Dreams of Mythic Fantasy: January 2019

Saturday, January 26, 2019

The OSR News: January 26, 2019

Gabor Lux returns with more Fomalhaut, the Cepheus Engine continues its campaign for OSR domination and there's a new release from D101. All this and more awaits in this week's News!

New Releases

Image of Echoes From Fomalhaut #04: Revenge of the Frogs

Echoes From Fomalhaut #04: Revenge of the Frogs by Gabor Lux. Published by First Hungarian d20 Society. Available from the Publisher in Print/PDF combo for $8.00. (PDF forthcoming and will be available on DTRPG.) 40 pages.

A 40-page fanzine featuring adventures and GM-friendly campaign materials for Advanced old-school RPG rules, with cover art by Matthew Ray, and illustrations by Denis McCarthy, Stefan Poag, and Andrew Walter. This issue contains...

* The Technological Table: Destructive futuristic weapons and sinister technological artifacts from Fomalhaut’s fallen utopias and underworld realms.

* Revenge of the Frogs: A wilderness adventure module for 3rd to 5th level PCs. Certain doom awaits the dying port town of Silvash, and its only chance of survival lies in the marshlands, a place of bizarre inhabitants, labyrinthine waterways, and lots and lots of… well, let’s not spoil it.

* Arfel: City State of the Charnel God: Dominated by a great temple-complex that forms a vast necropolis, death looms over Arfel like a funereal shroud. Yet beyond the haunts of the veiled priests and the silent palaces of a reclusive aristocracy, the alleyways are busy both day and night, and adventure awaits those who would explore the city’s mysteries.
* Erillion, West: an article describing the western half of the Isle of Erillion, from lost places of pilgrimage to brooding manor houses, and lowly bandits’ nests to sites of high wizardry.

* Also... a detailed fold-out players’ map of the City State of Arfel!

The Ubix #1 by Jon Davis. Published by Bano Books. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for PWYW. 13 pages.

Over windswept moors and dusty trails, The Ubix signals your path to adventure! This is an OSR zine of 4 RPG elements underscored by simple black and white artwork. Within these 13 pages you'll find gun-toting wanderers, murderous swamp cats, lock-picking talismans, and a spell that could save that severed limb, or create a reanimated nightmare!

Contents:

The Gunslinger

The Boro Beast

The Hand of Glory

The Graft Spell.

Phantasmagoria #01 by Chance Phillips. Art by Jim Magnusson, Stefan Poag, Jeremy Hart, Penny Melgarejo, Luka Rejec. Published by Apollyon Press. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $5.00. 38 pages.

Explore the ruins of lost alien civilizations or sail through space in a massive freighter, weighed down with all manners of gold, jewels, and relics.

Play as a Jovian, a lithe yet strong alien native to a gas giant, a Captain, a brilliant tactician and duelist, or a Gremlin, an alien skilled with magic and technology. Build any type of ship from a tiny fighter to a massive dreadnaught, bristling with cannons.

This issue of Phantasmagoria introduces five new classes, new pieces of equipment and 0-level occupations, and rules for creating custom spaceships.

This product is compatible with the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game.

Featuring interior artwork by Jim Magnusson, Stefan Poag, Jeremy Hart, and Penny Melgarejo, with cover artwork by Luka Rejec, layout by Glynn Seal, writing by Chance Phillips, and editing by Jarrett Crader.

Shadows over Stillwater by Kevin Ross, C. L. Werner, Mike Mason. Published by Chaosium. Available from the Publisher in PDF for $17.99 and from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $17.99. 176 pages.

Print is forthcoming and per the publisher:

So you want to purchase the hardcover version, but really want to get your hands on Shadows over Stillwater - PDF so you don't have to wait. We have you covered! When you buy Shadows over Stillwater - PDF now, we will send you a discount coupon just before the physical book goes on sale that will offset the PDF purchase price once the hardcover version is available.

Against the Mythos in the Down Darker Trails Setting

Shadows Over Stillwater is a collection of scenarios and locales for Down Darker Trails—the Wild West setting for Call of Cthulhu and Pulp Cthulhu. Contained within are further insights and challenges for those seeking bold adventure in the American Old West.

Featured is a three-part campaign—The Shadow Over Stillwater—set in the mountains of the New Mexico Territory. A hunt for a fugitive murderer leads the investigators into a mystery involving odd townsfolk, strange lights in the sky, walking corpses, and the machinations of a once-powerful and ancient race seeking to reclaim their lost glory.

The campaign is suitable for groups of any size, as the Keeper can easily scale the opposition to reflect the number of investigators. An apparently simple task, bringing a wanted man to justice, brings the investigators to a town suffering an epidemic of bizarre events, from crazed residents to the dead rising from their graves.

Contents

Shadows Over Stillwater opens with a three-part campaign called The Shadow Over Stillwater:

Part 1: Lazarus, in Spades, the first scenario in the campaign, sends the investigators to Stillwater, New Mexico. Stillwater’s sheriff has alerted the authorities that a wanted man, Hank Hanratty, has been spotted in the town. The investigators are hired to the outlaw but, on arrival in Stillwater, they are faced with a situation that threatens to plunge them into chaos and death.

Part 2: Trouble on Knife Cut Mesa immediately follows with the investigators heading to the mesa north of Stillwater to seek the source of recent strange events where a band of Mescalero Apache may aid or confuse their investigation. Tracing their quarry into mountains, the investigators come face to face with an ancient evil.

Part 3: Shattered Earth, Poisoned Sky brings the campaign to a potentially explosive finale. Santa Rosita has been wracked with earthquakes—the residents fear that their town will soon be destroyed. The investigators’ efforts to uncover the secret behind the situation may be hampered by the growing paranoia among the townsfolk. The investigators must delve deeply to thwart a plan designed to remake the Earth.

Following the campaign is another adventure, Beneath the Burning Sun, that can be played as a standalone adventure or as a continuation of The Shadow Over Stillwater. The investigators arrive in the town of Shade in Silverhole County, New Mexico where they become embroiled in a desperate bank robbery and join a posse to track down a gang of ferocious outlaws led by a crazed preacher. A bloody trail leads to an abandoned Spanish fort high in the Cebolletas where death awaits.

A new locale for the Down Darker Trails setting follows: Stonegarden expands upon the Down Darker Trails setting. A booming mining town in Arizona, tucked away in the Coyote Mountains, this locale provides a new and fully realized town in which to base adventures. The history of the region, its locations, and people are detailed, as well as its secrets, threats, and Mythos connections. Whether venturing forth to unlock the riddles of Stone Garden Mesa or enjoying the hospitality of the Ralston family, this new campaign setting presents a community with one of the most violent reputations in the entire West. A place of danger, wild adventure, and dark secrets.

