Deity Contest Part 2

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Hey All—

Quick update: The Cauldron will be the Deal of the Day on DrivethruRPG tomorrow (5/7/2024) so if you need a great island adventure for your players, pick up the discounted copy! Bryce Lynch at 10 Foot Pole gave it ‘The Best’ rating.

Jonbar wrote up some quick descriptions of some of the areas of our world that I thought I would throw on here. I know I said for Uzudum, but we decided the god/goddess could be from anywhere. There is also some more information at our shop at DrivethruRPG– The Zontani Sea Region Gazette which is free.

Deity Contest–The Realms

Several great empires have risen and fallen upon the shores of the Zontani Sea, and beyond. More have been swallowed by cataclysms, war and time, no lost to the minds of men. Here is a brief overview of current Realms in need of God.

  1. The continent of Uzarra: A vast continent to the South of the Zontani Sea. It contains blistering deserts, seas of grasslands, nomadic tribes, high mountains, dense jungles and lost civilizations. They say deep within these jungles is an advance reptilian race, advanced enough to work metal and wield magic. They are known to build stone structures under the surfaces of lakes and worship strange gods, possibly dragons.
  2. Uzadum: An ancient civilization now beginning to wither. The sages say the people of Uza survived a great cataclysm in times past. The survivors created the Empire of Uzadum on the north side of the Uzarra continent. They are builders of incredible pyramids, water works and ships. The people are tall with olive skin and black hair, though they often shave their heads in the cities. Uzadum is in a state of decay, rot from within due to the constant strife between the Theocracy (God King) and the Arcanan. (Wizard Lords). The Uza worship a pantheon of deities, and have mastered all the known schools of the Arcane.
  3. Rhone: Upon the northern shores of the Zontani Sea, the empire of Rhone has risen to dominance. By land and sea, the industrial Rhonii have conquered their neighbors in all directions. Though to the north they still contend with the Horse Lords and Verloren. To the east they’ve an uncertain peace/truce with Asheena, but to the south, the Uzadum empire is a significant threat. The Rhonii are ruled by an Emperor wielding incredible military might, with both priest and wizards to protect him. They worship a plethora of Gods and Goddesses, from various people they have conquered, along with their own Pantheon. But it is the War Gods that are most highly esteemed. The people tend to be a bit swarthy but with various hair and eye color. They are great architects in stone and builders of roads. They had a stalemate war with a Dwarf Kingdom, which resulted in allies. The dwarves taught them masonry skills, thus their cities are the most impressive of the continents.
  4. Asheena the Thirsty: This is an arid realm though highly fertile along the eastern coast of the Zontani Sea. A sea faring people, they excel at making trade far and wide, though their martial strength is to be respected. Their cities appear beautiful in the arid surroundings, like a heavenly mirage. Plants grow over white washed stone providing fresh fruit and flowery aromas. They worship both gods of the desert and sea. They are known for their fine wine and other spirits. The people are a bit darker in complexion then the Rhonni and tend to have dark hair and eyes.
  5. The Thundering Plains: North of the Rhone empire is a vast grassland that has seen many armies marching and battling within it, thus it’s name. Here the northern expansion of the Rhone Empire has been stifled. This is mostly due to the people who are known as The Horse Lords. They are a nomadic people traveling the region following the great herds of animals that cross the plains. These people are highly skilled at mounted combat, and breed some of the finest horses known. At this time, an uneasy truce has been made with Rhone, allowing for some trade. The Horse Lords are a tall, fair-haired people, free and wild as are their gods. To the west of the plains, centuries ago, some of the Horse Clans settled and created the Kingdom of Kel. Though they are kin to the Horse Lords, they are not their rulers and often raid each other usually for horses.
  6. The Fallen Lands: Far to the northeast is a wasteland, of roving humanoid, ravenous monsters and warring clans of men. In ages past, this land was beautiful and bountiful, known as The Four Kingdoms. But then came the cataclysm of the God’s Wrath War that sundered the four realms scattering the people in all directions and despoiling the land. Now it is a place of constant struggle for those that remain, both monster and man, demi-gods, and demons roam the wilds of this fell land, claiming by force or will what they can. The people survive by grouping into nomadic war bands, skilled at arms being most highly valued. They have little faith in the gods or wizards, but know their value. The land is riddled with ruins of cities, fallen temples, wizard towers and dungeons. A great rift scars the land where demons were summoned forth to fight during the God’s Wrath War. From this foul pit, evil things still linger and prowl. Strange cults have begun to form, drawing followers using their strange powers and promises of protection, wealth or other nuggets of coercion.
  7. Zontani Sea: Many islands are scattered throughout its waters, populated by all different types of people, worshiping all types of different deities. Some of the islands are populated by nothing more than hungry savages, while others have sophisticated societies, and still more are led by the Brine Lords and roam the seas looking for easy plunder and glory. Some island have been claimed by demi-gods, either to retire from the realms of man, or to begin a campaign of conquest. Or perhaps to build a temple for their followers to worship and bring their offerings to.
Artist: Enmanuel Martinez ‘Lema’

