Black Amazon of Mars by Leigh Brackett (short review)

Grimly Eric John Stark slogged toward that ancient Martian city-with every step he cursed the talisman of Ban Cruach that flamed in his blood-stained belt. Behind him screamed the hordes of Ciaran, hungering for that magic jewel-ahead lay the dread abode of the Ice Creatures-at his side stalked the whispering spectre of Ban Cruach, urging him on to a battle Stark knew he must lose!

- (From the blurb on Amazon)

This was another read in my Appendix N quest. It is a short story and will get a short review.

The book is strongly reminiscent of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ A Princess of Mars, and also Robert E. Howard’s Conan. The Mars setting feels more like Hyboria than Barsoom—not just because of the Celtic/Gaelic-sounding names, but also because there’s little that feels distinctly alien (not many spaceships or ray guns here). Even the most sinister creatures resemble ghosts more than extraterrestrials.

The story isn’t nearly as imaginative as Burroughs’ Barsoom, nor as gritty as Conan, or as weird as The Shadow People. In that sense, the book was a bit of a disappointment.

However, it’s still a fun read. Brackett’s prose is leaner and faster than Burroughs or Howard, maintaining a pace of nonstop action that never lets you get bored. The alien villains have compelling motives and backstories, and while the setting is somewhat sparse, it still has its cool moments (and can provide some inspiration for your D&D games, especially if you like Dark Sun). The main character is a bit underdeveloped, but the supporting cast shows more personality than most pulp coadjutants.

To me, Burroughs + Howard + Lovecraft/Merrit monsters sounds like a winning formula, and Brackett’s action-driven style could have made this a standout. But in the end, it felt a bit derivative and predictable. Then again, it’s a short book—which explains both its strengths (tight pacing) and its weaknesses (underdeveloped elements).

Overall, it’s worth the read—especially if you enjoy pulp, sword and planet, Burroughs or Howard. Maybe I'll look further into her work in the future.

B/X random encounter/travel generator

So I've made a small dice roller / random encounter/ travel generator for B/X, OSE and other "Basic" games.

Here you go.

This is a tool I wanted to have for my own games; I realized it takes too long to roll during the game. Now I can do most of the work with a click (or a few clicks; see below).

I've tried several solutions, including rolling 1000 (!) encounters for my games, many of which I used with great success - they are in the Basic Wilderness Encounters book.

But I also wanted an automated tool for weather (I often forget to roll/describe it) and encounter checks. The weather checks are just descriptive unless they roll terrible weather. I created them inspired by the reaction table.

This isn't as complete as Basic Wilderness Encounters (which also includes NPC names, number and type of monsters appearing, etc.). It is more agnostic, however; you can combine it with your favorite random encounter table, table of random names, etc.

Here are some fine tools for OSE. I've seen some other tools out there in the format of apps and spreadsheets, but I prefer having one link, that I can "roll" with one click.

And it is very transparent, you can ignore any roll you want, add Charisma to the reaction check, let PCs roll for surprise, etc.

I might fix some stuff if I had similar tools formatted for perchance. I especially wish I had a generator that also gave me the number appearing immediately; the rest is often not as important, because the PCs can sometimes choose to ignore the encounter, for example.

I hope this tool helps you experiment running B/X or OSE encounters as originally written, taking distance, surprise, reaction, etc., into account.

This has LOTS of room for improvement, but it takes work. Anyone can edit it (give me credit if you find it appropriate), and I hope there are other generators out there which we can use, add, remix, etc. 

Please let me know! I'd love to have a good perchance generator for B/X or AD&D encounters that I can incorporate to this one!

Additional reading:

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/11/the-painful-procedure-of-random.html

Old school dice pools

So, I just had a fast combat/mass combat idea for D&D, probably from  Chainmail or Delta's blog:

Roll 1d6/level for fighters, half as much for clerics, 1/3 for MUs.

1 misses, 2-5 hit/miss depending on AC, 6 always hits. 

Monsters only need one hit per HD and we don't even need d20s. 

