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Monday, April 28, 2014

Review and Commentary On The Free Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea Resource - Quick Start Equipment Menu By Ben Ball

 
Grab it right over
HERE
This is a great little free  resource for AS&SH, an equipment list and so much more.
According to the AS&SH website: 
Quick Start Equipment Menu for AS&SH is a time-saving resource created by Ben Ball. This 7-page PDF document helps players speed up the purchase of starting equipment, including a variety of adventure packs to choose from and premade starting lists.
This little PDF allows players to choose from a wide variety of base starting equipment packages and to suit them to their characters and then jump right into their adventures with their DM.
The fact is that while this is one use for this list another would be to equip NPCs quickly as well. And with a bit of imagination to equip NPC monsters,troops, and more as well.
The material is really nicely laid out and the product is pretty clear in its directions, intent, and choices.
The idea of this sort of cookie cutter approach to an old school game is actually pretty insightful and allows the product to have a wide variety of uses. Add to the fact that this is a free quality list of options for equipment and you've got a very useful list that could easily be adapted and used for various sword and sorcery adventure set ups with PC's. Another idea that was given to me by a friend is that this list could be used for quick johnny on the spot found equipment for when a PC runs across a corpse. Done correctly and no one might be the wiser.
As I said there are other uses for this free seven page old school pdf. The fact that is alright created for AS&SH is a bonus.
 Get this one while you can. 

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Review & Commentary 'She' 1982 Sword & Sorcery/Post Apocalyptic Mash up Movie For Your Old School Sword and Sorcery Campaigns




Godan? We don't worship gods. We do buisness.
This film came out right in the middle of the sword and sorcery chaos of the 1980's and it still has a cult following.
This film is a 5.8 on the Psychotronic movie meter and fits nicely into the slot of 80's sword and sorcery/ post apocalyptic movies. What does the film have to do with the HG Haggard novel 'She'? Absolutely nothing except for the title.
Instead we get an Amazon warrior out in the middle of a very 80's post apocalyptic landscape battling the forces of evil. Take the elements of this film add in Thundarr The Barbarian and you've got a continuation of the cartoon.
 The film is done without tongue in cheek and its pretty serious business through which makes it all the more entertaining. 
IMDB has  a pretty good breakdown of this film. In a backward post-apocalyptic world, She aids two brothers' quest to rescue their kidnapped sister. Along the way, they battle orgiastic werewolves, a psychic communist, a tutu-wearing giant, a mad scientist, and gladiators before standing against the odds to defeat the evil Norks.

With Motorhead on the soundtrack and action wound up, I was really hoping that there would be a part II like a return to the Valley of the Norks on tap. There was endless cultural 80's stuff thrown in here and the whole film is really entertaining in an 80's B movie kinda of way. 
The plot according to Wiki : 
Set 23 years after an event called "The Cancellation", the film follows Tom, whose sister is captured by a local tribe. He sets out to find and rescue her, while avoiding the dangerous tribes he encounters along the way. Sandahl Bergman plays "She" who ends up aiding Tom after he escapes from her. She decides to help after learning of a prophecy given to her by a local seer.
The heroes have to face a tutu wearing giant, a psychic communist, toga wearing werewolves and mutants bandaged up like Egyptian mummies.
This film is a 106 minute head trip into the awesomeness of the 80's. When I worked in that rental place in Boston this was always on the rotation of the VHS tapes. 



  Adapting For
 'She' 1982 Sword & Sorcery/Post Apocalyptic Mash up Movie For An Old School  
Sword and Sorcery Campaign
There are so many cross genre elements that this film could be used as a bridge gap between a sword and sorcery campaign and a post apocalyptic movie. The film is everything awesome from a Hargravian campaign ala The Arduin Trilogy in one adventure.  

There are so many elements like Samurai, Ninjas, a Frankenstein robot, guys dressed up like mummies,  there is even a scene where the party almost get smashed like in the garbage chute in Star Wars and more!
An encounter with a telepathic mutant who has appropriated communist symbols and has the women tortured. Warriors in tutus and gas masks be devil the party.
 A soldier dressed up like a pre-revolution French nobleman with the wig and powdered face.  A cult of  werewolves in togas, and a post holocaust 
style gladiator battle in the Nork compound, among lots of other stuff (also, boobs). Oh yeah, and Motorhead on the soundtrack! This film would be a great bridge gap for Mutant Future and Labyrinth Lord. Add in some of Tim Snider's Thundarr the Barbarian stuff from his source book and your ready to go. From HERE

Please don't crucifiy me for the following.
File:She FilmPoster.jpeg

If you don't take your AS&SH campaigns seriously then this film has lots to offer. 