Throughout the world there are many Spirits and Gods known to all the various races. Humans, dwarves, elves, orcs and humanoids, etc. So meditate, ponder and enlighten us with an understanding of a new god and their specialty priest.

–Jonbar

Contest–Deity

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Photo by Ellie Burgin on Pexels.com

There was a book I picked up, Petty Gods: https://www.orderofgamers.com/petty-gods/ and it had a bunch of petty and minor godlings and was fun to read the creativity. I’m not necessarily promoting it and had nothing to do with the book, but I thought it was a super cool idea to have the community put it together. I think back on it as Jonbar and I work on our next project.

We are busy working on gods for our world which I believe adds some flair and culture to our adventures. We were playtesting a museum adventure in Vermilion and I had tons of info about different gods, heroes, and history which I felt made the world come more alive. Yeah, I’m aware some people don’t like museum adventures, but it was a pretty great exercise for me as it helped me develop Vermilion and the world and if you are creating a city, I recommend doing one (but make it an adventure, not just a boring place). It also snowballed into making new magic items having potential stories–like that spear was used by the demigod Spear Guy or whatever and bards could have a field day discovering the legend of the item.

As we are muddling through our deities, I find myself asking questions–why would someone want to worship a God of Death….or a God of Decay? There has to be more of a reason of just ‘because they are evil’ or ‘because its cool’…although, I guess there is always the rule of cool. But I find that my first step is maybe thinking up a deity (i.e. God of the Sun) and then really delve into the worshipers (or cults) and why they want to pray to this specific deity? And then ask…why would anyone worship a lesser deity or even just a demi-god? Which can lead to foes and allies of the deity and stories/legends begin.

Then, since we are mostly 2e enthusiasts (with a healthy respect and joy for 1e), we are delving into Specialty Priests. Some Specialty Priests can be a bit overpowered (in my humble opinion), but I definitely like the flavor of them. Growing up, no one really wanted to play the healer…and I feel the Specialty Priest idea made it actually fun to play one. It also forces you to go deeper into the deity and helps answer the ‘why’ do worshipers pray to this deity as well as the culture of the religion (holy days, special colors or ornaments that must be worn, specific weapons, etc.). Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve played a cleric since… unless it was multi-classed.

This also brings us to new spells which really makes the Specialty Priest stand out. Very fun to create…all of it.

The Contest

So this brings up the idea of a contest for those interested. I don’t want to compete with NAP or other dungeon adventure contests as I don’t have time to review them all. But in my last post, I discussed a little bit about The Marrow Ravine (Part 2 from the Tar Pits of the Bone Toilers) and one of my ideas is to have an imprisoned demigod or lesser deity that is worshiped by the denizens of the jungled lands of Uzuduum. They would be stuck in this dying dimension and the heroes may have a chance to save them, if they wish… Ya…that about sums up my idea so far…lol, but I can picture the scene in my head. I already made a lesser goddess of Whispers and Vines for Uzuduum…but anything else is fair game. Heck, we don’t even know much about Uzuduum yet except there are thick jungles and plains and they sail in HUMONGOUS ships called Juggernaughts. Jonbar may write something up soon. Got questions? you can add them in the comments below.

