Savage Swords

of Athanor
By Douglas Easterly
A Rules Supplement and Campaign Setting For
Swords & Wizardry: Core Rules

Swords & Wizardry:

by Matt Finch
published by Mythmere Games™.

Swords & Wizardry, S&W, and Mythmere Games™

are the trademarks of Matthew J. Finch.

These rules are produced independently — I am not

affiliated with Matthew J. Finch or Mythmere Games™.
 Table of Contents
Table of Contents .................................................................................... 2  
Introduction .............................................................................................. 2  
Men and Magic ......................................................................................... 3  
Character Classes .................................................................................. 6  
Skill System ............................................................................................ 8  
Magic in Athanor................................................................................... 11  
Mutations .............................................................................................. 13  
The Clone Pits ...................................................................................... 15  
Hit Points, Injury and Death .................................................................. 16  
Combat Options.................................................................................... 16  
Monsters and Treasure ......................................................................... 18  
Monsters of Athanor ............................................................................. 18  
Treasures of the Ancients..................................................................... 26  
Bound Spirits ........................................................................................ 29  
Underworld & Wilderness Adventures ................................................ 31  
Random Encounter Tables ................................................................... 31  
The World of Athanor ........................................................................... 35  
The City-State of Zamora ..................................................................... 42  
Twelve Zamoran Adventure Seeds ...................................................... 50  
Planetary Romance Plots ..................................................................... 51  
Zamora Map and Key ........................................................................... 54  
Open Gaming License 1.0a................................................................... 64  

Introduction
This supplement for Swords and Wizardry includes rules variants, new
monsters, new races, and a new character class. Inside these pages a variant
magic system, a simple psychic powers system, combat options, and a
simple skill system. This book is also a guide to the Savage Swords of
Athanor campaign, a mix of swords and sorcery, planetary romance, and
horror elements all in a single pulpy package.

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 Men and Magic
The following rules are for players and dungeon-masters alike, and
present new rules options to customize the feel and style of an Anthanor
campaign. Races of Athanor
Dwarves, Elves and Halflings do not exist on Athanor. Instead, Athanor
has its own races for players to choose from.

Human  
• The tall, muscular, black-skinned, red-haired warriors of Duma are
distrustful of Ancient Technology. They live in walled towns guarded by
their warrior caste and depending on their agricultural caste to breed
and control their great dinosaur herds. They are renowned musicians,
artists, historians, and metalworkers. They are matriarchal in times of
peace and ruled by male warriors in times of war. They tend toward
collectivism, distrust outsiders, and care little about outside nations.
• Ghuls are superstitious, cannibalistic savages who live in small, insular
clans. They are ruthless raiders who are known for not taking prisoners.
They regard non-Ghul as little more than animals, and consider only
other Ghuls as human. They worship chaos and believe that might in
combat and a glorious death are the highest ideals. Ghuls have
transparent flesh, organs and blood, with only their bones and eyes
clearly visible. This is a terrifying sight to most others, which the Ghuls
use to their advantage. They prefer great, curved swords.
• The short, stocky, yellow-skinned, black-haired, black-eyed people of
Khitai are insular and distrustful of outsiders. Foreigners only tend to
interact with Khitai as merchants or ambassadors. Males wear long
tunics, loose pants, slippers or boots, and broad sashes. They tend to
have heads shaved except for a long braid. Officials and military men
tend to wear neatly-cropped beards. Women wear their hair long, but
pin it up in coiffures that are more ornate the more important the
woman is. They tend to wear silk robes with loose pants, slippers, and
sashes.
• The red-skinned, black-haired people of Zamora are known for their
hot-headed and passionate natures. They are known as duelists, political
schemers, and romantic idealists. Zamorans will be the default culture
for the campaign.

Mal’Akkan  
The people of Mal'akka have shiny green, leathery skin and bright
brown eyes. They stand about seven feet tall, and are thin with graceful

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movement. Though generally human-like in appearance, they are mobile,
intelligent cacti, and their skin is covered with long needles. The Mal'akkans
lack needles on the palms of their hands and the bottoms of their feet, but
are otherwise covered with needles. They are merchants and desert caravan
masters known for their devotion to the desert god Shem.
Mal'akkans are grown in sandy soil before gaining their mobility. Unlike
the Throon, the Mal'akkans never become sessile with age, and their bones
are wooden rather than silicate. They do photosynthesize, and need very
little water, but they also gain nutrients through eating plant and animal
matter, much like humans.

• Class Advancement: Mal'akkans may advance as fighting men.

• Weapon and Armor Restrictions: Mal'akkans may not wear armor
because of their spiny skin. Their naturally tough hide gives them +2 AC
bonus. Their traditional weapons are scimitars and crossbows that fire
sharpened circular disks rather than quarrels.
• Plant Body Chemistry: Mal’akkans process poison differently. They gain
+2 to saves vs. poisons and toxins.
• Fibrous Flesh: Piercing and blunt weapons automatically do half
damage. Cutting and slashing weapons do normal damage.
• Spines: Mal’akkans are covered with sharp spines. If bitten, grabbed or
struck by bare limbs, the Mal’akkan’s spines do 1 point of damage to
the attacker, doing this automatically each round if their attacker is
grabbing or holding them. The spines also grant Mal’akkans a +1 bonus
to damage done with unarmed attacks.

Alemanian  
Alemanians are blue-skinned, hairless, human-sized arthropods. They
have both an endoskeleton and an exoskeleton, have large complex eyes
much like humans, and small, vestigial antennae resembling stubs of horns.
Their mouths are complex, with multi-part mandibles. They have two arms
and two legs with multiple articulations, with two-toed feet and hands with
four fingers evenly spaced at the end of their wrists. They move with a jerky,
inhuman gait and appear emotionless and cold at all times.
Alemanian national ideology focuses on the superiority and
homogeneity of the Alemanian people. They support a strong sense of
collectivism, a strong central governmental authority in order to protect the
stability of the Motherland. Their society is divided into several castes:
scholarly, military, merchant-industrial, and agrarian. Each of theses has a
place in the parliamentary structure of Alemania, serving the High

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Chancellor. Alemanians are atheist, devoting themselves to their nation and
their people instead.
Alemanians have highly advanced medical technology that incorporates
Ancient technology. They maintain this edge by maintaining horrible death
camps where medical experiments are performed on all sorts of captured
peoples, often of other races. This means that many fear and hate the
Alemanians, even if they depend on their advanced technology.

• Class Advancement: Alemanians may advance in any class.

• Weapon and Armor Restrictions: Alemanians may not wear armor.
Their naturally tough hide gives them +4 AC bonus.
• Alien Mind: Alemanians gain a +2 bonus to saves vs. charm, illusion,
sleep or mental effects.
• Incredible Leap: Alemanians with a light load or less may jump up to
their normal move distance in distance and half that in height.

Throon  
Throon are nomadic barbarians who live as a variety of tribes. The
Throon tend to fight with each other as well as with the people of the Five
Kingdoms. Some act as bandits, others raid civilized outposts regularly. Still
others live at peace with the Five Kingdoms. They have their own martial
code of honor, but are not beholden to the ways of the Five Kingdoms.
Throon are ochre-skinned and hairless, and stand some seven feet tall.
Though they are human in general form, they are actually mobile and
sentient fungi, with silicate bones and thick, fibrous flesh.
Though Throon eat and drink as humans do, they also are able to
absorb nutrients from decaying matter and from rich soil. Their children are
born from spores that they produce once per year. Few Throon children
grow to adulthood. As Throon get older, their flesh gets tougher, and the
elderly become unable to move, and are settled into sacred Elder Groves.

• Class Advancement: Throon advance as Fighting-men.

• Weapon and Armor Restrictions: Throon favor slashing weapons, with a
particular love for axes in combat. Like any warrior, they may use any
weapons. Throon disdain the use of armor, but are protected by their
tough, fibrous flesh. This gives them a +4 to Armor Class.
• Fungal Body Chemistry: The Throon process poison differently. Throon
gain +2 to saves vs. poisons and toxins.
• Fibrous Flesh: Piercing and blunt weapons automatically do half
damage to Throon, though slashing weapons and energy weapons do
damage normally.

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Earthman  
In my mind, Athanor exists in the distant future of Earth, long after it has
faded from glory. If humans survive, they do so beyond the scope of travel
to Athanor. However, it is true that the alien nature of the campaign or
players’ desire for a familiar character type to run may make it hard for some
players to get into playing an Athanoran character.
Earthmen on Athanor have arrived through some sort of temporal or
dimensional portal. Most will be from some point in the 20th or early 21st
century, arriving through strange portals such as are found in the Bermuda
Triangle, by wormholes as astronauts, or by magical or weird-science
accidents. They may want to return to Earth, but this would be a major story
arc and will not be intended to be an easy goal! Earthmen are standard
humans in all respects except as follows:

• Class Advancement: Earthmen will usually be Fighting-men. A few may

be rogues with magical potential, but no training.
• Skill with Ancient Technology: Earthmen, used to more advanced
technology, gain a +2 to rolls to use Ancient technology.
• Advanced Weapon: Earthmen begin play with a sidearm. This can be a
six-shot revolver or a ten-shot automatic pistol. In any case, the weapon
does 1d6+2 damage, range 50 feet, rate of fire 1, and takes one round to
reload. The character begins with a full weapon and 1d6 reloads of
ammunition. While this is a convenient weapon, it is up to the player to
find a way to get more ammunition….
• Miscellaneous Technological Items: Earthmen begin with 1d3+1 other
useful modern items such a lighters, flashlights, etc. These are likely to
wear out over time.
• Background Skills: Earthmen may choose from the group III skills in
addition the usual background skill options.

Character Classes
The following changes are made to the standard Swords and Wizardry
character classes for the Savage Swords of Athanor campaign.

Cleric  
The Cleric class is not available in Athanor.

Fighting-­‐man  
The Fighting-man class functions normally in Athanor.

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Magic-­‐User  
Magic-users function normally in Athanor, but q.v. “Magic in Athanor”.

Rogues  
Rogues, short for Rogue Magic-Users, are untrained practitioners of the
magical arts. Mountebanks, rebels, or wild talents, rogues have found ways
to teach themselves magic. They are jacks-of-all-trades, flexible and
adaptable.
Table 1 describes the advancement of rogues, noting Level (lvl),
Experience Points needed to advance (EXP), hit dice (HD), hit bonus in
combat (HB), Saving Throw (ST), and spells the rogue may prepare of each
level.
Table 1: Rogue Advancement
Spells/Level
Lvl Exp. HD HB ST 1 2 3 4
1 0 1 +0 15 0 - - -
2 1,500 2 +0 14 1 - - -
3 3,500 3 +1 13 2 - - -
4 6,500 4 +1 12 2 1 - -
5 14,000 5 +2 11 2 2 - -
6 30,000 6 +2 10 2 2 1 -
7 60,000 7 +3 9 2 2 2 -
8 110,000 8 +3 8 3 2 2 1
9 165,000 9 +4 7 3 2 2 2
10 225,000 8 +5 6 3 3 2 2
11 290,000 +2 h.p. +5 5 3 3 2 2
12 360,000 +4 h.p. +6 5 3 3 3 2
13 430,000 +6 h.p. +6 5 4 3 3 2
14 500,000 +8 h.p. +7 5 4 3 3 3
15 570,000 +10 h.p. +7 5 4 4 3 3
16 640,000 +12 h.p. +8 5 4 4 3 3
17 710,000 +14 h.p. +8 5 4 4 4 3
18 780,000 +16 h.p. +9 5 5 4 4 3
19 850,000 +18 h.p. +10 5 5 4 4 4
20 920,000 +20 h.p. +11 5 5 5 4 4

Rogue  Class  Abilities  

• Armor and Weapon Restrictions: Rogues may wear any armor, but may
not cast spells while wearing armor of any sort. Rogues may use any
weapons.

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• Spell Casting: Rogues have a limited number of spells to learn and cast,
just like magic-users. They do not begin with a spell book and must
trade, steal or discover spells to learn magical spells.

Skill System
Characters do not only have the skills afforded them by their training—
they have spent their time learning professional skills that they begin play
knowing, and may develop more over time. Characters generally do not
need a skill to attempt an action. Rather, having a skill gives the character a
bonus to their actions.

Skill  Checks  
Saving throws are used to determine a character’s success with any
skilled actions. The DM may assign a penalty or bonus based on
circumstances. Unless noted otherwise below, skills grant a +4 bonus to
saving throws that involve that skill.

Determining  Skills  
Characters may choose one background skill from group I or two from
Group II as listed on Table 2: Skill Groups. Earthmen may also choose one
skill from group III instead.

Table 2: Skill Groups

Group I Group II Group III
Alchemist Blacksmith Archaeologist
Aristocrat Bowyer/Fletcher Astronaut
Assassin Farmer/Gardener Electronics
Merchant Gambler Mechanic
Priest Gunsmith Pilot
Scholar Leatherworker Scientist
Thief Locksmith Soldier
Tracker Mason
Minstrel
Navigator
Sailor (Airship)

Skill  Group  I  
• Alchemist (Requires INT 9+): Alchemists can identify potions, poisons,
and chemical compounds if they have access to a laboratory or an
alchemical kit. An alchemical kit costs 20 gold pieces. In addition,

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 alchemists may make alchemical compounds, though it takes 1d8 days
to make 1d3 alchemical creations and costs 20+3d10 gold pieces to pay
for reagents, equipment, and the like and the character must be able to
set up a laboratory. Only trained alchemists may attempt alchemy, and
this skill grants no bonus to the saving throw.
• Aristocrat: Aristocrats are skilled in court intrigue, recent history,
politics, and gossip. Aristocrats also start play with an additional 2d10
gold and a finely crafted weapon equal to a +1 weapon.
• Assassin (Requires STR 9+, DEX 9+): Assassins are skilled in disguise,
the use of poison, and setting up surprise attacks. Assassins gain a +1 to
surprise rolls when alone or with other similarly stealthy characters and
wearing leather or no armor.
• Merchant (Requires WIS 9+): Merchants are skilled at appraising goods,
haggling for lower prices, and managing money. Merchants start the
game with trade goods (player's choice) worth 2d6x10 gold pieces.
• Priest: Priests are broadly educated in history, philosophy, theology,
and mythology. Priests are connected to powerful factions and have
great social influence.
• Scholar (Requires INT 9+): Scholars are broadly educated in history,
natural philosophy, legends, and lore. They may try to identify monsters,
magic items, or historical background of any place and gain a bonus to
understanding or using Ancient devices.
• Thief (Requires DEX 9+): Thieves are skilled at stealth and burglary.
They may use their skills to overcome locks and traps and to scale walls.
Thieves gain a +1 to surprise rolls when alone or with other similarly
stealthy characters and wearing leather or no armor.
• Tracker (Requires CON 9+): Trackers are skilled at outdoor survival;
identifying plants, animal, possible water sources, or shelter; and at
following tracks and trails. Trackers gain a +1 to surprise rolls when
alone or with other similarly stealthy characters and wearing leather or
no armor.

