Apparently, the ogre ladies and pregnant orc company did not leave….the party entered and took no prisoners. Hacking ogres and orcs alike…maybe they let one orc female go? I’m not sure as I was not there (as a player)…licking my own personal wounds of Covid. But I watched the stream…made comments when I could…and apparently, we won/or survived, which is basically the same thing in D&D! So that is always a good thing.
It sounds like Larvin still wants to claim this mine and the party is interested in that as well–as long as they get a cut….but myself, Khazrik Cinderbrand–well as you know, if you have been reading along here on my adventures on this blog—AND you have read all these posts right?!!!
Well then you can probably understand why Khazrik has a moment here and realizes a great opportunity—to step away from this adventuring group where he has almost died twice and join Larvin and claim this mine! Hints of coal are in this mine…and if there is a solid coal supply, well then I can enact the secrets of my Ash Brothers and create machines for mining and defense for this mine! This mine could be an excellent stronghold/outpost for my Axeholme kin who visit and it could help protect Farholme, our main supply chain to civilization.
I mean..the others are talking about tracking down the horse thief Draven and dealing with small creatures wearing red boots (The Willowmere Vagabonds adventure)….why the hell would I want to tangle with that when there is a GREAT source of profit and potential with this mine?! Larvin seems ok….perhaps I could become the miner foreman with a greater take on coal….this path seems to please my god, at least that’s how I feel.
So for those who read this blog—you know my character’s actions…before the rest of the party, for sadly–and seriously, it IS sad, I don’t believe they read this blog….But I guess they will realize soon enough when I introduce my new character (thanks for the magic items suckers!)
Khazrik has feelings don’t ya know!
So I shall bring in a new character. Hopefully, for you gentle readers, it will be someone as talkative as myself, Khazrik so you can keep reading this ill-tended blog….but no guarantees…If you want Khazrik to stay…say so in the comments!! Ill probably ignore them though.
THE LIGHT WE CARRY—AND THE PATH WE FORGE
I just watched an excellent video on the importance of light in dungeon exploration–how something as simple as a ‘torch’ defines tone, danger, and discovery.
It reminded me why I fell in love with 2nd Edition D&D—and why I’ve chosen to walk this different path. Watch the short video here.
Resource management: torches, oil, rations, spell component–these have always been the heartbeat of tension. Modern systems, like 5e, often discard it as tedious bookkeeping, a chore if you will. But that slow burn of scarcity makes every choice matter!! And it’s part of the thrill of the game in my humble opinion.
The torchlight flickering low. The fighter debating whether to press forward. The cleric’s last candle sputtering in the dark….
That’s storytelling born from the mechanics themselves. This is why Dungeons & Dragons is not your ordinary ‘board’ game and why it has so much potential–creativity thrusted to the roof by talented Dungeon Masters.
2e understood that survival wasn’t just a rule–it was a language of fear, sacrifice, and meaning. Darkness wasn’t an obstacle. It was a stage.
Some call this the OSR ideal. I call it 2nd Edition done right.
We’re planting our flag for For Gold & Glory and its compatible ruleset, Journals of Nevermore. And yes–we’ve heard your statements—2e has been called the red-headed stepchild of the OSR. Forums, Reddit, threads. So be it!! The Merciless Merchants embrace that exile. We like orcs, goblins, traps, resource management, and terrible odds–because danger still matters and running away is always an option. We like THAC0. We like consequence!
While some have drawn their borders and turned their backs on 2e, that’s fine. Let them keep their line in the sand. We’ll keep the torch. And use that torch to light our bonfire.
For Gold & Glory and Journals of Nevermore aren’t asking for a seat at the OSR table anymore– we’re building our own! Same roots. Different soil. Where danger still lives, light still matters, and 2e still burns bright.
Several new books and adventures are coming in 2026–each carrying the grit, heart, and soul of 2nd Edition. Stay tuned!
I was on a forum, posting about the Coming of Winter sale…and a short discussion started–“we need something new..” and I wrote a response and well…figured I should probably write it here. Its a little early as our full 18 prong attack isn’t quite ready but I figured the six of you should know what we are up too. So…copy/paste here, cause I’m lazy!
“2e? Do tell!”
Well…that was eventually the question…so here is the answer of what we have been up too:
“We are doing a full embrace of For Gold & Glory with our own optional ruleset, Journal of Nevermore, that is compatible with that system–and starting a 2e Movement!. I’m still baffled why these guys wrote a solid 2e ruleset then bailed and didn’t really do anything with it, so we want to beef it up.
Jon and I are finishing up a Deities book, full of priests (i.e. specialty priests), new spells, etc. for the World of Yulara (which houses Dragonback Mountains, Vermillion, etc)–about 80% done. Also doing last bit of editing of a dwarf, gnome, human kit books (3 different books) which include different skills, specialty priests for demi-humans, and spells—all focused mainly in the Dragonback Mountains region, will be starting a half-orc and half-elf kit book as well, and we got a book of 5 different types of monks that needs editing and some more playtesting, freebie regional guide for Dragonback Mts (where most of our adventures are), etc. It’s stuff we have been working/picking at/playtesting since 2017 that’s finally making some headway in getting done.
We are also working on some adventures–which even though we will be doing 2e, our adventures will still have the 1e flavor like always (not so story driven like usual old 2e stuff). I’m finishing up a druid adventure that I wrote back in 2018–trying to get Del Tiegeler to help me with a complicated plant map for it (I think he forgot about me so need to ping him), I got a Part 2 of the Tar Pits of Bone Toilers about half way written–which is a different dimension adventure to the Marrow Ravine as characters go through the Maw of Ghormaug, I have a short, low-level elvish mine adventure I have in mind that I want to bust out that I came up with while hiking the Lost Coast, and Jon is just starting to work on a low level adventure.
