OSRIC - First Edition Fantasy Roleplaying Game

First Edition Fantasy Roleplaying Game

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The Red Mausoleum

The populated regions north of the Sistermoors have enjoyed over a century of respite from the wars that once plagued the area. However, within the past year, baronial patrols have reported clashes with undead and other dark creatures brave enough to strike out from the moors into the forests of men and elves. The Baron's sage suspects that the undead issue out of the mysterious ancient landmark known as the Red Mausoleum located somewhere on the wild stretches of the moors! This module includes 16 adventure-packed pages, complete with detailed maps and descriptions, forming a ready-made adventure. Wizardawn Now Downloadable
News Story By: The Mage in Black

About 10+ years ago, I created a little blogging site called "Djeryv's Dungeon Door". It not only contained my ramblings on various role playing subjects, but also gaming tools I was developing as I learned my way around web application development. Since I was a fan of the Ultima computer games, the site was littered with various images of pixel game art, often representing particular dungeon situations. That blog and site no longer exists, as I eventually updated the code to use newer CSS standards and rebranded the project "Wizardawn". I don't think I ever told anyone this, but the name "Wizardawn" came from an unusual quest to think of a term or word that Google couldn't find. When I searched for this word, it had zero results...so that became my new brand name. The site's main goal was to give me tools in which I could quickly make adventures for my grade school son...who just turned 18 a couple of weeks ago. I was already making some rudimentary web applications for work, where my first was a timesheet application. I didn't have the same amount of time as I did in my youth and I didn't feel like combing through books or drawing up maps to make adventures. So I decided to take things like the Dungeon Masters Guide and take the random tables to turn into something that can be automated. As you can probably tell from the Wizardawn site, I went pretty ballistic. Every game that I support there were games my son and I were dabbling in. To be fair, my younger daughter did play at times as well...but my son still plays D&D or Labyrinth Lord today. They just do it over Discord I think as I can hear him in his bedroom talking with his friends and physically rolling dice for outcomes. The one game on that list that I never played was Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game (sorry Chris). The games I created (in the Wizardawn Games section) never really became popular in the gaming world, but they were all created with my son in mind. At his age, he was fine with the small rule books and easy mechanics I assembled...and I tried to touch on the common genres of fantasy, sci-fi, and post apocalyptic. It seems that this mindset has stuck with him now that he is an adult. Where a friend of his will run D&D 5E games, my son runs Labyrinth Lord or Swords & Six Siders. When they want a D&D-style Star Wars game, they play the one I made because the rules are familiar and the mechanics similar. So with web hosting sites needing to update some server software, Wizardawn was going to essentially break. So I asked to get Wizardawn back from & Publishing and spent the a weekend going through the code to make sure it works on the newer versions of software being implemented. Although the base web code was updated to work with current systems, the database query portion was created in an inefficient way. Hell, I was younger and new to programming. So although the query system works fine, it is prone to abuse and attack. So as an example, one could make a megadungeon with 1,000 rooms and refresh the page over and over to monopolize the database and keep it from functioning for others. To keep this from happening, the entire website would have to be recreated from scratch, which is something I am not going to undertake. So I decided to let anyone and everyone download Wizardawn if they want to hold onto this resource for themselves. I created a single ZIP package that you can put on a Windows 10 computer (it may work on earlier versions, but I have no way to test). The unzipped contents provide you with a self contained web server and database that runs the Wizardawn website in its entirety...on your personal computer. I believe that even those that are not good with computers (even though it is 2020 now) can put this on their computer and run a single executable. For those that just want the entire source code and database, it is all in this package. If you want your very own Wizardawn website, this is how you get it. To be clear (again...for the technology challenged), you do not need an Internet connection to run this personal version. It is on your computer...where you can literally just run it off a small USB drive if you want. Wizardawn is essentially gone now, as a public facing resource. Wizardawn, however, is not lost. Although the site is not optimal for public use, using it on your own computer does not have this issue as the public cannot use it. Only you can. Download it. Use it. Update it. Share it. Do whatever you want with it. It belongs to everyone now. You can find it in the "Wizardawn" section under the "Tools" option, which is HERE.

OSRIC
By: Stuart Marshall
OSRIC: Twelve years, and still no kickstarter.

Helping you to publish original material for use with the game Gary Gygax wrote. Free Town of Groat's End - Twisting Stair Dungeon
By: EOTB
It's a game of chicken when the DM is the crazy one

Since the party is going back to town, I needed to put one together. Here's a map for it, and I'll finish detailing out the town over the next few days in blog posts...

