Shows
Swords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - Episode 31: Where Time & Space Don't Really MatterMiria, Edryk, Kale, The All-Knowing, and the Squid set sail across the Astral plane and discover that it is anything but empty.
This episode uses a mix of planar travel rules found in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Dungeons & Dragons 3.5e, and the D&D3.5e Planar Handbook, as the players travel across the Astral Plane.
It also features a monster from Dungeons & Dragons3.5e: The Elsewhale.
Elsewhale
Elsewhale: HD: 16; AC: 6 [13]; Att: bite (4d8); SV: 4; Special: plane shift, adaptation, telepathy; MV: swimming 18, flying 18; AL: Neutrality; ML: 9; No. Appearing: 1d3; CL/XP: 20/2,4,400
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2026-01-3128 min
Swords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - Episode 27: SilkwormThe party attempts to help the Nilkin clear the Ravenous Caterpillars from their sacred garden, only to find the threat is much greater than anyone anticipated.
Mythic Game Master Emulator throws a number of crazy curve-balls at the PCs this session, showing just how wild and unpredictable it can make a game become…
…Especially when you are willing to truly let your imagination run wild with the prompts it creates.
This is the first fully AI free episode of Swords Against Madness.
Cast
This episode includes performances by:
Jon...
2025-11-0833 min
Swords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - Episode 26: The NilkinThe Party joins the mysterious wild halflings, the Nilkin, in their village in hopes that the local shaman might be able to help them find the planar travel device. The Nilkin are not as firendly as they might seem, and have a dangerous task that needs doing.
This episode of Swords Against Madness includes a discussion of the Dungeons & Dragons module Hot Springs Island by Jacob Hurst et al. at Swordfish Islands.
This age-of-sail tropical island hexcrawl has set the standard for me for adventure design and I used many of its monsters and encounters...
2025-10-1828 min
Swords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - Episode 25: The Devouring WildernessMiria, Edryk, Raxon, Berle, & Kale brave the untamed norther jungles of Nar, to find that the wilderness itself seems to hunger for them…
This episode features a reinterpretation of the Vine Horror from the epic Dungeon Crawl Classic RPG module Sailors on the Starless Sea, a legendary module that helped define DCCRPG and secure it as the most popular Old-School RPG around.
It also features my Swords & Wizardry adaptation of the Kuji Bird from the equally epic (and edition agnostic) D&D module Hot Springs Island.
Creatures in this Episode
Strangling Vi...
2025-09-2730 min
Swords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - Episode 24: The Pirate's TaleWith the help of the All-Knowing, Miria delves into the terrors of Haalu’s mind to learn more about the cruel and enigmatic Master.
This episode includes an encounter with a monster that in Swords and Wizardry is referred to as a Carrion Worm. Other pseudonyms have included the Carcass Crawler, Corpse Worm, and Tentacled Horror, but they all refer to one classic and horrifying Dungeons & Dragons monster: The Carrion Crawler.
The Carrion crawler gets multiple attacks around, each doing only 1hp, but each requiring a save or the unfortunate character becomes paralyzed. On a ba...
2025-09-0631 min
Swords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - Episode 23: The Surgeon's TaleThe Miria, Edryk, Berle, Raxon, and Kale have their showdown with Haalu; we explore a piece of Edryk’s past, where it crosses with doctor Haidran.
This episode includes my quick and dirty rules for fighting manoeuvres in OSR games:
Roll your attack as normal.
If you hit, the DM will cut damage dealt in half or down to 0.
The effect goes through.
In the case of grappling, the target cannot move or use a weapon bigger than a dagger until they make a save to break free,
If they cannot break free th...
2025-08-1629 min
Swords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - Episode 22: Spiders and FliesThe party makes a narrow escape. Miria, Edryk, Raxon, Berle, and Kale secretly prepare for treachery.
This episode includes an encounter with a classic Dungeons & Dragons monster that isn’t included in Swords & Wizardry: the Phase Spider. The version I used was from one of my all-time favourite D&D resources, the AD&D2e Monstrous Manual. With a massive selection of Monsters from the first 30 years of D&D from the true classics to the extremely bizarre with amazing art, including David A. Trampier and Tony Di’Terlizzi!