Ray’s adventure–Death-Maze of the Sorcerer Kings (previously called Beware! The Cult of the Cannibal King!) was in a No Artpunk book, but he has expanded it 3-4x—instead of a just a dungeon that was found in No Art Punk, he has created a huge city adventure for high levels for OSE. Guys—I think this one is really good! Has a great city map that we will make a limited run of posters for. He found a few great artists too (that I’m hoping to hire at some point). He’s been working/playtesting at it for awhile and I’ve edited it twice and starting to get into layout mode for that. He is also finishing up an additional expansion for it. This one will be a Kickstarter attempt to pay for all the art–hopefully in a few months. Here is a sneak peak of the city map.
Artist: Spaghetti Questor
It’s been fun working with Ray and others, but Death-maze will probably be my last adventure for a while working with others and outside systems (OSE, etc.). Time to stop asking for a seat at the OSR table. 2e was never really invited—and that’s fine. We’re the red-headed stepchild, and we’re ready to make our own Movement.”
So yeah..thats the message. I may..probably…do another dramatic message when we really kick off the movement, but the six of you deserve to know what’s up first and know we are a bit hellbent on bringing in the 2e glory…with For Gold and Glory.
Ogre Crisis!!…err..no.
Veggie and I move bravely into the cave, climbing 5′ tall CLIFFS and pits and whatnot. I try to slow the excited warrior down…I mean, the rest of our party was still outside, probably gathering arrows and looking for a fabled broken chest full of COPPER…I knew that this would have Ghemel’s attention…so the two of us might be by ourselves. I heal myself and him quickly…but he was bored..ready to move forward. I…wait!! what was that? Ohhhhh a gobby!! running from us. While Vlastimeer tries to light a torch, I squint my eyes and shoot the running goblin in the back! and it falls down, dead….hey, no judgement here..none of this ‘honorable stuff’…it was dark and stuff.
I got a little excited. I fucking hate gobbies. Ugly, smell bad….and waste the air that they breathe. ‘The only good goblin is a dead goblin.’
Bah…close enough!
Anyways, yes, we see firelight straight ahead and ignore other passages and we finally get a reeeealllll good look in the room. 7 ogre females, several pregnant orc ladies, a few stinky dick-faced goblins…basically a room full of titties…..err, scuse me, this is a PG-13 blog.
Veggie gets some wide eyes and turns to me “we should probably go back…..” I’ll be honest, he was only talking to the hair-fur on my beautiful dwarf ass. I was out of there!!! Rocks were shattering all around us as I was climbing back up the CLIFFS and luckily Veggie decided to help me up, once he realized I was in full agreement to what he last said.
Getting ready to climb a CLIFF after a successful, stealthy, scouting mission.
Apparently we passed Izzy…who was hidden (see the sneaky bastard on my left?), doing gods know what. The lil gnome had a knack for finding treasure though. I had joked he was like bait on a fishing rod–we just cast him inside the dungeon, we feel a few nibbles and pull him out thought one of his weird doorways. Not sure he understood…he is always so cheerful…especially when he talks to burrowing creatures and whatnot, but only to eat them and add the fur to his cloak….crafty…but also nasty!
Anyways…we make it outside, after getting bashed up a bit by thrown stone, heal up and regroup with all the others. We decide to camp below with the miner…Larvin…the Mighty? We get there, tired…bloody…out of breath (well, I still have my breath, but Veggie’s silent henchman–honestly I forget his name–Hansel? but he don’t speak…but he can BREATHE REALLY LOUD). Surely, the female ogres who could probably kick our ass wouldn’t wander 100 yards to our camp…..we gambled.
We realize then that we were missing a horse. The genius Larvin begins to weave a tale, about a mad-eyed human with only a loin cloth entering the camp….gross. Larvin gave him food, drink….and then the bedraggled man mounted on Veggies horse and vowed to find us to help us! Larvin was awe-struck with the man’s courage…only later, with several hints from us during his story, that the man stole our horse. It was Draven!! son bitch was still alive! I was ok with this…the man was pretty useful…but wtf is he doing? Veggie got pissed, bought Larvins’s mule—err rented it..and Veggie, Talon, and Loud Breather set off to find the horse because apparently it’s Veggies mistress or something…he cared deeply for it. Humans are weird.
Ghemel and I looked at each other and shrugged. Figured we had time to mediate, concentrate, think about shields and skills….and hopefully, maybe new 2nd level spells (nope!! sigh…our DM is most merciless) and we wait with Bunnion, Izzy, Larvin and the chatty Yurin….and wait….and wait……listening to Yurin and Larvin….a new age goes by….still no new spell level…
Meanwhile Draven finds some river dwarves and convinces them to give him a guide, named Giint and float on a boat to Oakvale….He trades the horse for the boat…not a few hours later does Veggie show up, spending 25 gp on the horse that was stolen from him….Draven’s whereabouts are unknown. Oh..and there was also an annoying dwarf that asked a bunch of questions–dem river dwarves are something! but he was eventually shut upped..(is that a term?). Not sure since I wasnt there, but pretty sure Giint was happy as he felt ogres may descend upon their camp at any time! Stay tuned for future adventures of Giint the River Dwarf (but probably not).