The Lost Pyramid of Imhoptep

The Lost Pyramid of Imhoptep is An OSRIC(tm) module designed for 4-6 adventurers of levels 4-7. Several months back, a small boy from the village of Ab-Amon happened upon a buried column while playing out in the surrounding desert. He reported to the village elders that the column bore strange and frightening symbols that he, in his youthful exuberance, insisted were curses. Being as the boy was known to have a photographic memory, he was able to accurately draw the queer symbols for the village elders when asked. The elders, being somewhat familiar with the ancient history of their region, quickly came to the realization that the symbols must be associated in some way with a pharaoh, for they were enclosed by a lozenge-shaped border. Even though they lacked the ability to directly translate the ancient hieroglyphics, they did realize that such a design, a cartouche, was used to spell out the name of the pharaoh along with all of his royal titles. Perhaps, just perhaps, the local wizard reasoned, the pillar could be linked to the tomb of the master architect Imhotep, whose final resting place has never been found. Old School Role Playing
By: Joseph A. Mohr
Role playing the way it was meant to be

Old School Role Playing produces OSRIC material and other old school products for Drive Thru RPG. It also offers a blog with weekly articles on old school topics.

The Chasm of the Damned

Every inn hearth is ringing with chatter and every guildhall is silently watching and preparing. Nobles are equipping adventuring parties, and religious orders are hiring sword arms to be at the ready. All of this activity centers around one fact: this is the month that the legendary Chasm of The Damned returns. The Chasm is never late; once every 37 years, in this month, a mysterious gorge riddled with caves and populated by strange creatures appears somewhere within 200 miles of the spot in which legend says it originally sat. It stays for exactly 108 hours then slowly fades away... taking with it anyone who does not escape in time. The Chasm's return is soon at hand; sometime this month it will appear and various groups stand ready to pounce should the Chasm be within a quick travel distance. Regardless of the veracity of legends, elder adventurers who have journeyed into the Chasm and returned always give three pieces of advice: bring a cleric, bring plenty of sacks, and don't be in the Chasm after 108 hours. EOTB
It's a game of chicken when the DM is the crazy one

Approach: gamist over simulationist Appeal: player skill over character skill Aesthetic: Heavy Metal: the Movie over fantasy geographic My games and writing center around sandboxing between urban, wilderness and megadungeon play; and also a heavy dose of other-planar. Quirks include an irrational love of treasure maps, and using the DMG unarmed combat tables. Dice openly rolled to the fullest extent possible. Illusions are real to the character if the player responds except to disbelieve. Gandalf was just a 5th level wizard, prove me wrong.

Follow Me And Die!
By: Larry Hamilton

I am a long-time gamer. I started with the Holmes Blue Box set of "Basic D&D" that only went to third level, back in March or April, 1977. I then moved on to AD&D, anxiously waiting as each book was released, reading every word as quickly as possible. The Clerics in Groat's End
By: EOTB
It's a game of chicken when the DM is the crazy one

Comonoc the Spry Cleric of Xan Yae, 11th level S 4, I 15, W 18, D 3, CH 15, AC 10, HP 39, AL N Psionic Ability 150 (75 att/75 def) attack modes: psionic blast, mind thrust defense modes: mind blank, mental barrier Disciplines: (minor) domination, ESP, object reading, precognition; (major) energy control Spells normally memorized: (7/6/5/4/2/1) command, CLWx2, light, remove fear, sanctuary, augury, hold person, messenger, slow poison, withdraw, wyvern watch, cure disease, dispel magic, magical vestment, meld into stone, speak with dead, implore, CSW, divination, PFE 10' rad, commune (if unable to memorize commune then golem or insect plague instead), true seeing. old, sane, precise, violent, diplomatic, cheerful, active intellect, hard-hearted, intellectualist, scrupulously honest, interested in husbandry and athletics Comonoc is an emaciated, legless whisp. He's well-regarded by the poorer masses because of his frequent assistance to sick or injured children and his financial support of the soup kitchen. Although the town isn't particularly fervent, Comonoc is influential while working quietly towards his own ends, which are invested in the status quo. He often changes the course of events small and large without anyone being the wiser...(click above for more!)

"YAR to "The End of the OSR"
By: EOTB
It's a game of chicken when the DM is the crazy one

Melan's post discussing the end of the OSR, and Anthony Huso's response, offered a chance to have -if for a small moment shared by only a few people - that sort of chained conversation that kicked the whole mess off and running. I say "mess" with mixed feelings ranging from fondness to good riddance...(click above for more!) The Conqueror Worm

The Conqueror Worm is An OSRIC(tm) module designed for 6-8 adventurers of levels 10-14. Over five centuries ago, there came unto the arctic lands of the North from a far removed dimension an elder being of unfathomable menace. The White Worm, as it was called by the scholars, was a colossal creature with rubbery, corpse-white skin. The primitive humans the foul beast encountered were ill-equipped to deal with the manifold, eldritch magicks in its possession. However, before the dread worm could wholly enslave the Northern lands, the great frost giant jarl Harold Hardrada managed to deal it a near-fatal blow. And so, the White Worm entered into a deep recuperative sleep until such time as it felt strong enough to challenve the kingdoms of the North once again. Unfortunately, the White Worm has just awakened from its centuries-long slumber, and it trying to build up its magical army once again. The PCs can pervent the completion of such by retrieving the magical weapon of the long-dead frost giant jarl and then putting the abominable White Worm to the sword in its ice-walled citadel.

