THE DARK CONQUERORS OF 16000 A.D.

Jack Vogel 2016

Every H.P.L. fan is familiar with "The Shadow Out of Time", in which Lovecraft lays out his past and
future history of the universe. We are followed in 5000 A.D. by the Cruel Empire of Tsan Chan, which is
itself followed (and, perhaps, destroyed by) the Dark Conquerors in 16000 A.D. Neither of these
realms, or whatever they are is at all detailed, both being essentially throw-aways by the author.
About all we know other than the dates, and the fact that the Empire is cruel and that the Conquerors
are dark (which is, if anything, an even more nebulous adjective than cruel) is that the intellectuals of
the Empire are called scholars, while those of the Conquerors are magicians.
TSAN CHAN
Christian Read has written an excellent Chaosium Monograph on and called "The Cruel Empire of Tsan
Chan" which I really love. This gives a nice detail of the Tsan Chan Empire which I will go over very
briefly. In or somewhat before 5000 A.D., Cthulhu and the other Great Old Ones rise and destroy most
of the earth, driving humanity into savagery and madness. The lone exceptions seem to be Greenland,
which if protected by its own warlike gods (a nod to the Hyperborea of Robert E. Howard and Clark
Ashton Smith?) and, much more importantly, China and some parts of southeast Asia, where ancient
wizards who had been living in an undeathly-state among us for thousands of years manage - barely- to
hold off the madness of the Great Old Ones, then to conquer and re-civilize (as slaves) the insane
'dreaming' humans around them. They then begin to fight wars with various mythos races, usually
starting by being beaten and gradually learning from their mistakes and gaining power as they go along.
First the Tcho-Tcho, then the Deep Ones, then finally the immensely powerful Xothians are all defeated,
though, by the thinnest of margins. They freely admit that they could not defeat Cthulhu, but he,
strangely, does not attack them; he appears to be waiting for something.
Along the way, the deathless wizards (Kuen-Yuen) engage in a desperate quest for additional power, as
they constantly find themselves overmatched by their enemies. The serpent people, ghouls,
Tsathoggua, Hastur and the Elder Things (I use this term rather than 'Old Ones' to avoid confusion) are
all contacted with varying degrees of success, until, in their final desperation, the Tsan Chanese wizards
cast the spells once used by Old Wizard Whateley to summon the spawn of Yog-Sothoth to their aid.
These last do finally defeat the Xothians, though at the terrible cost to the Kuen-Yuen (one wonders if
their ordinary human slaves could tell the difference) of surrendering the reigns of the empire to these
demon-gods, with the Kuen-Yuen sullenly fading into the background and becoming only the 'spiritual'
rulers of the empire, while the 'Mighty Children' of the outer gods control the real, temporal power.
In the universe in which the PCs of 5,000 A.D., adventure, this is the state of things. The badly
damaged and ramshackle Tsan Chan Empire survives, though it wonders how it has done so. All wait
to see what Cthulhu will do. Will he attack, or just continue to kill time in Rlyeh? Humanity knows
he and the other Old Ones, presumably, will leave earth eventually to go bother the universe elsewhere
(we are told that Cthulhu is an evangelist) but it could be tomorrow or a million years from now.

Others have gone similar routes. Online you can find a number of brief write-ups for the empire, many
of which are very similar and draw on Christian's work, often making the Empire somewhat more
technologically sophisticated, extending it into outer space, and having it trade and war with mythos
races among the stars.
The future seems pretty bleak. Humanity may be finally destroyed, of course, the Old Ones may leave,
or Cthulhu and his brethren may successfully evangelize us, turning humanity (or some other earth race)
into Great New Ones to continue Cthulhu's work.
There is also the dim possibility -and perhaps the Yithians are our strange allies in this- of humanity
passing on to a gloomy fairyland known of only as Zothique at the end of time. This is offered as
mankind's only real hope of salvation.
The Dark Conquerors, however, have received virtually no press. Other than a few places online where
the brief quotes about the Conquerors from 'The Shadow Out of Time' are republished, there is only
some speculation that the earth is really badly wrecked by the long wars with the Great Old Ones, and
that, perhaps, humanity now lives in domed cities. That's pretty much it though.
In all, I like what has gone before, and would expand on it into 16000 A.D., assuming a world where the
remnants of technology and the waning power of the Old Ones now war with humanity's rising psychic
and magical abilities, all against the backdrop of a ruined world long since spent.
THE WORLD OF 16000 A.D.
For starters, the Tsan Chan Empire no longer exists as such, having fallen into splinter states long ago,
these warring with each other and being gradually destroyed by the barbarian Conquerors. The skies
are colored sepia and on the brightest days the sun is only a glowing ochre smudge (Ash? Some magical
effect? The sun itself wearing out?). The days never get brighter than twilight; most nights are pitch
black. Seeing the moon or stars is so uncommon that it is usually considered to be a great omen when it
happens.
Many new and horrid life forms have emerged, most highly carnivorous and many with strange abilities.
Food is hard to come by, and the population of mankind has greatly decreased, with perhaps half a
billion souls remaining on the planet. While the madness and the 'dream' of the Great Old Ones are
gone, humanity's lot is, in some ways, little better than under their reign.
All of humanity itself has evolved in this time, as it would have to do to survive tens of thousands of
years of physical and psychic calamity. Humans are stronger, faster, tougher, smarter and more
psychically gifted. Most have at least some of the 'blood of the gods' in them, as the powerful Mighty
Children, who were the bastard children of the outer gods, had a tendency to proliferate and interbreed
ever more with the humans around them.
Some, however, have evolved into monstrous beings little
different than the original Old Ones themselves.
The earth itself is different even on a quantum level than ever before. The powers of the Old Ones and
the various mythos races have left their mark, and both magic and psychic powers are just easier to

