Swords Against Madness

We turn our attention to Yanghu as he hunts for those who had meddled with his Gorum and Carver tech. This session was played extemporaneously using Swords & Wizardry and the Mythic Game Master Emulator. Sometimes you just want to play the bad guys for a bit, and figure out what the heroes are really up against. The Master The Master was once a gifted and driven chirurgeon called Haidran. His failure to save South Nar from the purple plague drove him halfway to madness. He sought out the ability to perfect himself and discovered Yanghu’s secret cache of Carver Tech. With it he has made himself into a monster. The Master (human Ur-Cleric 9*): HD: 9d6+9; 54 hp; AC 7 [12]; SV: 7; att: Tentacle Orb (2d4+grab); MV: 12″; SQ: spells, +2 save vs. petrification & paralysis, mutations; AL C; Str 14** Int 15 Wis 16 Dex 10 Con 15** Cha 16**; Spells Prepared: 1st: Detect Good, Detect Magic, Darkness; 2nd: Hold Person, Snake Charm, Silence 15′ radius; 3rd: Bestow Curse, Cure Disease; 4th: Cause Serious Wounds; Cure Serious Wounds; 5th: Commune, Finger of Death Mutations: The Master can steal traits from any creature he has captured and experimented on. He can maintain one mutation in his body per two levels. He can change these after a week of research and some time spent in a Carver Surgical Pod. His current mutations include: the paralytic touch of a carrion crawler the ability to phase like a phase spider the immortality of the gorum Carried Equipment: tentacle orb, bracers of defence +2, blowpipe of inhaled poison, fine clothing, spawn of Frix *The Ur-Cleric is the equivalent of a Cleric, but Chaotic in alignment; they have no ability to turn the unholy. They worship themselves only, but make pacts with alien intelligence for their power. **The Master has used the art of flesh-crafting to increase each of these ability scores by 4. He will be able to improve a 3rd ability at level 12, and again at 15th and 18th levels. The Master’s Concubines Master’s Concubine: HD: 5; AC: 5 [14] Att: 4 claws (1d4); SV: 12; Special: speed, mutation; MV: 15; AL: Chaotic; ML: 9; Int: 9; #App: 2d4; CR/ XP: 7 / 600 Women who have been warped and mutated by the Master. They cannot fail morale if they are in The Master’s presence. They have a +1 on initiative. Each one of them possesses a random mutation granted to them by the master: d6Mutation1Paralytic Touch of the Carrion Crawler2Phase power of the Phase Spider3Cloying Pollen of the Yellow Musk Creeper4Immortality of the Gorum5Song of a Harpy6Bite and blood drain of a Giant Tick New Magic Item Tentacle Orb: This object serves as The Master’s unholy symbol. He may cause it to open and tentacles to reach out. These attack, dealing 2d4 damage if they hit. A target that is hit is coiled in tentacles and may not move or take actions except to attempt to break free, which requires a successful save. Music in this Episode “COMBAT: Classic Metal Chugga-Chugga” by Jon Cohen, used with permission. From the Free Music Archive: “King Edward” by Mr. Smith a CC-BY song released through the FMA From Pixabay: “Powerful Stylish Rock (Motivational Indie Rock Trailer)” by Sound for You “Scorched Fields” by Alexander Nakarada “Outlaw’s Reckoning” by Moodmode “This Heavy Metal” by Mr. Claps_ “Hate” by Mr. Claps_ “Game Show” by Mr Claps_ “Earthquake‘ by Leva “Dark Temple (Geisha)” by Yellowbird Beats “Powerful stylish rock” by Sound for You “Dark Pagan Ritual Chant” by Domarti Studios Acidcore” by Jumping Bunny

Edryk, Miria, and Kale face a terrifying onslaught on the dismal beaches of Abzû. This game sues the crocodile stats from Swords & Wizardry, It also delves pretty deep into the Dungeons & Dragons theory of the Soul that was made central to the concept of planar travel in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons starting later in the 1st edition and refined in the Planescape setting. I also wanted to share the Enuma Elish, if you want to read some ancient Mesopotamian myth. Roger Dean’s Cover for the first Asia album self-titled “Asia” was a huge inspiration for the setting of Abzu. I spent a great many hours staring at this album cover and listening to the record when I was a kid. In fact a great deal of the campaign aesthetics in – in my head at least – are inspired by Dean’s art. Roger Dean was a major influence on the aesthetics of the Psychedelic art and music movement and redefined what Fantasy looked like through the 60s and 70’s. I would be remiss if I didn’t send a link to his homepage where you can get prints of this truly amazing work. Abzu Random Encounter Table 3d6categoryEncounter#Mein3SettlementForlorn Camp*specialSuffering4SettlementDuregar mining camp**specialFeasting on HER flesh5IntelligentScorpion Men1d4Worshipping HER6IntelligentIxitchatil2d10Hunting7IntelligentBeast Men3d10Digging a burrow8TravellerJaani2d4Lost9TravellerNight Hag1Performing Dark Rites10MonsterGiant Scorpion1d3Frozen in despair11MonsterLarge Giant Centipede1d6Mating12MonsterCrocodiles2d6Sleeping14MonsterSea Serpent1Exploring14SupernaturalLarvae3d10Tormenting15SupernaturalShedu1Cultivating HER wisdom through alchemy16SupernaturalElsewhale1Desperately trying to get elsewhere17AtmosphericTiamat Stirs***n/aGoing Mad18AtmosphericStormm/aGrieving Notes *Forlorn Camp: a wretched set of huts of bone, skin, and scale overrun by wasp’s nests. Most inhabitants are dead, but 1d6 diseased and mad cultists linger. **Duregar Mining Camp: 2d10 Duregar oversee 5d20 beast-men slaves in mining scale and bone from Tiamat. ***Tiamat Stirs: The ground shakes and strange omens fill the sky before a deafening scream splits the sky. All creatures must save vs spells or be paralyzed with terror for 1d3 turns. Check for additional encounter. Voice Talent in this Episode: Owen Rideout as The Psisquid Music in this Episode “COMBAT: Classic Metal Chugga-Chugga” by Jon Cohen, used with permission. From the Free Music Archive: “King Edward” by Mr. Smith a CC-BY song released through the FMA From Pixabay: “Apex” by Alexander Nakarada “Scorched Fields” by Alexander Nakarada “Crossroads” by Alexander Nakarada “This Metal” by Mr. Claps “Melodic Metal” by Alex Koff “Powerful stylish rock” by Sound for You “Island of the Lost” by OB-LIX

