Black Sword Hack Adventure - Kitchen Prep

I like to be prepared in pretty much any part of my life, so tend to take a lot of notes, and I am sharing some of them here. These are not my complete notes for my adventure, just the parts regarding tone. This is a useful step for my process, because I like to make sure I'm hitting the tone accurately. The original Appendix N references still remain my favorite stories. Black Sword Hack's Appendix IV focuses on Sword & Sorcery tales. While I have not read everything listed here, I have read many, which are listed below the break. From BSH p.96:

Appendix IV
Bibliography (in alphabetical order)

LITERATURE
The First Law and Shattered Sea trilogies by Joe Abercrombie • Three Hearts and Three Lions and The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson • The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart by Jesse Bullington • Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon • Everything by Robert E. Howard. Yes, I mean everything • Elephants and Corpses by Kameron Hurley • The Gotrek & Felix series by William King • The Lankhmar series by Fritz Leiber • The Elric, Hawkmoon, Corum, and Erekosë series by Michael Moorcock • The Empire of the East series by Fred Saberhagen • Disfavored Hero by Jessica Amanda Salmonson • Nifft the Lean by Michael Shea • Raum by Carl Sherrel • We are All Legends by Darrel Schweitzer • The Dying Earth books by Jack Vance • The Kane series by Karl Edward Wagner • The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe

I decided to flavor this adventure with a lot of references to The Dying Earth, The Lankhmar series, and particularly, Nifft the Lean, which I'll talk more on in the next post. These notes are in the first section labelled Tone. Some game design tips, and formatting observations are near the end. Some of my notes are simply entries copied from wiki pages that I have bookmarked in the past, and collated here for ease of reference.  

-Design Notes-

Tone 

Nifft the Lean 

• Come Then, Mortal - We Will Seek Her Soul, has Nifft and his companion Haldar are hired to complete a lover's vengeance from beyond the grave, with a valuable magic item as their payment.
• The Pearls of the Vampire Queen, involves Nifft and another companion, Barnar, poaching valuable swamp pearls, and interfering with a ritual by the titular vampire queen.
• The Fishing of the Demon-Sea has Nifft and Barnar magically compelled to go into a demonic underworld to save a merchant prince's son, that has been caught by a sea-demon he summoned. The rescue does not go without complications.
• The Goddess in Glass, has Nifft at the mining city of Anvil's Pasture, involved in the efforts to save the city from a collapsing mountain with the help of a cult of a dead alien goddess. Again, things do not develop the way the people of the city expected or hoped.
• Underworld references: p.127, p.184

Elric Saga

• Elric of Melniboné - Elric is the brooding, albino emperor of the dying Kingdom of Melnibone. With Melnibone’s years of grandeur and decadence long since passed, Elric’s amoral cousin Yrkoon sets his eyes on the throne. Elric, realizing he is his country’s best hope, must face his nefarious cousin in an epic battle for the right to rule. Elric makes a pact with Arioch, one of the Lords of Chaos and patron of Melniboné, for Arioch's help in finding Cymoril. Straasha grants use of The Ship That Travels Over Land And Sea to Elric, and Elric overcomes Yyrkoon's magic defenses. Yyrkoon places Cymoril in a spell-induced sleep and escapes to an alternate plane. Elric pursues him through the Shade Gate. Elric finds Yyrkoon in a magical chamber containing the mythical Runeblades: Stormbringer and Mournblade. Wielding Stormbringer, a sentient sword that devours souls, Elric defeats Yyrkoon. Rather than putting Yyrkoon to death, Elric relinquishes the throne to him and decides to wander the Young Kingdoms alone and learn of the world outside of Melniboné.
• In Stormbringer, Elric learns that the representatives of Fate, which serve neither Chaos nor Law, recovered Mournblade from the netherworld. They present it to Elric and explain that the runeblades were designed to be wielded by those with Melnibonéan royal blood as a check against the might of powerful beings including the Dead Gods of Chaos. Elric gives Mournblade to his kinsman, Dyvim Slorm, and the two men become embroiled in a confrontation between the gods. Elric summons others of Stormbringer's demonic race (also in the form of swords) to fight against a number of Dukes of Hell, brought to the Young Kingdoms by Jagreen Lern, theocrat of Pan Tang. Ultimately, Elric's reliance on Stormbringer proves his undoing: after the utter destruction of the Young Kingdoms in the battle of Law and Chaos, just as it seems that the cosmic Balance has been restored, Stormbringer kills Elric, transforms into a humanoid demon, and leaps laughing into the sky, to corrupt the newly-remade world once more. The sword-spirit says to the dead Elric: "Farewell, friend. I was a thousand times more evil than thou!"

