Sunday Look Into The Town of Baldemar By Robert J. Blake For Your Old School Campaigns

"Welcome to BALDEMAR!

In this booming town on the banks of the river Wythyn, danger and adventure lurk at every turn. Stroll the quaint streets of Old Town, where the Guild Council conducts the government's business. Visit the shops of New Town and purchase exotic items from the far corners of the earth. Crosriver caters to adventurers, offering food, entertainment, and services. But only the boldest dare enter the dark alleys of the Warrens, where the cruel Warren Lords dispense their own brands of justice...

Baldemar is a complete town setting in the medieval style, compatible with any fantasy role-playing game. it describes over 450 buildings and 125 noteworthy residents, which you can customize for your own campaign with less than an hour's work. Full personality sketches of Baldemar's most important citizens are included for maximum role-playing enjoyment, but you determine their actual powers and abilities.

Baldemar also offers a game system for handling public opinion -- both political and social -- that is so simple, yet so versatile, that you will want to use it for your entire campaign! This valuable tool can add an extra dimension to your game."


So reads the back blurb for one of Gary Gygax Presents Fantasy Masters titles Town of Baldemar by Bob Blake. Please comeback and don't let the Cyborg Commandos New Infinities logo scare you. The Town of Baldemar was written by Bob Blake the same guy that did  C5The Bane of Llywelyn & a bunch of classic TSR &  Polyhedron material.Its really easy to use & very '87 generic AD&D 1st edition in style & probably if it had come out now with the rush of OSR related titles might be regarded as a classic.
'The Town of Baldemar' is NPC after NPC related businesses with overarching relationships & politics of the area. The whole thing has a very classic D&D style about it. I'd have to start messing with the whole area right out of the gate but then again that's part of 'The Town of Baldemar' strengths. Even a lot of the Dragon's Foot crowd liked it.
Even Scott Hover liked it?! Sure I'm not the first to review "The Town of Baldemar"

The layout is strong '87 quality & pretty densely packed with information on the town, the factions, the NPC's with lots of generic Dungeons & Dragons style hooks scattered throughout. This is again as much Frank Mentzer's beast as it is the rest of the usual gang of classic TSR folks because of the editing, artwork, & overall feel. This isn't a bad thing if your into the transition period AD&D style of products.

I'm surprised that Town of Baldemar doesn't get more of a mention in OSR circles but its not a superfantastic standout product per say but provides the players with a safe point to adventure from. The Town of Baldemar is a perfect adventure location for the players to actually take over as a domain. I've used it in the past as faery neighborhood for a game of Shadowrun & Nexus The Infinity City as well as Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition.


 The maps are decent, the population breakdowns are consistent, and this is an adventure location with some really interesting all around adventure hooks if the DM is willing to do a bit of work. But of course with the 'hard edge OSR crowd' this book is going to seem old fashioned & more then slightly out of date right?!

 

Wrong because 'The Town of Baldemar' is rpg neutral but obviously aimed straight at AD&D first edition there is more then a nostalgia feel to em. The whole city has this crazy almost but not quite about ready to tip into the lands of Fairy about it. There are a variety of threats that can come from within & without in but when the fairy Queen Mab came to call as one of the real rulers of  'The Town of Baldemar' in one of my games one of my players nearly spit soda across the table. His PC nearly became the sacrifice to Hell! Be careful whom you sleep with in adventures!?

"The character is also associated with the name Morgan (as with the Arthurian character of Morgan Le Fey, or Morgan of the Fairies), or a variant of Mab (such as Maeve or Mabd). In the Child Ballads Tam Lin (Child 39) and Thomas the Rhymer (Child 37), she is represented as both beautiful and seductive, and also as terrible and deadly. The Fairy Queen is said to pay a tithe to Hell every seven years, and her mortal lovers often provide this sacrifice. In Tam Lin, the title character tells his mortal lover:

At the end of seven years
She pays a tithe to Hell
I so fair and full of flesh

I fear it be myself"
This adventure hook would have dire consequences in a Lamentations of the Flame Princess game surely dooming the soul and more of the poor sod.

Because its so game neutral 'The Town of Baldemar' is easily adaptable to almost any retroclone system but its really more suited to the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition system & style. This is straight with keeping with the same family of retroclones such as OSRIC & Labyrinth Lord Advanced.

'The Town of Baldemar' remains relatively inexpensive drifting between ten to fifteen dollars in used bins at Half Priced books or Fleabay. Another gem of the Eighties passed by the 'experts' of the OSR.
For now keep em rolling!

'That Which Remains Buried' An OSR Adventure Encounter Idea For Your Old School Campaigns

"A great evil has befallen the local farms & villages! There are curses uttered in the
 night! Strange giantesses harry the countryside, children are missing, & only brave adventurers can help sort out this evil or hate of old!'

