'Zenob's Home Coming' - An Adventure Encounter For Lamentations Of The Flame Princess and Your Old School Campaigns

“The many men, so beautiful!

And they all dead did lie:

And a thousand thousand slimy things

Lived on; and so did I.” 

― Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Seen near the Port of Isafjordur on the outer edge of Iceland, a strange ship  has been spotted by local fishermen and they think that she bodes ill for any who sight her. The ship is the Lenore and she is crewed by dead men and her sorcerer captain who has ventured beyond the bounds of our universe into the Outer Darkness  and came back a changed men. He and his crew are men and something quite different not quite dead and bound within rotting flesh. Now they are doomed to sail eternity. But they have come to the shores near Iceland seeking out the Black School, only the dark masters of this school of ancient deviltry and witchcraft can hope to release these black souls into the hands of 'the Devil'.
The PC's are traveling adventurers and are hired by a witch of some standing to board the ship and deliver a potion to these men of black renowned to allow them entrance to the gates of  The Black School. Details on the Black School can be found right over HERE

The witch will offer the PC's thirty pieces of silver or gold of a valuable aspect but she will warn them if cheated, a demon will come for them instead. 

The PC's are given a scroll wrapped in an oiled seal skin and writ in the blood of the damned. The PC's will have to row out into the Port of Isafjordur at noon and recite the words of power written on the skin of a condemned and cursed man. They must return to the spot at sun set on the same day when the veil between the worlds is thinnest.
The ship appears in flash of green grey light with the setting sun. A weird dream haunted sea of brackish green black waters appears around the PC's row boat or craft. Odd things swim around in the waters and the PC's will find themselves in a place of wrack and ruin. Strange almost organic looking rocks piece the these strange waters.
The ship is partially decayed and stinks of the dead and damned. The captain Zenob will call a welcome to the PC's.  Once aboard the PC's are trapped beyond the wall of unreality outside the  world  but inside a timeless limbo like dimensional veil.
The Captain will slowly explain his plight to the PC's.

Zenob's is a sad tale of tragic misplaced loyalties and reckless power grabbing. He was an honest sea captain whose wife ran off with his best friend, the good captain was trading goods with some very questionable associates from some of the smaller islands surrounding Greenland. Several ancient relics,scroll texts, and other antiques came into the captain's possession.

After several months of  study the good captain cracked under strain of a combination of a broken heart, depression, and possible demonic influence from these relics. Some speculate that the relics may have come from ancient Hyperborea but this is merely speculation. But what is know is that the captain summoned something from the depths of the Outer Darkness and he was changed by the experience. His crew were soon overpowered by this hellish inference. 

Zenob and his crew were changed men and need to reach their final reward to know peace. The PC's can destroy this artifacts to free the soul of the men (which will not work.)
Or they can research these artifacts in captain's library.

The PC's will find an ancient black dagger of valcanic glass as sharp as a razor among the belongings. If Zenob is questioned about the item, he does not recognize it.

“Since then, at an uncertain hour, 

That agony returns: 

And till my ghastly tale is told, 

This heart within me burns.” 

― Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

 But its not just as simple a situation as this, each night a powerful demonic witch thing sneaks aboard the ship and massacres the crew at what passes for sunset in this timeless hellish  limbo. She is wicked, implacable and immortal it seems as the crew themselves. Each time she comes monsters out of the deepest nightmares of Hell itself preceded her. Use one or two hit dice monsters from the LoFP rule book pages 133 and 134. She fights as a 6th level fighter and regenerates as a troll ala OD&D. She is able to cast magic as a 4th level wizard but seems much diminished in power. She will be confused and very angry at the PC's presence on board.
After two encounters she will ask for parley with the party.

“Her lips were red, her looks were free,

Her locks were yellow as gold:

Her skin was white as leprosy,

The Nightmare Life-in-Death was she,

Who thicks man's blood with cold.” 

― Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'

She will explain that her name is Athava, a witch from the Black School who trapped her philandering black magician  husband and crew  within this timeless Hell as part of a bargain with the twelve ancient devil gods of Hyperborea. She is naught immortal and regrets the bargain after turning & mutating into this demonic hag thing. Athava has been sending dreams to her sister with a plan to free her soul and send her husband down to the depths of Hell to the fiery claws of Satan himself. After observing the cycles of horror and violence it may occur to the PC's that killing Athava themselves with the ancient glass dagger may free themselves.

