Biblyon Broadsides

Gods & Monsters news and old-school gaming notes.

Gods & Monsters Fantasy Role-Playing

Beyond here lie dragons

The tractor-feed dungeon

Jerry Stratton, October 5, 2010

I posted the map a few months ago. I’ve finally finished putting together the document for the Isle of Mordol. It’s not Gods & Monsters, so I’ve made a new section under Highland Games for these ancient artifacts.

The adventure was designed mostly for Basic/Expert D&D, though there are also snippets of AD&D in it.

My hand-writing sucks. Here, for example, is something I still can’t fully decode from the Isle’s history:

“Some Sleestak come up snow eggs in hot-dog.”

Fortunately, most of the Isle was typed on a TRS-80 Model I and printed on a line-printer. Printers of that era were heavy monstrosities with only a handful of pixels per letter, but they sucked much less than my handwriting. And I pumped out reams of tractor-feed once I discovered gaming.

I’m not sure how playable the Isle is, but it was certainly playable at the time, which would have been about 81 or 82. It’s also filled with wacky stuff that I can’t believe ever happened.

Anyone entering this room is dead, and becomes 4 wights.

Not even a saving throw? This is less old-school than it is kindergarten. It’s got everything but the kitchen sink—no, wait, that’s not true. I’m sure the farmhouse with the gas stove also has a kitchen sink.

I think the maps are more interesting nowadays than the adventure. And you can get them in the resources file—all 35 of them. You don’t, however, have to clear off the pool table to view the monstrosity. The wonders of modern graphics!

On the other hand, there was something to be said for unscrolling a strip of a five-foot-tall map to see where the player characters were.

And yeah, I’m going to see what else I have that’s not worth converting to Gods & Monsters but is worth putting online for a few laughs. It’s amazing some of the stuff I’ve managed to drag from place to place since the early eighties! Like other people, I love finding these old things. So why not make some of my own available?

October 21, 2010: The people of Mordol

After uploading the Isle of Mordol, I discovered a handwritten file of stats for the various people and factions on the island. So, I’ve added an appendix, “People of the Island”, that includes the bandits of the island; the army, priesthood, and royal court of the city of Cankor; the NPC parties from Castle Barkon; the Dwarves of Hadgkol; the military command of the Elves; the Orc mercenaries and the emissaries to them; the villagers; and the gods, demons, and god-demons figuring into the island's history.

No additional maps, but you do get folks like:

Calititchkörsk

AC -8, HD 89, hp 283, At 8 (soul fire), D 3d4+33 & 2-4 levels, CE

MR and CP: level% in 10%

Spells: phantasmal force (no concentration needed, victims save at -10, once every 1/2 turn), fire ball (40th level, once every turn), wall of fire (2400 square feet, 3-18 points through, no concentration needed)

Because you never know when you’re going to need a god-demon to spice an adventure up!

  1. <- New Lost Castle
  2. Fight On! 10 ->