Monthly Archives: October 2023

The Slyth Have Escaped! (New high-level OSR adventure for Levels 14+)

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Happy Halloween everyone!

I was asked to help with layout for PrinceofNothing’s new adventure, Slyth Hive. I was intrigued because he claimed it was for level 14+ characters using the OSRIC ruleset–if that matters, I mean all of these retroclones are pretty easy to convert to your favorite rulebook, right? But ask yourself, how many high-level OSR adventures are out there? Anthony Huso comes to my mind, but anyone else?–seems pretty rare.

Most high-level Dungeon & Dragons adventures I see are a bit boring. Instead of 1 dragon, they throw in 3, which to me– takes away the awe of a huge, ferocious dragon. Or, they gimp the players and put in effects or reasons why certain spells or magic items won’t work, etc. Seems pretty cheap, since it took so long for a player to get their character that high of level and then take away their power?

In Slyth Hive, there are a few minor tricks here and there–and why wouldn’t there be as you are going up against some powerful foes! But for the majority of the adventure, it felt like the full power of the character is encouraged! Your character has followers? Cool…bring them along! You got a +5 Vorpal Sword of Lighting? Great–I hope it serves you well. And with most of Prince’s work, the creativity is pretty unmatched–I mean, I get a little disgusted or uncomfortable just reading some of his descriptions–it’s a rare gift to ooze those feelings upon your players as they explore and try to stay alive.

So come forth to Old Agoiah, a mountain full of doom and despair…I guarantee your players with their uber powerful characters of level 14+ are going to be challenged! For sale now at DrivethruRPG: Slyth Hive

Although as fate would have it, I know Edgewise–author of Peril in Olden Wood, is also working on a high-level adventure and he has been super patient with me….so will we start off 2024 with another high-level D&D adventure? I think so!

Also, we have 3 adventures wrapped into one for the Dragonback Mountain setting. If you have enjoyed The Willowmere Vagabonds, Nevermore Mines, Trollback Keep, and Of Beasts and Men…then you will need to get your hands on The Coming of Winter! Easily scanned adventures for the DM during play. Levels 3-5. New Monsters….new Spells…and of course, New Magic Items! If your characters find themselves in the snowy mountains, these three adventures are easy to plug in to your existing campaign. Get on our pre-launch page—we will be launching soon! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mercilessmerchants/the-coming-of-winter

And if you can’t wait for our Kickstarter, here is a special 50% discount for Winter’s Feast

Winter’s Feast is located in the Dragonback Mountains, for levels 5-9. “Starvation is upon two barbarian clans. Hope for survival rides on a scout’s report of sighting a dead Solifugas, a colossal ice worm. Hunting bands are set out to collect meat for survival but none have returned. You have been tasked to find them and bring back meat for the clan to survive the winter. But winter has been harsh and merciless this year, and other humanoids are rushing for the food source. And how did this giant worm die? What lays below the Glacier of the Mammoth?”

Enjoy!

Kickstarter: The Coming of Winter–3 OSR fantasy adventures, PRE-LAUNCH HYPE

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The Coming of Winter contains three OSR adventures set in the cold reaches of the Dragonback Mountains. The adventures are located near a town called Coppercore, known for its rich copper mines. Primarily inhabited by humans, there is also a dwarf quarter, while numerous beast clans known as the Verloren roam the expansive wilderness.

The adventures are modular and can be used separately or together and easily inserted into any GM’s campaign setting that has a snowy mountain wilderness for D&D 1E/2E games. The adventures have been written, edited (2/3 finished), and currently going through layout mode and finishing art pieces, which may change the approximate page numbers below.

You can join our pre-launch page here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mercilessmerchants/the-coming-of-winter

Ice Needles of the Cryoptera

Eons ago, in a battle of the gods, the Sun God, Ardennor cast down the God of the Cryopteras, Gwerendok, from the heavens, entombing the ice devil inside an amber prison, deep within a mountain. A shrine to Ardennor was built to guard the imprisonment of the devil, but in the harsh and unrelenting wilds of the Dragonback Mountains, the priests and denizens eventually perished, and the shrine became forgotten behind a frozen waterfall for hundreds of years.

A variety of adventure hooks send the party through snowy mountainous terrain to a massive frozen waterfall. The frozen waterfall has been chosen by the cold-dwelling insect race, the cryoptera, as a suitable location for three of their elders to attempt their fifth metamorphic stage. Elders who are successful are elevated to almost demi-god status among their race! While waiting, their pupas have dug deeper tunnels inside the mountain, accidently discovering their entombed god, Gwerendok! The cryoptera hold a fervent hope that their awakened elders will be powerful enough to release their god upon the world where they can pillage all resources and thrive. Enter, the adventurers.…

An expanded adventure from Patreon in 2017, Ice Needles of the Cryoptera includes:

  • Original art by ScorpyDesign and Del Teigeler
  • 3 maps: (Waterfall Base, Shrine of Ardennor, Upper Waterfall Cave)
  • Approx. 35 pages

Winter’s Grasp

Lady Attya, a druidess, bursts through the tavern doors, calling for help and urges heroes to quickly follow bloody tracks into the snow-laden mountains and forests in search of her niece, Tonya. She claims Tonya was abducted by a hairy, monstrous creature! Wintery skies threaten to bury the tracks in snow if not followed immediately….Time is running out!

But it is well known that ravenous worgs and humanoids prowl the lower forests this time of year for food and resources as well as the different clans of the rough Verloren and even monstrous man-eating giants! Tall tales and boasts have grown suddenly quiet as nervous looks spread across the cozy inn. Who will stand and answer the call to take on this daunting task..?