Finally, The Devil’s Round-Up provides an extended adventure seed set in a location that may be familiar to long-time Call of Cthulhu fans. A roster of detailed characters, along with their foul agendas are described, ready to darken the day of any investigators who venture into doom-haunted Castronegro.

That’s plenty of adventure to keep your gaming group immersed in the horrors and terrors of the Old West.

According to your preferred style of play, Shadows Over Stillwater can be played using classic Call of Cthulhu, but can also be enjoyed with the Pulp Cthulhu supplement. This book requires the Call of Cthulhu Keeper’s Rulebook (7th edition) to play. Having access to the Down Darker Trails core setting book is highly recommended.

Empire of Time by Paul Drye. Published by Baggage Books. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $4.99. 86 pages.

The 21st century has cracked open the past and future–not historical periods, true, but really deep time. Dinosaurs are a day trip away on a fast ship and your potential stomping grounds range over billions of years. Pit yourself against a future slave-running Empire, trade between human colonies, or just explore a nearly infinite progression of Earths that get ever-more alien as you get farther away from home.

Empire of Time is an OSR SF RPG using the free Cepheus Engine core rules (available via DriveThruRPG) or other similar game systems. Play as humans from the 21st century, or from the future, or even one of four different races evolved to intelligence long after we are gone. Includes maps and descriptions of Earth throughout geological time (past and future) based on current scientific discoveries, adventure seeds, organizations to use as patrons and villains, a bestiary of creatures from the most ancient times to hundreds of millions of years from now, and much more.

The Bottle by Michael Brown. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $0.75. 2 pages.

The chance find of a robot probe from an primitive extrastellar civilization promises more than just the opportunity to make a new find and the PCs a few quick credits; it also unwittingly serves as a cry for help from an entire planet. The heroes, arriving at the previously-uncontacted world, find it in danger. Will they act to save it, or bear silent witness to its destruction?

The Bottle is a short adventure for 2D6 science fiction RPGs such as Cepheus Engine and the Original Science Fiction Roleplaying Game (OSFRPG.)

Magic Items: Assorted Magic Items Disgorged From My Mind by Larry Hamilton. Published by Follow Me, And Die! Entertainment LLC. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for PWYW. 25 pages.

This is a collection of magic items from my blog, campaign, and convention games. They are not the usual wand and rings. I've included a couple of items from Library Generation Tables and the Jewelry Tables from Caravans & Trade.

OS191 - Mine Mayhem by Frank Schmidt. Published by Adventures in Filbar. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $2.00. 14 pages.

You and your close friends have decided to become adventurers and seek out your destiny. As you head to a Pacifica, a port city, you cross the mining territories and hear a cry for help. It turns out a nearby mining colony has been overrun by humanoids. Looks like your legendary exploits start today!

This scenario was designed for a group of 4-6 PCs at 1st level. While it was set for 1st/2nd edition rules, it is easily altered to fit most rulesets campaigns. Remember to follow @FilbarRPG on Twitter for special sales notices and other tidbits about our products.

Tournaments of Madness and Death by Newt Newport. Published by D101 Games. Available from DriveThruRPG in Print/PDF for $13.00 and in PDF for $7.00. The Publisher site is still listing this as a Print + PDF Pre-order for £8.00. 38 pages.

This book contains two self-contained adventures that can either be played as one-shots or dropped into a campaign game, for characters of Level 5 and a guide to running one-shot games as played at conventions.

If this adventure module was an old school metal release from the 80s on some creaky little independent label, it would be one of those quirky split singles, where two bands would each have a side of the vinyl record.

On Side A is The Furnace. The Furnace was the first old school D&D adventure I ran at a convention., I initially ran the game using Labyrinth Lord, and the adventure is named after the convention it was run at, namely, Furnace which is held every October in Sheffield, UK. I ran it on Saturday night, which is now my annual slot for running OSR games, and despite the naysayers at the bar beforehand, who seemed threatened by my decision to run a game using a system they had left behind years ago, and my own almost paralysing bout of stage fright, we had a fantastic time. The precise details of the scenario have changed with time, and the current more polished Crypts and Things write-up is presented here.

Tearing up side B is The Tomb of the Evil Emperor. This was an outing of Crypts and Things as a convention game, just after the release of the first edition in 2012. I first run this adventure as a slightly boozy game at Continuum, a summer affair held bi-annually at Leicester University, which saw the bold adventurers race across the ruins of the Grand Debris, through the buried Imperial Complex, to a final confrontation with the shocking surprise of the true form of the Evil Emperor.

Two sides of the Crypts & Things convention experience. Madness both in the sense that the locations that make up the adventures aren’t your typical dungeon. The Furnace takes place on an artificial iron moon held up in the sky by magic, while Tomb is in a city crushed by a vengeful god using a meteor. Death because it was what faced the doomed world of Zarth if the adventurers failed in their mission to stop the Ultimate Evil that threatened the world, and because it was a genuine possibility given the cast of horrors they faced. All “good friendly violent fun in store for all” as the thrash metal band Exodus once sang on their song Toxic Waltz.

Finally, Dark, Delicious and Deadly is an insert, cunningly placed between the two adventures, that explains the method behind the madness of how I run convention games of Crypts and Things.

Although written specifically for Crypts and Things, an OSR game focused on the Swords and Sorcery genre, it can be used with any class/level based fantasy game.

US Letter format, 38 pages, black and white art by Daniel Barker (Monkey, Tales of the Reaching Moon), maps by Glynn Seal (2018 Golden EnNie award winner for Cartography) with a cover by David M.Wright.

Black Maw 2 - The Chambers of the Wraith King by Craig Pike. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $2.00. 6 pages.

Built on the site where dawns light first touched the world, and occupied time and again by civilizations both acient and recent. Any number of stories are trye, from dwarves to elves to mages to empires to private manor; all have been true at one point or another back to the literal dawn of time. But none survive for long, and wanderers keep coming to see what others have left behind. All pass through the Black Maw.

Deeper into the Black Maw you journey. Past the religious heretics to deeper chamber. Clouded in smoke and dark, the Wraith King haunts these halls, despising all life

The second level of the Black Maw megadungeon, for character levels 2-3. A classic dungeon, with the preview showing you exactly what you get!

Thanks for your support!

Diesel Punks: Patrol Posted by Robert Garitta. Published by Surreal Estate Games. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $1.99. 21 pages.