Farhrd and the Grey Mouser

• The Unholy Grail - In the forested realm of Duke Janarrl, magic is forbidden. However, Glavas Rho, an exiled wizard, still practices his craft in a forest glade protected by enchantments. His young apprentice, Mouse, still wavering between an allegiance to black or white magic, returns after a long quest, but finds his master dead and their house destroyed. Enraged but saddened, Mouse is arrested by the Duke and his followers. Fortunately, he escapes by invoking a spell which confuses any followers. He also casts a spell on the Duke that will slowly kill him. Badly wounded, Mouse is discovered by Ivrian, the Duke's daughter, who has also been secretly studying with Glavas Rho. He blames her for betraying him and Glavas Rho. Suddenly, they're both captured by Janarrl, who has Mouse tortured inside the farthest dungeon of his castle. Using the blackest of black magic, in the knowledge that it may rebound on him, Mouse manages to aim a spell at the Duke, using Ivrian as a focus. The Duke dies, his followers flee, and the couple quickly escape into the night.
• Ill Met in Lankhmar - One murky night in Lankhmar, Fissif and Slevyas, members of the Thieves' Guild, steal some valuable jewels from Jengao the gem merchant. While returning to the Thieves' House, they are ambushed by both the Gray Mouser and Fafhrd simultaneously, who steal their gems. Recognizing kindred spirits, they agree to share the loot. They return to Mouser's lodgings, where Fafhrd is introduced to Mouser's woman Ivrian, while Ivrian meets Fafhrd's love interest, Vlana. Somewhat drunk, Mouser persuades Fafhrd to join him in a quest to infiltrate the headquarters of the Thieves' Guild, in the guise of members of the Beggars' Guild. They are initially successful, but their disguise comes unstuck when the Mouser's glib story is seen through by Krovas, Grandmaster of the Thieves, and the Beggarmaster. Fleeing, they return to Mouser's hovel, only to find to their horror that both girls have been killed and partially eaten by giant rats, as well as by Slivikin, a fast-moving evil witch-beast conjured up by Krovas's warlock, Hristomilo. In grief and anger, they return to the Thieves' House and charge in, causing panic and chaos. They kill Hristomilo, before fleeing from the city.

