https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HufXdgNet9g&t=218s&pp=ygUVWmFyZ29uIGdvZXMgb24gYW5kIG9u#menu
See time 3:00 or so to 3:30. I love his intros and the characters… awesome personalities… one evil mage with a sneer. Use my imagination as to Why the party would run into these blokes.
Love also commentors quote, “ Dread on the horizon, the wizards are coming.”
The Lost Price - Dark Border #1. The author is Paul Edwin Zimmer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Edwin_Zimmer#Books_and_short_stories_of_the_Dark_Border
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1297709.The_Lost_Prince
So a teacher obsessed with reading gave me that book back in the day. Not sure I ever read all of it, but people say it's pretty good. But somehow hard to come by... no PDF version around? I still have my original.
Here's a pretty good review from PoisonedBlade on Amazon:
Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2010
Influenced GRR Martin? People on Amazon say it heavily influenced GRR Martin and Game of Thrones.
Dark Border 1 Detail: an evil enemy (including vampires which are undead) is held at bay with a magic border of towers, forming a sort of magical wall. They come from the south.
Game of Thrones: an evil undead enemy is held at bay with a magical wall. They come from the north.
Read this stuff about the Dark Border main character... sounds a LOT like Jaimie from GoT: Istvan Divega, a world-renowned swordsman who is a master of the three swords school and mercenary leader, who travels the world fighting for various kings and emperors as well as the Hasturs when required. Zimmer told his friend Bruce Byfield that Divega was based partly on watching noted science fiction and fantasy writer Fritz Leiber as an old man fencing.
Istvan is an older man who has outlived his son and wife, and who fears the onset of old age and the infirmity that it brings. Yet despite these fears his skill with the sword is undiminished. His body, although not as strong as it once was, still has its lightning quick reflexes honed through years of battle and training, while his mind is as sharp as it ever was, despite all the horrors and ruin that he has seen in his years of fighting. Istvan remains a man of principle, a man of honour, whose word once given is unbreakable. He has been summoned by his cousin Olansos the King of Tarencia to help oversee the investiture of his son prince Chondos. Olansos is aware that Chondos has personal issues that could lead to his undoing once he is gone and hopes that Istvan may aid the young prince in sorting them out before they become a danger to himself and the Kingdom at large.
Istvan bears a Hastur sword, a weapon made by the Hasturs that reacts to the presence of the dark things, and that is capable of destroying creatures of shadow and is virtually indestructible.
Despite his skill as a swordsman he is best known as Istvan the Archer - a name he hates and is ashamed of, because it refers to an incident in his youth in which he slaughtered men from afar. Ironically, it was in this incident that he first gained fame and his almost inhuman skill with the bow became known. In "A Gathering of Heroes" a famed Elven archer tells Istvan that it has been almost a century since he has seen a mortal shoot as well as Istvan.
BTW, might should get this Wizardry redone game from 2024:
Wizardry Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord https://wizardryarchives.com/downloads/archivesmanual.pdf
and see https://steamcommunity.com/app/2518960/discussions/0/4360124542799041847/
The Secret of Weepstone. It LOOKS great.
Wishlist [meaning?] On Steam.
Talesworth game studio.
DreadXP.
Saw on IGN yt
And https://www.pcgamesn.com/the-secret-of-weepstone/reveal
https://www.this-is-cool.co.uk/category/retro-sci-fi-fantasy-and-horror/
That has a ton of good stuff. You can even buy some reproductions of old pulp books.
Lotsa good art by some classic D&D artists like: https://www.this-is-cool.co.uk/the-classic-sci-fi-fantasy-art-of-clyde-caldwell/
By the way, more classic DnD guys listed here on Enworld:
1e: Erol Otus, Jeff Easley
BECMI: Larry Elmore
2e: Larry Elmore, Clyde Caldwell, Jeff Easley, Keith Parkinson
Mystara: Clyde Caldwell
Dragonlance: Larry Elmore
Dark Sun: Gerald Brom, Tom Baxa
Planescape: DiTerlizzi
Ravenloft: Stephen Fabian
3e: Todd Lickwood, Wayne Reynolds
Eberron: Wayne Reynolds
5e: Tyler Jacobson
Problem solving ppart around time 6 or 7:00.,
SOLUTIONS WITHOUT A PROBLEM. Stuff about give a bunch of random noncombat magic items. Players will figure out ways to do stuff…. Beat boss in one round type stuff.