Photo by Rifqi Ramadhan on Pexels.com

Jonbar and I will look over the entries and pick one. It may (or may not) be added to our pantheon, but I will definitely use it my Marrow Ravine adventure regardless. I want to see only lesser deities or demigods for humans. I want to see some history or legends, what they look like, etc. I want to see a Specialty Priest, any special holidays or rituals or something specific they have to wear, and at least 1 new spell.

First Place: Ill add your name to the credits for your creation in The Marrow Ravine, there is a chance your creation would be added to our Pantheon, 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: You will receive The Coming of Winter PDF OR 2 adventures (PDF only) of your choosing.

Third Place: You can choose one regular adventure PDF.

Deadline: June 4th by midnight (Pacific time). Keep in mind, in may be a long time before The Marrow Ravine is completed (a couple years at most), but I thought this contest may be fun since we are working on an internal project now of the Gods and Spirits of our realms. The more people submit, the sooner the timeline!

SUBMIT ENTRIES TO themercilessmerchants@gmail.com

Here is an example of the template I would like to see that is in super rough draft shape (even Jonbar hasn’t seen it yet, nor have we playtested). The bullets don’t need to be included necessarily (just having tech problems with copy/paste). But basically an idea of what we’re looking for (EXAMPLE):

Fedelmar

(Lesser) Goddess of Iron, The Iron Maiden, Rust Defier, Mother of Ore

  • Portfolio: Iron, steel, blacksmiths, miners
  • Aliases: None
  • Domain Name:
  • Superior: Vulridir
  • Allies: Vulridir, Juladir, Kjoldir
  • Foes: Vurth Kyrvr, Jool Vrora
  • Symbol: Spiked, closed-faced helm
  • Worshiper’s Alignment: Chaotic Good, Neutral Good
  • Major Spheres:  All, Combat, Creation, Divination, Healing, Elemental (earth), Elemental (fire), Guardian, Protection
  • Minor Spheres: Necromantic, Wards

  • Some may mistake Fedelmar as a duergar or dark dwarf, but she is actually a beautiful dwarven female made of iron and is known to eat iron ore! Her dark hair ends in flaming red tips of fire and her eyes are merely golden orbs with no irises. Legends state she was the first creation by the Great Smith Vulridir, in his attempt to create a daughter. Fedelmar can use her iron fists in battle but prefers wielding dual lava-runed warhammers and wearing a nasty spiked helm. Like iron, Fedelmar also can be soft, thus she is known to show mercy to some of her foes as well as having superb healing arts as she taps into the importance of iron in the mortal body. Fedelmar distrusts Vurth Kyrvr and gladly burns any of his wood work or carvings in an attempt to show the strength of iron’s resiliency to such things. She also has fought several times with Jool Vrora, Goddess of the Starless Seas. During their last battle, Jool attempted to drown her and make her rust, creating a fear of deep water for Fedelmar.

