Gearing Up for Dave Arneson Game Day 2014 With A Free OD&D Download

You can read all about
Harvard's Dave Arneson Game Day 2014
Right Over
HERE

So my buddy Havard is celebrating Dave Arneson Game Day 2014 on Dave's birthday, October first.
He's pulling out all of the old school Blackmoor schmaltz and why not. Dave is one of the creators of the game that I love and he's the originator of the first fantasy campaign.
I'll be celebrating right along with my friend by running the original Temple of The Frog from Blackmoor Supplement II on October 1st.
Temple of the Frog is an old favorite of mine. If you want to get in on the celebration of the life of one of the creators and originators of OD&D. Grab a copy of the original Blackmoor right over
HERE
And be sure to check out the other great Blackmoor downloads as well.
So we celebrate the life of one of D&D's creators in the best possible way. We play upon the campaign world that he developed and designed. We have a fun time with the game. I think that's what Mr.Arenson would have wanted.
Dave Arenson was taken way too early at the tender age of sixty one. He was,has been, and continues to be  one of the main influences on my gaming. Dave is missed by all of us who game. I think the words of his daughter pretty much sum up her father's ethos.

Arneson died on April 7, 2009,^[38] after battling cancer for two years.^[14] According to his daughter, Malia Weinhagen, "The biggest thing about my dad's world is he wanted people to have fun in life ... I think we get distracted by the everyday things you have to do in life and we forget to enjoy life and have fun."
If you wish to know more about the life of Dave Arenson go right over to the Wiki entry HERE
Better yet head over to the Blackmoor Castle site and have a read HERE
Be sure to check out the new Blackmoor Group on Facebook as well right
HERE
Thanks for everything you did Sir and we owe you a lot.
Here's hoping the PC's survive!
Time to get your game on folks! 

Coming Soon From Kickstarter : Maximum Mayhem Dungeon #2: Secret Machines of the Star Spawn by Mark Taormino

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HERE
Well it looks like my buddy Mark Taormino is at it again with another incredible adventure  by launching another Kickstarter for Freak show games latest creation.
The plot goes something like this :
Locals have been hearing whispers of strange happenings around the Ancient Volcano. Rumors over the last few months of an unspeakable evil that has risen up inside. An evil that “fell from the stars.” They say there is something wicked and devilish going on inside. Highwaymen report of strange creatures, mechanical monsters, and "Little Green Men" that are roaming the land causing chaos and mayhem! 

The locals are at their wits end. They put out a call for the bravest, the strongest, the smartest group of adventurers they could find... and unfortunately for them, your group has "answered the call." You and your stalwart band of adventurers know exactly what to do...  plunder the mountain for the treasure within! And maybe figure out what those pesky locals are bitching about!

Half of the adventure takes place in the Volcano Dungeon Lair and the other half on a huge, Futuristic Spaceship which the Star Spawn has had "parked" above the planet unknown to anyone for the last 1000 years! If we can hit enough stretch goals we'll "unlock" more encounters, dungeon levels and ship levels etc!

I got to see the cover for this module about a month ago and it looks pretty insane for an OSRIC or first edition AD&D style adventure. I'm hoping that they meet their stretch goals. Mark has worked with some pretty incredible artists and the module has a definitive 70's weirdo grind house vibe to it. So I can't wait to see what happens when this one hits the airwaves. Stay tuned folks. 

1d10 Minor Treasures of Ancient Sorcerers Table For The Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers Of Hyperborea Rpg