The cool group…ya…the ones with dwarves in it who were waiting……..well, we got attacked by curious yetis. Lucky timing too, as I was about to throttle Yurin to make him shut up. The yeti came in hard, immediately dropping Yurin and Bunnion–although..ok…BANNION did use a new wand he found and blasted two of them with lightning!! That was cool…but ya, anyways he gets smacked down in one hit and so does Yurin, which made me consider giving the yeti a gold or 2 for the blessed silence..finally!….Izzy was way up in a tree and kept opening his weird portals and yetis falling through them. Raining yetis!! hell yeah! He tried to stab them with his little dagger while they fell to the ground, it was kind of amusing cept I had to focus on fighting and didnt get a good look at any wild-eyed, falling yetis…
Ohhh..and speaking of daggers, we did find a magical dagger off one of the previous ogre bodies. Talon decided to keep it…vowing to use it in battle…ya right…I was dubious about this…Ive seen him fight. Inwardly, I labeled him “the wind’s bravest warrior”, with all of his running and trying to shoot his bow. Maybe effective, but the boy, Yurin….he had the better shot if I’m honest (but I secretly like Talon better because he doesn’t talk so much). But I don’t come to this blog to spend my time embarrassing anyone…no sir…honest…
The dwarves are most impressed….
Anyways, most of the yetis run away, cept for the one that Izzy continually dropped through his portal–a never ending hell..and Ghemel finally decapitated it.
The next morning, the rest of the party arrived…not sure where the mule went. They mumbled something about a white dragon….great!!!…I’m looking forward to getting to Oakvale, resting, praying…maybe staying put!! We shall see…but I do miss some quiet connection with my god…being in camp with yabbering Yurin doesn’t count….
Finally…when we all gather…we discuss entering the ogre cave once more. I sorta hope the female ogres just have run off….dont get me wrong, there is no sympathy here….it’s just that…well…..they smell…..very poorly….ugly…..*dwarf ramblings*
If you’re like me, you can already feel the cold wind of fall and the faint kiss of winter creeping across the land. Seems fitting then that The Coming of Winter is tomorrow’s Deal of the Day (10/27) on DriveThruRPG!
We’re risking our very name — The Merciless Merchants — by offering a massive 60% discount! What the hell are we thinking?! It’s unlikely this adventure will ever be cheaper.
Inside, you’ll get:
3 full-length adventures
9 mini-adventures for wilderness and short dungeons across the Dragonback Mountains
9 new monsters and 8 new spells with a chilling winter theme
And of course… new magic items (because—that’s part of our reputation!)
This is an absolute STEAL for your collection. Grab it tomorrow (10/27) before the snows — and this deal — disappear! The Coming of Winter!
*Sigh*…isn’t true human art fantastic?! All of this art shown here was done by Del Teigeler. The dude is amazing to work with, a real POWER-HOUSE! and really captures the vibe of old-school Dungeons & Dragons–can’t speak highly enough about him. It’s the correct path to take for illustrating old-school adventures as only human artists can capture the ‘vibe’.
Alright, well…now below…..we present pathetic AI art to cover the ill-fated adventures of Khazrik Cinderbrand.
Ogre Finale!!!! ?
Darkness…I think vision goes first…then your hearing. I felt like I could still hear the impact of weapon upon enemy, the sound of dripping blood, the cries, screams, and defiant battle cries of warriors…I still felt my pain….ugh….then finally silence….which started to emerge the great dwarven war engines!!! Graceful and sleek…powerful, blessed coal-powered machines and weapons of war. Imagine all the tools and materials you needed, right before you…and a design to create the most epic war machine. Ive never been so excited to start and….
I awake to see Ghemel’s ugly mug. “Fuck…my bones…did we win?” He nods quickly before running off to attend someone else.
Yurin…I mean…Joran…is that his name? All these humans look alike to me…he stares at me, talking excitedly about how he shot ogres with his bow….ugh…. read the room man, I’m in pain piss-ant!! His rambling gives me a pounding headache. I try to nod politely as I shift my weight to try and see the battle’s aftermath. Dead ogres…good. Vegie–still moving around…good…Some random human sitting by the fire…what the fuck?
I groan, roll to my feet and gather my items and senses…then wander towards the fire. I grit my teeth and deal with my pounding headache and I start to heal myself as well as my companions, while trying to get a feel for this new stranger. Thank Dhurn Kavok…the Black Blood of the Mountain!! such miracles being able to heal wounds of my companions. Truly Dhurn should be the leader of the gods and I….ok, I could talk about Him for awhile, but Ill try to stick to the summary…ok?
We heal up…we groan…we bitch…we speak vengeance…bitch some more…then decide to go front assault against the ogre cave like Rage Against the Machine!! I mean…how many could be left? Our new companion goes by the name of Bunnion…or Bannion, hell I dont know..why should I care? he may die within minutes….apparently he likes staves. The man is pretty ripped though, so not sure why he likes staves and not a true dwarf weapon like an axe…but he apparently was a prisoner of these ogres, is pissed off at them— so happy to have him. We will take what we can get.
Bannion did mumble something about seeing Draven…alive…and he shrunk or something. You know when you meet someone and they got the crazy eyes and start talking gibberish, but you are so involved in the conversation, its hard to leave, but you are like WTF?….It was kinda like that….but maybe Draven is still alive in there. He always gave me shit..so..I guess..uhh..oh joy that he is alive?! Bleh…ogres don’t like Draven…so he is ok in my book for that minimal regard…
We charge up the mountain ramp leading up the plateau that holds the cave mouth. Veggie gets excited and runs past the ogres and disgusting goblins to reach the cave mouth–preparing for any that come outside to join the fray. Ghemel rushes in and attacks a staggering goblin that entered one of the mysterious gnome Izzel’s portals, and so I rush in to the top of the plateau and quickly get skewered by an ogre spear..damn them…but I smote down an ugly dick-face goblin so all is not lost! I take time to heal my wounds after the ogre fell….