  • Specialty Priest
  • Titles: Iron Maidens (Female) or Iron Clad (Male)
  • Requirements: Wisdom 12, Strength 12, Constitution 12
  • Weapons: Any, but war hammer required
  • Armor: Any metal
  • Required Proficiencies: Mining and/or Blacksmithing
  • Bonus Proficiencies: Healing, Iron Will, Alertness
  • Major Spheres: All, Combat, Creation, Divination, Healing, Elemental (earth), Elemental (fire), Guardian, Protection
  • Minor Spheres: Necromantic, Wards
  • Most miners and blacksmiths prefer to pray to Vulridir or Kjoldir, so Fedelmar’s priesthood is rare and mostly composed of females, with an even rarer few male members joining the ranks. They are seldom seen alone, usually traveling in small groups for long destinations or adventuring together and rarely letting outsiders join them. Most tend to their shrines hidden deep in the mountains near veins of iron and other useful ores and outfitted with great forges and anvils for crafting. They are also known to consume iron shavings with their meals, a strange practice to most, but dwarves see it as a sign of respect towards the goddess. Because of this standoffishness and secrecy, some dwarves believe that Fedelmar is more of an evil goddess for duergar which has resulted in her not being a popular goddess for most. Although most dwarves are stubborn, Iron Maidens are known to be the stubbornest. They keep to their goals no matter the odds and possess a strong will over their mind. They are also known to show mercy to respected enemies and foes. Most are gifted blacksmiths, especially in the forging technique of cold iron. The priesthood usually has one weapon made of cold-wrought iron.
  • Powers/Skills:
  • Can’t turn or control undead but are able to hit undead needing +1 to hit and deliver an additional +1 damage to undead with their cold-wrought iron forged weapons.
  • All Iron Maidens gain +2 to their saving throws versus any type of disease, perhaps due to the extra iron shavings they consume (iron helps with immune system support).
  • All Iron Maidens and Iron Clad gain a +1 to their Perception scores. Healthy iron levels in the body help with energy and focus, thus making one more alert.
  • At 4th level, Iron Maidens can focus on the iron in their bodies, increasing oxygen to the cells in their muscles. Thus, they gain an ability similar to the spell Free Action once per day.
  • Iron Maidens receive a -2 to reaction rolls with other dwarves who are not of their order.
  • Iron Maidens have a healthy fear of water and attempt not to swim unless needed. They receive a -2 to attack rolls if fighting on a boat in open water.
    • Iron Maiden / Iron Clad Spells
  • Level 1
    • Feldemar’s Will
      • Sphere: Protection
    • Range: Touch
    • Components: V, S, M
    • Duration: Permanent
    • Casting Time: 5
    • Area of Effect: One target
    • Saving Throw: Neg.
    • Feldemar’s Will is similar to the 3rd level Remove Paralysis spell except it only works on one target. When cast on dwarves, they are immediately freed from Hold spells or paralyzing effects. Non-dwarves receive another saving throw at +4. The material component is the priest’s holy symbol and a small chunk of iron or iron nail.
  • Rust Protection
  • Sphere: Protection
  • Range: Touch
  • Components: V, S, 
  • Duration: 1d4 days +1 day per level
  • Casting Time: 7
  • Area of Effect: One target
  • Saving Throw: Neg.
  • The Rust Protection spell protects all metal from natural rust occurring from sea water and other natural ways for the rust process to start. Scrolls of this spell are valuable, especially to sea-faring folk such as those in Vermilion. This spell protects armor from Rust Monster attacks.
  • A second effect of this spell is that it causes 2d6 damage on a successful touch attack when used on a Rust Monster. There are also rumors that if cast on an Iron Golem, it confuses it momentarily, causing the golem to focus attacks on other enemies and ignoring the caster for 1d6 rounds. But this has been difficult to prove. 

The Coming of Winter Released and Past Patreon Musings

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We are proud to release The Coming of Winter to the masses. A huge thanks to all our Kickstarter backers to get this behemoth off the ground! It is packed with 3 main adventures for levels 2-5 with a winter theme. Explore snow covered mountains, crypts, glaciers and even inside huge waterfall icicles! There are a bunch of other scenarios and mini-dungeons for the party to get in trouble with while they explore the wintry Dragonback Mountains. Now on DrivethruRPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/473203/the-coming-of-winter

Past Patreon Musings

A long time ago, I had a Patreon called Malrex’s Modules. I would put together an adventure within 30 days for my backers. Some of these adventures were on the shorter side, but most were mid (28+ pages) to longer! Putting adventures together was a bunch of fun despite the deadline, but I don’t think it’s sustainable for a main reason: The quality can go downhill quickly. There wasn’t enough time to edit, read throughs and play throughs to make sure the content made sense, and the art was stock art–which some is quite good, but stock art doesn’t always capture the scene correctly.

It was my intention to spend more time on them, clean them up, play test them and maybe even get a few pieces of original art….but then the whole OGL fiasco happened, and I panicked. I wanted to make sure the adventures could see the light, so I published them quickly and only in PDF form.

There is only a few that I will spend more time on—Ice Needles of the Cryoptera and Winter’s Blight (formerly Ice Troll Cave), which are both in our Coming of Winter release. I also held on to the Cellar, which we actually just finished playtesting. Ill be editing and fixing it up for when we release Coppercore. You can follow along and even watch us go through the playtest on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMercilessMerchants-yx8pd

Or watch us live on Wednesday nights: https://www.twitch.tv/mercilessmerchants

I keep dying…I think I’m on my 5th character? oh well…anyways….

