This was a great resource for the nautical themed game I DM. I needed a bit of filler between story arches and this was a perfect fit. Here’s is what I used from it:

1. Tension between the crew of NPCs and the players.
2. Gambling
3. Cafeteria brawl.
4. The list of names and stats of the NPC crew. I plan on using the Storm & weather encounter. Well worth the money.

Another fantastic piece of work from Joe Bloch. There are a few good reviews online if you are curious about the content. There is a fantastic level of detail, an extensive new spell list, some fantastic illustrations, campaign types, dreamlands, races, insanity system, etc. I'm familiar with his work through his articles for Dragon magazine and his continued free OGL work in the World of Greyhawk. This book can add some excellent elements to a Greyhawk campaign (Or..any other campaign world) if you wish to make it more Cthuluhawk or add some dark elder god components to your world.....oh and almost forgot...DEFINITELY worth buying in hardcover

This was a fun one. Any quibbles I have with it are minor, but the praise I have for it is major. In a series of scenarios, this adventure will make sure your players know what it is like to deal with the dangers of the seas. There should be more adventures that really put players in representative experiences for different terrain types that emphasize what being there is like. Highly recommend. Here's a walkthrough and review video: https://rumble.com/v3suo79-pirates-of-the-airdish-main-from-od-and-d-rpg-review.html

Imagine "Oriental Adventures" being done better, with better stats, better character options, better monsters, and then imagine it is a huge book with beautiful art. That is what we have here, by the master of going back and fixing old settings and adventures.campaigns, Joseph "Greyhawk Grognard" Bloch. You have to get this book if you have even a pssing interest in 1e, 2e, the OSR, or playing D&D in Asian cultures. This book literally fixes the Monk, the Mystic, and the Thief-Acrobat as well as making other classes more palatable, such as the Bard! I rarely say a book is a must-buy, but this is a MUST-BUY!

If you want to add some Mythos to your OSR you cant go wrong with this book. lots of useful tables, spells and classes.

I've been playing the original first edition AD&D rules system since 1982 and LOVED it! With that being said I have to applaud BRW Games and Joseph Bloch for this amazing rules system. It has everything that an old school gamer like myself absolutely loved about the original AD&D game. I cannot highly recommend this product enough. 5 out of 5 stars.

Well, you do get a ton of dungeon jam packed into this product. Unfortunately, it's not particularly inspired, evocative or easy to use. Indeed, mega-dungeons like this help give the whole genre a bad reputation. There's just not much here to get you excited about running it. The back story is vanilla and cliched. The maps are fine, but nothing special. Most rooms have virtually no description; just a name, which more often than not simply describes the contents such as "Skeletons," "Orcs," etc. Any tween from the 80s could come up with that. Even worse, there aren't full stat blocks, just lists of hit points. So you'll need whatever old school monster book/stats you rely on to run encounters then have to calculate all the XP yourself.

As for the dungeons themselves, they're just okay. There are feeble attempts at creating factions, but much of it doesn't make much sense. And he doesn't really lean much into the Mad Archmage trope with a few exceptions. Traps and tricks tend to be underwhelming too. There is a lame effort to insert orc "work crews" into the dungeon that I just ignored. The sample rival NPC adventuring parties are a bit better done and showcase some of the character classes created for Adventures Dark & Deep, the author's OSR imagining of what 2nd edition AD&D might have been. I also like the "Dungeon Dressing" tables, though they could be expanded.

There is a book of illustrations, but they're pretty amateurish. Better than nothing, but since the room descriptions themselves are generally so lacking, cool images would have helped immensely. There are some new monsters and magic items, but again, nothing especially interesting or inspiring.

All of this is disappointing because in watching the author's youtube videos I was really excited to get this product. But it's just kind of meh. You can at least crib thre maps and adapt the dungeons for something else, which is what I'm doing, basically linking this to the far more interesting Undermountain.

So if you want to put in the work, you do get a lot of potential with this for a decent price. But if you're looking for something exciting to run right out of the box, there are far better megadungeon options out there.

