Tag Archives: #kickstarter

An….Intermission….and…Update!

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Oh…..hello there!!! Were you expecting a continuation of Aden’s journal? Hah! Well…as a DM…I fooked up! I had a player, my business partner Mr. Jonbar, writing a journal of his character’s adventures. Something that maybe any DM would hope for….but you see….the dice determine things..right? As a DM, you got to go by the dice!! No fudging…no bullshit…otherwise, things are cheapened…..at least, that’s my opinion, right??? and sure…. others may play differently–the gods bless their souls…Is Aden dead then? hmm…I’m not sure to be honest…perhaps you can all gather around and tell me what you think should be this Sun Priest’s fate……..but for now, I’m taking over the updates of this perilous journey as the party makes their way through the Icicles of the Cryoptera, found in the Coming of Winter: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/473203/the-coming-of-winter

Ok…you see…the party had arrived at the Icicles of the Cryoptera!! An enormous frozen waterfall, riddled with caves within the cliffs and treacherous, slippery paths, as well as huge icicles dangling from the frozen waterfall…thus, its name…..and well, perhaps you know of this already if you have followed Aden’s journal as they attempted to infiltrate this fortress, mostly with a hard-headed dwarf in the fore to destroy this area quickly….so they attempted to cross this 80′ long ice bridge….

But as you can see…from the great artistry of Del Tiegeler….the party met some frozen banngiests that impeded their journey….as well as a few patrols of cryoptera…but let’s refresh yourselves from Aden’s journal:

“We chose to retreat carefully back across the bridge, to find a place to heal and recoup for everyone was wounded and well spent. I advised that we do something with all the bodies, but no one wanted to bother.”

HAH!!! Part of the enjoyment of being a DM is when the party is at odds with one another….they mess up!!! Right?! They are assaulting a fortress but don’t bother with being sneaky??!!….no hiding of the bodies?! DELICIOUS I say!!….

Within a few hours….cryoptera patrols located the battered party and immediately sent someone for help….to arouse the entire hive!! Because….at this time, they are nurturing three elders…hoping they emerge from their icy cocoons to become demi-gods to lead them to glory! Any type of distraction is UNACCEPTABLE!!!

The party fought off the cryoptera patrol but realized they had pissed off the whole hive!! The cryoptera would have their vengeance!!!!

Swarms of cryoptera attempted to cross the ice bridge to tear apart the party…..Schlomo used his magical wand and blasted the bridge with Lighting Bolt. The whole bridge shuttered, but was not destroyed,…only cracking of ice leaving a weakened pathway. The party fought those that crossed as well as spell-casting insectoid men that threw harmful spells from their rune-engraved wings! Schlomo then gave the party some time, by unleashing a Solid Fog from the wand upon those on the bridge…blinding and slowing the enemy.

The battle continued…with Sonny, the powerful half-orc priest and fighter, being levitated and dragged through the air by a winged opponent to finally be ‘released’ to fall to his death to the icy river below…..but Sonny prevailed, barely surviving the fall, landing in the river and pulling himself from its icy clutches….he started to make his way towards the cliff where he felt he could maybe climb out of the chasm.

The mysterious gnome, Izzy, the murderous dwarf Mudreck and Valbryn, the leader of the party became holed up in one of the tunnels, trapped by vaporous fog, and a horrendous icy spike growth that impeded their movement. They watched in horror as Sonny fell….unable to do anything! They waited with baited breath as the gnome tried to rest enough for PSP’s to get them to safety with his Dimension Door ability. The enemy seemed to leave them alone…for now….

Meanwhile Schlomo and Aden fought off the enemy on the slippery slope leading out of the chasm….they howled in victory as eventually the ice bridge groaned and cracked…finally weakening enough to fall into the icy crevasse taking several of the enemy below….Most died upon impact, but some proved hardier, emerging from the icy river and started to trail Sonny…

The two priests fought valiantly against overwhelming odds and finally Aden fell. Schlomo became ignored as he was successful in casting Sanctuary upon himself. He managed to heal the heavily injured Aden before the cryoptera flew his body across the chasm. The cryoptera seemed excited, recognizing Aden’s holy symbol and clothing…perhaps Aden could provide some answers to some of the symbols and runes they found upon icy doors of this Shrine of Ardennor, Aden’s chosen deity….

