Sample file P a g e | 2 THE MYTHIC WORLD OF OLDSKULL Book III: Oldskull Gonneslingers A Basic / Expert / Advanced Classic Rules Supplement For Fantasy Role-Playing Games V1.0 Created By Kent David Kelly With Inspiration From David Lance Arneson and E. Gary Gygax & Poul Anderson, Robert Browning, David Cook, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Lord Dunsany, William Hope Hodgson, John Eric Holmes, Robert E. Howard, Don Kaye, Stephen King, Rob Kuntz, Len Lakofka, Fritz Leiber, Theron Kuntz, H. P. Lovecraft, Steve Marsh, Abraham Merritt, Tom Moldvay, Michael Moorcock, Erol Otus, Edgar Allan Poe, Paul Reiche III, Margaret St. Clair, Lawrence Schick, Jonathan Swift, David A. Trampier, Jack Vance, James Ward, and H. G. Wells Cover Art By Bob Greyvenstein (Grim Press), Joe J. Calkins (Cerberus Art) Interior Illustrations By Dave Allsop, Jack Badashki, William Blake, Jeff Brown, Hans Burgkmair the Elder, Joe J. Calkins (Cerberus Art), Harry Clarke, Jacques Collot, Luigi Castellani, Albrecht Durer, Matt Forsyth, Felipe Gaonia, Jacques de Gheyn II, Bob Greyvenstein, Jeremy Hart, Rick Hershey, Forrest Imel, Kimagu, Theodor Kittelsen, Aaron Lee, Joyce Maureira, William McAusland, Bradley K. McDevitt, James Carl McKnight, Maxfield Parrish, Piranesi, Prunaire, Sade, Heather Shinn, Tan Ho Sim, Stinky Goblin Stock Art, Ekaterinya Vladinakova, J. M. Woiak, Chris Yarbrough (Outland Entertainment), Et Alii Some Artwork Copyright © Grim Press, used with permission. All rights reserved. Some Artwork Copyright © William McAusland, Used with Permission Sample file P a g e | 3 Publisher’s Choice Quality Stock Art © Rick Hershey / Fat Goblin Games Makes Use of Stinky Goblin Stock Art © J.M. Woiak and Heather Shinn of the STINKYGOBLIN, 2021 Wonderland Imprints © 2021 Only the Finest Works of Fantasy OSR The Old School Renaissance New Innovations, Classic Games Sample file P a g e | 4 Sample file P a g e | 5 Table of Contents Pg. 1 ~ Cover Pg. 2 ~ Title Page Pg. 5 ~ Table of Contents Pg. 8 ~ Chapter I: A Fistful of Silver Pg. 8 ~ [I-1] Description Pg. 9 ~ [I-2] Introduction Pg. 11 ~ [I-3] Blood & Brimstone: The Uneasy Tension Between Firearms and Fantasy Pg. 16 ~ Chapter II: Lore of the Gonneslingers Pg. 16 ~ [II-1] Curious Embers: A History of Oldskull Pulver Pg. 17 ~ [II-2] Sagely Events of Peculiar Note in Regards to the Laputan Conundrum Pg. 31 ~ Table 1: Summary of Significant Laputan and Corvinian Events Pg. 33 ~ [II-3] Lore and Limitations of the Gonneslingers Pg. 37 ~ Chapter III: The Fusilier Class Pg. 37 ~ [III-1] Mechanics of the Fusilier Class Pg. 38 ~ [III-2] Fusilier Races Pg. 39 ~ [III-3] Ability Score Requirements Pg. 39 ~ [III-4] Experience Point Modifiers Pg. 40 ~ [III-5] Experience Hierarchy and Power Progression Pg. 42 ~ [III-6] Honorific Hierarchy Pg. 43 ~ Table 2: Fusilier Progression Table Pg. 44 ~ Table 3: Optional Rule: Gradual THAC0 and Saving Throw Increments by Experience Level Pg. 48 ~ [III-7] Fusilier Alignment Requirements Pg. 49 ~ [III-8] Deities, Demigoddesses, and Demigods of the Fusiliers Pg. 51 ~ Table 4: The Animal Spirits (Bloodletters, Valors, and Silences) of Laputa Pg. 51 Sample~ [III-9] Hit Dice and Hit Points file P a g e | 6 Pg. 52 ~ Table 5: Considerations of Potential Fusilier Hit Point Totals Over Time Pg. 54 ~ [III-10] Limiting the Power of the Fusilier Class Pg. 54 ~ [III-11] Fusilier Spell Casting Ability Pg. 54 ~ [III-12] Starting Gold (or Silver) and the Perception of Value Pg. 55 ~ Chapter IV: Fusilier Equipment Pg. 55 ~ [IV-1] Armor of the Gonneslingers Pg. 57 ~ [IV-2] Other Gonneslinger Equipment Pg. 59 ~ Table 6: Comparative Use of Accelerants to Reduce Reload Times Pg. 64 ~ Table 7: Summary of Fusilier-Specific Equipment Pg. 65 ~ Chapter V: Fusilier Firearms Pg. 65 ~ [V-1] Weapons of the Gonneslingers Pg. 67 ~ [V-2] The Nature of Gonnes Pg. 67 ~ [V-3] Range and Accuracy Pg. 68 ~ Table 8: Fusilier Accuracy with Gonnes, by Experience Level Pg. 69 ~ Table 9: Combined Modifiers for Fusilier Accuracy and Attack Range Pg. 69 ~ [V-4] Hands Required for Gonne Firing Pg. 70 ~ [V-5] Gonne Reloading Speed Pg. 70 ~ [V-6] The Corvinian Gonne Lethality Tiers and Classifications Pg. 71 ~ Table 10: Ironpots and Firepots Pg. 73 ~ Table 11: Pyre-Cannas Pg. 74 ~ Table 12: Handgonnes Pg. 76 ~ Table 13: Gonnes Pg. 78 ~ Table 14: Hand Culverins Pg. 79 ~ Table 15: Hand Bombards Pg. 80 ~ Table 16: Comparative Overview of Corvinian Firearm Specifications Pg. 81 ~ [V-7] Acquisition of Gonnes by Fusiliers Pg. 83 ~ [V-8] Gifted Gonnes to the Worthy and Proven Pg. 84 ~ Table 17: Rituals of the Gifted Gonnes Pg. 88 ~ [V-9] The Availability of Other Corvinian Materials for Purchase Pg. 88 Sample~ Table 18: Purchase Thresholds for Corvinian Supplies file P a g e | 7 Pg. 90 ~ [V-10] The Trading and Selling of Surplus Gonnes Pg. 92 ~ [V-11] Munitions and Their Quality Levels Pg. 93 ~ Table 19: Ammunition Considerations, Part I: Pulver Pg. 94 ~ Table 20: Ammunition Considerations, Part II: Shot Pg. 96 ~ [V-12] Brief Notes About Firepots and Fire Garrots Pg. 97 ~ [V-13] An Even Briefer Note Concerning Mixing and Matching Pg. 98 ~ Chapter VI: The Adventurous Fusilier Pg. 98 ~ [VI-1] Locked and Loaded Pg. 98 ~ [VI-2] Availability of Retainers and NPC Fusiliers Pg. 99 ~ [VI-3] Fusiliers in Melee Pg. 99 ~ [VI-4] Combat Considerations as a Fusilier Pg. 100 ~ [VI-5] Firing Gonnes Pg. 101 ~ [VI-6] Cascading Shot Damage Pg. 103 ~ [VI-7] Gonne Misfires Pg. 104 ~ Table 21: Determination of Gonne Misfire Effects Pg. 107 ~ [VI-8] Special Abilities of the Fusiliers Pg. 114 ~ Table 22: Spell Caster Levels for Fusiliers Wielding Brimstone Glamours Pg. 120 ~ Table 23: Summary of Fusilier Special Abilities Pg. 121 ~ Appendices: Tales for Gonneslinger Lore in the Ongoing Campaign Pg. 122 ~ Appendix I: The Song of Roland Pg. 131 ~ Appendix II: The Fall of Castle Oldskull, the Masque of the Yellow Death Pg. 137 ~ About the Author Pg. 138 ~ Other Play Aids in the Castle Oldskull Supplement Series Pg. 142 ~ Legal Pg. 146 ~ Back Cover Sample file P a g e | 8 Chapter I: A Fistful of Silver [I-1] Description Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have your players dabbling in low anachronous-tech science fantasy, with anti-heroic gunslinger characters in the vein of Roland of Gilead, Solomon Kane, Lord John Roxton, Jack Sparrow, or even Don Kaye’s Merlin-D? What do you think would have happened if Gary Gygax, in creating his fantastical medieval history RPG, had never arbitrarily erased gunpowder from the heroic fantasy lexicon? And in what possible world, pray tell, do the legendary Cloud City of Laputa, the ever-fabled City of Brass, Jack the Giant Killer, imp-loaded hand cannons, Doctor Mirabilis, the King in Yellow, and Great Cthulhu coexist with one another? If you’ve never thought of these questions, let alone their potential answers, that is because you are sane. Fortunately, in the realms of Oldskull we long ago dispensed with sanity as a petty and needless obstacle, barring the way to endlessly strange and fun ideas. Herein you will find the Fusilier, an optional Player Character (or NPC) fighter sub-class, inspired in part by Arneson, Gygax and Perren, Howard, King, Poe, Browning, Hodgson, and Jonathan Swift. Secrets revealed in this tome include the following: Oldskull lore, binding old school fantasy firearms and asynchronous tech lore cohesively together; a Gygaxian history of guns in 1970s play; rules for introducing the wondrous Cloud City and its like; alchemical pulver (arcane gunpowder from out of another reality); medieval handgonnes; misfires; trick shots; kill shots; brimstone Glamours; and more. If you’ve ever looked for a way to introduce guns to the classic fantasy RPG in a limited fashion without ruining the lore of your campaign, you will find this supplement to your liking. Particularly if you’ve been drinking. This book has been written to interface directly with the Old School Essentials game, as derived from compatible systems under the rules originally published by Gygax (1974-1985), Holmes (1978), Moldvay (1981), Mentzer (1983-1986), and many others. Even if it’s just a one-shot, why not give your players a game experience they will never forget? A rather bizarre and thoroughly volatile supplement from Kent David Kelly and Wonderland Imprints, Only the Finest Works of Fantasy. (146 pages, 39,900 words.) Sample file P a g e | 9 [I-2] Introduction So how does one arrive at the concept of a fantastical dragon-slaying gunslinger? The original campaign idea was actually quite abstract. Considering classic modules such as S3 Expedition, DA3 Gods, and Arneson’s Frog Temple, I was looking for a way to bridge a classical fantasy world up to concepts of high technology through a series of gradual inventive tiers. The natural path toward eventual lasers, ultra-tech materials, and flying mecha would involve careful steps along a measured technological progression, with breakthroughs including medieval firearms, metal constructs, and dimensional travelers hailing from more sophisticated cultures of the beyond. This, in turn, led me to consideration of the examples of anachronistic technological acceleration which could be found within world myth, weird fiction, and folklore. The two major examples that inspired me were the City of Brass, as featured in the tales of the Arabian Nights; and Gulliver’s Travels, by Jonathan Swift, which introduces the flying city of Laputa. Putting these disparate yet similar concepts together, it stands to reason that both incidents of aberrant strangeness could possess the same cultural origin source … namely, a dimension-hopping civilization blessed with considerably more advanced technologies. These ideas were merged with William Hope Hodgson’s The Night Land, because – spoilers – Castle Oldskull proper is the creation of a futuristic civilization.