Winter’s Grasp is an adventure through the wilds of the Dragonback Mountains that ends up with a lowish level party facing the likes of a frost giant to save a girl and possibly explore a cave lair that houses an old burial mound of the Verloren Cave Bear Clan. Will the party use their wits and apply trickery? Negotiate? Use stealth? Or bravely (foolishly?) attack a frost giant in its own lair?!

  • Eric Hunt provides the art in this adventure as well as the cover for The Coming of Winter.
  • 2 maps (Worg Den, Frost Giant Lair)
  • Approx. 12 pages

Winter’s Blight

Various adventure hooks lead PCs to a glacier that has eroded the mountain valley, exposing a cave entrance resembling a mountain tiger’s open maw. Most believe the entrance leads to one of the numerous Verloren clan burial mounds in the area. Its discovery is ripe for those brave enough to face its guards and wards for looting, or to protect the burial for the Mountain Tiger Clan. In either case, the locals also believe it’s become a new lair for a bloodthirsty group of ice trolls who have recently terrorized the roads and nearby human settlements. The locals express whatever the adventures find can be theirs….but of course, they don’t speak for the Mountain Tiger Clan.

An expanded adventure from Patreon in 2017 known as the ‘The Ice Troll Cave’, Winter’s Blight includes:

  • Art by Del Teigeler
  • 3 maps: (Ice Troll Lair, Ice Troll Floating Iceberg dungeon, Smilodon Tomb)
  • Approx. 26 pages

The Coming of Winter Package:

  • All adventures are organized with bullet points and bolding for ease of scanning while playing at the table.
  • Wilderness map of the region
  • 6 New Monsters including the cryoptera, banngeists, and the monstrous glyptonia!
  • 7 New Spells, most with a snow/ice theme.
  • 15+ New Magic Items

Our Kickstarter launches Nov. 13th, 2023. Thanks for your consideration and support, hope to see you there!!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mercilessmerchants/the-coming-of-winter

Slyth Hive and The Coming of Winter Updates for the OSR

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Once in awhile I get asked for collaboration on a Dungeons & Dragons / OSR project. I get addicted to people’s passions and usually can’t say no if I have time for it—especially if they are open to critique and/or edits in an effort to make it better. That part is pretty fun for me because you can build off ideas off one another—I mean, who doesn’t enjoy discussing D&D adventures? One example of a successful project was Peril in Olden Wood by Ray Weidner—pretty cool project! Ray had done most of the work and was open to suggestions and I enjoyed putting his ideas into layout mode. For Peril in Olden Wood fans, Ray has something new in the works—Beware the King of the Cannibal Cult! I haven’t been able to delve into it yet and he is patiently waiting on me to get some other AD&D adventures and modules published (as well as real life projects) but from what I know, it’s a high level AD&D adventure! I’m hoping to work with him this November/December.

Other such projects was The Red Prophet Rises, where after Prince of Nothing reviewed The Chest, we chatted and I challenged him to write his own adventure. I wrote Red Prophet, and Prince enhanced it, and it was an overall enjoyable experience. But that was just a warm-up for Prince as he accepted my challenge and our roles reversed as he wrote Palace of Unquiet Repose and I did edits and layout. So how could I say no to him on his next project: Slyth Hive?

I’m not going to ruin any surprises about the fantasy adventure except that it’s for Level 14+ adventurers for OSRIC! How many high level adventures are out there for D&D? I can think of Huso and maybe a few rare others, but that’s about it….now Ray and Prince are tackling the challenge—I love it! Slyth Hive it about 90+ pages of high creativity and challenges. The adventure is almost wrapped up so keep an eye out for it soon!

Coming of Winter

We got 3 D&D adventures rolled up into one big presentation called The Coming of Winter.

Eric Hunt has been working hard getting the cover piece done for Coming of Winter. You can check him out at ericthomashunt.bigcartel.com or on his instagram Ericthomashunt. He also has some assignments for the Winter’s Grasp adventure.

I’m working with ScorpyDesigns again and Sumit has been putting our ideas on paper as he shows the different metamorphic stages of the cryoptera—an insect humanoid race that lives in the snowy wastes. The cryoptera are the main antagonists in Ice Needles of the Cryoptera. I wrote that adventure awhile back during my Patreon days, but I’ve added an outside area and an additional level of the adventure and Jon has added some additional challenges. If you like Sumit’s work (he also did the cover for Gyllagoon’s Island), you can find him on Fiverr at Draw illustrations in black and white by Scorpydesign | Fiverr. I highly recommend him, super easy to work with and a great guy.

Finally Del Tiegeler is wrapping up his assignment list for Winter’s Blight (formerly Ice Troll Cave). I’ve really enjoyed ‘watching’ the adventure of the four heroes as they delve deeper into the cave. Del does a lot of cool details and has been a lot of fun to work with. So much fun in fact, I just put in an order for 2 more full page art pieces for Ice Needles.

You can check out Del’s art at mavfire.deviantart.com or www.delteigelerillustration.com.

The Merciless Merchants are busy and good things are coming! In fact, I’m sending out a coupon for The Nevermore Mines since its Halloween season—an adventure that is based off Jon’s garage/haunted house every year for Halloween. If my DrivethruRPG email doesn’t reach you, give me a holler here and Ill send you the coupon code.

Stay tuned for Coming of Winter Kickstarter news!