"This planet will do nicely, after modification!!"

Diesel Punks: Aliens 1 gave stats and background capsules for 8 enigmatiuc races. Aliens 2.0 gave you 11 more! Now with Patrol Posted see the worst examples each species has to offer. Thirteen creatures to menace, outrage, compete, employ (whatever ) your characters. Bring out epic or not so epic villains.

Gnoolt -maker of men, or modfier.

Dr. Marsten, the Fluidic Man -crimelord, superhuman and brilliant scientist.

Strain Z Prime -redacted.

This product requires The Black Hack Second Edition to use.

Not responsible for any characters lost inill advised bounty hunting missions.

A Bright Future Ahead of Her - Adventure for #ZweihanderRPG by John Russell. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $2.61. 16 pages.

Divocinaburg, an urban stronghold of the Demiurge, where adherence to the laws of nature is stronger than anywhere else in the duchy of New Mahal, a province where otherwise worship of the God-Emperor holds sway.

If you have property to protect then the Watch will help you, if your property has been stolen and you know who did it a Bounty Hunter is what you need, but if you want your property back and you don’t know who’s taken it a private investigation company is the answer.

The Crossed Staves Investigation Company is possibly the finest in Divocinaburg, but certainly in Vychodnipole, offering excellent results for a reasonable price (plus expenses).

If I’m not much mistaken that is another client coming through the door now.

Dirtside by Paul Elliot. Published by Zozer Games. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $3.99. 65 pages.

A wilderness survival supplement for Cepheus Engine and the Hostile setting.

Whether your Cepheus Engine game is set in the super-jungle of Tau Ceti II, the swamps of Africa’s Congo or the burning deserts of LV207, you will need comprehensive wilderness survival and travel rules. DIRTSIDE turns a trek across a world’s surface into an immersive battle for survival. Pit your wits against the elements, negotiate dangerous terrains and guard your resources against thirst, hunger and exposure.

Or dip into the DIRTSIDE rules to add a little detail and danger to any planetary surface excursion. Cleverly designed encounter tables provide scores of realistic obstacles and situations to be overcome and cover every terrain type, from sand seas to mangrove swamps, mountains to nitrogen ice fields, and volcanic wastelands to the unstable surfaces of comets and asteroids.

Remember – science fiction adventure only really begins when you get dirtside …

DIRTSIDE includes:

Event tables for all terrain and climate types.

Easy-to-use rules for surviving in the toughest environments.

The effects of hostile atmospheres, radiation, poison gasses, hunger and extreme temperatures.

Travel rules, factoring in speeds and problems - and ways to overcome them.

Many random events, such as strong winds, thunderstorms, rock-falls and caves.

Foraging and hunting.

Abbreviated animal encounters, able to be created ‘on-the-fly’.

Re-Releases, New Editions, Now in Print, etc.

Random Terrain and Encounter Generator by Joseph Bloch. Published by BRW Games. Available from DriveThruRPG in Print/PDF for $19.95 and in PDF for $9.95. 131 pages.

A comprehensive system for creating and stocking wilderness and dungeon environments.

Within these pages you’ll find rules for randomly generating terrain in wilderness, including settlements and ruins, as well as random encounter tables you can either use as-is or use as inspiration for your own encounter tables.

Encounter tables are provided for every combination of eight different terrain types, three different climates, and two options for civilization or wilderness are given, as well as tables for prehistoric and water-born encounters. All in all, that's 83 encounter tables for wilderness, dungeon, and the Ethereal and Astral planes. All use the monsters described in the ADVENTURES DARK AND DEEP™ Bestiary, but are quite suitable for any old-school RPG.

In addition, a complete system for generating a random dungeon is presented, as well as ten comprehensive encounter tables for encounters from kobolds to demon princes. Three new monsters are also included to round out both dragon and human encounters.

Plus you will also find a complete system for creating a random urban landscape, with 24 different city district types, special features, and random encounters designed for districts in both day and night.

All are suitable for the game master who wants to run a game using random rules or to use the tables for quick inspiration, or can also be used for solo play without the need for a game master at all.

Ford's Faeries: A Bestiary Inspired by Henry Justice Ford by The G+ OSR Community. Published by Studio Kortex. Available from DriveThruRPG in Print/PDF for $5.93. Available in PDF for Free. 116 pages.

A bestiary inspired by the masterful work of Henry Justice Ford.

Meet the Moon-Headed Giant, the Leechlich, and the Fencer Familiar, and more than 50 other weird creatures fit for campaigns of every level. The full-page illustrations, often taken from fairytale books, have led our 15 authors to create original monsters that will give a quirky twist to your game. They all come with enough material to become the centerpiece of the session.

Contributors: Dan D., Daniel Lofton,  Dat Epic Fish,  Emmy Allen, Eric Diaz, Eric Nieudan, Goblin’s Henchman, Guillaume Jentey , HD Atkinson, James V. West, Jean-Marc "Tolkraft" Choserot,  Ktrey Parker, Magimax,  Roger SG Sorolla,  Sébastien d’Abrigeon,  and Vance Atkins.

Stats are compatible with most early editions of Dave and Gary's game and their retroclones.

In The Light Of A Ghost Star by Nate Treme. Published by Highland Paranormal Society. Now Available in Print from the Publisher for $5.00. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for PWYW and from ITCH.IO for PWYW. 14 pages.

Earth was abandoned ages ago during the red giant expansion. Now, dimly lit by the ghost light of a dead white dwarf, it lies layered with eons of forgotten civilizations. From the warmth of Martian reactor cities, scavengers hire illegal transportation to earth to delve into its depths, looking for ancient treasures. There they must deal with ghosts, machines, and the strange life that has evolved on humankind’s abandoned home planet.

In The Light Of A Ghost Star is a rules-lite system and setting for science fiction roleplaying. It comes with a hex crawl adventure and random tables that can also be used with other RPG systems.

Ghost Star was designed to be quick and easy to play. It’s perfect for one shot games and short campaigns. Characters can be created quickly and can die even quicker!

Clever Title Using Hack & Class: The Second Edition by Mark L. Chance. Published by Spes Magna Games. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $2.25. 38 pages.

The second edition of Clever Title Using Hack & Class requires David Black's The Black Hack for use.

In this updated book, you'll find eight character classes, from the Astrologer to the Singerie. There're also 16 new Creatures, two based on each of the eight character classes. Can your players defeat an Undead Jester or convince the Judicial Champion to not smite anyone?

Once your players have their characters ready, send them into Froderick's Protean Puzzle, a magical maze of monsters, hidden traps, and dangerous puppet shows. If you're looking for something less daunting, there's also The Damsel and the Wizard, a short scenario within a map by Matt Jackson.

