Ecology Of The Bloody Arduin's Kill Kitten For Your Old School Campaigns

 "Sire, Master Lane is here from the university's Monsters & Curiosities department again" 
" Your excellence we need to speak about the recent incursion of the invasive species known as the Kill Kittens" 
"Are you serious?!"
"These creatures are legend and myth!" 
"No sire the Kill Kittens are not a legend or a myth but a deadly reality" 

Portrait of a gang of kill kittens sizing up it's prey. 

Kill Kittens are some of the most dark & dangerous species of mimic animals that has made it's way from Arduin's dimensional shores. The kill kittens are an ancient form of biological weapons system that has reproduced thousands of times over. The originators of this species of vicious mimic animal are lost to history. 
The kill kitten has two very advanced tactics in it's arsenal of tricks & traps behaviors. The animal is a dedicated pack hunter who prays on human sized prey with advanced nerotoxin cocktails as a part of the glands that surround it's fangs & claws. Secondly, the 'kill kittens' are fantastic mimics who imitate normal cats and kittens hijinks and behaviors. 
These monsters are incredibly cunning and resourceful hunters with common packs of five to sixteen easily taking down a full grown human male in less then 2 minutes. The neurotoxin cocktail is designed to cause insanity and beserk rages as the prey experiences extreme pain as the poison ravages thier nervous system. The prey is driven into a beserk rage for 1d4 days making the prey vulnerable to further attack. 
 

("Kill Kittens" art by Greg Espinoza used without permission. 

The rumor is that kill kittens were designed by the Elves during the Human/Elven wars thousands of years ago. These creatures bare the hallmarks of occult and magical tampering on a biological level. The Elven nations  deny any such wrong doing but there are the hallmarks of Elven biological chimeral weaponization techiques. These characteristics include the incredibly cute mimic behavior that marks these incredibly dangerous pack hunters. 
Other hallmarks includes the line of sight teleportation that these monsters use to pounce on thier prey seemingly from nowhere. This magically fueled hunting trick is especially good for taking nice juicy hobbits a favorite of the little monsters. These monsters have been found as far away as Barsoom however. 

The nature of kill kittens is completely artificial with thier poison glands in thier mouth and claws able to pump neotoxins deeply into prey after taking it down. This ensures the death of the prey. The kill kittens also have a highly advanced cunning minds akin to lions or tigers. Packs of kill kittens use advanced scouts as decoys which often mimic acting hurt or injured behaviors to attract kind hearted fools who become prey for the entire pack. The kill can feed a pack for almost a month making thier murderous behavior hard to detect. 
The claws of a kill kitten are almost iron hard made of a hollow chiten that regrows over time with use as they shed the outer sheath. The muscle structure of a kill kitten is more akin to a lion or dire cat species. They have bite force ten times that of a lion relative to thier size. 

The kill kitten is sentient but not intelligent in the usual sense. Thier minds are cruel and centered on hunting, torture, reproduction, and expansion of the species. These creatures are unnatural hunters with minds twisted to evil and cruelty. Again there is the fact that many consider that these tendencies are because of an artificial biological weapon origin. 
The kill kitten has come to be regarded as a monster of legend but this has allowed the monsters to expand dimensional beyond the shores of Arduin. And over the last  two hundred years thier numbers have increased to become a menace of horror & violence. 

Ecology Of The Bloody Arduin's Ibathene For Your Old School Campaigns

 "Sire, Master Lane is here from the university's Monsters & Curiosities department. " 
"Doctor Lane can you tell us what is eating our dragons and ruining my 20,000 acre game preserve?"
"The Ibathene, Sire!" 
"But that's only a legend, a myth?!" 
"No sire the Ibathene is our kingdom's reality!" 

There are monsters that even monsters of myth  and horrors of legend are afraid of. The Ibathene is one such creature that feeds on the the largest of prey dragons, wyverns, and even manticore. These creatures ran from 60 feet all the way up to ancient specimens that clock in at 120 feet.  These monsters are both hunters and ambush predators with a taste for any type of flesh that crosses it's sharp tooth maw. 

Many adventurers will go lifetimes without ever seeing the brilliant bright green scalelike armored carpace of the monster. Or having thier souls stared into by the single huge red alien eye on the 8 foot long stalk. Mere words can not describe how terrifying the  Ibathene is. 

Master Lane waited for the audtorium to die down as the murmers of fear from brave men & fainting of the ladies. The 60 foot creature had been captured near Redford Commons. The ancient artifact 'Calming Field' generators held and the giant batteries augmented the fields. 
" Ladies & gentlemen, I present to you the  Ibathene or dragon killer are found throughout the prime material planes & is now infecting our lands. "How do 'dragon killers find thier way to our shores?" They follow the dragons of course!"
"These horrors follow the planar migration routes of  dragonkind and the paths of great magicial enchantment." 

"Young  Ibathene are drawn to places of great magic along the planar routes with the wyverns that act as scavengers with  Ibathene acting as the dragon's predators"
"Young  Ibathene appear to be juvinale wyverns until thier first shedding and then the eyes are drawn together as the eye stalk comes into place" 
"Deer, elk, horses, small herds of sheep, & the occasional human family provide the  Ibathene with the much needed protein that it needs to grow" 
'The body of a  Ibathene is like a tuning fork alive with the senses that allow the horror to hunt'. 'It can sense vibrations up to one hundred and twenty feet away & hear a dragon's heartbeat close to a mile and a half away in total darkness'. 
" The main weapon is it's tongue which has a series of serrated edges like peusdo teeth on it capable of sherreding flesh from bone in moments. The tongue's real power is the fact that it a constrition weapon of incredible power" "When not in use the tongue is wrapped around the lower brain of the beast' " And once the beast has it's prey it is drawn into those powerful jaws capable of cutting through bone easily" 
" Ibathene armored skin is capable of taking on hydra acid and dragon's fire easily with minimum damage. Because the beast's pain receptors and nerves are not in it's primary brain! That's right because of it's bulk the beast has a secondary brain that helps process and move the horror! And this also includes a tail capable of smashing through an old growth tree!"
"The monster is primarily an ambush predator concealing itself in the undergrowth of the land. And then using it's  tongue and bulk to draw in prey. This is not it's only hunting option as the  Ibathene also sometimes actively hunts prey down attacking with a combination of tongue, tail,  and sheer bulk." 
'The powerful stomach acids of  the  Ibathene are capable of disolving steel easily and are worth two to three thousand gold pieces to the right alchemist. Almost every part of the monster is useful for some form of enchant. The fact that the  Ibathene are so dangerous has made them exceptionally plentiful in some regions!" 