Skill  Group  II  

• Blacksmith: Blacksmiths are able to appraise the value of weapons and
armor and to repair such items with access to a forge, workshop and
tools (which cost 10% of the item being repaired to rent.)
• Bowyer/Fletcher: Bowyer/Fletchers are skilled at making bows,
crossbows, arrows and quarrels. They can make 20 x (d4+1) arrows or
quarrels per week, can repair bows and arrows with access to a
workshop and tools (which cost 10% of the item being repaired to rent)
and may appraise the value of bows, crossbows, arrows and quarrels.

9
• Farmer/Gardener: Farmers and Gardeners are skilled in working with
Athanoran domesticated plants and animals and bartering.
• Gambler: Gamblers are skilled at games of chance — including both
cheating and spotting cheaters.
• Gunsmith: Gunsmiths are skilled at making and maintaining pistols,
rifles, and bullets. They can make 20 x (d4+1) bullets per day (at a cost
of 1/2 the cost of buying the same), repair guns with access to a
workshop and tools (which cost 10% of the item being repaired to rent)
and may appraise the value of firearms. Powder must still be made by
an alchemist.
• Leatherworker: Leatherworkers are skilled at making and repairing
leather items, such as leather armor. They can repair leather items with
access to a workshop and tools (which cost 10% of the item being
repaired to rent) and may appraise the value of such as well.
• Locksmith: Locksmiths are able to repair and disable mechanical traps,
locks and similar mechanisms.
• Mason: Masons are skilled at noticing unusual stonework, sloping
floors, and stonework traps (+4 bonus).
• Minstrel (Requires CHA 9+): Minstrels are skilled at performing, local
history and legend, and general etiquette.
• Navigator: Navigators are skilled at determining directions, reading
maps, and plotting courses.
• Sailor (Airship): Airship sailors are skilled at predicting winds, operating
sails, and repairing ships.

Skill  Group  III:  Earthman  Skills  

• Archaeologist: Archaeologists are adept at deciphering signs, symbols
and languages, understanding cultures, and understanding traps and
other dangers in old ruins. They also have a sense of what items are of
value among the ruins of ancient civilizations and are adept at
appraising them.
• Astronaut: Astronauts know how to operate spacecraft and gain a bonus
to saves to use Ancient technology.
• Electronics: This ability allows characters to repair and operate
electronics devices. This grains a bonus to saves to use Ancient
technology.
• Mechanic: This ability allows characters to repair and operate
mechanical devices. This grains a bonus to saves to disarm traps,
perform basic repairs, and to fix non-electronic items.
• Pilot: This is the ability to pilot, repair, and operate aircraft. With
practice, this can apply to Athanoran airships.

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• Scientist: Scientists are skilled in identifying and analyzing physical
phenomena. Choose a field: chemists can do the same tasks as
characters with the Alchemy skill, Biologists can identify animals and
plants and predict their behavior, etc. This also grants a bonus to saves
to use Ancient technology.
• Soldier: Soldiers understand tactics, weaponry, and outdoor survival.

Learning  Additional  Skills  

Characters may spend money and time learning new background skills. This
will require down time from adventuring and finding a teacher in addition to
monetary costs, as noted in table 3.

Table 3. Acquiring Additional Skills

Skill Type G.P. Cost Time
Group I 2000 4 Months
Group II 10000 6 Months

Magic in Athanor

Creating  Scrolls  
Magic-users (but not rogues) may create scrolls by spending 100 gold
and 1 week of work per level of spell on the scroll. Scrolls may only be
made for spells already known by the caster and listed in her or his spell
book.

Interrupted  Spells  
If a magic-user or rogue is damaged or otherwise disturbed while
casting spells, the spell-caster must make a save or lose the spell as if it had
been cast, but to no effect. In addition, the spell-caster must roll on the
magical mishap table, adding the level of the spell plus any damage suffered
in an attack if that caused the distraction to the d20 roll.

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Table 4. Magical Mishap
Roll Result
01 – 07 Roll on the minor chaos table.
08 - 10 You are dazed but able to move and defend yourself for one round.
11 – 12 You are stunned and unable to do anything for the next round.
13 – 14 Spell goes wild and strikes random target.
15 – 16 Spell effect is reversed.
17 – 18 You are struck mute for 1d6 rounds.
19 – 20 Your strength is reduced by half for 1d6 hours.
21 – 22 Magical explosion does 1d6 damage to all in a 30ft. radius.
23 – 24 You take 1d6 damage for every level of the spell.
25+ Dimensional vortex opens to primal chaos. Save vs. magic or be
sucked in. Even if you save, take 3d6 damage.

Table 5. Minor Chaos

Roll Result
1 The temperature in a 30ft radius becomes unnaturally cold.
2 A wind blows through the area, smelling of sulfur.
3 Plants wilt and milk curdles in a 30ft radius.
4 Ghostly whispering fills the area for 3d6 rounds.
5 Caster's hair turns white for 3d6 days.
6 Animals in a 30ft. radius are spooked, fleeing the area.
7 Caster's eyes glow red (1-3) or lambent green (4-5) for a day.
8 Caster's nose bleeds for 1d6 x 10 minutes.
9 Caster's body covered with sores that go away in 1d3 days.
10 Caster smells of the grave for 1d3 days.
11 Caster takes on pallor of a corpse for 1d3 days.
12 Caster's voice becomes raspy for 1d3 days.
13 Caster's nails turn black for 1d3 days.
14 Caster's hair grows wildly long.
15 Caster's hair falls out.
16 Caster's nails double in length.
17 Caster's veins become visibly dark under his skin.
18 Caster speaks in unfamiliar language for 1d6 rounds.
19 Caster emits slight, unnatural green glow for 2d6 rounds.
20 Referee chooses any effect or makes up his own.

Athanor  Spell  Lists  

Magic in Athanor is less like shaping reality and more like a
structured way to tap into psychic power. Because of this, Athanoran magic-
users and rogues may use a limited list of spells chosen from both the cleric
and magic-user lists in the Swords and Wizardry core rules:

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Level 1 Level 4 Level 7
1. Charm Person 1. Charm Monster 1. Charm Plants
2. Cure Light Wounds 2. Confusion 2. Extension III
3. Detect Evil 3. Cure Serious Wounds 3. Mass Invisibility
4. Light 4. Dimension Door 4. Phase Door
5. Read Languages 5. Extension I 5. Power Word, Stun
6. Read Magic 6. Fear 6. Reverse Gravity
7. Shield 7. Hallucinatory Terrain 7. Restoration
8. Sleep 8. Neutralize Poison
9. Polymorph Other Level 8
Level 2 10. Polymorph Self 1. Mass Charm
1. Continual Light 11. Remove Curse 2. Mind Blank
2. Darkness, 15 ft Radius 12. Speak with Plants 3. Permanency
4. Detect Invisibility 13. Wizard Eye 4. Polymorph Object
5. ESP 5. Power Word, Blind
6. Find Traps Level 5 6. Symbol
7. Invisibility 1. Contact Other Plane
8. Levitate 2. Extension II Level 9
9. Locate Object 3. Feeblemind 1. Astral Spell
10. Mirror Image 4. Hold Monster 2. Maze
11. Phantasmal Force 5. Magic Jar 3. Power Word, Kill
12. Pyrotechnics 6. Passwall 4. Shape Change
13. Speak with Animals 7. Telekinesis 5. Time Stop
14. Strength 8. Teleport

Level 3 Level 6
1. Clairaudience 1. Anti-Magic Shell
2. Clairvoyance 2. Animate Object
3. Cure Disease 3. Control Weather
4. Dispel Magic 4. Death Spell
5. Fly 5. Find the Path
6. Haste 6. Geas
7. Hold Person 7. Legend Lore
8. Invisibility, 10 ft Radius 8. Project Image
9. Locate Object 9. Repulsion
10. Remove Curse 10. Speak with Monsters
11. Slow 11. Stone to Flesh
12. Speak with Dead 12. Word of Recall
13. Suggestion

Mutations
Mtations can happen as a result of exposure to the Clone Pits, Ancient
technology, or irradiated ruins. Such mutations may be beneficial or
harmful, but will always mark the mutant and make it hard to be respected

13
in proper company. Mutants in Zamora can be found in the Barrens, where
they form small mutant communities, in the sewers, in the Undercity, and
among the poorest of beggars.
Table 6. Minor Mutations
D10 Results
1 Altered Height: 1d6: 1-3, height is (66-3d6) inches; on a 4-6, height
is (72+3d6) inches.
2 Claws: Sharp, horny claws: 1d6-1 to unarmed damage.
3 Enhanced Senses: Surprise on 1 in 6. +2 saving throws for skills that
involve senses.
4 Fangs: Long fangs: bite attack does 1d4 damage.
5 Fur: Mutant is covered with thick fur that gives a +1 bonus to AC.
6 Horns: Mutant has horns or antlers: head butt attack: 1d4 damage.
7 Multiple Limbs: 1d4 extra limbs. For each limb roll 1d6: 1-3, the
limb is a leg;4-6, an arm. Every extra leg gives a +1 to move rate;
every 2 arms grants a +1 to attack rolls in melee combat.
8 Night Vision: Mutant can see in near complete darkness.
9 Scales: +2 bonus to Armor Class.
10 Scent: can identify tracks and individuals by smell.

Table 7. Major Mutations

D10 Results
1 Increased Physical Attribute: Roll 1d6, add 1d6 points to (1-2) STR,
(3-4) DEX, or (5-6) CON
2 Natural Armor: Armored hide or carapace grants +4 AC bonus.
3 Chameleon Skin: Surprise on 1-4. May hide by making save at +4.
4 Wall-climbing: move at normal rate, but cannot wear gloves or shoes.
5 Gliding Membrane: Glide at normal move but may not wear armor.
6 Spines: Opponents who grab or bite character take 1d3 damage. Do
1d6+2 damage in unarmed combat. Cannot wear amor.
7 Venom Attack: Opponent must save or take 2d6 poison damage. Can
be combined with existing natural attack mutation (bite, claws, etc.)
8 Musk Glands: Able to attack 15’ radius area adjacent to mutant. All in
area must save or be nauseated and unable to act for 1d4 rounds.
9 Choose one minor mutation
10 Roll two minor muations

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Table 8. Drawbacks
D10 Results
1-2 Albino: Sensitive to sun, unusual appearance. -1 CHA.
3-4 Bizarre Appearance: Very freaky looking. -2 CHA.
5-6 Obese: Weight is 200+(3d6x20) pounds. This isn’t muscle.
7-8 Physical Weakness: Roll 1d6, subtract 1d3 points from (1-2)
Strength, (3-4) Dexterity, or (5-6) Constitution
9-10 Poor Senses: The mutant is surprised on 1-3 in 6. -2 saves for
skills or actions that involve senses.

The Clone Pits

Life on Athanor can be nasty, brutish and short, and the lack of spells to
raise the dead means that the end of life can be pretty final… except in
Zamora, where Vog-Mur the Necromancer sells he services of his Clone Pits
for a modest fee of 1000 gold and a pound of flesh. You can use the Clone
Pits to either duplicate someone or to create a new, living body for them.
If the procedure works correctly, the character returns good as new,
with even his or her memories intact. If not, then something happens, and
the character comes back not quite right. Every time a character returns
through the Clone Pits, roll on the Clone Pit Table:

Table 9. The Clone Pits

3d6 Result
3 Amnesia: the character comes back normally, but remembers
nothing of his or her previous life.
4-5 Roll one drawback.
6-8 Lose 1 CON permanently. Visible deformity, scar, or superficial
mutation.
9-12 No problems.
13-15 Gain +1 to a random ability score, but your skin, hair, or eyes are
an unnatural color or texture from now on.
16-17 Roll one minor mutation.
18 Roll one major mutation.

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Hit Points, Injury and Death
Hit points in Savage Swords of Athanor are an abstract representation of
the fighting skill, toughness, luck, and endurance that keep a character up
and fighting. When a character’s hit points reach zero, the character is not
automatically dead, but may face severe harm in that or future rounds.
On the round in which a character reaches zero hit points and in any
round when a character at zero hit points take damage, roll a save. A
successful save means the character is alive but unconscious, and will
awaken in 2d6 rounds with 1 hit point. A failed save means the character is
unconscious and will die in 1d6+6 rounds unless a character comes in to
bind his wounds, administer healing magic, or otherwise aid the dying
character.

Binding  Wounds  
Immediately after a combat, a character can bind his or another’s
wounds. This takes one full minute. If the binding is interrupted, only 1 hit
point of damage is healed. If the minute passes uninterrupted, the character
heals 1d6 hit points of damage. This can only heal hit points lost during this
particular battle, and recovered hit points cannot exceed the uninjured
maximum amount.

Fortifying  Spirits  
Once per day, an injured character may down a draught of beer, wine,
or stronger spirits to fortify him or her self for battle. This will heal 1d6 hit
points of damage. Recovered hit points cannot exceed the uninjured
maximum amount.

Rest  
A full night’s rest fully restores 1d6 + the character’s level hit points. A
character will heal an additional point if he or she has a Constitution score
of 15 or higher (or 2 points with a Constitution score of 18) and an
additional point if he or she is a fighting-man.

Combat Options

Parrying  
A player may choose to have his character parry rather than attack. This
gives the PC a +2 AC bonus. If the attacker makes the exact roll needed to
hit, the parrying weapon is broken, but the defender takes no damage.
Drawing a new weapon takes 1 round.

16
Fighting  with  Two  Weapons  
Fighting-mans and rogues may fight with a one-handed weapon in the
dominant hand and a smaller weapon in the off-hand. This does not grant
additional attacks, but does give the Fighting-man a +1 to attack rolls with
the main weapon.

