hardening clay decorate the golem’s chest

and back.

Yeah, I can think up cool details myself. But, give me a few pages of this sort of thing and I can then, generate a whole slew of accompanying, quality stuff and not only save a bunch of time, but imagine things I would never have thought of, otherwise. Bonus: It's fun to read, as well!

Part, The Second

The module then moves on to the desert area where the temple is placed. A map is provided, showing several keyed area, in addition to the temple, providing some additional, small encounters. I liked these. There's a flavorful take on a classic monster. Some other interesting types, to meet. More ideas I can Yoink for my campaign.

Part, The Third

We then get back to the temple. This time, the location keys provide the details of  a desecrated holy site, filled with a nice variety of critters, which are all fitted together very well. The before and after effect is pretty cool. There's quite a bit going on and I think it would prove really fun to adventure through. Our old buddy, Set features into what's going on in the depths of the place. Overall, it's a cool, very well thought out Dungeon. The Temple has six levels. The real danger is on level five and if the party uses too many of its resources getting through the first four levels, they might find themselves completely boned once they reach the really dangerous areas. I would expect at least one or two PC deaths, regardless, unless they're very smart and very lucky.

More Info

Seven new monsters! I liked these guys, overall. Technically, that revamped classic monster I mentioned might qualify as new. He's given his own name, but not a separate boxed off, New Monster description. I couldn't find him in my copy of S&W Complete. Also, the New Monster box entries are given when the monsters appear in the text. I like that!

So, How Does It Stand By Itself?

By itself, it's a site-based adventure, well done, conducive to Yoinkage, either wholesale or in parts. If the Frog God removed any references to the rest of the series and just put this out there for sale, it would stand on its own, quite well. The material suggested many uses to my mind, fired my imagination and gave me exactly what I want out of a good module.

Another Conversion Issue?

My only nit to pick, is that I think there are too many magic-items in the desecrated temple and the surrounding area, for the greedy PC's to get their hands on! I counted ten, +2 weapons or armor and one +3. Along with Misc. Items, Potions and the like. Maybe the series has been really stingy, up to this point. I would suspect it's a d20 design choice thing, as this is a conversion from a Pathfinder module.

No, I Can't Review How It Fits Into the Rest of the Series, But...

OK. Let's talk turkey. I suspect that more than a few of my readers have little love for the whole Epic Quest, Adventure Path Scavenger Hunt aspect of the series. The FGG Team have done an admirable job of making that aspect of the module irrelevant and unobtrusive, for those not interested. The material tying things in to the larger arc, probably amounts to about a quarter of a page, so you're not really paying for stuff you're not going to use, if you don't plan on running the whole series. As a stand-alone, site-based adventure this is good stuff, which I could find all sorts of use for. Another quick quote:

From the blistering heat of the desert, the PCs next travel to the icy

wastes of the Wailing Glacier in Splinters of Faith 6: Morning of

Tears. Inside the melting glacier, they’ll have to find a massive statue

and return it to the temple from which it was stolen.

As a series of interlocked adventures, from what I can glean, it looks very, very linear and while I have no doubt that all the temples are individually detailed and in general, are probably as good as this one, I would think some more variety would be wanted, if trying to sustain a long-term campaign. Going to Temple A, to then go to Temple B, so that Temple C... etc.

But, a huge supplement full of fleshed out, creatively imagined Temple Adventure Sites, would be right up my alley and at least, in the case of Eclipse of the Hearth, surely is!

In trying to please both S&W and Pathfinder fans, FGG has done quite well by S&W players. But, if I were running a Pathfinder Adventure Path style campaign, I'd probably feel the need to throw some Chaos and variety into the set-up. Ok, even when I ran Epic Quest stuff, it was non-linear as all hell with breaks and side-issues taking center stage, at times. Please do remember that I haven't actually seen any of the other modules in the series. I'm just going off the blurbs and what I've gleaned from the current module. Also, I don't play Pathfinder. That may be exactly what Pathfinder gamers would want.

Bottom Line

Epic Quests aside, I can think of a zillion uses for the material in SoF5 and if the other parts of the series are of similar design (which I gather they are) and quality, they would all be worth picking up to supply me with a few campaign's worth of temple sites, both malevolent and benign. Not to mention the cool new monsters and inspiring ideas.