The result of my Patreon adventures, actually worked out pretty good. I learned a lot about layout on my own as well as practicing to put together an adventure in very little time and trying to make it good and worth the money of my backers. Over at the 10′ pole lair of Bryce Lynch, he has been busy reviewing some of my past Patreon adventures. He gave two of them The Best:

Scorchfire! https://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=9097

Standoff at Sandfell Sea Fort https://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=9120

And Tar Pits of the Bone Toilers got a No Regerts: https://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=9124

Also, awhile back, another one, Winter’s Feast received a No Regerts as well: https://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=8479

And The Caper of Lanjin Kettlespin received a little wrath: https://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=8591

Overall though, not bad for putting together adventures within a month. But I dont think I will reopen my Patreon as I do care more about the quality of an adventure and don’t want to risk it with a 30 day deadline.

But I have received some questions, mainly about Tar Pits of the Bone Toilers. One question asked if I planned to rework it and do another editing pass, etc. The second question is if I was going to do a Part 2.

I’m still mulling over if I would do another editing pass for Tar Pits. I think with this hobby it comes down to that there is no incentive except pride. If I spend more time on the adventure, which quality is important to me….I just don’t think anything would happen to it…I mean, would people actually re-read it or replay it? Is it something that customers want to see? Would it get a second review so I can learn more? Would more people buy it even though its been in ‘The Void” now (shelf life is usually about 3 months, then everything slows to a crawl). Editing and reworking an old module usually leads to new layout as well and it can be a boring, long task, although adding to the adventure can bring in some fun…but is it really worth taking away creative time on working on something new? I’m still mulling it over because…..

Of the second question–will there be a Part 2? In my off time, which, isn’t a lot of time, I’ve been trying to brainstorm Part 2 for the Tar Pits of the Bone Toilers. I’m debating on the title but it may be The Marrow Ravine. And, with the success of the Coming of Winter Kickstarter, I was even able to get some original art that I was thinking may be the cover (the Maw of Ghormaug).

I have some ideas…this adventure will be a challenge because it will be in a different dimension which opens up a whole bag of chaos on how things work and whatnot. It also would give me a reason to re-edit Tar Pits–mainly because I would set the adventure in Uzuduum, which is a jungled continent near Vermilion. We got the world a bit fleshed out so I’d want to explore that a bit more for Tar Pits and give it a place in our world. I could also re-look at the review and see if I can clean things up….reviews are like gold because you can really learn from them.

I’ve rambled, and this has actually generated another idea for a blog post that I wouldn’t mind discussing. But that is for another day.

-Malrex

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!

The Coming of Winter–FUNDED!!

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Kickstarter News: We Reached Our Goal!

Wow!! We are stoked to have reached our goal!! Thank you so much for your support! I’ve been busy with the holidays and this made everything better for me and hope you all had a great holiday as well! We have been successful with a few Kickstarters now and each time, it’s an absolute dream to be able to commission original art for our adventures and we feel great knowing there are others being able to use our products for their own campaigns and making memories with their players.

New Tiers!

In our comments, a backer asked if we would combine all our PDFs into one package. I finally had some time to put that together and we are now introducing:

PDF Blizzard: The PDF Blizzard (90$) includes The Coming of Winter PDFs, Journal of Nevermore optional rules, and all of the Add-On adventures in PDF form—which basically covers all of our adventures (it will also include the short adventure- The Covey, which isn’t part of the Add-Ons). There are a few that aren’t on there as they are PWYW/free on DrivethruRPG (Kellerin’s Rumble) and a few free adventures we have on our blog. This tier is basically for the whole sha-bang.

White Out: I also added a tier for all of our PODs/PDFs ($190) into one package called White Out. Basically this includes everything, like the PDF Blizzard version but includes both the Book AND PDF versions of adventures from the Add-Ons as well as PDF’s of adventures that don’t have the option of PODs. It will also include the POD/PDF of Coming of Winter and Journal of Nevermore optional rules.