Miria, Kale, & Edryk cross the shimmering plane of Amber, and then into the darkness of Abzû, beset on all sides by monsters and mysteries. This episode includes a classic Dungeons & Dragons monster: the Aurumvorax, reproduced here based on the stats in the AD&D2e Monstrous Manual for Swords & Wizardry. I did take liberties with the speed of the aurumvorax to make it more of a threat and more weasel-like. Aurumvorax The Aurumvorax or gold-gorger is an eight-legged weasel-like creature about 12′ long. It can burrow through solid rock. The aurumvorax eats gold, which it processes in order to produce teeth, claws, and fur of naturally shaped gold, and its flesh is infused with the metal. Aurumvorax: HD: 12; AC: 0 [19]; Att: bite (2d4 + grab); SV: 3; Special: grab, bludgeoning resistance; MV: 24 or Burrow 3; AL: Neutrality; ML: 11; No. Appearing: 1; CL/XP: 15/5,800 Grab: When an Aurumvorax hits with its bite, its target must make a saving throw or be grabbed. Once an aurumvorax grabs a foe only death can make it let go. At the beginning of each round, the aurumvorax deals 8 bite damage automatically, anc makes 2d4 claw attacks on the target that deal 2d4 damage each, Bludgeoning Resistance: An Aurumvorax takes half damage from bludgeoning attacks. Pelt: An aurumvorax pelt is worth 17,400gp The Amber Random Encounter Table 3d6categoryEncounter#Mein3WeirdnessChaos Shock Troops*specialMarching to war4WeirdnessThe Yearning**n/aWeeping5IntelligentTitan (Lawful)1Creating Beauty6IntelligentJaani2d3Wandering7IntelligentArcane1Trading8HumanoidElves2d10Exploring9MonsterArumvorax1Foraging10MonsterArchon1d3Guarding11MonsterGriffon1d6Hunting12MonsterLeucrotta1d3Plotting14HumanoidParagons†2d10Patrolling14SupernaturalSprite2d4Frolicking15SupernaturalSirine1d3Resting16SupernaturalDemon, Greater1Destroying17AtmosphericSight of the Palace‡n/aBlessing18AtmosphericScar of Chaos⁰m/aResearching Notes *Chaos Shock Troops: roll 1d6: 1-2: 3d6 Orcs, 3-4: 3d6 Gnolls, 5: 3d10 beast men; 6: 1d6 Ogres; led by an evil fighter level 2d4+2. **The Yearning: All mortals must make a save or feel compelled to rest, stay, and seek service at the castle. They become blissful, being automatically surprised by later encounters, and at -2 to attacks and damage until they leave Amber. If all members of the party fail, they will seek to serve at the castle. †Paragons: Nearly perfect divine reflectiosn of humanity. Generate an adventuring party but all statrs are at 2d4+10, maximum hit points, magical equipment. Loyalty to the Prunces of Amber ‡Sight of the Palace: A view of the crystal palace of Amber. ⁰Scar of Chaos: A rent in reality caused by wars to rule amber. Roll for an encounter from another random plane. Music in this Episode Original Music: “The Colonists’ Shanty” by Brian C. Rideout From the Free Music Alliance: King Edward by Mister Smith (CC-BY) from the Free Music Archive From Pixabay: “Cyberpunk Futuristic City” by INPULSMUSIC “Powerful Stylish Rock (Motivational Indie Rock Trailer)” by Sound for You “Gritty Blues Riff” by Catch-22 Music “Massive 90s Trip-Hop” Musinova “Dead Sci-Fi Ambient” by Everything is Dead “Dark Ambient Soundscape” by DELOsound “Danger” by SergePavkinMusic “Acidcore” by Jumping Bunny

Miria contemplates her past as she, Edryk, and Kale cross the Divine Seed of Amber, a place of beauty, perfection, and cruelty. This episode draws its inspiration from the setting of the Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny, one of the top six inspirations for Dungeons & Dragons listed in AD&D‘s Appendix N. This scifi-dense story is mostly told in flashback. Much of my Scifi elements of my campaign are played using Cepheus Deluxe and White Star: Swords & Wizardry in Space, Galaxy Edition. I also mention a classic D&D monster, the Flail Snail. This issue introduces a race of humanoid cyborgs, The Zaeth. Zaeth: HD: 1; AC: 5 [14]; Att: Sonic Disruptor (1d6); SV: 18; Special: agility, bionics, sonar; MV: 12; AL: Neutrality; ML: 7; No. Appearing: 1d4; CL/XP: 3/90 Agility: Zaeth have thief abilities at a level equivalent to their hit dice. Bionics: Zaeth are immune to poison and disease. Their body temperature is always the same as the room. They cannot be healed with healing magic. Ultrasound: Zaeth can see texture in perfect darkness up to 120 feet away. I am also collecting emails for an AMA bonus epsiode!! Get in touch with me here! Music in this Episode Used with permission: “Classic Metal Chugga Chugga” by Jon Cohen From the Free Music Alliance: King Edward by Mister Smith (CC-BY) from the Free Music Archive From Pixabay: “Opus 7” by Christian D “Crystal” by Tyler Gill “Punk Rock” by Alex Grohl “The Enchantress” by OB-LIX “Turkish Bazaar” by Simon LeGrec “MR Arabian Nights 2” by Antipodean Winter “Dark Suspense Trailer” by Nastel Bom “Japan Background” by Yellow Bird Beats / Tunetank “Cyberpunk Futuristic City” by INPULSMUSIC “Stylish Blues Rock (Wild West)” by Brightest Avenue “Outlaw’s Reckoning” by Moodmode “Acidcore” by Jumping Bunny

Miria, Edryk, Kale, The All-Knowing, and the Squid set sail across the Astral plane and discover that it is anything but empty. This episode uses a mix of planar travel rules found in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Dungeons & Dragons 3.5e, and the D&D3.5e Planar Handbook, as the players travel across the Astral Plane. It also features a monster from Dungeons & Dragons3.5e: The Elsewhale. Elsewhale Elsewhale: HD: 16; AC: 6 [13]; Att: bite (4d8); SV: 4; Special: plane shift, adaptation, telepathy; MV: swimming 18, flying 18; AL: Neutrality; ML: 9; No. Appearing: 1d3; CL/XP: 20/2,4,400 Elsewhales are magical cetaceans that can be found on almost any plane. They wander the multiverse endlessly in pursuit of their own ineffable ends, devouring astral krakens and other planar creatures. They can sometimes be bribed to carry small groups in their mouths from plane to plane. Elsewhales Originally appeared in the Dungeons & Dragons Planar Handbook. Adaptation: An elsewhale immedatiely adapts to any ambient hazards of a plane, anything within 1′ of the elsewhale’s hide is likewise protected. An elsewhale can create a bubble of breathable hair that can last for 4 hours in its mouth. Plane Shift: An Elsewhale can cast plane shift at will. Telepathy: An elsewhale can communicate with any creature within 100′ that is capable of using language. Music in this Episode From the Free Music Alliance: King Edward by Mister Smith (CC-BY) from the Free Music Archive From Pixabay: “Opus 7” by Christian D “Psychedelic Atmospheric Dream Guitar” by Sonican “Stylish Blues Rock (Wild West)” by Brightest Avenue “Outlaw’s Reckoning” by Moodmode “Psychedelic Atmospheric Dream Guitar” by Sonican “Dark Ambiental Experiments” by Natarjan Connection Western Duel Rock by Abydos Music “The Collapse” by Alexander Nakarada “Dark Pagan Ritual Chant” by DOMARTI-LAB “Saffron Skies” by Lumine Wave “Sands of Alba” by Lumine Wave “Culprit Massacre” by Alexander Nakarada “Crystal” by Tyler Gill Awesome Pink Floydish Guitar by Palle1958 “Acidcore” by Jumping Bunny

