Erase-Rewind X2 Castle Amber

 When we last left Rety and the gang, I promised an adventure to X1 Isle of Dread. 

Erase and Rewind, because I've been changing my mind. 

The problem with X1 following B2 Keep on the Borderland is that my party lost nearly all of its resources in exchange for survival. They have no means to get a ship, short of some divine intervention. I could just make it so because it's my solo game, but I really don't want to do it. It seems like cheating. 

I have been replacing all of the modules and books I lost over the years. X2 Chateau d'Amberville was next on the list, and by providence, it arrived today. I've spent 3 hours poring over it. It's as good and crunchy as I remember it. I have to say, this was massive good luck. I don't think I waited more than 12-14 days for the POD to arrive. 

Thank you, DriveThruRPG. 

This module shaped my DM style. It's one of those modules you MUST read to understand. It has some warts, but if you're a good DM, you can make those sticky points pure magic. This is why you must read and re-read the whole module to understand where you are going. 

I want to write a review of this module so bad, but I will have to wait until I have some time off. In the meantime, check out Tim Brannan's The Other Side Blog post on Castle Amber. Tim covers all of the various iterations and many of the source materials, which are just as good as this module. 

Today, I will share how this one module changed my DM style. 

I purchased this at Kay-Bee Toys in the mall. The X2 came out in 1981. It was years before I saw it in the mall. I would guess the summer of 1985. At the time, I played in three very different groups. Group one was older players, like my parents' age. They focused on tactics and combat like a wargame. The second group consisted of all my friends' older brothers and sisters, who were familiar only with D&D, not wargaming. And then there was my Kiddie Table D&D group, us tweeners who were still learning how to play. 

The first time I played this module, it was a disaster. In the first two encounters, three-quarters of the party died. And they didn't understand what was happening. This is a 44-year-old module; you're getting spoilers. So if you don't want that, "Please stop reading now," as the good book says. 

The party wandered into John-Louis Amber's Salon. One character died of blunt force trauma, and two more were knocked out.  

I didn't know that could happen. That wasn't really an option in previous sessions or modules. I should have read the whole thing through. But I didn't. I figured the textboxes would be enough. It worked before.  

Magic in a Bottle

In the next room, the killing really began. As the party ate, they dropped like flies without ever really knowing why. They didn't know I was secretly rolling saving throws, and the food was the cause. They were baffled because I simply read the text to them, and they accepted everything I said without really making choices. No agency is deadly in and of itself. 

Confused, they wandered back to John-Louis and questioned him. This ended up in a brawl where most of the rest of the party died. The 3 survivors wander back to the foyer, desperate to find a way out. 

No one was happy, but no one was exactly angry. I muttered something like, "Next time, let's do something different." 

In the next session, I declared that events in Castle Amber had been a dream, and everyone was still alive. However, I also took the time to read the whole damn module. I was going to be a great DM, and this was the module that would make it happen. I could feel it.  

The party went on a side quest or four. At the end of each session, the characters found themselves dreaming about fog hemming them in. In the follow-up session, I never mentioned the odd dreams but ended again with the dreams of fog. I kept this up for a while. 

Through this series of adventures, the older kiddos were watching. Sometimes mocking, sometimes helping, but hardly very interested. They weren't intentionally mean. They were just 18 to 20-year-olds watching 12 to 13 play a game they had mastered to the point of near boredom. They probably would have quit playing D&D to move on to all of the things young adults do when they hit college age. 

Stuff, I was trying very hard to learn myself. I worked up the courage to introduce X2 again. 

First, I told my players I wanted to replay X2 Chateau d'Amberville. But this time, I wouldn't screw it up. They nodded in assent or maybe agreement that I had screwed it up.   

I gave them a piece of paper that looked similar to the one below and ducked outside for a cigarette. 

My five friends examined the paper, perplexed. Perplexed because no one in the 80s would smoke outside, not even a 13-year-old kid. They were left to stew for a few minutes. Just outside, below the window, were the older kids. I grabbed my bag out of the garage and pulled out a rope. 

I asked my friend's older brother to pull the rope when I opened the window. He thought it was odd but agreed. 

