"Many years ago, rumor has it, two noted personages in the area, Rogahn the Fearless (a fighter of renown) and Zelligar the Unknown (a magic-user of mystery and power) pooled their resources and expertise to construct a home and stronghold for the two of them to use as a base of operations. The location of this hidden complex was chosen with care, since both men disliked visitors and intruders. Far from the nearest settlement, away from traveled routes and high upon a craggy hill the new construction took shape. Carved out of the rock protrusion which crested the heavily forested hill, this mystical hideaway was well hidden, and it's rumored existence was never common knowledge. Even less well known was it's name, the Caverns of Quasqueton." - B1 In Search of the Unknown
I really wanted to do an illustration of Rogahn and Zelligar, so here it is. Drawing mainly on imagination because I couldn't find any descriptions. It fits in with how I see them any way. I'm going to run the adventure for my family this weekend using the Holmes Edition of Dungeons & Dragons.
I was planning on running Holmes Ed. D&D for my family this weekend. I really want to start out with B1: In Search of the Unknown, and while doing so web searches I found a wealth of information on this one module. I may postpone a week just so I can take in some of these extra fan-made work. Lots of great stuff compiled on Zenopus Archives and D&D Shack has a great map of Quasketon Tower. I'm really not sure why the tower was mentioned in the original material but wasn't mapped out? Then again maybe it was meant to be left up in the air.
I'm looking forward to running the B series and hope to bring in "The Keep on the Borderlands" and others in as well for the campaign.
I haven't really celebrated the month of Orctober properly, so here's a little illustration I did! It's a 2.5 x 3.5" artist trading card. Who knows, maybe I'll do a whole monster series.
I'm working on a big illustration but hit a bit of a snag in the illustration. I took a break and drew this as a way of working out some creative frustration. Man, I love those pig-faced orcs!
"Hundreds of miles from the mainland, surrounded by dangerous waters, lies an island known only as the Isle of Dread.
Dark jungles and treacherous swamps await those who are brave enough to travel inland in search of the lost plateau, where the ruins of a once mighty civilization hold many treasures - and many secrets!"
I've always been a fan of jungle adventures, I think it all started with Tarzan. This particular module has Edgar Rice Burroughs written all over it! Although more in a Pellucidar kind of way (think "Land That Time Forgot"). Originally written to introduce wilderness adventures into your campaign, this loose, open-ended adventure can be placed inside anybody's campaign world.
I love the feel of this adventure, and in my opinion, this is one of the greats as far as "Old School" open-ended rules. This excerpt is from the introduction page:
"The Isle of Dread is a wilderness adventure designed to help you plan your own wilderness settings and adventures. While the D&D Expert rule book contains most of the information you will need to design this type of adventure, this module is another tool. It is a graphic example of what a wilderness adventure may be.
Before Beginning play, you should read the entire module carefully and become completely familiar with it. Much of the information given in the encounter descriptions is for your use only, and should be revealed to the players at your discretion. Use your imagination when described in encounters to the players. If an area description is not given in an encounter, make up your own, based on what you know about the area on what you see on the maps provided."
Breathe in the Old School!
Set in the world of Mystara (one of the earliest official settings for D&D), the adventure is designed for character levels 3-7 and preferably for about 6-10 players. That's pretty huge for most gaming groups today!
Without trying to give out any spoilers, I'm just going to say that there are plenty of over water/ over land adventures complete with plenty of monster encounters, encounters with the local tribes, and some tomb raiding! There are some great ideas about nature and it's surroundings, specifically about rough/dangerous terrain that I really liked. And there are plenty of prehistoric beasties to keep you busy!
I could see this adventure becoming a great campaign lasting several sessions! So if you run any wilderness encounters, this is a great place to start!
Check out this blog, The Isle of Dread Project, unfortunately it looks like it hasn't been updated since 2008. But it's a great idea!
"'I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you . . .. I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!'" -The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Not everyone in a fantasy setting trust in Magick. In some cultures it can be a dark evil thing that is best left alone! You could find yourself becoming the slave of some creature of the beyond that you sought yourself to enslave. Spells can go wrong and who will pay the consequences. Mankind was not meant to dabble in forces that are beyond our comprehension and control.
I'm a fan of 60's and 70's horror movies, especially the ones involving witchcraft. A couple in particular that really stand out are Witchfinder General and Mark Of The Devil. These movies are great fodder for role playing games!
You could play a cleric character as a religious zealot, who serves a deity trying to cleanse the world of magick and sorcery. Purging sorcery in the all cleansing flames of righteousness.
You could also be a character who's family was killed by practitioners of black magick. Sacrificed by some dark god or evil demon. Now they will meet justice at the end of your blade!
Or you could be a sort of enforcer used by the guild of Wizards to root out those who haven't paid their dues. Wizards can be every bit as vindictive as the mundane world can be. Especially if there's money involved!
Just a few random ideas to make a campaign interesting!
