A well known publisher of Call of Cthulhu, RuneQuest, and Pendragon. Although I'm not interested in their rules, I've always been fascinated by Glorantha.
Glorantha
These are all modules from the first edition era. Just how I like them.
Palladium Books is a troubled publisher, but I still have a soft spot for their early fantasy work. Black and white illustrations galore!
Palladium Fantasy RPG 1E
The Palladium Fantasy® Role-Playing Game Revised Edition. This was basically a bunch of house rules for AD&D 1E. I'd never play it as-is, but love reading it for inspiration. Many cool ideas, from occupations to different take on alignment, and so on.
These are illustrated guides to various weapons, armours, and yes, castles, one might use in their fantasy game. I love thumbing through them for inspiration.
Autarch is the publisher of Adventurer Conqueror King System, marvellous system built on B/X chassis. It offers superior take on domain management, race-as-class, functional and tightly integrated economy, and plethora of play-tested options for ambitious Judges and adventurous Players.
Axioms Compendium 1-8. Rules variants and options compatible with TSR and OSR systems.
Lairs & Encounters. Every monster gets a write-up. Some get a map as well. Includes tables on monster parts, because every game has at least one player that wants to butcher a hydra.
All adventures, except Dwimmermount, are set in Auran Empire, which is an ACKS setting. I've found all the adventures superb and easy to adjust (and steal from). AX3 has some great tables for urban dwellings.
It's that time of the year again. May our wallets survive.
After recommending some Troll Lord Games products on sales, it is time for Frog God Games.
My favourite recommendations are in fact re-issues of Necromancer Games material, a predecessor to Frog God Games, like The Lost City of Barakus,The Tomb of Abysthor, and Bard's Gate. And make sure to grab the bestiaries if you haven't already.
Great majority of the recommendations below are for Swords & Wizardry system, a retroclone of Original D&D. All statblocks have descending and ascending AC, and everybody uses a single save throw (but since HDs and levels are nearly identical, you can use TSR-era saves without any hassle).
Adventures
MCMLXXV. Old-school wilderness treasure hunt. For first level parties.
Grimmsgate. A village, surrounding area, and dungeon suitable for first level parties. Dungeon is well made, with multiple entrances and uncommon foes.
Stoneheart Valley (Swords and Wizardry). A collection of three old Necromancer Games adventures: The Wizard's Amulet, The Crucible of Freya, and The Tomb of Abysthor. First one is shit, second is fine, and third is awesome.
The Lost City of Barakus (Swords and Wizardry) (local and regional maps). Perhaps my favourite Necromancer Games mega-dungeon—because it is so much more! You get a starting city (with seven adventures), a wilderness area (with 26 keyed encounters and mini adventures), and a mega-dungeon with interesting factions and cool big-bad. Suitable for low-level parties.
Cyclopean Deeps (Swords and Wizardry) (volume one and two). Underground hex-crawl for high-level parties. Includes underground settlements as well. Perfect for plugging into lowest levels of large dungeons... Or under sprawling cities...
Bard's Gate (Swords and Wizardry) (player's guide). A massive city packed with urban encounters and adventures (8 included, from levels 1 to 10+). Very dense book. Some say this is FGG's finest product. The truths is: this is another Necromancer Games revival. And that's why it's great. :)
The Blight (Swords and Wizardry). A rotten, overpopulated, sick mega-city. Whole campaigns can be played in it. Heavy horror vibes.
Supplements
Monstrosities (Swords and Wizardry). Nearly 500 monsters. Each monster comes with an example encounter/nano-adventure. Includes tables with monsters by challenge level, guidance on creating new monsters, tables of monsters by terrain, and tables of random encounters (3d6, so bell curve).
The Book of Taverns (volumes one, two, and three). Had enough of generic taverns and inns, but short on prep time? Steal one from here. Again, these are revivals of old Necromancer Games books. They are good.
It's that time of the year again. May our wallets survive.
Here are some Troll Lord Games adventures and supplements I've found useful and enjoyable, although I do not run Castle & Crusaders system.
I found most of TLG stuff to have minor errors (e.g. typos, location missing on a map, etc.). Also, most of the modules do require prep. Despite that, I found below worthy of mentioning.
Lost City of Gaxmoor (digital and isometric maps). A city that was gone for a thousand years reappears. Of course it's full of shit that wants to kill nosy adventurers. Plane of chaos breach the reality from time to time.
Chaos Touched. Additional random encounters for chaos breaches. Intended to be used with Gaxmoor, but can be adapted for any area.
Undercaverns of Gaxmoor (maps). This one progresses timeline quite a bit, returning Gaxmoor into the hands of good. I just used it to steal what is underneath.
Palladium Fantasy RPG 1E and 2E books are currently on sale at DriveThruRPG. I found their old stuff to be quite well made, but I mostly use it for inspiration, drawings and maps. Here are few of my favourite picks:
Palladium RPG Book II: Old Ones.Includes 21 forts, 34 towns and cities, over half a dozen adventures, monks, illusionists, and the dreaded Old Ones. 50+ locations all described and mapped, information about the Old Ones, the Illusionist, Monk, and Minotaur, many NPCs, seven adventures, plus adventure ideas and more.
Palladium RPG Book III: Adventures on the High Seas.Ships of the world, Demon Black Ships, ship combat, islands of the world, 12 O.C.C.s including the Sailor and Pirate, character sheets, maps, and countless adventure ideas when you visit a dozen island ports including the Isle of the Cyclops, Y-Oda, Zy, the Four Sisters, Forbidden Island, the Floenry Islands, and others, each offering adventure opportunities.
Palladium RPG Book VII: Yin-Sloth Jungles.Includes Yin-Sloth Jungles, the Orcish Empire, notable cities, 25+ locations and maps, four full adventures, adventure ideas and more.
I also love their weapon books, but they currently aren't on sale.
Adventures Dark and Deep, a what-if AD&D 1E was updated to 2E using only later articles published by Gygax, is currently available as digital bundle for $0.
Just like the edition it emulates, it consists of Player's Manual, Game Master's Toolkit, and Bestiary. I ordered print version in January and haven't regretted it:
There is a lot in there and bestiary is just stunning. Table of contents could be better, but that is nitpicking. You can't go wrong with grabbing it for free.