" Ibathene have a primary diet of thunder lizards and the like with giant wyvern, hydras, and dragons being only occasionally seen making the deep wilderness of our lands it's natural habitat" 
" The Ibathene has been speculated to have originally been native to the planet Barsoom with the waning of magic having been the primary motivator for planar migrations" 
" The beast found it's dragonic prey niche about 6 million years ago which is relatively young in dragon's terms. This marks the beast as one of the main enemies of dragon kind. And hence the standing bounty of 10,000 gold reward for any confirmed kill from the council of dragons" 
"Ibathene are essentially roving monsterous locusts with these horrors going on destructive rampages eating everything within a 50 mile radius then moving on. 'These times of destruction"  bring out every monster hunter from even far away lands. Special shaped explosive alchemist's bombs fed to the  Ibathene are often the solution to killing these horrors. Disposal of the corpse requires the alchemist's guild's help. This can be quite expensive and costly" 
" And this ladies and gentlemen brings us to our own 'time of destruction' with the Ibathene massing for a massive feed and then mating frenzy.  These beasts lay 1d6 eggs which can sit for hundreds of years only to hatch unexpectedly with 6 of the young horrors consuming each other with only the strongest remaining" 
" Inconclusion the Ibathene is an exceptionally dangerous alien horror that should be hunted and killed wherever found!" 

Free Mars Resource For Your Old School Science Fantasy Campaign - Barsoom! From Heavy Metal Magazine By Richard A Lupoff

 

  This is not the article's artwork but its a favorite classic Amazing stories cover featuring one of my
favorite Burroughs stories

Grab It Over
HERE

With the Warriors of the Red Planet retroclone due any day now I need a fast way to reintroduce Barsoom to a few jaded old school friends. Some of these folks had never read the Edgar Rice Burroughs classics of Barsoom!  I didn't want to get into a whole lot of hassle but how to give the highlights and put my players in the spirit of the books?
Heavy Metal Magazine had exactly what I needed with this article about Edgar Rice Burroughs and Barsoom. All of the highlights are touched on and there's some excellent old school artwork by Clyde Caldwell in the article as well.
According to the Internet Archive :
Article about author Edgar Rice Burroughs, published in September 1982 issue of Heavy Metal magazine. Illustrated by Clyde Caldwell.
 All of the quick highlights of Barsoom are touched on and the artwork covers most of the major characters, creatures, and Martian races. All in all its not a bad introduction to ERB's Barsoomian adventures and it's a quick read as well. So I thought I'd share with you folks. 
This post is for entertainment and educational  purposes only and no violation of the author nor the artist's trade marks or copy rights is being implied here.
Thank you. 

The Medusae Mechanism Artifact for Your Old School Campaigns

 'What is it we seek oh master?' the sniveling voice of Ashton the mutant shook within the remains of the wizard's tower.

'Come you wretch & be quick about it I have no wish to meet up with that pair of Martian scum this night' Shatock The Mad a wizard of no small power was poking around the ruins of what was once one of the wizard's guild fortresses that was along the Neo Calonian border.
'Bring the torch here you fool I think I have found what I seek' the words were spat out as much as said by the black wizard. He hovered over a particular pile of garbage and offal. 

'Clear that bit there sniveling slave' with the command Aston cleared a particularly scummy pile of debris. He was confronted by the white skin & dead blue eyes of a young woman. The eyes rolled forward & regarded Ashton with pure hatred & malice born of centuries of suffering.
'What is this master? Will she turn me to stone?'
'No wretched coward that would have happened by now. Grab her by the wires, snakes, what passes for hair.'
'Set her on yonder table'
'As I live & breath a Medusae Mechanism, you have no idea how many centuries I have been looking for one such as you my dear.' Shatock The Mad spoke the words without any touch of irony.
'Now Ashton we must find out her name?!' The look of hatred seemed grow on the mechanism's face by degrees.

A legendary class of relic the head of the medusae automaton is unknown but there has been speculation that they once belonged to a twisted type of pleasure mechanism of the so called 'Ancient Ones'. These heads have been found all over the 'Old Solar System'. They are often mistaken for the heads of the mythological and quite deadly medusa species which is one of the reasons why these artifacts are often intact and operational.
Each head is actually a quite lethal and accurate weapons system of super science with 1d20 charges when found. The head of medusae mechanism will sense through an almost supernatural quality when its owner wishes it to activate. The mouth will open, the eyes will come to life, & its interior oral cavity will fill with deadly laser energy. A bolt capable of doing 1d6 +3 points of damage will shoot out towards the target with a radius of thirty feet. The mechanism will briefly come to life for the split second it takes to eject its lethal ammo into its target. The mechanism is capable of firing three shots in rapid succession within a round. Creatures not normally capable of being affected by normal weapons will be hit & damage  by the laser energy of the medusae mechanism head.


There are further benefits to owning a mechanism head for each individual Medusae may still possess its living brain unit. The Medusae mechanism often served as personal secretaries & pleasure units to twisted black wizards of the wastelands of 'Old Earth'. They were privy to all kinds of black magick secrets & sometimes 1d6 black magick spells. A 'read technology' spell will unlock most of the simple secrets of these dangerous automatons. Because of their association with wizards of the most horrid stripe it is assumed that purges against these relics of super science and their masters were carried out.


