So yesterday I read The Spire of Iron and Crystal, a Swords & Wizardry adventure from S&W guru Matthew Finch. Man, this is great stuff. The Spire compares very favorably in tone and content to module B4 The Lost City, by the late great Tom Moldvay. Both riff off that great old weird fantasy trope of the forgotten last outpost of an ancient, corrupted civilization. I eat this sort of Cthulhuesque stuff up and it makes for great drop-in adventures that could be slotted into nearly any campaign. I could totally use The Spire of Iron and Crystal in either my World of Cinder or the pseudo-historical Japanese setting I've been working on. And adapting the module to Geoffrey McKinney's Carcosa would require rather little work, mostly just changing a couple spell scrolls. Though branded for Swords & Wizardry, I don't spot anything that makes the module incompatible with the vast majority of old editions and retro-clones of D&D.
You can get your own copy of The Spire of Iron and Crystal at lulu.
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I guess that means I really have to break this one out and read it.
ReplyDeleteI was a playtester for this module, and can attest that it's a blast. I have a review of it on my site. Also, Matt Finch ran it at the North TX RPG Con this past weekend, and then proceeded to sell out of every copy he had brought to the con.
ReplyDeleteI playtested it along with Philotomy and we had a blast. I was also lucky enough to get the first production copy. Pure Science-Fantasy that isn't too heavy on the science.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a must-have. *Blows dust from empty wallet. * /sigh
ReplyDeleteChristopher B said...
ReplyDeleteSounds like a must-have. *Blows dust from empty wallet. * /sigh
I hear you Christopher! Just got Eldritch Wierdness and Fight On #5 in the mail and Jeff has just gotta recommend yet another thing that I just have to have!!! ;-) That and an HC version of OSRIC ( not the $98+ full color one though...)
Thanks for the great review, Jeff! I think it's the most creative module I've written - the only downside is that it takes about 8 hours to play all the way to the end. It was supposed to be only about 4-5.
ReplyDeleteIt is an awesome module. I was like a kid again when I got it, remembering those old TSR ,odules, getting them home and out of the shrinkwrap to get lost in them.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I can say that while I have never run a module as is, this is the exception to the rule.
Thanks for the great review, Jeff! I think it's the most creative module I've written - the only downside is that it takes about 8 hours to play all the way to the end. It was supposed to be only about 4-5.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read this yet Matt (I was hoping to play in TX if the timing worked out, but it didn't), but is there any reason you could divide this into a 2 round tourney if it's about 8 hours??
Allan.