Back inside, I suspect the players had been going through my notes, as I planned. I adjusted my notes and handed my would-be girlfriend the end of the rope and took my place. I didn't have a screen. I just had the seat next to the window because I smoked. 

Maybe this is how Castle Amber looks.

I described the approach to Castle Amber, with the fog and darkness that they had all dreamed of closing in for real. One of the mules wandered off into the mist. 

I lit a cigarette. I used the smoke to describe the fog hemming the foyer in. As the smoke got too thick, I opened the window. 

The rope jerked. 

Howls erupted from the table. Followed by laughter from outside. The rope jerked again. 

"Something has the mule," I said calmly. 

Evil cackles came from the window as the rope jerked again and again. Who couldn't resist going overboard? Older teenagers, tormenting younger siblings and their friendss, that's who. 

I told the party something evil was in the fog, mocking and laughing. 

Before long, the gang outside had to see what was happening and came in to watch. 

The party advanced to the Salon and the makeshift boxing ring. I lit up the table by having John-Louis remember them. He mentioned it was not that odd for the dead to walk the halls of Castle Amber. 

That's when I had everyone. 

The older siblings and friends wanted to play this, and there was a mad dash for paper, pencil, and dice. Suddenly, I had 11 people at my table, hanging on my every word. I didn't just hook the kids at the table. I had adults wanting to play my game. 

The party boxed again, but under slightly different rules. 0 HP would not kill you. I declared it was non-lethal damage that could turn deadly if they were too injured. Being forewarned, the party was more careful. 

John-Louis tutted at them when one of the Clerics healed a downed fighter. "Cheaters never prosper," he said. 

I knew what I missed before. I needed to paint pictures with words, and nothing drives that home like making an NPC step out of the pages. 

A Boxer, Demos Magen.

More fireworks went off in the next boxing session. The players had lost most of their money to John-Louis, and they combined all of their cash and resources to fight again, this time with a magically enhanced fighter. Bless and Strength gave the fighter the win. 

Then poof! It happened. A cleric cast cure light wounds on the Demos Magen, and it rose again. 

"Why would you want to do that?" asked John-Louis. "I wouldn't waste my time if I were you." 

The table went silent. My friend's older sister hissed and ran from the table, grabbing her bag from the closet. She pulled out a book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. (This is a link to Amazon.com and the book in question. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)

"You have got to read this!" she said. 

When you are 13 and an 18-year-old woman hands you a book, you accept. She dog-eared several pages and took us all on a tangent about "Quality". I had brought Quality to my game.  

"This is so cool," her boyfriend said. "What happens next?" 

I agreed, it was cool. I was being praised by adults. Not for the first time, but in the most high-quality, public way. 

John-Louis was not impressed. He ordered the defeated, but healed Demos Magen to the corner and had it switch places with one of the guardian Magens. Two more fights, and the party was better than even with John-Louis. Pleased with the gold they won, they made their goodbyes. 

Knowing what would happen next, I gave the party a cruel parting gift. John-Louis ordered the two defeated Demos Magen to go with the party, as if they were somehow damaged, less than what they were. He was throwing them away. 

Bastard. 

The party encountered a wandering monster in the halls, a half-dozen Rakasta. The party ran to the study and crashed through the door. 

The lead Rakasta bellowed, "Get out!" 

Before the party could act, the six Rakasta from the hallway came in and ejected them. Now, I didn't roll reactions. I just thought the whole idea was intriguing and so did the players. 

Not everything has to be super deadly here, especially the still living creatures. They could be dangerous, but they are because the world they live in is dangerous. Why take needless risks? 

The party just left John-Louis and his totally dismissive attitude towards kindness, mercy, and compassion. Why couldn't the next room have people who were gruff but not cruel? 

It certainly piqued the party's interest. They were looking for the next challenge, the next would-be villain, the next hook. We played this one module for months. 

We played this one module for months. I could go on forever, but I won't. When I come back, I will have that review and a series of solo sessions in Castle Amber. 