A summary of Episodes 21-29. Swords Against Madness episode 30 is a summary of the plot from episodes 11 through 19. An opportunity to catch up on the plot or just refresh your memory. It adds nothing to the main plot-line. Cast This episode includes performances by: Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore Music in this Episode From the Free Music Alliance: King Edward by Mister Smith (CC-BY) from the Free Music Archive REVELATION by Soularflare (CC-BY) from the Free Music Archive From Pixabay: “Acidcore” by Jumping Bunny

This is a special bonus episode of Swords Against Madness featuring my new TTRPG, Undeadwood: Weird West RPG. Follow the Lost Soul Carson Swift, as he tries to help a bounty hunter track down a stolen item, only to be dragged into a battle between a powerful land-owner and a dark cult of alien mystics. This episode is played using my Undeadwood: Weird West TTRPG system, and its dark, American folklore-enriched setting of Wonkatonkwa County. The game is available on DriveThruRPG. You can also learn more about it through the game development podcast, Dead Man’s Dice, and on my weblog: Welcome to the Deathtrap. All music and Sound Effects are courtesy of Pixabay.

Miria, Edryk, and Kale finally reach the place where the All-Knowing believes there is a means to travel to the planes. The object they discover is far stranger than anything they could have imagined. In this session I reference the amazing role-playing game Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG from Goodman Games. DCC catches the strange psychedelic vibe of the books that inspired D&D – and Swords Against Madness – better than any other game on the market. It also borrows some rules for planar travel and plane shifting from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition to fill in the gaps in the Swords & Wizardry rule-set. Magic Item: The Wizard Van The Wizard Van is an enchanted 1974 Ford Econoline with air-brushed fantasy art on the sides and comfortable couches in the back. It is fuelled by magic-user spells. Each level of spell cast into its Flux Capacitor provides two hours of fuel. The van can shift to the Astral Plane by using 2 hours of fuel. It can also fly at 55 miles per hour, but has a ceiling of 50ft. and consumes twice as much fuel. Some Inspiration I mentioned the song Wizard Wagon by Glitter Wizard; if you want to check out this awesome (if explicit) song, you can hear it here! Cast This episode includes performances by: Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore Owen Rideout of The Boy in the Submarine Music in this Episode From the Free Music Alliance: King Edward by Mister Smith (CC-BY) from the Free Music Archive AI Generated Pieces: Fire up the Wizard Van by Doughnut Elemental (That’s me!) From Pixabay: “Stylish Blues Rock (Wild West)” by Brightest Avenue “Outlaw’s Reckoning” by Moodmode “Night Detective (no beats)” by Amaksi “Deep Forest” By NNChannel “Psychedelic Atmospheric Dream Guitar” by Sonican “Acidcore” by Jumping Bunny

The party may have destroyed the Dread Silkworm, a half-giant-caterpillar-half-god monster… but there are still more creatures devouring the juju garden, and a mission to fulfill. This episode opens with rounds 8-14 of a brutal gruelling battle! The Dread Silkworm may have fallen, but it is far from the only threat that the party was facing! This is an AI-free episode of Swords Against Madness. Cast This episode includes performances by: Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore Music in this Episode From the Free Music Alliance: King Edward by Mister Smith (CC-BY) from the Free Music Archive Used with special permission: Combat Cookie Tin by Jon Cohen From Pixabay: Aggressive Metal (Sinister) by Brightest Avenue Cybertech (Tense News Background) by Tune Tank “Stylish Blues Rock (Wild West)” by Brightest Avenue “Outlaw’s Reckoning” by Moodmode Magical Ritual Shaman Amazonian Indian by Denis-Pavlov Music Night Detective (no beats) by Amaksi Interstellar Dark by Lumine Wave Undeadwood: Weird West RPG Sometimes folks head out West, and just fall off the edge of the world.  They end up here. Wonkatonkwa County.  They just show up, confused, frightened, missing a year off their life with no idea where it went. A place full of walking dead, prehistoric monsters, black magic. t takes a special kind of grit to make your way here. You gotta be crazy, or nearly so just to make sense of what you are seeing. And if you weren’t crazy before, circumstance will be happy to oblige you. Best thing to do is get yourself a gun, and sober up the preacher so that he can give it a proper blessing, then find yourself something to hold on To. A bible. A bottle. It don’t really matter which…  After all, You ain’t in Texas anymore. Undeadwood: Weird West is a dark weird west game that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It embraces some of the stranger, more offbeat elements of American Folklore. Along with the devils, ghosts, cursed treasure, and mad scientists, you can expect to see hodags, jackalopes, and thunderbirds. My goal is to play a game that has all the action and grit of a pulp Western story from Lariat or Triple-X, but fused with the humorously macabre of The Addams Family or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Played using 2d6. And featuring work from some of the greatest artists to ever grace the pages of pulp western magazines. Now available on DriveThruRPG

The party attempts to help the Nilkin clear the Ravenous Caterpillars from their sacred garden, only to find the threat is much greater than anyone anticipated. Mythic Game Master Emulator throws a number of crazy curve-balls at the PCs this session, showing just how wild and unpredictable it can make a game become… …Especially when you are willing to truly let your imagination run wild with the prompts it creates. This is the first fully AI free episode of Swords Against Madness. Cast This episode includes performances by: Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore Carl White from The Lone Adventurer This episode includes two home-brewed monsters. Ravening Caterpillar Ravening Caterpillar: HD: 4; AC: 4 [15]; Att: bite (d6) or silk (ranged, entangle); SV: 15; Special: poison spines, regeneration; MV: 3; AL: Neutrality; ML: 7; No. Appearing: 1d4; CL/XP: 8/900 poison spines: any creature attacking a ravenous caterpillar with a melee or natural weapon takes 1d2 damage and must save (at +2) vs. poison or die. regeneration: regains 1 hp at the beginning of every round, cannot regenerate damage done by fire or acid. Silk: has a range of 60′. A hit target is entangled and may not move unless it first makes a save to break free. The Dread Silkworm The Dread Silkworm: HD: 6 (27 hp); AC: 4 [15]; Att: bite (d8) or silk (ranged, entangle); SV: 15; Special: poison spines, regeneration, spells; MV: 3; AL: Neutrality; ML: 10; No. Appearing: 1 (unique) CL/XP: 11/2,400 poison spines: any creature attacking a ravenous caterpillar with a melee or natural weapon takes 1d2 damage and must save vs. poison or die. regeneration: regains 1 hp at the beginning of every round, cannot regenerate damage done by fire or acid. silk: has a range of 60′. A hit target is entangled and may not move unless it first makes a save to break free. spells: Casts spells as a 5th level Druid. Spells prepared: 1st level: Faerie Fire, Entangle, Darkness; 2nd: web; 3rd: plant growth Music in this Episode From the Free Music Alliance: King Edward by Mister Smith (CC-BY) from the Free Music Archive From Pixabay: “Zulu Sunrise” by LumineWeave “Acid Lands” by Emmeraan “The Wanderer” by OB-LIX “Deep Forest” By NNChannel “Brain Implant” by Soundbay “War Metal” by Lite Saturation “Suspense Tension Background” by DELOSound “Heavy Cyberpunk Metal” by Bertsz “Stylish Blues Rock (Wild West)” by Brightest Avenue “Outlaw’s Reckoning” by Moodmode “Dark Marimba” by Grand_Project “Valhalla” by Nakaradalexander “Acidcore” by Jumping Bunny