learn and use than ever before in man's long history. The extradimensional instabilities that have
ruined the world have increased that ruination by giving humanity yet more powers (which word homo
sapiens has always translated as 'weapons') to wreck things even further.
So great has the quantum background energy become, that the world itself seems, in places, to have
taken on a rough, snarling sentience. The blue-black marshes and forests are somehow subtly
predatory, and traveling through them at night, even for bands of armed, capable wrriors, is unwise.
Dreams in these places are strange, animals seem to attack with an unlikely coordination, and
sometimes even the trees and grasses appear hostile to humanity, grasping and tripping those seeking
escape from some more tangible danger. At times even the deserts and oceans seem to come sleepily
alive in this manner, much more seldom does this happen, but with terrible ferocity when it does.
Interestingly, while magic power has greatly increased, magical knowledge has not. The present folk
can accomplish much more with a spell than the Tsan Chanese could -perhaps blowing up a house
rather than simply killing one or two individuals, simply because of the plentitude of quantum energy
(which seems to be ever on the increase) but the knowledge of the Tsan Chanese was far more intricate
and subtle, incorporating philosophical and mathematical principles unknown to the rude, chanting
magicians of the modern world. For this reason, their knowledge is sought after, usually to simply
perfect some killing sorcery, but sometimes for a more important reason as well.
But now, on to the Conquerors themselves.
THE DARK CONQUERORS
As with most of the civilizations that have covered Asia in its long, sad history, the Tsan Chan Empire,
which, through tremendous effort and suffering, had held off the power of the Old Ones, at last grew
moribund, and was destined to be destroyed by nomadic riders from the north. When the dream of
Cthulhu and its madness left them, the Kazaky, the Mahnghools and similar tribes north of Tsan Chan
gradually regained some of the ancient knowledge of their ancestors. As said previously, the beasts of
16000 A.D. were a diverse and fearsome lot, but some of them could and did serve as riding beasts.
Indeed, the tribes would have made it so to whatever extent possible, as the great steppes would allow
no other life. Food and water were simply too far apart for a man on foot to survive, and this also
made city dwelling in a low technology society impossible. And so, they learned again the arts of
hunting and animal husbandry and forging iron, and might have been little threat to even a decaying
Tsan Chan, until the coming of the men of the west.
The Neo-Hyperboreans had lived under the protection of their own gods (there is speculation that these
might simply have been non-sentient quantum waves) for long and long, quickly regaining the ways of
their ancestors after the fall of technological humanity. They learned again to hunt and fish and make
swords and dragon ships, and warred with each other as well as the occasional Xothian or Shoggoth who
swept upon their shores. Though these beasts might wreck great havoc, they were always themselves
slain in the end by berserkers with enchanted steel, and made great sagas to rival those of Grendel and
the dragon in the far past. The Mythos races learned to avoid their realm as a place where little could
be gained and much lost, as the madmen (a very different brand of madness indeed, than that brought

about by Cthulhu) of the north and west could fight them on a near-even footing.
How this bizarre state of affairs came about is unknown. Paranormal scholars of all ages had
commented on the relatively high level of magical happenings that supervened in Hyperborea. Some
said that the Northern Lights were in fact a mildly beneficent -if bloodthirsty- Elder God opposed to the
Old Ones, who fed off the bloody energies of the warring and human-sacrificing men of the icy lands,
and subtly directed their quantum energies. All that is really known is that the place was dangerous
for the Old Ones and their servants.
But what of it? There was little or nothing of value in those lands, and Tsan Chan was an ever more
pressing matter. They would get around to crushing these upstarts and their rebel divinity (if one
existed) when the time came, and if it never did, again, what matter? The little blue-green world with
its little yellow sun would burn out eventually, and that would be that.
And so, the Old Ones and their servants simply ignored the frozen men, forgot them, and eventually
went on to other worlds.
However, while the world might ignore the Neo-Hyperboreans, they could not forever ignore it.
Though the grim mythos gods largely left them alone, the changes that they and the Tsan Chanese
wrought upon the earth did not. Gradually, over thousands of years, the fish in the surrounding
oceans began to die off. Strange and poisonous gasses drifted in from the southern and eastern lands.
Not enough to slay a man with the blessing of the gods upon his flesh, but enough to gradually make
stags and seals and other animals of the hunt less and less. Even the earth rebelled, and the volcanic
activity always so common in the Boreal north became more common still, until what had once been
great hunting grounds were gradually laid to ash. It became obvious to the Neo-Hyperboreans that
they must die or look elsewhere for a home.
And so, as their ancestors had done to this land and many others, they built their dragon fleet and set
forth, looking for new places to conquer.
The southern land of Khanada was nearest to them, and so they began their search here, but this did not
go well. The Old One called Eetakwaa -one of the few who had not left earth- was never the NeoHyperborean's friend, considering as he did, that Hyperborea was in his domain, but not having the
strength to take it from the Elder God of the shifting lights. Thus the men of the west were not
welcome in his domain, and he sought to slay them with wendigos and all others of his servants as he
could. Even here their magic protected them to some extent, and they took on some of the tough
local tribesmen -Ynueets, Khanooks and Yangkeys, long wearied of Eetakwaa but unable to throw off his
tyranny- as thralls and mercenary warriors to replenish their ranks. This absorption of hardy peoples
into the armies of the Conquerors would become one of their hallmarks and great strengths, as war and
suffering depleted them, and so, despite the vengeful and petty Great Old One, their ranks were not
much diminished by the conflict.
But the Conquerors had come for new homes, not perpetual war, and so they abandoned the Wind
Walker's realm, and continued on across glacier and icy sea -itself a great Odyssey, and one that without

their northland magic they would never have survived- until they came to the land of the Mahnghools
and the Kazaky.
Though riders rather than shipwrights, these people were not greatly different from the NeoHyperboreans themselves, being tribesmen and hunters. They were far more numerous than the men
of the west, but not so powerful, as the Neo-Hyperboreans had increased their magical power over the
many millennia of praying and sacrificing to their mysterious, bloody god, while the steppe nomads had
lost their time within the Dream. The end result was that, before long, they had conquered the
nomads, and learned their ways of riding the stinghorse and leaplizard and other such beasts. They
taught the Mahnghools and the Kazaky the worship of the ancient northern gods -effectively a simple
but powerful means of channeling quantum energy- and the hybrid people grew mighty indeed.
THE SLOW DEATH OF TSAN CHAN
However, the same problem faced the hybrids of Hyperborea, Mahnghoolya and Kazakston that had
faced their Neo-Hyperborean forebears, and, indeed, now increasingly faced all of humanity. The
earth was slowly but simply dying. Farming was becoming a thing of the past, and nomadic life, though
still possible, was harder than ever. The lands and seas, for a plethora of reasons, which had once
given mankind a plentiful if hard-won sustenance, were now either incapable of so doing or in open
rebellion. The steppes had always been a precarious life, but as more and more poisonous gasses and
waters and horrible monsters swept them, they simply began to be uninhabitable.
Only one choice remained to the tribes.