A Tiny Map for a Tiny Place - The Kingdom of Saunders

The Kingdom of Saunders is such a tiny place, it is often not labeled on maps. It is the 3 blue hexes on the map. These are 24-mile hexes, so there is a fairly reasonable amount of area for the characters to romp through. 

Saunders was one of the first client kingdoms of the Human Empire (in red). It is pinched between the Empire and the always rebellious Savanna lands (in green). 

By way of background, the Kingdom is named "Saunders" because I liked the way it sounded. It reminded me of Winnie the Pooh, who lives under the name of Sanders. 

The original image I stole the name from is actually bigger than the map. Even the quote is larger than the whole kingdom map of Saunders: 

Once upon a time, a very long time ago now, about last Friday, Winnie-the-Pooh lived in a forest all by himself under the name of Sanders.

(“What does ‘under the name’ mean?” asked Christopher Robin.

“It means he had the name over the door in gold letters, and lived under it.”

“Winnie-the-Pooh wasn’t quite sure,” said Christopher Robin.

“Now I am,” said a growly voice.

“Then I will go on,” said I.)

My campaign world is called "The Peninsula of Plenty," and you can read more about it on Ko-Fi. 

Returning to the Party

I used the OSE rule set for my last solo campaign run. You can get a copy from DriveThruRPG. This is the super bundle; you can actually pick and choose from various titles rather than purchase the whole bundle.  

I plan on taking the party to the Isle of Dread; however, I need to reboot the group. 

In the last session for the Keep on the Borderlands, the party lost several characters: Lefty and Slamer, Celia, and Dorin, plus several other unnamed NPCs. Additionally, some of the characters have changed wildly. 

Punch now uses his real name, Jude, and has become dedicated to the priests at the Keep. I imagine this is a tiny religious group based in the kingdom to the west of the Keep. Jude is now adventuring to become a fine and proper knight, with lordly guidance. In this case, he is seeking a religiously minded lord. While this might sound more like a Paladin's quest, it makes sense in the context of how he became a Knight in the wilderness.  

Sybil took an evil, murderous turn. She has returned west with the party to seek out her family and get herself back. Rety has joined her. Sybil's father is a magic user and adventurer, and her mother is a ranger. The two women hope to find some solace from the wise and experienced parental units. Rety isn't traveling with Sybil for support, but for self-healing. At the family home, Rety spends her days on a small boat on the family pond, trying to find some way to pick up her life after the disaster in the Caves of Chaos. She lost many friends and blames herself. 

The rest of the party: Dorian, Thomas, Belaphon, and Solvo took the same path as Sybil, Jude, and Rety. The tables have turned, and they now follow Simon the Drover and his two daughters. They have been making ends meet by performing guard duties for various shipments and caravans, but the work is very boring. 

On the positive side, Hender and Sonny have tagged along, and the party is vaguely amused by Sonny's attempt at a relationship with one of the drover girls. He has no idea what he is doing, which pleases Bela and Liz to no end. They haven't had this much positive attention before. Simon is less enthusiastic about Sonny's misadventures with his daughters, but remains aloof. It's a lot like watching a puppy learn how to socialize. Or house broken. Or something like that. 

The first issue I have in setting up X1 - Isle of Dread is that the party has no ship. They also have very few funds. In fact, Simon, Bela, and Liz are the only people with any significant funds, as Rety was paying them a lot. The adventuring party could sell of some of their goods to make up the funds and supplies they lost. Rety did leave several thousand gold back at the Keep, but that leaves them dozens of thousands short to purchase a ship. 

I am tinkering with OSR Solo to brainstorm ideas. There is a lot of meta going on here, as I run down things that seem reasonable, but after reflection are somewhat unworkable. I'll let you know how that goes. 

One choice that I have solidified is that Hender, Sonny, Liz, Bela, and Simon will be on that ship, but as NPCs that won't adventure much. That leaves the core group of Jude, Dorian, Thomas, Belaphon, Solvo, and Sybil. They will need new friends to adventure with. These new adventurers will not be the remnants of the NPC party they met in the Caves of Chaos. They are done as adventurers and have set up shop in the Keep. Maybe they will come back someday. 