In addition to the simple super science qualities that the Medusae Mechanism have, with the relic's proper name a magician or super scientist can unlock another strange quality of the artifacts. The mechanism may know the location of 1d10 caches of super science relics that their masters secreted away. With the application of their true names these mechanisms are compelled without trickery to give the locations of any such caches that they are privy too. These were some very sophisticated pieces of super science and they have lived for thousands of years in unliving torment and torture in a world that has literally passed them by. Those seeking the true names of these mechanisms will have a difficult task ahead of them. A quest to no less then five construct consultants and alchemists costing as much as 9,000 gold pieces must be undertaking to unlock such a true name. In addition there may be 1d30 additional secrets that the owner must ask about. These mechanisms are notoriously difficult to get to devulge any of their secrets even with the true names available. Each head is worth to a qualified wizard at least 800,000 gold pieces.

1d6 Random True Names Table

For The Medusae Mechanism Artifact

1. Glenda Provonich A lady of noble birth that's what she's programmed to believe. 
2. Patrica Barvrov - A wizardress of no small measure this lady was once a master of the black arts. She does not believe that she is a mechanism. 
3. Sarah Eronvich - Sarah is a lady of the circus and once existed as a side show attraction. She is woman of means that believes in marriage and family. 
4. Gradus The Concubine - She is a being that knows what she is and where she came from. 
5. Brousrina Sherouvich - A black wizard that knows many Lovecraftian entities on a first name basis and uses her knowledge as a bargain chip with her owners. 
6. Peterina The Brave - This black wizardress is one of five witches that once served a very dangerous cunning man in the heat of the night. She knows many secrets of black magick.

O lovely demon, half-divine!
Hemlock and hydromel and gall,
Honey and aconite and wine
Mingle to make that mouth of thine—

Thy mouth I love: but most of all
It is thy tears that I desire—
Thy tears, like fountain-drops that fall
In gardens red, Satanical;

Or like the tears of mist and fire,
Wept by the moon, that wizards use
To secret runes when they require
Some silver philter, sweet and dire.

The Tears of Lilith  (1917) 
by Clark Ashton Smith

OSR Commentary On The Thieves World Companion & OSR Moorcockian Frankenstein Campaign Musings

 "The Thieves' World series began in 1979 to instant acclaim. Not long after, Chaosium published a boxed Thieves' World roleplaying supplement, which gathered awards and more acclaim. Since the first book hit the newstands, more than 2200 paperback pages and eight additional Thieves' World volumes have been printed - a phenomenon others imitate but cannot duplicate.

Sanctuary, the town too mean to die, has changed a little from the time it first saw print, but many new characters now stride the city's streets, pillage the foolish in its alleys, and connive in its back rooms. Lalo, Ishcade, Roxanne, Niko, Mradhon Vis, The Beysa, Chenaya, Zip, and many more have come to life, and are now included in the Companion's full character stats for the RQ3 and MERP systems.

New essays consider Rankan, Ilsigi, Beysib, and Outsider deities in the light of further tales of Sanctuary, that place which is the funnel of the gods and the eye of the Rankan hurricane. The excellent encounter tables from the Thieves' World box have been revised to reflect later events and personalities, and are presented her in full. There are also floor-by-floor isometrics of the Great Dungeon. Though adjacent to Kitty-Cat's palace, nobody seems to go there. Now you can study its defenses and understand why.

Alone or with the Thieves' World box, the Companion rekindles the fabulous world of Sanctuary - Thieves' World."

Many believe the Thieves World Companion is a disappointment compared to the original box Thieves World box set. And the Thieves World Companion that we're going to be looking at is the first edition which is actually for the Rune Quest third edition rpg system. Rpg net calls it ; " A sort-of supplement to Chaosium's 1981 Thieves' World. This one covers the next four books, #3 to #6, but rather than being fairly generic as the original, it now only supports two rule systems: MERP and RuneQuest. Gods, locations, and characters from the later books are all included." 

The Thieves World Companion updates & sorta of expands on the mythos of Sanctuary in spades according to Wayne's books; ""The Thieves' World stories began in 1979, to instant acclaim. Not long after, Chaosium published a boxed Thieves' World roleplaying supplement which garnered awards and more acclaim. Since the first book hit the newstands, more than 2200 paperback pages and eight additional Thieves' World volumes have been printed - a phenomenon others imitate but cannot duplicate.

Sanctuary, the town too mean to die, has changed little from the time it first saw print, but many new characters now stride the city's streets, pillage the foolish in its alleys, and connive in its back rooms. Lalo, Ischade, Roxanne, Niko, Mradhon Vis, The Beysa, Chenaya, Zip, and many more have come to life, and are now included in the Companion's full character stats for the RQ3 and MERPs systems.

New essays consider Rankan, Ilsigi, Beysib, and Outsider deities in the light of further tales of Sanctuary, that place which is the funnel of the gods and the eye of the Rankan hurricane.

The excellent encounter tables from the Thieves' World box have been revised to reflect later events and personalities, and are presented here in full. There are also floor-by-floor isometrics of the Great Dungeon. Though adjacent to Kitty-Cat's palace, nobody seems to go there. Now you can study its defenses and understand why.

Alone or along with the Thieves' World box, the Companion rekindles the fabulous world of Sanctuary - Thieves' World."

1986 ... Anders Swenson & Steve Perrin & Iron Crown Enterprises & Midkemia Press & Lynn Willis ... 48 pages + fold-out map ... CHAO 2015 ... ISBN 0933635346"

The real on target material in this book is the fact is the fact is that it brings the locations, personalities, etc. of Sanctuary on the timeline of the books.  

The companion puts everything into perspective for Lamentations of the Flame Princess by moving affairs of the city & events forward. The city presented in the campaign setting is no stranger to travelers from across many worlds. This makes the city excellent for adventurers of all stripes. Sanctuary as a whole is a campaign setting that fits the whole theme of Swords & Sorcery quite nicely. 

According to Skiorht from Rpg net; "The new material is quite useful if you want to follow the books, and the map of the keep is very nice. The RQ stats are very good, but the RM/MERP stats are a bit weak"  Which means when it comes to the Stormbringer Rpg 1st edition through third the DM is going to have to do a bit of tweaking. Stormbringer brings home the 'metal' aspect of the PC's in spades. 

Using this opinion as a bench mark then we can assume that the Castles & Crusades stats are also going to be at the fourth level & upper end of sixth for the Thieves World Companion NPC's. The guidelines found in the Castle Keeper's Guide  are also key for this. 