If you want a DYI post apocalyptic 80's Italian nuclear wasteland film that can be adapted into your very own campaign of Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea. This is it. About 90% of the elements of the film are already within the game itself. Add in your favorite modern twist to it and your ready to go.
The lady adventurers in the film are classic examples of Amazon and barbarian classes if there ever were. The weirdness of the setting of the film is classic Italian POA and can easily be adapted into AS&SH.
The weapons, groups, technology, etc are lurking in the background of the AS&SH box set already. Add in Motorhead soundtrack and your ready to play.

This film was released a couple of years ago on DVD in the U.K. and I haven't seen a director's cut from Shout Factory or anything of the kinda. This is the type of film that only comes around once in a great while. I don't think that the world could deal with a part II of this awesomeness. 

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Review and Commentary On The Free OSR Resource "&" Magazine #4 Classes and Guilds

& Magazine #4 Cover
Grab It Right Over
HERE

Contents according the "&" website for issue #4 : 
The theme this issue is Classes and Guilds
Guilds, Colleges, and Cabals
Revisiting the Assassin Class
Melting Pot in the Dungeon
Mercenary Companies of the Lakelands
Five Gnomish Hammers of Power
Mini-Adventure: Gnoll Tower
Don't let the content listing fool you this is a good solid issue of '&' magazine. There's seventy two pages of packed OSR goodness.
The theme of the issue of Guilds,Colleges, and Cabals appeals to me because at the moment I'm in the middle of building a new Ancient and Accursed Terra campaign adventure and this particular issue was of use for Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea.
 The highlight of this issue for me was the series of articles on 
Guilds, Colleges, and Cabals. These articles started with an introduction and dove into the subject pretty solidly. 

Guilds, Colleges, and Cabals Part I & II by Andrew Hamilton which does a solid job of  diving into the whole subject of guilds and their permutations for old school fantasy including the darker side of these types of organizations.
 Scattered throughout the articles are new spells, NPC's, magic items and some really nasty ideas such as 
The Ladies of the Jade Circle. All of these have a dark and sinister sword and sorcery bent to them. They're perfect for use with an AS&SH game.
Scattered throughout the issue are a number of magic items, spells, and other bits of esoterica for AD&D that can be adapted,used, and abused by a AS&SH DM. Good stuff throughout the magazine!
 Revisiting the Assassin Class has some nice wrinkles on an otherwise well known class and again because this class is present in AS&SH there is a very nice counterpoint to the game. Nicole Massey does a lovely job of updating and expanding the class. However some of the ideas here can be incorporated while the class might need a bit of shoe horning to work with AS&SH.
 The Mini adventure the Gnoll Tower is another pretty easy port over to AS&SH with very little effort. The map, goal, etc all work very well in the game.
 All in all this is a pretty solid issue of '&' magazine.
Grab it while you can! 

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Commentary On The Free OSR Resource - Nellysyr manor For The Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea System and Your Old School Sword and Sorcery Campaigns


 
Grab It Right
HERE
The countryside of my AS&SH games are dotted with the half forgotten ruins of Atlantian and Hyperborean manors, countryside estates, and half forgotten palaces that have faded into  ruins in the wake of the Green Death. Places where on certain moon lit nights the ghosts of the past come alive and past comes to intrude on the present.
Nellysyr manor is a country estate from the wonderful pen of 
Jim Lassiter.  Here the ivy grows thick in the daylight while at night spectres of the past might haunt the living.
 The Blurb On Dragon's Foot: 
A nice manor house for those weekend getaways or ruins to try and getaway from?

What we get here is an eleven page download map of a manor house, grounds, environs, with some possible suggestions about what we might populate this place with monster wise. There is an incredible amount that can be done with this location. From the palace of a governor of a small city state's residence to the location for a lost tribe of barbarian raiders  headquarters with only the walls standing, to a possible location for a dungeon. Other possibilities including using the location as a haunted manor that appears only during nights of the second full moon on Hyperborea.
This is an eleven page download full of full colour maps, keys, and even possible treasure throughout but many spots are blank enough to fill them with your favorite treasure, monsters, and even piece of relic technology from Hyperborea here and there. All in all this is fun download that can be used for any number of possible sword and sorcery games. Grab it While you can.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

It Came From The Dollar Bin Horror Edition - Hellhound Issue #1 From Epic Comics For Your Old School Horror Campaign


There are comics that kinda stay with you long after you put em down. Hellhound was an effort by Marvel's Epic imprint. The artwork puts it some place around 1993 or there abouts.  John Miller was the writer and Floyd Hughes the artist on this one.
This was one series that didn't pull punches, oh this one didn't have huge explosions,mutants or Marvels in it.
The title concerns a Hellhound, a damned soul who serves hell by acting as a bounty hunter or skip tracer for the Devil. This series was one of a long line of those weird 90's titles that had echoes of 70's goodness like Ghost Rider in them.