Well, I'm blown away. I'd just like to say this is the most beautiful book I've purchased in a long time. On recieving it, the beautiful cover, the spine matching my old 1st books, and the incredible sense of nostalgia when I opened it - all entries laid out in 1st ed style.. I could have been back in '85 with that same sense of wonder as I opened Unearthed Arcana for the first time. And the content.. superb. If I could only ask for one thing, it would be more. Another volume please! Thank you for the time and care and obvious devotion put into this work, Mr Bloch.

Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/10/100-days-of-halloween-adventure-module.html

Adventure Module V3 - Toil and Trouble

PDF and softcover book. 20 pages. Color cover, black & white interior art.

Designed for 4 to 6 characters of 3rd to 5th level.

For this one I have both the PDF and softcover versions. Also, we are given our first real and proper introduction to the "Witch Queen" none other than Natasha. It has everything a good adventure should have. Plots and intrigue, a ruined tower, cultists, caves, giant bugs, new monsters and new spells.

In this one, you have to stop the Dark Star coven dedicated to Natasha.

Again the witches of Natasha are presented as clerics or you can use the BRW Witch class.

I also admit I find the modules colored in Red, Blue, and Green to be very esthetically pleasing.

Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/10/100-days-of-halloween-adventure-module.html

Adventure Module V2 - Red in Tooth and Claw

PDF. 12 pages. Color cover, black & white interior art.

Designed for 4 to 6 characters of 2nd to 3rd level.

This one takes place six months after the first adventure in the series. Following the pattern laid down at the time of the earliest adventures this one now includes some hex-crawling with some random encounters. These are encountered before the party returns to Volage. Indeed this module is very explicitly a hex crawl to investigate the area around the Hamlet of Volage. So there is no true purpose or "victory condition" nor should there be. The purpose is the exploration of the surrounding area. Though there is the threat of the Dark Star Coven. Details have to be uncovered before the next adventure can take place. There is a nice little teaser about the "Queen of Witches."

I will admit I not 100% sure why it has to be 6 months later except to allow a season to pass.

The most fun here are the werewolves in the woods.

Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/10/100-days-of-halloween-adventure-module.html

Adventure Module V1 - The Hamlet of Volage

PDF. 13 pages (+ covers). Color cover, black & white interior art.

Designed for 4 to 6 characters of 1st to 3rd level.

This is where we get our "V" in the V series; the Hamlet of Volage (not to be confused with the Village of Hommlet a few miles over). This adventure introduces the players (and characters) to Volage which in the middle of a battleground between two warring covens of witches. The Cloven Hoof Coven (Diabolic) and the Dark Star Coven (Demonic).

Though the adventure does not start that big. It begins rather with a rivalry between local families and accusations of witchcraft.

Much like the adventures this is an homage too, we get a nice selection of memorable NPCs. Tables of rumors (some true, some false) and a village.

In this first adventure, you have to deal with the witches (here a subclass of Cleric) of the Cloven Hoof coven. Their patron is Dispater. Nice, great choice. Though there is a note that if you have BRW Games product Darker Paths 2 - The Witch you can use that for these NPCs.

There are some new spells and two new magic items.

It feels like it can be played in an afternoon or longer setting, maybe 6 hours. Faster if the PCs figure out what is going on.

Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/09/review-swords-of-cthulhu.html

Nice mail call last week and I got my copy of Swords of Cthulhu from BRW Games / Joesph Bloch. As always BRW fulfills its Kickstarters in record speed. There is a lot to unpack here so lets get to it.

Swords of Cthulhu

For this review and deep dive, I am going to focus on the PDF and the Print on Demand hardcover, I got from DriveThruRPGvia backing the Kickstarter.

The book is set up much like all the Adventures Dark and Deep books for "1st Edition." This includes his Book of Lost Beasts and Book of Lost Lore. One might wonder why this isn't the "The Book of Lost Cthulhu."

The book has the "1st Ed" Orange spine and layout and is a proper 128 pages. If the goal here is to feel like a book that would have been in your book bag in 1986 then I would say it was a success.

