Review and Commentary On the Free OSR Horror Rpg Adventure - Come to Daddy For Your Old School Campaigns

I spent part of my day reading through one of the most brutal and well done free adventure I've seen in a while. Come to Daddy is written & mapped Anders Hedenbjörk Lager aka dawnrazor) and superbly illustrated by David Lewis Johnson and Jim Magnusson.If you are looking for an adventure that crosses over the bounds of Lamentations Of The Flame Princess rpg system turf and then backs up to finish the job then this is it. For those of you who don't think that an OD&D style game adventure can cross the same bleak and weird turf as the original Hills Have Eyes film. Think again. You haven't met the Rodbrok family, a more twisted group of mutant cannibals you are not likely to meet and they're very hungry. But there's more going on here.
Grab It Right Over HERE

The basic plot goes something like this:

In Come To Daddy, the characters end up in the clutches of a most evil family of crazy viking mutant cannibal killers and their weird monster creations in the middle of a frosty nowhere

The place is also haunted by the souls of some of their unfortunate victims and full of lethal traps for the unwary. And this is just the tip of the ice berg. There's some very dark and lethal stuff going on here at the home of these people. We're given a thumb nail view of every member of this twisted family and this adventure taps into the dark and lethal vein of the OSR with some surprisingly entertaining events.
This adventure has a wholly deeply disturbing Lovecraftian vibe echoing throughout it, we get a ton of new material in the form of monsters, spells, items, and more. But its the way that the adventure sets up the party and then proceeds to take apart piece by piece the flesh and marrow of the whole of any expectations. This adventure is perfectly aimed like an arrow at the heart of the OD&D or LoFP crew of players and it does an exceptional job of showcasing its old school horror ghastliness in the middle of the winter woodlands of your campaign. This material could be placed anywhere across the board in an ice choked part of your setting and world. This adventure is a mini campaign into itself that echoes such films from the 80's as 'The People Under The Stairs', the original Hills Have Eyes film, some of the dark slasher and jungle cannibal  films of the 70's, and 80's. And there's a ton of back material that's been included in this adventure to pad out, create squeals, and add a ton of Lovecraftian depth to the entire adventure combo pack. There's everything here to keep the horror of the place going for weeks. There's lots of fiddly bits and pieces to have at least three or four weeks worth of material to keep the party going. There are some notes on conversion between editions but given the depth and the way this is written this adventure makes a solid hit to take the PC's straight into Texas Chain Saw territory via the writing of HP Lovecraft in a pseudo historic setting of the DM's choice.
This is not an adventure for the faint of heart or the easily offended, there's blood, guts, and body horror galore. Not to spoil the surprises but this one is like the Manson Family Christmas special via a faux Viking picnic with death metal blaring in the background. The type of material that Ravenloft could hint about but couldn't show because the Satanic Panic button people would have been on the phones of the local television stations yesterday.
Now with all of that hype there's a few things to go over, the adventure is free but there is also a map pack and the free pdf. The map pack is not only necessary but perfectly well made to be able to support this horror laden mutant horror  ride from Hel. And believe you me its worth the download.
But is it playable? Yes with the right group of players this thing should be a blast and it could easily be used for a wide variety of retroclones. The top choice I would have to use this sucker with would be Lamentations of the Flame Princess given the wide array of blood,guts, & gore and then possibly Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea. There are several reasons for the latter choice as well. Given the demented feel of the the Rodbrok family and some of the dark forces at work in this adventure. AS&SH is a good choice because of the bleak feel, weird atmosphere and over all horror of the adventure. There's lots of perspective for a very brutal adventure TPK for this adventure.
Believe it or not the module also has a very weird vibe that could be used with Fantastic Heroes and Witchery rpg system. The dark and robust nature lends itself to that game as well. But all of these retroclone systems would require a bit of effort to easily convert it over to your favorite retroclone of your choice. But is it worth the download? Hell yes it is, if your a horror rpg fan whose delicate sensibilities deviate to the dark side of the spectrum in a balls to the walls solidly done and decent horror adventure in the old school tradition then grab this adventure and get to playing! Five out of five with a solidly unnerving and darkly creepy adventure. 

Pay What You Want - The Tomb of Rakoss the Undying For Your Old School Campaigns

I've been seeing this module around since 2013, and I've been meaning to check this bad boy out for a long while. Mischief Inc has been teasing me with this one in my Drivethrurpg feed for a while and its an interesting run through reading through OA. As a pay what you want title its pretty damn well put together.