The Curse of the Witch Head

Advanced Adventures #3: The Curse of the Witch Head is a 12-page OSRIC(TM) module designed for 4-6 adventurers of levels 6-10. Over two cenuries ago, the Duke Ithinge ordered an underground complex to be built to house the Witch Head and keep it from those who would use its powers for evil. The construction of the complex was performed in a remote and secret place, its chambers and corridors filled with traps and terrors devised by his new court wizard. With the complex completed, the laborers were enchanted to never reveal its location. He knew he could not destroy the Witch Head, for it was forever linked to the vitality of his family line; its power was fueled by the evil deeds of his fore bearers, and it was written in legend that the heir who destroyed the relic would be the last of the line. Last month, good Duke Ymis, received a secret message from a band of outlaw adventurers: the Witch Head had been discovered! The outlaws swore that unless the Duke hands over to them his only heir, his daughter Derica, they would use the powers of the relic to wreak havoc on the countryside and bring his rule to a crashing end. Can a hardy band of adventurers put down the ancient evil or will it rise again? Undead In AD&D Part 2
By: Larry Hamilton

Yesterday, I wrote a bit about Undead in AD&D, with a focus on the Monster Manual and Dungeon Master's Guide. I got a lot of likes and comments on it, some wanting to see what I had to say about the Fiend Folio.

Expeditious Retreat Press
By: Joseph Browning
You like modules? We got modules. Lots of them.

Expeditious Retreat Press has been creating OSRIC-compatible material since 2006. We've released 43-and-counting modules in the Advanced Adventures line, 2 monster books in the Malevolent and Benign series, and plan to continue releasing OSRIC-compatible material until the wheels fall off. In 2020 we'll release The Halls of Arden Vul. The largest OSRIC-compatible megadungeon! With 10 levels, 15 sub-levels, and nearly a million words in length, it's going to be a right beast! The Lost Keys of Solitude

Advanced Adventures #10: The Lost Keys of Solitude is an OSRIC(TM) module designed for 6-8 adventurers of levels 6-10. While traveling through the foothills of the Garvain Mountains, your party found refuge for the night in a hermit's cave. In the morning, you wake to find the hermit and all his possessions gone, all except for two golden tiles: one embossed with the image of a bull with his hrons down and ready to charge, the other a tiger poised and ready to pounce. When the tiles are placed next to each other so that the bull and tiger face one another, the embossed images move, fusing the two pieces into one. The newly created image is the bull and tiger locked in combat. The fused piece is easily separated, and when separated, the images of the bull and tiger return to normal. Beside the two golden tiles lies a crudely-drawn map of the area with a path marked through valleys and passes ending at an "x" labeled "Solitude." What terrors or treasure could be found in Solitude?

The Mystical Trash Heap
By: Trent Foster
A blog about D&D and other 80s-era pop culture

My infrequently-updated blog ostensibly covering the entire gamut of 80s-era pop culture but in practice focused mostly on D&D, specifically Gary Gygax-flavored 1st edition AD&D and the World of Greyhawk. Occasional house-rules and new crunch (spells, monsters, items, etc.) are posted alongside reviews and retrospectives, reminiscences, philosophical musings, polemic rants, and other standard blog fare. Druids and Undead
By: Larry Hamilton

Druids in First Edition AD&D do not have the ability to turn undead. Other than physical combat or druid spells, druids are just like anyone else when it comes to undead.

New rules for clerical strongholds
By: EOTB
It's a game of chicken when the DM is the crazy one

When a cleric reaches 8th level, the place of worship described must be built within the civilized realms of The Seven Shrines of Nav'k-Qar

The Seven Shrines of Nav'k-Qar is An OSRIC(tm) module designed for 6-8 adventurers of levels 8-12. Nav'k-Qar! A name lost to antiquities and feared only by scholars who know of the dread toad god's former power... once surrounded by a cult which performed the most vile and evil acts in his honor. Now that all of his followers are long dead and the temples of the Gray One completely destroyed, the final resting place of the cult's last riches has been a source of speculation for generations. At long last, one scholar discovered the location of that elusive shrine, the greatest one of all... the fabled Seven Shrines! Do you have the strength, knowledge and skill to penetrate the horrors of that dread place and wrest the vast treasure from the jaws of the Gray One himself?

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