I really haven't been using figures for this project, but I have to tell you, a collection of plastic dinosaurs sounds great right about now. Here is a link to a good-sized set on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. 

I hope you join me for this new adventure coming in December or, more likely, January 2026. 

Amazon Christmas List - The Drawing Edition

Now that I am back with Amazon, I have decided to put together a shopping list of items I always have on hand for drawing and planning game sessions. For D&D or any other tabletop game, you really only need pencils, dice, and graph paper. However, once you get into it, the basics will never do. You WANT the fancy stuff. 

Let's start with the disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. 

I will start with the most basic item on my list: The bound 8.5x11" Sketchbook. Usually, the paper is plain, white, with a slight tooth. The paper is 128 gsm or 80# to 90# paper. Often they are canvas or black faux leather-bound. I prefer canvas, but my current sketchbook is black and leather-like. 

This particular sketchbook has micro-perforated pages for easy removal. 

The pencil set is also great for general drawing, both in the sketchbook or on graph paper. I swear by Faber-Castell, but if you don't like name-brand, look for a set that has HB, 2B, and 8B. I find those work well when drawing on graph paper. The HB is for roughing things out, the 2B is good for shading, and the deep dark 8B is great for outlining. 

As you can see from my set, I have lost the eraser and replaced it with a gum eraser and sharpener. The Faber-Castell 11 Piece Pitt Graphite Tin Set is handy for storage, and you can easily replace or swap out different items. Often, I have a piece of sandpaper rammed under the plastic carrier. 

Next are my pens. I use two different kinds: the Faber-Castell sepia brown pens and the Faber-Castell black sets. The horse drawing above was done with the sepia pens. Like the pencil set, I have a couple of these pens on hand. Usually, they are sold in collections of 4, but I have supplemented my collection. 

I do have a secret weapon not pictured above. They are Sharpie fine point pens. They are great for writing and excellent for stippling. I don't have a link to these on Amazon. I find my local stores carry them, and I don't buy them in large quantities. 

To be honest, you can totally use the Faber-Castell pens for writing or stippling, but they are a little on the expensive side for general writing. I do know the nibs hold up for stippling, but I feel that the action feels too abusive for such a nice pen. 

That is just me being me. 

Next up is the leatherbound notebook. I have several. I swear they are like crack. Exactly why I have so many is no mystery; my kids get me one for Christmas every year. The one pictured above is a basic A5 notebook. You can easily find refills for it on Amazon. Oddly, I can't find my exact one pictured above, only the refills. 

The last item is a repeat of the above, in a slightly different style. It has very rough, deckle-edged paper grouped in gatherings or quires. This makes the book not refillable. Pity, but I love mine. It feels like something from Myst. 

The tree drawing was done on this style of paper. I really enjoy this. 

And I hope you have enjoyed this list. Be on the lookout for future Amazon lists. 

 

The Keep on the Borderlands 2025 - Sessions 12 - Out of Options

This is the third scenario that I played out with the party. The other scenarios ended in a TPK and a few survivors running for their lives after making a series of choices. Also, Simon and his daughters are just off the east and south edge of the map with a wagon. They will not enter the fray for any reason, but will wait to see if anyone escapes. They have a wagon ready to go. 

In this session, the party does not make a plan, and we are just one round after the explosion. Bel has run to the main entrance to see what happened. Sybil ran to room 17 to see what had happened to Celia. Rety brushes past Bel to get to the team at the secret door. 

Bel pours a healing potion into Thomas, and in the next turn, Thomas attempts to revive Dorin. Unfortunately, Dorin died in the explosion. Sybil found what was left of Celia and her dog. She decides murder is her plan. 

Rety arrived at the other entrance and was shocked to see the monsters arrayed:

There is a tree missing because the hobgoblins and goblins cut it down.