Disarming  
A Fighting-man or rogue may strike to disarm an opponent instead of doing
damage. This requires a standard attack. If the attack succeeds, the target
may make a save to avoid disarmament. A character may not disarm
someone of a two-handed weapon this way, and may only disarm a weapon
of the same size or smaller than he or she is wielding for the attack. A
disarmed weapon falls at the target’s feet or 1d6 feet away if the target is
wielding a smaller weapon. A disarmed opponent must spend an action
drawing a new weapon, recovering the lost weapon, or engage in unarmed
combat.

17
 Monsters and Treasure
Monsters of Athanor
While Athanor has its own share of unique monsters, several creatures
from the Sword and Wizardry will work in Athanor. Most fairy-like or
undead creatures don’t work in Athanor, nor do most standard mammals.
The weird, insect-like, and repitilan creatures generally do work. Intelligent
humanoids are generally not present on Athanor, so no orcs, goblins or
giants. Oozes and slimes, however, are fairly common.

Air Jelly
AC: 8 (11), HD: 1, Attacks: sting 1d6, Special: Save or lose 1 WIS (heal in
12 hours), corrodes metal in 1d4 rounds, harmed only by heat and physical
weaponry, healed by cold, lightning causes them to divide, Move: fly 15,
HDE 2
Small, transparent jellyfish-like creatures which float over the dead sea
beds of Athanor, Air Jellies are venomous predators and hazards to overland
travel, and are very difficult to spot from a distance.

Allosaurus
AC: 6 (13), HD: 5, Attacks: bite 1d6+1, Move: 18, HDE 5
Large, swift and cunning pack predators, these theropods are fearsome
pack hunters of the great wastes. They are about 30 feet long and known for
their cunning and skill as hunters.

Amara
AC: 7 (12), HD 4, Attacks: Hair 1d6, Special: entangling hair, Move: 12,
HDE 4
Amara are undead creations of Vog-Mur. They look like beautiful yet
feral women with wild eyes, shark-like teeth and blue-white skin. They
hunger for human flesh and blood. Their hair is actually extremely strong,
filled with metallic barbs, and reaches out to grab and entangle enemies up
to 10 feet away. Targets struck by Amara must save or be entangled and
unable to move or use any weapon longer than a dagger. Their hair takes
2d6 points of damage to cut.

Anhkheg
AC: 4 (15), HD: 3, Attacks: bite 2d6, Special: squirt acid, Move: 12/
burrow 6, Special ability: squirt acid 30 feet once every 6 hours for 2dice
damage, HDE 4.

18
 The anhkheg is a burrowing insectoid creature which survives on a mix
earth and meat. They have a brownish carapace with shining black eyes.

Ankylosaurus
AC: 5 (14), HD: 7+2, Attacks: tail swipe 1d6+1, Move: 12, HDE 8.
Stout, thirty-foot long dinosaurs, these herbivores roam the lichen-beds
of the former seas of Athanor in small packs. They are ill-tempered, and
notably for their knobby hides and large, mace-like tails.

Brachiosaurus
AC: 4 (15), HD: 12+3, Attacks: tail swipe 1d6, Move: 12, HDE 13
These huge dinosaurs with long, snake-like tails and heads are
herbivores who both graze on lichen and feed on fungus of the great forests.
They are about 80 feet long and their heads stand up to 40 feet above the
ground. They are dangerous when stampeding, doing 4d6 to anyone
underfoot.

Chonchon
AC: 6 (13), HD 3+3, Attacks: Bite 1d6-1, Special: spells, Move: 12 flying,
HDE 4
These creatures built in Vog-Mur's clone tanks look like bloated human
heads with huge ears that resemble bat-like wings and allow the creatures to
fly. Their eyes bug out of the head, and their mouths are filled with sharp
teeth. They cast spells as if they were 4th level magic-users.

Compsognathus
AC: 8 (11), HD: 1-1, Attacks: bite 1d6-1, Move: 18, HDE less than 1
Tiny, swift bipedal pack predators are common animals in the wilds of
Athanor. They are about 3 feet long and are seen as pests by many, but kept
as pets by others.

Deinonychus
AC: 7 (12), HD: 2+2, Attacks: bite 1d6, Move: 18, HDE 3
Brutal, bipedal pack predators, deinonychus are 10 feet long, with
enlarged claws on their hind legs. They are swift runners, skilled leapers,
and cunning hunters. They are covered with feathers, including a great crest
on their heads and long feathers on their forelimbs and tails. They tend to
raid livestock and are a real menace to small caravans.

19
Dragons
Dragons were manufactured in Ancient times as servitors of the Witch
Kings of Ylum. Forged of magic and genetic technology, the dragons served
as guardians of the Witch Kings, and either as land or aerial combat
platforms. Durable, armored, and deadly, each dragon was a unique being,
capable of centuries of life and cunningly intelligent.
Most of the dragons have died, but there are three dragons in Zamora.
The first is the Tower Dragon, a 100-foot-long blue serpentine creature with
long, lithe limbs, a huge crocodilian head with a mouth filled with foot-long
teeth, and great cat-like eyes. The Tower Dragon sleeps most days coiled
around the Tower of Wizardry, and is the pet and guardian of the Tower of
Wizardry. The dragon cannot fly, but breathes lightning and is able to
communicate empathically and to cause fear through telepathic broadcast.
He seldom moves, but if moved to attack is an implacable foe.
The second is the Great Dragon, who arrived in Zamora with the
Overlord. This great, winged dragon is 80 feet long, with three heads. One
breathes fire, one breathes lightning, and the third breathes frost. Its
iridescent green scales are impervious to most weapons, and its wings seem
to blot out the sky when the Overlord flies out over the city on its back. The
Great Dragon sleeps for long periods of time, woken only to serve the whim
of the Overlord.
The Shadow Dragon is a terror of the undercity. Only forty feet long, the
Shadow Dragon is a master of darkness and a necromancer of no small
ability. Ruthless and spiteful toward humans, the Shadow Dragon is an
enemy of Vog-Mur and maintains his own undead fortress below he city,
from which he preys upon the living and amuses himself by he suffering he
causes.

Dromians
AC: 9 (10), HD 1, Attacks: dagger 1d6-1, Move: 12, HDE 1
Standing about three feet tall, these reed-like, insectoid creatures walk
on two legs and have "arms" ending in hands with three prehensile "fingers"
evenly spaced around the ends of their arms. They are strong as a full-grown
man, have leathery grey carapaces, and have expressionless heads with
multi-faceted eyes, long antennae, and a tentacular proboscis that they use
to eat nectar and pulped fruit. Dromians seem to communicate through a
series of clicks, chirps, and musky scents, though hey also seem to
understand human speech. They dress in conical hooded robes, and serve
the Overlord of Zamora as quiet, cold and dedicated laborers who maintain
the city and the tunnels under it.

20
Girallon
AC: 6 (13), HD: 4+1, Attacks: claws d6+2, Move: 12/ 6 climb, HDE 5
Four-armed white apes, the Girallon is a carnivorous Athanoran gorilla,
a brutal and cunning predator, often found in both the fungus forests of the
world and in the ruins of ancient cities.

Hssu
AC: 5 (14), HD 5+5, Attacks: tentacles 1d6, Special: chemical attacks,
Move 9, HDE 6. The Hssu exude several chemicals in a 10 foot radius that
they are immune to. This can cause any one of three effects: charm person,
cause fear, do 2d6 poison damage. Any chemical could be used at will.
The Hssu are desert traders who travel beyond the land of the Five
Kingdoms. They trade in the drug sharru, an opiate-like substance known for
both its addictiveness and its tendency to cause strange, vivid, and prophetic
dreams. The Hssu are alien creatures, with conical bodies ending in four
thick tentacles. The top of their cone ends in four eyestalks and four
trumpet-like ears. They have four prehensile tentacles mid-way through their
bodies that end in mouths with two long "lips" that can be used to hold and
manipulate items. The Hssu speak through their tentacular mouths, and
speak the common tongue as well as their own. They are not expressive,
and are treated with some trepidation by humans, though they are welcome
by anyone seek sharru.

Iguanodon
AC: 6 (13), HD: 4, Attacks: "thumb" spikes bite 1d6-1, Move: 12, HDE 4.
Bulky 20 foot long herbivores with bill-like mouths, iguanodons
generally move as quadrupeds, feeding on the great beds of lichen on the
former sea-beds of Athanor, but can run as bipeds. They are notable for their
thumb spikes, which they use as defensive weapons. While packs of these
creatures live in the wild, they are also kept as domestic animals to serve as
food and mounts.

Mal’akkan
AC: 7 [12], HD: 2, Attacks: scimitar (1d6), Special: spines, plant body,
Move: 12, HDE: 3
The cactus-men of the five kingdoms are notable traders and warriors.
Their spines cause 1 point of damage to any creature that bites or grapples
them, or adds one point to damage in unarmed combat. Their plant bodies
give them +2 to saves vs. poison, and cause them to take minimal damage
from blunt or piercing weapons.

21
Manananggal
AC: 6 (13), HD 5, Attacks: bite 1d6, Special: blood drain, horrifying vision,
spell-like abilities, undead. Move: 12 flying, HDE 6.When a Manananggal
strikes, it automatically attaches to a victim and does 1d6 damage each
round automatically, draining a victim of blood and life. When first seen, so
horrifying that all who view it must save or be frozen in fear for 1d3 rounds.
May cast charm person and hold person at will. Immune to charm and sleep
spells.
An Athanoran vampire, the Manananggal is an undead creation of Vog-
Mur. They are free-willed undead who look like beautiful women. When
they feed, their heads and internal organs detach, allowing them to fly while
leaving their bodies behind while they feed.

Mechanisms
Ancient machine servants, guardians, and warriors, mechanisms still
stand watch in some areas of Athanor, or are controlled by individuals who
have found ways to master Ancient technology.

• Mechanism, Large: AC 3 (16), HD 6: Attack: melee or ranged 3d6, Move

9, HDE 6
• Mechanism, Medium: AC: 3(16), HD 4, Attack: melee or ranged 2d6,
Move 9, HDE 4
• Mechanism, Small: AC 3,(16), HD 2, Attack: melee or ranged d6, Move
12, HDE 2

Osquip
AC: 7 (12), HD: 1+1, Attacks: bite d6+1, Move: 12/1 burrow, HDE 1
The six-legged Athanoran rat is a common pest. Its large, spade-like
teeth inflict wicked injuries.

Pachycephalosaurus
AC: 6 (13), HD: 4, Attacks: head butt 1d6+1, Move: 12, HDE 4
Bipedal herbivores with thick skulls that stand about 15 feet long,
pachycephalosaurus are ill-tempered pack creatures that use their thick
bony skulls to head butt their enemies. Pachycephalosaurus do 2d6+2
damage if they are charging. These creatures are sometimes domesticated as
riding animals.

Parasaurolophus
AC: 7 (12), HD: 4+1, Attacks: slam 1d6, Move: 18, HDE 5,

22
 30 foot long herbivores with bill-like mouths, parasaurolophus generally
move as quadrupeds, feeding on the great beds of lichen on the former sea-
beds of Athanor, but can run as bipeds. Long, hollow crests atop their heads
are used to make loud, sonorous noises to communicate over long
distances. While packs of these creatures live in the wild, they are also kept
as domestic animals to serve as food and mounts.

Pteranodon
AC: 7 (12), HD: 3, Attacks: bite 1d6-1, Move: 6/fly 24, HDE 3
These flying predators lair in high places and feed on small arthropods,
dinosaurs, and osquips. They are sometimes used as mounts, but are notably
difficult to domesticate and train.

Rathaga
AC: 4 (15), HD: 4, Attacks: claws 1d6, Special: decapitation, undead,
Move: 9, HDE 5. On a natural attack roll of 20, the Rathaga bites off his
opponent's head: save or die from decapitation. A save allows the victim to
take 2d6 damage instead.
Rathaga are 12 foot tall skeletal creatures made by Vog-Mur from the
bones of several humans. They are silent, mindless brutes, but their coming
is marked by the smell of spices and a chill in the air.

Rhamphorynchus
AC: 8 (11), HD: 1-1, Attacks: bite 1d6-2, Move: 3/fly 18, HDE less than 1
Small, colorful, feathered, bird-like reptiles, these creatures are
sometimes kept as pets, and are common creatures throughout Athanor.

Shadim
AC: 6 (13), HD: 2, Attacks: claw 1d6, Special: Paralysis, Move 9, HDE 3.
Any hit from a Shadim will paralyze a target for 3d6 rounds.
The shadim are undead creations of Vog-Mur the Necromancer. They
appear to be animated human corpses split in half from crown to crotch,
with just one half of a body. They hop on one leg and strike with their one
yellowed claw-like hand. They stink of raw meat and decay, and crave flesh
to feed their severed bodies.

Stegosaurus
AC: 5 (14), HD: 7+3, Attacks: Tail swipe 1d6+1, Move: 12, HDE 8.
Cantankerous herbivores, these creatures are about 30 feet long, with a
double row of huge, bony spikes along their backs and a great, spiked tail.
They are not particularly bright, but are hardy fighters when threatened.

23
Stirge
AC: 8 (11), HD: 1+1, Attacks: bite 1/2d6, Move: 3/18 fly, HDE 2.
The Athanoran bat is an odd mix of bat, bird, and insect. Stirges live in
flocks and feed on blood. They attack with a +2 on the attack roll and do
1/2d6 damage per round until they have drained 12 hit points of blood, then
they fly away bloated with blood.

Throon
AC: 6 [13], HD: 2, Attacks: battleaxe (1d6), Special: Plant Bodies; Move:
12, HDE: 3
The barbarian throon are ochre-colored, seven-foot-tall sentient fungi.
Their plant bodies give them +2 to saves vs. poison, and cause them to take
minimal damage from blunt or piercing weapons. They often ride dinosaurs
into combat, and wield huge axes.

Triceratops
AC: 4 (15), HD: 8+2, Attacks: gore 2d6, Move: 12, HDE 9.
These huge quadrupeds have frilled bony crests and three great horns
on their heads. 30 feet long and bulky, and standing about 10 feet tall, these
creatures can build great momentum on a charge. These herbivores live in
great packs on the plains. When charging, they do 4d6 damage.