The ogre shaman appears….then…quickly falls from Veggie, Ghemel and Bannion. Pretty anti-climatic as I rushed up…BUT EXPECTED, since we are heroes!!
Ghemel charges some of the goblin archers who were shooting at Talon who was separated from us. Talon was shooting arrows at the goblins from down below…I know this as I saw most of the arrows hitting the cliff and landing harmlessly upon the plateau where I was fighting–with him nowhere in sight.
We all help as we can….but can we pause a moment and talk about the dwarven priest Ghemel. He worships Zilvren—The Shimmering God, The Gleaming One, Gemfather, The Facetlord…sure…I’ll pay respects to Zilvren, I like gems and stuff but he is no Dhurn Kavok!
Ok..ya, Zilvren, and probably a bunch of other titles that I dont give a shit about. I mean..have I talked about Dhurn Kavok, the Coalforger, the Iron Shadow.??.ok…*cough*, I think I have mentioned Him and his powers and how cool he is….and…err..ok, well anyways Ghemel…I mean..he is just a priest…not a warrior/priest like myself, but he has been a powerful force, standing up against two ogres and whatnot and surviving–much better than my luck I may add. No small amount of courage this one!!! He is my dwarven brother with this group, my only lifeline to sanity…..But anyways…he runs in to attack these pitiful, wart-skinned, sissy ass goblins….gods how I hate goblins…and maybe Ghemel had the bloodlust, the murder in his eyes made this goblin jump off the cliff to avoid the angry dwarf…but Ghemel swung….horribly….like, the worst sword swing imaginable….tossing his gleaming blade down the cliff.
I immediately focused on the cave mouth that Veggie was moving in so I was happy to move in to take a defensive position, quickly trying to forget the image I saw of a dwarf trying to attack a goblin….please don’t share this image…embarrassing to dwarves across the lands. Luckily the hero(?) Talon was down below from the major fight, doing something down there–maybe shooting arrows? not sure…I wasn’t really impressed but..oh right, back to summary— Talon might be able to retrieve Ghemel’s sword for him….hopefully he finds himself useful entering this cave with us–or better yet, taking care of the horses…
Veggie and I are ready to enter the ogre cave..I mean..the mine!! we came here because the miner wanted to lay claim to this place..but Bannion…hah..Bunnion?! ya, Im a jerk..Ill call him Bunnion until he really proves himself–but he did give helpful advice that there may be several female ogres inside….I hastily told Veggie that maybe we should wait for the others…
We held a defensive position…waiting for the others…which, honestly…might take awhile as Talon “quickly” retrieves Ghemel’s sword….It’s ok…take a moment…Check out Vlastimeel and Khazrik—we look badass and ready for hell!! Do you not agree!! Only positive comments allowed below…
A wise man told me I should put a disclaimer about using AI art on the blog. I’ll make some fancy disclaimer later, but look…we don’t use AI art for our adventures, that you can find and purchase at our store at DrivethruRPG. There is ONE adventure that uses AI art which is Prince’s Slyth Hive, but otherwise, for all of our other incredible adventures, we much prefer to use real, human artists for all of our adventures. But yes–I use AI art for the blog…ok? Cause I’m cheap, lack the art skills, and wish to have some images for our 4 readers.
ALRIGHT—-Anyways, we licked our wounds at the battle field of some Verloren barrow mound. It was nice and quiet and I was able to check out this battle axe…yes, the one that smeared Ulden against the wall. It had runes on it, VERY balanced….and…well I love it. Turns out it’s magical with the inscription of Grathor’s Gift upon it. Double-headed axe suggests maybe Forest Dwarves made it. It can chop wood, but more importantly, it can cleave skulls!!
Thanks to Jonbar for getting this picture…the axe is a beauty!.
We started the discussion of what we planned to do…go back to see if Draven survived and try to do a rescue mission, or Veggiepeal wanted to go back to town. He seemed to like the idea of a bunch of Coppercore Oil (like Greek Fire) to use against the ogres. There is so many different types of oil out there though that would probably work better…I mean, there is Stonefire, Emberbane, Blazeblood, Hellpitch….ahh, just thinking about them all makes me miss Axeholme. The dwarves do so many things right…sigh.
Suddenly, a figure was noticed on the edge of the forest by my more perceptive companions. We hailed him, and it was a young lad by the name of Talon. I offered him drink and food and we shared news while we broke bread. We told him our story and he seemed interested in helping us! Seemingly having found a new companion, we decided to go back to the ogre cave.
Along the way, we heard noises and Izzy and Ulden went to scout. They reported back a camp of 5 ogres, apparently who were trying to track us. I wanted to move on to the cave to find Draven so we didn’t get hurt or use up resources, but the others wanted to take them out. So be it.
We set ourselves up, with the idea of using missile weapons before engaging. Sounded good to me! I got my trusted crossbow out and when we were ready, I started firing as fast as possible! The dim-witted ogres didn’t know what hit them…well, I mean I hit one, but the others were having some challenges (there were 3 rolls of a 1 on a d20 for attacks…ouch). I was content to just keep firing my bolts so I didn’t get hurt, but everyone rushed in. Even Yurin…Urine? I can’t remember the youth’s name, not even sure why we brought him, but he usually does decent taking care of horses and whatnot….but hells he was excited to fight. He used his bow next to Ulden and Talon and once the ogres got organized his group got charged. Ulden and Talon swiftly took off running to keep distance and to use their bows effectively. Yurin did not….the young lad stood there facing the charge of a fierce ogre!!
