Tower of Zenopus Dungeon World Conversion

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1vDvmq_KWz2pqGKA8jcZRVFa9IDaDJQa9

Dungeon World Sandbox Campaign Arc

I start with Goblin Shrine of the Spider Gods:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=15Sbgsyc_XRRVoIqhWXJw8OvMRdDlOMHX

Then convert to Dungeon World:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=16QDMjicjwLOQUYxXKiNTnl9xTtxGEDw8

The "Upper Caverns" on the Shrine of the Spider Gods map become the lower level of my Unknown Adventure Dungeon: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1XuThPajNjMdapZKjsw3acdjbgxtCV1hT

To which I swap out the too similar Ragnar's Axe  for this adventure arc's more colorful the Mace of Mog and update the adventure to its current version. The CC Classes are now purely voluntary.

The "Lower Caverns" on the map I convert to a  morlocks' lair. I place an eloi village in a deceptive paradise "Shangri La" hidden valley near the spider goblin shrine surface entrance. My notes for this became the basis for my Temple in the Dark Dungeon World Starter:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=16_mvyeHaIbADQSZv_oEVN18KlZTBjF3S.

This is more than enough if the party ever gets here.Should I revert to the tougher "cinematic morlocks" as opposed to my H.G. Wells goblin cannibals? I lean that way despite my H.G. write-up as it will help make them different than the spider goblins who are a bit like goth arachnid "pathfinder goblins". I will make these morlocks slow but deadly and less afraid of light.

Cinematic Morlock	Horde, Stealthy, Intelligent, Hoarder
Stone  (d6 damage)	6 HP	0 armor
Close
Special Qualities: Darksight, Blinded by bright light, Slow

Descendants of humans who fled underground long ago,  these morlocks have lost much of their past. Adapted to the dark, they skulk around, fighting to survive in an environment filled with danger. While not stupid, they have been set back millennia technologically, relying on clubs and simple traps to defend their lair and Dark Naga leader.

 Instinct: To protect their lair

• Devour enemies
• They deal an additional +1 damage when attacking in groups
• Avoid sunlight

The spider goblins know of the eloi "halflings" and the "hidden valley" but leave the area alone in an uneasy truce with the morlocks. The spider goblins are noted for raiding human settlements and others in this wilderness area of the "Frozen Waste" already noted for its already dangerous mountains, endless steppe and treacherous taiga.

It a region most avoid despite tales of fabulous lost dwarf cities, mysterious ruins and the associated terrible monsters, cunning traps and awe inspiring treasure hoards.In other words add Jason Lutes' Perilous Wilds as needed:

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/156979/The-Perilous-Wilds

After all the characters start as spider goblin captives. The spider goblins religion is all caused by confused dreams from Mog (somehow via the now lost goblin ESP medallion), who ends up with another giant spider cult he can't stand.

There is a small viking village to the south ("Iceport") by the coast in a remote frontier jarldom called "Markland" :}Otherwise the map is pretty blank for now. I wouldn't be shocked to find the Death Frost Doom dungeon somewhere nearby or the Stellarium of Vinteralf. Or maybe a trip to Newhon?

Mace of Mog

Mace of Mog (Weight 1)

This enchanted mace blessed by the Newhon God Mog allows the character to double their damage roll only against corporeal monsters and hit incorporeal monsters for normal damage. Any bearer of the mace will find their eyes will change to resemble a spider’s eight eyes. This will cost the player four points of charisma as long as the character owns the mace. Should the player lose the mace the effect will fade in a few days. It in no way actually impacts the player’s vision.