Snowfall: Just a 1$ tier but gives backers an opportunity to purchase Add-Ons at a discounted price than anywhere else. This tier does not include the new Coming of Winter adventures.

Art is Coming In…

Just got a few new pieces from Eric Hunt for the Winter’s Grasp adventure:

And also a new piece from Del Tiegeler for the Ice Needles of the Cryoptera adventure:

Del said it was a joke at first…adding baby manticores. I told him to keep them in there because I’ve never seen an adventure with baby manticores before—so I wrote them in. What would your PCs do with baby manticores?!

Jonbar is going to start posting about our brand-new campaign through Coppercore as we playtest through it again. Keep your eyes open—good things are coming!

I have failed thee…

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Terribly sorry folks, seems I had something not correctly set up when last we streamed. Had I done it correctly, there would be a far better copy…and one without the internet crapping out on us too.

All is not lost, however; Twitch…which is where we stream live every Wednesday at 6:15PM Pacific Standard Time, does have a recording of the entire episode 3.

I will be preparing all day in the dungeon that is our studio, in an attempt to insure that this does not happen again, and so a pristine copy of Episode 4 will be waiting for you next Sunday night. I’d like to think that the sound will be far improved as well, and that I might be able to do some more with the stream itself, split screens and better shots of the battle board.

Again, my profuse apologies

Shamoda

The Dragonback Mountains – The Beginning of an Entire World

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This is a map that Jonbar drew up which includes the Dragonback Mountains (north) and the Zontani Sea region (south). The Zontani Sea holds the City of Vermilion and we have recently put out a bunch of adventures in that region, as well as playtesting the City of Vermilion. The giant empire of Rhone lays between the Dragonback Mountains and the Zontani Sea.. But we will focus on the Dragonback Mountains for now:

A closer view of the Dragonback Mountains that Jonbar drew a long while back. The darker etched mountains in the middle are the Dragonback and its name comes from the region looks like a dragon with arching wings and a long tail. Building a world like this is a giant task, so we started with the Dragonback Mountains but eventually broke it down to Drachenvale.

This Drachenvale map was generated by Grutzi who does a lot of great map work (and possesses an astounding creative mind)! It is a living map that is constantly expanding and becoming more detailed as we publish more old school modules. In its current state it shows the location of some of our already published OSR Adventures including The Willowmere Vagabonds (near Willowmere), the Nevermore Mine, Trollback Keep, Of Beasts and Men (north of Oakvale near the Elvish Ruins), and the Dragon’s Gullet. Winter’s Feast is not shown but is up past Mammoth Lake in the Mammoth Glacier area!

Within Drachenvale sits the city of Coppercore, the main human town in this region that we started with. From Dragonback, to Drachenvale, to Coppercore.

We realized very quickly that Coppercore itself was getting big, fast, and so we decided to break the map down even further! There are several adventures the party can follow that surround the city proper that include its three wayhouse settlements (Ersten, Mittelholme, and Farholme), as well as locations underneath Coppercore!

Further still are three fully fleshed out adventures that we’ve decided to combine into one singular production for a Kickstarter in the works called the Coming of Winter. If you want a quick bundle and want to support us, amazing artists we work with, and kick us some beer money then we’d appreciate it! It really goes right back into creating more adventures and breaking-even on commissions paid to (very talented) artists.

This entire region is also currently the setting of our live stream on Twitch. If you want to poke your head into our adventures every so often, the stream is every Wednesday with recordings posted to Youtube by the following Sunday.

This map shows Coppercore’s location and how close those three adventures are: Ice Needles of Cryoptera, the frost giant and wolf lair (Winter’s Grasp) and ice troll cave (Winter’s Blight).

We continue to delve into creating our own lore, deities, and other aspects that make this a living, breathing, world. This is nothing new as I believe a lot of GM’s enjoy world-building and all the little details, but I wanted to share what our own flavor or ‘world’ looks like.

If you have ideas for adventures that might fit in our world and want to try your hand at publishing, reach out to me through email themercilessmerchants@gmail.com or on our Discord (link on the homepage)! There are several continents and hundreds of ideas we haven’t come up with yet!

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!