The party eventually escaped and returned to the camp of the Beaver Clan. Gaining reinforcements in Wilma and Dayrll, both a warrior and ranger and a powerful archer named Skooz…as well as a mysterious Raven Clan shaman, Evara.

They went back to the fortress, eventually following a white manticore down its access point behind the waterfall…..

They fought it off, but it still survives, licking its wounds…its young unmolested for now…but most of its treasure stolen.

The party has explored this new area of the fortress, more like a tomb….but perhaps stumbling into parts of the ancient shrine of Ardennor…Their intention is to save the sun priest Aden…but hell….they had already forgotten his name!! LOL!….and now they stirred the lair of some sort of white snow pile….a white pudding!!!. Will they figure out how to work together to survive?

And Aden….heavily injured, barely clinging to life….wakes momentarily to see the insectoid creatures thrusting symbols of his god in front of him…but he can barely understand…the buzzing of death overtakes his mind….and yet…later he sees a face of a wild, crazed Verloren asking if he is ok!….but he passes out. Somehow…that grizzled face gives him a little hope and strength.

But that sense of dread lingers…perhaps the cryoptera will sacrifice this sun priest in an attempt to give power to awaken their sleeping elders—who may be the only ones powerful enough to waken the sleeping ice-devil, demi-god…the one known as Gwerendok!

Should Aden survive or be sacrificed? Post your vote below in the comments (no Jon…I’m not counting your comment)!!!

Beware the Cannibals…..!!!

In other news, Ray Weidner “Edgewise”, author of Peril of Olden Wood, is hard at work on an exciting adventure for Beware the King of the Cannibal Cult!. A huge city adventure for high level characters that surely will challenge their mettle! Keep your eyes and ears open in the next few months as we wait for art to pile in so we can attempt to bring this exciting adventure (100+ pages) to life…its fruition will need a successful Kickstarter attempt for the rest of the art pieces!! Ill sneak in some of the initial art pieces soon….they are amazing!! (Shh..don’t tell Ray.) We could really use your support to get this adventure out there so keep an eye out and we will be throwing in some deals for Merciless Merchant adventures into the mix!

Do the Gods even care?!

Need some flavor for your campaign??! Jonbar and Malrex are working on the Pantheon of Yulara, a book of the deities in the world of Yulara which includes the Dragonback Mts and Vermilion Sea. Each deity has a specialty priest and there are several new spells to explore and use for your own campaign! Coming soon to DrivethruRPG!!!

The Bone Toilers Return!!!

Malrex is slowly working on a Part 2 of the Bone Toilers of the Tar Pits! This 7-10th level or so adventure has the party competing with others to enter a crazy, dying dimension to find out where the bone toiler threat comes from…and perhaps save a goddess?

The Green Light….

I’m also giving Jonbar the green light to take a break from the HUGE Coppercore campaign and come up with a new adventure of his choosing. Yes…we are still working on the Coppercore campaign and WILL release it, but still play testing it…tweaking it….etc….will be throwing out the nets soon for a series of artists soon to help get this project done. It’s been like 7 years in the making so far, and still needs work….This is a very exciting project and has soaked up most of our time. Curious? then check out our stream every Wednesday! https://www.youtube.com/@TheMercilessMerchants-yx8pd

Final Countdown–The Coming of Winter

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We are in the last 20 hours of our latest Kickstarter–The Coming of Winter! Feeling pretty blessed with our supporters to help us publish these three winter-themed adventures.

Just got some more art in and wanted to share:

Ice bridge fight against banngeists (evil spirits).
Dwarven thief foolishly removes the wooden stake from Pale Fang of the Mountain Tiger Clan
Whoops!
Close and personal!

Worked with three great artists, Del Tiegeler, ScorpyDesign, and Eric Hunt…definitely recommend them!

If you want to hop on and grab some great deals on our Add-Ons, or get 3 great adventures, better hurry!

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!