Mog

“If there is a God he's a great loathsome spider in the darkness.”
  ― John Fowles, The Collector

Lesser God

Symbol:  Silver medallion with the image of Mog

Home Plane: Newhon

Colors: Black and Silver

Alignment: Neutral (Chaotic Neutral)

Portfolio: Secrets, Arachnids, Underworld, Wealth

Worshipers: Thieves, Explorers, Scholars, Criminals, Assassins, Seers

Cleric Alignments: Neutral

Domains: Spiders, Secrets, Fate and Wealth

Favored Weapons: Mace, Dagger

The Lord of Newhon’s Arachnids rules over creatures both eight-legged and two-, dwelling in the paradisiacal environs of Godsland on Nehwon’s southern continent. Mog’s physical form is that of a four-legged spider with a handsome, but not yet all-together human face. Some say there is a passing resemblance between Mog and “that mongrel and long-suspected cutpurse, burglar, and assassin, the Gray Mouser.”

The Gray Mouser worshipped Mog the Spider God for a time (and also robbed his temple, but Mog was happy for the few worshippers he still has and forgave his wayward son), and by the end of his adventures was one of the god's few surviving worshippers. This god is a human-sized spider with a man's head. His worshippers claim that he sits in the middle of a vast web which contains the fates of all humans. Some say that a human can survive only so long as he or she can evade Mog's grasp. Mog’s worship is now rare. Those few who still worship him usually do so in private in order to avoid the scorn of others. For his part, Mog would like to attract new worshippers, but all his attempts have failed. He does not have a temple on the infamous Street of the Gods in Lankhmar. He is considerably less evil (he is amoral) than often portrayed and sometimes confused with Newhon’s voracious and evil Demon Spider Deity of Ilthmar. He is more like the Anansi, the trickster spider god of African folklore than Lolth.

Mog enjoys hanging out with the Newhon barbarian war god Kos and Death (Newhon).

Mog is always eager to acquire new servants and the players will do nicely. Characters that bear his mace can expect Mog to begin contacting them in their dreams offering rewards for quests and promising curses if ignored. He would like to see the artifact the Mace of Mog recovered so that he can expand his influence further on this Dungeon World…

Anansi is the trickster spider god of West African. He often takes the shape of a spider and is considered to be the god of all knowledge. He is also one of the most important characters of West African and Caribbean folklore.

He is also known as Ananse, Kwaku Ananse, and Anancy; and in the southern United States he has evolved into the “Aunt Nancy” of folklore. He is a spider, but often acts and appears as a man.

The Anansi tales are believed to have originated in the Ashanti people in Ghana. (The word Anansi is Akan and means, simply, spider.) They later spread to other Akan groups and then to the West Indies, Suriname, and the Netherlands Antilles. On Curaçao, Aruba, and Bonaire he is known as Nanzi, and his wife as Shi Maria.

Anansi is depicted in many different ways. Sometimes he looks like an ordinary spider, sometimes he is a spider wearing clothes or with a human face and sometimes he looks much more like a human with spider elements, such as eight legs.

Orlando Jones plays a version of Anansi on the Showtime cable television series American Gods.

New Dungeon World Conversion: Goblin Shrine of the Spider Gods

The classic "one page" dungeon: https://campaignwiki.org/1pdc/2015/Gordon%20A.%20Cooper%20-%20Goblin%20Shrine%20of%20the%20Spider%20Gods.pdf

My conversion to Dungeon World: https://drive.google.com/open?id=16QDMjicjwLOQUYxXKiNTnl9xTtxGEDw8

Advanced Readings in D&D: Fritz Leiber

ADVANCED READINGS IN DUNGEONS & DRAGONS

Advanced Readings in D&D: Fritz Leiber

Mordicai Knode

Mon Jul 1, 2013 

Guys, Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and Gray Mouser are basically the bee’s knees. In fact, I might go so far as to say they are the most Dungeons and Dragons of anything on the Appendix N list. Leiber obviously couldn’t have known that when he was writing the duo—at least not at first, starting them in 1939, but I guess perhaps he found out along the way, since he wrote them until 1988—but more interestingly, I don’t think Gary Gygax could have known, either. Now, obviously he knew that it influenced him in creating the game, but the thing about the Lankhmar stories is that they are actually how people play the game as well.