They must go south, and conquer or die.

Though long a moribund nation because of the exhaustion caused by its ceaseless wars with the Great
Old Ones and their servants, Tsan Chan of 16000 A.D., was still a power to be reckoned with. Alone on
earth they maintained a technological civilization, and even some trade with other worlds on a relatively
equal footing. They possessed powerful magics, firearms, energy weapons, grav-tanks and nuclear
bombs, and alliances with alien powers. Their rulers were the bastard children of extra-dimensional
gods. In all their long history, though they had lost many battles, they had never lost a war, and Tsan
Chan had fought against some of the mightiest beings in the universe.
On the downside, with the Old Ones largely fled from Earth, the Tsan Chanese lacked purpose.
Psychologically, their war with the Old Ones was what had driven them, and now that drive was no
more. The Mighty Children and Kuen-Yuen had fought among themselves, dividing the empire into a
plethora of city-states. As the ecology and even the atmosphere of Earth continued to erode, the Tsan
Chanese had been forced to expend vast resources (which they no longer possessed) to cover their cities
in domes of transparent and near-impenetrable (so they thought) magical energies, and to create great
underground hydroponic gardens to provide food for those of their servants they considered necessary
to the survival of the realm. These gardens too, were slowly failing, despite a fearsome war by the
Kuen-Yuen sorcerer/scientists to keep them producing, but they were fast becoming the only
agricultural system left on earth.
Millions of common Tsan Chanese were culled, or driven into the blue-black wastelands.

Others fled

voluntarily, carrying in their hearts a burning resentment for the masters that they and their forefathers
had served and fought for so long and in so much suffering, only to be driven out and exterminated like
drone-rats when they were of no further use. Of these, some survived the grim new life in the angry
and semi-sentient wilds. Of the survivors, many went north, and encountered the tribesmen of the
plains. Barbarians being barbarians , some of the former Tsan Chanese were simply killed out of hand,
but others proved their worth with knowledge of the customs and technologies -and, most importantly,
the defenses- of Tsan Chan. Of these many became great viziers in the yurts of the nomads, offering
council regarding Tsan Chan, and their counsel was seldom friendly to the Empire.
And thus it was that the jarls and atamen, thanes and hetmen of the tribes of the north began to send
scouts mounted on their stinghorses and leaplizards and snailponies into the lands of the south, to
observe the cities under their smoky domes, and see what they might see.
Those of the scouts who returned brought back troubling tales.
The empire was indeed mighty. Though most of what few fields remained to it lay fallow, all others
long dead from chemical and spiritual poisons, its population was still great, it consorted with alien
monsters and demons, it had manlike-slaves made of silvery metal, and most of these were armed and
doubled as gigantic warriors. It had machines that flew and prowled the skies, and these and its foot
soldiers used weapons that cast lightnings and strange fires to bring death to their enemies in the field.
Even if the dark, domed fortresses could be reached, hope still seemed slim, for these cities mounted
yet greater engines of death that spat destruction from longer than a man could ride a stinghorse in a
day, and their walls and high glassy domes seemed thick and impenetrable.
And so it was that the nomads, bold people though they were, hesitated on the borders of the empire,
none among the clans wishing to be the first to be destroyed, enslaved or ensorcelled. All the while
they slew and skirmished with the escaping and hopeless Tsan Chanese who came into their realms.
OF ROLF DYLAN SUBOTAI AND MINGZHI DE JUEWANG, AND THE CONQUEST OF THE DARK
It was in those days, in the earliest years of the 17th millennium, that a prisoner was brought before the
great and terrible Rolf Dylan Subotai, Khan of the White River, Boyar of the Sun Riders, and High Sheriff
of the Counties of Crockett and Kublai. For long, the Sheriffs father had ordered that the sorcererpeople, as he called them, be captured and immolated on sight, should any enter his realm.
But Rolf, in addition to being a great fighter, was a wise and shrewd ruler. He saw that the pressure
upon his people from the misty deaths and the monstrous deaths was becoming too great. Someday,
and that probably soon, he would have to move south with them into the sorcerous ones lands, and it
was better to be prepared, if possible, with knowledge of the dangers that lay ahead.
And so, Rolf Dylan Subotai, Khan of the White River, Boyar of the Sun Riders, and High Sheriff of the
Counties of Crockett and Kublai, ordered his bogatyrs that they should first question any of the sorcerers
whom they captured, and, should any seem to be a shaman or vizier of the sorcerous ones, he should be
brought before the Sheriff, and there queried further.