Ya…basically Ulden and Talon ran away, leaving poor Yurin to face the ogre alone…
Well, Yurin got clobbered (don’t worry…he survives)….Ulden kept running and shooting, but he eventually got clobbered as well, but he lead another ogre towards Team Dwarf….and Talon, well…he can run well and sure, a few of his shots hit. Ghemel and I worked as a team, ya! Team Dwarf!….because we are dwarves and that’s what we do. We easily took down a few ogres and we were mighty proud of ourselves, until we saw Veggiepeal wiping his great 2-handed sword of ogre blood with 3 corpses around him…..show-off.
We did well! and we moved onwards to the cave. Izzy and Talon went off to scout. Izzy used his Dimension Door portal trick and kept throwing rocks at the dented shield near the cave…the ogre’s alarm system. Several ogres came to investigate, confused…and irritated. They seemed to discuss tactics with some strange looking ogre. Izzy said he looked like a witch doctor or something.
Yes….ogres are ugly.
Talon searched for another entrance and climbed up into the cliffs. He had no luck.
With Izzy’s antics, the ogres started searching the forests and we decided to bail. We headed back to the 5-ogre death camp, eventually all of us catching up and we debated on what to do next.
Late that night though, our companion on watch spotted a torch in the dark through the forest. I can’t remember who woke me up, I was tired…but we decided to investigate.
As we bumbled our way through the dark…well…I should say everyone except Ghemel and I since we can see better in the dark…we finally found a small clearing with a raging bonfire. No sign of anything else. I signed “It’s a trap!!”
and my companions nodded…and then Ulden pointed out an ogre and suddenly there was a burst of action as ogres attacked and we scrambled in the dark.
Izzy was doing weird shit with his portals, fucking up ogres that were half-way through his magical doorways…Veggiepeal was doing the usual–laying the smacketh down! Ulden was moving and shooting as well as our new companion Talon. I shot an ogre as it closed on me with his HUGE spear. Alright boys, I ain’t going to lie….that spear impaled me something fierce and I could feel my life slipping away. Ulden came in like a raging…eagle? I mean, he is of the Eagle Clan…he squawked and stood beside me in defiance towards the ogre. I told him to get out of there…but he was all fired up and said something like “for honor!” I don’t get it…but got to admit, I was happy he was there because this ogre brought on the pain on both of us.
I called out to my god, Dhurn Kavok and I…what? you haven’t heard of Dhurn Kavok? The Black Blood of the Mountain? The Coalforger? The….ok..I could go on and on, but maybe easier for you to check out our Dwarf book we are creating for the Dragonback Mountain region full of kits and gods…should be done in a few months…and it’s very handy and helpful and…ok! whatever! I heal myself! Just in time because that ogre skewered me again!! I saw Ulden scream with rage as he attacked trying to defend me!
Ya..Ulden is from the Eagle Clan..but not sure he wears that helmet…or even looks like that..at all, and usually takes 2 hands to use a bow and arrow?
I started to collapse, darkness clouting my vision. Last I saw was Ulden attacking the ogre, defending me fiercely…perhaps he is an ok guy….and then I saw….the most magnificent forge!! A war machine was there half-built. I was so excited to work on it!!!
Awww….heaven!
I woke up a few moments later the vision of glory and heaven rapidly fading, only to be intruded by Ghemel’s ugly mug….He healed me back to life….I think we won!
I’m diving headfirst into layout mode for Death Maze of the Sorcerer-Kings by Ray Weidner. This thing is an absolute beast. We’re gearing up for a Kickstarter launch to help bring the adventure to life with all the grim, gorgeous art it deserves.
Keep an eye out in the next month or two as we lock in the campaign details. This isn’t your usual crawl—Death Maze is a high-level OSE adventure (levels 12–14!) and a true rarity: a sprawling city-based labyrinth of sorcery and intrigue.
The Contest is waiting. Are you ready to enter?
The “Movement” grows
The “Movement” continues to take shape in the shadows. Pages are being drafted, maps marked, and strange ideas stitched together. Behind the scenes, Jonbar has been toiling away, knee-deep in manuscripts, and some say he hasn’t glimpsed daylight in months. He emerges only to mutter about “reviews” and “refinements,” usually in only a bathrobe and a horn full of ale…then vanishes again into his work. Stay tuned. The “Movement” is real, and it’s coming….2026!
NOW…..ABOUT THOSE OGRES…
The party has slogged through more of the forested wilderness, a few days from Farholme in search of this miner’s rumored mine that he wishes to claim. Larvin is dead set on finding it…..dead…set.
And…well…we did find it! But something found it first. We heard guttural speech and booming laughter. Now, being a bit pragmatic, I suggested someone stealth up and see what we are dealing with. Afterall, I’m the one that is usually in the thick of things along with Ghemel, shield vs claw and toothy maw, while others run around on the outskirts of battle doing…well..whatever they do. I was quickly called a coward and other rubbish by some in the party for sharing my thoughts. I’m too much of a gentle dwarf to mention names *cough* (Draven) *cough*.
Miraculously, they agreed with me (after a good 10 minutes of name calling and mockery), and Ulden and the strange gnome Izzel moved forward, scrambling through the brush and up a rocky cliff. The others grew impatient and started to move forward, while I stayed with the miner, Hayden, Jorn, the wagon, and of course, my bleating goat….which I put a hungry stare towards.
Eventually, the two scouts came back and reported what they saw….
AI art cause I’m cheap
Well now…suddenly people were getting a bit serious…I mean…OGRES! Nothing to trifle with!! Did anyone say thanks to my scouting idea? no?…maybe the crickets did as that is all I heard, and…well… my goat.