You know, I saw a funny image recently that had a picture of Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and the Rohirrim all posed like a bunch of cool looking tough guys, all epic in scope, with a caption of “How Most D&D Groups Begin” and then it cuts to an image below it labeled “How Most D&D Groups End” with a picture of the Monty Python crew in Holy Grail. Snerk. Still, I do find that most roleplaying groups have a strong element of black comedy running through them, along with a charming sort of nihilism. They aren’t all flowery speeches to elf queens; in fact, more often they are sarcastic quips to bartenders. Which, in a nutshell, is Fafhrd and Gray Mouser’s game.

Where to start on Fafhrd and Gray Mouser? Well, you might as well start at the beginning, with Swords and Deviltry, the first collection, since it has their meeting and each of their prologues. Let me illustrate it thus: Fafhrd straps fireworks to his skis at one point in order to rocket across a jump. That sort of insanity is just so…well, so Dungeons and Dragons; I don’t know how Leiber does it. I mean, I just had an AD&D campaign end when our bard, after crowdsurfing a horde of damned and demons, delivered the killing blow to Zuggtomoy with a roll of a natural 100 on a rod of wonder, which on the alternate table we were using was “death ray, no save.” It was epic, in the truest sense of the term, and was only possible thanks to the critical mass of multiple players, a convoluted prior history of adventuring, random number generators, and sheer dumb luck. That makes sense, but Leiber’s imagination is so fruitful that…well, it is like he has a chaos theory generator in his head. Billions of flapping butterflies.

Personally though, Swords Against Wizardry is my favorite omnibus, because it has the story “Stardock” in it, which is my favorite Fafhrd and Gray Mouser story by a mile (even if it doesn’t have Lankhmar in it). In short: the pair decide to climb the highest mountain in the world. You know; like if Everest came complete with the boilerplate fantasy hyperbole—like if Olympus Monswas on Earth. On a rumor, a riddle…because of course these two adventurers would undertake a task no one has ever accomplished because of a poem. With a snow leopard as a companion. Sounds like Mouser took a level in Ranger to me; it explains why he can dual-wield Scalpel and Cat’s Claw, too, for that matter.

Of course, just climbing an impossible mountain is almost too easy! So we get to have giant invisible flying manta rays trying to eat them, while invisible demigods riding on the giant invisible flying manta rays are trying to murder them. Well of course, you are saying, that is just obviously what happens when you try to climb past the rime and ice of a primordial peak. What else would you expect? Weird gnomes? We’ve got them too! Also, and perhaps most crucially, there are also invisible demigod ladies who’ve taken a fancy to our heroes.

We’ve talked about ladies and their representation in the pulps that influenced Dungeons and Dragons. They’ve ranged from the rotten to the pretty solid, but most fall into a big box labeled “problematic.” Leiber’s ladies (should that be Leiber’s Ladies, as a sort of fantasy Charlie’s Angels? I’d read it!) are generally on the positive end of the spectrum. They are defined by their roles as romantic foils, but they aren’t negative roles. They have agency, but typically in service to either narrative fiat or the agenda of the antagonists…and are almost always weird.

By way of example: here, the women in question are the invisible, nude godlings who live on the mountain. They “reveal” themselves to Gray Mouser and Fafhrd by covering themselves in paint or in lace. Pin up, sure, but not offensive. They aren’t even the weirdest ones; for a while Gray Mouser is involved with an albino were-rat, and Fafhrd dates a ghoul whose flesh and organs are transparent, leaving only her skeleton visible. Eventually the two settle down with two female counterparts, Cif and Afreyt, who are the best of Leiber’s women; as his Lankhmar stories evolved, so too did his characters.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention my personal favorite thing about the books: the wizards. Ningauble of the Seven Eyes and Sheelba of the Eyeless Face. Think of them as if Gandalf had a baby with Wilbur Whatley. You know, they sort of show up, meddle, display a casual alienation and inhuman form that makes you shudder at the indifference of the universe, make a few cheap jokes, and then exit from the story. Like if Guillermo del Toro got his art team together to brainstorm new faceless creatures for a Baba Yaga movie (I’d watch it!). Fafhrd and Gray Mouser, on the other hand, aren’t playing Call of Cthulhu. They’re playing Dungeons and Dragons, sword and sorcery style. SAN checks? No sweat. These are guys who clawed their way from first level to twentieth. They can handle some tentacles and a few eyes too many or two few. What’s the big deal?