Tunnel Stalker
AC: 7 (12), HD 3, Attacks: Tentacles (1d6), Move 12, HDE 4. Special:
Toxin (save or paralyzed 1d6 rounds), Surprise on 1-5, 1/2 damage from
blunt weapons.
The Tunnel Stalker is a man-sized gastropod, silent and swift-moving,
that is a danger of the undercity. The slug-like creature has a thick, slimy,
rubbery hide, and at one end of its body is a mass of tentacles, two of which
can extend to a length of nearly ten feet. These long hunting tentacles end in
a mass of barbed stingers that inject a powerful neurotoxin that paralyzes a
foe and causes burning pain and can, over time and multiple doses, slowly
digest tissue into a soft, pulpy mass for the Tunnel Stalker to devour.
The Tunnel Stalker's thick skin is filled with chromatophores, allowing it
to easily camouflage itself against its surroundings, and its nature allows
silent movement. The creature may climb walls and ceilings, and often
attacks from ambush.
Tunnel Stalkers are cowardly with animal instinct but great cunning.
They tend to attack lone prey, stragglers, sleeping victims, or other easy
prey. They avoid fire, electricity or other similar dangers.

24
Tyrannosaurus
AC: 6 [13], HD: 8+1, Attacks: bite 2d6, Move: 18, HDE 5.
The terrors of the wilds, tyrannosaurs are 40 feet long and 10-15 feet tall
at the hip. Their huge heads are filled with sharp teeth. They travel in groups
of one to three and are deadly hunters.

Umbran
AC: 4 (15), HD 4, Attacks: Claws 1d6+2, move: 12, Climb 12, Jump 6,
Special: Invisible at will., HDE 5.
Umbrans were agents of the ancient Empire of Ylum, enforcers of their
will, spies, and assassins of the first order. Arcane constructs, these things
look like a mix of spider and mantis with cold, featureless faces and long,
hooked forelimbs. They can climb walls, move silently, and survive in
nearly any climate.
They may turn invisible at will, and usually move about invisibly. They
communicate with each other telepathically, though they may communicate
is a low chatter that sounds like whispered clicks when they wish to
communicate with their masters.
The Umbrans that survive do so either as guardians of the secrets of
Ylum or as agents of long-lost schemes to revive the Witch-Kings.

Vat Men
AC: 4 (15), HD 4, Attacks: sword 1d6+1, Special: regeneration, Move 9,
HDE . Vat Men will regenerate fully any round that they have not been
reduced to 0 hit points or fewer.
The Vat Men are constructs of Vog-Mur the Necromancer, made in his
laboratories deep below the city. The Vat Men regenerate at a frightful rate,
are physically superior to ordinary men, and have great muscular frames.
Their faces, however, have small, close-set eyes, a mouth frozen in a
perpetual smile, and upturned noses. They seem strange caricatures of
humanity, and fight without fear or hesitation.

25
Treasures of the Ancients

Alemanian  Medical  Technology  

The people of Alemania are renowned for their medical technology,
which reflects arcane secrets they have reconstructed from the ancients.
Alemanian surgeons are capable of strange and astounding feats, including
transplants, body modifications, and strange types of hybridization.
Body modification is a mark of status among Alemanians, a sign that the
recipient of modifications has transcended the boundaries of his humanity.
For some, this is an art, achieving aesthetic changes to their faces and
bodies. For others, this is practical, with some Alemanians fusing tools to
their bodies or enhancements to their eyes, reach, or bodily functions. Still
others enhance their bodies for combat, reinforcing their skeletons,
attaching weapons to their limbs, or implanting armored plates under their
skin.
The price of such enhancements is often the loss of humanity. The cold,
distant, and aloof persona of many Alemanians is even more pronounced in
those who have had extensive modifications, making them seem more
machine-like, cold, amoral and dismissive of "lesser" races. The Alemanians
invoke fear and distrust in others in the world, and do so with good reason.
Much of the technology incorporated in these changes seems to be
organic, grown in great vats and drawing its nutrients from the host. Much of
it seems either organic or like a strange mix of tentacular, pulsing, or
jellyfish-like formlessness. Such technology can be strangely beautiful, but is
often horrible to behold.

The  Black  Mirror  

This magical sword is a three-foot long blade of thin, black and
reflective glassy material. The pommel is made of bone, wound with leather.
No one knows he origin of the black mirror, though mentions of it have
been made in the chronicles of the war between the Four Great Nations,
wielded by Akas the Slayer, champion of Ylum. The Black Mirror is a
normal Sword +1 against living creatures. However, against inorganic
materials (metal or stone) or against plants, the weapon is a sword +5 doing
3d6 damage. In addition, the sword will negate the first spell of third or
lower level cast against the wielder each round.

The  Cloak  of  Shadows  

This floor-length black cloak has an ornate silver clasp with an
orichalcum stone set in it. Pressing this stone will cause the cloak to
shimmer and then reflect the nearby surroundings, causing the wearer to

26
disappear if he or she keeps the closed and the hood pulled down. This is
equivalent to the effect of the Invisibility II spell. This has a duration of
2d6+8 rounds. Once the effect ends, the cloak needs 1d3 days to recharge.

The  Hand  of  Death  

A powerful Ancient artifact, the Hand of Death is an ornate onyx and
brass pistol that fires a cold, black bolt that causes no harm to inanimate
objects, plants or fungi. However, any living animal struck by the ray must
save or fall to zero hit points immediately. A creature that saves has its
current hit points reduced by half. The Hand of Death may be fired three
times before recharging. It is self-charging, but regains only one charge per
day of non-use.

The  Iron  Scorpion  

This ornate iron sculpture of a foot-long scorpion has a matching
headband. If the headband is worn, the user may then command the Iron
Scorpion to act as an agent. Doing so places the user in a trance, but the
user may use the scorpion as his own eyes and ears, and may use the
scorpion to act. The user may end this trance at any time, but then the Iron
Scorpion become inert and inactive. Iron Scorpion: AC 3 [16], HD 3,
Attacks: sting 1d2, Move 15, HDE 4, SA: poison, save or die (1d6 damage if
save), XP 120.

Laser  Pistols  
Laser pistols fire a beam of energy doing great damage. Most do 2d6
damage, have a range of 150 feet, a rate of fire of 2, and can fire 20 shots
from an oricalchum cell. Building a new cell requires knowledge of making
a cell, but is possible using fresh orichalcum ore and a laboratory. This takes
1 week and 150 GP of materials per cell.

Needlers  
Needlers are carbines that fire poison needles soundlessly using a
magnetic field. Typical needler poison either causes a target to save or sleep
for 1d6x10 minutes or cause a target to take 2d6 damage or save for half
damage, though other poisons may be used. Needlers have a range of 100
feet, a rate of fire of 2, and can fire 30 shots. Reloading requires both a new
oricalchum battery and a magazine full of poisoned needles. Building a new
cell requires knowledge of making a cell, but is possible using fresh
orichalcum ore and a laboratory. This takes 1 week and 150 GP of materials
per cell. Needles cost 3 GP to have custom made, plus the cost of poison
(typically another 90 GP or more)

27
The  Orb  of  Sorrows  
The Orb is a simple white orb, the size of a fist, with a single button.
Depressing the button causes the Orb to whir. The orb will begin to hover,
though it can be thrown to a point where it will begin its work. The orb
hovers about five feet from the ground, and generates a field of psychic
disturbance. Any sentient or sapient creature in a 30 foot radius will be
overcome with sorrow and dejection. All creatures in the area of effect must
save or be immobilized, wracked with hopelessness and sorrow, until the
orb is deactivated. The Orb will continue to operate for 1d6+2 rounds, then
will deactivate and settle gently to the ground. It cannot be used again for
another 1d3 days.

Pyroclastic  Lance/Firelance  
The Firelance is a three-foot long weapon that looks like a truncated
lance with a flared hand guard at one end and a hole at the other. A single
button on the handle triggers the weapon.
The pyroclastic lance fires a cone of superheated plasma with a range of
30 feet spreading at the far end to a width of 30 feet. Any target in the cone
takes 3 dice damage (save for half) and easily ignitable items will catch fire.
A pyroclastic lance has five charges. It can be recharged by placing a
specially-crafted piece of orichalcum crystal in a sealed chamber in the
handle. Such an item will cost 150 GP and take one week for a skilled
crafter to make.

Personal  Shield  
The personal shield surrounds the wearer in a protective aura of
shimmering light. The Shield is worn as a belt with a simple switch on the
buckle. Once activated, the shield will absorb up to 30 hit points of
damage, after which the item will deactivate itself to regenerate its circuits.
This takes 12 hours. The shield will run out of power after a total of 1 hour
of use. It can be recharged by placing a specially-crafted piece of
orichalcum crystal in a sealed chamber on the belt. Such an item will cost
150 GP and take one week for a skilled crafter to make.

The  Silver  Shield  

The Silver Shield appears to be a single bracer with a large, silver boss
that would sit on the top of the arm. However, when a stud on the opposite
side is pressed, the boss expands and folds out into a medium-sized round,
silver shield. This acts as a normal shield for purposes of defense
calculations but when facing beam weapons (lasers, the Hand of Death,
etc.), roll 1d6. On a 1-2, the shield has no additional effect. On a 3-5, the

28
beam is reflected away harmlessly, on a 6, the beam is reflected back to the
attacker.

Bound Spirits
Ancient tomes still preserve the secrets of binding extra-dimensional
spirits to magic-users’ service. This art is the true power of magic, and
comes with risks and drawbacks. Ancient books may have rituals for binding
specific spirits, as determined by the GM. These spirits are named, have a
personality, and grant the magic-users powers and potential side effects.
Intelligence: Roll 2d6 + 6
Languages: Spirits speak common plus one additional language for
every point of intelligence above 10.
Element: Spirits are composed of one of the basic elements of the world.
Spirit-marked: A magic-user who has bound a spirit will be marked by
the experience. Depending on the spirit’s elemental nature, the wizard may
have distinctly colored or textured eyes, hair or skin. This is purely cosmetic.
Table 10. Spirit Element
d% Element
01-20 Air
21-40 Earth
41-60 Fire
61-70 Water
71-80 Metal
81-90 Plant/Fungus
91-95 Light
96-00 Darkness

Powers: Spirits may manifest a number of supernatural powers that the

magic-user may manifest as if he or she were using the spell of the same
name. Some spirits may also take physical form to act as combatants in
service of the magic-user:

Table 11. Spirit Powers

d% Powers
01-15 2 lesser
16-30 1 lesser, 1 greater
31-80 2 lesser, 1 greater
81-90 3 lesser
91-00 2 greater

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Table 12. Lesser Powers
d% Power
01-10 Charm Person 1/day
11-20 Crystal Ball 3/day
21-25 Cure Wounds I 3/day
26-35 Inflict Light Wounds 3/day
36-40 Knock 1/day
41-50 Light I or Dark I 1/day
51-60 Move Objects 3/day
61-70 Purify or Putrefy Food and Drink 1/day
71-80 Read Languages 3/day
81-85 Read Magic 3/day
86-90 Speak with Animals 3/day
91-00 Take physical form 1 hour/day; AC 12, HD 2, Move 6

Table 13. Greater Powers

d% Power
01-05 Animate Dead, 2d6 undead, 1/week
06-15 Contact Other Plane 1/week
16-20 Cure Wounds II 2/day
21-25 Dimensional Portal 1/day
26-30 Dispel Magic, 1/day
31-40 Fly at speed 12 for 1 hour/day
41-45 Hold monster 1/day
46-50 Invisibility 1/day
51-60 Levitate, 1 turn duration, 3/day
61-70 Phantasmal Force, 1/day
71-75 Protection from Normal Missiles 1/day
76-85 Remove Curse 1/day
86-95 Take physical form 1 hour/day; AC 14, HD 5+2, Move 6
96-00 Telekinesis, 100 pounds, 1/day

Ego Conflicts: Each spirit will have an ego equal to its intelligence +1 for
every lesser power and +5 for every greater power. The Ego of a magic-user
is equal to the magic-user’s intelligence + charisma + level. If the magic-
user’s current hit points are at half or less of their usual maximum, the
magic-user suffers a -5 penalty to his or her Ego. If the spirit’s ego is greater
than the magic-user’s, the spirit may dominate the magic-user, forcing the
character to act in accordance to the spirit’s wishes until the magic-user’s
ego increases or the spirit is banished or appeased.

30
 Underworld & Wilderness Adventures
Random Encounter Tables
Table 14. Ancient Seabeds
2d6 Result
2 1-2 Tyrannnosaurus
3 1-3 Allosaurus
4 2d6 Parasaurolophus
5 3d6 Compsognathus
6 3d6 Throon Raiders on Pachycephalosauruses
7 2d6 Brachiosaurus
8 2d6 Iguanadons or Pachycephalosauruses
9 1d6 Deinonychus
10 1d6 Ankylosaurus
11 1-6 Stegosaurus
12 1-4 Triceratops

Table 15. Hills

2d6 Result
2 1d3 Triceratops
3 1d4 Girallons
4 1d4 Anhkhegs
5 2d4 Ankylosauruses
6 2d6 Ghuls on Pachycephalosauruses
7 1d6 Throons on Allosauruses
8 2d4 Deinonychus
9 2d4 Parasaurolophus
10 2d4 Stirges
11 1d4 Giant Fire Beetles
12 1d3 Giant Spiders

Table 16. Atmosphere Plant

2d6 Result
2 1d3 Mechanisms, Large
3 1d3 Hssu merchants on Parasaurolophus
4 2d6 Soldiers on Parasaurolophus
5 3d6 Osquips
6 2d6 Bandits on Pachycephalosauruses
7 Merchant Caravan
8 2d6 Throon on Iganodons
9 1d2 Giant Centipede (large)
10 1d3 Anhkheg
11 1d4 Girallon
12 1d6 Mechanisms, Medium

31
Table 17. Forest
2d6 Result
2 6d6 Mutant Bandits
3 1d2 Giant Centipedes (Large)
4 1d2 Anhkhegs
5 1d66 Girallon
6 2d6 Giant Centipedes (medium)
7 2d6 Compsognathus
8 2d6 Osquips
9 1 Forester
10 2d6 Stirges
11 1d3 Giant Spiders
12 1 Ochre Jelly

Table 18. Desert

2d6 Result
2 1d2 Hssu on Parasaurolophus
3 1d3 Allosaurus
4 1d6 Deinonychus
5 2d6 Stirges
6 2d6 Giant Centipedes (Medium)
7 2d6 Compsognathus
8 3d6 Osquips
9 1d6 Pachycephalosaurus
10 1d4 Giant Fire Beetles
11 1d2 Ankhegs
12 1d6 Ghul raiders on Pachycephalosauruses