“An orphans curse would drag to hell

A spirit from on high;

But oh! How more horrible that that

Is the curse in a dead man’s eye!” 

― Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

After three cycles of violence and degradation, Ru'kelothat the demon which holds Athava's soul in its claws for its dark master will appear from the depths of this place. It will offer to free the ship and crew for the souls of one of the adventurers. It will offer riches and other incentives for this bargain but of course this is a completely twisted bargain. Should the PC's manage to kill Athava, the mists ahead of the ship will clear and the ship will exit this timeless void quietly sailing toward the twisted  rocks of the Black School only be dashed upon the waiting claws of the Devil himself. Zenob and crew will be dragged below the depths by the demons that follow in the wake of their dark master.

The PC's will find themselves upon the shores of the Black School barely clinging to life. A few of the relics and artifacts around them, trinkets to provide them with further damnation for their souls. Members of the Black School will nurse them back to health and they may take these trinkets as payment for the deed. 

Free OSR Resource From Raging Swan Press - Be Awesome At Dungeon Design For Your Old School Campaigns

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So I was touring around G+ today and discovered Raging Swan Press's Be Awesome At Dungeon Design, needless to say I was pretty damn skeptical at best. But I took a look through this fourteen page system agnostic tool box of DM advice and surprisingly this is a very handy little collection of advice for the care, feeding, and design of dungeons across the board.
The pdf has a nonsense approach to the subject and goes into detail about the philosophy and aesthetic of the designer/author's mind as well as the back drop material for the dungeon. The whole kit is set up with everything you need to get started from start to finish with regards to how 'adventure location' of the dungeon is designed.
This isn't done with stats or an rpg table top system in mind but the ideals of the author's approach to the subject of dungeons in a common sense way and series of ideals for the incarnation of the whole affair of the dungeon as adventure and story element.
Let me say that I'm not a Pathfinder player or DM, and I'm not getting into the mega mountain of their products but this is a book I didn't regret downloading. I'm not taking away from Pathfinder, if you like the game then fantastic and more power to you.
But this is a book that has lots to offer for dungeon design, subject that is at the heart and soul of whatever edition you happen to play. 

From the Drivethrurpg blurb: 

Any GM can design a basic dungeon. A dedicated GM takes the extra time to craft exciting, logical and challenging dungeons that are so much more than a series of rooms stuffed full of monsters and treasure. Be Awesome At Dungeon Design comprises eight dungeon design essays by ENnie Award winning designer Creighton Broadhurst.  Handling such subjects as a dungeon’s purpose, design, ecology, dressing and physicality Be Awesome At Dungeon Design also includes essays on alternate dungeons and the principles of megadungeon design.

Whether you are a new GM just starting out, or a grizzled veteran, there’s something for you in Be Awesome at Dungeon Design.

This product is a Dual Format PDF. The downloadable ZIP file contains two versions, one optimised for printing and use on a normal computer and one optimised for use on a mobile device such as an iPad

Why You Should Take My Advice

In short, I've been around the block.

I've been on both sides of the designer/publisher fence. In 1999, I started out as a hungry, wildly inexperienced and tremendously naive freelancer. Now, I'm a grizzled (nay veteran) publisher and editor who has written, edited and developed well in excess of 1,000,000 words of gaming content. I've written for big and small publishers alike and won an ENnie for Madness at Gardmore Abbey (2012 [Silver], Best Adventure). A partial list of my design credits includes: Wizards of the Coast (Monster Manual V, Exemplars of Evil, Madness at Gardmore Abbey), Paizo Publishing (Dragon Magazine and Dungeon Magazine), Expeditious Retreat Press (Legacy of Darkness, Plague), Kobold Press (Deep Magic), Rite Pubishing (Pathways magazine, Adventure Quarterly) and Raging Swan Press (Retribution, Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands, The Sunken Pyramid).

During my early freelance days I was very lucky to have a mentor of sorts. Stephen Radney-MacFarland at the time was the RPGA's Big Cheese and my Living Greyhawk boss. During the course of the campaign, he gave me countless pointers and pieces of advice on how to commission, edit and develop modules. He gave me tremendous insights into the design process both in the campaign and at Wizards of the Coasts. (Luckily, he also didn't strangle me despite serious provocation on several occasion). During my time on the campaign I worked on over 100 modules and wrote another 20 or so myself. I had a lot of time to practise his suggestions.