This module has several interesting features: A its truly edition nuetral and could be used with any edition of the world's most popular fantasy adventure game. Second it emulates many of the conventions and tropes of older edition adventures. Third this makes this adventure an easy fit for any old school retroclone. Everything from the stat blocks for the monsters, the artwork, the basic intro here is top drawer. If your going to get into a mid range module for an OSRIC or AD&D style game this module is a god sent. But here's the thing this module could easily be used with a swords and wizardry rule set or Labryth Lord especially with the advance companion. 

The basic plot of this adventure reads through like a TSR era adventure but more heavy on the sword and sorcery aspect. According to the Drivethrurpg blurb: 

Rakoss was a great wizard of ages past who served the Emperor of Maere. Tales tell of his prowess as a military strategist, but they also tell of his fall. It is said that although he won campaign after campaign for his emperor, just one failure earned the wrath of his master. The Emperor had Rakoss, his generals, strategists and personal guard sealed in a tomb somewhere in the Ganlaw Mountains, and cursed them.

Who knows what treasure was buried with Rakoss and his retinue, or what horrors remain to test any who might enter the tomb. Certainly only a brave few would dare seek out the final resting place of Rakoss, and even fewer can survive the terrors of The Tomb of Rakoss the Undying!

"The Tomb of Rakoss the Undying" is a challenging adventure for 3-6 characters of level 4 to 6.

Much of the fantasy elements are twists on the classic AD&D 1st edition of play and with a bit of work could easily be incorporated into a game such as the Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea rpg system game world.
The monsters are deadly and some of the encounters would have to be used with an experienced party. There is enough meat here to challenge the PC's on a number of levels. 

All in all the quality of the adventure is quite surprisingly good and the writing complex with plenty of adventure hooks for future releases.
Much of this module is well thought out and delivers on exactly what it promises, a pilot episodic adventure from Mischief Inc. It feels and plays with some very interesting twists on some potentially nasty enemies for the PC's and introduces a fully fleshed out vile villain with not a wrap up in sign. This is done on purpose but for a eighteen page adventure with quality artwork and more this is an essential adventure to grab. 

Review And Commentary Monty Haul's Lesser Tower of Doom From Eldritch Enterprises For Your Old School Horror Campaigns

Available Right Over HERE

This is a forty page dungeon crawl that lives up to James Ward's axiom of 'Characters kill themselves Dm's don't'. 

This is an action packed adventure that not only packs the PC's into a realm of weirdness but it does it with Wardian style! 

I sent eight players through this horror laden fest of trap filled, monster fun house of adventure and four of them survived. I used 'Lamentations of The Flame Princess' and because of the generic nature of many of the Eldritch Enterprises products I had no trouble at all. Forget whatever flavor of the month that's out this is solid and tightly written.
Drive Thru Rpg description :

"There's a new demi-god in town, and he wants your soul.  His offer?  A tower packed with fabulous treasures... and great danger.  The risks might seem minimal, but there's always a catch.

Monty Haul's Lesser Tower of Doom is a trap-filled, monster-laden maze designed to bewitch the mind and separate the soul from it's corpse.  Written in generic style, it is suitable for play with most fantasy role-playing systems, and should be explored by characters of beginning to low levels of power/experience.  The first in a series of dungeons, Monty Haul's dungeons are designed to tempt your players with easy money.  Just be sure you have character creation rules handy when you play." 

Using Monty Haul's Lesser Tower of Doom For Your Old School Horror Games 

Using the 'Lesser Tower of Doom' is sort of like placing the characters in a 90's horror fest where it seems like its all easy pickings and things begin going from bad to worse as the DM leads the way. That's not to say that this one is railroady at all. Basically its an adventure that allows the PC's to get themselves into more and more horror laden trouble as things slide down hill.
This isn't a Temple of Elemental Evil, this is a low level adventure with more twists and turns to shake a stick at .
Basically this is an adventure with a twisted sense of humor and the guts to twist your PC's into pretzels with puzzles, monsters, and more James Ward fun.
 Kept hearing the original 'Evil Dead' soundtrack the whole time we played this evening and it was bloody good fun.
In forty pages this is a mini dungeon crawling campaign that delivers. Its tightly written, fun, solid, and reliable as heck and my players want to return to it.