Table 19. Mountains

2d6 Result
2 1 Black Pudding
3 1d4 Ochre Jellies
4 1d6 Giant Wasps
5 1d3 Large Giant Centipedes
6 1d6 Pteranodons
7 2d6 Osquips
8 2d6 Stirges
9 2d6 Girallons
10 1d6 Air Jellies
11 1d4 Grey Oozes
12 1 Earth Elemental

32
Table 20. Swamp
2d6 Result
2 1d3 Ochre Jellies
3 1d6 Throon with 1d2 Deinonychus pets
4 1d2 Giant Wasps
5 1d6 Air Jellies
6 1d6 Stirges
7 3d6 Osquips
8 2d6 Giant Centipedes (medium)
9 1d6 Giant Spiders
10 1d4 Giant Centipedes (large
11 2d4 Ghul warriors
12 2d4 Deinonychus

Table 21. Plains

2d6 Result
2 1-3 Giant Wasps
3 1-3 Allosaurus
4 2d6 Parasaurolophus
5 2d6 Iguanodons
6 1d4 Ankhegs
7 2d6 Bandits on Iguanodons
8 3d6 Compsognathus
9 2d6 Pachycephalosaurus
10 1d6 Ankylosaurus
11 1-6 Stegosaurus
12 1-2 Giant Centipedes (large)

Table 22. Ruins

2d6 Result
2 Giant Slug
3 1d2 Grey Ooze
4 1d6 Deinonychus
5 2d6 Comsognathus
6 1d6 Girallon
7 2d6 Osquips
8 2d6 Giant Centipedes, small
9 2d6 Rhamohorynchus
10 2d6 Throon
11 2d6 Bandits plus 1 leader with 1d3+2 hit dice
12 1d2 Giant Spiders

33
Table 23. The Zamoran Barrens
2d6 Result
2 1d4 Vat Men on patrol
3 2d6 Dromians
4 1d6 Stirges
5 1d6 Mutants
6 1d6 Beggars
7 1d6 Osquips
8 1d6 Bandits
9 1d6 Giant Centipedes, small
10 1 Hssu and 1d6 human servants
11 2d6 Soldiers on patrol
12 1 Amara

Table 24. Urban Zamora

2d6 Result
2 1d6 thugs, bandits, or press gang
3 1 noble plus entourage of 1d6 lackeys
4 1d2 Drunken nobles looking for a duel
5 1d3 Aggressive Merchants
6 1d6 Beggars
7 1d6 Street Urchins
8 1d2 Buskers
9 1d2 Pickpockets
10 1d3 Prostitutes
11 1 priest plus entourage of 1d6 lackeys
12 Mistaken identity involving one of the PCs

Table 25. The Undercity

2d6 Result
2 1 Giant Slug
3 1 Rathaga
4 1d3 Amara or Shadim
5 1 Black Pudding or 1d2 Grey Ooze or 1d3 Ochre Jellies
6 2d6 Zombies or Skeletons
7 2d6 Osquips
8 1d6+1 Fire Beetles
9 2d6 Dromian workers
10 1 Chonchon or Manananggal
11 1 Hssu merchant and 1d6 human lackeys
12 Tunnel Stalker

34
The World of Athanor
The broad plains of Athanor are covered with a thick, spongy, ochre
colored lichen. While this is hard to cut or burn, it is a common source of
nutrition for the herbivores of Athanor.
Some areas of Athanor are covered with stands or even forests of huge
fungi, some 20, 30 or more feet tall. These fungi are often orange, red,
brown or violet, have hard silicate endostructures, and noxious or even
toxic spores that kill most non-arthropod life forms. Few venture into the
fungal forests as a result, and some consider them a blight to be purged or
contained with fire.
A few areas are covered with tall, reddish trees, though most of these
are cultivated orchards in civilized lands. These trees often have deep red,
magenta or even violet leaves. Wild groves are often home to dangerous
plants such as strangle-vine or great carnivorous plants.

Climate  
Athanor's red sun hangs over an arid land where most of the world's
oceans and seas have retreated or disappeared completely. The land is
covered in dry plains or deserts. Where great cities once stood explorers find
the ruins of the world's faded glory.

Calendar  
Two moons hang over the dusty land, the swift-moving Selune and her
larger sister Miera, making most nights bright. The phases of Selune mark
the seven days of the week: Sunday, Moonday, Stoneday, Waterday,
Windsday, Fireday, and Godsday. The fourteen-week cycles of Miera mark
the three seasons: Storm, Earth, and Fire.

Technology  
Technology in Athanor is somewhere between around the late Age of
Sail, with printing presses, simple optics, muzzle-loading firearms, crude
germ theory, and crude steam technology. In addition, rare advanced
technological items exist, too.
The metal orichalcum is refined as a salt to use in firearms, used to make
the gas provides fills the lift tanks of Athanor’s airships‚ expensive and rare
lighter-than-air craft that provide some of the trade between the great cities.

Travel  
Overland travel usually involves riding on parasauralophus. These
dinosaurs can carry two riders and gear or four riders without gear. Some

35
travel may be done on howdahs atop triceratops. Rarely, brachiosaurus are
tamed and used as beasts of burden or to bear great howdahs. But the fastest
long-distance travel comes in the form of airships, held aloft by orichalcum
gas and propelled through the use of sails or steam engines. Airships are the
key to naval power, but are expensive enough that trade still depends on
overland travel.

History  
Long ago, Athanor was a watery world, dotted with small islands. The
Ancients came to Athanor from a distant star, seeking a new home. The
world they found was intially a great hope to them, and a source of precious
water and life. But then they encountered something below, an ancient
lurking malevolence, completely alien, that sought to usurp the invaders.
Humanity struggled valiantly and won out, and the Blue Age that began in
strife ended in prosperity.
As the seas retreated and the great Atmosphere Plants of the ancients
reshaped the planet, the continents and lands emerged from the sea. Forests
were planted and the great domed cities were founded across the land. The
Ancients were prosperous, and learned to harness the materials and energies
of the land. The Four Great Nations ruled in those days: the Empire of
Aquila, the Theocracy of Turan, the Saal'Kesh confederation and the Witch-
Kings of Ylum. While they ruled at first in peace, the four nations began to
war with each other increasingly. The Green Age began in peace, but ended
in warfare.
Terrible lances of fire, flying chariots, and towering War Gods were
engaged in a war that scorched the earth and the seas, poisoned the air, and
laid waste across all of Athanor. Some humans were reduced to barbarism,
others called forth terrible magical powers, and pacts were made with things
from the Great Beyond. All of civilization fell, and the voices of men from
the stars beyond were never hear again.
It has been centuries, and what can survive has. The domed cities are
abandoned or live as shadows of the past. Only five civilized nations
survive, and most of the world is a wasteland. Most of the ways and history
of the past are forgotten, and humanity survives as it must, on scraps of
faded glory.

Religion    
The people of Zamora worship the 6 Lords of Chaos and the 3 Lords of
Law. Note, however, that Gods of Athanor are not common forces in the
lives of the people of Athanor, as gods are often are in role-playing games.
The gods do not grant magical power. Some gods are fictional or

36
misinterpretations of historical figures. Others are powerful beings of
supernatural power, but are not truly divine. Religion on Athanor is just
another institution, corrupt and troublesome as any other.

The  Churches  of  Law  

The Churches of Law are highly revered throughout the Five Kingdoms.
Parts of this respect is the fact that the churches are highly conservative,
institutionalized, and support the ideals of social order, rule of law, and
polite society. While people follow such tenets wih varying degrees of
devotion, these ideals tend to resonate strongly with the general populace,
and have the ring of social truth in them.
Though they are closely allied, the Churches of Law consist of three separate
churches, each with its own focus.

Fala the Lightbringer

The Church of Fala the Lightbringer preaches the virtues of charity, social
giving, sacred life and social justice. It runs several charities, and is devoted
to running soup kitchens, hospitals, and schools throughout the Five
Kingdoms. They teach the value of obedience, piety, self-discipline, and
kindness, and are active missionaries in spreading the faith.
The priests of Fala swear oaths of chastity and poverty, though they may
carry and use the wealth of the church. Thus, they may have items on
extended loan from the church, but may own nothing of their own. Thus,
any appearance of wealth among the holy is just a misunderstanding, as the
faithful own nothing and but use what is given them by Fala.
They teach that it is a kindness to educate heathens in the Way, and thus
support the Inquisition of the Serinites. They believe that virtue is hard work,
and thus demand much work from penitents. They oppose moral weakness
in the form of Chaos and heathen idolatry, and work to make sure that the
State supports the churches of law only. They would love to convert
Alemania from their heathen atheism to understanding the True Way.
For its charity work, the Church controls much wealth, and collects it
aggressively from the faithful. Such wealth grants great power, and the
control much land in order to do their work. Many of the younger children
of the ruling families of the Five Kingdoms are sent to the Church to learn
and to form stronger ties to the church for their families. Some might see this
as poltical manipulation or finding a way to divert vst church funds to the
wealthy, but such a perspective would be bitter and jaded.

Malkut the Scholar

The god Malkut and his church are dedicated to learning and
scholarship, searching Ancient tomes not only for learning and facts, but for

37
spiritual enlightenment on the nture of the universe. The Malkuti teach the
value of keeping the mind focused on the Word and the Way, of studying
and interpreing the Holy Word for insights into the world at large, and of
properly educating the faithful.
The priests and priestesses of Malkut swear vows of poverty. They focus
on developing a demeanor that is detached, thoughtful, and driven by
philosophical and intellectual devotion to the holy teachings of the Gods of
Law. They are builders of schools and libraries, and use teaching as a form
of missionary work.
They teach the values of self-reflection, self-discipline, prayer, service,
and obedience to the Way of Malkut. Their teaching and spiritual work
focus on mental discipline, devotion of religious study, and finding ways to
unite the Word with the World.
The Church of Malkut controls most of the large collections of books and
scholarship extant in the Five Kingdoms, including carefully guarded
libraries of forbidden lore. They are always seeking ways to gain more
knowledge, translate Ancient books, and learn more of the history and
science of the past.

Serin of the Iron Fist

Serin is the goddess of discipline and protector of the faithful. She is the
Fist of Law, who teaches that strength of resolve is the highest system of
belief, even beyond the evidence of reason or material evidence. Her
followers form a small but fanatical order of fighting priests who act as
defenders of caravans, protectors of religious missions, and hunters of
abominations and witches. The Serinites form two orders: the Knights of the
Temple, who defend churches of law and caravans of the faithful; the
Knights of the Flame, who hunt monsters and witches, and act as the
investigators for the church. They ae often called the Inquisition.
Priests and priestesses of Serin swear oaths of poverty and chastity, and
live ascetic lives that involve dedication to spiritual and physical warfare.
Their order follow military lines, with brother- and sister-soldiers, and father-
and mother- sergeants, lieutenants, and captains. These ranks are highly
ordered and disciplined, with strict codes of obedience and procedure.
The Serinites have the least to do with common folk, focusing on their
war on spiritual evil in the world. This ofen makes them seem cold, distant,
even cruel to outsiders who do not understand the need for strict dedication
to the war against Evil in order to protect the innocent.
The  Churches  of  Chaos  
In contrast to the the churches of Law, the disparate churches of Chaos
promise practices that support individual freedoms of expression and

38
behavior. While the churches of Law are socially sanctioned,
institutionalized, and tied to the greater social order, the churches of Chaos
present themselves as counter-cultural or revolutionary, even if this is only
marginally true. There are dozens of Churches of Chaos, but in Zamora, six
churches are currently active.

Asheba the Creator

The Church of Asheba is devoted to artists, craftspeople, and magic-
users. This means that it has lasting attentions to several guilds, noble
families, and powerful individuals. This is the most mainstream of the chaos
cults, and stresses the role of creation as a positive. As an outgrowth, the
church is tied to charitable work in feeding the poor, opening schools, and
providing alternative voices to those who wish to challenge the hegemony
of the churches of Law.
The priests and priestesses of Asheba have no single code of dress or
conduct, but follow loose guidelines for kindness, ethical behavior, and
respect for life. They stand for freedom and individuality as well. They do
not take oaths of poverty or chastity, instead focusing on oaths of service.
Due to the church’s followers, the Ashebans have a great deal of wealth
and influence, making them a thorn in the side of the churches of Law. This
is a position Ashebans relish, considering themselves social gadflies and
potential change agents.

Bel the Liberator

The church of Bel is devoted to serving the poor and downtrodden. They
not only set up charities in the poorest communities, but serve as a voice of
liberation and opposition to slavery, exploitation, and centralized
government. As a result, the church of Bel is outlawed quite broadly, and its
churches quickly razed.
In Zamora, this church is underground, gathering its followers in the
barrens on the edge of the city. Beggars and outcasts are its followers, and
its leaders are trained insurgents who are generally from lesser families of
wealth who have cast aside their former lives out of disillusionment.
Bel’s followers are known to participate in resistance acts ranging from
protests and heckling to vandalism to direct acts of violence. Different cells
have different goals, but the authorities treat all of them as potential sites for
resistance and violence.

Checkah the Trickster

The god of trickery is the subject of many popular tales, and the worship
of Checkah is popular among gamblers, the poor, and criminals. The
Church of Checkah, however, is the precinct of a small group of criminals

39
and anarchists, who practice their worship in the Undercity. Checkah
followers believe that they can show their beliefs best through committing
memorable crimes, practical jokes, or acts of sabotage that will make them
legendary in renown. His followers have no church as such, but gather as
cells to share tales, conspire together, and add adventure to the world.

Kesh the Destroyer

The cult of Kesh is outlawed, since the worship of Kesh is the worship of
death and destruction. Kesh worship is ecstatic, involving orgies of drugs
and sex in which worshipers receive visions of the god, promising paradise
eternal to those who unleash his blessings of violence on the world. His
priests meet secretly with followers, seeking ways to bring turmoil and
conflict to the world. Few would openly admit worship of this god.