So it came about that Mingzhi de Juewang was brought before Rolf, after much rough treatment, and
thrown upon his face at the boots of the Ataman. The terrible chieftain looked down upon him and
stated, in what he considered a rather soothing fashion, So, scum of the southern cities, I understand
though art a shaman. What wisdom canst thou pass to us regarding the military strength of thy people?
The trembling Mingzhi de Juewang, hearing what to his ears sounded like the bark of a dying
hyenosaur, and equally certain that the terrible northman would shortly devour him alive, could not find
his tongue, but only raised his eyes to stare at the man-fiend in horror.
Thinking this captive an idiot, Rolf Dylan Subotai ordered that he be slain immediately, and his captors
sent to patrol the glacier borders, as they were fools if they thought this fellow a scholar.
But, seeing the banishing wave of the Atamans hand, and discerning that he had scant seconds, if any,
to save his life, Mingzhi de Juewang, in utter despair, flung himself at the treasure chest, heaped with
gold and silver, that lay near the barbarians throne. Just as the High Sheriffs guards, suspecting
assassination, drew their sabers to rush upon the hapless Tsan Chanese, Mingzhi de Juewang grabbed a
silver coin, and, with a deft flick of his hand made it disappear! Seeing this, and sensing no magical
power with which he was familiar, Rolf raised his hand and with a single sharp syllable that could have
shattered copper, ordered his guards to freeze.
For a moment, Rolf Dylan Subotai, Khan of the White River, Boyar of the Sun Riders, and High Sheriff of
the Counties of Crockett and Kublai, stared daggers at Mingzhi. Then, in a voice only slightly less loud
and deadly, said, in the language of his people, Very well, southern wizard, thou has made the High
Sheriffs silver disappear, and thus earned for thyself the death of the leech hounds. However, I shall
be merciful, and spare thee this, in which case thou shalt suffer only decapitation, if thou usest thy
powers to return my silver to me. Here the barbarian awaited the results of his words.
Mingzhi de Juewang, understanding not a single word of the northerners savage tongue, but being no
fool nonetheless, made another deft move of his hands, and lo the coin reappeared! Seeing that the
chieftain waited still, with a look that had Mingzhi thinking that the monstrous fellow was only
considering whether to have him boiled or roasted, he made another three silver coins appear. At this,
the Ataman raised his eyebrows in amazement, remained still for the longest moment of Mingzhis life,
smiled , burst out laughing, and, before he knew how it happened, Mingzhi de Juewang was fighting to
avoid choking, as the immensely strong Rolf Dylan Subotai, Khan of the White River, Boyar of the Sun
Riders, and High Sheriff of the Counties of Crockett and Kublai, was shoving a goblet of the dismal
tasting beer of the steppe people into his mouth. Mingzhi was attempting to fight choking, all the while
thanking the gods of Tsan Chan that he still had had those three more coins sewn into the lining of his
sleeve.
So began the tenure of Mingzhi de Juewang as jester to Rolf Dylan Subotai, Khan of the White River,
Boyar of the Sun Riders, and High Sheriff of the Counties of Crockett and Kublai. He quickly learned the
Khans language, and, through his cleverness, arose first to cupbearer, then to vizier and finally to grand
vizier in the strange court of the northern barbarians. He made this last rise by advising the High
Sheriff well at the critical point of his career.

For, on a cold, winter night, some six years after Mingzhi de Juewang had first been enslaved by the
northmen, Rolf sat in his snailpony hide yurt, so massive that it served him as a palace, and debated with
his boyars, hetmen and deputies whether the time to invade the cruel empire of Tsan Chan had finally
arrived.
The tribe was migrating above one of the border castles of one of the Mighty Children of Tsan Chan, a
monstrous nobleman called Ta Shui Xuyao Ta De Diren Biancheng Yinying -He Who Takes His Enemies
Into the Shadows. Here the tribe was starving, and it was known through spies that the castle held
much fine indigo grain and salted lampreycow beef stored up for the winter. The nights were so cold
and the hunting so poor that even the laser-wolves had taken to attacking the tribes corrals, so
desperate were they for food.
Within a month, the tribe might be no more.
A young thane and deputy, Sven Buga Anchin, counseled that they should hold, and take their chances
raiding the other tribes on the far side of the frozen river, for the castle was that of a demon, and what
man should face it?
Silence held for a moment, as Rolf considered, but Mingzhi, who was starving no less than the others,
and though terror constricted his throat, spoke up. May it please thee o Sheriff and Khan, I have some
poor knowledge of these matters. Thou mightest well attack thine enemy here and now, as thou hast
him at the disadvantage.
At this, Sven Buga Anchins eyes flashed with rage. Silence thou dunghill leech hound! he cried in a
terrible voice, What place has thy simpering voice in the councils of thy betters? And what knowledge
hast thou of things warlike? Is it not true that thou didst work ordering the flow of the bodily excretions
of thy demonic masters through the rivers of filth? What manner of wisdom is that for the Boyar,
Khan, and High Sheriff who chose thee as his worthless slave?
All eyes were now on Mingzhi, who trembled inwardly, for he knew he had best speak well now, or he
would likely never speak again. It is true, o noble thane and deputy, the Tsan Chanese replied, That
my duties were those of sewage flow engineer, and thus no worthy subject for the ears of noble
warriors like thyselves. However, because of these humble and meager duties, I am familiar with the
sewage and draining systems of the domed castle of He Who Takes His Enemies Into the Shadows. It is
built on a fairly standard imperial design, which involves great caverns into which, during the winter, the
sewage is redirected.
At this, Rolf Dylan Subotai, Khan of the White River, Boyar of the Sun Riders, and High Sheriff of the
Counties of Crockett and Kublai, wise soldier that he was, raised his eyebrows slightly, believing he
might just be on the verge of hearing great wisdom indeed, as well as a considerable stroke of good luck.
The Sheriff only spoke quietly though, saying, Speak thy peace Mingzhi de Juewang, my vizier, and let
none interrupt. This was said in the deadly quiet that meant Rolf was serious indeed, and all,
including Sven Buga Anchin, held their tongues.