Ten reasons to use the Lesser Tower of Doom

1. Good solid writing, its a fun adventure, there's mayhem plenty. 
2. Its written by James Ward and its not that well known (yet)! 
3. The plot is a great introduction adventure and easily adaptable to any campaign but does very well with a horror game because of certain elements in the adventure. 
4. The adventure is forty pages of twists,turns, and puzzles to challege,delight and kill erm murder, errm, well you get the idea. 
5. This is an adventure that isn't simply another kill the monster grab the treasure. There are some true story elements here easily graft able to other adventures. 
6. Its on sale and its a quick buy well worth the money. 
7. This one lends itself to convention play as well. So it could be run at a local Con if you have the chance. Also it could be used for that mode of play as well to challenge even the jaded players. 
8. This module hearkens back to a time when adventures weren't just driven by the same old formula but by fun. This one has it in spades. 
9. The treasures, location, etc can be inserted into an existing sandbox campaign not the other way around where you as a DM have to write around the adventure. 
10. My players want to go back again. 

Review and Commentary On Mayfair Game's Witches For Your Old School Horror Campaign

I had my 'Gothic Transylvania' campaign blow up in my face due to a religious 'friend' freaking out because of this book's 'Satanic' content from Mayfair games.
 Witches is one of my all time favorite books from Mayfair before they went into bankruptcy in the 90's due to T$R lawsuit. 
This book has a lot going for it. High production standards and it has the late Nigel Findley's fine touch (I miss that guy's work, he was a great author of gaming in the early nineties before he passed away).

For centuries, witches have been a source of fear and trepidation. Even in this day and age, the imagery of pots of gruel, bony beckoning fingers, and turning princes into toads brings on a chilling feeling.

Now, within the pages of Mayfair's Witches Sourcebook the witch is brought to life exhibiting her magical powers. All of the necessary information for including the witch as a new character class are contained within these pages. Each of the eight distinct witchcraft traditions: Classical, Dianic, Golden Dawn (of which the famous occultist Aleister Crowley was a member), Wiccan, Voodoo Animistic, Elemental, and Deryni (based on the series of Katherine Kurtz) is outlined in the book. Each of the witchcraft traditions has its own view of the world and its own respective culture. The book also encompasses new spells, new magic items, a sample witch character, and other must-have game-related information.

The Witches Source book will certainly spark player's imaginations and enhance game play in any fantasy role-playing adventure or campaign.

As I said the book has quite a bit going for it and its pretty well researched into the various historica and mythic takes on the class. 

Because of the material that was in 'Tourist Guide To Transylvania' I began looking into the Fairy Witch from the book to help illustrate some of the witches that are found along the various parts of the fictional campaign. Fairy Witches are closely allied with 'The fey' who are indeed a boon and a dark as well as sinister part of this. "Each of the eight distinct witchcraft traditions: Classical, Dianic, Golden Dawn (of which the famous occultist Aleister Crowley was a member), Wiccan, Voodoo Animistic, Elemental, and Deryni (based on the series of Katherine Kurtz) is outlined in the book. Each of the witchcraft traditions has its own view of the world and its own respective culture. "
It takes each of these along with the Classic witch of myth and legend allowing the DM to weave them into their games.
 This book along with To Hell and Back are two of my all time favorites and really filled in the gap for me during this campaign. Since the retroclone and OSRIC movements within the OSR these have once again become solid pieces of gaming especially for the horror gaming crowd.
 Paizo has these on sale but I'd wait to see if you can get them on the cheap.
Right over
HERE

As for the campaign, don't sweat it folks. This isn't the first time I've faced this sort of thing.
 I'll grab a couple of more players and be off again.
 Man, I do miss the work of Nigel Finley though. The man was a genius and Rpg writing is still missing him. 