Like the BRW's previous "Books of" this one is for 1st Edition AD&D but no mention of that game is found here. There are oblique references to it, but nothing say to the level we saw in Mayfair's AD&D products of the 80s and early 90s. Though like those previous two books there is no OGL and no Open Gaming content. So here are my thoughts on that. One, it doesn't affect the game playability of this book. Two, given that much of the Lovecraftian mythos are in the public domain this feels like a slight really, I mean using essentially IP for free but not giving something back. And three, there is so much of this already in the public domain AND released as Open under the OGL from other publishers it my all be a moot point. Still I am sure some OSRIC, Advanced Labyrinth Lord, or Old School Essentials Advanced might want to do some Lovecraftian-style adventures for "1st Ed." and this would have helped.

But enough of that. Let's get into what is in the book.

If you are familiar with AD&D 1st Ed, any part of the mythos, and/or BRW's Adventures Dark and Deep books then you could likely predict with a high degree of certainty of what is in this book. This is not a bad thing.

The Scholar The spiritual godfather here is the Unearthed Arcana. The book gives us new races; the Deep One Hybrid and the Degenerate. These feel like they are right out of Lovecraft books, though I would argue that both races have issues moving outside of their realms. Deep One Hybrids away from water and Dagon for example. We get level limits for the new races with old classes and old races with new classes (not introduced just yet).

The new classes are the Cultist and the Scholar. The cultist gets different abilities depending on which cult they are in. Scholars are a "split class" starting out as Magic-users and then switching over to scholars. If you have the Book of Lost Lore then you can split class with the Savant. I would even argue that the Cleric would be a good choice if the cleric has a high Intelligence.

The is a Skill system, the same found in the Book of Lost Lore, and this recaps some of that and expands it. While again overtly for 1st Edition it could work anywhere, also it can be ignored for folks that do not want to use skills for their games.

Up next are spells. In the Cthulhu mythos books and tomes of occult lore and knowledge never lead to good things. These spells are part of that yes, but this is also an "AD&D" game and not "Call of Cthulhu" magic serves a different purpose here. We get about 36 pages of spells. There is even an optional rule for human sacrifice that fits the tenor of the tales well.

There is a section on running a "Lovecraftian" game along with the tropes found in an AD&D game. These have been covered elsewhere, but this version fits this tome well. In particular how to mix demons in with the Lovecraftian mythos creatures. Something I have covered in my own One Man's God.

Sanity in Swords of Cthulhu

You can't do the Lovecraftian mythos and not deal with sanity. Now. I am going to be honest. The overwhelming majority of RPGs get sanity and insanity completely wrong. I say this a game designer and as someone with degrees in psychology (BA, MS, Ph.D.) and who spent years working as a Qualified Mental Health Professional for the State of Illinois who specialized in treating schizophrenics. How does this book do? This one introduces a new saving throw versus Insanity. Not a bad solution really. I will point out that "Insane" is largely a legal definition. "Madness" would be a better term of choice here.

The definitions and descriptions used for the various modes of insanity (keeping with the book) are fine. We are not trying to emulate the DSM here. Though "Schizoid" is off. What is described there is more of a compulsion disorder. The Mulitple Personality one is always going to be problematic and I personally would drop the occurrence to more like 1 or 2%; even 3% is too high. I would re-do it as something akin to a "fractured" personality. It is a usable system, but it lacks the integration of the SAN system of Call of Cthulhu. Though this is understandable. Side note: I always look for "dementia praecox" in the list of insanities. When I see that and it is used properly I know the developer did their homework. It is not here and I had hoped it would be.

Up next we get to what is really one of the big reasons people want a book like this. The monsters.

Monsters in Swords of Cthulhu

There are about 30 monsters here in AD&D 1st Edition format. If you use nothing else in this book then this is pretty fun stuff. The art is good and works well here.

This is followed naturally by the magic items. Plenty of books and tomes to terrify players and delight GMs. Yes, the Necronomicon is here.

Ah. Now we get to the stars of the show. The main course of this seven-course meal. The gods.

Gods in Swords of Cthulhu

All the usual suspects are here and the format is familiar to anyone that has read the Deities & Demigods. IF playability is your largest concern then yes this book WILL replace the 144-page Deities & Demigods for you. No more having to lurk on eBay or hope for that rare score at Goodwill. The stats are not exactly the same, nor should they be, but they are what I think many would expect them to be.