Polyhedron Newszine V4 #2 Issue 17 published by WotC. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $0.99. 34 pages.

Included in this issue:

Encounters — by Kim Eastland. Your party discovers the unmarked ruins of a template—with no doorways.

The Incants of Ishcabeble — by Bob Blake. The epic Prophecy of Brie series continues with Part 6.

Cryptic Alliance of the Bi-Month — James M. Ward. Gamma World game's Knight of Genetic Purity.

Variants, House Rules, and Hybrids — by Roger E. Moore. Notes for the Dungen Master.

The Fighter — by James M Ward. The archetypical fighter character.

Two new NPCs — Find out how your favorite characters can be published in Polyhedron Newszine

Disguised Weapons — by Nicholas Moschovakis. This RPGA Network member and his friends have developed some new disguised weapons for the Top Secret game.

Wishes have their limits — by Kim Mohan. The Wish spell may not so all that you want it to.

DM Talk — by Carl Smith. Advice from one DM to others of the species.

Dispel Confusion — by Penny Petticord, James M Ward, and Carl Smith

Eye of Pain by Thomas M. Reid. Published by WotC. Available from DriveThruRPG in Print/PDF for $11.99, in Print for $9.99 and in PDF for $4.99. 32 pages.

Inside the woods near Burke's Crossing lurks a very real danger. It began as a sense of unease, a feeling of being watched, but now people are disappearing. The lumberjacks who have stayed in the little village talk of ghosts and other superstitions. Or at least they did - until a mysterious statue appeared in a clearing near the logging camp.

As if matters weren't strange enough, two mages have arrived and begun hiring armed guards to escort them into these very same woods. Is there a connection, or is it just coincidence? Either way, be prepared! You never know what's out there waiting... and watching.

"Eye of Pain" is the first of three Monstrous Arcana adventures featuring the cunning and deadly beholder. If can be played as an individual adventure or as part of the series which continue in "Eye of Doom" and concludes in "Eye to Eye."
For four to six characters of levels 4-8.

Book of Sires by Robert G. Schroeder. Published by Chaosium. Available from DriveThruRPG in Print/PDF for $34.99, in Print for $29.99 and in PDF for $14.99. Available from the Publisher in PDF for $14.99. 288 pages.

Honor thy forefathers …

The Book of Sires radically expands the Family History system first presented in the King Arthur Pendragon core rulebook to encompass knights from any of the nine realms: from Auitaine to Cornwall to Cumbria, and many points in between!

Use this book to generate a rich year-by-year history of your character's parent and grandparent (beginning as early as the year 439), with additional material to cover campaigns starting as late as the year 509.

The Book of Sires explores events ranging from the humdrum years of garrison duty to some of the most famous historical battles seen in the years before the Great Pendragon Campaign. Before, players had only the county of Salisbury to draw upon.; now, the player knights can come from any area that is friendly to a King Arthur campaign set in Logres. Thus, Aquitanian knights can hobnob with fellow European Brittonians, as well as knights from Cornwall, Cambria, and Cumbria: all have a reason to be where the campaign begins.

The Book of Sires provides a yearly description, with attendant Glory, for over nine lands. An assortment of appendices provide new Passions and Directed Traits, an overall cumulative history, an expansion of the family for Player-knights, how to handle “foreign knights,” and an update to the Salisbury chapter contained in King Arthur Pendragon. Since this book covers the years 439 to 509, you will find a wealth of information for creating a background for a campaign starting in 480 (Uther), 485 (GPC), Anarchy (496), and Arthur, the Boy King (510).

Grab some dice, and find out what type of family your Player-knight came from. Will you rise above their exploits, or were their deeds the high-water mark of your family?

Deviant Database by Tim Snider. Published by SavageAfterworld. Available from DriveThruRPG in Print/PDF for $9.99 and in PDF for $1.99. Available from Lulu in Print for $11.95. 82 pages.

APOCALYGEDDON ABBERATIONS!

From the harmless to the harmful, from the weak to the wicked, this Deviant Database collects over 90 monstrous mutants that have inhabited The Savage AfterWorld!

Challenge your players with flying fiends like the flaming Dragonfire or the rampaging Flynocerous!

Oceanic adventures await with aquatic adversaries such as the Flamewhale, Oceanbrood, and Crabhemoth!

Mutant menaces like the Pumpking and Brain Lord lurk in the hidden shadows and manipulate their eager minions!

The Deviant Database is fully compatible with Goblinoid Games' Mutant Future and Labyrinth Lord RPGs as well as other Original Edition Fantasy RPGs.

Deviant Database 2.0 by Tim Snider. Published by SavageAfterworld. Available from DriveThruRPG in Print/PDF for $9.99 and in PDF for $1.99. Available from Lulu in Print for $9.95. 47 pages.

ADDITIONAL ABOMINATIONS!

In this fiendish follow-up to the original Deviant Database, your players will meet 44 new twisted abominations lurking within The Savage AfterWorld!

Gargantuan grotesqueries like the Bro’ding and Pangaea wander the ruined world like walking mountains and living islands!

Analog assailants like the Computer Bug and Mechanobane are driven to rend and consume your robotic player characters!

Hybrid humanoids like the Mako, Pwnees, and Clotted Ones welcome all visitors! (But will they allow them to ever leave?)

Deviant Database 2.0 is fully compatible with Goblinoid Games' Mutant Future and Labyrinth Lord RPGs as well as other Original Edition Fantasy RPGs.

Eldritch Tales: Lovecraftian White Box Role-Playing by Joseph D. Salvador. Published by Raven God Games. Available from DriveThruRPG in Print/PDF Hardcover for $47.99, Hardcover alone for $44.99, Print/PDF Softcover for $32.99, Softcover alone for $29.99, and in PDF alone for $9.99. 221 pages.

Aeons before man arose from the primordial mire, ancient creatures descended from the stars or stepped through dimensional passages to inhabit the Earth. Whilst many of these Old Ones have since passed into inactivity, the secrets they carried with them have been shared with man and now terrible cults haunt the fringes of modern society. These ancient terrors thus still menace mankind and, if the prophecies are to be believed, the Old Ones shall return to reign again over the Earth!

Eldritch Tales: Lovecraftian White Box Role-Playing in an OSR rule set with its roots in the Original version of the world's favorite RPG, but instead of exploring musty dungeons, characters in Eldritch Tales investigate Mythos horrors in the 1920s! The setting and background are based on the cosmic horror tales of Howard Phillips Lovecraft and other members of his writing circle.