We hastily came up with a plan where the gnome would use his “spirit” power to remove the ogre weapons and he would make a KA-KAWW noise to let us know when to attack! Well he was successful, opening his strange doorways to teleport the huge clubs away from the ogres…one of the clubs being by the shield….which I thought might serve as a “gong” to warn others–but hells, I knew where my opinion stands with this group and didn’t want to hear another 10 minutes of blathering and name-calling for my thoughts. The wretches…the goat is much better company….ok blah blah..the gnome dropped a flask of oil through the portal engulfing the ogres in flames!!
We fight! We take the ogres down easily! Amazing when we talk and work together–we actually can fight well together…but then two mangy worgs entered the fray trying to slobber all over Ghemel. However, Grease spells and fiery oil was making quick work of our opponents, but still….more poured out through the cave. 3 more ogres! At this point, some of us were hurt…especially when a bigger ogre hucked a battle axe at Ulden almost splitting him in two!
Good thing fer that too, because that Eagle Clan warrior skewered me with an arrow while I was fighting an ogre. Only the dwarf gods know why he didn’t aim for the floundering ogre in the Grease spell…who was all by himself….no risk to hit his companions…No….The Eagle or whatever, told Ulden to just shoot the ogre that I was fighting. SCHBLAM! arrow right in my shoulder. Good times Ulden…good times….so ya, anyway, he got skewered by an axe and then hastily plastered against a wall…karma I say! I used my precious mana to heal myself, curing greater wounds caused by my companions moreso than the ogres. Ghemel moved to save Ulden with his healing power….pfft…why?
Things were looking a bit grim, as we had used up most of our tricks and resources….but then Vlastimeel? is that his name? Fuck it…Veggiepeal dances through the combat, wielding his huge 2-handed sword. Decimating the enemy with every blow, heads flying—the man was fluid and moved with grace between fiery grease and hairy ogres…I got to admit, it was pretty fascinating to watch him fight–almost like the God of Swords.
Draven, after all his helpful Grease spells, seemed he wanted to take the spotlight from Veggiepeal and tried to show off with an Acid Arrow…but it missed, burying itself into a bubbly mess as it ate through solid stone.
AI art again…look at that hair!
But from inside the cave, roars of rage echoed throughout the mountains. I put my back against the mountain cliff, just near the entrance. I was a bit concerned as I know our party used a bunch of resources and most were injured. Ya…injured— Did I mention my own companion Ulden shot me with an arrow? well, he did. Ghemel barely brought Ulden back to the land of the living and he took up a wavering stance, targeting the cave mouth…great..a bit close for comfort near his target range once more..sigh. I gave him a distrustful look, then called upon the gods to grant me the Strength of Stone. Hell yeah!! I was ready to start whoopin ass with my Forgecleaver! I was hugging the stone, knowin it would protect my back.
Then Veggiepeal jumped right in front of the cave mouth as if daring the ogres to emerge from the cave. I was about to call out ‘the stone protects…boy’ as my back felt the cold, comforting stone of the cliff behind me, but it was too late…
Look….this is AI and I lost patience after several tries…Veggiepeal gets impaled by the spear…ok? He is supposed to be facing the cave! ugh.
7 angry ogres emerged after a thrown spear impales Veggie and the fight was on once more. Veggiepeal did not look as graceful…blood was everywhere…and I lost sight of my brother in arms– Ghemel as 3 ogres surrounded him, trying to pummel him to a pulp with clubs. Luckily Ulden was aiming away from me, which gave me a small comfort. Draven cast Summon Swarm, and rats and bats hungrily bit at the ogres as they passed through, but it wasn’t enough to stop them….
Then Draven got a weird gleam in his eyes…ya know..most call it the “crazy eyes” when you know the man just isn’t right in the head. He gripped that beautiful dwarven mace and charged an ogre, his blood from his injuries leaving a trail behind him. I mean, the man looked like he was dead already, but I get it…wielding such a beautiful dwarven-crafted weapons…hells..would make me want to charge like that too!! He looked amazing, like the God of Battle, except in robes and…well he got struck down really fast, collapsing in a bloody clump and laid there in his own blood…dying.
There was nothing I could do….I was going to heal Veggiepeal so he could keep working that magnificent sword of ogre butchering, despite a pissed off ogre on me, but suddenly he screamed “we must flee!!!” I kid you not, all I saw was a wing-tipped asshole flying down the rocky cliff, the human moving so fast there was no way I could keep up, leaving me to face a few ogres myself.
I set my jaw, knowing this was going to get bloody mighty quick. I was going to try and fight my way to my fellow dwarf Ghemel when I heard Izzy quip from behind me ” hurry…with me!” and he dove into one of his weird portals. I paused for a moment because I didn’t like leaving Ghemel behind, but I took one last mighty axe swing at an ogre, slaying it, as I leapt through the portal…now that’s an exit!
And then I was far away, but stunned….it was awkard….the gnome was dazed too but we had locked eyes, unable to move for a bit…staring at one another. I didn’t like that.
Luckily Ulden shot more ogres (that weren’t near me!), slowing them down and Ghemel and him were able to flee into the thick brush of the woods. We made our way back to the battle scene near the boar burial mound to regroup. I asked about Draven, but some mumbled he had fallen in the battle. A shame. We decided to rest…
Izzy the gnome asked if he wanted to port him and I back there to try to rescue Draven with another one of his strange portals while the others rested. The gnome did have a good heart! I smiled a bit, shrugged, and whispered “nah…I didn’t care for him all that much….”
Taking a slight break from the harrowing journeys of Wytt…poor fellow. I enjoy reading his adventures and feel pangs of guilt sometimes as GM…but then that goes away…
ANYWAYS! Can we talk about the Death-Maze of the Sorcerer Kings for a moment?