The Dying Earth

• The stories of the Dying Earth series are set in the distant future, at a point when the sun is almost exhausted and magic has asserted itself as a dominant force. The Moon has disappeared and the Sun is in danger of burning out at any time, often flickering as if about to go out, before shining again. The various civilizations of Earth have collapsed for the most part into decadence or religious fanaticism and its inhabitants overcome with a fatalistic outlook. The Earth is mostly barren and cold, and has become infested with various predatory monsters (possibly created by a magician in a former age). Magic in the Dying Earth is performed by memorizing syllables, and the human brain can only accommodate a certain number at once. When a spell is used, the syllables vanish from the caster's mind. Creatures called sandestins can be summoned and used to perform more complex actions, but are considered dangerous to rely upon. Magic has loose links to the science of old, and advanced mathematics is treated like arcane lore. The Dying Earth exists alongside several Overworlds and Underworlds. These help add a sense of profound longing and entrapment to the series. While humans can, with relative ease, physically travel to the horrific Underworlds (as Cugel does on several occasions, to his dismay) the vast majority of the population are only capable of mentally visiting the wondrous Overworlds through rare artifacts (e.g. through the "Eyes of the Overworld") or dangerous magic phenomena (such as the ship Cugel encounters in the deserts). Though they can look at the wonders and pretend they are really there, humans can never truly inhabit or escape to these utopias as their physical bodies remain stuck on the Dying Earth and will die with the sun regardless. These siren-like visions of paradise lead to the deaths, insanity, and suffering of many, especially during Cugel's journeys. While most remaining civilizations on the Dying Earth are utterly unique in their customs and cultures, there are some common threads. Because the moon is gone and wind is often weak (the sun no longer heats the earth as much) the oceans are largely placid bodies of water with no tide and tiny waves. To cross them, boats are propelled by giant sea-worms. These worms are cared for and controlled by "Wormingers". In addition, the manses of magicians, protected by walls and spells and monsters, are relatively common sights in inhabited lands.
• Guyal of Sfere is a young, wealthy man who is famous among his people for endlessly asking questions, due to a "void" in his mind which compels him to seek knowledge. Eventually, his father grants him magical boons to protect Guyal, so that he can seek the fabled Museum of Man in order to ask questions of the legendary, all-knowing Curator.
• Liane the Wayfarer, a "bandit-troubadour", is a vain, venal, overconfident, sadistic, and thoroughly amoral adventurer. He travels about seeking wealth, wine, women, and song. In order to win the affections of a beautiful witch, he sets out to steal a tapestry from a mysterious entity called Chun the Unavoidable.
• Mazirian is a wizard who will stop at nothing to obtain as much magical knowledge or power as possible. Although Mazirian, like Turjan, is capable of creating artificial life, his creations lack human intelligence. He imprisons Turjan to try to force him to give up this secret.
• Turjan is a wizard who travels to an otherworldly realm to study under the wizard Pandelume. Pandelume, grateful for being rescued from deadly peril, teaches him the secret of creating artificial life, as well as spells and sciences which are otherwise lost to human knowledge. Turjan's adventures often bring him into conflict with other wizards.
• T'sais is an artificial woman created by Pandelume, but due to an error has a flaw in her brain: T'sais finds disgusting everything she perceives and is thus consumed with hatred for all living creatures, including herself, and spends her time attempting to hunt and kill everything in sight (except Pandelume). After an encounter with T'sain, whom Turjan created from the same template but without T'sais's flaw, she attempts to control her instinctual hatred and asks Pandelume to send her to Earth. There, she encounters Etarr, who has been cursed with a hideous face by a witch. They join forces in an attempt to cure their respective ills.
• Ulan Dhor is a budding swordsman and wizard. He sets out to the city of Ampridatvir to recover a pair of ancient tablets, supposed to provide access to ancient knowledge and magic.
• Elai is a girl who shows kindness towards Ulan Dhor, during his journey to Ampridatvir. She is a member of the grey-clad worshippers of Cazdal. Ulan informs her of the truth about the city, and she serves as his guide and companion.
• Etarr is a normal man who was unfortunate enough to fall in love with an evil witch. She used her mystical powers to exchange his face with that of a demon, cursing him with an unspeakably horrible face. However, Etarr is a kind man. After he offers help and hospitality to T'sais, she joins him on a journey to force his ex-lover to return his face. Although Etarr is not spoken of as a magician, he knows some spells which he uses to protect himself and T'sais.
• Prince Kandive the Golden, as he is called, is a decadent and indolent monarch who rules the city of Kaiin. He is also a wizard of considerable power, from whom Mazirian stole the secrets of unnaturally long life. His age is unknown. Kandive finances the expeditions of his nephew, Ulan Dhor.
• Pandelume is a mighty wizard who resides in the realm of Embelyon. Pandelume possesses knowledge of many things which are otherwise lost to mankind in Turjan's time, including the method of creating artificial life, of all the spells which have ever been invented, and of mundane sciences such as mathematics. However, he is not perfect or infallible; he created the flawed T'sais and needs Turjan to retrieve a magical relic for him in order to defeat an old foe. Although he has a physical presence, Pandelume is never seen by the other characters; apparently, the sight of him causes insanity or death.
• Rogol Domedonfors: The last ruler of the city of Ampridatvir, unable to stop the endless rioting among the people of his city, caught up in a freak religious fervor, is mortally wounded, and devises two tablets containing the key to his lore. The city, once a bastion of science, sinks into barbarism. Thousands of years later, Ulan Dhor and Etai seek to steal these tablets from the temples. In doing so, they find the surprising true purpose behind their creation.
• Shierl is the daughter of the Castellan of the Saponids. When the Saponids force Guyal to choose the most beautiful young woman in Saponce, he chooses Shierl, and inadvertently condemns her to be sacrificed to the demon Blikdak. Guyal and Shierl develop a relationship as the Saponids force him to escort her to the Museum of Man.
• T'sain is a beautiful artificial human woman created by Turjan. T'sain was created from the same "pattern" that Pandelume used to create T'sais, but T'sain does not share her mental flaw. T'sain returns with Turjan to the Dying Earth, and later rescues Turjan from Mazirian.