Tala the Corruptor

The cult of Tala is likewise outlawed, in many ways a more subtle
counterpart to Kesh. Unlike Kesh, Tala’s cult believes the world is debased,
and the only way to purify the soul is to cleanse it through experiencing its
baseness without pretension. They believe cruelty, murder, violence, and
decadence are steps on the path to enlightenment and that by expressing all
the worst in you, you will reach a point where you are cleansed of evil, and
become pure. They feel their goal is to guide all they can through the same
process, tempting others to evil and exposing the corruption of mortal life so
that all souls may find peace beyond their own mortality. Talans work in
small cells of no more than 3 individuals, who meet in masks and hide their
identities from one another. Their actions are criminal and dangerous, and
Talans are hunted.

Vanya of the Silken Thighs

The Temple of Vanya of the Silken Thighs has a high priestess and a body
of priests and priestesses that worship the goddess of pleasure through
carnal sacrifice, charging alms from worshippers for the privilege of blessed
congress. This is a wealthy temple, despite its lack of political influence,
with many worshippers coming through its doors every day.

Languages  
There are ten contemporary languages used in Athanor:

• Tradetalk ("The Common Tongue")

• Alemanian
• Dromian ("spoken" language cannot be learned by humans)

40
• Duma
• Ghul (no written script)
• Hssu
• Khitai
• Mal'Akkan
• Throon (no written script)
• Zamoran

There are four ancient languages, remembered only as scripts and used
primarily by scholars:

• Aquilan
• Saal'Keshi
• Turanian
• Ylumi

Food  in  Athanor    

Fungus is a major staple in Athanoran agriculture. Fungi provide fibers
for paper, cloth, and as a substitute for wood. Fungi provide dyes and
pigments. Fungi are major food crops. Mushrooms, spores, and smut all
form part of the regular diets of people across the planet. Fungus and smut
peddlers are common on the streets of most cities.
Cacti are sometimes eaten, usually in a form similar to Mexican nopales.
They are often juiced and occasionally fermented into beers, wines, or hard
spirits.
Dinosaur eggs and meat are common food items, though meat is
generally considered a luxury item.
Arthropods are a good source of food for most common folk. Giant
centipedes are sweet and moist when roasted, and giant spider legs are
considered both delicious and dangerous to obtain.
But the most common form of arthropod is the meal beetle. The meal
beetle is edible as a large, gelatinous egg; as a potato-sized pink grub; or as
a full-grown beetle with a fist-sized body and long legs. As an egg, they are
bland and sweet, but nutritious. As a grub, they are roasted, turning red and
having a flavor and consistency similar to yams, but with a nice, buttery
texture. As a beetle, they are roasted. Their legs become meaty and savory
and their bodies cook up to a custardy texture with a light, nutty flavor.
Meal beetles are commonly served as street food and are easily raised at
home.

41
The City-State of Zamora
Zamora was a great, domed City of the Ancients. Made of huge stone
slabs, the city's great dome is cracked, and much of the city now lies in
ruins — an area now called the Barrens. The remaining elements of the city
are centered on The Plaza, where the Tower of the Overlord forms the
center of government, and where the Great Market is open to all. Most of its
technological marvels are broken, raided, or forgotten, and what few remain
tend to be in the hands of powers like the Overlord, Vog-Mur, or the Great
Houses, or the Guilds.

A Sketch-map of Zamora

The populated parts of the city are divided into four quarters: the
Merchant Quarter, which is the largest portion of the city, dominated by the
Consortium of Guilds; the Gold Quarter, which is home to the wealthy and
powerful members of the Five Families of powerful merchants, the Tower
Quarter, which is dominated by the Tower of Wizards and their great
University; and the Shadow Quarter, ruled by powerful criminal elements.
Sewers and ancient ruins riddle the ground beneath the city, and several
powerful factions seek to control much of the city. The Overlord stays in

42
control by pitting factions against each other, and by controlling a small,
loyal, and dangerous secret police force.

12  Inns  and  Taverns  in  Zamora  

• The Black Pearl (Shadow Quarter): Frequented by criminals, thugs, and
generally dangerous folk, the Black Pearl is a place to find disreputable
folk for tasks not generally suited for polite company.
• The Boneyard (Shadow Quarter): Gest known for its gambling rooms,
though it is also notable for its terrible rooms, overpriced food, watered
down drinks, and unsavory regulars.
• The Dancing Girallon (Merchant Quarter): A working person's tavern, the
Dancing Girallon is small, cramped, and dominated by its loud and
hirsute owner, Armando Pasillo, and the huge taxidermied girallon in a
comical pose in the main room.
• The Feathered Serpent (Merchant Quarter): Located near the city's main
temples of Law, this inn is clean, with comfortable rooms, simple but
hearty food at reasonable prices, and a very respectable clientele.
• Firewaters (Shadow Quarter): This tavern is a dive, but a dive frequented
by the children of the wealthy who want a taste of life on the rough side.
• Garcia's Old Peculiar (Tower Quarter): Run by an elderly former instructor
at the Tower of Wizardry, Garcia's is well known for its owner's
eccentricities, which include oddly bubbling (and flavored) drinks,
practical jokes, and impractical magical effects placed on the
establishment itself that make the place quirky or even surreal.
• The Golden Chalice (Gold Quarter): A fine but pedestrian inn that caters
to traveling merchants and down-on-their luck nobles without holdings of
their own. It is a respectable and boring place, though some of the
wealthy patrons may actually be involved in complex intrigues.
• Ouroboros (Gold Quarter): A fine restaurant and tavern known for
innovative and exotic food and drinks as well as its very expensive prices.
This is where the powerful and influential go to eat and to be seen.
• Ramirez’ (Shadow Quarter): The middle-aged owner of this place is bigger
than life, and is rumored to be a swordsman who able to survive terrible
wounds and to talk authoritatively about historical events. His accent is
clearly not Zamoran, but he is well-liked and people do not challenge him
about his true origins. He likes to remind customers about to brawl not to
lose their heads, by force if necessary. This makes Ramirez' a neutral
ground where parties can meet despite disputes.
• The Silk Slipper (Shadow Quarter): Poor food, weak drinks, and high
prices are generally ignored here, since the real business at the Silk Slipper
has more to do with the women in the main hall and the rooms upstairs.

43
• The Silver Horn (Merchant Quarter): A pale imitation of the Gold Chalice,
the Silver Horn is a safe, boring, and respectable inn for the safe, boring
and respectable.
• The Temple (Merchant Quarter): A low-class tavern across from the
Feathered Serpent. Its customers are laborers and traders who live
ordinary and hard lives, and need a drink now and then. Regulars can tell
their spouses that they need go to the Temple and slip out for a drink.

The  Great  Houses  

The Great Houses are the aristocratic families of Zamora. They control
money, banking, various guilds, and military resources in Zamora. They are
part Machiavellian nobles and part mob families, often busily scheming
against each other.

• House Amador: known for fashion, dances, dueling, and social gatherings.
• House Buñuel: known for its artists and musicians.
• House Guzman: known for banking and ties to the Trade Guilds
• House Lucero: known for its connections to the Three Churches of Law.
• House Nuñez: known for skill in intrigue, assassination, and its
connections to the Six Churches of Chaos.
• House Soriano: known for its connection to scholars.

The  Trade  Guilds  

The trade guilds control the practice of most skilled professions in
Zamora. They control training, pricing, distribution of goods, and training
and hiring of apprentices. The Guilds are protected by city charters, and
provide the backbone of trade in Zamora’s cities.

The  Red  Hand  Society  

The Red Hand Society is a society of professional assassins. They are
known for their strict adherence to contracts, and their skills at disguise,
stealth, and poisoning. The Red Hands are illegal to hire, and illegal in their
operations, but are much sought after to create final solutions to conflict.

The  Sisters  
The Sisters are a guild of assassins known for their ruthlessness,
effectiveness, professionalism, and high cost. If someone hires a Sister, then
they mean business. All Sisters are also adepts of some sort, whether they
are rogues or magic-users, and use that to their advantage. The Sisters tend
toward a mix of surprise, stealth, disguise, magic, poison, seduction, and
ruthless disregard for collateral damage. An attack by a Sister leaves an

44
impression. The sisters arrive silently and make sure their victim is killed
decisively and brutally.

The  Explorers’  Club  

This group is a widespread Zamoran gentlemen’s club. Most members
of the club are young, wealthy dilettantes, some of whom actually engage in
adventures, including safaris, airship racing, and exploration of ruins.

The  Lo  Pan  Society  

This group of Khitai merchants is suspected of many illicit dealings.
They are likely involved in illicit smuggling and drug trafficking, and rumor
speaks of a single sinister mastermind that they all serve.

Masks  
As a result of years of vendettas and assassinations, masks have become
a fashion statement among the wealthy and powerful, particularly the Great
Families. Each family has a specific theme to their masks, though individuals
have very personalized masks, usually decorated in a way to show their
wealth, power and prestige. The themes, by House:

• House Amador: idealized representation of the wearer

• House Buñuel: abstract art pieces
• House Guzman: animals
• House Lucero: mechanical abstractions of human faces
• House Nuñez: insects
• House Soriano: minimalistic masks covered with quotes from scholars of
personal significance to the wearer.

Criminals and members of illegal cults also wear masks, but these are
typically not individualized, serving instead to keep the wearer anonymous.
These masks are worn in commission of crime, in cult rituals, or in field
missions.

People  and  Places  of  Note  

The  Undercity  
The Undercity is a warren of tunnels, rooms, ruined buildings, and
ancient catacombs under the city of Zamora. Most of these date back
centuries, even predating the foundation of Zamora. Over time, it has
become home to a number of unsavory elements, from vermin and pests to
bandits, cultists, and undead horrors. Sections of the Undercity have

45
become notorious. Vog-Mur the Necromancer, for instance, has claimed a
portion of the Undercity for his vaults, Flesh Vats and Clone Tanks.
Portions of the undercity are filled with machinery that process waste
and atmospheric moisture into drinkable water for the city and help
maintain clean air under the cracked dome. These areas are maintained by
an army of Dromeans and patrolled by elite troops of the emperor's Vat
Men. Other portions are part of an underground culture of the poor and
outcast. Still others are overrun by fungi and slimes.
Those unfamiliar with the Undercity will find it to be a maze. Certainly,
its warrens are complex and filled with danger, and few but the desperate or
foolish will merely wander through it.

Mother  Grubb’s  
Mother Grubb's, just on the southeastern edge of the Plaza, is a popular
eatery and tavern among the poor of Zamora. The place serves a wide
variety of meal beetles and meal beetle grubs – roasted, stewed, fried,
baked, boiled — all served by a staff of dromian workers for Mother Grubb,
a chubby, brick-red matronly woman. Mother Grubb is loud, boisterous and
friendly, and her establishment is a respectable place, even if it is filled with
the poor and out-of-sorts.

Señor  Esparza  
Señor Esparza is Vog-Mur's representative at the Grand Market. He
provides sales and support for the Clone Pits. If you want someone brought
back from the dead from even a small portion of themselves, if you want a
duplicate, no questions asked, you just need 1000 gold and a pound of flesh
(literally) and you, too, can have a clone. Certain restrictions apply.
Señor Esparza is bald, with exaggeratedly broad shoulders, beady eyes,
an upturned nose, and a constant smile. Any familiar with the Vat Men will
know that Esparza is one of these synthetic creatures. However, unlike the
majority of the Vat Men, Esparza talks, and does so quite eloquently. This
does not diminish the feeling of wrongness he gives off — rather, it seems to
enhance it. As does his dress. He wears a crisp, white linen shirt, a narrow
black tie, a brocade waistcoat and expensive black breeches and jacket. A
black top hat tops his bald head, and black lizard-skin shoes cover his feet,
topped by white spats. He carries a silver-tipped cane at all times, and
carries a pocket watch on a silver chain.

The  Surgeon  
In the Plaza, he's called The Surgeon, The Alemanian, and The Fixer.
His actual name is Deidrich Todenkopf. He dresses an ill-fitting black suit

46
with a red velvet waitscoat, a shiny gold pocket watch, and a stained and
ancient lab coat. He wears a device riveted into his left temple that includes
armatures with a variety of lenses he can move into a mix of combinations
as he looks at objects and surgeries. He moves with a strange, spidery graces
and speaks with an almost alien dispassion. His insectoid face is almost
impossible to read.
The Surgeon is a skilled physician, but his other services are the ones
that make him notable and notorious. The rumor is that the Surgeon is
skilled in advanced Alemanian medicine, and is able to perform certain
enhancements for customers, giving them strange, even superhuman
abilities. If it is true, his clients seem to keep their changes covert, since such
abilities don't seem to appear where others can see them.
The Surgeon is obsessed with talking about his theory of
Transhumanism, that beings can transcend their mortality to a state of
physical, mental, and moral transcendence in which they are no longer
bound by primitive physical, mental, and moral boundaries. He often rants
about such things in detail.
The Surgeon is served by a hunchbacked Alemanian dwarf named
Einhardt. Einhardt speaks little, is immensely strong, and deeply loyal.

"Mad"  Hakim  Al'Azif's  Mercantile  Emporium  

Hakim Al'Azif, the Mad Mal’akkan, is known for his huge merchant tent
in the plaza, where he sells a wide variety of goods for "prices so low, I must
be mad!" Hakim dresses in a colorful turban adorned with gems and
plumes, his spines shaved entirely. His wide eyes provide a strong sense of
frenetic energy. His prices are actually quite average, but his selection is
broad, and often includes rare and unusual items, sometimes of dubious
origins. He drives a hard bargain, but can be bartered with and will
negotiate prices if he sees something in it for himself. He is guarded by two
burly Mal’akkans named Adbul and Hazrad.

The  Pleasure-­‐dome  of  Sshenssu  Salessh.  Sshenssu    

Salessh is a Hssu merchant whose focus is in providing services to
humans. His Pleasure Dome provides a mix of services that serve the
hedonistic desires of humans. His Pleasure Dome is a large building on the
edge of the plaza, and it offers three kinds of services: gambling in the
casino, a mix of alcohol and recreational drugs (such as ssharu and black
lotus) in the bar, and a wide variety of erotic services in the brothel. Salessh
is cold and alien, has trouble telling apart individual humans (or even
understanding the difference between males and females), and has no
concern for human morality or inhibitions, or their value as more than

47
resources for profit. He isn't malicious— he just doesn't really see humans
as really equal to Hssu.