Live forever, o my Sheriff! said Mingzhi de Juewang, -and meant it wholeheartedly, Because the cold
would plug the sewers, and thus make the domed castle unlivable, the waste falls into these caverns
where it is frozen for the winter. In the spring when the thaw and rains come, the sewage will be dug
out by slaves, and taken to the fields as fertilizer. But until that time, one who knows the design of the
castle can make his way through it, and into the inner keep itself. The Tsan Chanese do not fear this,
as they believe that few enemies would attack in winter, and that the northmen, knowing nothing of
such matters, would never think to do so, nor find their way through the many twists and deadfalls even
should they so attempt.
Again and even more quietly, Rolf Dylan Subotai spoke. And thou, Mingzhi de Juewang, could lead us
through this maze of filth, and into the domed castle of the demon?
I do so believe, o Sheriff, he replied.
Then, stated Rolf Dylan Subotai, Khan of the White River, Boyar of the Sun Riders, and High Sheriff of the
Counties of Crockett and Kublai, Thou art, from this moment, my Grand Vizier, and Chiefest Wiseman
and Shaman of the Tribes of the White River, the Sun Riders, and the Counties of Crockett and Kublai.
However, the Sheriff added with a stern look of his violet-grey eyes, Shouldst thou be leading us into
ill fortune, these offices shall be taken from thee, and thyself given into the merciful care of Sven Buga
Anchin, Thane and Deputy, and to such penances as he shall require of thee.
As the High Sheriff so wills, replied Mingzhi, regretting more than a little the rashness of his words.
But, as it came about, he need not have worried. Alongside his Khan and at the head of twenty two
other stout warriors of the tribes, Mingzhi guided his adopted people into the heart of the castle, where
the Tsan Chanese lieutenant-commander and all of his troops were slain, and the gates opened to the
starving warriors, their mounts, leech hounds, and families. The Tsan Chanese peasants within became
slaves of the tribes first to be called the Dark Conquerors, for they had risen through the dark and
conquered.
And their slaves, though slaves they remained, lived then better than ever they had done as citizens of
the Empire.
True to his word, Rolf Dylan Subotai, Khan of the White River, Boyar of the Sun Riders, and High Sheriff
of the Counties of Crockett and Kublai, retained Mingzhi de Juewang at the rank of Grand Vizier, and
Chiefest Wiseman and Shaman of the Tribes of the White River, the Sun Riders, and the Counties of
Crockett and Kublai, and many more rewards of gold, silver, and wives were heaped upon him as well.
OF HE WHO TAKES HIS ENEMIES INTO THE SHADOWS
The wrath of He Who Takes His Enemies Into the Shadows, lesser-prince of Tsan Chan, on hearing that
his castle (even though it was a minor one) had fallen to the stinking barbarians of the north, was great
beyond belief. Not only had he lost a holding (though a minor one), but far more importantly, he had
been the first ever of the Tsan Chan nobility to suffer such a humiliation, and the loss of face was
enormous. He had a whole village of peasants slaughtered (the loss of revenue from this would be

greater even than the loss of the border keep had cost him, but the point had to be made and the
formalities observed) and immediately set forth with his entire army to deal with the upstart invaders.
The feudal levies of He Who Takes His Enemies Into the Shadows were not inconsiderable. Eight
hundred peasant soldiers (much relieved that they were not part of the ritual slaughter, but still
somewhat concerned that they had to march north to fight the barbarians) armed with sword and
arquebus, made up only the field troops. More important were his own two hundred stinghorse
cavalry (made up of renegade northman mercenaries) his two one-man grav flitters armed with gauss
rifles, and his heavy grav-tank armed with laser cannon. Most important of all were his two liegemen,
also Mighty Children of the outer gods. These were Troubled Are Those Who Hear My Name, and Dark
Fire Consuming, both were young, but skilled warriors and sorcerers, and armed with demon axes.
Against these, the tribes of Rolf Dylan Subotai, Khan of the White River, Boyar of the Sun Riders, and
High Sheriff of the Counties of Crockett and Kublai, could muster two thousand armored stinghorse
knights including his bogatyrs, hetmen, dvor and deputies, three hundred fast riding Snailpony scouts,
and perhaps six hundred Leaplizard archers. While their numbers were greater than those serving the
Tsan Chanese prince, Rolf was well aware that the weapons and sorcery possessed by the enemy were
far beyond anything his troops could muster.
And so did Rolf call his new Grand Vizier into the Sheriffly presence, and speak to him thus. Well,
Mingzhi de Juewang to the rank of Grand Vizier, and Chiefest Wiseman and Shaman of the Tribes of
the White River, the Sun Riders, and the Counties of Crockett and Kublai, it appears that thou hast
indeed granted us truly victory over our enemies, but it may be a victory as brittle as an ebon willow
wand. Behold, our enemies come upon us, and shall be here in a fortnight, and their power is such
that I fear we cannot resist. Shall we leave this place, and return to freeze upon the steppes, or shall
we stay here to be blasted by the fearsome sorceries of the enemy? What say you?
Mingzhi de Juewang bowed his head and replied, O Sheriff, I have striven to serve you well, and will
endeavor to do so still, but this service shall take time. Grant me three days time, and, if I have not
served you well within that time, takest thou my head as recompense for my failure.
It shall be so, said Rolf, but, as thou has served me well in the past, I shall grant thee a favor if thou
shouldst succeed. What favor wouldst thou ask?
Mingzhi de Juewang considered for a moment, and then spoke thus, I would ask, O Sheriff, that thou
wouldst grant that the head of one person, within thy power, be stricken from its shoulders at my
request.
Rolf Dylan Subotai, Khan of the White River, Boyar of the Sun Riders, and High Sheriff of the Counties of
Crockett and Kublai, now himself considered for a space. Very well, was the great Khans reply, Save
only that it not be the head of myself, or one of my sons, it shall be as thou ask.
With that, the Grand Vizier bowed and departed from the High Sheriffs presence, and made for a far
tower of the border castle that had once belonged to He Who Takes His Enemies Into the Shadows, who

now marched with a mighty host at his back to retake it.