---

Mordicai Knode is leaving diligent markings on the dungeon wall with chalk and a series of thieves’ cant markings so that the absent Tim Callahan can catch up with the rest of the party.

In “Advanced Readings in D&D,” Tor.com writers Tim Callahan and Mordicai Knode take a look at Gary Gygax’s favorite authors and reread one per week, in an effort to explore the origins of Dungeons and Dragons and see which of these sometimes-famous, sometimes-obscure authors are worth rereading today. Sometimes the posts will be conversations, while other times they will be solo reflections, but one thing is guaranteed: Appendix N will be written about, along with dungeons, and maybe dragons, and probably wizards, and sometimes robots, and, if you’re up for it, even more.

APPENDIX N: INSPIRATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL READING

Inspiration for all the fantasy work I have done stems directly from the love my father showed when I was a tad, for he spent many hours telling me stories he made up as he went along, tales of cloaked old men who could grant wishes, of magic rings and enchanted swords, or wicked sorcerers [sic] and dauntless swordsmen.

Then too, countless hundreds of comic books went down, and the long-gone EC ones certainly had their effect. Science fiction, fantasy, and horror movies were a big influence. In fact, all of us tend to get ample helpings of fantasy when we are very young from fairy tales such as those written by the Brothers Grimm and Andrew Lang. This often leads to reading books of mythology, paging through bestiaries, and consultation of compilations of the myths of various lands and peoples.

Upon such a base I built my interest in fantasy, being an avid reader of all science fiction and fantasy literature since 1950.

The following authors were of particular inspiration to me. In some cases I cite specific works, in others, I simply recommend all of their fantasy writing to you. From such sources, as well as any other imaginative writing or screenplay, you will be able to pluck kernels from which will grow the fruits of exciting campaigns. Good reading!

Anderson, Poul: THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS; THE HIGH CRUSADE; THE BROKEN SWORD
Bellairs, John: THE FACE IN THE FROST
Brackett, Leigh
Brown, Frederic
Burroughs, Edgar Rice: "Pellucidar" series; Mars series; Venus series
Carter, Lin: "World's End" series
de Camp, L. Sprague: LEST DARKNESS FALL; THE FALLIBLE FIEND; et al
de Camp & Pratt: "Harold Shea" series; THE CARNELIAN CUBE
Derleth, August
Dunsany, Lord
Farmer, P. J.: "The World of the Tiers" series; et al
Fox, Gardner: "Kothar" series; "Kyrik" series; et al
Howard, R. E.: "Conan" series
Lanier, Sterling: HIERO'S JOURNEY
Leiber, Fritz: "Fafhrd & Gray Mouser" series; et al
Lovecraft, H. P.
Merritt, A.: CREEP, SHADOW, CREEP; MOON POOL; DWELLERS IN THE MIRAGE; et al
Moorcock, Michael: STORMBRINGER; STEALER OF SOULS; "Hawkmoon" series (esp. the first three books)
Norton, Andre
Offutt, Andrew J.: editor of SWORDS AGAINST DARKNESS III
Pratt, Fletcher: BLUE STAR; et al
Saberhagen, Fred: CHANGELING EARTH; et al
St. Clair, Margaret: THE SHADOW PEOPLE; SIGN OF THE LABRYS
Tolkien, J. R. R.: THE HOBBIT; "Ring trilogy"
Vance, Jack: THE EYES OF THE OVERWORLD; THE DYING EARTH; et al
Weinbaum, Stanley
Wellman, Manley Wade
Williamson, Jack
Zelazny, Roger: JACK OF SHADOWS; "Amber" series; et al

The most immediate influences upon AD&D were probably de Camp & Pratt, R. E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, H. P. Lovecraft, and A. Merritt; but all of the above authors, as well as many not listed, certainly helped to shape the form of the game. For this reason, and for the hours of reading enjoyment, I heartily recommend the works of these fine authors to you.