So I've been doing a bit more thinking about 'the Lion & Dragon rpg'  after the debacle that Rpg Pundit went through. But what kind an adventure could you actually do as an introductory adventure encounter for the game grounded in real world history with overtures of mythology & the occult.



Fortunately I didn't have to go far. There's an article called Dressed up with bling stolen in Viking raids by Medievalist.net
The meat of the article is about a piece of Viking jewelry that was turned up by a metal detector from a viking woman's grave possibly moved by a farmer.Well that got my wheels moving. Those were in my mind criteria for an unquiet spirit especially a possible draugr of mythology which makes the AD&D I read about in Dragon magazine back in the 80's look like a wet noodle.
The Viking Answer Lady has a very detailed break down of the legends, mythologies, & types of undead  in  "The Walking Dead: draugr and Aptrgangr in Old Norse Literature"

For this encounter I'm going to be using this article in addition to certain old school TSR resources so that the AD&D first edition players can use this encounter as well. The scenario goes something like this: 

So someplace along the line a high ranking noble woman of Viking origin received a broach but was cut down in the prime of life. She was buried with all ceremony that was accorded to her. But with England being a land as filled with history as it is a farmer's family has disturbed the grave. To make matters worse the farmer's daughter has taken to wearing the broach.
 

The locals in the area are being terrified by a walking apparition of a draugr or hag of tremendous evil. Crops are withering, curses are being laid upon children, etc. The situation is getting desperate but in a back water village such as this one it means relying on adventurers to help solve the problem.
Various villagers are being plagued by horrid dreams & visions of a giantess in the night. Others claim to have had children missing from families  whist other villagers don't remember any such children. Tracking down a series of clues provided by the dungeon master the players don't know that they're dealing with a Norse undead yet..
But in AD&D first edition terms they're dealing with a type of undead Annis of incredibly dangerous qualities.  Its going to take a combination of clever detective work, tracing down any other relics or treasures, & then putting this monster back into its grave for good.

The Annis and greenhag  cousins of the night hag (Monster Manual for first edition AD&D) are found in the AD&D Monster Manual II & have many of the qualities that we're looking for. But its going to take some cherry picking between the night hag, the green hag, & the Annis to get the combination right.
If your expecting this to be a straight up hack & slash style adventure then forget it. This is going to be a full up investigative style adventure to put down an ancient evil or hate of old. If fact this encounter could be easily tied into a Viking hoard of gold or spoils that seem to turn up from time to time in England.
So once again my love of the Monster Manual II comes out with bits and pieces of various real world mythology. The PC's are going to be up to their necks in this one & the DM could throw in giving her certain supernatural or spell like abilities as the situation sees fit.


A lot of this adventure encounter idea is not from the tradition AD&D perspective but is dipping heavily into the Norse mythological pop culture venue instead. So this has a much more varied flavor to it.

Thinking About The Compleat Alchemist: Fantasy Role-Playing Supplement By Steven Cordovano & Stephan Michael Sechi On A Saturday

Way back in the annals of time around 1983 I acquired in a rather modest bookshop in downtown Torrington,Ct a copy of one of my all time favorite unofficial AD&D first edition class books. The Complete Alchemist by Steven Cordovano & Stephan Michael Sechi. came my way via belated birthday present from a friend whose name escapes me. From under a rather understated cover there was a wealth of information in this book on making the alchemist as a playable & actually useful PC class for adventurers.





The PC class was great because before this you could have alchemists in the Dungeons & Dragons Expert set as hirelings. But damn it I wanted to play one as a student of history damn it! The Complete Alchemist gave me as the player all of the toys to play with as long as A. I had to gold to purchase materials & my laboratory & B. I had the time to turn out the weirder stuff. From potions to constructs & the occasional
homunculus. But don't ask about the one that got taken over by a demon. I don't want to talk about it. Any I had a blast playing around with my alchemist & using Bard Games material. He retired & then became a patron to other adventurers which was a part of the system introduced in the book. My problem with the Expert D&D rules alchemists is that the NPC class didn't seem to breath to me. The Bard Games The Complete Alchemist was flexible & innovative. Man I had a blast with this book.


If I had access to half of the material that is now on the internet back then the amount of trouble I'd get the party into would astronomical amounts of trouble. Every few levels or so the alchemist could unlock new potions or powders,etc. with a chance of explosion. It was a lot of fun & this book seems like its one that I want to dust off from my collections.

I really need to start thinking about using alchemists more in my home games they offer a wide range of flexible options for the table & are not simply one trick ponies. Alchemists offer the player a wide range of systems to give the party a huge advantage in & out of the dungeon.


The ability to utilize alchemy as a harnessable resource for their dungeon delving. The Complete Alchemist is a sort of swiss army adventurer's friend & a great PC class to play.