 Those titles teased, painted, and played hints about the characters damnation. Not this title. We've got a title from the Clive Barker school of horror where you get everything spelled out in black and white. 
The character is the damned soul of John Roberts   a former Blues guitarist who teams with William McCarty .  They are sent  after the soul of Marie Laveau whom it seems has returned to Earth healed the sick, restoring sight to the blind, making the lame walk. She's generally making a mess of the Balance for all the powers of the after world. 
 The powers of Hell can move the soul trackers across space, time, and whatnot to the location of the soul that they're tracking within about a fifty mile radius. In this issue they're transported to 1988 New Orleans and the middle of the Blues Quarter. This whole series is one long love letter to the Blues you see. 
 There they have a clandestine meeting with the angel Gabriel and find the direction of Marie's Voodoo cult. By voodoo here I mean what passes for the Hollywood version here. They track her down to a swamp and well things don't go well at all. Our Hellhound and partner  get their rear's handed to em. It seems that Amon an angelic god is Marie's body guard and they get a simple ass kicking.
 That's simply issue one folks. Two get's even better but we'll come back to that.




 Of Hellhounds, Satanic Panic, And The Cosmology of D&D

Way back when this series premiered Satanic Panic with D&D was sort of dying a slow death in many parts of the US. Not in my neck of Connecticut mind you but then sometimes you have to deal with things. World of Darkness from White Wolf was in full swing back then. And you'd think that D&D couldn't compete. We'll I used Hellhound and a few D&D style products to create a really interesting horror based campaign. I played pretty fast and loose with D&D cosmology and how dead souls were seen. One product that came in very handy was by Dragon Tree Press.
 Dragon Tree Press's 
The Delian Book of the Dead

by Ben & Mary Ezzell, et al is a weird fusion of material, wit, wisdom, and sheer insanity with a phantom class for dead characters mixed right in.
Available right over
HERE

The product that made things interesting was from Mayfair Games, Sentinels was part of their Demon's line before it was shut down by T$R back then. The PC's were given Paladins and Cavilers traveling across the cosmos to deal with Hellhounds, the powers of various Hells and save the souls of Mankind. That's right this is actually a campaign rooted in the powers of Light with lots of shades of Grey thrown in. 

Because of the low powered nature of the Demons line the material is easy to use with both AD&D first edition and OD&D a fact not widely publicized about over the years.Actually the Satanic Panic was great advertising and the campaign lasted three long years. It was lots of fun with players dealing with NPCs from across all of space, time, and history. Living, dead, undead, demonic, and angelic were met and dealt with.
Lots of fun actually. The Mayfair Demons line provided a good stand in for the Marvel Supernatural as well.


 When dealing with the damned and dead one thing that always came in handy was a simple rule. Keep the power gaming low, the stakes high, and action moving.
 If you like films like Angel Heart, and other classic horror films of this ilk this might be a series to check out. Its not well known and highly under rated. 

Monday, April 21, 2014

Available Now - HYPERBOREA ADVENTURE #3: Rats in the Walls (Signed and Numbered Gary Con VI Edition)

Available Right Over 

I've been waiting for this adventure to hit the air waves ever since Garycon broke. This looks like a nice sized urban adventure for a moderate sized beginning party. As a DM this sounds like a night of winning old school sword and sorcery to me. 


For 4-6 characters of 1st through 2nd level

AS&SH Background : 

In the City-State of Khromarium, a dockside tavern called the Silvery Eel is plagued by rats of a most unusual breed. These abominable rodents have ruined the tavern keeper’s business and his life. The man is desperate, and he offers a substantial reward for the elimination of his horrific problem.
 Even though this adventure takes its title from the HP Lovecraft short novella, this adventure seems to have much more in common with some of the works of Fritz Leiber.
The urban feel, the big city state background, the dockside tavern, and other elements all scream Leiber S&S to me. The fact is that's not a bad thing in my book. So I can't wait to get my hands on this one and take it for a test drive. I've got players lined up and can't wait!
 Not bad for ten dollars for a physical copy as well! Really looking forward to this adventure. 