1d10 Random Minor Treasures of Ancient Sorcerers Table

1. Dagger of mother of pearl handle made from the collected tears of a thousand innocents. The dagger causes despair and melancholy in those it cuts. The dagger can also be used to cut away bits and pieces of the human soul. The dagger drips tears every 1d4 rounds and must be looked after. 
2. A bag of twelve gold coins of some foreign currency that can be used as passage to the lands of dead. The coins actually belong to a minor demon who has taken them from the fillings of a fallen god. The coins allow one passage to the exact soul that user wants to find. The demon is content to allow them to keep them in circulation. It keeps his name within the realms of the living. The coins are kept in a pouch made from the skin of a king. 
3. A key used in festival that may unlock the desires of the forbidden. The key will conform to a lock after it is rubbed across the mechanism. This key once belonged to rather unsavory wizard who is still looking for it. 
4. The jeweled eye of a demon of the Outer Darkness that grants the sight of ages. The user may know how to use and see how to use a forgotten treasure of Atlantis, Mu, or Lemuria. The eye must be implanted within the user's  socket however and their own eye sacrificed to the demon before it can be used. Its other powers are nebulous at best. 
5. A jar containing the pickled heart of an innocent that beats in time to the Outer Darkness and lets a mage know the best time to sacrifice a supplicant to make the stars right temporarily. 
6. A stone tablet that contains the sliced remains of an serpent man's soul. The thing is still alive after a fashion and suffering. It will answer any sorcerer's questions put to it to the best of its ability. Its an ancient old thing of devious and evil aspect however. It will seek to corrupt those it contacts. 
7. A mysterious silver mechanism whose function is unknown and whose configuration changes every 1d4 rounds. A noisy little thing of magic and forbidden sciences that twists this way and that way. 
8. The lock of a succubus's hair and some nail clippings in an envelop of velum sealed with wax and a rune of old times. 
9. A claw of some ancient Lovecraftian beast shod in gold and silver as a drinking horn. The thing glows with colours from beyond the ken of mankind. Its function unknown. 
10. A page from a proto Necronomicon with weird and strange diagrams that twist and whirl as you look at them. There is hidden writing on the thing that shows in moonlight. Translation unknown.  

The Gardens Of La Tsing -The Man From K'n-yan - Actual Play Encounter For Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea

The PC's hooked up with the rest of their  numbers and reinforcements after a couple of months ago's TPK which left only a few survivors. They were working as mercenary spies for a local warlord with ties to the royal families back in the main city state of Khromarium under the guise of trade and commerce. 

After penetrating deep into the wet and fetid jungles the PC's proceeded for seven days into the Hyperborean wilds. They had encounter with weird cannibal warriors and combat was quick as well as decisive. They weren't taking any chances.
After a grueling trek deep into the jungles, the party heard the unearthly music coming from the other side of the jungles.
The PC's stumbled upon an earthen tunnel/vent as they quickly and quietly made their way toward's the pyramid. Larcus The Quick Fingered opened the complicated locking mechanism and amid the hot winds that blew from underground the party decided to take the back door into the complex.
Jade works, cut crystal batteries, and stranger mechanisms greeted them. There were other things as well down below. The air was choked with the stench of burning jungle lotus. Its cloying smell waffled through the air as a phantom of death and harshness.
 After dealing with a vent slime that kept the jade tunnels clear of debris. The party came upon a stone worked antechamber filled with priests gathered around the glow of a Atlantian power battery. Its weird psychic - magical energies caused their very bones to glow with it's unholy power.
Upon an alter a man was bound and he was tortured as the light from Kyranos shown. The priests watched with hooded eyes and blank expressions as his screams filled the chamber.


Kyranos was high in the skies of Hyperborea and through a series of mirrors shone into the chamber lighting up the entire scene with colours never seen on Earth. The priests basked in its light and seemed renewed. That's when the party saw him. A slim and dusky individual clothed in jade and worked silvery finery, a priest like figure at whose side a strange worm like mechanism of singular workmanship coiled and moved with unholy grace.
The PC's cleric and wizard shivered, they've had dealings with eternal K'n-Yan
They had learned the tongues and rites of those unholy places and almost been sent to Carcosa for sacrifice and worse. Fortunately a strange alliance of time lost warriors and adventurers had come to their resauce. But the price was very high indeed as they still bore the silvery scar tissues across their backs and the strange glowing burns that the mines of Koth had caused. Only expensive magical healing had saved their lives.
A priest necromancer from Eternal K'n-yan was here in Tsing? This was unthinkable these ancient enemies were always at each other's throat.  Only the PC's knew the threat that a Tsing and K'n-Yan alliance would be to Hyperborea. 
This could spell doom for the surrounding villages as the unholy atomic horrors from K'n-yan erupted into the surrounding countryside even as undead shock troops swept across the countryside.
The PC's listened as  conversations in High  Xinaián and Atlantian outlined the coming campaign of horror and depravity for their patron's holdings. But this was only the beginning. 
 The PC's never heard the undead spiderlike things that were their former comrades slide upon the roof tiles above them nor did they have time to react as they were captured.
More to come! 