In The Barbarian Warlords of Greyhawk Campaign Setting The War Against The Slavers Concludes With A4 In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords By Lawrence Schick

Trapped in the dungeons of the Slave Lords! The hardy adventurers must find a way out, with only their wits and courage to help them. But can they do it before everything is destroyed by the dreaded Earth Dragon?


So what happens if the PC lose against the slavers and their minions? Well I found that out in the Summer of '82 when our Dungeon master almost but not quite had a TPK on his hands. I heard so rumblings from the peanut gallery that A4 In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords wouldn't be easy to adapt to the Barbarian Warlords of Greyhawk campaign setting.
Let's get some perspective on the quick backgroud history of this module according to Wiki;"In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords, the final module in the series, was published by TSR in 1981 as a thirty-two page booklet with an outer folder, and was written by Lawrence Schick.^[7] The cover artwork by Erol Otus features a drawing of a group of myconid (fungus men) fighting a party of adventurers. The interior art was done Otus, Roslof, Willingham, Steve Sullivan, David C. Sutherland III, and Jean Wells."

So this module is wall to wall tournament adventure written all over it which means it can be easily modified to  fit the dungeon master's needs. The PC's have been captured & left to die in the tunnel & cave systems beneath the slave lord's lairs. Gone are their fancy magical weapons & their spells so their going to have to think their way out. For a a Barbarian Warlords of Greyhawk campaign there's an almost Edgar Rice Burroughs twist to A4 making this bit more of a struggle for survival. If the PC's have left behind hirelings, tribesmen, etc. to man the various locations used as adventure locations then this module is going to be a kick in the teeth.  The party is going to be coming face to face with the true children of the demoness Zuggtmoy.


After the destruction of the Horde of Elemental Evil everything seemed nice & quiet but the human forces had already retreated back to their volcanic island retreat. To lick their wounds & plan for a profitable slaving operation to fund the next rise of the cult. Warfare doesn't come cheap.
"In 569 CY, a combined force was sent to destroy the Temple and put an end to the marauding. This allied army clashed with a horde of evil men and humanoids, including orcs, ogres and gnolls, at the Battle of Emridy Meadows. Men-at-arms from Furyondy and Veluna united with dwarves from the Lortmils, gnomes from the Kron Hills, and an army of elven archers to face the threat of the Horde of Elemental Evil, consisting largely of savage humanoids such as orcs, ogres, and gnolls. The arrival of the elves from the shadows of the Gnarley Forest turned the tide of battle, trapping the savage humanoids against a bend in the Velverdyva where they were routed and slaughtered.
At some point in this battle, Serten, cleric of Saint Cuthbert and member of the Citadel of Eight, was slain. The Citadel was notable for its absence at this pivotal moment in the history of the Flanaess, and their failure to take part in the Battle of Emridy Meadows contributed to the group's decline and eventual disbandment.
After dispersing the Horde of Elemental Evil, the allied forces laid siege to the Temple of Elemental Evil itself, defeating it within a fortnight. Spellcasters loyal to the goodly army cooperated on a spell of sealing that bound the demoness Zuggtmoy (a major instigator in the Horde of Elemental Evil) to some of the deepest chambers in the castle's dungeons.

The site itself remained, however, and over the following decade rumors of evil presence there persisted. The Viscount of Verbobonc and the Archcleric of Veluna became increasingly concerned, and cooperated to build a small castle outside the Village of Hommlet to guard against the possibility of the Temple rising again."
Meanwhile the PC's have their hands full trying to survive against the Gygaxian monster dungeon ecological system of A4. Which the various caverns & caves inhabitants would like to make them a part of.


If you think that all is lost for the PC's carving out their own kingdom from the ashes of the Slave Lords corpses. Think again!? The PC's have a chance to defeat the slave lords, grab volcanic island lair,& then learn 'the hidden truth' of the Earth Dragon of  A4 In The Dungeons of The Slave Lords. I'm modifying the module to fit more in line with some of the systems presented in the Heroic Fantasy Handbook for ACK's.
Occultist and Dread Wraith, Jeff Binder

Deep beneath the island locked in a prison of volcanic glass & obsidian is another piece of the the demoness Zuggtmoy (a major instigator in the Horde of Elemental Evil)remember. So the PC's inherit a sacred duty to watch over the prison but a kick ass volcanic base to begin to expand their own empire of plunder and pillage. This way it loops back around into T1 The Temple of Elemental Evil giving weight to the whole series and a satisfying conclusion.