Within the pages of Eldritch Tales you will find four character classes representing many classic pulp archetypes, occupations, rules for insanity, spells, monsters, esoteric tomes, artifacts, a starting scenario, and setting material, as well as advice on using Eldritch Tales with other White Box games. This game is compatible with Swords & Wizardry White Box and other OSR games.

To accomodate all devices, the PDF purchase includes versions in both high resolution and low resolution. PDF has a bookmarked Table of Contents, as well as linked terms throughout the book.

Eldritch Tales offers a Compatibility License to third-party publishers interested in creating material to support the game, find it here on RPGNow or DriveThruRPG!

Cepheus: Faster Than Light, Editable Version by Omer Golan-Joel. Published by Stellagama Publishing. Available from DriveThruRPG in docx for PWYW. 35 pages.

Whether exchanging laser fire with aliens across a cratered moonscape or pushing the speed of light in a shining spaceship, interstellar adventurers lead exciting lives. These minimalist rules allow you to experience these wondrous adventures without fuss or complication. They are perfect for convention play, pick-up games, or a beer-and-pretzels night when you roll dice and blow stuff up. They include everything you need to play: character generation, task checks, personal, vehicle, and starship combat, as well as the basic rules for interstellar travel.

You can find the PDF version of Cepheus: Faster Than Light, with full layout and art, HERE.

This is a Microsoft Word (docx) format of Cepheus: Faster Than Light, to allow fans and publishers to easily access and modify the rules for their own campaigns and settings.

And That's It for This Week...

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Saturday, January 19, 2019

The OSR News: January 19, 2019

John Stater's return with Nod 35, an Arduin supplement and a new Traveller sector are just some of the cool stuff awaiting you, in this week's OSR News!

New Releases

Nod 35 by John Stater. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $3.99. From Lulu in PDF for $3.99. 123 pages. (I expect a print version to be available soon, but have no info on this as of post time.)

This first issue of NOD for 2019 offers the eternal struggle of ancient Greeks and dark elves (well, maybe not that ancient a struggle after all), some magnificent monsters, rules for depicting the secret police in GRIT & VIGOR, the Black Terror and his “super” family for MYSTERY MEN! and a devious dungeon adventure that twists time itself.

Ruins of Arduin by John Miskimen. Available from the author's blog in PDF for Free. 70 pages.

As the title says, the pdf is basically finished, though there has been no editing beyond my own eyes, so feedback is welcomed. As stated before, this is not an exact copy of Hargrave's Arduin, but it is the one I want to run and some of what I thought were the sillier monsters and spells were overlooked - apologies if your favorites have been excluded from this text. (If it really gets under your skin, I could make the authoring file available upon request so you could edit it to your heart's content ...) This system is not completely compatible with standard Swords & Wizardry, but much like the original Arduin material, it is fairly modular and easily edited.

The Edge of Night Sector by ChrisS. Published by Far Future Enterprises. Available from the author's blog in PDF for Free. 22 pages + Map (links are right above the map jpeg preview in the post.)

After running D&D for my face-to-face game group for the last seven years, I decided needed a bit of a break from swords and orcs for awhile. For various real life reasons, I also needed something that required little or no new game prep and no need to gronk new rules. I'd put together a short Classic Traveller game about a year ago that never quite got off the ground, so we decided to try a reboot (the original campaign background is here). It was pretty much ready to run right away, and after several years of playing Classic Traveller myself, I'm starting to internalize the rules much like I've already done with B/X D&D. So no problem, no prep ...

And of course I then proceeded to spend untold hours over Christmas rolling up a full sector, of which the players will likely never see more than 2-3 systems.

Grimtooth’s Trapsylvania (DCC Sourcebook) by Grimtooth the Troll. Published by Goodman Games. Pre-Order available from the Publisher in Hardcover for $39.99, Softcover $24.99 and in a leatherbound edition $100.00. No page count listed.

For the first time ever: the Legendary locations of Grimtooth’s Traps revealed! And fully compatible with DCC RPG!

For over 30 years Grimtooth’s numerous Traps books have horrified players and inspired gamemasters with hundreds of dangerous devices, deadly deathtraps and hilarious hijinx! Now Grimtooth (with a little help from kid sister Grimtina) will take you on a personally guided tour of his realm and the central hub of his vast Traps empire.

Run your own Grimtooth campaign or pick and choose locations you can use in your own single location adventures. Explore Grimtooth’s caverns, visit his Inner Sanctum, escape the Deathmaze Testing Center, attend Warthog’s School for Trolls, take a ride on Grimtooth’s Airship, tour Grimtina’s Petting Zoo or get lost in the Infinite Corridor of Hallways and many more gigantic places of doom. Each of these infamous locations include maps, descriptions, Non-player character details, scenarios, all with in-depth DCC stats and lots of art by Traps artist SS Crompton.

And can you uncover the horrendous secret that lies deep beneath Grimtooth’s caverns and back into his family’s history? It’s a great read and a useful campaign setting all in one book. What are you waiting for? Get yours today!

The Fabulous Heart of Mekron by Norbert G. Matausch. Available from the author's blog in PDF for Free. 12 pages.

I've done it. I finally wrote my own personal D&D variant. It contains everything I like, including a super-quick and fun mass combat system. Have fun – and let me know how you like it!

Footprints #24. Published by Dragonsfoot. Available from the Publisher in PDF for Free. 86 pages.

Contents

The Experience Check (article)

Centaur Background (article)

Revisiting the Ghost Tower (article/adventure)

Shards from the Workshop (creatures)

Dwarf Backgrounds (article)

The Western Monk (class)

The Skald (class)

Performance Spells (article)

Ruins of the River Gates (adventure)

Random Fungi by Shane Ward. Published by 3 Toadstools. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for PWYW. 45 pages.

A collection of 50+ random tables for inspiration at the gaming table! Perfect for old school gaming.

Magic Madness 7: Spells For OSR Games from Unbalanced Dice Games. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $2.50. 49 pages.

7, seven! This is the SEVENTH Magic Madness. Turn it up, #7!
30 new spells:

A ball of fire, earth, water and air that I can explode multiple times, Ball Of Elemental Explosions.

Something bad beats in the caster's chest. Something bad will beat in a foe's chest... Black Heart Beats is that bad thing.

Flesh To Machine, at last I can put the stone spell away and turn someone into a mech.... err... machine version of the thing.

Male/female... it all melts away when one uses He/She Or The Thing. Now the Thing, that's something to talk about.. or run away from..