The Party joins the mysterious wild halflings, the Nilkin, in their village in hopes that the local shaman might be able to help them find the planar travel device. The Nilkin are not as firendly as they might seem, and have a dangerous task that needs doing. This episode of Swords Against Madness includes a discussion of the Dungeons & Dragons module Hot Springs Island by Jacob Hurst et al. at Swordfish Islands. This age-of-sail tropical island hexcrawl has set the standard for me for adventure design and I used many of its monsters and encounters in designing Nar. It consists of two books: A Field Guide to Hot Springs Island and the Dark of Hot Springs Island, although some of the dungeons included are also sold separately as The Lapis Observatory and Toxic Elvish Smut. Monsters mentioned in today’s episode included: Kuji Bird: HD: 3+3; AC 2 [17]; Bite: 1d4; MV: 12; SV: 16; AL: N; ML: 7; CL/XP: 3/60 Kujibirds have naturally ocurring gold feathers and talons. A kuji bird’s body is worth 300gp. Wild Halflings: HD: 1d6; AC 6 [13]; Atk: sling (1d3) or short sword (1d6); SV: 19; AL: N; ML: 8; CL/XP: B/10 Plant Zombie: HD: 2; AC 5 [14]; Atk: slam (1d6); SV: 17; AL: N; ML: 11; CL/XP: 1/15 Music in this Episode From the Free Music Alliance: King Edward by Mister Smith (CC-BY) from the Free Music Archive From Pixabay: “Dark Intentions” by UniversField “Zulu Sunrise” by LumineWeave “Technology Game App Marimba informational Music” by Denis-Pavlov Music “Hyper Adventure Action” by Sonican “Bloom, Spice Mirage” bu ODennehy “Dark Magic Music” by Onetent courtesy of Pixabay Generated with Suno Reign of Shadows Eternal Nightmare Initiation

Miria, Edryk, Raxon, Berle, & Kale brave the untamed norther jungles of Nar, to find that the wilderness itself seems to hunger for them… This episode features a reinterpretation of the Vine Horror from the epic Dungeon Crawl Classic RPG module Sailors on the Starless Sea, a legendary module that helped define DCCRPG and secure it as the most popular Old-School RPG around. It also features my Swords & Wizardry adaptation of the Kuji Bird from the equally epic (and edition agnostic) D&D module Hot Springs Island. Creatures in this Episode Strangling Vine: HD: 2; AC: 6[13]; Atk: vine (1d3 + grab); Special: grab, strangle; MV: 5; SV: 17; AL: N; ML: 10; CL/XP: 3/60 When a strangling vine hits with a vine attack the target becomes tangled in the vine. They automatically take 1d3 damage on the strangling vine’s turn until the Strangling Vine is destroyed, another character spends a round cutting them free or they take an action and succeed a saving throw to break free on their own. Kuji Bird: HD: 3+3; AC 2 [17]; Bite: 1d4; MV: 12; SV: 16; AL: N; ML: 7; CL/XP: 3/60 Kujibirds have naturally ocurring gold feathers and talons. A kuji bird’s body is worth 300gp. Wild Halflings: HD: 1d5; AC 6 [13]; Atk: sling (1d3) or short sword (1d6); SVL 19; AL: N; ML: 8; CL/XP: B/10 Music in this Episode From the Free Music Alliance: King Edward by Mister Smith (CC-BY) from the Free Music Archive From Pixabay:Underwater Mysterious Ambient by Harumachi MusicAwesome Pink Floydish Guitar by Palle1958Dark and Suspenseful Atmosphere by SoulProdMusicWords of a Sermon No One will Hear, Ambient Nod to Elanor Rigby by ODennehyWestern Duel Rock by Abydos MusicIron Cathedral by JYProjectA Place of Calm and Wonder by UniqueCreativeAudioMidnight Quirk by Top-FlowOminous Tones by UniversFieldDeadite Ash vs Evil Dead Song by Anon Generated with SunoReign of ShadowsEternal Nightmare Initiation

With the help of the All-Knowing, Miria delves into the terrors of Haalu’s mind to learn more about the cruel and enigmatic Master. This episode includes an encounter with a monster that in Swords and Wizardry is referred to as a Carrion Worm. Other pseudonyms have included the Carcass Crawler, Corpse Worm, and Tentacled Horror, but they all refer to one classic and horrifying Dungeons & Dragons monster: The Carrion Crawler. The Carrion crawler gets multiple attacks around, each doing only 1hp, but each requiring a save or the unfortunate character becomes paralyzed. On a bad round, the Carrion Crawler can paralyze an entire party, and finish them off at is leisure. They are one of the most feared terrors of D&D for good reason! The Music in this Episode includes: “COMBAT COOKIE TIN” by Jon Cohen, used with permission “King Edward” by Mr. Smith (CC-BY) couresy of the Free Music Archive “Bury it Deep” by Alana Jordan courtesy of Pixabay “Ominous Tones” by UniversField “Dark Intentions” by UniversField “Dark Magic Music” by Onetent courtesy of Pixabay “Serpentine” by SoularFlare

The Miria, Edryk, Berle, Raxon, and Kale have their showdown with Haalu; we explore a piece of Edryk’s past, where it crosses with doctor Haidran. This episode includes my quick and dirty rules for fighting manoeuvres in OSR games: Roll your attack as normal. If you hit, the DM will cut damage dealt in half or down to 0. The effect goes through. In the case of grappling, the target cannot move or use a weapon bigger than a dagger until they make a save to break free, If they cannot break free they become pinned and helpless until they are released. The Music in this Episode includes: “COMBAT COOKIE TIN” by Jon Cohen, used with permission “Fallen” by Mr. Smith (CC-BY) “Cave 1” by HolzinaCC0 (CC-BY) “A Scar on Your Soul” by Soularflare (CC0) “Emergent Phenomena” by Soularflare (CC0) “Spirit Elixir Drunkard” by Megalith Levitation (CC0)

The party makes a narrow escape. Miria, Edryk, Raxon, Berle, and Kale secretly prepare for treachery. This episode includes an encounter with a classic Dungeons & Dragons monster that isn’t included in Swords & Wizardry: the Phase Spider. The version I used was from one of my all-time favourite D&D resources, the AD&D2e Monstrous Manual. With a massive selection of Monsters from the first 30 years of D&D from the true classics to the extremely bizarre with amazing art, including David A. Trampier and Tony Di’Terlizzi!