2025-08-0225 min
Swords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - Episode 21: ConspiracyMiria and Edryk recruit new followers and head into the jungle, but discover that one of their own party is plotting against the rest…
Episode 21 begins a fresh hex crawl with 3 additional PCs:
Berle a human fighter.
Raxon, a human fighter.
Kale, a half-elf fighter/mage.
Kale uses a simplified half-elf for Swords and wizardry.
The party has also hired Haalu, who will be treated as a Hireling.
Half-Elf
You hare a mixture of human and elf. You see twice as far in the dark as a human. You ga...
2025-07-1227 min
Swords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - Episode 20: Desperate MeasuresA summary of Episodes 11-19.
Swords Against Madness episode 20 is a summary of the plot from episodes 11 through 19. An opportunity to catch up on the plot or just refresh your memory. It adds nothing to the main plot-line.
Come and find your next favourite solo rpg semi-actual-play podcast on soloroleplayersnetwork.com
2025-06-2116 min
Swords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - Episode 19: LamentationsMiria & Edryk return to Nar with the All-Knowing and another pile of treasure. The All-Knowing reveals a path forward, but will the people of Nar trust Miria enough to risk more lives to help her?
Apologies for the delay! This episode is coming out 1 week late due to extreme illness.
In this Episode, Miria & Edryk both return safely to the village of Nar with a pile of treasure, enough for them both to gain a level. I am borrowing the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons method of handling levelling up for Magic-users: PCs can pick one spell...
2025-05-3122 min
Swords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - Episode 18: AlienMiria and Edryk face a terrifying trap and life-altering choices push on to the deepest chambers of the Fane of the All-Knowing.
In this episode Miria and Edryk narrowly escape a trap that borrows its inspiration from the AD&D2e spell Maximillian’s Stony Grasp, and the D&D3e spell Stone Fist that evolved from it. I discuss spells – and getting them wrong in the episode.
Warning: Spoilers ahead
Miria and Edryk encounter the being known as the All-Knowing, which is an extradimensional intelligence.
The voice of the All-knowing is p...
2025-05-0324 min
Swords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - Episode 17: VillainyWhile Miria & Edryk face a deadly trap, The Master & his acolyte Halu conspire to murder Miria, and Yanghu extracts a bloody revenge on the crew of the pirate ship Xur.
This epsiode uses a ship layout diagram from Cepheus Deluxe as its dungeon map, but is played entirely with Swords 7 Wizardry. It focuses primarily on the activity of the campaign’s villains. It includes several encounters with human bandits, soldiers, and sergeants at arms as described in Swords & Wizardry.
Yanghu
Yanghu is a very old and powerful Ogre Mage who has been a ca...
2025-04-1229 min
Swords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - Episode 16: RuptureNote: Due to an error, this entry originally pointed to episode 14. This has been fixed and the correct episode should now play.
In the aftermath of the battle in orbit over Orbos, space pirate comb the hulk of the Ko-Dan for treasure. Miria and Edryk push deeper into the Fane of the All-Knowing, and Miria reminisces about her past.
This episode continues to use material from Cepheus Deluxe, a modern remake of the 1977 Scifi RPG Traveller, along with Swords & Wizardry to create a classic, 1977 D&D experience.
This session used space travel mechanics...
2025-03-2227 min
Swords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - Episode 15: ShockAs Miria, Edryk, and Nala press deeper into the trap-laden Fane of the All-Knowing, the Ogre-Mage crime-lord Yanghu deals with a vicious sneak attack on his starship.
This adventure mixes classic RPGs, using Swords & Wizardry to simulate D&D as it was played in 1977, along with scenes from Cepheus Deluxe, a modern re-imagining of the 1977 version of the classic Sci-Fi TTRPG Traveller.
Fair warning: This episode includes some mild profanity that, while within the limits of the 1980s PG limit, is worth mentioning.
In this episode I handled outer space conflict using the...