BSH Design Tips

• Adventures
• Appendix II: BSH is not a mission-based game. Characters shouldn’t wait for patrons to give them work. In the end they should only work for themselves and what they believe in.
• p.57: This is a game about taking part in the conflict between Law and Chaos, and looting corpses shouldn’t become a habit.
• “Moorcock-ifying” Adventures - (via Lintillz on Knock! Presents - BSH Discord - taken from a Reddit post): 
• Materials and colours should be weird. Purple forests, black glass castles, blue sun, etc.
• People in new locations should be at best unfriendly to adventurers, at worst openly hostile. No-one is pleased to see the PCs.
• Settings should be difficult and/or extreme. Jungles, frozen tundra, deserts, utterly peaceful or violent cities. No gently rolling green hills.
• Extreme wealth disparities. Obscenely wealthy merchants and people just trying to stay alive.
• Decadence and plenty of it. Nudity, sex, open drug use, etc.
• All monsters are weird (although that’s covered in the rules).
• People trying to remove curses (theirs or someone else’s) is a common motivation.
• Hint at a deep past that doesn't actually get detailed at all.
• Sorcery Spell List
• p.38
• Antagonist revision
• p.60
• Bestiary 
• p.48
• Appendix X

Layout & Word Count

• 2 columns, zero illustrations
• Words: ~570-630
• Characters: ~3000-3400
• 2 columns, one illustration
• Words: ~500-600
• Characters: ~2700-3300
• 2 columns, two illustrations / map
• Words: ~230-280
• Characters: ~1200-1600

BSH Adventure Title Examples:

• Adventure: Slayers of the Blood God
• This adventure is designed as a more straightforward affair and can be played in two hours with reasonably proactive players. The heroes are sent after a mercenary captain, Rackhmoor Melioc, to stop him from performing a dangerous ritual.

• A Sky Full of Swords
• This adventure is pretty straightforward; it should keep your players busy for one evening. Characters can be of any level. Lower level heroes should be cautious, high level characters shouldn't get too cocky as they could rapidly get drowned by weak but numerous enemies. Shrewd adventurers should get out with gold in their purses and a powerful weapon in their arsenal.

• The Darkness Over Nijmauwrgen
• For heroes of levels 2-5. An urban crawl with only one plot: a disaster waiting to happen. Depending on the actions of the characters, the adventure can go in several directions. The different events, rumours, and the results of their exploration will quickly give them an overview of the situation; from there, they can decide if they want to get involved or not, with who, and on which side. GM, DON’T PREP! Just read this once, and have fun improvising the actions of the various parties in reaction to what the characters do.