There are few things to consider before venturing on a whole hog endeavor of running the Scourge of the Slave Lords series with a Barbarian Warlords of Greyhawk campaign. The entire face of Greyhawk is going to be altered. The technological levels are going to be late Roman Empire to Viking era. There are some definitive things to consider here:

1. This isn't simply adventure running but empire building in one of the more well known old school settings and its going to require shoehorning here & there.
2. Sacred cows NPC's are going to die and their not coming back. 
3. PC's are going to be shifting the balance of the campaign setting as movers & shakers. 
4. Not everything is going to go according the definitions of good & evil. There's going to be more then a few innocents killed before this campaign ends. So be prepared. 
5. Wargaming might be called for during some of the passages of these adventures. 
6. Have more then a few PC's as backup for one or more of them will be killed during the course of the Slave Lord series. 
7. Don't be stingy with the treasure because war costs money and lots of it. 
8. ACK's is designed for exactly this sort of a campaign. 
9. Don't forget to modify or edit these modules as needed for your needs as both players & DM's. 
10. This places a whole different spin on Greyhawk but remember there are countless alternative Greyhawks in the planes.

OSR Round Up News With Venger Satanis, Rpg Pundit, & Money Blood Designs & Gavin Norman

Right now I'm super hot and its because I've got the flu & I'm ganked up with all kinds of cold medicine. But there's been a few developments out in the OSR hobby. First of all +Venger Satanis has a brand new Kickstarter up & I agreed months ago to help promote it. Why?! Well Venger is a real life friend & I agree to do weird stuff at times.

"Are you Alpha Blue curious, spacer? I've launched a new Kickstarter, Battle Star Trilogy: Trek Wars. It'll melt in her mouth... and in her hands/tentacles, as well" He's doing his Battle Star Galactica, Star Trek, Star Wars in with Alpha Blue. And more power to em.

The second thing that's going on is a bit of a mix up/glitch on the part of Rpgnow for 'Lion & Dragon' from +Kasimir Urbanski  & +Dominique Crouzet.
So what is Lion & Dragon? Well its a medieval authentic OSR system which takes place in a very twisted  real life magical setting. But this sounds like Dark Albion to me. Well its not. First this is a completely different setting a 'more historically authentic medieval experience, to reflect the grittier and yet more mythic world of a magical medieval Europe.' According to the real Rpgnow link.

The material is essentially mostly OSR system compatible and easily converts to your favorite retroclone system even thought the entire game is a stand alone system on its own.
The sections  on alchemy, herbal medicines, poisons, or law & justice, the magick system could easily be ported over to your home campaign in spades.



Do I actually own the game? No I'm waiting till I have the after Christmas money to get it. I like to support the smaller OSR publishers. If you don't believe me then check out Kenny Johnson's video review and flip through.

The third reason for this post is because +MonkeyBlood Design (Glynn Seal)  is going to be expanding the Midderlands OSR mini setting on Kickstarter. If your not familiar with the Midderlands setting its like the good part of White Dwarf's Dungeons & Dragons material set in a Medieval Period back water mini setting with all of its own history, monsters, weather, etc. It can also be uses for running 'Lion & Dragon' as a drag & drop setting for the game without breaking the bank.
 

It could potentially be used with the Dolmwood setting in Wormskin by +Gavin Norman  & it would work like a charm with some adjustment on the dungeon master's part. Because of the modular nature of the campaign setting DM's can adjust and move adventure locations & systems as necessary.

The focus of this whole affair could be the Hundred Years War is the perfect historical campaign fodder for this style of campaign. If you want to connect Lion & Dragon with Dark Albion, it would be quite easy to run this campaign during the lead up to when everything changes in Dark Albion or real world history.

"The Hundred Years' War was a series of conflicts waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Plantagenet, rulers of the Kingdom of England, against the House of Valois, rulers of the Kingdom of France, over the succession to the French throne. Each side drew many allies into the war. It was one of the most notable conflicts of the Middle Ages, in which five generations of kings from two rival dynasties fought for the throne of the largest kingdom in Western Europe. The war marked both the height of chivalry and its subsequent decline, and the development of strong national identities in both countries."

So not only do you have a tailor made historical conflict but a real world event that could take years to play through. But there's no extra support for Lion & Dragon rpg?! Wrong there's a ton of support in the form of the RpgPundit Presents titles. From Dragon corpses magical properties to further books of occult esoteric weirdness  to high tech weapons. He's got it all covered & much more.

All of these are fully compatible with Lion & Dragon rpg system & will provide your players with nightmares for years to come.

But now there's been a new wrinkle in the mix according to  RpgPundit ;"The saga continues and RPGnow has screwed me over yet again. With another "accident" or "mistake" that rendered useless every single link I spent all day yesterday posting. But I'm not done yet."

Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea Second Edition 'Old Earth' Campaign Inspirations & C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan by Harold Johnson & Jeff R. Leason

 

I'm being squeezed by a giant East Coast snow storm & a head cold but I've got to get my 'Old Earth' hybrid game off the ground. I need to fill out the Western Wastelands of Old Earth quickly & somewhat quietly. So once again I turn to 'an old friend' of Appendix N aficionados namely the 1920's master of dark fantasy A. Merritt.
Namely I'm looking at his 1932 book Dwellers in the Mirage specifically for adapting to use as a hidden ruined landscape for one of the Hyperborean style races in a lost valley in the former location of Alaska.

The book's details are straight on the nose for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea second edition. The time lost hero with past incarnation syndrome, the two love interests, the ancient lost technologies of another age, the traditional Lovecraftian foes of the various peoples of the valley. The plot as explained by Wiki is pretty spot on for almost all of the themes of AS&SH;

"The novel concerns American Leif Langdon who discovers a warm valley in Alaska. Two races inhabit the valley, the Little People and a branch of an ancient Mongolian race; they worship the evil Kraken named Khalk'ru which they summon from another dimension to offer human sacrifice. The inhabitants recognize Langdon as the reincarnation of their long dead hero, Dwayanu. Dwayanu's spirit possesses Langdon and starts a war with the Little People. Langdon eventually fights off the presence of Dwayanu and destroys the Kraken."

The little people sounds like one of the degenerate little men races of Athuer Machen's novels & Robert E. Howard's Cthulhu mythos entries: The Great God Pan, Arthur Machen.
The Shining Pyramid, Arthur Machen.
The Three Impostors, Arthur Machen.
Worms of the Earth, Robert E. Howard.
The Little People, Robert E. Howard.
People of the Dark, Robert E. Howard.
The Children of the Night, Robert E. Howard
The Shadow Kingdom, Robert E. Howard.

We see even more about the origin of the 'little people' of Robert Howard & HP Lovecraft from their letter in Jul of 1930. The hidden valley's people smack of the same sort of culture as A.Merritt's Moon Pool but there are echoes of H.P. Lovecraft's subterranean civilization  the realm of K'n-yan from "The Mound" by H. P. Lovecraft (ghostwriter) and Zealia Bishop (original idea). The necromancer tyrants of these lands are long passed on but their legacies & subjects remain especially on 'Old Earth'.

This hidden valley routine reminds me of one of my favorite Advanced Dungeons & Dragons modules C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan by Harold Johnson &  Jeff R. Leason. 

The hidden valley of Tamoachan could be another hold over the necromancer tyrants on 'Old Earth'. A locked away gem in the depths of some new volcanoic crater of  Earth created when Hyperborea was ripped into space.


The place is a seething location of sacrifice & corruption by a people who have been brain washed by the technologies of the valley long ago. These peoples believe themselves to be the Olman culture of the World of Greyhawk, but are not simply another lost group of refugees who have been manipulated by a far older and more dangerous elder being (more on this puppet master villain later on). The cults & tales of the Hidden Shrine fuel many of the outside world cults who see the lost valley as a type of religious 'Heaven' while the reality is very different.
I'd be adding even more mythos elements and keep the various A.Merritt story & novel locations as adventure locations for the Western Wastelands. There are several adventure elements already in play that I've got to flesh out. I've used the brainwashed
Olman culture bit before and its worked like a charm. Fantastic Novels v03n03 (1949 09) has a version of the  Dwellers in the Mirage  for download but its the one with the tragic ending. "There are variant endings of the work. In the original, Leif's love dies, but the publisher inartistically has her survive. The original tragic ending has been reinstated in some/many recent reprint"

1d20 Random Encounter Table For Along The Passages & Roads of the Boreas Winds

The years are a falling of snow,
Slow but without cessation,
On hills and mountains and towers and worlds that were;
But snow, and the crawling night wherein it fell,
May be washed away in one swifter hour of flame:
Thus it was that some slant of sunset
In the chasms of pilèd cloud—
Transient mountains that made a new horizon,
Uplifting the west to fantastic pinnacles—
Smote warm in a buried realm of the spirit,
Till the snows of forgetfulness were gone.
Clear in the vistas of memory,
The peaks of a world long unremembered
Soared further than clouds but fell not,
Based on hills that shook not nor melted
With that burden enormous, hardly to be believed.
Rent with stupendous chasms,
Full of an umber twilight,
I beheld that larger world :
Bright was the twilight, clear like ethereal wine
Above, but low in the clefts it thickened,
Dull as with duskier tincture.
Like whimsical wings outspread but unstirring,
Flowers that seemed spirits of the twilight
That must pass with its passing—
Too fragile for day or for darkness—
Fed the dusk with more delicate hues than its own;
Stars that were nearer, more radiant than ours,
Quivered and pulsed in the clear thin gold of the sky.
These things I beheld
Till the gold was shaken with tight
Of fantastical wings like broken shadows
Forerunning the darkness;
Till the twilight shivered with outcry of eldritch voices
Like pain's last cry ere oblivion.