I've used this companion several times with Lamentations of the Flame Princess and Dark Albion but its always been as a city where the PC's have visited as dimensional travelers who have had to watch their step. The fact is guns haven't been that much of an equalizer and in fact there are several NPC in the set that can cause some vicious horror aspects into a campaign of LoFP or Castles & Crusades. 
 I used this companion  with many of the Judge's Guild and Arduin materials switching in and out what I needed and wanted.  If we're going to be using the Thieves World Companion with Black Blade of the Demon King by Ahimsa Kerp,  & Wind Lothamer from Knight Owl Publishing then it becomes a matter of making sure the PC levels match. 

Now  BRUTORZ BILL asked me particulars about our game so let's start with the top. There are eight players currently & this is a game that has continued on from 2018 so the player's PC's are 4th level & up. They've made me drift back to Fantastic Heroes & Witchery with a ton of Castles & Crusades added in with elements of Adventurer, Conqueror, King rpg. 

And I worked up several very fast NPC's from the material that is Black Blade of the Demon King by Ahimsa Kerp,  & Wind Lothamer from Knight Owl Publishing. Names, classes,etc. all coming up really soon. 

Down The Back Alleyways of Sanctuary - The Stormbringer rpg & The Thieves World Box Set

 "
"Skulk through the night on the heels of Shadowspawn . . . delve into the twisted tunnels of the Purple Mage . . . attend the court (or perhaps the harem) of Prince Kadakithis . . . dodge the keen-eyed Hell Hounds with Jubal's Hawkmasks . . . drink your ale and guard your purse at the Vulgar Unicorn . . . boldly walk the streets of the wildest, most varied, and most downright fascinating city in fantasy literature — SANCTUARY, the Thieves' World!
* The Players' Guide to Sanctuary — the creation of Sanctuary; Thud and Blunder, Sanctuary chronology; 'Hakiem' and 'The Hell Hounds'; a stroll through the city; a captured llsigi document; magic, working ladies, and oaths; glossary /pronunciation guide; a map of the known world; a city map. * The Game Master's Guide to Sanctuary — palm-greasing and arrest procedures; a secret Carronnian report; city gods and religions; main city encounters; encounters for the Jewelers' Quarter, Processional, and Westside; 18 tables of specific encounters, descriptions/encounters for The Maze, Bazaar, Street of Red Lanterns, Downwind; business generators and tables by area; 6 area maps, 15 floorplans of typical buildings (including the Vulgar Unicorn); scenario suggestions.
* The Personalities of Sanctuary — story/character index; system notes as applicable and character stats for 9 RPG systems (minimum of twenty characters each, each system divided to Prince and Retinue. Transients, and Residents); general descriptions of other characters.
* Wall Map of Sanctuary. Referee Maps of The Maze, The Maze underground."

So one of the best supplements for the first edition Stormbringer rpg wasn't published for the Stormbringer rpg instead it hit the shelves from Chaosium in Eighty one. The Thieves World box set is one of the gems of that era. 
What makes this an exceptional resource for  the Stormbringer rpg is the fact that Thieves World offers a shared Sword & Sorcery universe for the PC's to explore without any lower expections. Thieves World works on the Runequest three engine and so it's rather a bit easy to adapt it to Stormbringer. 

Turn the influence of Law & Chaos down to two on the volume of the Multiverse meter for Stormbringer. And it's within Interested Observer2's review from 2016 that we get into the heart of what makes Robert L. Aspin's Thieves World box set  so damn useful:"None of the reviews attached to this page actually review the boxed game set. So let's do that instead of talking about the books. The boxed set includes three books and some very nice maps of Sanctuary. The first book is the player's guide to Sanctuary and describes the town and details some of the locales in the books. Frankly, of the three books in the box, this one was the least useful. For one thing, the maps are excellent, but actually make running the city harder since it seems to narrow the GM's choices with regard to where things are or should be. Frankly, having a more vague city map would have been a positive asset. Still, the descriptions of the Bazaar (and the map) are intriguing and could easily be re-developed by a clever GM for his/her own purposes with little difficulty, and the general information is useful. Frankly though, if you want to get into the "spirit" of the city, it's better to read the first two books of the fiction series. Book two, the GM's guide to Sanctuary, provides a wealth of information on the gods of the novels, bribery and criminal justice in Sanctuary, encounters of various types throughout the several districts of the city, and a "business generator" that may very well have been the first of its kind (though perhaps Judges Guild did something similar earlier). This book is where the GM begins to get the data s/he needs to really get into the "nuts and bolts" of GMing the city. Finally, the third volume is a guide to the personalities of Sanctuary. It lists all of the major characters of the first two anthologies, and most of the minor characters as well. It even describes some of the unusual monsters that present themselves during the first two anthologies.
One of the best parts of the boxed set was that it actually delivered on being a "generic" RPG supplement -- not by glossing over the various game systems published at the time and making the GM try to figure it all out on his or her own, but by providing ACTUAL game statistics for the creatures, events, and personalities in the city. Want to play Sanctuary using The Fantasy Trip? It's all there. (Who even remembers The Fantasy Trip nowadays, other than some of us old geezers -- for whom it is STILL one of the best classic RPGs ever designed? But for those of you who have no idea what it is, think "father of GURPS" and a simpler and faster playing version at that. It's easy enough to translate TFT stats into GURPS, though, if you prefer GURPS as your platform.) Prefer AD&D? There it is? Original D&D? Uh huh. Runequest/Basic Roleplaying? Yep. Chivalry and Sorcery? Right there. This product was an absolute gem for its time, and has aged well in the 35 years since it was published...and there are few products that can make that claim! Overall? Five stars easily, and if you can afford to pick up a copy, you should by all means do so. While it lacks specifics for post 2nd Edition AD&D versions, it does include stats for a lot of the classic Fantasy RPGs of yore, and if you're an "Old School Rules" (OSR) kind of person, you're going to LOVE this product." 
So not only do we get a solid overview and review. We also get ideas thrown in from this review. What the Hell would Stormbringer rpg characters be doing in Sanctuary?! If we go back to the origins of the original Thieves World stories entry from Wiki;"Thieves' World is set in the city of Sanctuary at the edge of the Rankan Empire. The city is depicted as a place where many are downtrodden and where the invading Rankan gods and the Ilsigi gods they had ousted begin a struggle for dominance. As the series continues, additional invasions occur, and the city is taken over by the snake-worshipping Beysib as the Rankan empire collapses. Over time, a number of the characters in the series are revealed either to be the offspring of or otherwise blessed by various figures in the pantheons of the competing deities, and they discover or develop various powers as the series progresses."  Right smack dab there we've already got our answers. There is no way in Hell Law & Chaos are not going to have agents on the sidelines of Sanctuary. Even if thier demonic items and tools of Law are not as affective. Well so much the better in the eyes of the powers of Chaos & Law. After all it's all about the entertainment factor alone in the eyes of these two powers. 