- E. Gary Gygax, 1979, AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide, p. 224

I've highlighted in black authors I love, particularly Fritz Leiber and J..R.R. Tolkien, the masters in my mind of epic and sword and sorcery. A modern list would certainly include George R.R. Marin's "A Song of Ice and Fire"novels series as essential.I would also add Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea novels, Clark Ashton Smith, Michael Shea and McKillip's Riddlemaster Trilogy.

For films I would include all of Peter Jackson's Middle Earth movies, Milius' Conan the Barbarian, Dragonslayer, The Princess Bride, Stardust, Ladyhawke and HBO's television series Game of Thrones as a start to the "A list".

-Mark Tygart, 2017

Under the Dark of the New Moon

Fans of my current S&S Adventure Starter (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9a1g2UEdQcmVSUWM/view?usp=sharing) might want to combine it with Jeremy's gem here (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0lFq3ECDQDQeTkxMjd5WnVxMWc/view?usp=sharing)for some extra Robert E. Howard action for your own improved version of Conan the Destroyer with some additional screenplay adds by way of Lankmar. Also the humans only playbooks might be a good add: (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9dUd3dkM0SERhQTA/view?usp=sharing)

Happy Adventuring!

New Dungeon World Starter: Sword & Sorcery Adventure

"Fire and wind come from the sky, from the gods of the sky. But Crom is your god. Crom, and he lives in the Earth. Once, giants lived in the Earth, Conan. And in the darkness of chaos, they fooled Crom, and they took from him the enigma of steel. Crom was angered; and the earth shook. And fire and wind struck down these giants - and they threw their bodies into the waters, but in their rage, the gods forgot the secret of steel and left it on the battlefield. And we who found it - are just men. Not gods. Not giants. Just men. The secret of steel has always carried with it a mystery... You must learn its riddle, Conan. You must learn its discipline. For no one—no one in this world can you trust. Not men, not women, not beasts... This you can trust..."

— Conan's father, touting The Riddle of Steel

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9a1g2UEdQcmVSUWM/view?usp=sharing

Consider the age in which we live...

Consider the age in which we live. It wants magicians…. A scientist tells people the truth. When times are good—that is, when the truth offers no threat—people don't mind.… A magician, on the other hand, tells people what they wish were true—that perpetual motion works, that cancer can be cured by colored lights, that a psychosis is no worse than a head cold, that they'll live forever. In good times magicians are laughed at. They're a luxury of the spoiled wealthy few. But in bad times people sell their souls for magic cures and buy perpetual-motion machines to power their war rockets.

-Fritz Leiber

Credit this one to Fritz Leiber

Paramental	Solitary, Planar, Terrifying, Amorphous
Bash (d10+2 damage)	19 HP	4 armor
Close, Forceful
Special Qualities: Formed out of local city structures

Paramentals are the elemental spirits of inanimate forces. It is unclear whether they are drawn to cities because of the large quantities of "city-stuff" or created by them. When manifesting, they draw their physical substance from the materials nearby. Paramental entities are quite hostile to those unlucky enough to draw their attention, "about midway in nature between the atomic bomb and the archetypes of the collective unconscious." The one example featured in the novel "Our Lady of Darkness" was a brown humanoid, with an eyeless triangular face and long chin that tapered to a snout. 

Instinct: Destroys

• Manifests
• Arcane construct

“From his window there thrust itself a pale brown thing that wildly waved its long, uplifted arms at him.  While low between them, he could see a face stretched toward him, a mask as narrow as a ferret’s, a pale brown, utterly blank triangle, two points above that might mean eyes or ears, and one ending below in a tapered chin … a questing mouth that looked as if it were sucking for marrow.”

 --from Fritz Leiber’s Our Lady of Darkness (1977)