The idea is making combat against dozens of opponents a bit quicker.

But come to think of it, it could be pushed into an entire system. Let's see.

Duels

Two 9-HD fighters facing off would each roll 9d6 and cause an average of 3 hits per round (assuming they hit on a 5-6), so combat would be a bit quicker than, say, B/X.

Ranged combat

Both in real life and D&D, ranged combat is not usually as efficient as mêlée combat. Maybe adding 1 or 2 to AC is enough. To avoid treating an archer like a machine gun, you can rule "missed" shots are time spent in aiming, drawing, etc., and only "hits" or 1s waste arrows.

Against a single target, maybe all damage comes from a carefully aimed single arrow; so a very powerful fighter with a magic arrow could kill a dragon immediately, but this is very rare.

Weapons

Certainly there is some nuance lost here. Let's assume everyone is using a single-handed weapon. 2H weapons might add a dice, while maces may remove a point of AC, etc.

Turn Undead

Cleric rolls 2d6/level. 

Rolling 2-5 turns one HD of undead, 6 damages them. You can alter these numbers to make the cleric more or less powerful, or maybe make turn undead a spell (see below).

Spells

Casters have 2d6/level "magic dice" per day. 

When casting a fireball, it works identically as a fighter's attack, but any 6s you roll are removed from your pool until the next rest. 

(I think I got this idea from Necropraxis).

This fixes a number of fireball problems I usually have.

Same works for curing wounds.

But what about spells that deal no damage? Maybe we could still keep the "roll to cast" and "magic dice" aspects. a 4-6 counts as a success; a 1st level spell requires only one success to function, etc.

You can use several dice to cast a 1st level spell, so you can be sure it succeeds in the first try, but that way you'll also roll more 6s and spend more dice.

Skills

Let's use "hear noise" as an example. Non-thieves have 1-in-6 chances, thieves start with 2-in-6.

So let's say a normal PC rolls 1d6, but a thief adds 1d6/level. Rolling a single 6 means success, so the thief start with 30.5% chance. By level 10, he rolls 11d6, with a 85% chance of success. He won't get to 99% until level 19-20 or so, which is nice, so there is always some chance of failure.

Maybe multiple 6s mean extraordinary success, and rolling all 1s means disaster (e.g., falling from a climb or getting caught in a trap).

Backstabbing is easy; a thief simply attacks as a fighter while backstabbing, and maybe lowers the AC by one if you want them to be really deadly.

Saves

Saves can work similarly to skills. Everyone gets 1d6 plus 1d6/level. 

Notice that the progression from 30% to 85% between level 1 and 10 is quite fitting. You can give fighters, dwarves, paladins etc. an extra die or two.

You do not usually "save" against damage; treat this like an attack against AC (see below).

HP

There is no more HP, only "hits". To make things a bit softer, I'd give each PC one hit PLUS level for fighters, level/2 for clerics etc.

Maybe you could do the same for monsters so that a 1 HD monster has 2 hits and so on. 

AC

AC now is 2 (unarmored) to 6 (plate+shield). 

If you want magic armor etc. you could go even higher, but then you'd need special rules. For example, each time you roll a 6 you can roll again and add 5 to get a result from 6 to 11.

In conclusion...

Well, if you like dice pools, you can see that you might was well play old school D&D with them and a little conversion. But you'd lose some nuance in ability scores, weapons, etc. Maybe just sticking to the d20 is easier.

Still, we have some nifty systems for mass combat, and maybe skills, spells and saves, to experiment with.

Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion (short review)

I've read the first book a few years ago. This month, I gave it a re-read and delved into the second book. The Hyperion Cantos is comprised of four books; I haven’t read the final two and I'm not sure if I will.

But the first two were cool enough to mention—so here we are.

Hyperion is just great sci-fi. The story is about a group of interstellar pilgrims journeying to the planet Hyperion’s Time Tombs—a mysterious place that seems to move backward through time and is haunted by the metallic horror of the Shrike: an uber-powerful, four-armed monster that feels nearly unbeatable. Fortunately, it seems currently trapped on the planet, dedicating its existence to killing and torturing humans—many of whom are impaled on a metallic tree to suffer forever.