Note: This adventure was originally presented in Knockspell Magazine. To celebrate the life of Gary Gygax, we printed 250 signed-and-numbered copies for Gary Con VI. A limited number remain. After they sell through, we will continue to sell a regular version. Please refrain from requesting a specific number.
Author: Jeffrey Talanian
Art: Ian Baggley
Editing: David Prata
Cartography: Andreas Claren
Rules: For use with Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea and other traditional fantasy role-playing games, including modern simulacra or “retro-clone” games.
Product Type: Adventure Module
Product Format: 12-page, 7 x 8.5-inch, black & white saddle-stitched booklet with heavy cardstock cover; map printed in booklet.
Product Code: NWA104
Product Price: $10.00

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Commentary On The Free Dragon's Foot OSR Map Resource - Dracolidius Castle For Your Old School Sword and Sorcery Campaign


Grab It Right Over HERE

The Dragon's foot blurb : 
A great map of a castle, useful as a dungeon or a lived in building.
This is a great little free map of a castle and makes a great location to explore for a party. One of the aspects of the AS&SH game that I love is the Green Death, a plague that has swept through Hyperborea and wiped clean the previous societies, peoples, and aspects of life in the setting.
This enables a DM to really use some weird locations in out of the places of the world. This map could be one of those locations. The disease that plagued the Hyperborea world has possibly left more questions then answers for the generations to come. There is a bit of Poe's 'The Masque of the Red Death' about AS&SH that seems to just lurk in the background and this castle might be used to convey that to the PCs.
This castle has an almost dream like quality about it that might also be used for other sword and sorcery games as well.
The map is simple, the locations well drawn out, the place is ready to be stocked with whatever the DM want to.
All in all this is a simple yet effective download that could be used for a complete night's adventure and entertainment. All that is missing is a few NPC's and some solid old school monsters! 
 

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Review and Commentary On The Legend Of Hercules Starring The Rock & Notes On Adapting It To The Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers Of Hyperborea Rpg




I've just returned from a showing this afternoon of The Legend of Hercules in Waterbury Connecticut. This was really enjoyable popcorn CGI fest of a film . This film is based not on simply the Greek mythology but the Hercules Tharcian War comic book series. This Hercules has a bit in common with recent depictions of Hollywood Greek legends and less to do with the actual mythology. The film borrows heavily from the comic book source material. Hercules is a Radical Comics character who has appeared in two limited series The Thracian Wars and The Knives of Kush,
There is a ton of material to use as fodder for an AS&SH campaign. From locations, NPC's, monsters, templates for adventuring parties, etc. and even the soundtrack. The film borrows heavily from the Three Hundred sequel that just came out and the style of the film reminds me of an anime/live action hybrid. There's lots and lots of CGI blood, guts,and sword & sandal action here.
This film closely follows the Radical comics Hercules.
They have a definitive spin on the Greek mythology. In other words Radical comics has their own fingerprints on their version of the Hercules legend. 
Blurb from Radical comics : 
Nearly 3,200 years ago, a tormented soul walked the Earth as neither man nor god: Hercules, powerful son of the god-king Zeus, and for this he received nothing but suffering. After 12 arduous labors and the loss of his family, this dark, world-weary soul turned his back on the gods, finding solace only in bloody battle. Over the years, he warmed to the company of six similar souls, bonded by their love of fighting and the presence of death - never questioning where they go or who they fight, just how much they will be paid. Now the King of Thrace has hired these mercenaries to turn his men into the greatest army of all time, which means training them to be as bloodthirsty and ruthless as their own reputation. It is time for this band of lost souls to finally have their eyes opened to how far they have fallen - and the narrow, perilous path to their own redemption.
Here's the details of cast and crew according to Wiki: 
Paramount and MGM is preparing to create a film adaptation of Moore’s ideas, under the direction of filmmaker Brett Ratnerand with the lead role going to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.[4] Aksel Hennie is cast in the role of Tydeus.[5] Rufus Sewell is cast as Autolycus.[6] Ian McShane has been cast as Amphiarus, part priest, part prophet and part warrior who is Hercules’ counselor. Reece Ritchie is cast as Iolaus.[7] Tobias Santelmann is cast as the villain Rhesus[8] Ingrid Bolsø Berdal is as the female lead.[9] Also joining are Joseph FiennesJohn HurtRebecca Ferguson, and Irina Shayk[10][11] Johnson's cousin, Tamina Snuka will be making her film debut in the film.[12]
It's worth the rental or the ticket price for a matinee. The cast does a decent job with the material. There's a ton of CGI and there are certainly worse and better productions when it comes to Hollywood mythology pictures. The Clash of the Titans remakes come to mind here. 
Dwayne Johnson does a good job tearing up the scenery as Hercules but my god some of the dialogue is horrid. And a performer has to work with the script and direction their given. 