Miria and Edryk recruit new followers and head into the jungle, but discover that one of their own party is plotting against the rest… Episode 21 begins a fresh hex crawl with 3 additional PCs: Berle a human fighter. Raxon, a human fighter. Kale, a half-elf fighter/mage. Kale uses a simplified half-elf for Swords and wizardry. The party has also hired Haalu, who will be treated as a Hireling. Half-Elf You hare a mixture of human and elf. You see twice as far in the dark as a human. You gain a +2 to saves against ghoul paralysis. You may reach 9th level as a fighter, thief, or assassin, 7th level as a magic-user, or 4th level as a cleric. You may also multiclass as a fighter/magic-user, fighter/thief, magic-user/cleric, or fighter/magic-user/cleric. Multiclass magic users have the same restrictions as elf magic users. This episode features the vocal talents of Jon Cohen of Tale of the Manticore Owen Rideout of Boy in the Submarine Coop the GM from Echoes of Eshaton

A summary of Episodes 11-19. Swords Against Madness episode 20 is a summary of the plot from episodes 11 through 19. An opportunity to catch up on the plot or just refresh your memory. It adds nothing to the main plot-line. Come and find your next favourite solo rpg semi-actual-play podcast on soloroleplayersnetwork.com

Miria & Edryk return to Nar with the All-Knowing and another pile of treasure. The All-Knowing reveals a path forward, but will the people of Nar trust Miria enough to risk more lives to help her? Apologies for the delay! This episode is coming out 1 week late due to extreme illness. In this Episode, Miria & Edryk both return safely to the village of Nar with a pile of treasure, enough for them both to gain a level. I am borrowing the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons method of handling levelling up for Magic-users: PCs can pick one spell from the PHB they would like to know and roll their INT-based chance to learn a spell. If they do not learn that one, they cannot try it again until they gain a level. We have a fairly substantial treasure hoard this level, and so I wanted to talk about my treasure generation method. Swords & Wizardry does treasure generation by taking the total XP value of monsters that were guarding the treasure and multiplying it by a base 1d3+1. With 1gp = 1xp for character growth, this means that on average gold will make up 50-75% of your experience gains, which is about the same ratio as using the original treasure types system. Once you have that base value, it directs you to a d4 table that will tell you how many coins, gems & jewels, & magic items you generate from a number of sub-tables. To this I added my own tweaks: For large numbers of coins I roll +1d100 and then -1d100 to give a number that doesn’t always end in a 0. In alien treasure hoards, I roll 1d100 to determine what percentage of coins are an alien currency, and then roll an additional d100 to determine how much of that is federation credits, and how much is some kind of hard currency like pressed indium bars. Credits weigh nothing. Indium bars weigh 1/100th of a pund (rather than 1/10th for gold.) For gems & jewellery, Swords & Wizardry does not give any guidance on how to determine what kind of jewel or gen you have discovered, only a gold piece value: it is up to the GM to decide its description. To make this easy on me I created a simple d4 table: 1: a gem; 2: a piece of jewelry or art object; 3: a piece of alien tech; 4. a piece of alien art. The treasure hoard in the Fane of the All-Know ended up being: 5,209 gp 3,088 pressed indium bars (1gp ea.) 1,712 Federation Credits gauntlets of swimming & climbing 7 +1 sling stones a jewelled urim from the early days of the Order of Stars (350gp) a trans-com array – alien ship part (123gp) a large amethyst (480gp) jade and turquoise necklace made by jungle halflings (540gp) trance projector, an alien device that projects soothing psychedelic holograms (120gp) a pair of jade and turquoise earrings made by jungle halflings (3gp) Miria and Edryk could not carry it all out, and left behind over 2,009 gp Special Announcement! If you like Swords Against Madness, I have great news for you! SvM is now part of the Solo Roleplayers Network, a collaboration between over a dozen solo semi-actual-play podcasts like Swords Against Madness, Tale of the Manticore, Legend of the Bones, Stories from the First Watch, Legends from the Fireside, Errant Adventures, Roll by Myself, A Wasteland Story, The Chronicles of Nephes, and many more! Come check out our curated list of some of the finest, highest-quality solo roleplaying podcasts out there at soloroleplayersnetwork.com

Miria and Edryk face a terrifying trap and life-altering choices push on to the deepest chambers of the Fane of the All-Knowing. In this episode Miria and Edryk narrowly escape a trap that borrows its inspiration from the AD&D2e spell Maximillian’s Stony Grasp, and the D&D3e spell Stone Fist that evolved from it. I discuss spells – and getting them wrong in the episode. Warning: Spoilers ahead Miria and Edryk encounter the being known as the All-Knowing, which is an extradimensional intelligence. The voice of the All-knowing is provided by Jon Cohen of Tale of the Manticore, one of the first Solo Semi-Actual-Play podcasts, and one of the biggest inspirations for Swords Against Madness. You can hear Tale of the Manticore wherever you get your pdcasts, and check out his official website here. And hear the trailer for Tale of the Manticore here: The All-Knowing Hit Dice: 10 Armor Class: 3 Attack: Chaos Beam (1d10) Saving Throw: 5 Special: Correspond, Time Warp, Reality Vulnerability Move: Fly 24 Alignment: Chaotic Morale: 11 Int: 20 No. Appearing: 1 Challenge Level / XP: 13 / 3,900 The All-Knowing is a projection of an intelligence from a higher quantum state that has spent aeons trying to understand three-dimensional beings that can move only one way through time. It has spent centuries the prisoner of the Trassi. Correspond: The All-Knowing can possess a living being that is capable of casting Magic-User Spells, An unwilling being may make two saving throws, if they succeed one, they take 2d10 damage but repel the All-knowing (the head explodes if this damage kills them.) If they succeed both they repel the All-Knowing and take no damage. A being that is possessed by the All-knowing may communicate with it telepathically. If it tries to direct their actions, they may make a save to resist. While possessed by the All-knowing they may use its Chaos Ray attack, regenerate 1 hp per round, and are immune to and cured of all diseases and poison, thanks to the All-Knowing’s ability to manipulate their body. Neither they nor the All-Knowing may use its Time Warp abilities during this time. If the All-Knowing’s vessel is killed it is immediately forced to take its physical form and takes damage from its Reality Vulnerability. Time Warp: The All-Knowing can cast Slow, and Haste at will. It can cast Time Stop, Divination, and Stasis each once per day. Reality Vulnerability: The All-Knowing takes damage when exposed to the Prime Material Plane or a Plane of strong Law. it suffers 4d4 damage each round it is in such a plane unless it is surrounded by a field of magical chaos of some kind or has possessed a creature that can cast magic-user spells.