Each pilgrim tells their story and motives as they go, and each tale is captivating in its own way (the two stories about ageing are my favorites). They're written in different sci-fi styles—cyberpunk, military, science-fantasy, horror, and so on. Some stories are better than others, but they all made enjoyable reads, IMO. Even better, they connect in satisfying ways, and sometimes one story gives a previous one an unexpected twist. With this tapestry of tales, Dan Simmons paints a rich setting, full of wonder and pain.

The book deals with various themes, especially religion and technology, but also artificial intelligence, time travel, transhumanism, sentience, ecology, war, the purpose of art and suffering, free will and predestination, sacrifice, and so on. And it does so with amazing depth. The discussions about A.I seem relevant today, and the other themes are timeless.

The first book, therefore, is highly recommended—with the small caveat that it doesn’t have a proper ending, which only comes in Fall of Hyperion (kind of).

Fall of Hyperion is also a fine book—and for me, it was definitely a page-twister, as I was eager to find out how the story ends. It often takes dark turns, resembling a horror movie like Alien or dealing with truly grim themes like genocide and torture. Unfortunately, it's a bit too long, a bit repetitive, and I felt that the horror lost some of its impact due to the wait and the fact that many characters seem able to survive apparent death one way or another (a trend that, I believe, continues in the last two books).

Overall, I found the first one much better, but the second one does live up to most of the promise.

This series feels influential—I feel the second one could have inspired The Matrix, for example—but isn’t quite that famous. I found the first one a better read than Dune (which I haven’t finished), which has several adaptions. Apparently, there’s a book or TV series adaptation of Hyperion in the works, which I’d certainly watch.

For the D&D fans, Hyperion offers cool ideas for monsters, religions, and dungeons. I wonder if Planescape’s “Lady of Pain” was inspired by the “Lord of Pain” moniker given to the Shrike. The Cadaver Collector is also reminiscent. When I first read the book, I was struck by the depiction of a Church of Pain—full of tight corners designed to cut and hurt visitors. And the idea of dungeons that travel through time is just too good to pass up!

In certainly thinking of taking some inspiration for my next RPG setting. But that's probably a subject for another post.

Odysseus, Elric, Epic (the musical!) and tragedy

I had never noticed the similarities between Elric of Melniboné and Odysseus, so I thought it would be a fun idea to share.

This impression came when I was watching Epic: The Musical (E:TM), a reimagining of Homer’s Odyssey that became popular on TikTok (!) and seems to be even more similar to Elric than the original Odyssey.

As far as I can tell, Moorcock hasn’t made any widely known or direct comments specifically about Odysseus, nor did I find anyone else pointing to the similarities. Likewise, Jorge Rivera-Herrans (The author of Epic) apparently has not publicly mentioned Elric of Melniboné or Michael Moorcock.

It is likely that some of the similarities I see are common to many different myths/stories, but I find them meaningful enough to mention. Of course, other works such as The Broken Sword might be even more influential on Moorcock.

Both Elric and Odysseus are reluctant heroes (and kings of their respective islands) that leave their thrones (for different reasons) and go on adventure, bound by fate, defying the gods but also summoning them for help.

Odysseus is a warrior of Athena and Elric a protégée of Arioch (at first), but both relationships become complicated during the stories. Both heroes seem to be  pawn of the gods at times, and divine beings shape their fate as much as their own choices do.

Both spend a long time dreaming of coming back to their loved ones. Both carry the guilty for the loss of their men in the sea and in battle. 

While these themes are widespread in mythology, certain Elric scenes specifically evoke the Odyssey for me.

For example, Odysseus wounds Polyphemus, which angers Poseidon. Elric faces the Sad Giant and decides to spare him... but his companion decides to slay him, to avoid upsetting the lawful gods / thwarting their prophecies. In E:TM, the fact that Odysseus spares Polyphemus angers Athena.