"Those sun dwelling above world scum think they're so high and mighty. They come down to our homes rob, cheat, and murder all in the name of some righteous cause like rescuing fair damsels, recovering a stolen magic item or adventure. Feh, I say! I hate above world tourists!" - Feh The Troll
Let's face it, adventurers are nothing more than tourists with delusions of grandeur. They camp out, leave a mess, harass the locals, and head back home with lot's of loot.
Ken St. Andre of Tunnels & Trolls fame wrote a game called "Monsters Monsters" that basically turned the tables and made the monsters the good guys, and the tunnel raiders the bad guys. This game has been long out of print, and if you are lucky enough to find it you'll pay through the nose for it. But there's no reason why you couldn't run a game of D&D in the same way.
You could have an orc warband defending their cave warrens from "stinkin' 'oomans" who came to murder them in their home. Sort of an orcish homeland security.
Or how about a lovesick dragon who was so smitten with a fair damsel, that he just had to fly off with her to his lair. And now a company of adventurers are coming to steal her back.
How about spirits of the dead who are just minding their own business haunting their own tombs when some burglars break in to steal their grave offerings!
This would give the players something to think about next time they try to rob some poor innocent goblins of their ill gotten gains!
This is the beginning of a series of posts giving a bit of an overview (but no spoilers) of Modules set in The World Of Greyhawk. I'll be using modules that I own, so I may not go in any particular order.
Introduction on the front cover:
It is time to put a stop to the marauders! For years the coastal towns have been burned and looted by the forces of evil. You and your fellow adventurers have been recruited to root out and destroy the source of these raids. But beware, hundreds of good men and women have been taken by the slavers and have never been seen or heard from again!
(Art by Jeff Dee; gotta love the bearded dwarf maiden)
Originally written as tournament rules for Gen Con XIII 1980. And was to be used with the AD&D rules, but I don't see a reason that this can't be played using all other editions (with a few minor tweaks, of course).
Map of the Sea of Gearnat area.
The players start out in the overrun city of Highport outside of a ruined temple. It was once a human city but is now infested with Orcs, Goblins, Gnolls, Kobolds and Ogres. Keep in mind that the people who hired you to destroy the slaver's operation also have loved ones who are enslaved, "Discretion is the better part of valor."
You make your way through underground complexes beneath the ruined temple, fighting monsters and freeing slaves. Over all it's a decent adventure that sets you up for 3 more adventures in the "A" series. This would be a perfect adventure to run on a games day or as a campaign that can later be used to as the backboard of other adventures.
No, I'm not talking about Cream or the Jimmy Hendrix Experience. I'm talking about the Midwest Trifecta that brought us the world's most popular role-playing game!
I find it interesting that this all happened in the Midwest, all three were in three states that I grew up in but I was oblivious as to what was going on, at least until the 80's. I sometimes wish that I had been a little older so I could've participated in the hobby when it was in it's infancy. But if wishes were horses, and all of that...
Most of us know the history on the formation of D&D. Dave Arneson was from Minneapolis, MN, Gary Gygax was from Lake Geneva, WI and I like to throw a third name in there, Bob Bledsaw of The Judges Guild from Decatur, Il. All three men were instrumental in forming the role-playing hobby that we enjoy today!
I wonder if the midwestern location of the creators had any influence as to the feel of the game. With the cold winters and hot muggy summers and the genuine friendly midwestern atmosphere. I wonder if this was created in the Southwest or East Coast if there would've been a completely different feel to the game. I think we get a little glimpse at this with the retro clones, but it's fun to imagine!
I bought a copy of Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set this summer, and a few extras were included in the box. This was one of the extras along with the Monster & Treasure Assortment sets one - three: levels one - nine, and also the Hexagonal Mapping Booklet. It was a good find!
I was looking over the character sheet and was blown away by how quickly it took D&D to become really detailed and overly complicated. The original copy right for the Character Folder was 1979 (my version is from 1981), It was only a matter of about 5 years from when OD&D was released to when AD&D was released. There's no room on a note card for an AD&D player, that's for sure.
I'm still trying to decide if I want to run an AD&D game or not, just to give it a try. I've really only played it a couple of times and have lost any memories of the feel of game play.
Robert Conley has released The Majestic Wilderlands setting in support of Swords & Wizardry! This is huge news! To those who aren't familiar with Judges Guild, they were the producers of one of the most in depth settings for D&D. The Majestic Wilderlands is based off of Wilderlands of High Fantasy and continues the setting as Robert Conley envisions it.
I just received my copy of D&D Basic set! It's in pretty decent shape, except for the fact that the seller taped the box closed. Very annoying! I had a copy of this back in the 80s and loved it. Now I have a new copy, there was no "Keep On The Borderlands", but I already have that. But it had some extras inside!
Monster & Treasure Assortment sets one - three: Levels One - Nine
AD&D Permanent Character Folder and Adventure Records
Hexagonal Mapping Booklet
I'm pretty stoked right now, I will get a lot of use out of this stuff for sure! Now I need to get an Expert box set!