One thing that should by now be clear about Mingzhi de Juewang is that he was no fool. Whats
more, he seldom rested. Throughout his life he had ever striven to understand and take advantage of
the elements that surrounded him. Four silver coins had once saved his life, and the knowledge of a
sewer had only recently made his fortune. He did not intend to lose all when other weapons might be
at hand.
And thus, the warriors and nobles of Rolf Dylan Subotai, Khan of the White River, Boyar of the Sun
Riders, and High Sheriff of the Counties of Crockett and Kublai, had wondered and muttered among
themselves as they had seen the Grand Vizier the sorcerer of the sewers, as some had begun to call
him, though not loudly, nor to his face- run hither and yon through the castles halls and chambers, ever
searching for something- until, one day he had apparently found it. Then the Grand Vizier was almost
never seen. He had retreated into a lower room of one of the dungeons of the keep, and would stay
there sometimes for days, having even his meals sent to him, coming forth only when the orders of Rolf
would so command him.
For Mingzhi knew that the fortresses of Tsan Chan often contained strange and powerful things, and he
had found here something wondrous indeed.
For it seemed that, long before He Who Takes His Enemies Into the Shadows had come to be lord over
this castle, it had belonged to one of the Kuen-Yuen, one of the evil, deathless scholars who in earlier
times, before the coming of the Mighty Children, had ruled Tsan Chan. This sorcerer had been
assassinated, and the keep not long after deserted. But the keep held his wisdom still, in the form of
four mighty tomes of terrible magic. Spells that could contact the elder gods.
Within a month, the wisdom of Mingzhi de Juewang had become twentyfold what it was. He had
learned much indeed, of the nature of the gods and their wars, and of how it was that the strange men
of the north had been able to survive sane and intact, when nearly all other men had fallen to death or
madness or magical destruction. It could only have been an elder god that had saved them.
And, deep within the tomes of that forgotten and wicked scholar, lay the formula for contacting such a
being.
Mingzhi de Juewang would now undertake the most perilous adventure of his long and not
uninteresting life. He would contact one of the elder ones, the foes of the progenitors of He Who
Takes His Enemies Into the Shadows and all its brethren.
A day after the Grand Vizier had his last audience with the Khan, the Tsan Chanese servants fled
screaming from the dungeons beneath the keep. When their northman masters went in to find out
why, they too retreated in haste, and reported to Rolf Dylan Subotai, Khan of the White River, Boyar of
the Sun Riders, and High Sheriff of the Counties of Crockett and Kublai, that the heretofore dark and
dismal dungeon was now filled with strange and rainbow colored lights, much like their ancestors had
spoken of the Aurora Borealis itself. Surely this was some attack of the Mighty Children, or some other

devilish agents of Tsan Chan?

Mortal men could not fight demonic sorcery.

To this the Khan and High Sheriff replied, My shaman goes about his work.
remain.

Surely they must flee?

Ignore it.

We shall

In three days, Mingzhi de Juewang came forth from the dungeons. He looked to have aged thirty
years. He stumbled, and his hair was white. His eyes were forever more a brilliant coruscating fire,
and blood dripped from them, and it is said that men who looked into them faced death from strange
accidents not long after. From that day forward, Mingzhi de Juewang was blind, though it was said
that he saw many strange things that other men did not.
The first to see him was a young Ilkhan guard who found him stumbling, feeling his way along the walls
in the upper dungeons. The young man was not unwise himself, and guessed something of what must
have happened. Without a word, he caught up the Tsan Chanese vizier, and took him to the throne
room of the High Sheriff.
Rolf Dylan Subotai, Khan of the White River, Boyar of the Sun Riders, and High Sheriff of the Counties of
Crockett and Kublai, old and hardened warrior though he was, took pity on the sight of his servant and
friend, and called for cushions and a goblet of fuchsia wine to be brought to him, and did not question
Mingzhi de Juewang until the other had recovered somewhat, and deigned, himself, to speak.
Indeed, o my Sheriff, the old vizier spoke, I have found the answers that thou seekest. I have strode
upon many strange paths and questioned many terrible beings, and the cost to me has been dear. But
not forlorn! For the gods have granted thy entreaty and bade me speak thus.
Go forth and strike boldly, sayeth the One of the Coruscant Lights, who protected thy fathers in the dim
past, and seek no strange strategies nor weapons, but rely on the enchanted arms and armor of thy
fathers, and upon the gods of thy fathers, and upon thine own courage, for the universe changes again,
and these things again come into their own, whereas the gods of thine enemies grow distant, and their
time is near gone.
With that, Mingzhi de Juewang fell silent, and seldom spoke again, save to order meat or drink, or to
warn of great danger to the tribes, though he lived long thereafter.
Of the battle that came between the hosts of Rolf Dylan Subotai, Khan of the White River, Boyar of the
Sun Riders, and High Sheriff of the Counties of Crockett and Kublai, and of He Who Takes His Enemies
Into the Shadows, it was less battle than slaughter, and the Tsan Chanese were utterly defeated.
Strange failures afflicted their mighty weapons. Their grav tanks turret froze at the beginning of the
fight, and it was of little effect. Unexpected heavy clouds forced the flitters to fly too low, and their
pilots were slain, feathered like birds with the enchanted arrows of the Dark Conquerors bows.
Last of all to fall was He Who Takes His Enemies Into the Shadows, who fought valiantly to the end,
taking near eighty warriors of the Dark Conquerors with him, slain by and slaying, at the last, Sven Buga
Anchin, Thane and Deputy, each pierced upon the blade of the other.