2025-03-0128 min
Swords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - Episode 13: DoorsMiria, Rayya, Nala, Garland, and Edryk enter the Fane of the All-Knowing: a labyrinth of traps, illusions, and deadly guardians. Nothing in their path is what they seem. Especially when the traps force the group apart.
This episode discusses solo gaming tools that I use at length, and includes the classic D&D monster, the Piercer, lightly reskinned to fit the dungeon theme.
Solo Adventure Gaming Tools
I created this dungeon using the AD&D Random Dungeon Generator from Donjon.bin.sh; which creates a complete dungeon based on your specifications and to...
2025-01-1826 min
Swords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - Episode 12: On a WingMiria meets one new ally and sets out to fulfill the Prophecy and wake the All-Knowing, taking to flight in her newly acquired spaceship with a team of new allies.
A new dungeon crawl begins in this episode!
This episode features a classic low-level D&D monster, and shows off an equally classic magic item!
2024-12-2830 min
Swords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - Episode 11: A Moment's DistractionMiria gathers new allies, and tries to buy time as the radiation begins to consume her. Rayya and Miria draw up plans for war. Two new allies join the party, each separately seeking ways to do penance.
This episode includes some much-needed downtime where Miria recruits some new party members and seeks medical attention for her radiation poisoning. It includes some detailed notes on how I use the Mythic Game Master Emulator.
Undeadwood Weird West RPG: Dead Man’s Dice Preview Version is my complete and fully playable Western fantasy TTRPG. This version does not ha...
2024-12-0726 min
Swords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - Episode 10: The Lady Who Fell from the Sky
A summary of the first 10 episodes of Swords Against Madness.
Miria, a space-faring smuggler crash-lands on the world of Orbus, near the Island of Nar. Nar is a poor former colony of a failed Oligarchy full of conflict between its two religions, and is plagued by seeming indestructible monsters.
Miria steps right into the conflict by giving them the holy words she guessed had been engineered into the Island’s older faith by star-faring criminals, and thanks to horrible radiation poisoning, finds herself racing against time to fulfill a prophecy, hunt down an old space pi...
2024-11-0925 min
Swords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - Episode 9: FlightMiria, Olan, & Rayya make a desperate ploy not just to escape Yanghu’s showroom, but to escape in style… but the Gorum are still hunting, and the lizard-man starfighter pilot Sshosk is still between them and freedom.
This episode features transcripts thanks to the openVINO tool kit for Audacity!
The Weapons I’m Using
I have created a set of simple science fiction weapons that the Trassi Syndicate use based on the material in the various Sci-Fi games I have used to inspire the game’s Sci-Fi rules. The prices represent the fact that the...
2024-10-1927 min
Swords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - Episode 8: GorumMiria, Rayya, & Olan make a break for freedom as the carnage continues in Yanghu’s Showroom.
The chaos continues in one of the most insanely busy dungeon crawls in which I have ever been either the player or the GM. It includes multiple NPC villains, Orcs, Kobolds, Lizard-Men, as well as two custom monsters found in the SvM Bestiary.
The Dungeon Map
Where to Get Scifi Rules for Swords & Wizardry
For the purposes of creating science fiction adventures in Swords & Wizardry, I will be borrowing some material from White Star: Swords & Wi...
2024-09-2824 min
Swords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - Episode 7: MayhemRayya and Kalmek clash as the Gorum awake and swarm the party from within the facility, while Trassi soldiers hunt them from without, and Mormont makes a desperate escape attempt.
This episode includes custom monsters found in the Bestiary page of the SvM homepage, as well as the villains Kalmek, Yanghu, and Mormont, and includes my custom hacking rules below.
The Dungeon Map
This adventure takes place in Yanghu’s Gorum Showroom, described here:
Computer Hacking
I have adapted rules for computer hacking from White Star: Swords and Wizardry in...
2024-09-0727 min
Swords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - Episode 6: Mind ControlRayya struggles under Mormont’s mind control as he debates to which faction he wants to sell out Miria. An unfortunate communication and a careless intruder cause danger to awaken on every side. Making escape seem increasingly more perilous by the second.