Death-Maze of the Sorcerer Kings
Steel your nerves and sharpen your blades… it’s coming soon!!
Ray Weidner—designer of Peril in Olden Wood and purveyor of finely-honed OSR mayhem—has been deep in the dungeon mines, hammering out every twist, trap, and terror for his latest adventure. Every encounter is polished. Every room was scrutinized. Every sentence… sharpened to a razor’s edge.
I may have mentioned it before, under its working title, Beware! The King of the Cannibal Cult! But now it returns to its roots: Death-Maze of the Sorcerer Kings
Does that name ring a bell? It should—this was a standout entry in Prince of Nothing’s No Artpunk III contest, where it turned heads and earned high praise. Now, it’s bigger, deadlier, and more refined—ready to hit your table and test your players! Complete with a huge sprawling city surrounding the legendary Death-Maze, full of trouble for your PCs.
Classic swords & sorcery vibe? Check. Lethal dungeon crawl? Absolutely. Twisted factions and ancient sorcerous evil? You know it.
Keep your eyes peeled. The doors to the Death-Maze creak open soon… and few who enter will ever see daylight again.
Like the art? Well, there is tons more, thanks to the talented Angus Wood of Jantiff Illustration. I’m excited to layout this beast with these spectacular art pieces. Did I mention this was for OSE and for levels 12-14??!!! Coming soon to Kickstarter….
In Other News…
Every so often, Jonbar escapes to chase his stories across the table onto the blog (poor Wytt)… but lately, the lash has been steady. Old projects—some forgotten, some merely dormant since 2017—are stirring again. Soon, new works will emerge, threads woven together to form the first glimpses of something larger. The shape is still in shadow, but the foundations are settling. I’ll say no more… except this: by 2026, the quiet will end and a new Movement will begin.
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
It came to my attention that DrivethruRPG added some new selections for products.
Publishers get a series of boxes to check when putting up their product for sale. There are a lot of options–from rulesets (OSR, Savage Frontiers, Traveller–there is like 16 options that are then broken down even more…OSRIC, OSE, Labyrinth Lord, etc.). Lot’s of choices! Then there is Product Type, Genre, Format, Languages….all broken down quite a bit more….
ANYWAYS—DrivethruRPG added a box under Format that has Creation Method, which has 2 choices: Handcrafted and AI-Generated content.
“AI-Generated Content We have recently deployed two browsing options on our new DriveThruRPG marketplace and DriveThruComics PHNX Preview. Customers can now choose to filter out AI-Generated content in their Account Settings, and titles are now clearly labeled as Handcrafted or AI-Generated if the publisher has selected one of those options.”
My point for this post is that I didn’t really notice until someone brought it to my attention. All of the Merciless Merchant products use either stock art or commissioned art from human artists EXCEPT for Slyth Hive by PrinceofNothing and maybe NAP stuff which I don’t have as much control of as its various authors (and it’s free). This is the main reason why we do Kickstarters–so we can commission kickass art done by humans.
Also, for the record, I’ll speak for Jonbar and myself here that we never use AI for our written content. All of the mispellings (see what I did there?) and errors are lovingly crafted with our own brains. So in all transparency, I just finished updating all our products to say handcrafted, except those noted above which used some AI art.
The first human to truly study fermentation, Kurunnitu — upon brewing a nourishing substance that was part beer and part bread — ushered in a change from hunter-gatherer wandering to agriculture in what became mankind’s first city, and learned how alcohol could spark insights that may never occur to a sober mind (such as seeing if alcohol, the result of decay, could work as a preservative against decay; and as a pesticide and a sedative and a disinfectant and a painkiller and so on). Celebrated by name whenever drinks were poured for a wedding or a wake — or any other social occasion — she was honored for each innovation that followed at that settlement (even down to potters placing her petite-and-dark-eyed image on fire-hardened clay, to store everything from pickled vegetables to concoctions that helped embalmers curb decomposition). As a result, she eventually found herself figuratively and literally deified.
Specialty Priest
Titles: Brewmistress (Female) or Brewmaster (Male).
Bonus Proficiencies: Agriculture or Herbalism (player choice), Pottery or Reading/Writing (player choice).
Duties: Kurunnitu is different from the other deities of nature and natural forces, in that she represents the elements of growing that people utilize and can control. Kurunnitu’s priests therefore work to keep the flock appreciating, and emulating, her virtues: promoting sensible solutions and actions on the part of the flock, but with the twist of preaching that, sometimes, it’s wisest to put in the work — for example, by researching new recipes and uses for everything from ammonia to vinegar — but, sometimes, the only reasonable thing to do is knock back a strong drink and see if inspiration occurs. What her priests do with any knowledge they thereby acquire — outside the context of helping their temple — is up to them, as long as they take care to participate in semiannual events where fermented goods of all sorts are displayed and promoted (before the throne or in market).
Major Spheres: All, Creation, Elemental, Healing, Necromantic, Thought, Time
Minor Spheres: Animal, Charm, Plant, Protection
Brewmistress/Brewmaster Spells:
Level 1
Elixir of Age
Sphere: Time
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M
Duration: See below
Casting Time: 5
Area of Effect: One pint of water
Saving Throw: None
This spell permanently transmutes a pint of water into an Elixir of Age, a beer that — when imbibed by a person — grants the drinker, for one hour per level of the caster, the effects of an age category selected by the caster at the time the drink is prepared. So it can serve as a potent restorative (letting an aging warrior briefly regain a measure of youthful vigor, while somewhat impairing his judgment) or enable a temporary state of heightened understanding (while somewhat impairing the drinker’s physical abilities). The material component is a berry soaked in alcohol.