And it was only after this victory that Mingzhi de Juewang spoke again, this time to ask the favor that
his Sheriff and Khan had granted. For he asked that the heads of He Who Takes His Enemies Into the
Shadows (he had three) should be stricken from their respective shoulders. These he took into his
strange dungeon chamber, from which now he seldom if ever came forth and, it is said, with strange
potions and spells, breathed life into them again, and conversed with them from that day forth, on
matters philosophical, and on the ultimate fates of the Dark Conquerors and of Tsan Chan.
And, in the end, the Dark Conquerors came and went, as all conquerors do. It is said that they were
the last civilization of men to live upon mans home world of earth, where only beetles and arachnids
would follow thereafter.
Where they ultimately went remains a puzzle, for the archaeological record of them is strangely silent
after about another eleven thousand years. Some say they destroyed each other, being a warlike
people, who fell upon themselves when they had no other foes. Others say that they perished when
earth became completely uninhabitable for man. Still others maintain that the beetle-like race that
followed must have exterminated the Dark Conquerors, though the fossil record is strangely scant
regarding any contact between the two races.
And yet, a few others hold that they were not destroyed but succeeded in some ultimate way. That
guided by Mingzhi de Juewang, whom they came to call Ikhnii Ilbech, the First Magician, and others
who followed him, the Dark Conquerors went on to become powerful quantum beings, much like the
Djinni of ages past, and it is said, that, when the time came for the Great Old Ones to rise yet again, the
Dark Conquerors used their knowledge to escape them, they and all mankind and those of his allies that
remained.
It is said that they fled through a door that the Great Old Ones, for all their power, could not enter, to a
gloomy fairyland called Zothique, which men would call home until the end of time.

OKAY, ENOUGH WITH THE EPIC BACKSTORY.

WE GET IT.

NOW, HOW DO YOU PLAY THIS GAME?

HISTORY OF TSAN CHAN

For starters, the most important document you will need is NOT Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu, or at least
not necessarily. We'll get to why in a minute.
Instead, the most important document is The Cruel Empire of Tsan Chan, by Christian Read. This is
available here http://www.chaosium.com/the-cruel-empire-of-tsan-chan-pdf/ and it is a Chaosium
Publication, so they get their money either way. You could play The Dark Conquerors of 16000 A.D.
without it, and, in fact, it is mostly background with few actual rules, but you would lose out on Christian
Read's history of 5,000 A.D.+, which I think is marvelous, and absolutely necessary. But do what you
want.
SO WHAT GAME SYSTEM?
I want this to be compatible with Basic Role Playing and Call of Cthulhu (hereinafter CoC/BRP) as well
as Original Dungeons & Dragons and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (hereinafter ODD/ADD) and their
various clones (including Swordsmen & Skeletons, my one page OD&D clone, so I am offering quick rules
for each of these major systems. Please note that while I am not including rules for later editions of
CoC/BRP and ODD/ADD simply because the later editions of each of these games simply add complexity
to the earlier ones, and so they are easily forwards compatible.
Please also note that these rules are intended to be brief.
the applicable system documents, as below.

For the most part I will just be referencing

OKAY, SO WHAT GAME SYSTEM?

This is easily playable as either any version of D&D or of BRP. The only question is whteher you want a
more high-fantasy/scifi game, or a grittier, more sword & sorcery one.
0RIGINAL D&D AND ITS CLONES
For a high fantasy/sci fi, very heroic feel, I would go with some version of D&D. For this, obviously, you
will need some version of D&D or a clone. I would suggest Labyrinth Lord(C) by Goblinoid Games,
Swords & Wizardry(C) by Mythmere Games, or my own Swordsmen & Skeletons(C) by Dragon Trove
LLC., as the best options. My own game: http://www.rpgnow.com/product/177317/Swordsmen-Skeletons (plug follows) is good for this because it is all of one page long and you can pay nothing for it if
you like, but any of these are equally useful.
Now, you will also need rules for Lovecraftian characters, monsters, spells and other effects. For an
ODD/ADD based game, your best option is Realms of Crawling Chaos(C) by Goblinod Games, an
excellent product, and onethat is simple and made to be compatible with old school rules.
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/87813/Realms-of-Crawling-Chaos-Labyrinth-Lord,
These are the basic rules needed, with the understanding that the rules herein trump everything, and

Realms of Crawling Chaos(C) trumps the D&D or clone rules. However, this will seldom become an issue,
as these rules are, of course, all meant to fit in a framework very like what we are doing here.
CALL OF CTHULHU AND BASIC ROLEPLAYING
For a more low fantasy, sword & sorcery, and yet perhaps more scholarly feel, CoC/BRP is probably the
better choice. Personally, I would use the rules from CoC 2ed., to include spells, monsters and magic
items. However, understand that magic works differently now, and that the time of the Great Old
Ones has largely passed, at least for the time being.
Thus, while spells will tend to be more powerful (we'll deal with this shortly) many of the spells to
summon or contact deities and beings may no longer be of any use, as the creature involved simply is no
longer around. Exactly which gods may still be hanging around is up to the game master. If you follow
this work as canon, then, for example, Ithaqua is still around, and Cthulhu isn't. I would generally say
that the weaker and more earthbound deities would more likely be present, while the more
powerful/cosmic ones would not. Exceptions would be Yog-Sothoth, Nodens, Azathoth and the other
outer gods, who would be still here inasmuch as they ever were, though probably not Nyarlathotep,
who The Cruel Empire of Tsan Chan(C) indicates is either gone or at least unknown to humans of the
present era.
However, adding in many additional monsters will be necessary. Lots of changes and evolutions have
taken place since the coming/leaving of the Great Old Ones, and many new creatures, or new forms of
very old creatures have come into being. Among other things, djinni and all of the various genie subraces have come back into being, in that some of the Dark Conqueror magicians are evolving into
creatures very like them. Also many oddball animals can be lifted as direct conversions from D&D
monsters. Stinghorses have the statistics of giant scorpions, for example, though they may look very
different.
Also, this world is chockfull of ruins (read 'dungeons') of both a magical and technological nature.
Everything from a Tsan-Chanese wizard's tower to a Mi-go mining base to the ancient NORAD defense
computer (itself slowly evolving from mere sentience to demigod status, and very frustrated about why
it can't find any U.S. citizens to defend) is up for grabs, and those ruins are, of course, just chock-full of
horrific monsters. These monsters are any mixture of natural evolution, aliens, monstrous spawn of
the outer gods, genetic and magical mutation, and any combination of the above. If you want to
maintain some mystery in the game and annoy your players, one well known GM's trick is start with a
standard monster from your system, but give it a different appearance This neat little trick is equally
applicable to the ODD/ADD or CoC/BRP versions of the campaign:
Basic Form (1d20)
1 Octopus
2 Spider
3 Hermit Crab
4 Worm/Slug
5 Mantis