Returning To Hyperborea - The Gardens Of La Tsing - An Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers Of Hyperborea Rpg Campaign - Set Up

Today, I was reminded that I have a party of adventures out in the jungles of Hyperborea and they are almost to an ancient temple of the former Atlantian survivors!
These survivors are the remains of a colony of former survivors from the once mighty empire herself.
The jungles have swallowed these men up and only their weird rites, strange sacrifices, and unholy connections to the Great Old Ones are spoken of in legend. 

The party is staying within a nearby village at the foot of a river near the fabled Gardens of La Tsing. Many months ago the party came across a Jade tablet inscribed with the rites and runes  from ancient Atlantis herself. They wisely chose to remain until back up arrived. That was months ago and now the party is almost ready to start the expedition once again. 

There are legends of serpent men and their degenerate Atlantian worshipers deep within the jungle interior. Their pyramids of stone work and the drums that echo through the night can sometimes be hear and seen when the moons are gibbous and strange.
The screams of sacrifices cut through the night as another victim falls under the obsidian knives of the priests and clerics of the Old Ones.The pyramids are mute witnesses to the horrors that occur under weirdly lit Hyperborean nights. 



It is said that the Old Earth priests of La Tsing are surrounded by strange cut jade crystal batteries that the power of the Old Ones flows through and they watch the spaces of the Outer Darkness that surrounds Hyperborea for when the stars are right once again. They chew and and smoke Chrei'li a potent drug that replaces food, water, and nurtures them even as it replaces the very tissues of their bodies. Time and space bends and moves weirdly around these Gweri or Watchers to the North Winds.
It is said that the visions that they have seen and the things that they have spoken to have rendered them quite mad and beyond the ken of ordinary men. 


The deeper one goes into the stepp pyramids of the cities of La Tsing the more gold, riches, and jade one finds in the levels but the more degenerate and dangerous the depravities of the inhabitants. The priests are a combination of necromancers, ancient liches, and horrors beyond the ken of most Hyperboreans. The councils of  Tsing frequently order their cults of warriors to bring them sacrifices and slaves. It is whispered that some of these are brought before the Crawling Chaos or Tri Lobed One in some of the lowest chambers to feed the ancient god thing's appetites for flesh and souls. 


Within the villages and communities that surround the jungles of La Tsing are often found the least remains of tools, artifacts, and lesser treasures as well as trinkets that find their way to the marketplaces and bazaars.
Here is a random table of minor treasures of La Tsing 
1d10 Lesser Treasures and Trinket Table Of La Tsing 

1. Jade wand that glows in the presence of magic and bleeds when iron is present within twenty yards of it. Worth 20 gold pieces in the outside world 
2. Obsidian knife that is +1 and houses a lesser swamp spirit. The thing howls in the mind of its user when a sacrifice to the Other Ones is within ten yards. Worth 75 gold pieces to certain orders of clerics and wizards. 
3. A minor soul cylinder which contains part of the mind of a lesser cleric of Tsing. The jade cylinder will murmur secrets of the 2nd order and once every new moon may teach a first or second level cleric or magic user spell. The user however must bleed a bit for one point of damage on it. Worth 80 gold pieces to the right collector or wizard 
4. A jade mirror that shows the user the true state of their soul. The user must sing to it under the moonlight in order to activate its powers. There is a 20% chance of some minor god of dreams taking notice of the PC or owner. Worth 40 gold pieces 
5. A pair of dice made from the knuckle bones of a small humanoid. These dice will show the user eight possible outcomes each time their used as the visions of chaos dedicate. 
6. A set of prayer beads dedicated to the Crawling Chaos which are carved with horrors and strange carvings. These carvings when worn in twilight allow one to summon a giant bat creature and a victim must be waiting. Or the thing will feast on the summoner himself. These beads are worth forty gold pieces for few know their actual purpose. 
7. An obsidian razor knife that allows one to summon a type II demon dedicated to the service of the Crawling Chaos. The knife is a extremely sharp and cut the own for one point of damage once picked up. The demon may try to possess the user or use them as a window into the world. Worth 40 gold pieces to certain demon worshiping clerics. 
8. Jade bell, this seemingly carved jade child's toy is actually a banishing tool made so that anyone may banish the minions of the Other Ones or the Great Old Ones. There is a 25% chance that this bell can be used to banish the least servants of those ancient horrible gods. These bells are highly collectible among certain sects of Law. They will pay 100 gold pieces for a working bell. Atlantian temple assassins will try to kill anyone whom they find out possesses one of these items. 
9. Nose flute of Harisishi - This instrument can be used to play a song of praise to the spirit of Harisishi and once per week it will cast a cure light wounds spell to a worthy victim of violence. The user's mind will also be subject to the whims of this spirit of Law and their thoughts will be orderly and precise. Worth 63 pieces of gold to a worshiper of Law and Order. 
10. Ring Of The Jade Murderer, this ring of pure jade once per day will change into a razor sharp dagger. The weapon can be used as a +1 weapon and it drink the blood of its victim whose soul will be devoured by an ancient Atlantian spirit of degeneration and murder. There is a 40% chance of the eye of one of the Great Old One's looking upon the user for every ten victims killed with this too common of a weapon. The user may be whisked off to join in the dance of madness and horror around the orbits of dead stars and ancient mysterious unless the correct saving throw is made.
    