Review & Commentary On Proto-dimension Magazine Issue # 15 - Free Horror Rpg zine

• Shuffling in the Shadows, Words from the top by Tad Kelson
• A Creativity Contest, To put some words to a great picture by Jim Kazanjian A Contest!!!
• Forty-Four Days Ago, A tale from the Badlands by Captain Obvious
• Extreme Sports Splinterlands, Radical Proto-Dimensions by Mitchell K. Schwartz for Dark Conspiracy, 2nd Edition
• Too Much Coffee, A real-life story by Mike Minihan via Captain Obvious
• Alley Encounters, An Encounter Set by Norm Fenlason for Conspiracy Rules and DC3
• Izhmash International, New small arms from Russia by Lee Williams For Dark Conspiracy/CoC
• A R, A short story of the near future by Michael Lanzinger
• Elsewhere for Inspiration, Adventure Creation Advice by Tad Kelson For Call of Cthulhu
• You’re Nicked!, A British 70’s setting by Linden Dunham For Mini-Six
• Courier Ayes, New fiction by Tad Kelson
• My So-Called Life…Sort Of, Life in the Greater Depression by Norm Fenlason For Conspiracy Rules and DC3
• From Under the Floorboards, Reflections from the underside by Lee Williams Commentary
  

Protodimension Magazine is the free horror E zine that could the mag cranks out some of the more interesting and off beat rules, and suppliments for horror that are out there. The magazine is slick,reliable, and free. Its also part of a very active community of horror gamers who support Dark Conspiracy 2nd edition but also a number of other horror themed rpgs over the years.
Issue #15 is no except to the above. The mag takes us deep into the world of Dark Conspiracy which is an errie future very similar to the world we live in now 29 seconds in. The action gets hot and heavy with Forty-Four Days Ago, A tale from the Badlands by Captain Obvious. Its very well done and kinda engaging in its own off beat way.
We're shoved into the weird worlds of Extreme Sports Splinterlands, Radical Proto-Dimensions by Mitchell K. Schwartz for Dark Conspiracy, 2nd Edition and this is my bread and butter. The strange twilight zone other worlds of DC were a high point of the game for me and anything that expands this is welcome at my table. 

Too Much Coffee, A real-life story by Mike Minihan via Captain Obvious is taken from real life and generates another direct game use story. That's something useful right there. Alley Encounters, An Encounter Set by Norm Fenlason for Conspiracy Rules and DC3
Izhmash International, New small arms from Russia by Lee Williams For Dark Conspiracy/CoC are two articles which combined can be used to generate a black market encounter that won't be forgotten by players. The expansions of weapons in games  is welcome by players. Alley encounters wretches up the DM's arsenal of encounters for the game. The organization and articles are well thought out and solid. 

 R, A short story of the near future by Michael Lanzinger is a very interesting little story that has some conotations into your favorite near future or cyberpunk game. 
Elsewhere for Inspiration, Adventure Creation Advice by Tad Kelson For Call of Cthulhu is obviously an article by a veteran CoC DM and author. Its very useful for the CoC enthusiast. 
You’re Nicked!, A British 70’s setting by Linden Dunham For Mini-Six is a very 70's mini campaign setting. 
Courier Ayes, New fiction by Tad Kelson is one by an author always stretching his horizons and expanding his fiction. Very interesting stuff. 

My So-Called Life…Sort Of, Life in the Greater Depression by Norm Fenlason For Conspiracy Rules and DC3 is an article which really expands on the world and setting of DC. The thing is that world isn't often talked about in rule books. It often seems like rpg companies want to get to the "cool" stuff without expanding on the "real world" of the game. This is a very useful article and a welcome one. 
From Under the Floorboards, Reflections from the underside by Lee Williams Commentary is a heart felt eulogy for two of gaming innovators who are no longer with us. Very respectful and heartfelt from an author whose loss and friendship was truly felt. 
All this and a slick presentation make this mag a must have! Best of all its free! Get and download this bad boy right over HERE

FREE Vancian Magic Supplement PDF And Quick Commentary

 Gorgon Milk has collected a number of very cool and insightful variation on the FREE Vancian Magic System that he's been working on. As a DM we all need more variations into the magic system that is the basis for our hobby. Also we need more weirdness and utter insanity even in OD&D. This is a good start. Also its free.

 The Contents : 

The ZIP contains...

92-page printable PDF booklet

8.5" x 11" PNG cover

SUPPLEMENT CONTENTS

"Turjan of Miir" and "Mazirian the Mage" by Jack Vance

Four articles on Vancian Magic by Gary Gygax

Complete six-level Vancian spell lists by Shadrac MQ

This suppliment is a great start. The finished version with all corrections will be available tonight! In the meantime you can take a look right over HERE

Gethsemane Games Indiegogo And More!

