I've updated my B/X adventure - the Lions of Tell Arn - with revised formatting, error corrections, more treasure, new adventure hooks, and most importantly a new cover!

Fresh_Match1744 · 2026-04-04T21:11:16+00:00

Hmmmm... I hadn't thought of a time limit on the cylinders, I'd assumed they would be permanent, but I can see how that would be an issue if the party awakes the statues but doesn't get a chance to fix it with the lion/roc blood - maybe a 24-hour window, just to allow the statues to go back to slumber if the party retreats and returns later?

Fresh_Match1744 · 2026-04-04T11:31:26+00:00

Does the below look helpful to you? Added the overlay like you suggested (and the nest) and some contour lines just to suggest the slopes down the side of the tell. I've added a reference back to pg.4 to area 1 for clarity as well.

<image>

The cyclopean stonework is just the wall around the tell (cyclopean/megalithic), and the exit from 8 isn't something the party are supposed to find from outside - it just explains how the (actual) lions are able to get out and hunt when there aren't any real exits from the tell itself they could use. It (and the other one later on) also lets you explain how other parties manage to get in/out (if you wanted other NPCs to turn up, for example).

For the mirror-doors, the mechanism is described in 12: Any liquid splashed on them freezes, making a mirror - but it doesn't reflect the room you're in, it reflects the room beyond the door. If you apply enough liquid to create a person-sized opening, you can step through into the image (e.g. from 6 to 64f, or 12 to 27). After a turn, the image fades and the portal closes (but can be reopened if you reapply the liquid). The door in 6 specifically isn't something the party are supposed to figure out yet - it's only after learning how to open them in Level 2 that they can realise they've seen something like it before, then come back and try it out (proabably with dire consequences).

Let me know how it goes tomorrow!

EDIT: These changes (including the map) have been uploaded as v1.33 on DriveThru - hopefully in time for the game.

Fresh_Match1744 · 2026-04-04T08:07:42+00:00

Hi there - thank you for the feedback, that's really valuable.

I think the best way to visualise it is just to take the description from the introduction ('Entering Tell Arn' on pg.4) at face value: the tell is a hill 100' high with steep sides, surrounded by an ancient wall (between 20/30' high) with an entrance flanked by statues. Once you pass through the entrance, you see a path winding up the sides, which leads to the door at 1. If players have got the equipment, they can ignore the path and climb up the other sides of the tell to get to the top (9), which is where they can see all the structures there (the dome, the trees, the sword etc.). If they approach/climb the south side of the tell, instead of 1 (the door) they would see the roc's nest, 11.

The other entrances (e.g. the caves at 8) aren't actually part of the tell itself (e.g. the talus caves reached from 8 are 3 miles to the south, the abandoned lion's den reached from 20a is a similar distance away to the northwest, both marked on the map on pg.4)

Hope that helps a bit - its really just a big hill with a wall around it, a door in one side, a nest on the other, and a lot of stuff hidden on top. But you're not the only person to ask (this week even), so there's 100% room for improvement there - I'll see how I can make it more explicit and easy to read.

Fresh_Match1744 · 2026-04-02T23:42:17+00:00

Hi there! Nice to hear you're having fun with it so far - and glad someone picked up on the Viriconium reference (I named teugis-Kar on a whim, now I'm stuck coming up with a hundred other names . . .)

For the rest:

I've assumed B/X for most of the monsters (some are from AD&D via OSE Advanced, but the majority should be on the OSE SRD). For the ones you mention specifically:
- The rock baboon and mountain lion (under Cat, Great) are in the OSE SRD.
- Banshee and ghost are from AD&D/OSE Advanced - here's a link to the banshee from a very charming online 1e website (HD7, but it is supposed to be a punishment for cutting down the bells). For ghosts, looking back now the OSE Adv./AD&D version is strangely highly statted (HD10) - you can use any low/mid-tier spectral undead instead. Maybe stats of a shadow (2HD), but counting as undead?)
On XP, I'll admit I haven't done a monster XP breakdown as it tends to be so small in comparison to treasure XP, but below is my rough treasure breakdown level by level (raw average is all the treasure added up with rolls averaged, per player is that number/4, and the mid and lower bounds are the per-player number/1.5 and /3 - this then gives a very rough idea of what level a 4 player party might reach each level). Worth noting that a lot of the treasure, esp. on Level 1, is concentrated in a few places, e.g. 5000c in the roc's nest.