This episode begins a fast and furious dungeon crawl designed using the Five-Room Dungeon method, and includes another custom moster to face the Gorum. Both are included in the SvM homepage bestiary,
Combat Automaton
These robots are proficient with all manner of weapons. They are built to show off the Gorums’ comb...
2024-08-1732 min
Swords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - Episode 5: HeresyRayya, Olan, & Miria fight for their life against giant centipedes, we learn about Rayya’s history with the church, the PCs are stalked by a man with a grudge, and find their way barred by an enemy who declares Miria and all she stands for Heresy.
This episode features a new NPC villain that I rolled up using the same character statistics as a Player Character.
Mormont
Mormont is an apostate from the Order of Stars: he has learned and seen too much of the Truth of the Trassi Syndicate, observed too much gr...
2024-07-2723 minSwords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - Episode 4: The Grim WorkMiria finishes the task of slaying the Gorum, and struggles with the guilt of destroying helpless foes. As she struggles with her thoughts she makes a bond with a psisquid, and is then interrupted by a call from an old enemy.
In this episode we discuss the use of alignment in OD&D and Swords & Wizardry and why it matters. We also continue to feature the Gorum, shared in the Bestiary section of the SvM homepage.
Discussing Alignment
In segment 2 of the episode, I discuss Alignment including how it was used in AD...
2024-07-0630 minSwords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - Episode 3: The DaggerRayya, Olan, and Miria set out to acquire a magic dagger from a local miser to use against the immortal space barbarians known as the Gorum. This drags Miria into the religious cold war that runs through the Island’s culture.
This episode includes a brief battle using the deadly and fast grappling rules from Swords & Wizardry, and I opt to use the more granular B/X Morale Rules. Much of this episode is dedicated to exploring the nuances of the Island’s culture as produced by consulting the Mythic GM Emulator.
NPC VIllain: Kalmek: HD 2...
2024-06-1534 minSwords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - Episode 2: BurnMiria awakens in a hut at the edge of the ruined village, covered in blisters, and discoveres that she may well be living on borrowed time, and so is the A.I. on her ship, The Empyreal’s Coin. As a madman plots her death, she stands before the council of the village to tell them a terrible truth about their beliefs…
In this Episode, we establish some custom rules for radiation poisoning, and give Miria the strongest possible incentive to see her escape this planet. Her vessel’s AI might be able to help, except it only h...
2024-05-2534 minSwords Against MadnessSwords Against Madness - episode 1: The Sorceress and the SquidMiria, a smuggler awakes next to her sinking starship on a strange world, alone, with holes in her memories, and only the clothes on her back and her wrist computer. If she’s going to survive, she is going to need to find a way past the strange alien cephalopods circling her vessel like hungry sharks…
Episode 1 of the podcast introduces us to Miria at level 1, and has her survive the crash of her starship the Empyreal’s Coin. We encounter a monster called the Psi-squid, and eventually meet Teo helpful characters: Olan and Rayya, who believe Miria...
2024-05-0531 min
Vanity DustVanity Selects: DSNGDMANN — Stormhead [Ucker]Track: Stormhead
Artist: DSNGDMANN (@dsngdmann)
Label: Ucker Records (@ucker_records)
Release: Opening I
Release Date: Already Available (29.04.24)
Buy link: https://uckerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/opening-i-dsngdmann
· Premiered by @vanitydust — www.vanitydust.ninja
2024-04-2904 min
Earthdawn Survival GuideEDSG Episode 13: Timeline Part 4 - Prelude and War* Josh’s audio quality is still off.
* Timeline: Landing of the Triumph to the release of Fourth Edition.
* A brief mention of the forked ED2/ED3 Timeline
* Triumph Lands
* Varulus assassinated and Battle of Prajjor’s Field
* The perfidy of the Denairastas
* Post landing cold war.
* Ork migration and the rebirth of Cara Fahd.
* Building alliances and preparing for the inevitable conflict.
* The Harwood Incident: Development insight
* Theran ultimatum.
* The Great Bartertown Fire.
* One thing afte...
2020-02-191h 09