Remembered Light  (1912)  by Clark Ashton Smith

Adventurers don't know what sights might be encountered when the step onto the Boreas winds into the Outer Darkness between the stars. Many  encounters await them among the dead spaces between the dimensions & planets. For there are horrid & ancient things trapped in the Outer Darkness imprisoned but not dead waiting for the juicy & sacrosanct souls of humanity to step over The Threshold. The Threshold  that holds back the ever washing washing unreality of primal chaos.



There are demons, fallen gods, & far worse trapped in amber & crystal prisons cast into the darkness. But among them is rumored to be doors to the primal underworld with its twisting tunnels & slip trails down into Hel itself. Many of these empty halls & ruined abodes of the gods are filled with millions of souls from the ravaging of Earth. The nameless goddess who rules this place controls trillions of souls both of men & other far older essences. She has many names & it is said that still in Underborea one can find her name on metal foil paged grimoires & in the secret doctrines of Ixian necrotic cults. There is a 10% chance should her name be uttered during an encounter with the right manners that she may grant a boon should the proper respect be shown to her. Otherwise she might take the fool's soul instead.

Certain armies of warriors have used the passages between the Boreas winds as a sorcererous short cut during times of war when their wizards have sacrificed fair haired youths to open the passages between worlds as a tactical advantage. These passages are fraught with danger as many men often seek riches sewn at their feet where the Elemental plane's bounty tides itself against the hidden corners of unreality.


Any items such as gems or crystals will most likely at best be cursed & at worst could be the egg of some nameless elemental horror. Here then are twenty encounters along the passages &  roads of the Boreas winds for fools & madmen to falter into.



1d20 Random Encounter Table For 
Along The Passages &  Roads of the Boreas Winds

1. 1d8 Ice zombies of a lost unit of late Roman legionaries. They will stop to ask directions but their incredible hunger for the living will cause them to attack anyone they meet. 
2. A necromancer & his demonic servant on a quest for a demon stone egg from the Outer Edges. 
3. A floating crystal skull belonging to lich servant of Cthulhu on its way to its teacher & demonic tentacled master. 
4. A angelic servant of Law on its way to help to heal a dying paladin trapped on a nearby asteroid. It will try to enroll the PC's help with promises of reward but will use a geas if necessary. 
5. A crystallized ghoul who needs to feed on the living as soon as possible.  
6. Three serpent men upon a barge of sorcerous gold & jet who are looking for test subjects for their latest project. They are seventh level black wizards of the darkest stripe and have energy weapons.
7. Giant soul devouring Outer Darkness life form that needs to feed on the living and will assume for 1d20 hours the form of the person it consumes. Perfect in almost every detail, this vile creature will try to feed on 1d6 others each one assuming the perfect shape to trap their prey. 
8. 1d6 Mi Go on an errant for one of their dangerous masters. 
9. 1d ghouls with a 7th level black wizard half ghoul master. They cross the winds on their way to the underworld. 
10. The giant head of a fallen god that acts as the base for 1d10 brigands and outlaws lead by a capable 8th level wizard. His rival is a lich and seeks the wizard's head for a magick relic's creation. 
11. 1d10 giant violet fungus that feeds on the souls & flesh of the living. 
12. 1d4 brain parasites with zombie bodies floating through the void. 
13. A giant crystal warrior belonging to a clan of stone giants who looking for sacrifices to their heathen Lovecraftian god thing. 
14. Giant skull of some ancient warrior whose soul is trapped in the thing. It whispers strange and damning secrets to those who spend more then 1d6 hours with it. Certain Ixian necromancers would pay handsomely for the skull's location. 
15. Pack of 1d8 gargoyles on the hunt for prey and guess whose on the menu! 
16.  Remains of an ancient void craft wheeling its way through the void. There is a 10% chance of 1d6 pieces of treasure on board with undead alien guardians. 
17. The burnt to a crisp wreck of an ancient long boat with a Ju Ju zombie warrior chieftain on board and 1d6 relics & treasure. 
18. The remains of a fallen demon frozen and seemingly unmoving. 
19. 1d20 damned souls looking for victims. 
20. A strange temple building trapped on the back of a crystallized star spawn of Cthulhu. An eerie light beckons to those outside. Can you resist?  

In The Barbarian Warlords of Greyhawk Campaign Setting The War Against The Slavers Continues With A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords By Allen Hammack

Into the Drachengrab Mountains! Hot on the trail of the marauding slavers, you and your fellow adventurers plunge deep into hostile Hills. Spurred on by your past success, you now seek the heart of the slaver conspiracy.