    More to come in the following weeks.
     Stay tuned! 

Review and Commentary On Fish Wife Games 100 Inhabitants Of A Naughty Sea Side Tavern For Your Old School Campaigns

Grab It Right Over
HERE
 My games have a tendancy to be on the rough side of town where the brothels, pirates, and the usual wretched hives of scum and villainy are. This is where this product comes in handy. Fishwife games creates very nice but fast random lists on the cheap. This is a great little niche product when you a fast cut throat or nasty encounter very quickly. This is a prefect little product for a Lamentations of The Flame Princess style game or any old school retroclone campaign that walks a bit on the wild side.
 With a bit of work this product could also be used for a random encounter in a horror style campaign.
This is a simple and concise product that fills its niche very well. And for the price of a hamburger off the dollar menu, its got a wide variety of uses.
According to the Drivethrurpg blurb: 

100 Inhabitants Of A Naughty Sea Side Tavern

100 Inhabitants of a rather rough and tumble coastal drinking hole. Some of these folks live up to the foul reputation of the public house while others would do well to flee the premises while they still have their coin, dignity, or body parts intact. This file was created for fantasy to colonial pirate role playing in mind, but is suitable for most coastal fantasy settings as well. Document contains the individuals first name and surname along with a brief description.

Using 100 Inhabitants Of A Naughty Sea Side Tavern

For Your Old School Campaigns

                                     

When it comes to sea side pulp style action the tavern is the center of activity and this list fills in a great need for fast random adventure encounters. I've been looking at this list and thinking it could even be used as part of a Spell Jammer style campaign if necessary. There are some great NPC's whom with a bit of work could be some minor campaign links. 

The style here is both nautical and has a bit of an edge that leans towards a mix of pirates, thieves guilds, and cut throats. 

From ship hire, to smuggling, to slavery, all of these degenerate and nasty folks are here some place waiting to be unleashed on your PC's. 

These are not folks that you'd be hanging around with unless you were up to no good. The PC's should watch their backs and purses with these folks on this list. All in all this is a very useful and interesting list of NPC's that can fill any number of roles in your games. This is only one of a wide variety of pirate themed products from the twisted mind of Dave Woodrum. 

Free OSR Resource - OD&DITIES Issue #1 From Dragon's Foot For Your Old School Campaigns

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HERE

I stumbled upon this resource for OD&D last night on Dragon's Foot and thought I'd share. This is OD&DITIES #01 which is a ten paged fan based magazine that has a couple of great little articles that you can add to your campaigns. Many of the articles are short and sweet, more plug and play material for campaigns. The compendium of characters adds a bunch of NPC's that you can drop right into your existing campaigns. This infact seems to be the magazine's ethos, a simple and easy to use set of rules that fits into an existing style of play. These some pretty good solid NPC's characters with bare bones material to them that can add some flare to a game. The next article we get that I found useful is about getting the PC's to work together from the beginning of a campaign. A couple of very useful bits of advice. 

There's a pawn shop called  Thaldor’s Pawnshop, first in a line of

 town / city locations for your campaign, which I always find very useful for games. Pawn shops are a  great resource for PC's and one that always seems to get over looked as a source for getting rid of loot, getting gear, a source for adventures, and a place to get a loan fast when needed. Like for gambling debts and such. This is a nice little fit especially if you've got a few ties in with the local thieves guilds, pawn brotherhood, and local law enforcement. 

The 'Message' is an interesting adventure because it's geared for fighters, clerics, and Dwarves of 1st level a nice little campaign jump off point. 

All in all not a bad first issue and pretty good for a free resource for an OD&D game. Grab it while you can and get playing.