While Miria & Edryk face a deadly trap, The Master & his acolyte Halu conspire to murder Miria, and Yanghu extracts a bloody revenge on the crew of the pirate ship Xur. This epsiode uses a ship layout diagram from Cepheus Deluxe as its dungeon map, but is played entirely with Swords 7 Wizardry. It focuses primarily on the activity of the campaign’s villains. It includes several encounters with human bandits, soldiers, and sergeants at arms as described in Swords & Wizardry. Yanghu Yanghu is a very old and powerful Ogre Mage who has been a captain in the Trassi smuggling and irate fleet for centuries. 400 years ago, he discovered a crashed Gorum prison ship on Orbos, and turned it into a thriving business in living weapons. Selling the Gorum as weapons is so heinous that even the rest of the Trassi Syndicate might rebuke him if they knew… which is why he wants to make sure Miria is silenced. The destruction of his Corsair-class starship, the Ko-Dan has put him in a position where he needs to capture a new ship and a new crew. Hit Dice: 5+4; 44 hp Armor Class: 4 [15] Attack: Naginata (1d12) Saving Throw: 12 Special: Magic, Regeneration Move: 12/18 (flying) Alignment: Chaotic Morale: 10 Int: 16 No. Appearing: unique Challenge Level / XP: 7 / 600 Like all Ogre Magi, Yanghu can cast a fly spell and invisibility at will. He can also cast the following spells one per day: darkness 15ft. radius, charm person, polymorph self (into humanoid forms from 5-12′ tall), and cone of cold (8d6 damage, save for half) Yanghu regains 1 hit point per round unless he is harmed by fire (including lasers) or acid.

Note: Due to an error, this entry originally pointed to episode 14. This has been fixed and the correct episode should now play. In the aftermath of the battle in orbit over Orbos, space pirate comb the hulk of the Ko-Dan for treasure. Miria and Edryk push deeper into the Fane of the All-Knowing, and Miria reminisces about her past. This episode continues to use material from Cepheus Deluxe, a modern remake of the 1977 Scifi RPG Traveller, along with Swords & Wizardry to create a classic, 1977 D&D experience. This session used space travel mechanics from Cepheus Deluxe: Enhanced Edition, a retro-clone of Classic Traveller.

As Miria, Edryk, and Nala press deeper into the trap-laden Fane of the All-Knowing, the Ogre-Mage crime-lord Yanghu deals with a vicious sneak attack on his starship. This adventure mixes classic RPGs, using Swords & Wizardry to simulate D&D as it was played in 1977, along with scenes from Cepheus Deluxe, a modern re-imagining of the 1977 version of the classic Sci-Fi TTRPG Traveller. Fair warning: This episode includes some mild profanity that, while within the limits of the 1980s PG limit, is worth mentioning. In this episode I handled outer space conflict using the game Cepeheus Deluxe: Enhanced Edition, by Stellagamma Games, which is a slightly modernized clone of the original 1977 rules to the Science Fiction TTRPG Traveller.

Miria, Rayya, Nala, and Edryk search for their lost companion and the mysterious all knowing in a dungeon full of strange traps, mechanical constructs and deadly illusions. In space, a conflict mounts between the Trassi syndicate and a treacherous business partner. This episode includes logic puzzles, deadly traps, and a custom monster featured in the show notes. It also has the terrible lethality of Old D&D on full display. In this episode the party faces a deadly magical foe called the Arcane Guardian. The Arcane Guardian Hit Dice: 3+1 Armor Class: 5 [14] Attack: none Saving Throw: 16 Special: Spells Move: 6 Alignment: Lawful Morale: 12 Int: 6 No. Appearing: 1 Challenge Level / XP: 5 / 240 The crowning achievement of the Order of Stars, this entity of ceramic and crystal is awakened by those who tinker with the machines in the Fane of the All-Knowing without knowing the correct passkey. It uses its powers to create a disorienting Mirage Arcana which hides the numerous traps that it can activate about its lair. It then may cast Push or Pull each round to force its foes into unseen traps.

Miria, Rayya, Nala, Garland, and Edryk enter the Fane of the All-Knowing: a labyrinth of traps, illusions, and deadly guardians. Nothing in their path is what they seem. Especially when the traps force the group apart. This episode discusses solo gaming tools that I use at length, and includes the classic D&D monster, the Piercer, lightly reskinned to fit the dungeon theme. Solo Adventure Gaming Tools I created this dungeon using the AD&D Random Dungeon Generator from Donjon.bin.sh; which creates a complete dungeon based on your specifications and to a theme. Another powerful tool for solo map generation is the game Four Against Darkness; a lightweight solo dungeon crawler that makes exceptional maps. Read my review of it here. A faster, and extremely light solo adventure tool that I have also used for solo adventuring is Tale of the Manticore’s very own One Shot in the Dark, that combines solo card game and old-school dungeon crawl. Read my review of it here. Great game, and my favourite podcast! I also occasionally use a random d20 or d66 encounter table of monsters, traps, and encounters based on a Dungeon theme, connected to a clock system similar to that used in Fabula Ultima or Blades in the Dark. you can see one of my earliest versions of that method in my three-part review of Salamandur Household for Pacts & Blades: part one, part two, part three. One Shot in the Dark Four Against Darkness Donjon

Miria meets one new ally and sets out to fulfill the Prophecy and wake the All-Knowing, taking to flight in her newly acquired spaceship with a team of new allies. A new dungeon crawl begins in this episode! This episode features a classic low-level D&D monster, and shows off an equally classic magic item!

Miria gathers new allies, and tries to buy time as the radiation begins to consume her. Rayya and Miria draw up plans for war. Two new allies join the party, each separately seeking ways to do penance. This episode includes some much-needed downtime where Miria recruits some new party members and seeks medical attention for her radiation poisoning. It includes some detailed notes on how I use the Mythic Game Master Emulator. Undeadwood Weird West RPG: Dead Man’s Dice Preview Version is my complete and fully playable Western fantasy TTRPG. This version does not have the GM Toolkit, the advanced magic rules, or the complete Wonkatonkwa County Gazetteer, but it is everything you need for pulpy and gothic cowboy adventures. Get it on DriveThruRPG Heroes and Homelands is an OSR retro-game that features simplified magic, an advantage/disadvantage system, and expanded wilderness adventuring rules that make it a smooth-fast playing experience. More importantly it is designed as a rules-hacking toolkit! Every section is optimized for easy cut & paste and editing. Making it a perfect base for writing your own customized game. Get Heroes & Homelands on Itch.io