Previously, I had mentioned that instead of rolling wandering monsters, I had those wandering creatures join their allies in the caves. The forces arrayed against the heroes are massive. There are 32 Orcs in 4 groups of 8. The goblins and hobgoblins have 2 groups of 8 and one group of 10 on the valley floor for a total of 26. Just off the map, to the southwest are 12 more hobgoblins, armed with spears (6) and crossbows (another 6). There is a second group of 6 spear-wielding hobgoblins up the hill and over the entrance D. I did not draw these because they aren't visible to the party. The kobolds have a group of 8, one of 4, and the last group of 10. The group of 4 kobolds is wrangling 18 rats. The leaders of each tribe are in the middle near the trees. 

The party is about to fight over 100 monsters in one go.

Rety took the bow-armed Fighters and Knights into the ogre cave with her. They couldn't be seen and awaited the monster's first move.

As the explosion went off, I had the monsters roll morale to move on the caves. 16 orcs and 8 goblins pass the check and enter cave D. The goblins led the way and made themselves busy dismantling the chain and wheels so the orcs have an easy path to the slaughter. 

Bel, Sybil, and Thomas arrayed themselves against the other group. Bel, who was closer, fires off a sleep spell on the 8 goblins and drops 6 of them. Sybil steps out and does something interesting; she unleashes phantasmal force on the 16 orcs. 

Before I resolve that action, let's talk about the rats and kobolds. They move on cave entrance E. Remember, there is no communication between Sybil's team and Rety's team. Rety believes the Magic-Users and the Cleric were on their way. They aren't going to the secret door or room 18. They are fighting.  

Everyone with a missile weapon opened fire on the rats from the ogre cave. One was killed, another was wounded. The rats strangely pass their morale check. 

Time to resolve Sybil's attack. She makes an illusory attack on the orcs, an explosion like the one that claimed Celia's life. This is not entirely imaginary; she saw the results in real life. The illusion is instantaneous. It is also a repetition of something that just happened. Only 4 of the 16 Orcs made their saving throws. However, they also see 12 of their friends go down. They flee. 

Now, way back in Session 8, I mentioned how little I like low-level spells that are permanent. Phantasmal Force is a potent spell for 2nd level spell. In this case, it is the opposite of permanent, which can also cause just as many problems as a permanent spell. Sybil's illusion ends quickly and is very specifically tailored. I like it and hate it. 

As a DM, I have to ask myself what just happened. Let's make a couple of rules of thumb for the monsters. To save against this, they need a 16 or better. Roughly 4/5s of the monsters should fail, and 1/5 should succeed. The second rule of thumb is that everyone saw the illusion, but some didn't believe it. However, even those who disbelieved it saw 4 orcs and 2 goblins flee it. They did not see all of the other critters drop as they are deep in the cave.

I rolled morale for all of the monsters collectively. They failed, and I use OSR Solo to determine what this means. I asked, "Do they all run?". I got a result of "Yes, but..." 

The leaders of each tribe move to stop the rout. I rolled again to see what the effect was. The result of stopping the rout was  "Yes, but..." again. I make a simple choice. They could not stop the 4 orcs and 2 goblins from fleeing, but everyone else held it together. 

Additionally, the unit of 10 goblins marked with a star was made up of 8 newcomers and two residents of the Caves of Chaos. The newcomers, shocked, flee with 2 of the resident goblins in hot pursuit. The home team goblins are pissed at the cowards fleeing. A melee breaks out between them.

In the meantime, Sybil, Bel, and Thomas walked to the mouth of the cave and saw the enemy force for the first time, and turned around. The leadership was shocked to see the party hacking and stabbing the downed orcs at the cave mouth. They howl and start rallying the troops for another charge. 8 Orcs advanced on the cave entrance while the 6 spear-armed goblins came down the slope to follow them. Behind them, the leadership unit moves away to the melee happening between friendly forces in an effort to stop it. 

On the other side of the battlefield, the rats and party are battling for the cave entrance. Initiative is simultaneous. Rety and Dorian don't get to attack as the fighters formed a wall. Since the fighting men get multiple attacks based on their level, the rats died horribly. In the exchange of blows, several of the fighting men were injured. The next wave of 9 rats pauses its advance. 

Sybil and Bel killed as many orcs as they could as they retreated back to the hallway. Once inside, they started killing the downed goblins, waiting for the next wave. 