In 2010, I founded Raging Swan Press and have built it into one of the most successful, prolific and recognised publishers of Pathfinder compatible products in the multiverse. I've worked closely with dozens of freelancers and to date (November 2013), have released over 160 supplements, adventures and player aids.

I want to share with you the insights and advice I've received over the years. I was lucky enough to have a mentor, but you might not.

Look I'm not caring if the author has published  a billion products but I do care about what is going to go into the design of the dungeon that is the center of tonight's game. The heart and soul of old school games is one the adventure and two the dungeon or other focus of your D&D party. The dungeon is a very important lynch pin in the history and backdrop of a campaign and this book provides a wealth of ideas,advice, and more for any DM. The author knows the material and knows how to tailor his advice to his audience but never talks down to the reader. A key point for getting me to read more of your products as well as move ahead with using this free product. Unlike other materials that I've run across as supposedly free this one doesn't skip on quality or key pieces of actually useful advice.
There is a whole swath of notes, pieces of useful twists and turns of facts and opinions that make sense. Much of this material can be used for not only adventure setting material but also the design of other rpg locations.
All in all I was surprised and delighted to read through Be Awesome At Dungeon Design.

Raging Swan Press is a nice addition to the growing plethora of OSR material that I own. I'm very happy to have downloaded this one ahead of the snow storm of 2015 and happy to have yet another piece of gaming related material that adds to the tool box that continues to bring my players back to the table again and again. Grab this one and because its free I must say its a nice piece of DMing advice that actually says what it does. 

Free OSR Mega Download - The Basic Fantasy Field Guide From The Basic Fantasy Rpg For Your Old School Campaigns

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This is an eighty four page  monster manual for The Basic Fantasy Rpg packed to the brim with monsters and is perfect for any OD&D style campaign. There's a huge number of familiar faces but there's a totally whole different way of dealing with these monsters. The book takes a nonsense approach to it's creatures, everything here is geared for maximum adventure potential, there are over one  hundred eighty creatures with a full array of original and public domain artwork, and its well organized.
A DM can't ever have enough monsters. These are both the benign and darkly dangerous for the health of adventurers. They can easily be slipped into a wide variety of OSR adventures at the drop of a hat.
These are the creatures that your going to want to populate your OD&D style dungeons with. The monsters are very well done in the old school tradition with plenty of new variations to keep it punched up and fresh as well as deadly.

So what's in this book? According to Drivethrurpg:

Need a few more monsters? You've come to the right place! This tome contains over 180 creatures for use with the Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game. From ordinary animals to extra dimensional intruders, this book contains something for almost any game!

Challenge your players with alien Eelbats or deadly Clockwork Skeletons. Populate your wildernesses with stalwart Chelonians or the wily Rabbit Prince. Perhaps the next tomb your players raid will house a powerful Bone Horror! These and many more weird, wonderful, and wicked creatures lurk within this book.

There's been a ton of work put into the monsters in  this book and the Basic Fantasy authors & contributors know their material. There are quite a few surprises slipped into the back door  of this free download. The problem and issue with monsters is really one of expansion, there are always always room for that one special creature that you as a DM need. This book has quite a few creatures to fill in that special niche.
The monsters here are wide ranging, interesting, dangerous deadly, and don't simply conform to the usual OD&D tropes all of the time. The authors have done a nice job of mixing it up to give a DM a real variety of creatures.
When a DM has a huge sprawling ruin to populate with monsters this is really a great book to grab. This really is a no nonsense game book that highlights, hits all of the monster high points, and gives all of the best stat blocks at a glance. I can honestly recommend this book without reservation as yet another great Basic Fantasy rpg line book with a full dance card of all of the living dangers for your dungeons and adventures Did I mention that it was free?