Eighty One was one of the most dangerous years for my PC's because of the release of A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords By Allen Hammack. I've lost four PC's over the years to this bastard of a module but your going to need to use A3 because it delves deeply into the back drop & background of the slavers, their organization, operations, & the slaver's ties to Greyhawk. When we start looking into the production & history of the module via Wiki then we start to see the adventure's ties to Greyhawk & a possible in for a Barbarian Warlords of Greyhawk campaign grounding;
"Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords was published by TSR in 1981 as a thirty-two page booklet with an outer folder, and was written by Allen Hammack.^[7] The cover artwork by Jeff Dee features a drawing of five of the nine Slave Lords. These five are Nerelas the assassin, Mordrammo the priest, Feetla the master buccaneer, Ajakstu the magic-user, and Brother Milerjoi the monk. The interior art was done by Dee, LaForce, Otus, Roslof, and Willingham.^[9] This scenario continues the characters' search for the slavers deep under the Drachensgrab Mountains"
Part of the tie in is the Drachensgrab Mountains locations which play a central part in A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords. These mountains ties in with various other Greyhawk locations & the deep adventure ties  with the back ground of the T1 Temple of Elemental Evil makes A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords solidly Greyhawk. A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords  also has the feel of a mid issue of a Marvel's Sword of Conan comic from this time this also makes the adventure  perfect for using with a Barbarian Warlords of Greyhawk campaign.
Erol Otus Piercers from A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords

If the PC's have been playing through this series they've already had trusted adventurers & hirelings or reinforces that they've left behind back in the other adventure locations they've previously played through. So speaks the voice of experience who had a DM who occupied various locations with hobgoblins & other forces of Chaos when we played through in '81 & '96 respectively.

I’m using material the playtests version of the Heroic Fantasy & Barbarian Conquerors Collection. A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords is one of the most pulpy adventures in the series. The near constant looking over the shoulders of the PC's as they pass from one encounter to another leads through the adventure like a winding Sword & Sorcery paper back from a spinner rack back in '81.
Hack & Slash style of play isn't the order of the day as the PC's navigate & role play their way through situation after situation that lends itself to a brutal journey through the heart of  a dangerous labyrinth  used to lure the party into a secret tunnel leading to the hidden city of Suderham.



Suderham is a town located in a volcanoic crater & let me tell ya this is a location that a Bond villain would be proud to own. Over the years I've had various groups play through A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords  & every one of em wanted that town! For a domain level game this a perfect location for a group of adventurers to set up their own little domain level kingdom for conquest of Greyhawk.
The problem? Oh just those pesky slaver lords & their own agenda which seems to consist of enslaving & selling off any & all inhabitants of Greyhawk their operation can get its hands on! 
Make no mistake  A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords is a thinking DM's module & its own brand of twists & turns. This one is meant to challenge players of levels four to seven & they do mean it. For an Adventurer, Conqueror, King game this doesn't at first seem a likely candidate. It actually does work as a 'Barbarian Warlords of Greyhawk Campaign' addition here's why.

1. Military launch point & operation of the slavers in play. All the PC's have to do is hold the location of Suderham. 
2. Perfect Sword & Sorcery tie in location for the forces of T1 The Temple of Elemental Evil. 
3. The ties in for many other Greyhawk locations makes this a linch pin module giving a ton of other adventure opportunities for the DM. 
4. Further dungeons means further problems for the player's PC's. 
5. How far does the corruption of the Slave lords extend? Could there be other slave lords that the PC's know nothing about? Back in '83 we stumbled upon another operation similar to the slave lords inspired by a Conan comicbook that the DM had read. Suddenly we were face to face with another warlord with delusions of grandeur. Don't be afraid to add or edit the slave lords as the campaign or players deem. 
6. This is a thinking man's tournament module and should be used as such.

For now keep em rolling! More to Come in the Conclusion So Stay Tuned!

The Mad Winds - Further Readings Into Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea Second Edition - The Beserker

What hast thou seen, O wind,
Of beauty or of terror,
Surpassing, denied to us,
That with precipitate wings,
Mad and ecstatical,
Thou spurnest the hollows and trees
That offer thee refuge of peace,
And findest within the sky
No safety nor respite
From the memory of thy vision?

The Mad Wind  (1912)
by Clark Ashton Smith

This wonderful piece of Clark Ashton Smith poetry reminds me of the beserker warriors  sub class from Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea second edition.

Welcome to 2018 and more quality on Swords & Stitchery folks! So all day yesterday I was mediating on the beserkers player character class in Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea second edition.

For most classic D&D players & dungeon masters might be thinking, 'Well we've seen beserkers before as player characters in classic Dungeons & Dragons & Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition. What could possibly be different?! They're just the Vikining warriors of historical myth & pop culture legend. Meh.'
Everything is different for the warrior beserkers of AS&SH.