Felininty, Felinity... oh Great Mother Cat grant me my 3 wishes... or something from catdom. Mother?

I had control of this thing before so why not again? Time to cast Resume Control.
Ree Na Na has grown big on your soul. Fat fungus, it sprouts among us. Open up and let it out: Ree Na Na Rises!

How can we fly everyone across the chasm? The Wings spell has the transport we need.
There's more spells then that but that's enough for a cat. Number 7, lucky seven with a kiss from Lady Luck. #7, it wants you but... ?

SERPENTINE - Oldskull Serpent Folk by Kent David Kelly. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $2.99. 41 pages.

Slithering from out of the depths of Yoth and dread N’kai, they rise …

Poisoning dreams, crushing the weak, conquering kingdoms,

And your game world will never be the same.

Infused with unified coils of deep lore shed from the writings of Lord Dunsany, Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Abraham Merritt and H. P. Lovecraft, Oldskull Serpent Folk is an exciting new supplement for Basic, Expert, and Advanced old school fantasy role-playing games. Herein you will find details linking the Cthulhu Mythos, the Hyborian Mythos, the World of Oldskull, pulp fiction, and world mythology into a single cohesive whole … a villainous bestiary specifically designed to deepen and enhance your game’s monstrosities and the netherworld domain.

Details are found herein concerning the anthropomorphic serpent men (NPCs), humans infused with the power of ancestral serpent spirits (PCs), and naga-like eldritch horrors (inhuman monsters of considerable power). The detailed rules systems include: Viperous Metamorphosis, explaining how the serpent folk become more powerful and less sane by shedding their skin; Bond Serpents, a detailed snake familiar system for PC beast masters; the Soul Slaver caster class, being a hybrid cleric/magic-user with snake-derived and beguiling hypnotic powers; serpentine history and behavioral lore; extensive rules for special abilities, attacks, and defenses; and much more.

Embrace the way of Yig and Thoth-Amon, and despair!

A slithy, bighted, and anfractuous supplement from Kent David Kelly and Wonderland Imprints, Only the Finest Works of Fantasy.

SC3 Tales from The Dales by Louis "sirlou" Kahn. Published by Starry Knight Press. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $20.00. 76 pages.

TALES FROM THE DALES

A selection of fantasy adventure compatible with first edition gaming and OSRIC™
Recommended for 4-6 player characters of level 1 to 6

AN EXTRAORDINARY SET OF ADVENTURES AWAIT YOU!
Will you head down the wishing well and come back a hero?
Can you stand against the ancient fae fiend, The Pumpkin Man?
Are you able to best the beasts and puzzles of Madrigan’s Maze?
Can you defeat Krampus before he drags the bairns to Hell?

Hello and welcome, adventurers and Game Masters!

This supplement is an exciting gateway to adventure in a newly discovered portion of my campaign realm, THE DALES, the ancestral home of the dwarves, gnomes and halflings in my world. In this 76-page tome you will find FOUR COMPLETE, exciting modules to challenge you and your players. Your group is going to be introduced to a variety of challenges, in a number of settings, requiring several different skill sets. There are battles for sure, but there are also puzzles, traps and thinking problems!

In Down the Wishing Well, the first module to introduce The Dales, you play a halfling character that has come of age and is being called down the wishing well by an ancient goddess.

In The Pumpkin Man the players take refuge at an old manor house, only to be called on to stand against an ancient fae fiend tormenting the family as part of an ancient curse.

Your players will be challenged to best the beasts and puzzles of an insane illusionist in Mad Madrigan’s Maze.

Lastly, in the adventure Return of Krampus, your players will be called on to defeat the demonic beastie Krampus, who has joined with a group of deep dwarves to attack a dwarven village and abscond with their bairns and a sacred hammer, forged by a god.

Inside this book you will find great Old-School art and completely detailed Old School maps, with detailed encounters for each area! This module also includes a detailed map of The Dales, done in the Old School style and complete with information on geography, local settlements, defenses, and areas for further exploration. This supplement also includes carefully PRE-GENERATED PLAYER CHARACTERS for use with each adventure! Each of the players is presented fully ready to play, with all of the necessary stats and gear. As a BONUS, these PCs are specially laid out so the GM can simply print out the page, cut out the characters sheets, and hand them out! Each player will be ready to go with their own handy mini character sheet! Lastly, this book includes 6 new monsters and 9 new magic items for your players to enjoy!

This book serves up 76 pages of action and excitement (At a full retail value of $32.50, for only $20!!), and it is sure to please discerning GMs and players everywhere!

As an ADDED BONUS, as a purchaser of one of my modules you also get, ABSOLUTELY FREE, a copy of the inaugural issue of my Old School RPG zone, CAVALIER ATTITUDE!!

Elegant Fantasy Artifact Generator by Raphael Sadowski. Published by Nine Tongues Tales. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for PWYW. 15 pages.

By Artifact we mean something MORE than your ordinary healing potion or +1 sword. We mean something meaningful. Scary. Something awesome and strange.

Most other magic item random generators treat artifacts only as a slightly more powerful versions of typical items found in your game. But not this one. Let me present to you the Elegant Fantasy Artifact Generator. It’s design should help you find inspiration to create anything, from satellite swords, to singing sands.

As always with the Elegant Fantasy series – I’ll leave writing down the stats for yourself. You know your game. You’ll do it better than I would. And I don’t want to leave you with mashed-up mess of random stats. I want to leave you with a cool idea for an elegant item, one you can polish yourself.

White Box Quests - Moans of Dead by Knighthelm. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $2.00. 14 pages.

Citizens of the small Village of Iceshire claim they can hear what they believe sounds like the moaning of dead humans from the snow capped Elrumir Woods north of their tiny civilization. And as the cycles of time pass, so does the closeness and number of the wailing increase. It is believed by the villagers that once benign Wizard Craedric, now a constantly cackling and screaming Liche, has plans to unleash a horde of undead upon the populace and throughout all of Winterlight Valley. Further ascertaining these fears is the Cleric of the Gray Pearl Moon’s frequent Nightmares of “flesh rippers” eating the villagers by the darkness of a “soon to come” morning.

This adventure is part one of a three part campaign (each a separate publication): Shadow of the Corpse Tree and Ascent to Heaven are acts 2 and 3 respectively. Moans of Dead is an Adventure for 2 to 6 Swords & Wizardry White Box characters at first level. After arriving at Iceshire, player’s characters are hired by the Cleric of the Gray Pearl Moon to Quest to cease the wailing heard at night from the Elrumir Woods. However, before their departure, the Liche attacks Iceshire with a small army of undead as they prepare to venture into the snow laden Woods from Iceshire’s Hallowed Halls.