A summary of the first 10 episodes of Swords Against Madness. Miria, a space-faring smuggler crash-lands on the world of Orbus, near the Island of Nar. Nar is a poor former colony of a failed Oligarchy full of conflict between its two religions, and is plagued by seeming indestructible monsters. Miria steps right into the conflict by giving them the holy words she guessed had been engineered into the Island’s older faith by star-faring criminals, and thanks to horrible radiation poisoning, finds herself racing against time to fulfill a prophecy, hunt down an old space pirate associate, end the clash between faiths, and slay monsters, with the help of a pair of teen-aged misfits. But her disruption to the culture of the Island paints a target on her back, and she is kidnapped by a sorcerer-assassin called Mormont, who attempts to sell her to Yanghu, the space pirate who shot Miria down. This leads to a terrifying clash between Mormont, the party, a vicious miser with a grudge Kalmek, a hit squad of Space Pirates, immortal space barbarians accidentally freed from cry-stasis, and combat robots. Miria and her teen-aged friend Rayya manage to barely escape with their life, stealing a spaceshipin the process,

Miria, Olan, & Rayya make a desperate ploy not just to escape Yanghu’s showroom, but to escape in style… but the Gorum are still hunting, and the lizard-man starfighter pilot Sshosk is still between them and freedom. This episode features transcripts thanks to the openVINO tool kit for Audacity! The Weapons I’m Using I have created a set of simple science fiction weapons that the Trassi Syndicate use based on the material in the various Sci-Fi games I have used to inspire the game’s Sci-Fi rules. The prices represent the fact that the materials used to create this equipment cannot be bought on Obros. Weapon TypeRangeDamageRoFWeightAmmoPriceElectro-Laser60ft*d8!11/2 lbcharging500gpHeavy Pulse Laser120ft*4d8118 lbs365,000gpLaser Assault Rifle240ft*d8!34 lbs242,000gpLaser Pistol120ft*d10!21 lbs8800gpShotgun80ft*2d624 lbs2350gpSniper Laser500ft*d12!18 lbs41,200gp* there is a -2 to attacks beyond this range; the weapon can fire no farther than twice this range.! indicates an exploding die; on the highest value on the die, roll again and add the next die to the previous total. Electro-Lasers: draw ambient electricity from the environment. They can be fired once per round only. On a damage roll of 1 they require a round to recharge before the next attack. Heavy Pulse Lasers: are heavy, bulky weapons that emits rapid-fire streams of laser fire, and can either grant the wielder a +2 to hit or make an attack against all enemies in a 30ft. cone. The ammunition is a backpack battery. Laser Assault Rifle: An assault rifle can use up 12 rounds to deal 4d8 damage in a fully automatic burst and gain a +2 to hit this uses up all attacks in the round. Shotguns: are at +2 to attack a single target. It can be used to attack up to 3 targets at once as long as they are within 5ft of each other. Armor ArmorArmor ClassWeightCostNanoweave Fabric7 [12]1/2 lb.1,200gpLight Composite Armor6 [13]4 lbs400gpMedium Composite Armor4 [15]8 lbs800gpHeavy Composite Armor2 [17]16 lbs1,600gp Nanoweave: does not require a proficiency in armor to wear, and does not interfere with magic. Composite Armors: All count as light armor, any class proficient in leather armor can wear Light or medium composite armor, andy calss capable of wearing chainmail may wear heavy composite armor.

Miria, Rayya, & Olan make a break for freedom as the carnage continues in Yanghu’s Showroom. The chaos continues in one of the most insanely busy dungeon crawls in which I have ever been either the player or the GM. It includes multiple NPC villains, Orcs, Kobolds, Lizard-Men, as well as two custom monsters found in the SvM Bestiary. The Dungeon Map Where to Get Scifi Rules for Swords & Wizardry For the purposes of creating science fiction adventures in Swords & Wizardry, I will be borrowing some material from White Star: Swords & Wizardry in Space, Galaxy Edition, which you can get here (affiliate link). Read my review of it here. Or see records of my latest White Star campaign here. I am going to steal some of my other systems, especially the systems for starships and space battles using RPGPundit Presents #100: Star Adventurer, which you can get here (affiliate link). You can see my review of it here. And you can read the records of my old solo campaign Starfarer here. Combat Automaton Combat Automaton: HD: 3; AC: 4 [15]; Att: weapon or 2 electric fist (d6 plus stun); SV: 15; Special: shock; MV: 9; AL: Neutrality; CL/XP: 3/60 These robots are proficient with all manner of weapons. They are built to show off the Gorums’ combat prowess, but in an emergency, can ramp up to a suppression mode to contain them instead. While in suppression mode, the robots strike with electrified fists that deal 1d6 damage, and the target must save or lose their next action.

Rayya and Kalmek clash as the Gorum awake and swarm the party from within the facility, while Trassi soldiers hunt them from without, and Mormont makes a desperate escape attempt. This episode includes custom monsters found in the Bestiary page of the SvM homepage, as well as the villains Kalmek, Yanghu, and Mormont, and includes my custom hacking rules below. The Dungeon Map This adventure takes place in Yanghu’s Gorum Showroom, described here: Computer Hacking I have adapted rules for computer hacking from White Star: Swords and Wizardry in Space, Galaxy Edition. Miria as a magic user with a background as a spacer has 2 points in Technology, and +1 from her intelligence, means that she can hack a computer on a 1-3 on a d6.

Rayya struggles under Mormont’s mind control as he debates to which faction he wants to sell out Miria. An unfortunate communication and a careless intruder cause danger to awaken on every side. Making escape seem increasingly more perilous by the second. This episode begins a fast and furious dungeon crawl designed using the Five-Room Dungeon method, and includes another custom moster to face the Gorum. Both are included in the SvM homepage bestiary, Combat Automaton These robots are proficient with all manner of weapons. They are built to show off the Gorums’ combat prowess, but in an emergency, can ramp up to a suppression mode to contain them instead. Combat Automaton: HD: 3; AC: 4 [15]; Att: weapon or 2 electric fist (d6 plus stun); SV: 15; Special: shock; MV: 9; AL: Neutrality; CL/XP: 3/60 Shock: A creature hit by an electric fist attack must make a save or lose its action next round. The Map of Yanghu’s Gorum Showroom Tech Room & Entrance: Alien Communications tech, window overlooking 3, high-tech medkit. Mormot has an encampment here. As is Miria’s gear and Olan’s sword. Cryo Chamber: Each dot represents a cluster of 3 pods. There is a hole entrance in the bottom right corner. A total of 48 Gorum are kept here in stasis. Any damage to a pod will automatically cause the Gorum to be revived. Demonstration Arena: Open, lots of drains on the floors. Robot Room: Contains 3 Combat Automatons, swords, laser rifles, plasma pistols, and neural maces. I will use hacking rules derived from White Star: Swords & Wizardry in Space for any actions related to the robots. Lounge: Doors locked; Mormont has never been in this room. Contains 5,000gp in pressed bars and a decanter of endless water (treasure rolled randomly.) All doors in this dungeon are nanolaced titanium with crystal windows, they are hard to smash but their pistons are weak and can be broken. A character familiar with starship and space habitat systems can attempt to hack the door with a 2-in-6 chance of success. Image created using HeroForge used in accordance with their EULA