Both Odysseus and Elric sleep with sorceresses and other women despite their great love for  their beloved (Penelope and Cymoril; in defense of Elric this happens after the demise of Cymoril).

Is it a stretch to say both travel to the Underworld, be it in Hades or the Realm of Chaos where Elric finds Stormbringer? Maybe.

Both Odysseus and Elric cause a bloodbath on their respective kingdoms when they do manage to come back.

After the Raid on Imrryr (from The Dreaming City), the Dragon Masters of Melniboné awaken the ancient dragons that will obliterate Elric's entire fleet. Knowing he cannot save everyone, Elric summons wind elementals to carry his own ship away from the carnage. Afterwards, he swims away alone.

Odysseus's fleet gets destroyed by Poseidon  - especially the Laestrygonians giants, with the last ship being destroyed by a storm and leaving Odysseus alone on as island. In E:TM, Odysseus uses a bag of wind given by the wind god Aeolus to save his ship.

[Elric also has to deal with beings such as Straasha, Lord of the Sea, reminiscent of Poseidon, and Grome, Lord of Earth].

Finally in Elric of Melniboné, the first novel in the saga, during Elric’s assault on the Mirror of Memory (a magical trap that steals the minds of those who look into it), Elric recruits blind warriors to fight by his side, but nearly goes mad himself.

Odysseus has a similar predicament when passing near sirens: he orders his crew to plug their ears with beeswax so they won’t hear the song, but he almost succumbs to their enticing songs, as he chooses to be tied to the ship's mast instead of covering his ears.

[BTW, Elric also gets tied to a ship's mast in different circumstances, suffering hallucinations due to his albinism].

In short...

The Odyssey is so important to western culture that its influence is everywhere, and some of it might as well be unintended, subtle nods or subversions (as Elric is often more tragic dark fantasy than epic).

Elric seems to owe a lot to Greek tragedy - or, in this case, one of the most popular Greek epics ever. As we've said, some themes are nearly universal, being present since the Epic of Gilgamesh and other works. But some similarities are remarkable enough that I felt like sharing them here.

What do you say? Could Odysseus be a direct inspiration to Elric's stories?

AD&D 2e reaction table

The AD&D 2e reaction table is... interesting:

Compare it to the BECMI reaction table, discussed here.

The tables are different for several reasons, but the main distinction is that the AD&D 2e table requires you to check the player characters' attitude before finding out how the monster behaves, while every other D&D table I can remember goes the opposite way: first consider the die roll, then check how the monsters behave.

Of course, in practice you can always ask how the PC's react first (or ignore the rection roll altogether, etc.). But I think it would be better to rely on initiative here - if the PC's have the initiative, they can choose to show they're friendly before the monsters decide how to react, which would certainly give them some advantage in the reaction roll.

If they LOSE initiative, the monsters "react" first - but if they are uncertain, this gives the PC's another chance to make a peaceful gesture, etc.

Another interesting aspect of the 2e table is that it can result in flight. This makes some sense as the table is affected by morale modifiers. A curious idea! Should scared monsters be friendlier? It makes some sense if they are intelligent, otherwise they should just run away if they can (which is the case if PCs are hostile).

Unfortunately, the actual morale score is irrelevant here; a monster with morale 18 and other with morale 10 are both as likely to flight or be hostile. 

Curiously, since chaotic creatures have -1 to morale checks for some reason (they are probably more cowardly and less organized), they are also more likely to be friendly, which is a mistake IMO.

Overall, the 2e table is not any clearer or better than other tables, but it has several advantages we can use - and a few disadvantages I'd like to change.

It feels too friendly to "indifferent" PCs, do not contain immediate attacks, and is organized in a 4x19 grid instead of the usual 5 entries. It also seems to lack a "cautious" column that should be the default for PCs, with equal chances of friendliness and hostility.

Maybe my ideal 2d10 table would be smaller, containing a single column instead of a grid. Give the PCs a -1 if they manage to show they're friendly before you roll (e.g., if they win initiative); let he "speaker" or "leader" make any kind of Charisma "check" you feel appropriate to change this to -2 [simply including the charisma modifier feels too extreme, IMO; it would make everyone your friend]. 