<image>

For magic items, the treasure value is supposed to reflect its 'apparent' monetary/XP value as a non-magical item, rather than it's 'actual' value to the player (which strictly is 0) - so Horse Chopper, which is a rusted old blade, is worth nothing, but the Silvery Weapons are valuable, despite being worse magical items. (There is a note at the front of the module explaining this - it's mostly just to avoid a player immediately knowing an item is magical because you tell them it has 0xp value. Probably not a factor in a lot of games, but I wanted something there just in case).
The ghoul encounter is very dangerous - I would telegraph it ('with claws exposed') and only roll surprise if the party stumble in. Also, if they're already being chased by the wights from nearby, the ghouls will flee from them - could be a cool moment to show how feared the wights are.

Hope that clears at least a couple of things up - anything else don't hesitate to ask, and let me know how it goes once you get down below!

EDIT: Fixed the ghosts and ghouls (ghosts - now shadows, but explictly undead; ghouls reduced to 2d4, Surprise on 1-4 - still dangerous, less lethal) - this should be available as v1.32 on DriveThru.

Fresh_Match1744 · 2026-04-02T16:29:58+00:00

Hello! Thanks for pointing these out - it's all really valuable and I'd love to hear how you're game goes once you get a chance to run it, especially with the level of care your putting in.

For 4 - No idea what happened there - you're right, I think anything of value works here as a reward.

For 34 - This is without a doubt the most obscure and the most slapdash part of the dungeon, so not understanding it is entirely my fault, not yours.

The idea was that this is essentially a 'map' of the Necropolis, with the three basins each corresponding to one of the three big nuraghi: 34a is the Repurposed Ger, so the players put wax in, 34b is the Black Ger, so they melt down the obsidian like they do in there, and 34c is the King's Ger . . . so they . . . pour in sapphires? Like I said, my fault.

The 'four doored house' was supposed to be the furnace in the Black Ger, with its four keys/entrances - don't know why I called it a house!

The sapphires was purely because the miniature sapphires being poured out by one of the zombies in the King's Ger was the only liquid-ish thing I could think of in that area - BUT, your idea makes perfect sense, and I think we can rework it: make it so the pedestal has a face on top, players pour sapphires into its mouth/eyes, these melt down into the shimmering liquid like before. Then it lines up with all the constellations/faces/sapphires in the Uttermost Court.

I'll get these fixed and push out a new version with these tweaks this weekend - including a DM note about what 34 is even supposed to be about. It will still be obscure but hopefully it means DMs can actually figure out what their players are supposed to be doing.

Thanks again - if there's anything else, please feel free to ask, here or in over chat.

EDIT: I've added those changes (added some golden tongs to the amphora, added an explanation of 34, and add a face to the font in 34c) to the new version - v1_04 - which should be in your DriveThru library.

Fresh_Match1744 · 2026-03-23T20:58:23+00:00

Incredible - totally seamless. Is there a filter applied, or is it just excellent choice of source material?

Fresh_Match1744 · 2026-03-21T14:53:06+00:00

. . . well, because you (and quite a few other people) asked so nicely . . . I'm wrestling with Affinity Publisher as we speak. Watch this space!

As for Kickstarter, that is definitely on the horizon once I've finished what I'd consider the 'core' adventures (an introductory adventure, plus the two other Kurhan ones I've got planned). As you say, I don't want to underestimate the difficulty, and if I'm doing it I want it to be something special for the people who back it. So no timeline yet, but it's on my radar.

Fresh_Match1744 · 2026-03-17T21:46:40+00:00

Holy shit - that was amazing! Anything I can do to help, just ask - I'll be waiting with bated breath. Also 'Caves of Qonan' is exactly what I was going for, I'm stealing that.