Does Thieves World fit into the mode of the Million Spheres?! In a word? Oh yes it does. Thieves World and especially the box set as well as the Thieves World  Companion 
make an excellent urban campaign. 
There's enough within the Thieves World box set to keep a campaign going for months. Does Sanctuary fit the over the top demonic and law fueled world of the Stormbringer rpg?! Not really and that's alright. Sanctuary as a place to visit and kick up one's heels is fine as well. 
The PC's in Thieves World are right in the middle of the affairs of the gods. And sometimes this means getting down and dirty in the back allies of Sanctuary as well as the Maze. 
Incidently we've also used the Thieves World box set with old school Traveller many times.  One of the things that made the Thieves World Box set so damn useful was it's contents; "The Thieves' World Complete Sanctuary Adventure Pack is a boxed set published by Chaosium in 1981, containing: 1) The Player's Guide to Sanctuary; 2) The Gamemaster's Guide to Sanctuary; 3) Personalities of Sanctuary; 4) Map of Sanctuary; 5) Map of the Maze; 6) Map of the Maze Underground.

And Oliver Dickensen review from White Dwarf #30 hits the nail on the head for the box set; "Oliver Dickinson reviewed Thieves' World for White Dwarf #30, giving it an overall rating of 10 out of 10, and stated that "This has to be one of the most challenging adventure packs to come on the market. It is a whole city, realised with a richness and thoroughness of detail that matches City State of the Invincible Overlord, and though not as comprehensive as this, it presented in a much more readable form."
I'm not really providing a really good review of the Thieves World Box Set for that I suggest you take a look at The Blackgate Adventures In Fantasy Blog's overview and review here. 

1d20 Random Weird Space Treasures Table For Venger Satanis's 'Cha'alt or Alpha Blue Rpg System For Your Your Old School Campaigns - Updated

 There are many treasures in the depths of interstellar space and between the planes, things that are better left not found actually by the unsteady hands of adventurers and outlaws in the depths of space. Things and relics that are often used to pay the usual rabble of facilitators and shape shifting hookers.

For more powerful or dangerous Alpha Blue adventures allow PC's to roll once on the table below for a minor relic to use for adventuring.

1d20 Random  Weird Space Treasures Table

1. The golden gallbladder of Emperor Po, this object enables the owner to purify 40 pounds of air and water almost instantly once a day but the thing weighs twenty pounds and seems to get heavier each time its used. Worth 60,000 bucks it currently has been MIA for six years after being stolen by Vermont Smith who thought it belonged in a museum and not storage unit of a space hooker. 
2. The artificial diamond of Virgin Purpose  was once owned by the Holy Order of Manhood part of the church of Orthodox  Pure Aggression. The diamond mystically creates the perfect artificial reality mate for its owner whom they can't have sexual congress with. The item is cursed and tortures its owner with visions and partially real androids of these visions only to make them impotent and powerless in these visions presence. The owner can and will fly into a berserk rage when going into battle as these visions drive them to the edge of sanity and beyond. 
3. The ring of Ta'rdfu this ring uses alien super science to bath its target's in strange colours from beyond the spectrum of reality. Targets must save vs wands or find that their existences are meaningless and devoid of existence. They may 10% try to commit suicide as the soul crushing realizations of the greater dimensional reality come crashing in on them. 
4. The sword of no when beautifully gilded and jeweled alien sword can mystically cut the cord between a body and soul. The person will be alive but subject to all kinds of astral parasites and demonic creatures. Victims often beg for their attackers to kill them before the terrors from beyond take them and destroy their souls utterly. 
5. The vase of Ko - This vase has been stopped up and sealed with brine maiden and swamp dragon wax. The vase contains a demonic Wri elemental demon that will attack the owner or a target directed by the owner. The vase can be used three times per day.
6. The rod of false intention this rod can be used to create a charm spell three times per day and allow its owner to get away with bloody murder. If the owner tries to use this relic to violate the sexual mores or nature of another being a demon lord comes for their soul. This relic has been used as a clever method for murder several times throughout the centuries. 
7. Pressure gun - This weird and futuristic weapon projects a beam of energy within a twenty foot range of this weapon creating a micro dimensional gate pressure wave that does 3d6 +1 points of damage as the first two inches are warped or changed. There are only four of these weapons in existence. 
8. Total Eclipse of the Heart Locket  this locket removes the heart from the owner and places it in null space allowing the owner to not feel any pain from damage even as they slowly bleed out from the damage. The locket allows the owner to pass through dimensions of sanity wrecking and soul destroying vistas of hellscapes without ruining their sanity. 
9. The Scroll of Order this scroll contains signs and symbols of protection by tapping into the fabric of order that under lays the great works that under lays the tombs of the Elder Ones. When unrolled this scroll will float in mid air and give a +2 on all attacks on Chaotic alien beasts. 
10. Remote of Rewind - This remote will allow the owner to rewind twelve seconds of time once per week. Used more then that and it could wreck the cosmos. 
11. The Other Frame - This picture frame like device allows one to gaze deeply into nearby dimensions of time and space, once per week the owner may travel to these locations. Getting back is whole other matter however. 
12. Condom of Cosmic Calamity -This used condom contains the essence of demonic sperm from some ancient demonic overlord. The thing may be used to breed an army of 1d30 cloned warriors of an evil infernal nature. 
13. +3 rolling pin of doom encrusted with ancient alien gems, its origin is unknown but the thing works on trolls as well.   
14. Solomon's Bottle of Demonic Fun this brass stoppered bottle contains 1d4 demonic entities that can be commanded once a week to serve the owner. There is a 30% chance that one of these horrors will try to eat or possess the owner. 
15. The Other Key this key allows the owner to teleport without error within line of sight three times per day. If used for more then that the owner may 20% chance disappear into a hellish other dimension! 
16. The Knife That Makes Jagged Cuts this knife has been sharped by blind Elven mages and allows one to cut between places thus allowing 1d4 minor demonic imps to attack victims within forty yards of the owner. 
17. The Bell of Bo Wri - When rung this bell is rung all with a thirty foot radius are subject to a fear spell like effect. Beings of order and law must roll vs wands or be at -2 for all attack and skill rolls. 
18. The God's Spine a techno organic spine of some minor ancient god that acts as +2 weapon. The thing laughs when used on minor demons and their ilk,. 
19. Rod of Cosmic Dread - Those hit by this rod's azure ray are subject to -4 on all rolls once a week. The weapon can also act as a +1 weapon of order. Those who are aligned to ancient gods had better watch out. 
20. The Bleeding Book Blasphemy  this spell book contains over 60 major arcane black magick spells and is often used to counter the ancient summoning of minor demonic lords and ladies. These spells may rebuke or with a 20% chance banish a minor dread lord of the Darkness