Rayya, Olan, & Miria fight for their life against giant centipedes, we learn about Rayya’s history with the church, the PCs are stalked by a man with a grudge, and find their way barred by an enemy who declares Miria and all she stands for Heresy. This episode features a new NPC villain that I rolled up using the same character statistics as a Player Character. Mormont Mormont is an apostate from the Order of Stars: he has learned and seen too much of the Truth of the Trassi Syndicate, observed too much greed an Hypocrisy in the Aldean Church, seen too much selfishness in the Cult of the Master to believe in much of anything other than himself. He will happily sow Chaos and Discord for any faction against any faction if the price is right… and if he can serve his own agenda, all the better. Mormont: HD: 4d4 (11hp); AC: 9 [10]; Att: dagger (d4); SV: 12; Special: Magic use (See below); MV: 12; AL: Chaos; CL/XP: 6/300; Abilities: Str 8 Int 14 Wis 14 Dex 12 Con 12 Cha 13 Magic Use: Mormont is a 4th level Magic-User, who has the following spells in his spellbook: 1st Level: charm person, detect magic, protection from evil, read languages, read magic; 2nd level: invisibility, knock, mirror image; Gear: amulet (worth 103gp), backpack, dagger, spellbook, staff

Miria finishes the task of slaying the Gorum, and struggles with the guilt of destroying helpless foes. As she struggles with her thoughts she makes a bond with a psisquid, and is then interrupted by a call from an old enemy. In this episode we discuss the use of alignment in OD&D and Swords & Wizardry and why it matters. We also continue to feature the Gorum, shared in the Bestiary section of the SvM homepage. Discussing Alignment In segment 2 of the episode, I discuss Alignment including how it was used in AD&D.. I mentioned my casual retroclone project Ruins & Redcaps, and reproducing (and re-arranging) the rules of AD&D using modern information design in a way reminiscent of Old School Essentials. Here is a downloable excerpt on Alignment from Ruins & Redcaps. For purposes of a campaign with only a Law-Neutrality-Chaos axis this can be expressed as a linear scale from 6 to -6 using row 0 of the Alignment table. In any case, I don’t want Miria, Rayya, & Olan to slip too close to Chaos, but after this, Miria is definitely sitting somewhere around -1.5. Yanghu Yanghu is a smuggler captain of the Trassi Syndicate and former business partner of Miria’s. He is the one who shot her down, but she can’t remember why. Yanghu is a cruel Ogre Magus who loves to gloat. Yanghu: HD: 5+4 (44hp); AC: 4 [15]; Att: portable laser cannon (4d8) or boarding sword (d12); SV: 12; Special: Magic use (See below), regenerate 1hp/round; MV: 12/18 (flying); AL: Chaos; CL/XP: 7/600 Magic Use: Yanghu can fly, turn invisible (per the spell), create a 10-foot-radius circle of magical darkness, change into human form, cast sleep and charm person once per day, and cast a Cone of Frost with a range of 60 feet to a base of 30 feet, causing 8d6 damage to any caught within (saving throw applies). Map of Nar I’ve drawn a map of Nar for an upcoming Hex Crawl! Each hex is about 6 miles, but the terrain is mostly hilly jungle. I’ve marked a few locations with images: 0903 is the location of the Village of Nar and the Church. 0602 contains the Cloister of the Order of Stars. 0402 includes the Pit of the Gorum. 0401 includes the local Volcano, Guluke, and the secret Shrine of the All-Knowing. The wreck of Empyreal’s Coin is just to the South of the peninsula 0405 (not shown, as I have to import a sunken flying saucer into CC3+). Random Encounter Tables Here are my Hot Springs Island inspired random encounter tables:

Rayya, Olan, and Miria set out to acquire a magic dagger from a local miser to use against the immortal space barbarians known as the Gorum. This drags Miria into the religious cold war that runs through the Island’s culture. This episode includes a brief battle using the deadly and fast grappling rules from Swords & Wizardry, and I opt to use the more granular B/X Morale Rules. Much of this episode is dedicated to exploring the nuances of the Island’s culture as produced by consulting the Mythic GM Emulator. NPC VIllain: Kalmek: HD 2; AC 9 [10]; Atk: Shillelagh (1d6); MV: 12″; AL: C; ML: 7; CL/XP: 2/30; Str 12 Int 11 Wis 8 Dex 10 Con 11 Cha 8 Kalmek is a local miser who has lived off of his Grandfather’s adventuring loot for decades. He thinks himself better than the Islanders and derives all self-worth from his influence in The Church and the legacy that has let him live in luxury.

Miria awakens in a hut at the edge of the ruined village, covered in blisters, and discoveres that she may well be living on borrowed time, and so is the A.I. on her ship, The Empyreal’s Coin. As a madman plots her death, she stands before the council of the village to tell them a terrible truth about their beliefs… In this Episode, we establish some custom rules for radiation poisoning, and give Miria the strongest possible incentive to see her escape this planet. Her vessel’s AI might be able to help, except it only has 16 minutes of operational tiem remaining. Olan and Rayya become her reluctant guardians, and the Mysterious “Master” awakens the Gorum to slay Miria before she interferes with his machinations. The Gorum Hit Dice: 1+2 Armor Class: 5 Attack: weapon (1d6) Saving Throw: 18 (special) Special: Immortality, Resilience Move: 12 Alignment: Chaotic Morale: 10 Int: 6 No. Appearing: 1d12 Challenge Level / XP: 3 / 60 Brutal and vicious, the Gorum are members of an immortal legion created for an interstellar war. They were found too uncontrollable, and often too stupid to be useful, and were banished to prisons across the cosmos. No matter how many times one is cut down, unless their brain is destroyed by a directed magical attack, they will always return to life in 1d6 turns, often more hideously scarred and insane. If they are left bored, hungry, or thirsty for too long they enter into a state of suspended animation that breaks when the opportunity to sate their appetites presents itself. The Gorum always roll twice for every saving throw and take the better result. They are not affected by poison or any effect that causes instant death. Additional Credits I am extremely blessed to have Simon Williams, creator of the epic solo RPG / Storytelling podcast Legend of the Bones as Empyreal.

Miria, a smuggler awakes next to her sinking starship on a strange world, alone, with holes in her memories, and only the clothes on her back and her wrist computer. If she’s going to survive, she is going to need to find a way past the strange alien cephalopods circling her vessel like hungry sharks… Episode 1 of the podcast introduces us to Miria at level 1, and has her survive the crash of her starship the Empyreal’s Coin. We encounter a monster called the Psi-squid, and eventually meet Teo helpful characters: Olan and Rayya, who believe Miria is there to fulfill a prophecy, something she partially verifies with the ancient Trassi incantation “Bah wheep graghna wheep ni ni bong“. We also get a glimpse of a potential enemy known only as The Master.