8 orcs and 6 goblins enter the cave. The Cleric and Magic-Users win the initiative. Bel fires off his sleep spell, downing 13 orcs and goblins. Sybil and Thomas take on the last one. While the last orc survives the party's initial onslaught, he wounds Sybil before going down under a flurry of blows in the next round. 

The second wave of rats rushed the orge's cave, but barely held out for three rounds. Rety sees the 2 hobgoblin forces advancing from above and orders the secret door closed. Several members of the party are stuck in the back with spears and bolts, but no one has dropped yet. 

Sybil spends her time wisely, killing as many unconscious orcs and goblins as she can. Bel and Thomas were horrified. She had lost track of the dead and was "killing" the same couple of creatures over and over again. They made a choice to gather up Dorin's body to flee this place. 

Rety gave an impassioned speech to the two Knights, convincing them to doff their armor so they could carry the dead. They agreed. Slammer, Rety, and Solvo took the lead, bows ready. Everyone else carried the remaining bodies. Rety kept impressing upon the Knights that removing the dead was the honorable thing to do. The party was ready to run. The Knights hate this but follow the logic of honoring the dead. 

Rety was pleased to see Bel and Thomas had the same idea, but Sybil's actions were concerning. Rety tried to calm her as the others made their way out. 

The kobolds and the enemy leaders were closest to the entrance as the party exited. The 10 kobolds stuck six different characters. Both of the unnamed Magic-Users were struck, but only one went down. The unnamed fighter picked him up and carried him away. Bel cast a shield to cover the retreat, but as the party ran, not everyone was protected. Behind them, Rety and Sybil argued in the cave. 

In the next round, Solvo and Slammer fired on the leaders as they ran after the party. They traded 2 arrow strikes to 3 spear hits. The party continues its retreat as Rety bodily pulls Sybil after her. Outside, Sybil stopped to cast her last spell, invisibility on Rety. Again, the fighters exchanged missiles with the leaders while Bel ran back to shield them. 

The kobolds let loose one last barrage on the fleeing party. Lefty went down. The leaders and their bodyguards threw spears at Solvo, Bel, and Slammer, who were protected by the shield spell. Invisibly, Rety stopped to help carry Lefty's body. He was critically wounded. Sybil ran to assist by taking the body of the Magic-User Lefty had been carrying. 

Another volley of spears rained down on the party. Slammer rushed the enemy while Solvo called for him to retreat. Bel and the Elf dragged the wounded fighter away.

The enemy froze as 6 crossbowmen, 3 warriors, and a wagon appeared in the valley. The party escaped more cleanly this time.

The party had far fewer dead in this scenario. They lost Lefty and Slammer, in addition to the unnamed Magic-User. Everyone was injured in some way. This was much better than the last butcher bill, which ended in one TPK and one near TPK, where only 4 people made it to the wagon. This time, the party lost all of their loot, most of their equipment, and 3 characters in the breakout. They did manage to escape with the dead, which is something. 

They also know that Punch's real name is Jude. The part of Lefty was played by a man named Arthur. Slammer's name was stolen from the book What is Dungeons and Dragons, a nice score if you can find it. I last posted a link to Amazon. This time, I am using a link to AbeBooks. As an associate, I receive remuneration for purchases through these links. 

I can't wait to do this again, but to be honest, I want to wait to do this again. Yeah, it's that sort of production. Next time you see Sybil, Rety, and the gang will be on a ship, heading to the Isle of Dread.

You can get a copy of X1 - The Isle of Dread from DriveThruRPG.  

One week later, Sir Jude, Rety, and Thomas the Cleric returned on horseback to the Caves of Chaos. Sir Jude wanted to recover the plate armor he had lost. Rety and Thomas were there to stop him from doing anything stupid.

They heard a clanking in the wind as they approached. The orcs had mounted the two suits of plate armor on logs at the opening of the valley. A pile of the party's weapons was displayed below them. Arthur's armor was on the left. The trio paused to take in the sight before Jude kicked his horse and led the way back to town.

"That seems right," Jude said.

Relieved, the orcs retreated to their cave, knowing the display of their enemies' destruction would protect them in the future.