1d10 Cha'alt Random Treasures Table 

1. Ruby Teeth of the Sand - These strange cryatals grow on Cha'alt surface where the Great Old Ones once walked. They allow one to summon a minor demon once per day to do thy bidding. The demon will have leathers & armor on wailing with a guitar solo when appearing. It will demand a pint of blood before beginning it's task. 
2. Necklace of Rhodes - This necklace allows the owner to hold back any undead with a stream of verbal put downs that would make an interstellar sailor blush. Any minor undead will slink away in terror. 
3. Sauce of Ta'c'o Bel - These bottle of hot sauce contains concentrated sand demon essence allow the owner to spit a fireball three times per day for 1d6 points of damage twenty feet. Any more draughts will result in the owner of the sauce exploding in a vicious fire ball. 
4. Ring of Baal - This ring allows one to find the most sinful person in a room or party. Great for picking up interstellar dates and fun. 
5. X ray glasses of the Gods - These glasses will give the person using them 'cosmic xray vision' allowing them to see into infinity. They also cause horrid occular mutations!
6. The Sands of Tim - These sands come from the valley of the archmagus Tim & allow one to cast impressive fire ball eight times per day as the spell. Getting hit with a fire ball does 1d8 points of immotation damage. 
7. Pink smoke of the Land Lady - This violet looking bottle contains the essence of an interstellar land lady who was smote by a god of renters into strange bottles of smoke. These bottles once unstoppered will allow the owner to escape his creditors for 1d8 years. However they will constantly try to seek the owner out whereever he or she goes. 
8. Cosmic Astroglide - This potion allows one to slide from universe to universe per application. There are six applications per bottle. Roll 1d6 to determine how many remain. 
9. Thread of the Sax Worker - This thread allows one to bind any demon or sucubus for 1d6 rounds for kinky fun. There will be 1d6 spools when found. 
   
   
10. Beads of Cosmic Weirdness - These beads are actually small universes that were discarded by the gods. They are found as trinket bracelets and once per day they allow the owner to create a semi real illusion that can manifest the target's greatest fear. The problem is that this isn't an illusion at all and it try to eat the victim and possibly the owner. 

1d20 Random Sleazoid Professions & Cha'alt Backgrounds Tables For The Alpha Blue Rpg System Or Cha'alt Rpg By Venger Satanis -Updated

 So I've been reading through Alpha Blue By Venger Satanis and monkeying with some of the backgrounds and PC professions for those adventurers messing around the space brothel station. So I decided to create some more sleazy secondary professions for PC's with a bit more sleazy & dark side menace  to them.

These should fit out a crew of outlaws and criminal scum of the universe quite nicely.