The  Overlord  
The Overlord, whose name is lost in obscurity, has been ruler over
Zamora for at least five decades. Legend says that he was an adventurer who
returned to the city from the wastes dressed in magical golden armor which
made him invulnerable and gave him mastery over lightning and fire. He
brought order to the chaos of the ruined city, rebuilt its core, created
alliances with powerful factions in and below the city, while promoting
minor conflicts between others to create a city where powers were balanced
against each other and the Overlord's might proved to be greatest.
The Overlord tends to delegate authority to a vast bureaucracy of petty
officials, served by Dromian runners and workers, and guarded by his Vat
Men who act as his personal guard and retinue. His spies are trained
doppelgangers bred by Vog-Mur in his clone pits.
Many of the Overlord's actions seem mad, random, or inscrutable,
though few would say that to him directly. His rule is one of fear and mostly
benign dictatorship.
No one has seen the Overlord's face. His "children" appear to be cloned
or engineered in the Flesh Vats of Vog-Mur, and tend to be strange
aberrations engineered for decadence and degeneracy. Most of these
children have set up palaces in the wastes of the city or in the underworld,
and have little to do with the others, merely entertaining themselves in their
palaces. The Overlord seems to have no concerns regarding them, and they
have no influence with him, though many seek their favor as powerful
entities.

Alaric  the  Dragon  

Alaric is the eldest of the Overlord's children. His palace is in the north,
where he has built a small cult. He has the head of a great lizard, scaled
skin, and a long tail. He is swift-moving, brutal and a powerful wizard. He is
said to delight in combat, has an arena where combatants fight for his
entertainment. It is said that Alaric sometimes eats the most impressive
competitors.

Basilia  the  Huntress  

Basilia the Huntress is cruelly beautiful, with alabaster skin and black
hair. He hands end in long, steel-hard claws, and her long limbs are
graceful, and her movement swift. She has a palace in the east, where

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harpies made for her by The Surgeon act as her servants. It is rumored that
she catches and hunts men with her harpies in the tunnels below her palace.

Celestina  the  Beautiful  

Celestina is a sorceress with a beautiful face and an incredible voice.
Her head, however, is attached to a long, snake-like body. She is outgoing
and known as a healer and seeress. Her palace is in the south, and guarded
by machines loyal to her.

Desiderio  the  Libertine  

Desiderio looks human, but has four arms. He is outgoing, fun, and
lecherous. His pleasure palace is in the west, where he indulges many
diverse tastes with many diverse partners. He is a scoundrel of the highest
order, and is served by a number of chalk white mute pygmies made for him
by Vog-Mur.

Vog-­‐Mur  the  Necromancer  

Vog-Mur is an ancient terror, a centuries-old necromancer served by
armies of undead. His lair is a multi-layered labyrinth below the sewers of
Zamora. Vog-Mur is a power unto himself, and he has made alliances with
the Overlord of Zamora. He supplies the Overlord with Vat-men, and runs
the Clone-vats of the Ancients, supplying the slave and prostitution trades of
the city with an endless supply of goods. But he also experiments on the
dead and dying poor, learning what he can through his foul experiments. It
is said that the natural philosophers of Alemania are deeply interested in
what Vog-Mur has learned, though he looks in disgust at the technologies
that they have lately begun to use in their land.Vog-Mur has a reputation for
perversion and lust, manufacturing slaves for his own pleasure pits and
hiring or capturing more to slake his twisted desires.
Vog-Mur appears to be a bloated man, standing nearly seven feet tall,
with pale, bluish waxy-looking skin and a small head with dead white eyes.
His lips appear to be receding past overly large, squarish yellow teeth in
nearly black gums, his lips pulled back in a slight grin. His upturned nose
seems ragged and pink, and his ears seem too small and withered. His legs
end in reptilian feet, turned oddly, and his hands end in black, carapaced
claws. He dresses in little more than a ragged kilt, with a broad leather belt.
Despite his great size and girth, he moves quickly, and is incredibly
strong, making him a terror both when he is using magic and when he fights
hand-to-hand. He seems to feel no pain, but to delight in the suffering of
others.

49
 Vog-Mur is clever, cunning, and generally willing to parley with
anyone. But he tends to make deals with cunning and forethought, so parley
with the necromancer may not be the blessing it seems to be at first.

Twelve Zamoran Adventure Seeds

1. Ghul bandit Azara Zala has been raiding traders around the Undercity
Market. The Hssu merchant Ssalava is hiring mercenaries to hunt Zala.
2. Beggars in Zamora's outer city have recently been congregating in
groups, glassy-eyed and chanting gibberish, harassing any who pass.
This is spreading, and now small groups of children and laborers in the
city have been gathering in similar groups, chanting in similar ways.
3. Mercedes Amador is hosting a party for the city's unwashed masses,
whom she adores. Both powerful and lowly people will be at her
palace, where she usually arranges for something dramatic to happen in
order to spark an entertaining scene for everyone.
4. 16 year old Isabel Soriano and 17 year old Joaquin Nuñez have fallen in
love, much to the dismay of their respective houses. Isabel is promised
to Romero Guzman, a power-hungry fortyish lout, but Joaquin, a rake
and scoundrel by reputation, has declared publicly that the marriage
will not happen, driving both houses to the edge of warfare.
5. Raul Amador is gathering a safari to hunt the Red Devil, a huge,
cunning Tyrannosaurus outside Zamora.
6. The tower dragon is ill, and the wizards of the Tower will pay
handsomely for the recovery of rare fungi to treat the beast.
7. A swarm of osquips came out of the sewers last night and dragged away
an innkeeper and his family. The innkeeper had turned away a strange
Mal'Akkan man, who cursed the innkeeper before leaving.
8. Three merchants have been approached by the Lo Pan society offering
protection from coming disasters. The merchants declined, and
suddenly seem cursed. The Society members will not talk to them at all,
and they have no idea how to fix their situation.
9. A Duma man has returned from nearby ruins with tales of a terrible
monster guarding a golden flying chariot that killed his companions.
10. A storyteller tells the tale of an ancient princess trapped in her palace
underground, sleeping until a savior will awaken her with a kiss. Her

50
 savior will need to overcome terrible monsters, but will inherit the
treasures of her kingdom and her hand in marriage.
11. A Khitai wizard is granting wishes to anyone in exchange a trinket of
great personal worth to wish-maker.
12. The priests of Malkut the Scholar are hiring adventurers to travel to a
ruin to the east and recover a set of ancient tablets. They warn that the
ruins are overrun by girallons and the tablets themselves are said to be
guarded by Ancient traps and mechanical guardians.

Planetary Romance Plots

Athanor is all about the pulpy planetary romance action. In that spirit, I
offer my own Pulp Planetary Romance Plot chart. Roll on Chart A for your
villain, Chart B for their evil scheme, Chart C if you need to determine a
victim for the scheme or an ally for the hero to make along the way. Keep
rolling for all you need, since heroes are always finding new supporting cast
members to have to rescue later.
Chart D is for the plot devices, maguffins, or odd bits of alien
technology that show up. Chart E is the plot twist about the larger campaign
that the plot reveals. I have used a mix of actual elements of planetary
romances and some ideas that sounded good to me at the time. However,
some word on the general plotting of Edgar Rice Burrough Barsoom-style
tales is worth some time.
To be loose, general, and a little facetious, the general Edgar Rice
Burroughs style plot should resemble: Villain(s) enact an Evil Scheme that
leads the PCs to pursue the Villains across the planet resulting in the
Revelation of a Secret that affects the setting. In the end, the hero triumphs
(usually rescuing the princess and killing a lot of bad guys along the way)
with a different understanding of the world.

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Table 26. Chart A: The Villain(s)
d10 Result
1 Cowardly and Treacherous Noble
2 Cunning Scion of a Dead/Dying Race
3 Cold and Amoral Alien Scientist
4 Heartless Assassin
5 Rival
6 Bounty Hunter
7 Slavers
8 Pirates
9 Bandits
10 Cultists

Table 27. Chart B: Evil Scheme

D10 Result
1 Kidnapping
2 Theft
3 Exploration
4 Chase
5 Attack
6 Brainwashing
7 Brain-stealing
8 Dishonor/Besmirch
9 Sell into Slavery
10 Imprison/Transform/Make Comatose

Table 28. Chart C: Victim or Ally

d10 Result
1 Beautiful Princess
2 Noble Savage
3 Brave Warrior
4 Strange Alien
5 Scientist/Philosopher/Scholar/Priest
6 Ousted Nobleman
7 Misunderstood Scoundrel
8 Loyal Handmaiden
9 Brute with a Heart of Gold
10 Warrior-Maiden Who Will Not Allow Herself to Love

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Table 29. Chart D: Plot Devices and Maguffins
d10 Result
1 Ancient Weapon of Vast Power
2 Terrible Monster from the Dim Past
3 Advanced Power Source
4 Terraforming Device
5 Last Scion of an Ancient Race
6 Device that Will Make the User a (Near-)God
7 Mind Control Device
8 Army of Robots
9 Library of Lost Knowledge
10 Still Functioning Computer/AI/disembodied brain(s)

Table 30. Chart E: Secret that the Plot Reveals

d8 Result
1 Lost City of Ancients Who are Now Degenerate.
2 Lost City of Ancients Who Have Vast Mental Powers But are Now Amoral
3 The Truth Behind the Locals' Belief About the Gods
4 A Terrible Monster Worshipped as a God
5 A Terrible Danger That is Coming From Far Away
6 A Lost Race Who Secretly Manipulates the World
7 The Villains Are Even Worse Than They Seemed
8 A Prophecy of Great Import

53
Zamora Map and Key

54
These notes are intentionally sketchy, and serve as a
starting point for the Referee. The format of these
harkens back to the old Judges’ Guild Wilderlands
maps, and I have included notes only a fraction of the
hexes on the map, also much like the old Wilderlands
supplements, leaving room for the Referee to change
or add details for his or her own campaign.

Unless players are looking for adventures, there

should be a 1 in 6 chance of stumbling into the set
encounters for a hex (as well as the usual chances of a
random encounter.

Non-player characters are noted as Fighters (F), Magic-users (MU) or Rogues

(R) with their level (e.g., F4 is a 4th level fighter.)

Hex Notes
02.03 An oasis in this area supports a small area of fungi, teeming with
lizards and insect life, but otherwise unoccupied. A set of ruined
huts, long uninhabited, lies on the edges of the oasis. The ghosts of
villagers who were killed by ghuls haunt the place.
03.06 A large mechanism is asleep in a cave here. If activated, it awaits
instructions. There is always a 1 in 6 chance when it is given an
order it will go berserk and attack its now-former master.
03.14 A village of 4d6 Hssu and their 2d6 human slaves (of various hues,
mostly Zamoran, obtained legally in Zamora.) They have an
orichalcum mine and a strange, well-protected machine in the
center of the village.
04.09 A Hssu village of 4d6 individuals dedicated to farming fungi and
trading them in the east.
04.10 A gargantuan spider of quadruple hit dice has built her lair in a
large cavern. She has amassed a treasure worth 10,000gp, though
much of that is in the form of other kinds of treasure— armor,
weapons, technology, and the like.
04.12 An outcropping of meteoric rock is worth 50gp a pound, and can
yield 5d6 pounds of sellable rock. It is also radioactive. Each full
week it is carried, save or gain a mutation: 1-3 minor, 4- major, 5-6
Drawback.
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05.15 The mountaintop sanctuary of the Monks of the Blue Eye, an ascetic
order of scholar-monks and sorcerers who are ethnically
Alemanian, but reject the values of their kinsmen. They are very
wise in the ways of the world, but wish peace and isolation.
06.03 A huge crater lies at the top of the Broken Mountain, where an
asteroid fell years ago. In the center of the crater is a lump of
priceless starmetal that can be worked ino a magical weapon or suit
of armor. The local wildlife, however, is mutated and hostile….
06.06 A sinkhole in the forest reveals an underground complex of the
Ancients, guarded by technological traps, and robots. A cache of
weapons may be found beyond the guardians.
06.09 30 Zamoran anti-Alemanian guerillas, led by a F3, riding
pachycephalosaurus. They are shabby and demoralized.
06.10 A field of soft, red fungi is delicious, thirst quenching, and will
cause those imbibing to save vs. it toxins or hallucinate for 1d6
hours with terrifying, seemingly real visions that leave them unable
to do anything but writhe on the ground the whole time. There is
enough fruit for 1d6 people to eat, and it will take 3 months for
more mushrooms to grow.
06.12 The Atmosphere Plant here is guarded by 4 large mechanisms, in
good repair.
06.14 The lair of the dashing sky pirate Antonio Salazar, R6. His crew of
20 Zamorans, 2 Alemanians, 4 ghuls and a Hssu fly the airship
Ruthless. His hold has 4 riding pteranodons and his ship is armed
with cannons.
07.05 A pair of giant slugs is mating under the canopy here.
07.08 A village of 20 Alemanians lives here, under the leadership of Klaus
Teuber, F5, who teaches a simple life free of laws, technology, and
inferior non-Alemanians.
07.12 The Alemanian Agricultural Collective, automated and staffed by 5
Ancient robots, 100 alemanian workers, 20 warriors, and
commanded by commander Helmut Stern, F3.
07.16 The basalt citadel of the undead wizardess Zalka Zan, whose
garrison of zombies and skeletons protects his vast library. She
knows and hates Vog-Mur, but focuses mostly on two goals: finding

56
 the reincarnation of her lost love Kemel Khur, and finding a way to
live again once she finds her love.
07.40 Utterly crushed beneath its collapsed dome, only the undercity of
Samru remains. The surviving tunnels are overrun with fungi,
slimes, jellies, and the like. Amidst this lives the sorcerer Loigor the
Slimemaster, who has created an army of slime and fungus
creatures to serve him, including humanoid myconids who are his
loyal servants. His treasure-trove is vast, but well guarded.
08.05 A tall, fleshy fungus “tree” is delicious, thirst-quenching, and will
heal 1d4 hit points of injury once per day. There is enough flesh for
1d6 people to eat, and it will take 3 months for the mushroom to
regenerate.
08.09 A logging village of 30 Alemanian workers, 30 captured labor
slaves, 20 F1 guards, 2 F2 sergeants, and a F4 lieutenant. All guards
are armed with firearms, except the lieutenant who has a 10-shot
laser pistol, range 500, ROF 2, 2d6 damage. He has a spare
orichalcum cell.
08.17 A mound of ash turns out to be an Ancient Bunker, guarded by 3
medium mechanisms. Inside are a cache of Ancient books worth
3000 gold and a laser pistol (range 500, rof 2, damage 1d6+6, can
hold 20 charges, but is depeleted and needs a new orichalcum cell)
09.04 A group of 3d6 Ghul Raiders on Deinonychus mounts, led by a
Fighter 4 leader armed with a laser pistol. Laser pistol: 2d6 damage,
range 500ft, rate of fire 2, holds up to 20 charges on a full
orichalcum cell. Only has 8 shots remaining.
09.09 A logging village of 30 Alemanian workers, 30 captured labor
slaves, 20 F1 guards, 2 F2 sergeants, and a F4 lieutenant. All are
armed with firearms, except the lieutenant who has a 10-shot laser
pistol, range 500, ROF 2, 2d6 damage. He has a spare orichalcum
cell.
10.06 The ruins of a former village have become the home to 2d6
girallons.
10.09 Alemanian dissidents are trying to block the canal feeding the city.
The group of 20 dissidents is dedicated to overthrowing their
government, but are poorly equipped, poorly organized, and very
unpopular at home.

