I took a day off last friday and decided it was time to try something new for our scheduled gaming session.

Some months ago I had bought Castle Xyntillan, directly from its designer in Hungary.

Now, Castle Xyntillan is an Indie/OSR megadungeon from game designer Gabor Lux, and is very much UNLIKE the D&D 5E books that I’ve purchased the past few years (albeit the last one I bought was like 3 years ago). Being nothing like a 5E book is in my present state of mind, a very good thing.

Its an adventure module set in haunted castle, not entirely serious but not a pure funhouse either. At the heart of the adventure is, of course, the impressive castle, but also its twisted and wicked inhabitants, the Malevol family members, truly a malevolent bunch!

As designed the module offers no clear end goal (indeed, goals should emerge from play) but it has TONS of delightful content to throw at the players. I think we could do easily 12-15 sessions just with the castle. Or dozens of session if I add side-adventures and whatnot.

I’ve decided to put Castle Xyntillan in author Clark Ashton Smith’s Averoigne, only the slightest of divergence from the default Valley of the 3 Rainbows setting anyway.

Set in a fictional medieval France. Averoigne is a forested and backwater region, beset by monsters, particularly witches, werewolves, vampires, and huh, beasts from beyond the veil…

I’m a big fan of CAS but I won’t be the first to use Averoigne. Tom Moldvay, in his 1981 module Castle Amber did just that.

The capital of the region is the gargoyles-infested city of Vyones. The other city is Ximes in which resides the Archbishop Azédarac, a dark sorcerer and demonologist.

(Aside: I’m pretty sure Gygax distorted the name Azédarac into Acererak, his infamous demi-lich of Tomb of Horrors fame)

There’s the cursed woods of Malinbois, the smaller town of Périgon with its monastery and then there’s the disquieting Château des Faussesflammes. Indeed, Castle Xyntillan will in fact be this very Château.

Now, I’m using the Worlds Without Number rpg system (which I might talk about in a future post). Learning how to play with both a new system and new style of play wasn’t effortless on my side or my players’, mistakes were made and a few tears were shed even, but our first session was certainly memorable and worthwhile.

Stay tuned, play report coming soon!