1d20 Random Sleazoid Professions Table

1. Telepathic dream thief and conscious seller, in your spare time you sell other people and life forms dreams and conscious thoughts so that others might experience them. You are scum of the lowest quality racking in hundreds of blue bucks on the side. 
2. Interstellar bill collector side contractor  you work on tracking down those who owe interstellar zombie bills and debts to your dark side jack hole masters; you might be working off your own debt or you could be racking in a few extra credits and blue bucks on the side. 
3. Life form pornographer, you have an unshakable curiosity about alien life forms reproductive processes and the sexual congress of other life forms then creating pornography about it for others. You might be a bottom feeler making a few hundred bucks on the side or you might be a big wheel whose gone into hiding. 
4. Information gatherer you are wired for sound with telepathic cybernetics wired throughout your body and you love to get high off of the glut of information flooding into your system. Getting paid for it is an added bonus and you'll gather it on anyone including your own family. 
5. Interstellar trouble maker, you are an operative for a corporation specializing in stabilizing the infrastructure of a planetary or outer colony world. Your the link pin that topples stable governments so that your bosses can go in and make some sweet profit. You make a couple hundred bucks on the side doing this slimy work. 
6. DNA and RNA pirate  you collect samples from life forms from across the universe so that your corporation can gain the jump on the genetic competition when it comes to leap frogging a head in the bio technological game. You make a few hundred to thousands of bucks on the side. This of course is without the victim's consent after all your bosses don't like paying royalties. 
7. Insanity Jacker - You are wired with telepathic receivers that sample and copy the insane thoughts and desires of those who suffer from weird forms of madness including aliens so that your bosses can produce weapon's grade telepathic devices for planetary extermination and pacification.  You make several thousand bucks on the side for your field work and contributions to the company. 
8. Soul Thief you are a complete douche bag who steals the souls and minds from his victim to sell on the black market. You are making some serious dough but the cops might be on to your operation. You also make your victims prime target's for demonic possession.
9.  Supernatural Target Maker you have a laundry list of supernatural and ultra reality demons as well as monsters that you love to secretly find victims for. These demonic and sub demonic entities pay you a couple of thousand bucks for each and every victim. 
10. A Player In The Murder Game - You secretly play a game of murdering and broadcasting your rites and rituals as you track down victims for a vast audience of telepathic subscribers. You float from adventuring party to party setting them up for another fall all the while collecting bucks from each and every demise. 
11. Free lance tax agent and collector - You work for three different interstellar governments tracking down losers who owe a variety of taxes on all manner of stuff. You secretly love nothing better then taking a moisture farmer's house or a military's star base that they owe taxes on. The work pays several hundred bucks but a party of adventurers might kill you for your association. 
12. Past scumbag  you secretly worm and spy on the past misdeeds of others and then black mail them through your superiors. This is done over time and you relish the potential for ruining another's life and making a few bucks off of it. 
13. Alternative time line slaver - You travel through time and space enslaving variant versions of your friends and family including other party members in your spare time. You secretly get off on this and make several hundred bucks in the deal anyway or is that another you? HMMM 
14. Bio weapons seller - your blood, bile, and body fluids teem with thousands of cells of weapons grade biological material, one simple flick of a DNA switch and your body's products can cause plagues,blindness, death or worse. You make a couple thousand bucks on the side acting as an agent where a kiss is actually an exchange of commerce of the worst variety or the dropping of the napkin is genocide. You are scum plain and simple. 
15. Fluid Sampler you are a collector of fluids from a million species hoping to score it big, you make several hundred bucks every month but are considered disgusting by most of the interstellar community. The dark side equivalent is one who does this without permission.
16. Telepathic fluffer ego stroker  you have several minor telepathic implants that allow you to stroke the egos of interstellar politicians and policy makers when they get crushed enabling them to spring back to work quicker. These guys are bottom feeder scum of the interstellar corporate and government world. 
17. Bounty betrayer your an informant to criminal scum dropping a dime on interstellar bounty hunters, you never have been caught and get a secret thrill from making several hundred bucks a month on the info you sell. 
18. Interstellar chicken hawk you turn young and innocent life forms to lives of scum and vile villainy by selling sweet young things to twisted masters. You make a couple thousand a month but hide yourself among adventurers to escape systems and assassination attempts. 
19. Experience taker you have learned the occult trick of taking all of the joys and highs of life and selling the experiences to addicts and clients who get off on recreating the 'first' time. You make several hundred bucks on the side but you are a shallow and callous being. Scum of the first order who preys on the fringes of the universe. 
20. You are a soul stealer for a minor demonic lord of ill repute, you might earn your way for a few more years but eventually your soul will be his or hers too. You make a couple of hundred bucks on the side.
    
    

Adding in a bit more Cha'alt random weirdness to Alpha Blue PC creation. 
1d10 Random Cha'alt Sleazoid Background Table 

1. Mom & Dad were part of a bandit tribe that took on the demon king. You were born soon afterward but a sibling pushed into a dimensional hole. 
2. The mean streets of Agro'bura, you were born on the dark side streets of the city where alien hustlers taught you the ways of the 'back alley'. You gain a +3 to all street crime related rolls. 
3. Demon worm child, you have the blood of demons flowing in your veins and gain insight into every encounter with demons or worms. 
4. Mom was a desert syrin & you hear the song of the desert in your backbrain. You gain a +1 on all survival skill rolls. 
5. Born in blood - You were born on the interstellar battlefield & each time you hear the sound of battle you go into a blood rage. You gain a +1 with any desert knife due to your connection to the world of blood & sands. 
6. You were traded for a pack of condoms, a promise, and a pact to the Great Old Ones. You hear the rush of forbidden magicks in your blood. You could become a great priest of the Elder Gods if you bothered. 
7. You were raised by the 'Desert Wolves' tribe of sleazoid raiders who were wiped out during the 'Purple Haired' masacares of twenty years ago. Now 'Space Karens' seek to destroy you for a blood debt. 
8. Mom was a former porn star that is wanted in connection to a forbidden political love triangle. You were the result. The space NAS wants you dead & has a bounty of 100,000 credits on your head. On the otherhand you gain a +4 charisma in any deals involving criminals & crimes. 
9. Sick Bastard - You are a sleaze through & through. Ordinary people sense the 'cosmic sleaze' about you. But it attracts all of the wrong elements so gain +2 to all underworld & smuggling rolls. 
10. Slick as snot you are an interstellar hustler and move in all of the wrong circles. You can three times a day call down a contact seemingly from anywhere!? 

OSR Commentary - 'A Very Different Ecology For 'The Troll' In Dungeons & Dragons & Retroclone Games'

 

If there is one monster that I love to use as a cross point in my games its trolls from Dungeons & Dragons, this goes all the way back to original Dungeons & Dragons. For me 'the troll' as monster are the perfect cross point  between the Arthurian legends or the  Swords & Sorcery style games.




Maybe because I read Three Hearts & Three Lions at an early age along with many of the Arthurian romances plus  C.L. Lewis's Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe. Couple this with a huge swath of Robert Howard's Conan, classic era Marvel comic books & other sundry Sword & Sorcery paperbacks. The one constant in many of these sources was the appearance of the troll.  The troll as a monster was well established in OD&D thanks to Paul Anderson's Three Hearts & Three Lions.

"In Poul Anderson's Three Hearts and Three Lions, trolls are depicted as eight-feet tall creatures, man-eating creatures which are almost impossible to kill, since their bodies immediately re-knit and repair any damage, however severe. Even beheading a troll is of no avail - he would simply pick up his head and place it back on his neck and within a moment be "as good as new". A troll's only vulnerabilty is to fire - the only way to kill one is to cut him to pieces and burn each and every one of them before they had a chance to re-knit."
That quote is from the Wiki entry on trolls in popular culture we get a pretty consistent view of them in popular culture from Three Billy Goats Gruff, right on through the comedy series Ugly Americans.
Trolls are ugly, very dangerous, & seem to be classified with giants from Scandinavian legend & mythology.
"A troll is a class of being in Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human beings.