So why is everything different for the beserkers of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea second edition? Because the Ragnarök events have already happened by the time the Green Death flew over Hyperborea & spread its plague trails of supernatural death. This comes straight from the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá;

"In the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá, references to Ragnarök begin from stanza 40 until 58, with the rest of the poem describing the aftermath. In the poem, a völva (a female seer) recites information to Odin. In stanza 41, the völva says:

Old Norse: Fylliz fiǫrvi feigra manna, rýðr ragna siǫt rauðom dreyra. Svǫrt verða sólskin of sumor eptir, veðr ǫll válynd Vitoð ér enn, eða hvat?[9]

English: It sates itself on the life-blood of fated men, paints red the powers' homes with crimson gore. Black become the sun's beams in the summers that follow, weathers all treacherous. Do you still seek to know? And what?[9]

The völva then describes three roosters crowing: In stanza 42, the jötunn herdsman Eggthér sits on a mound and cheerfully plays his harp while the crimson rooster Fjalar (Old Norse "hider, deceiver"^[10]) crows in the forest Gálgviðr. The golden rooster Gullinkambi crows to the Æsir in Valhalla, and the third, unnamed soot-red rooster crows in the halls of the underworld location of Hel in stanza 43."

So the twilight of the Norse gods & the events of the Ragnarök are tied into the future history of the formation of Hyperborea. The beserkers are holy warriors of the Norse gods  able to alter their forms to certain degree during the heat of battle. The beserkers as royal warriors  were used historically again and again by various kings, chieftains, & too a certain degree by the gods themselves. They're ideally suited to the temperament of Hyperborea a world of months of eternal Winter & casual violence. The events of  the Ragnarök left them without the wisdom of  Odin, the war guidance of Thor, & the steady hand of the  god Freyr  on a strange & alien world not of their people's making. Still they carry on traditions thousands of years old in a far future under a bloated Sun.


Battle of the Storm Hjørungavåg
Illustration for Olav Tryggvasons saga
Gerhard Munthe (1899)

The beserkers still had their sacred rituals & rites to allow their children to assume mantles of bear warrior, Úlfhéðnar – Wolf Warriors & Svinfylking – Boar Warriors but it was in service of old surviving gods such as Ullr & more alien gods such as Ymir. The path of the beserker is one of blood, violence, conquest, & adventure if a party of adventurers will have one of these warriors among them. The mark of the beserk appears early on certain groups of warriors & they have to taken by the cults early to tame the savagery of them often on raids & battles lasting years. This sort of turns the implication of the beserker warrior on its ear from AS&SH.


Ullr is the god of beserkers now & he's a demanding god whose survival of the events of the Ragnarök changed him into a new cunning  & far more violent god. He's had to watch all of the gods that he cared for & love die whist the eternal cycle of middle Earth was broken. He's raising a new army of beserkers because he's gained the second sight to see what's coming for his various people's tribes. Ullr is a god of chaos with a mission & its one that he's preparing as the kings of old did.
In hidden grottoes & sacred groves he whispers to his wizards,  shamans, priests, & druids as well as many others. While on the winds his words reach his raiders but others also hear his words such as the Amazons but that's another blog entry.


 As the step son of Thor & son of the goddess Sif he had deep ties to Odin. These include the power to rule in his stead.
"In Saxo Grammaticus' 12th century work Gesta Danorum, where gods appear euhemerized, Ollerus is described as a cunning wizard with magical means of transportation:

Fama est, illum adeo praestigiarum usu calluisse, ut ad traicienda maria osse, quod diris carminibus obsignavisset, navigii loco uteretur nec eo segnius quam remigio praeiecta aquarum obstacula superaret.[1]

The story goes that he was such a cunning wizard that he used a certain bone, which he had marked with awful spells, wherewith to cross the seas, instead of a vessel; and that by this bone he passed over the waters that barred his way as quickly as by rowing.– Elton's translation

When Odin was exiled, Ollerus was chosen to take his place. Ollerus ruled under the name Odin for ten years until the true Odin was called back."

Ullr has always been a great wizard as well as warrior with deep ties to the various lycanthropic cults scattered across Hyperborea. The god is assembling his chess pieces & has a deep connection to Ymir's forces as well. He's scatters his beserkers far & wide gathering various bits & pieces of information as they adventure. The chaos & violence they bring disrupts a few scattered battles here & there on Hyperborea. But the war is still coming & Ullr wonders if he'll have enough time.
For my own 'Old Earth' campaign 'the wandering beserker' is a walking enigma, a being seemingly out of time but moving from battle to battle as a sacred chess piece as the hour of the Great Old One's return happens. 



For many parties of adventurers in AS&SH the beserker is a 'loose cannon' be be exploited on their foes. But for many tribes of Vikings & their kings these sacred & royal warriors are keys to their people's very survival. The beserkers adventure because they must for its a part of who they are & marks their skien in the schemes of all things.