We end with an Appendix of suggested reading (a must really) and lists of random tables.

The PDF is currently $9.95 and the hardcover is $24.95. Perfectly within the price I would expect for this.

Now before I render my final judgment on this one a few more things.

I don't think it is unreasonable to ask "What does this book have that others do not?" For starters, it is developed specifically for AD&D 1st ed. I will point out that we do have plenty of other books, games, and resources that also do this for other OSR games and their relatives as well. Conversion is a matter of personal taste.

Briefly here are the main Lovecraftian/Cthulhu Mythos-related games/products I pulled from my shelves for this and how they compare. I am going to focus largely on the monsters and gods since that is the most common element.

Table of Cthulhu

(Please click on link for full table and explinations)

It looks like Swords of Cthulhu fares pretty well, to be honest. No one book has everything. Now comparing anything to Deities & Demigods is a touch unfair since space in the D&DG was limited. Likewise comparing to Sandy Petersen's Cthulhu Mythos for 5th Edition (or Pathfinder) is also unfair for the opposite reason; it has so much and few people have written or said as much about the Cthulhu Mythos as much as Petersen has.

But comparing Swords of Cthulhu to say Realms of Crawling Chaos or Hyperborea is appropriate.

Swords of Cthulhu in the Realms of Crawling Chaos

These two books complement each other well. While there is a very, very slight difference in underlying system assumptions each one offers something the other lacks in terms of gods and monsters.

Swords of Cthulhu and Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea

Formerly Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea, this game is closer to AD&D than it is to Basic D&D and the tone of the world fits well. Where Hyperborea stands out in the inclusion of and the predominance of Howard and Ashton-Smith mythos as they relate to the Lovecraft ones. So lots of the same monsters and gods, but more Clark Ashton Smith. While Swords of Cthulhu gives advice on how to integrate the mythos into your "AD&D" world, Hyperborea gives us a world where they are integrated. What is the difference? In Hyperborea "sanity" is not really an issue since the mortals here already know of the gods and these creatures. Still, Hyperborea is not everyone's cup of tea.

I would argue that the combination of the three would give you the best Mythos game. Or maybe it would give me the best mythos game since I tend to lean into more Clark Ashton Smith tales than H.P. Lovecraft's alone.

Conclusion

Swords of Cthulhu is a great addition to the already crowded field of Mythos-related RPG books. No one book seems to have everything, and maybe that is fine really. If your game is AD&D 1st Edition and you want something a bit more than just what you get from the Deities & Demigods then this is your book.

If you play a lot of OSR games including their spiritual ancestors and you like the mythos, then this is also a fine book, but check with my table here to be sure you are getting what you want.

For things like "which is better 'Swords of Cthulhu' or 'Realms of Crawling Chaos'" it is a draw. Both do what they are supposed to do well. Both are good resources. SoC looks a bit better on the shelf next to all my AD&D books, but likewise, RoCC looks good on my Basic-era OSR shelf.

I vacillate on whether we have too many mythos-related RPG titles to thinking one more book won't hurt. Currently, the word "Cthulhu" produces over 5,450 titles on DriveThruRPG. So there is a market.

With so many choices you need to decide what fits well for your games. Swords of Cthulhu is a great choice but it is hardly the only choice.

Another fine work by BRW and Joe Bloch. I backed the kickstarter for this one, and I can assure you I was not disappointed by what I received. There is so much useful content jammed into this volume its unreal. If you're looking to run a Cthulhu flavored campaign in your favorite OSR game? This is book is a must have. The section on insanity, phobias and related tables alone make it worth the price of admission.

I stumbled upon BRW games after finding the Greyhawk Grognard youtube series. I spent hours watching the videos and wanted to support the channel so I checked the drivethru and this was one book I needed. This book is great and I can't recommend it enough. I'm running a darker themed open world campaign for my players and found a bunch of great resources here for populating my dungeons and forests.

I'm absolutely going to be buying more from BRW and can't wait to check out other books.

Oh such a nice book, printing sharp pages nice heavy stock, Hard back is the way to go. The art inside takes you back to the days of AD@D well done 2 thumbs up..