I've known the folks running this great company for years and years. They've always been at the cutting edge of  horror rpging. Here's their pitch: 

Gethsemane Games is a small company consisting of husband and wife team Bryan and Marie Irving and the cat, Gethsemane, whom we named the company after. Together we bring indi RPGs to the gaming public and this year we would like very much to release a wide range of adventures, modules and supplements for our horror RPG “Haunts and Horrors (H+H).

Haunts and Horrors has been a labour of love for us, we are both very big fans of good horror and grew up on the likes of Hammer Horror, Universal Studios horror films and so on. In H+H we have brought this love of horror, and our love of the Victorian an Georgian period of history to the table top in a game designed to let players create horror adventures in any historical period that they please.

This year, we would like to release a range of products for the game including (but not limited to);-

“Blood Money”, an adventure set in England durring the early years of Queen Victoria's reign. The old coaching inn “The little drummer boy” has seen better days, the advent of the railways has hit the inn's custom, but perhaps not so much as the tales of a strange phantom horseman that plagues the highways around the inn.

“The Curse of Amon Menetnashti” A Victorian period mini campaign set in Ottoman ruled Egypt in which the party are part of an archaeological expedition which seems to have found a long forgotten Egyptian Priest. Whoever this priest was, his Ka does not seem to care for the expedition as things take a dark and mysterious twist.

“The Drowning Pool” Takes us to England during the regency period. Romney Marsh is plagued with smugglers and something far, far more sinister, a thing from the Celtic myths that has returned to menace the living.

“Suffer Little Children”. Something is plaguing the dreams of children in a small English village, visiting terrible nightmares upon them. Already 3 have been driven mad, and others may suffer the same fate unless the party and the local asylum can get to the bottom of the mystery and face the horror that lurks in the sleepy community. Both an adventure and a setting with a fully detailed town and Asylum and extensive notes on mental health in England after the Asylum reform act.

“The Sins of The Fathers”. A strange ghost dog stalks the moors, but what has brought it back?

/
 You can find out lots more over at their  IndieGoGo page!

 Right over HERE!
 These folks are some of the best kept secrets in UK horror/dark fantasy role playing. Take for example the Secret of Serpent's Tor 

The ruin had been there since the time of my grandfather's grandfather. No-one knew or cared what it had once been.  What it had become to us was a source of dressed stone for our homes and granaries and for the walls that we built about the fields.

Within the hillside, through what was left of the dilapidated ruin stood a plaster statue of what we assumed was some long-forgotten hero, or deity perhaps.  Plaster.  For generations we had thought the statue to be worthless plaster, and we had left it untouched, perhaps out of reverence for those who had once felt the subject worthy of a statue.

Then, one day, I found a block of stone had fallen from the roof and cracked the plaster away from the statue's shoulder.  What I found beneath was the first surprise, but not the last, for what I found beneath the plaster was gold. 

Who had hidden it thus and why I knew not, but there it was, a king's ransom in a damp, dingey chamber within the hill.  Nothing but the ancient, crumbling ruins outside to watch over it.  Or so we thought… Not until we tried to move it did we uncover the true, and dreadful, Secret of Serpent Tor.  A secret that cost me an eye and the lives of so many old friends.  A secret that wakes me screaming in the night still to this day.

The Secret of Serpent Tor is a an adventure for the Spelldancer fantasy RPG by Gethsemane Games. Intended for a small group of of moderately experienced or a larger group of inexperienced characters, the adventure pitches the party headlong into a desperate struggle to contain an ancient evil, a cult of demonic serpent folk, unleashed after centuries of imprisonment and bent on once again subduing all around them.

Fabulous wealth and terrible danger await those that would learn The Secret of Serpent Tor.
Yes most of their wares are based for the in house Spelldancer system but they can easily be adapted to any old school fantasy or retroclone system. The adventure is based around a long forgotten cult of demon snake-people accidentally unleashed when the abandoned and ruined fort-shrine built to lock them away is plundered for stone by the local farmers.
This is only the tip of the snake cult. There are many reasonably priced adventures on sale right now at their Drivethrurpg shop right over HERE
Still not convinced? Well here's a free sample about real world diseases that can be easily adapted to your favorite retroclone or rpg setting. Free over at Drivethru
Right HERE
 So take a stroll over to the IndieGoGo page make a pledge and lets get these adventures off the ground!