57
11.10 Alemanian Agricultural Collective, a factory fungus farm run by 50
Alemanian workers served by 10 robots. They are guarded by 20
soldiers, 2 F2 sergeants, and a F4 lieutenant.
11.17 There is a 25% of an avalanche of ash either blocking the party’s
path or sweeping them off their path.
12.03 This Atmosphere Plant is infested with oozes, who have not yet
damaged the system.
12.07 A tribe of particularly bloodthirsty Throon, the Jagged Blades, ride
through the area on iguandons. There are 3d6 riders in any given
group.
12.09 The Alemanian First Company has recently seized this Atmosphere
Plant. 100 warriors, 4 sergeants F2, 2 lieutenants F4, 1 captain F7.
All armed with rifle, short sword, bayonet. Captain also has 4
trained ankhegs under his control.
12.10 The remnants of a Zamoran caravan can be found here, the
dinosaurs slain, the bodies of guards left behind, but the people
taken away. 6d6x100 gp in trade goods can be found here,
untouched though any foodstuffs have been eaten by scavengers. A
trio of allosauruses are feeding on the bodies.
12.16 Amra appears to be a shining domed city still as glorious as ever. In
truth, it is maintained by the power of the scientist Naram the
Golden, who found a powerful machine in the heart of the city. His
ancient, dessicated body creates realistic illusions of the populated
city in its glory, though the people are eerily the same, and the
lonely old man traps visitors just to have others to talk to.
13.05 A Throon tribe has settled a village here around their elders. 30
Throon led by a F4.
13.07 A cyclopean stone statue of a squat, squamous, rugose batrachian
humanoid creature, cast in a marbled green and pitted rock, its face
a great maw with bulbous eyes, with great sideways-pointed ears, a
ragged hole for a nose, and a broad, toothsome maw splitting the
lower half of its face. Its great clawed toes drape over the stone
footing of the statue, and its great clawed hands hold a stone bowl,
empty now but stained with brownish dried ichor. Eldritch symbols
cover the bowl in an unreadable script. The statue makes people
uneasy, but is otherwise unremarkable.

58
13.09 An armed Alemanian camp is capturing travelers and using them for
medical experiments. There are 50 prisoners, 70 guards, and 30
scientists here, led by Doktor Todenkopf, MU 6, who has 4 F3
guards and Lieutenant Mueller, a F5.
13.11 The small farming village of Morilla provides much of the food that
Zamora uses each day. Morilla hires a large number of mercenaries
to defend the village from Throon and Alemanian raiders.
14.01 A group off 3 Hssu merchants on a triceratops is lost in this hex and
looking for a way back to civilization.
14.06 The obsidian tower of Fernando Montenegro, MU 10. A stone
golem, 10 F2 guards, and 12 medium mechanisms guard this tower.
Fernando spends his time studying, and hates disruptions.
14.09 A small Zamoran farming village, hidden behind a stone wall. Las
Piedras is led by a F4.
14.14 The Khalid clan of Mal’akkan warriors guards this Atmosphere
Plant. 40 Mal’akkan warriors, 4 F2 sergeants, 1 F6 captain, 1 MU 4
vizier.
15.02 A long-forgotten Ancient city barely peaks its remnants out of the
sand, but under the city ruins and tunnels survive. Here, two
warring factions rule the underground ruins, fighting in its streets
and under the city, believing the world outside is dead. These two
factions, the skull-masked Mictli and the animal-masked Azca, have
been locked in battle since the days of the Ancients, seeking control
of the Atmosphere and Food generators in the city, which are
guarded by iron golems. Both factions speak a version of ancient
Aquilan. Under the city are riches in terms of gold, silver, and
magical items, but getting past the warring factions will be a
challenge.
16.17 A great metal circle stands upright here atop a short set of steps.
Next to it is a small pedestal with a circular set of tiles on it. Neither
the circle nor the pedestal seem to do anything.
17.02 Ochaga fell because of its experiments in science. Little lives here
but osquips and the terror of Shakru, an 20 foot tall armored brute,
oozing dripping ichor between its armored plates, with arms ending
in large pincers. AC 4 [15]; Hit Dice 8; Attacks: Claws (2d6+2);
Special: tail (special attack 1d6 to rear), confusion; Move: 14,
tunnel 4; HDE/XP: 9/1100. Has glowing eyes, is covered with

59
 oozing sores – ooze causes confusion (save or roll for action (d4): 1
attack nearest creature; 2 stand still doing nothing; 3 run in random
direction; 4 attack friends.)
17.09 A blood-red tyrannosaurus stalks the area, with twice as many hit
dice as usual.
18.06 1d6+2 Allosaurus hunt here. They are severely mutated, with
poison bites (save or 2d6 damage), tentacles for arms, spines along
their back and transparent skin like a ghul. They are particularly
short-tempered and vicious, and even fight amongst each other for
prey. Looking for the source of the mutation will reveal several
leaking stone canisters of glowing green liquid, marked with
wording in ancient Aquilan that read “danger.”
18.07 A group of Zamoran merchants headed toward Khitai riding
parasaurolophus—there are 6 beasts, 2 merchants, and 4 guards
with 2 pistols each and long lances. They are carrying 2d6 x 500
gold and are intent on trading for spices and silk.
18.08 The picked-over remains of a desert caravan is filled with bones and
bleached wood, as well as 5d6x100 gold in treasure.
18.16 The ruins of a spaceship can be found buried in an impact crater
here. Inside it are 3d6 ochre jellies and a device that contains alien
star charts that will be worth a great deal to scholars if anyone can
figure out what it is, how to power it, and how to read it.
19.08 An air jelly mating ground covers a half-mile radius. Thousands of
the creatures form a virtual cloud of deadly jellies.
19.11 The crashed remnants of an airship, recently raided by sky pirates.
There are bodies, but no survivors. 3d6x100 gp worth of mundane
supplies may be salvaged from the airship. The thing is crawling
with compsagnathus and rhamphorhyncus feeding on the bodies.
19.24 A group of 20 khitai bandits led by a F5 commander. The leader,
Shenzai Sheng, has a bounty of 2000gold on his head.
20.13 A clearing that appears to be lichen is really a carnivorous mutated
plant. AC 9 (10), HD 12, Atk tentrils, 2d6, Special: create trapping
barrier of tangling vines 60ft square, save to avoid or escape,
spores—save or sleep 1d3 rounds; Move: 1foot, HDE 13.
20.16 Tunnels under the mountains are home to subterranean bird-men,
and great horrible bird-creatures with arms that end in hooks. These

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 creatures serve terrible creatures that look like brains with long
tentacles and bird-like beaks. There is 500 g.p. worth of treasure,
plus ancient technology in the tunnels, well-guarded by these
monsters.
21.05 An enormous fungal slime slithers through this area: AC 8 (11); HD
15; Attack: pseudopods 2d6; Special: rubbery body: ½ damage
from physical attacks, destroys wood, immune to mental attack;
Move 8, HDE 18.
21.07 An ancient Duma hag has a hut in the forest. She is able to cast a
glamour on herself appearing youthful and beautiful. She will trade
companionship for aid. She is an MU7, and has 1d6 potions for
sale.
21.08 The mall walled Duma village of Warata ekes out an existence
herding iguanadons. Their leader is a MU 4.
21.13 The Glorious Khitai Water Guard protects this Atmosphere Plant.
100 soldiers, 20 sergeants F2, 4 lieutenants F4, 1 captain F6. 40
soldiers mounted on iguanadons and armed with 2 pistols and
sword . 60 soldiers on foot mounted with rifle and sword. Officers
with 2 pistols, sword. All in chain mail.
22.02 An armed battle robot, escaped from T’kudu (24.01), wanders this
area, looking for “enemies.”
22.03 A hermit lives here, Ndege Mato, Rogue 2. He is a trickster, but
generally helpful. His hut is safe and hidden.
22.09 The bones of a whole herd of parasaurolophus litter the ground, as
if the creatures were all slaughtered suddenly and brutally.
23.06 A wild Duma woman, Ushara, R7, has the psychic ability to speak
with and befriend dinosaurs. She lives here free of others, and
desirous of her own privacy.
23.10 The Alemanian female sky-pirate, Melantha Burgos (F8) raids from a
fortified mountaintop lair. Her crew is a hodge-podge of ruthless
raiders attacking from her airship, the Witch’s Blade, and from the
backs of trained pteranodons.
23.15 The terror of the hills is an enormous, four-legged reptilian giant
that speaks, but mostly to parrot its attackers. The thing is territorial
and will not pursue those who flee it: AC 5 (14); HD 8+8; Attack:

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 club or bite 2d6; Special: fear on first seeing—save or flee for 1d4
rounds, regeneration 1 hp/round except by acid; Move 20, HDE 11.
24.01 T’kudu the Iron Wizard is a master of machinery. He has 4 Ancient
robots, an aircar, and several Ancient artifacts at his disposal. He is
served by 20 F2 guards, 4 trained girallons, and his robots. He is
fascinated by the Ancients, and has a great distaste for non-Duma.
24.03 The walled mining village of Ochego supplies Duma with a rich
iron supply. It is heavily guarded by 40 Duma warriors, 4 F4
sergeants, and a F10 commander.
24.13 The Khitai farming collective of the Jade Commander of Sunset is an
efficient and highly rigidly organized village of 100 peasants, 30
soldiers, and a MU 7 magistrate who holds the title of the Jade
Commander of Sunset. He has two personal guards who are F3.
25.04 The heroes are hunted by a large, intelligent snake-like creature
with an armored head with compound eyes and insect-like
mandibles, with shifting markings over its body. AC 6 (13); HD 4;
Attacks: bite 1d6; Special: constriction 1d6, poison, surprise on 1-3;
Move 12; HDE 5.
25.07 3d6 skeletons animate each night and rampage through the forest.
25.08 A cave occupied by 1d6+3 Girallon has 2d6+6 x 100 gp in treasure
in it.
25.17 A holy woman has found a shelter here. She is an earthwoman,
once an astronaut now an ancient mystic. She will answer one
question from a worthy seeker. If annoyed, she has a powerful
energy weapon, The Hand of Death, to settle problems. She is a F4.
26.05 Currently controlled by a group of 20 Ghuls, led by a Fighter 6
chieftain. The Duma would love to have these barbarians routed
from the plant.
26.09 An ancient mountain shrine to a forgotten god is filled with traps.
26.15 Buried under a rockslide is an ancient hovertank, still operational
with a little work, with a couple of days of fuel. Its main gun and
side laser cannon still work, but other than an operations manual in
Aquilan, there is no other way to figure anything out. Good luck
27.02 A nest of 3d6+3 giant wasps has made a papery tower on the side
of a mountain.

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27.06 A pack of 3d6 hunting spiders hunts like a running pack of wolves
across the wet surface of the marsh.
27.16 This atmosphere plant is in disrepair, but could be repaired. It is
currently being used as a lair by a clan of 20 throon warriors led by
a F8 chieftain and 4 F4 elites.
28.04 The Duma bandit Tiko Mbeke, F8, has gathered a group of 50
mixed Duma, Zamoran, and Khitai bandits, as well as a small pack
of Ghuls, Throon, and Alemanians to act as his shock troops. He is
planning guerilla raids of Duma villages to fund an attempt to raid
the city.
28.16 A valley here is filled with broken weapons and machinery, long
rusted and half-covered with lichens. The place is so clogged with
ragged, rusted steel that it is difficult to pass through without having
to cut movement speed in half. A hundred-foot tall metal rune-
covered body rots in the middle of the pile.
30.11 A group of throon elders is guarded by 40 of their kind. They do not
seek a fight, just to be left alone.
30.14 Eshnapur city is a deserted ruin. A few girallon, osquips, and stirges
live here. The city, however, has no metal in it. The metal is being
eaten by something in the city… insect-like flying creatures called
the Slith, four-legged, bat-winged creatures the size of an egg with
fat, rounded bodies, four long, spider-like legs, and eight-eyed
armored heads with wide, fanged mouths, the Slith are a near-
extinct pest of the Athanoran wastes. They eat metal voraciously,
attacking armored opponents first. They exude a thick layer of slimy
mucus that is highly corrosive to metal. Their dense, armored
bodies are immune to all piercing attacks. AC 6 [13]; HD: 1 hp
each; Attacks: Bite (1 hit point); Special: corrode metal (3 hits on
slith will corrode a metal weapon. 3 hits by slith will corrode a
shield or suit of armor made of metal); Move: 3 (18 when flying);
HDE: <1. Treasure in the city includes gems and small art items
collected by the girallons and the library of the tower of sorcery, lair
of the slith, who have a huge hive there.
31.03 A huge metal ship has long fallen apart. It is rusted through and has
nothing salvageable. It is home to a grey ooze.
31.18 Crashed spacecraft protected by brain-eating squid-headed aliens
who guard an arsenal of alien weapons, as well as a mix of robots
and strange mutated animals.

63
 Open Gaming License 1.0a
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Reserved.

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15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Magic-users of the Coast, Inc.
System Reference Document Copyright 2000-2003, Magic-users of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip
Williams, Rich Baker, Andy Collins, David Noonan, Rich Redman, Bruce R. Cordell, John D. Rateliff, Thomas Reid, James Wyatt,
based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
Swords & Wizardry, Copyright 2008, Matthew J. Finch.
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Air Jelly Copyright 2008, Taichara.
Savage Swords of Athanor, Copyright 2009, Douglas Easterly.
Skill system copyright 2009, Akrasia.

END OF LICENSE

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