Adapting The Legend of Hercules To AS&SH 

Many of the cities and locations of the film are good stand ins for Khromarium locations. The production art and ideas here are pretty solid. Hercules and co. might feel right at home in AS&SH. There are certainly lots and lots of temples, ruins, and sacked locations that could be ported over to AS&SH. There is a definite sword and sorcery feel to this film by way of Hollywood. 

There are echoes of New Amazonia and Port Greely in the film as well. The material, equipment, armor, rides, beasties are all available already in AS&SH. So adapting this material shouldn't present a problem.
The Hecules film city states might make excellent templates for AS&SH city states on Greek style islands.
The way Hercules and his cohorts get together as a party is pure OD&D sword and sorcery style.
 That being said if AS&SH were going to be used to run this material as a campaign there needs to an spotlight on Fighters, barbarians, and more thieves. The grittiness of the film doesn't quite have the dust,grit, and crap I was expecting. But that is easily remedied in the forging fires of Hyperborea. While not quite as bad as the Clash of Titans remake there is a bit of that cheestastic over the top vibe several times in the film.
A note on the monsters of this film, each and every encounter is an epic one. Many of the monsters in the film are semi divine. Chess pieces of the gods if you will. Ninety percent of  the monsters are already in AS&SH but they're on the high end of the spectrum of the rules. These types of encounters might even be TPK's if the DM is unaware of this. Tread carefully with these encounters. 
The film is a comic book come to life. The material is certainly sword and sorcery. I can't help but compare many of the elements to other recent CGI heavy mythological films. This might not be a bad thing. The film will easily put your players in the mood for this style of gaming.
There are lots of open ended storylines in the film, a DM could easily take advantage of several of these to weave a party into the action at several key points. 
Hercules party isn't a low level AS&SH of PC's. There is lots of Trojan War level affairs that happen around Hercules. The man is a tragedy magnet. Which brings up another point. The gods of this film are really a bunch of asses. Be aware of how they treat the human beings of this story. It's subtle as a sledgehammer but they are not very nice as far as divine beings go.
There are are at least six different mega dungeon potential locations that happen as a result of the passing of Hercules. 
Parties constructed using the film as a template are going to need several character sheets. The humans die like flies around the ever cool semi divine hero.
Conan would fit right into this world. Or at least his remake double would. Lots of the violence and gore here flies by so fast your going to wonder if you've seen it at all. There are parts of this film that remind me of the comic book tales of Robert Howard's Conan but very, very, loosely.
There are several supporting characters who might make fine teachers,masters, or patrons of AS&SH adventurers. Clerics and sages would play a very important part in a campaign of this style. Even though the film doesn't have nearly enough of them as front and center characters. They're always in the background of this film. 
This film has Hercules and his supporting characters leveling up several times throughout the film. This film looks like it could take several months of constant weekend play to even equal half of the action here. A campaign of the film's magnitude would require several years of old school play and a stack of character sheets.
 All in all this film has several things to recommend it but for me it's fun little Saturday afternoon rental or matinee at best. 

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Review and Commentary On the Free Addition To the Exiles Of the Wicked Maze Rpg System - Dark Lust By Fish Wife Games For Solo Sword and Sorcery Play

Down load it for free right over
HERE

A bout a  week ago I received Exiles of The Wicked Maze which is an old school solo play sword and sorcery style game. Sort of like the old Steve Jack books from back in the 80's but with enough twists and turns to stand on its own.
The game is different each time you play and it's a great little solo effort especially if your on your own. Can't get to your players and time is very short etc.
This is a fifteen page free additional primer and expansion to the game allowing even more back story. There's a lot of effort here on Dave Woodrums part and you can see the moviations behind this one. It expands the game into a whole new additional level and adds dimension to the solo play that you get with the game.
The back story has expanded considerably and we've been new bits and pieces to both the game as well as the story line here.
From the Rpgnow blurb: 
Exiles Of The Wicked Maze: Dark Lust