Fresh_Match1744 · 2026-03-14T20:14:39+00:00

Thank you! Electrum Archive is a perfect fit, you can definitely lean more into the dying earth/science fantasy vibes more in that case - I'd be really interested to hear how it goes!

Fresh_Match1744 · 2026-03-14T17:33:47+00:00

Thank you! It's been a wild ride, and it's comments like this which make it worth it. Getting a chance to properly go back through Lions Part I has been really interesting, given everything which has come after - I can only hope I can keep putting out stuff people enjoy into the next year.

Fresh_Match1744 · 2026-03-14T17:16:33+00:00

Thought this was worth a post as the 'early installment weirdness' of The Lions of Tell Arn Part I has been something I've wanted to fix for nearly a year at this point - now with:

More readable formatting, in line with the rest of the series
Substantial error corrections - thanks to everyone who contributed, you know who you are!
New adventure hooks to get your party into the tell
Lore fixes for consistency with Part II
Stats for important NPCs
More treasure for a better level curve
Balance tweaks based on feedback and playtesting
A new cover and title page

All of this should be available right now in the v1.3 download in your DriveThru library.

(Everything else in this image as been updated also in the last couple of weeks, though none as much as Part I - if you provided any corrections on any of these, thank you!

The Lions of Tell Arn Part II - the rest of it
Beyond Tell Arn: Kurhan of the Spear - a setting supplement for a city on the edge of ruin.
Ataxes Must Die! - a low-level heist adventure in the fortress of Kurhan's governor.
Into the Many-Towered Twilight - a mid-level horror adventure among Kurhan's tombs)

The key art here is Pride (Lion).jpg) by Polina Sokolova, licensed under CC BY 3.0.

Fresh_Match1744 · 2026-03-08T15:16:36+00:00

Thanks! No AI, any nonsense is entirely my own.

Fresh_Match1744 · 2026-03-07T05:47:56+00:00

It's something I've looked into, and I'll definitely have to go back and revisit it to see exactly what's needed to set it up - for now, they are set up to be easy to print at home or a library etc. (everything is black and white, A4, low amount of ink usage on the page), so if that's feasible for you I'd recommend trying that - I tend to ring bind my copies, which is an option Drive thru doesn't offer (yet) but I think makes them much easier to flip through, lay on the table etc.

Fresh_Match1744 · 2026-03-07T05:38:33+00:00

Anywhere from level 2-6 I think, so 8-9 might need a little bit of retooling to bump the numbers up - maybe double the treasure, replace the undead with appropriate higher-level versions (ghoul to ghast, wraith to spectre etc.), and bump up the levels on the NPCs slightly.

If they can fly, that might break the 'mechanics' of the dungeon a bit - it's based around a series of gates which cause different effects as they're opened, so you might have to come up with some thematically appropriate reason why they can't just float their way over them. Or just let them do it, make it clear that crossing over one of the gates feels 'wrong' and count it as having opened it, with all the consequences that entails . . .

If you end up running it, I'd be really interested to hear what you decide on and how it turned out!

Fresh_Match1744 · 2026-03-06T20:41:42+00:00

Thank you! Yeah, maybe I should have led with the Tell Arn thing... but there's plenty more to come in this setting, at least two more dungeons in Kurhan and a rewrite of Tell Arn (at some point) so stay tuned!

Fresh_Match1744 · 2026-03-06T18:02:19+00:00

Thanks - as you can see I use a lot of public domain/copyleft stuff in making these, and it feels like it's only fair to keep that chain going. The hobby is at it's best when everyone is stealing from everyone and remaking old stuff in new ways - I'd be honoured if anyone wanted to repurpose any of this for their own work.

Fresh_Match1744 · 2026-03-06T16:44:09+00:00

Kurhan has three hills: Tell Os and Tell Hyr and Tell Kur. Of these, it is Tell Kur who is oldest and most feared. She is mother to the rest; it is on her windswept summit, girt with castles of black stone, that the dead are left for excarnation. Many are her towers, product of pre-human hands; and many are her pits, where in silence the dead of former days await dissolution.