If they are hostile or attack, roll with +1 to +2 (it is unlikely you need to roll after the PCs attack).

2–3. Friendly

4–6. Positive

7–10. Curious

11–13. Indifferent

14–16. Suspicious

17–18. Negative

19–20. Hostile (fight or flight - morale check)

As you can see, I added morale only to the last entry. But you can also use it whenever intelligent NPCs feel threatened or unable to escape, to see if they negotiate or surrender.

This is not much better than the original 2d6 table. Except that 2d10 allows you some extra room to give +2 and -2 modifiers. Maybe a simpler version would be better:

2–4. Friendly 

5–7. Positive, indifferent

8–12. Cautious curiosity  

13–16. Negative, suspicious, aggressive

17–20. Hostile (fight or flight - morale check if needed)

But then again, I've written about this before... more than once! 

So I'll leave this as a small post about 2e reaction, and point you to some older posts about reaction rolls in general:

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/05/reaction-rolls-in-practice-osr.html

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-d20-reaction-check-osr.html

Christmas in July (2025) picks

Christmas on July sale over DTRPG is on! Here are my usual picks, with some additions.

It includes many of my titles!

This includes my latest work, Basic Wilderness Encounters - which recently got a couple of 5-star ratings!

Most products have a 30% discount.

There are 75% discounts here. 

I notice some interesting stuff in there, but nothing I've played before. Swords of the Serpentine is good S&S, or so I'm told; Blue Rose is a classic setting from the early 2000s (IIRC) that I might check.

This time I'm a bit curious about Adventure Anthology for Shadowdark, although I might have some of his adventures in some other compilation... usually good stuff.

HYPERBOREA - which I reviewed here - is also included.

The Halls of Arden Vul Complete is 30% off. 

Now, let's see the old favorites...

OSR

* Teratogenicon, my monster maker (check the previews!).

* Dark Fantasy Basic, my B/X neoclone.

* Low Fantasy Gaming Deluxe Edition (review of the original version);

* Monkey Business.

* Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG (DCC RPG);

* How to Write Adventure Modules That Don't Suck; 

* The Monster Alphabet; 

* Old-School Essentials Classic Fantasy: Rules Tome; 

* Silent Legions; 

* The Nameless Grimoire.

* Into the Unknown (my impressions).

* Adventurer Conqueror King System.

* Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells.

Classic D&D

This are some of my favorites. Explanation here.

* D&D Basic Set Rulebook (B/X ed.) (Basic).

* D&D Rules Cyclopedia (Basic)

* Dungeon Master's Guide (1e)

* Monstrous Manual (2e) - the current price is RIDICULOUSLY LOW for such a a great book.

* Dark Sun boxed set.

Goodman Games

In addition to the amazing Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG (DCC RPG), I really like The Dungeon Alphabet, The Monster Alphabet and The Cthulhu Alphabet. They are near system-less and full of awesome stuff to inspire your games. I still haven't read How to Write Adventure Modules That Don't Suck but it is also on sale.

They also publish awesome adventures; Doom of the Savage King is highly recommended! Same for Jewels of the Carnifex, which I reviewed here.

Necrotic Gnome

Several Old School Essentials titles are also on sale in addition to Old-School Essentials Classic Fantasy: Rules Tome. I really like Old-School Essentials. It is basically a concise, well-organized version of my favorite D&D (B/X). The SRD is great. the version that interests me the most is the advanced version - it is NOT an AD&D clone, but B/X with many new options taken from AD&D, dragon magazine, etc. For players and DMs.

Sine Nomine Publishing

Worlds Without Number is on sale. I have only read the free version briefly, but seems very good overall, and I've appreciated many other titles form the same author, including Scarlet Heroes and Silent Legions (maybe my favorite OSR take on horror and Lovecraft).

I think that's it for now. If you know any other books on sale that you'd recommend (especially if it is 30% off), let me know in the comments and I'll add it to my list. Feel free to promote your own products!

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