Find yt questing beast dnds most controversial playstyle osr https://www.youtube.com/live/b_krKx8NOhM
READ Matt Finch’s “quick primer for old school gaming”. Reference here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1BkHdu3ffc
Btw, maybe check this https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nWmkOTR5Z2k
Quotes from Questing Beast video
as the players find solutions to
6:29problems that I never imagined. I love
6:31it when they find new ways around. When
6:33they manage to MacGyver together
6:34inventions to defeat monsters. When they
6:36beat the boss in a way that I never
6:38expected in one round flat. That is
6:40awesome. That's a sign of a group that
6:42is engaged with the game and is treating
6:44the world like it's a real place. One of
6:46my favorite ways to encourage players to
6:48think this way is to give them a lots of
6:50weird magic items, especially ones that
6:52do just one weird thing, usually not
6:54combat related. Give a bunch of these to
6:56the players and they will find a way to
6:59use them in unexpected ways. I call this
7:01giving players solutions without a
7:03problem. But you should also be giving
7:05them problems without a solution. And
----
UPDATE, MY TAKE:
OK, I'm reading something about it. And this is where I like it but I'm also concerned, doing things OSR style per some descriptions.
As an aside, how about this cool story posted by Ernie Gygax (bottom of comments) related to the Lizardman logo changed to the Wizard. The article talks about technical difficulties: https://playingattheworld.blogspot.com/2018/10/artistic-arcana-impostor-lizardman.html
Maybe use alt statblocks here: https://www.emptyhexes.com/monster-mondays/fire-giants
Take note on Firegiants' look, they have jutting teeth/jaw/mouth, just like in the 1e drawing, see: https://adnd2e.fandom.com/wiki/Fire_Giant
They are tall, but squat, resembling huge dwarves. An adult male is 18 feet tall, has a 12-foot chest, and weighs about 7,500 pounds. Fire giants have coal black skin, flaming red or bright orange hair, and prognathous jaws that reveal dirty ivory or yellow teeth. They can live to be 350 years old.
Entrance Desc. and Map stuff:
Use some of this AI generated description/tactical info stuff. Gonna take some out of course.
The mouth of the cavern yawns wide, its jagged archway blackened and cracked from centuries of molten heat. Rivers of sluggish magma ooze from fissures in the basalt cliffs, casting a hellish orange glow that dances along the obsidian walls. The ground crunches underfoot with a brittle layer of cooled slag, sharp and glassy, littered with warped fragments of rusted armor—remnants of intruders who came too close. Sulfur and scorched metal sting the air, while deep within the tunnel, a low, resonant rumble echoes—like the breathing of something massive. The shadows within seem to shimmer from the heat, but every so often, a faint glint of gold or steel betrays the treasures—and dangers—that lie beyond.
Tactical info:
Here’s a battle-ready tactical breakdown for the Firegiant king’s cavern entrance:
Map Dimensions & Layout (Entrance Zone)
Width: Main cavern mouth ~40 ft across at the base, narrowing to ~25 ft after the first 15 ft in.
Depth to First Bend: ~60 ft before the tunnel curves, breaking line of sight.
Ceiling Height: 30–35 ft, slightly irregular with hanging basalt stalactites.
Choke Points (((my note, game module says 1 entrance only, 2d6 fire dmg if bad luck timing)))
Slag Funnel – Just inside the entrance, fallen rock and cooled slag create a 10 ft wide path between sharp debris. Movement is halved here unless wearing heavy armor protection (or immune to piercing damage from jagged edges).
Heat Vent Crevice – A 5 ft wide crossing over a molten crack. This natural bridge is a prime ambush spot for defenders.
Magma Channel – At 50 ft in, a narrow crossing over slow-moving magma (15 ft across) forces attackers to either jump, use a fallen chain bridge, or detour to a dangerous side path.
Environmental Hazards
Magma Splatter: Periodic gouts erupt from vents (roll d20 at the start of each round in the hazard zone; on 18–20, a random 5x5 ft square is splashed for 2d6 fire damage).