Soul Forged Armor For The Basic Fantasy Role Playing or Your Old School Campaigns

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There are times when a DM needs something a bit more well special then the usual 'magic sword' that we get in OD&D and basic.I stumbled across this particular take on the magic sword the other night.
According to the PDF : 

Soul Forged Armor is armor that has been infused with the soul of a warrior or paladin. It is usually created for a specific purpose. That purpose can be good, or evil. It can be specific (eg. A Soul Forged Lich Slayer would be created for the express purpose of slaying Liches), or it can be more general (Soul Forged Armor of Chaotic Good). It can be forged for a specific group within a game world. Often, an order of Holy Warriors will choose one of their greatest, and have his soul forged into armor so that he can be called upon in time of dire need.
This idea is simply the bare bones of a very cool idea that can easily be fleshed out in a game such as Lamentations of the Flame Princess or Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea as a type of lost magical artifact that while powerful cares with it an air of the sinister and more then slightly weird.
Its really only two page pdf with some interesting and very respectable high ideas that adds a bit more flare to the idea of the magic sword which is already steeped in real world myth and legend.
Its always the little touches such as these that bring home the classic tropes of old school sword and sorcery. With a bit of conversion this article can serve as a nice set of old school mythological guidelines to create an other aspect of the dark fantastic for your old school D&D game. Not too shabby a free download at all that infused with a sword and sorcery classic piece of gaming meta mythology.

Free OSR Adventure - The Tavern Of Daednu By The Oliver Brothers For Your Old School Campaigns

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Everything about the Tavern of Daednu is well done and very interesting. This is a small twenty page module that is big on encounters and if done well could well be a first rate horror style introduction adventure. The module paces itself well and solid.
With a bit of work this module could be adapted into a solid location adventure into your old school campaigns. Everything about this module screams add me into your game. Since this is an AD&D 1st edition module, you can easily add it right in. The plot and NPC's here are very generic but with a few clever twists this module can be a party's introduction into the darkness that lays at the heart of your horror or weird sword and sorcery campaign.

According to the Dragon's foot intro: 

The Tavern of Daednu seems a pleasant place for adventurers to spend the night, but all is not as it seems. A short adventure for character levels 1-3.
According to the adventure the structure for the module is laid right out in the open from the  introduction: 

"The Tavern of Daednu is a short

adventure for 3-8 characters of 1st-3rd

level. The scenario works best with

characters of low level who are veteran

players. They will of course be suspicious."

Don't let this fool you as a DM, with a bit of work this module could make a fine introduction adventure for a Lamentations of The Flame Princess game or a even a game of Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea. The weird adventure elements here are compelling enough to keep PC's interested and busy from the ground up.
The adventure reminds me of Solomon Kane and some of the older Weird Tale influences here and I like the feel that I got from this one reading through it a few times. 

There are two levels to the inn and with a bit of clever slight of hand this adventure location can be used over and over. The writing here is interesting, the plot can be reused a couple of times, and personally I think that  the PC's should escape with their lives with this one. Only to have the place show up again later on in their adventuring careers. This is the sort of adventure location where adventurers should cut their teeth and be thrust into the darkness only to escape knowing that its waiting for them.
Grab this adventure, twist it around, and drop it into your campaign for a sword and sorcery twist on the usual basic AD&D game module. 

The New Free OSR AD&D 1st Edition Module From Dragon's Foot -The Barrow of the Moon Druid By The Oliver Brothers For Your Old School Sword and Sorcery Campaigns

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Sweet mother of Tiamat, I go to sleep last night and wake up to brand new module on Dragon's foot for AD&D first edition for a basic set of level of level 2-4 players! I'm not sure who the Oliver Brothers are but man I'm going to keep my eye on 'em.
The Barrow of the Moon Druid is very exciting on a number of levels. First this is a free download and that right there is one of the exciting things about this module.

Introduction 

Right off the bat just from thumbing through the pdf of the The Barrow Of The Moon Druid, one get's the sense of the pulp and dark fantastic about this module. The artwork evokes a sense of 1930's Weird Tales mix in with a 1970's TSR style module.

The introduction goes into the dark and twisted background: 

What lies inside the ancient barrow of the moon druid Arasgain? Only those of stout heart should endeavour to survive the perils inside. An adventure for character levels 2-4.

Right in the introduction the of the adventure, the authors lay out the parameters of the adventure. This module can easily and conveniently be inserted into the backdrop of the DM's old school campaign with little to no fuss. Here's the module's back blurb and it spells out how to use the module : 

As your party travels the Old Road which cuts a path through the dangerous moorlands,

you spy an old barrow sitting off in the distance. An old gnarled tree, the only tree to be

seen on the moor, sits atop the barrow watching over the round door set back deep in

the mound. What possible treasures lie within the barrow mound, the one said to be the

burial location of the Moon Druid? Who within the party will be brave enough to enter

The Barrow of the Moon Druid?