Created By: Dave Woodrum
Art By: Dan (SMIF) Smith


Roughly five harvests ago a particularly courageous prisoner was exiled into the dungeon maze only to return to the surface as a great warrior. This prisoner was able to reclaim their right to return to the society above and was championed as a hero amongst the commoners. As the unwashed masses whispered praises about their hero, other factions took note that perhaps the maze was easier to infiltrate than previously thought. There were certainly riches to be found in the maze below, as well as objects that could be exploited in an effort to gain controlling power in the lands above.
A lust for wealth and power blanketed the populations that lived in the civilization above the great maze. Suddenly the dungeon maze was no longer a dreaded threat but rather a potential promise of might and fortune for those who could prove their selves worthy of survival. Impoverished citizens were now purposefully breaking the law for the sole purpose of having a shot at the maze. The arcane tools that the wizard college had once had sole interest of recovering were being talked about and covens of outlaw magicians were taking notice. The tales of old royal jewelry spread a wildfire of jealousy amongst the guards assigned to control the entry and exit of the maze. If the filthy rabble of the streets should be allowed a chance at such wealth, then why not the members of the elite ruling guard!
Though a bit of chaos was spreading because of the maze, the ruling powers turned a blind eye to the problem. After all, why not let these corrupt members of society and worthless beggars aspire to taking their chances in the maze below? Should a few survive, then perhaps these exiles could be recruited as great warriors to handle the occasional uprisings at the borderlands.
The lack of concern from the rulers of the land was all that was needed to help the covens of outlaw warlocks put their plans into action. For too long had the wizard colleges held the interests of magical research, the lands above needed to experience real power! Why let the bumbling little wizard apprentices recover such items of power when it is more fitting to have such tools discovered by a true magician? Getting an establishment in the maze would be simple, just hire a gang of desperate cutthroats to infiltrate the maze, enchantment with a few toxin spells, and let them wipe out the wizard apprentices in a fell swoop! Naturally, since the alchemist scholars were so connected to this school of practice, the warlocks decided that their hired cutthroats would eradicated these eccentrics from the maze as well.
A few representatives of the warlocks greased the palms of the more corrupt members of the guards and their plans quickly succeeded. The wizard apprentices were slaughtered with ease and the alchemist scholars quickly followed. The cutthroats also managed to take out a few dark acolytes along the way as well as a couple of hags. These actions naturally infuriated the leaders of the cult temples as well as the hag covens.
Realizing that their gains in lost ceremonial items was in jeopardy, one of the cult temples called upon their most morbid of resources, the murderous blood zealots. As the faith of these grim followers preached blood lust as being the highest of virtues, the blood zealots would prove much more effective in the maze than the weaker, more inexperienced dark acolytes. The typical contacts in the guard were bought off and the zealots were offered open passage into the maze below. Once inside, their search for ceremonial relics was mixed with rampant bloodshed.
The hags had their own solutions as well. The imps were not proving to be effective enough in the hags' quest for dominance so these foul spell casters decided that their ranks needed a boost. After recruiting/capturing several female exiles, the hags performed a foul ritual that transformed these exiles into a seductive, half demon hybrid known as an infernal harlot. Possessing intense, hypnotic beauty and a deadly kiss (or if needed, bite) that dripped with vile toxin, these harlots were created to provide a perfect solution to dealing with the presence of power hungry warlocks and their enhanced cutthroat thugs.
And thus our story of the great maze continues. Though the lot of a convicted exile remains the same, the dangers below have considerably changed. These days are indeed darker, driven by a horrid lust for power and wealth, an era that challenges even the boldest of prisoners below.
This is a free mini-expansion set for Exiles Of The Wicked Maze. In order to use this free expansion you will need to have a copy of the Exiles Of The Wicked Maze rules, which is available at this vendor for purchase and download.

Dave is very good at what he does and this one really brings the old school feel of the free addition. This is sort of like downloading an on going campaign addition in a video game. While there is more meat here. What it really does for those who've purchased the Wicked Maze is add another layer of mayhem to the game.
What the players are given here is a more interesting death or twenty as well as the opportunity for expanded play in the locations of the Maze. Here the environs are more challenging and the stakes higher.
The back story is interesting and right on the sword and sorcery vibe. This is a great game to challenge a solo night's play. It's not ever going to replace the face to face social interaction of D&D by any stretch.
But it proves the DM with a player's mind set while plunging him into the story line of the Maze. Even at only fifteen pages this is a sold addition to the already brimming cup of the Wicked Maze family.
There's sure to be more coming from Dave because right now I'm stuck in a blind alleyway and the monsters are closing in.