Superheated Air: Creatures without fire resistance make CON saves every 10 minutes or suffer 1 level of exhaustion. (((maybe not this crazy, gotta have a way to deal with it)))
Slag Shards: Moving through slag piles without care deals 1d4 piercing damage per 5 ft unless proper footwear or levitation is used. (((yeah, remembering Arizona, I can see that)))
Ceiling Stalactites: Weak points can be triggered by giants or siege weapons, dropping for 3d10 bludgeoning damage in a 10 ft radius.
Visibility Issues
Heat Distortion: Within 30 ft of magma flows, ranged attacks beyond 60 ft are at disadvantage due to shimmering air.
Sulfurous Smoke: Occasional plumes drift in from deeper vents, creating areas of light obscurement (20 ft radius) for 1d4 rounds.
Light Source: The magma itself provides dim light within 60 ft, bright within 20 ft. Darker recesses past the first bend require darkvision or torches.
Defender Advantages
Elevated ledges (10–15 ft above the slag funnel) allow giants or sentries to hurl boulders with cover.
Defensible narrow crossings force intruders into single-file combat.
Magma channels and heat vents can be used to corral enemies into kill zones.
OK, so the kid did pretty well. He did have the weaker version of Horn of Valhalla, so he got 5 or 6 Berserks spawn to help him. He also used our custom Sticks to Snakes spell, which calls two venomous snake swarms that don't require concentration. So he had all that ready, and then got a surprise attack in with AOE spells. The 20 or so giants in Room 18&19 I think it was, were pissed and wanted at him. But he mostly blocked things off so they couldn't swarm him.
But I did warn him the Jarl, who he had spied, would hear it and come soon enough. Eventually 2 winter wolves popped in, with the Jarl and wife one round behind. They were held at bay by, one snake swarm, two(?) berserks, and the fighter. Chokepoint.
At the other larger chokepoint north of the party, looking into room 18 and 19, the kid first had used Spike Growth. I did some random rolls and more than half the guys near it did not notice it. And a lot of them even when they got hurt by it, just plowed through, thinking they were mighty giants.
DAMGE: Fire storm does some good dmg by the way. So does Crown of Stars, gotta roll to hit, but it hits a lot. The anti-giant sword + Barbarian frenzy raging + Amulet of Hacking (2 rounds gets +3 to all I think we said) = maybe 75 dmg a round if all hits and rolls go well.
DEFENSE: The dern Fighter got hit every single time I think, his 23AC did like nothing that whole fight, just unlucky. I almost got a first hit Crit on him by the Jarl, then we realized he shouldn't have been able to reach that easy b/c was so tight there with the wolves and doorway. But the wife did get a couple of crits I am pretty sure.
BTW, I used Firegiant attack stats for the Jarl + Cloud giant other stats (200 HP mostly). Used fire giant stats for the Jarl's wife.
Soon the kid did a wall of thorns, and it came into play a lot. I rolled impatience on the giants b/c they were mostly stuck, and a couple of them thought they could get through or over the thorn wall. Little did they know how magically painful it would be, and got nuked pretty hard. One time the warlock blasted one giant (lady) back into the wall from far, she went down from max HP to nearly dead (Hill giant stats, so like 105HP max) and fled the scene (she's going to show up later with the rezzed cloud giant probably).
I mostly had fun with making the giants kinda impatient and stupid. One was stuck behind the Cord looking giant, and he kept attacking the snakes in Cord's space which hurt Cord. Finally he jerked "Cord" away from the snakes but accidentally into the wall of Thorn, oops. Lol. Was fun for me.
It still was a darn hard fight. The Jarl + W.Wolves + Wife looked dangerous coming from behind, but soon the Jarl got his butt stomped by the Crown of Madness(?) spell which makes him see a super illusion and take a ton of psychic damage. The wife really hated snakes, so she wasted a round trying to attack them, before really wailing on the fighter and company.
The Fighter was knocked out right at the end. Rest of the crew were barely harmed if at all though. All the berserkers and snakes died, but did a good job up through the end.
So end result, it was a well balanced to be difficult but winnable fight with all the extras and all the lenient up front damage + 5 or 6 bersers and the 2 snake swarms, and the Jarl coming to the fight late, giants being a little too wreckless and stupid, etc., etc. As a DM I had fun, even though the giants didn't get to do anything interesting from a magic or attack standpoint, it was fun just having them be goofy bastards that kept making mistakes. Lol.