Mongoni Island by Ken St. Andre. Published by Trollhalla Press. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $3.95. 64 pages.

Stranded with scant hope of escape, can you and your crew survive long enough to learn the island's secrets, and get away with a fabulous treasure, or is death the only way out? This is a Game Master module that mixes Tunnels and Trolls with pirate adventure in a setting straight out of Edgar Rice Burroughs styled jungle adventure.

CASTLE OLDSKULL - Oldskull Plague Doctors by Kent David Kelly. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $2.99. 51 pages.

They stand in defiance where others cannot endure …

Scions of faith, eradicators of undeath,

Annihilators of the Legion of the Chaos Plague.

Do you dare to assume the covenant and mantle of the Mercy Killers,

The ultimate expert-difficulty adventurer class within the World of Oldskull?

The PLAGUE DOCTOR is a unique, lore-heavy sub-class of the cleric. In addition to details concerning their place in the game world (pertaining to gods of healing, the Black Death, the undead, vermin and wererats, the coming Apocalypse, arcane plagues, and so forth), you will also find rules concerning the surprising combative nature of the class: annihilation of the undead, parrying canes, purging aspergillums, and infestation-destroying alchemical incendiaries. So if you’d like to play a hybrid crusader / healer / mad bomber who looks like a gothic raven of death, you’ve come to the right place!

Systems featured in this deluxe class supplement include: plague doctor deity selection, a plethora of level titles and roles, unique spell selections, hospitale stronghold founding, vermin eradication, incendiaries, and an arsenal of equipment, including masks, canes, mantles, and those ever-glorious alchemical explosive vials.

So what are you waiting for? Purge the unclean! Purge them all!

Another fine gaming supplement from Kent David Kelly and Wonderland Imprints, Only the Finest Works of Fantasy.

Places of Power by HomeBruGuru. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for Free. 9 pages.

Dare you walk the pilgrims path to the Fane of the Broken Sepulchre, tread upon an ancient battlefield seeking the Lodge of the War Ghost or raid the Tomb of Sargon Saar?

Places of Power for the Low Fantasy Gaming RPG gives the GM guidelines for creating mystical locations which offer more than mere loot within your LFG campaign. Places of Power ARE the treasure your adventurers seek, each gifting the worthy with powers and abilities beyond the normal limitations of mortal mastery.

Either use the template for one or more of the locations detailed herein or use the guidelines to create your own. But whatever you do, ensure that any adventurer seeking them out knows that power always has a price...

Artifacts of the Wastelands by Derek Holland, Skirmisher Game Development Group. Published by Skirmisher Games. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $1.99. 16 pages.

One way to make a modern, sci-fi, or post-apocalyptic game your own is with artifacts. A game master could expand the types of items a party might find, imagining what technology would be available generations in the future, where even potentially mundane objects might enter the realms of the fantastic.

This publication delves into four very different kinds of technology. Cloaks include several forms of high-technology outerwear, including capes and ponchos. Virtual Matter Projectors explore the possibility that the ancients could make items that existed only while the devices used to create their component particles was on. Anti-Technology Weapons were designed to cope with the need to prevent machines from running amok. Formulae, chemistry’s third iteration, use the detritus of a dead world and the pollution of superscience found in soil, water, and flesh to constitute something bordering on magic.

Contents of this publication are stat’ed for a “Basic” version of the OGL/d20 system and is compatible with any games that use it, especially ones like the Mutant Future retroclone of Gamma World, and easily adaptable for many others.

Gregorius21778: Looks & Loot for Post-Apocalyptic Motorized Nomads by Kai Pütz a.k.a Gregorius21778. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $1.50. 9 pages.

Looks & Loot for Post-Apocalyptic Motorized Nomads is a system neutral GM aid that provides inspiration for

general vehicle types and their modifications (two tables with 17 and 12 entries each)

descriptions of individual nomads (a table with 50 entries about clothing and other characteristic traits)

possessions that may be looted (or traded) from a nomadic group (a table with 99 entries in total).

While all tables may be used as d100 random tables, they are truly meant as a “check lists” that the GM may consult to create an encounter or NPC. A few notes about selected entries inform the GM about the potential meaning of the presence or absence of an item (loot) or car. The final page includes some advertise about products of both the author (me!) as well as other indie publishers that may proof useful to a GM in a Mad-Max-style setting.

The emphasize of this supplement is on nomads, not marauders or raiders (for these, please see Looks & Details of Post-Apocalyptic Marauders and Loot Tables for Stuff inside of Post-Apocalyptic Battle-Cars).

Re-Releases, New Editions, Now in Print, etc.

ZWEIHANDER Grim & Perilous RPG by Daniel Fox. Now published by Andrews McMeel Publishing. Available for Pre-Order, 6-11 release date, for $65. Order from Amazon, et al. (Amazon lists $51.35 and a May 14 release date.) See the publisher page for other outlets, prices, etc.

2018 ENnie gold winner of Best Game and Product Of The Year, this revised edition is published in celebration with Andrews McMeel Publishing and features an all-new layout, rules clarifications, and errata updates from 2018.

As featured on Forbes.com, ranked one of the best-selling RPGs of all time at DriveThruRPG as an Adamantine Metal product and having sold over 90,000 copies worldwide, ZWEIHÄNDER Grim & Perilous RPG is a bloodier, grimmer, and grittier version of classic tabletop role-playing games you may already be familiar with. The community calls this style of gaming the “pathetic aesthetic,” but we simply call it grim & perilous gaming.

ZWEIHÄNDER Grim & Perilous RPG is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game, one where adventurers will:

Live in a gritty, "realistic" fantasy world
Make morally gray decisions & enact vicious reprisals
Uncover insidious plots & political intrigue
Desperately fight in clandestine & open field combat
Defend themselves from injuries, madness & mutations
Take part in heart-pumping chase scenes
Venture into the wilderness & survive its perils
Encounter sanity-blasting creatures & their minions

Using the classical d100 system, you will create grim characters, write perilous adventures and build low fantasy & dark fantasy campaigns. These rules are perfectly suitable to run Renaissance and medieval-styled adventures, too. You can also use this book to create your own home-brewed worlds, whether inspired by the works of Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Witcher, George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones, Glen Cook’s Black Company, Myke Cole’s The Armored Saint, Robert E. Howard’s Solomon Kane, Scott Lynch’s Gentlemen Bastards or other "grimdark"-inspired media.

This all-in-one game includes most of what you need to play: a character creation guide, game mastery rules and a bestiary brimming with creatures both fair & foul. All that’s left are a few friends, pencils, and a handful of dice.