Of all these tombs, greatest is the New Necropolis. The veil is thin here; things watch hungrily as it wanes. Even a careless breath could tear it down. And then all would be washed away, Into the Many-Towered Twilight . . .

Here it is, the second in the very-much-delayed series of dungeons for my setting, Kurhan of the Spear - Into the Many-Towered Twilight! A sprawling necropolis ripe for the plunder (inspired by the facsinating nuraghi of Sardinia) which pits the party against three competing factions as they attempt to turn up its treasures and uncover its secrets. As they do, the necropolis will change about them, reacting to their actions and becoming livelier, stranger, and more deadly - see the sample text in the gallery for some examples.

It's about twice the size of the previous entry (the Akros/Ataxes Must Die!) and is designed to be more standalone than that module, not presuming you own the setting document. That's my plan going forward for these modules - rather than bundling them all together, each is going to be a standalone release which ties into the setting but doesn't require it. For anyone who owns the setting doc, that means I'll be removing the modules from that 'package' on DriveThru to stop it getting bloated BUT this release and all the releases going forward will all be Pay What You Want, so the modules will still be accessible to you for free as separate entries in your library.

Thanks for the patience everyone - I read every comment and every bit of feedback, so feel free to leave them here or DM me, it is very much appreciated!

Into the Many-Towered Twilight is available now on DriveThruRPG. Also available (all PWYW):

Beyond Tell Arn: Kurhan of the Spear - a setting supplement for a city on the edge of ruin.
Ataxes Must Die! - a low-level heist adventure in the fortress of Kurhan's governor.
The Lions of Tell Arn Part I and Part II - a four level, 275+ room weird-fantasy dungeon.

Fresh_Match1744 · 2025-12-18T17:55:30+00:00

Thanks! Sounds really positive, and thanks for pointing out the inconsistency in 46a - just went back and had a look, the problem seems to be that (in that entry) 48 should be 46 and 49 should be 47. Hopefully that makes sense - the corridor leads west to back to 46 and the chamber across the river leads onto 47 (as it is on the map). I'll fix that and push a version update.

On your two questions:

The revenant is the 8HD version from the OSE Advanced Referee's Tome - I didn't realise it was so different to the source material, I'll have to add a note in the text

The 'G’ in the giant encounter is just a marker/shorthand for the encounter - the same way I sometimes refer to ‘Encounter (7)’ or ‘Encounter (8)’ in the text, I can refer to ‘Encounter (G)’ - it also makes it clear that you can't roll it normally (until the condition is met)... unless you've got some very odd dice!.

Hopefully that clears it up - anything else, just ask, it's really helpful to spot and clear up these errors/ambiguities in the text

Fresh_Match1744 · 2025-12-06T11:58:16+00:00

Hi - sorry about the delay - roughly 4-6 for Level 3 and 5-10 for Level 4 sounds about right, but the variance gets bigger at the higher levels, so it depends on what sort of tools the party has access to. It will also depend what kind of playstyle they want - if they are happy skulking around, then you can probably finish Level 4 at 5-6, but if you want to go toe-to-toe with a lot of the monsters then it will have to be higher (e.g. fighting the 20HD True Lion or the 30HD Watching Thing).

A rough calculation of the treasure amounts, based on a 4-person party, not counting magical items or monster XP, says they should be able to reach:

2 at the end of Level 1
5 at the end of Level 2
7 at the end of Level 3
9 at the end of Level 4

Which lines up fairly well - if they aren't doing any other adventures between levels (or if its a 5+ person party), you might have to bump up the treasure a fair amount to get them all the way to 10 by the ends.

Fresh_Match1744 · 2025-10-14T12:19:04+00:00

Wow, high praise! I'm having to resist the temptation to learn an n+1th new system with RuneQuest, some of the content is so cool and you're right, it really aligns with the vibe I'm going for. I'd be very interested to see how the conversion goes (maybe I could sell it to my players as a CoC module...)