Level 2
Metamorphose Liquids
Sphere: Elemental (Water)
Range: 30 ft.
Components: V, S, M
Duration: Permanent
Casting Time: 2 rounds
Area of Effect: 2’-cube/level
Saving Throw: Special
This spell, except as noted above, is the same as the first-level wizard Metamorphose Liquids spell.
Level 3
Cakes & Ale
Sphere: Creation
Range: 10 yds.
Components: V, S
Duration: Special
Casting Time: 1 turn
Area of Effect: 1 cu. ft./level
Saving Throw: None
This specialized variant of Create Food & Water, known to Brewmistresses and Brewmasters — for whom Create Food & Water is only a second-level spell — creates sustenance that, while equally nourishing, appears as whatever nonmagical fare the caster has previously sampled and selects at the time of casting. Brewmistresses and Brewmasters often opt for choices that showcase fermentation (be it beer and pretzels, or sausage and cider, or wine and cheese, or anything else from pickled eggs to sourdough bread).
Level 4
Fermenting Ideas
Sphere: Thought
Range: 0
Components: V, S, M
Duration: Instantaneous
Casting Time: 1 round
Area of Effect: Radius 10 feet around caster
Saving Throw: None
Identical in function to Idea, this spell affects everyone within 10 feet of the caster who drinks a beer served to them by the caster that round (with the service and the beer being the somatic and material component).
Level 5
Golden Dream
Sphere: Time
Range: Touch
Components: V, S
Duration: Permanent
Casting Time: 1 day
Area of Effect: Special
Saving Throw: None
Golden Dream transmutes an Elixir of Age into an Elixir of Youth. The priest can use this spell but once per season.
Level 6
Corpse Reviver
Sphere: Necromancy
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M
Duration: Permanent
Casting Time: 1 round
Area of Effect: 1 person
Saving Throw: None
As Raise Dead, though not reversible and with no need for a resurrection survival check; the magic will be effectuated 24 to 48 hours thereafter. The material component is an especially smooth honey-based beer personally brewed by the priest.
Granted Powers:
1) Cakes & Ale once per day; 10) Commune with Kurunnitu once per week; TU Command
Followers and Strongholds: The followers are received at 7th level, and consist of one fifth-level priest, three third-level priests, and sixteen first-level priests of the same order. The priest may take the following on adventures: Three priests (only one of whom may be third level) of his choice. The priesthood will pay for half of the cost of stronghold construction at 7th level. Part of the stronghold must be a tavern where visitors may meet with the priests (and where drinks can be brewed on the spot).
I’d like to thank both Siddharth and Derek for sharing their creativity and taking the time to put these excellent deities together! I’ll be contacting you both to see what prizes you desire:
First Place: Siddharth— Ill add your name to the credits for your creation in The Marrow Ravine, AND I’ll give you a copy of our newly released The Coming of Winter (PDF AND pay for cost POD) OR 3 adventures (PDF and at cost POD) of your choosing.
Second Place: Derek— will receive The Coming of Winter PDF OR 2 adventures (PDF only) of your choosing.
I also talked it over with Jonbar and we decided, with Siddharth’s and Derek’s permission, we would add both deities to our growing Pantheon. Also with their permission, I’d like to add components of their deity to the new adventure I’m working on–The Marrow Ravine (Part 2 of Tar Pits of the Bone Toilers). I haven’t started this adventure yet so may be awhile, but I have 90% of the ideas in my head, just need to find some time….
There are not many high-level adventures out there….actually…GOOD high-level adventures. Usually I see instead of 1 dragon, they add 3 dragons to make things more difficult. While that can certainly make the situation more difficult, I always felt it took away from the awe and savagery of the dragon–I guess I’d rather see a ramp up of a single dragon’s abilities and power rather than just slapping in 2 more.
Another challenge is why are the characters going on an adventure when they are that high of level? Wouldn’t they be defending and ruling their own keeps and they send their minions to do the dirty work? Do all high-level adventures have to involve saving the world to make it feel epic? I think setting up a good adventure hook would be challenging.
Personally, in all my years of playing D&D, I’ve never really played a character much pass 9th level or so. I think it’s because I like the struggle of the low levels…the danger…and once my mage gets fireball at 5th level, for whatever reason, I feel like I won the game or something. So there are a bunch of spells and abilities I’ve never used except maybe by the monsters as DM. So I don’t want to appear like I’m bashing published high-level adventures out there–I think they would be very challenging to write, but I do give a sigh when I see the usual (adding more monsters of the same kind, preventing spells/abilities from working, etc.).
Anyways, I didn’t write Slyth Hive but I did work on the layout. I remember one of the first encounters is a shitload of animals and I thought, here we go again–just adding numbers to make something more dangerous for high levels….but as I delved deeper into the adventure, I became pleasantly surprised. Complex environments and interesting foes as well as ever-changing/adapting enemies to keep players on their toes…(sorta rhymed there…). I don’t know if as a player or DM, Ill ever run through a high-level adventure, but if I did, I would be down for going through or running Slyth Hive as it has the type of challenges I would be looking for with a high-level character. Another would be Geir Loe Cyn-crul by Andrew Huso. It’s a bit combat heavy with some additional monsters–but I liked the vibe when I read it.
Anyways, you can purchase Slyth Hive at DrivethruRPG. Prince has hinted at a Kickstarter to get more art and at that point we would offer a POD version (buyers of the PDF now would get the updated PDF).
Deity Contest
We have had a few submissions trickling in….the deadline–June 4th approaches!!!
The Merciless Merchants 