Later, in Scandinavian folklore, trolls became beings in their own right, where they live far from human habitation, are not Christianized, and are considered dangerous to human beings. Depending on the source, their appearance varies greatly; trolls may be ugly and slow-witted, or look and behave exactly like human beings, with no particularly grotesque characteristic about them."
So how does this relate to the popular monster of Dungeons & Dragons? I've noticed, there are tons of  species of troll based around various elements, geologies, & planar conditions; "In Dungeons & Dragons, the Trolls are depicted as tall skinny humanoids with long noses, rubbery skin, a regenerating ability, and a weakness to fire. Other types of Trolls include the Black Trolls, Blood Trolls, Cave Trolls, Crystalline Trolls, Desert Trolls, Fell Trolls, Fire Trolls, Forest Trolls, Giant Trolls (which is a crossbreed between a troll and a Hill Giant), Giant Two-Headed Trolls (which is a crossbreed between a troll and an Ettin), Gray Trolls, Ice Trolls, Mountain Trolls, Rock Trolls, Scrags, Slime Trolls, Spirit Trolls, Stone Trolls, Tree Trolls, War Trolls, and Wasteland Trolls. In addition, they keep the canine-like Trollhounds as pets in their tribes."
Trolls have three things going for them,the ability to adapt to any conditions they're put in, the ability to regenerate from any damage, and an almost artificial violence & ferocity toward others.

Many of the giants & trolls of Arthurian legend are far closer to the classic Giant Troll from the Fiend Folio Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition. A giant troll is a cross between a troll and a hill giant, resulting in a troll over 10 feet tall. Once again we've got a species of monster whose close but not quite human living & mating with other monsters to produce another species. This can't be simply random chance, I'll postulate that perhaps the classic troll species  is a product of an ancient experiment going wrong. Sure I'm not the first to say this but there's a bit more to it. The mythological weakness to 'sunlight turning trolls to stone' & fire is troubling but we'll get to that.



Erol Otus from the AD&D Fiend Folio a classic piece of artwork.

I think that the answer for the origin point for the modern  troll species might actually be found in the original Three Hearts & Three Lions book by Paul Anderson.
"This world is divided between the forces of Chaos, inhabiting the "Middle World" (which includes Faerie), and the forces of Law based in the human world, which is in turn divided between the Holy Roman Empire and the Saracens."
This arrangement of the planes is definitely artificial as we see reading through the novel. But its important to note that Faerie plays a central role in the Paul Anderson novel in terms of both secondary characters & the antagonist's forces. The forces of Faerie are fickle at the best of times towards mankind & downright malevolent at the worst of times.

Looking into the legendary background of  classic mythological Faerie nature spirits & Elves  I came across tid bit on Wiki ;"Another belief is that the fairies were an intelligent species, distinct from humans and angels.^[37] In alchemy in particular they were regarded as elementals, such as gnomes and sylphs, as described by Paracelsus.^[38] This is uncommon in folklore, but accounts describing the fairies as "spirits of the air" have been found.^[39] The belief in their angelic nature was common in Theosophist circles"



If we look deep into classic mythology primal Chaos was one of the first things to exist; "In Greek mythology, Chaos (Greek: Χάος, "Chasm")^[1] was the first thing to exist: "at first Chaos came to be" (or was)^[2] "but next" (possibly out of Chaos) came Gaia, Tartarus, and Eros (elsewhere the son of Aphrodite).^[3] Unambiguously born "from Chaos" were Erebus (Darkness) and Nyx (Night)" its also a powerful force of occult energy. The troll species is always associated with giants, or humanoid kind along with humans. We even  find this connection  in J.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series; "In The Lord of the Rings franchise, there were different types of trolls ranging from Stone Trolls (which turn to stone when exposed to sunlight), Two-Headed Trolls, Hill Trolls, Cave Trolls, Mountain Trolls, Snow Trolls, and the Olog-Hai (the type of Trolls that can withstand sunlight)."

Once again we've got that elemental adaption connection, the artificial species connection, & the presence of spirits creating new possibly human connected species powered by primal chaos; "The Olog-hai were a fierce race of Trolls. They only spoke Sauron's Black Speech, and it is possible they only existed because Sauron's evil will empowered them. They were bred by Sauron from an unknown stock, though it's suggested that they could be corruptions of some primitive human types." There are lots of varying opinions when it comes to the Olog-hai.
As a dungeon master I stay away from Tolkien because of these varying opinions & because gamers feel so strongly about the Middle Earth material.


Trolls make excellent Sword & Sorcery monsters especially when their origin crosses human, giant kind, & something else. We would need a race of highly advanced masters of the biological & engineering arts who had been here since Earth's origin & were capable of planar creations & demi planes (Faerie). Oh wait we already have all of those in HP Lovecraft's at the Mountains of Madness Elder Things.

 Toward the end of their reign on Earth when mankind was first emerging the Elder Things were looking for a replacement for the rebellious shoggoths. A breed of easily adaptable workers, army,etc. They began to experiment & some of their first creations could not exist in sunlight & were vulnerable to flame.
The latter half of the Elder Thing's empire was fading fast & it was already too late. 'The Shoggoth Rebellion' destroyed millions of years research. The first & secondary Ice Age Floods did the rest. There are qualities  that trolls have in common with shoggoths from regeneration to a pastiche for adaptability.



The laboratories in Troughburn, in Northumberland, England, were erased from existence originally Trolhop, Norse for "troll valley" is now only a dim racial memory of a place far to horrid to have existed. The troll species is regarded today as toxic waste spread across planes. How did this come to pass? We & other species found the nearly immortal proto trolls & wizards finished the work of the Elder Things. The Elder Things' city is identified with the Plateau of Leng  which has been the site for pilgrimages by necromancers, wizards, & occultists for centuries.  It has been speculated among certain circles of gamers over the years that the knowledge of the creation of trolls was spread by Nyarlathotep  through "The High Priest Not to Be Described. "

I have yet to run one game that does not feature trolls so players beware for they are a hidden menace!