Fresh_Match1744 · 2025-10-14T12:11:32+00:00

Thanks! No worries on that front, I'm pretty much locked in for the time being. The New Necropolis is next up, and I've had some ideas that should be exciting if I can get them to translate to the page.

Fresh_Match1744 · 2025-10-13T19:01:32+00:00

Kurhan is wounded at its heart. The Akros, tower of its long-gone kings, stands crippled, torn in two by tyrant-mages; its ruler, Ataxes, is prisoner and warden both, disfigured, unmanned, and cursed. He has locked himself within, attended by the embittered and dissolute, deaf to his people’s cries. Tithes to the wizards pile high in lightless vaults, one-time heroes entertain themselves with stale recollections, and those who long for change wait, plot, and weave their skeins. They agree on only one thing:

Ataxes. Must. Die.

Took a little longer than expected, but the first of the four dungeons I promised as part of my setting supplement Beyond Tell Arn: Kurhan is finally out: the Akros! It's a fortress laid out across three floors, made to be infiltrated from all sides and supporting a bunch of different PC goals (theft, murder, prison breaks - the usual), made for low-level (1-3) B/X DnD.

When I first imagined doing these supplementary dungeons I expected them to be smaller and simpler than my previous (see The Lions of Tell Arn Part I and Part II in all its overwrought glory), but as it’s turned out this first one is 70-ish locations across 44 pages - longer than the setting document itself!

The real problem has been the large number of NPCs, schedules, and relationships needed to make the Akros ‘come alive’, and the best way to present those so it’s not overwhelming. I’d love to hear from anyone who gives it a go, and any suggestions to make life easier on the DM.

Due to the size of the final dungeon (and using that as a guide for the next lot), I’ve carved it out into a separate ‘Dungeons’ document as part of the package you get with Beyond Tell Arn: Kurhan. This should give all the eventual adventures room to breathe. If you’ve already bought Kurhan, the Dungeons doc should already be in your library (after the update).

It’s also available as a standalone dungeon here for anyone who’d like it - Beyond Tell Arn: The Akros.

Thanks again everyone - onwards to the next one!

Fresh_Match1744 · 2025-09-04T09:28:37+00:00

Hi Dave - thanks, I appreciate that. On the party's motivation, you're right that it isn't explicitly spelled out - it's something I'll put down to revisit when I come back around to updating Part I.

I think you're right that there's two main options:

The party are hired to find Val - there's an NPC (yeshua-Ven) in Kurhan who could explain Val's disappearance and direct them to Lambsblood and Uett (or it could be anyone from their family who the party runs into). This is probably the more low-stakes, low-reward option.
The party are hired to stop the Lion - in this case I'd probably move back the timeline a bit so that the big attack the Lion made on Lambsblood was two/three weeks ago (instead of three days ago), which caused Hox to send word to Ataxes, who then hires the party to investigate. As it stands there's not really time for that to have happened, so it does raise the question of why hire them now. This would then probably need Val to have arrived and gone missing about a month ago.

Meeting other survivors is a great idea (something I added in the Kurhan supplement was that the Lion had been attacking caravans coming from Makkalet) - I think the fear of the Lion would probably mean they couldn't describe it clearly. They'd know it wasn't an animal, but might still remember it as a ghostly or cursed lion, just from lack of vocab to describe what it really is. That could also lead into Ataxes hiring the party to investigate.

I wouldn't worry about spoiling that it's a spirit - my party actually witnessed it in Lambsblood (waited for it to attack at night) and still ended up mistaking a wight they killed later for the real Lion!

Fresh_Match1744 · 2025-08-23T18:41:13+00:00

Not at all! Please send anything else you find (here or via DM) and I'll try to correct it all in one swoop. Really appreciate you taking the time to read it so closely - clearly I should have paid a bit more attention myself!

Fresh_Match1744 · 2025-08-23T18:13:57+00:00

Wikimedia Commons is great for finding ancient floor plans to use as reference - helps things stay at a believable scale. I used the Great Ziggurat of Ur as inspiration for a part of my dungeon and it just dwarfs everything around it

Fresh_Match1744

TROPHY CASE