Traits (1d20)
Crystalline
Tentacles
Scaled/Furred (whichever is not natural to the form)
Scorpion-like Tail
Eye Stalks

6 Tiger
7 Centipede
8 Gorilla
9 Shark
10 Wolf
11 Rhinoceros
12 Lizard
13 Bat
14 Eagle
15 Rat
16 Snake
17 Clam
18 Walrus
19 Beetle
20 Roll twice and combine

Iridescent Colors
Long Tusks
Insect-like Mandibles
Long Mane
Spines
Carapace
Multi-legged
Antennae
Complex Eyes
Brilliantly Colored/Glowing
Striped or Spotted
Translucent
Shadowy
Slimy
Crested

Thus, for example, a creature with all the stats of a mummy that nonetheless looks like a giant
crystalline slug could really give your players fits.
For all of these reasons, the CoC/BRP GM will want The Manual of Monsters(C), by Chris Tooley, an
excellent conversion of the AD&D Monster Manual(C) to CoC/BRP statistics.
http://basicroleplaying.org/files/file/413-manual-of-monsters/
PLAYER CHARACTERS
For D&D and its clones, all of the characters from whatever rule book you are are using can fit well
within this setting, right up to and including clerics and paladins of the elder gods. Some Tsan-Chanese
characters would tend to be more technological, and thus might be good fits for Mutant Future(C)
characters (see below).
Characters from the Dark Conqueror races have some differences. First, they are very tough, because
they have had greater exposure to a less malefic form of magic than the Tsan-Chanese have, and
because their lives involve a LOT of combat. For these reasons, two changes are appropriate:
1. Dark Conqueror Player Characters start the game at third level. From the cradle up, this race has
had to fight to survive. Even ordinary NPC Dark Conqueror warriors, magicians and priests start at
second level. Only children, peasants and slaves will be first level.
2. The Dark Conquerors all have some magical energy that they can tap into. For ODD/ADD, this is
represented by a pool of "magic points" that can be spent to modify any D20 roll that directly effects the
character. These start out as 2d6 points (regardless what level the character starts out as) per game
day, and go up by +1d2 per character level. These points can modify saving throws, rolls to hit, rolls to
be hit, skill rolls, or anything else the GM thinks is reasonable. This represents the character tapping in
to the power of the god of the shifting lights, his own rude, barbaric gods, or just the quantum
background energy, as the GM wishes to interpret things. Note that this is available to any Dark
Conqueror character who has lived with the tribes from birth, regardless of racial origin.

For CoC/BRP, the Dark Conqueror character's magic point allotment is exactly that: his magic points as
calculated in CoC/BRP. This is generally equal to his POW score. It rises or falls, as the character's
POW changes in the game. Note that these can be used on a 1/5 basis with skill rolls or other d100
rolls. Please note also, that with CoC/BRP, magic items or spells that contain magic points for use in
spells normally can be used to bolster die rolls in this manner, though this is up to the GM's discretion.
Tsan Chanese characters would be as per The Cruel Empire of Tsan Chan(C) for CoC/BRP campaigns,
though a Tsan Chanese of any level who found himself in the lands of the Dark Conquerors would
probably have in his possession some reasonably potent magical or technological item, for two reasons,
first, because he would need it just to survive and be playable, and second, because the crushing Tsan
Chanese Empire would be almost impossible to escape as a renegade (which is the most likely
explanation for a citizen of the empire to be outside Tsan Chan) if the character didn't have some
considerable advantage. How an escaped sewage digger slave from the border castle of He Who Takes
His Enemies Into the Shadows came into the possession of an AK-47 and a Geiger counter is, of course,
the stuff that character backgrounds are made of. Loyal servants of the Empire, of course, would
probably be properly equipped if in the territory of the barbarians.
ODD/ADD Tsan Chanese characters would all get a bonus (based on their philosophy of the Way) of +3
to saves against fear, madness, mind control or illusion.
Other than this, the only differences would be that the Kuen-Yuen are all magic users, priests, or magic
user priests, and that they cannot be killed other than by magical attacks or silver.
Mighty Children player characters, if allowed, should start the game as fourth level fighters. They
cannot begin the game as spell casters. Mighty Children are often huge and horrific monsters with a
Charisma score of 1d6 in ODD/ADD terms, and Dark Conquerors would probably try to kill one on sight if
they found him alone. Those who find their way to the barbarian lands as independent agents, however,
should be of the somewhat weaker but more human type.
These start with three rolls from the table below, and gain one at each level evenly divisible by three:
1
Cast lightning bolt once per day.
2
Can read the stars. The GM must answer one question honestly per game session.
3
Any melee attack he makes requires a save vs. paralytic poison.
4
Hound's nose; +6 to saves to sniff out opponents.
5
-2 to all attacks and actions in sunlight, and roll twice more on this table.
6
Charm person twice per day.
7
Strength Score is 18+1d6.
8
Surprises on 1d6 roll of 1-3.
9
Breathes underwater and swims at double normal speed.
10 Gaze turns one target to stone twice per day, save applies.
11 Intelligence Score is 18+1d6.
12 Wisdom Score is 18+1d6.
13 Immune to fear, illusion and mind control of any type.
14 Only damaged by silver or magical attacks.

15 Cast Cone of Frost Once per day.

16 Drains one level in melee in addition to ordinary damage.
17 Howls like a wolf at will, all creatures of animal intelligence and lower must save or flee.
18 Dexterity Score is 18+1d6.
19 Strikes like a snake. +1 attack per round.
20 Constitution Score is 18+1d6.
21 Casts Wall of Fire 2 times per day
22 Casts Sleep 3 times per day.
23 Lamia-blood: Attack drains 1 wisdom from target, adds to Character's score today only.
24 Casts Fear 2 times per day.
25 +2 to hit with all ranged weapons.
26 Charisma Score is 18+1d6.
27 Casts Invisibility at will. