[Review] Sudden Siege for the Cup of Wonder (ACKs 3PP); Heroic Age

[Adventure]
Sudden Siege for the Cup of Wonder (2023)
Olle Skogren
Lvl 6

As I have stated before, the strength of an imprint can be gleaned from the character of the men marching under its banner. Today I present to you a treat, a scenario set in the mists of distant fantastic antiquity, and executed to the tune of trumpeting elephants, chanting empyrean mystics, roaring barbarian hordes, and the ring of iron on iron. The author of the sublime Temple of Hypnos, who had to bow out of last years NAP on other matters, has fortunately not been idle in the mean time.

The premise is 15 pages of pure S&S. The mystic CUP OF WONDER brings prosperity to a domain, and changes those who sup from it, imbuing them with MYSTIC POWER. Held in the SACRED VALE it is watched over by an order of mystics under the command of YAB ZIL MENGAR and his disciples known as THE IMMACULATES. The Warlord AGIS AQIZI “The Swordgiver” of the Leopard Tribe, marches on the valley with his BARBARIAN HORDE, seeking to reclaim the Cup that was stolen from his tribe two decades hence.

What is better then an open-ended scenario where you can take many different options from allying with either the barbarians to help lay siege to the Citadel or the mystics and break the siege OR DOUBLE CROSS EITHER PARTY, STEAL THE CUP, STEAL THE GOLD AND RUN! A scenario where you can do all that with fully articulated mass combat rules and the possibility of chartering a secondary army and fight it all out! What a fine idea. ACKs has the best mass combat rules in the OSR, and this is not close. The only contender is Chainmail. Why not capitalize on that strength and make it an integral part of the scenario? And then he did.

First, the prelude. A helpful overview. Tantalizing rumors. Exciting hooks. It is interesting that Olle hits on details that could be of use for the scale of the scenario (such as the population of the region), or the market class and population of the Citadel, but keeps a breakneck pace. There is a delicate balance between atmosphere and gameable content.

Each faction is fleshed out with faux-Howardian pen-strokes, imbuing them with barbaric vividity. Aqiz ‘moves like a tiger trapped in the body of an ox.’ Mengar, ‘a man so in tune with the world everyone seems a guest’. The stone giant siege engineer Väravamurdja. Incestuous wizardly siblings bound together with strange occultic rites. Details that catch the eye and fan the soul’s flame.

What Skogren has achieved with this scenario is to figure out or anticipate what details would be required to allow it to unfold in a variety of ways. The map of the army camp is barebones, but! it has patrols, it has tents and treasure of all the major players, there is a random encounter table, a timeline for the Siege unfolding if it is not interrupted, there are procedures for the loss of a barbarian fighting force’s banner, or the effect of the death of one or more of the major NPCs, delay of the siege etc. Infantry tactics are provided in case the army must deploy in the field (a definite possibility, should the PCs agree to work with the Mystics to hire a mercenary army). And then extra complications, concealed treasure, a treasonous officer prepared for execution. The one thing I would have liked is the placement of the camp in relation to the Citadel (EDIT: magnificently done in the seperate DM battlemap, as the Lord intended).

Opposite the Army there is of course THE CITADEL, and here too you are given enough material to work with. A timeline where everyone is during different times in the day, a procedure for supplicants, a table at night, and voila, there you have it, a suitable location for a heist. Supplement tactics for the NPCs, deadly traps to snare infidel defilers, monstrous guardians and assorted treachery. This entire segment comes across as something straight out of Conan. Please note secret door for alternative means of egress (although good luck finding it). There is no explicit vulnerability to the inhabitants of the Keep, but charm person or other means might facilitate such a thing. A lot of the protections of the Citadel rely on secrecy, making information gathering a prime resource.

Olle spitting straight fire. Potential treasure, which includes magic items (like say, the twin blades Sun and Moon wielded by the Monk master) should be on par for a party of 6th level characters, provided they are a bit ahem morally flexible. Supping from the cup itself is likely to alter characters permanently, which is also quite cool, and about on par with a magic item.

There’s a few caveats. I’m not experienced enough with the mass combat system to read just how strong both armies actually are, so what this confrontation between the two armies would look like is a mystery to me. Its quite possible the GM will be expanding the Citadel somewhat during play if the characters are going to be staying there for a prolonged period of time. I’d also recommend if you are using non-standard classes or other content like Merchant Prince or Mystic, that the source for these be described somewhere merely for ease of reference.

Its a bit rough, you are going to have to do some of the ole’ inference during play, I have it on good authority that it has not been tested in battle, but it has the soul and iron thews of a true warrior. On the promise of much iron biting iron, hijinks and cleave chains I shall callously rate it a spenglerian Four Stars, each of which should be treated as equivalent to a five out of five rating on Etsy or eighteen facebook likes, one hundred fifty-nine downdoots on the /osr reddit or perhaps a sly wink from an old lady that sits across from you in public transport.

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Sudden Siege is available here, for PWYW.