Contents :
The Barrow of The Moon Druid is both a location based adventure & a tradition crawl with some twists into the back drop. The is a place with a deep and abiding pulp style history and the darkness of the location colours the landscape and ideas of the module.
Encounters are balanced, concise, and deadly for an AD&D 1st edition or
OSRIC style module. Looking over this one, a clever DM could adapt this one to OD&D with some slightly of hand and number crunching. 

Here the Barrow adventure itself is laid out in pretty clear detail but with lots of room for DYI conversions into the back drop of module.
The maps are clearly and very well done. This is a twenty seven page module with two parts to the adventure location The Barrow Part I and The Moon curse Part II with some defining NPC's and events that surround the whole of the adventure worked in solidly into the background and history of the place.  This also sets up the new  monsters and it has definitive nods right back to First Edition AD&D Deities and Demigods. Note that the Oliver brothers know exactly how this book was intended to be used and do so with style in this adventure. This is pretty damn complex plotted lower level adventure module.
All of this ties neatly and somewhat nicely into the backdrop of the module which incidently has a Celtic/Sword & Sorcery feel. Elements of this module could and should be used for a Lovecraftian cult, and its black miracles. Yes this is that well done.
 There is a boat load of new material packed into the setting,history, monsters of this adventure.
All in all this is an essential hardcore sword and sorcery AD&D 1st edition module with all of the trimmings with the potential to be used extensively as a 'drop in' adventure location.

Using The Barrow of the Moon Druid

By The Oliver Brothers

For Your Old School Sword and Sorcery Campaigns 

I've said before that this is a fantastic old school module and do I think that it could be used for a sword and sorcery campaign? The answer is a resounding,'yes'. The adventure is done in such a way as to be fully contained within itself and this is its core strength.
The Barrow of the Moon Druid could easily be converted into a number of AD&D style clones with little issue. My idea would be to use it is a part and parcel for a Hyperborean Celtic back point for Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea campaign. Because of the system of that retroclone its so easy to do a conversion and given the motives of the NPC's there's a clear line of sight to drop in the module into the mix.
For other retroclones such as Lamentations of the Flame Princess and other retroclones of weird aspect, some element base conversions are going to be needed. That being said the bench mark of this module with the character levels works very well for an OD&D style campaign with the usual conversions as necessary.
All in all this is one very well done module whose authors dedication and passion for the hobby shines through. You can see the amount of work that goes into these and the sense of fun that appears behind the work . All in all, I personally think that this is a free download worth your time. Happy gaming and keep em rolling. 

Free OSR Adventure Download - Fortress, Tomb, and Tower: The Glain Campaign For Your Old School Campaigns

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Fortress, Tomb, & Tower contains three easily adapted Basic Fantasy retroclone rpg system mid level adventures. It clocks in at sixty one pages but what's in it?
And just because its free should you down load it?
Well according to the the Basic Website blurb: 

This adventure series from the World of Glain includes three distinct adventures, suitable for characters of various levels: Fortress of the Iron Duke, Tomb of Karsma Megalos, and Crooked Rock Tower.

The adventure is designed for PC's of second thru forth level, and believe me it lives up to its reputation. These are nice mid level adventures that can easily be adapted to any old school sword and sorcery campaigns. There are certainly an number of old school retroclone systems one thing I've noticed is the way in which the Basic Fantasy rpg system seems to exploit the down and dirty nature of its D&D roots. Something that comes across in the presentation of their material. Because of the nature of the adventures, PC's are fully exploited in the backdrop of the world of Glean the setting for these adventures.
There are motives, backdrop stories, and more to exploit the PC's their fullest and these adventures make the most of the situation. The adventure plays with the PC's as they thread their way through this adventure.
Because of this aspect of the adventure, the fact is that these adventures are perfect to add to an existing game such as Astonishing swordsmen and sorcerers of Hyperborea. The system is different enough to warrent a bit of shoe horning on the part of the DM.
The adventures are clear cut with enough plot to keep the players interest as their PC's lives dangle over the over arching plot running through the back of this adventure.
Watching what the PC's are doing and dealing with is key to running through this set of adventures and keeping the PC's on their toes is one of the things that this adventure excels at in spades.
 Because of the free nature of the pdf there is plenty of wiggle room to keep the over arching plot threading of the adventure from shoving the whole affair off course. 

All in all this was a great little read through and I can't wait to exploit the PC's to the full extent of this adventure.