ZWEIHÄNDER Grim & Perilous RPG awaits, and the fate of your grim & perilous tale hangs in the balance!

G1-3 Against the Giants (1e) by Gary Gygax. Published by WotC. Available from DriveThruRPG in Print/PDF combo for $11.99, in Print for $9.99 and in PDF for $4.99. 32 pages.

Giants have been raiding the lands of men in large bands, with giants of different sorts in these marauding groups. Death and destruction have been laid heavily upon every place these monsters have visited. A party of the bravest and most powerful adventurers has been assembled and given the charge to punish the miscreant giants.

This material was originally published as three separate adventures: G1: "Steading of the Giant Chief"; G2: "The Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl"; and G3: "Hall of the Fire Giant King." Contained herein are referee notes, background information, maps, and exploration keys for three complete adventures using the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules.

This adventure can be used alone or as the first in a series of adventures that includes D1: "Descent into the Depths of the Earth," D2: "Shrine of the Kuo-Toa," D3: "Vault of the Drow," and Q1: "Queen of the Demonweb Pits."

For characters levels 8-12.

Cepheus Light: Pocket Edition by Omer Golan-Joel & Josh Peters. Available from Lulu in Print for $10.00. 196 pages.

Starships riding fire across the sky. Heroes and villains exchanging laser fire. Desperate spacers struggling against an alien monstrosity. Vast alien vistas, flying cities, moonscapes, mad robots, and first encounters. In short: high-action science-fiction adventure that stimulates your sense of wonder. Cepheus Light puts you in the shoes of an adventurer visiting distant stars and encountering untold alien wonders. Whether you are a seasoned player looking for a rules-light game, or a new gamer wanting to experience what science-fiction role-playing games are all about, Cepheus Light opens your way forward.

Cepheus Light is a set of rules for playing classic science fiction games. It includes rules on creating characters, resolving actions, fighting other creatures, and engaging in space battles, generating worlds, handling the risks of interstellar speculative trading, exploring new worlds, and many other activities.

The Winter Witch for Swords & Wizardry by Timothy S. Brannan. Published by The Other Side Publishing. Now available in a Print/PDF combo for $9.99. In PDF for $2.99. 74 pages.
(See this note from the author about discounts for those who already purchased the PDF.)

Ice and Snow.

Come to lands of the Winter Witch and her cohorts, the Volva, the Warden and the deadly Winter Warlock.

With this book, you can now learn the secrets of the Winter Witch, the living personification of all that makes winter the most dazzling and the most dangerous season.

Inside you will find

The Winter Witch tradition and the Winter Warlock Pact

The Vǫlva and Warden classes

New races for S&W Complete to suit the winter world.

130+ witch spells

100+ Warlock spells

14 Cleric spells

40+ Druid and Magic-User spells

50+ Monsters

New Treasure, magic items and artifacts of powerful witches.

All for your Swords & Wizardry games!

Winter is here, are you ready.

Ruins of Quinstead by Roland O' Connell. Published by Gamer's Group Publications. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $9.99. 46 pages.

Step into the exciting, new realms of Gamer's Group Publications and experience fantasy role playing at its finest. The Ruins of Quinstead is the first in a series of fantasy role playing adventures produced by Gamer's Group Publications and is designed to be placed into an existing campaign setting. The Ruins of Quinstead is an OSR adventure module for character levels 1 to 12. This 1st printing of the Ruins of Quinstead was originally released as a limited print in 1994.

BACKGROUND:

Over 100 years ago the castle Quinstead was constructed. The castle was built for "Gordax the Terrible" by over 200 Dwarven slaves. Legends say that Gordax led a powerful army that overthrew a huge dwarven mountain. The resistance was quickly crushed, and the army claimed a treasure valued at over 100,000 gold coins; not to mention hundreds of suits of fine dwarven armor.

Boltak, the leader of the army, kept the armor, weapons, and a small amount of the treasure, while Gordax kept the remaining treasure and claimed hundreds of dwarven slaves.

Named after his wife Quiniver, the Quinstead castle took several years to construct. After its completion, Gordax and Quiniver kept pretty much to themselves, visiting no one, and having few visitors, not much was heard from them for some 25 years.

Then, rumors tell that one spring morning Gordax went out to inspect the crops. When he returned, he found that his beloved Quiniver had hanged herself. Some say it was suicide, but others say it was the wrath of a powerful being from the lower planes. What happened next is unclear. Gordax released all his slaves and servants, pulled the drawbridge, and was never heard from again.

For some 50 years the castle stood dormant. But then, strange things began to happen. Townsfolk began to disappear, screams and moans could be heard echoing from the castle at night, and strange winged creatures could be seen flying about the castle in the moonlight.

News of the hauntings was sent by messenger to one of the area’s most powerful nobles. Soon, an army equipped with ballista, catapults, and other siege equipment laid war against the castle. It was quickly reduced to broken masses of crumpled walls. The hauntings stopped and things returned to normal.

Then one day, a group of the town’s leaders decided to inspect the ruins. When they did, they discovered only a few small structures still intact. They also found a service entrance along the west side of the castle. This entrance was left untouched by the noble's siege. Upon this discovery, the town's leaders decided to have some of the town's most respected adventures enter the ruins and report their find.

Soon, a party of twelve was assembled and went into the ruins. For two weeks the town waited, but received no answer, then the last survivor came out of the ruins. He told stories of horrid creatures attacking in great numbers and of an arena where the servants of good are forced to do battle with one another.

Hearing this news the town's leaders decided to have the town's most experienced blacksmith construct a huge padlock and chain to lock Quinstead's service entrance forever.

Recently, a band of adventurers passing by the ruins has reported that someone or something is rebuilding the castle. This has the leaders somewhat worried. Does this pose a threat to the community?

What happened to the treasure of Gordax? Perhaps, a strong party of adventurers could answer these questions if they could enter and survive the "RUINS OF QUINSTEAD".

This 1st printing of the Ruins of Quinstead 46 page module includes:

Three complete dungeon levels with over 70 rooms to explore.

Two new monsters (The Thantos and Garznik the demon).

Several new spells and magic items.

Whoa, That was Fast!

Exalted Funeral announced a Pre-order for their printing of Luka Rejec's Witchburner: Funeral Edition. It sold out in like a couple of days! The author tells me there will be another printing, so if you're interested keep an eye on the Publisher's page. They have other cool stuff to look at, as well.

And for a few words from the author, check out this post:

Why Witchburner Exists and What It Tries To Do