He did a bunch or all of Dark Sun. Has magic the Gathering stuff like that crow lady w red head. The “undead druid” one i used. Need to see more.
And according to his page, he did work on Diablo 4 (the game) art. I see Tyrael, etc.
https://www.bromart.com/page-2 and see a youtube analysis.
Is Honey Bucket by Melvins inspired by White Zombie? [The vocals] Sound pretty similar. I do love the crazy thrash video in a barn of sheep. Those dudes always know how to not take things too seriously.
But yeah, that album was released 1.5 years after the Thunderkiss album if spotify is correct.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-57639510
So the machine might be real, but is there anything weird about that drawing? Why is there a wizard and a 12 foot tall giant? Heh.
BTW, how the heck DO you move many many tons per stone stones 250ish miles from Wales to England thousands, many thousands of years ago? That just blows my mind.
But this does sort of line up with that recent documentary… I think it was in Bali, Indonesia, where they cut a giant stone and move it a ways with the old funny lady rising on top of it, cheering them on. They probably move this stone much less than a mile (I'm guessing, go watch it and find out). Looks hard but doable... for like a 100 yards.
https://thefugitivesaint.tumblr.com/post/187843875413/thomas-blackshear-elfspire-epic-illustrated
Some super interesting ones. Mythology and Greek based especially.
Be sure to hit NEXT at the bottom of each page.
1. At the table this one is fun and works for me, just using the absolutely complete random generation a few times, then picking one or two that make sense.
https://www.mysticwaffle.com/loot
We like our gnolls. https://steamforged.com/products/epic-encounters-savannah-of-the-gnoll-pack
20 miniatures plus a dbl map. Tall grass might provide cover. $60. Not bad price actually.
UPDATE: OK, I bought the Monstrous Menagerie II (aka Mon.Men.2),... spontaneous buying when I've got a cold I guess... and it looks pretty good. Check out the Crimson Sporecap, CR 7... I'm using that SOON. Maybe it followed the drow into G3. And it has stats for a Crimson Sporecap Thrall, yes indeed, it can mind control you.
LevelUp's Monster Menag.2, a lot of weird monsters so I need to think on it, but damn the first book was the best:
https://d1vzi28wh99zvq.cloudfront.net/pdf_previews/505128-sample.pdf
BTW, they went "free" recently I guess with the Monstrous Menagerie 1.
Monsters from Monstrous Men-age-rie 2 (note, big categories like Oozes or Elementals are semi-overlapping with Mon.Men.1):
Angels 16Arcanocordyceps 22Archlich 24Behemoths 28Blight Giants 42Body Bags 46Bzous 48Carcines 50Cloakers 54Cogs 56Crimson Sporecaps 60Deathless Legionnaire 64Deep Goblins 66Devils 70Dragons 86 - you can never have too many cool dragons, but there are all the usual plus some in Mon.Men.1
Eclipsar 118Elementals 120Elemental Husks 126Encanther 128Energy Motes 130Eternal Knights 132Fog Mime 142Fungus 144Giant Ant 148Gremlin 152Greenwood Child 154Guardians 156Heartless Hag 160Hollowed 162Hooded Crow 164Hypnopotamus 166 --> Heh, this looks funny... I guess they have at least one jokey named monster.Iscon 168Khalkoi 170Langabugs 174Longfinger 176Loving Lichen 178Mephits 180Mercurus 184Mimic 186Mome Rath 188Moonbloom Hydra 190
Ogres 192 - the Mon.Men.1 has a regular Ogre entry already.Oozes 196 - Mon.Men.1 has black puddings and grey oozes already. More I'm sure here.Primordial Lycanthropes 202Reborn Gods 206Shades 220The Skar 222Sleepless 228Spiders 234 - surprised not in book 1.Stitchweaver 238Storm Spirit 242Tomegrub 244Unkawi 246Vile Urchin 248Warlock Wights 250Whisper 252Whisper Snake 254Wickerwitches 256Zombies 260 - surprised not in book 1.
AppendicesAppendix A:Horde Monsters 265Appendix B:Heroic Monsters 277Appendix C: Conditions 294Appendix D: Stat Blocksby Challenge Rating 301Appendix E: Stat Blocksby Name 306
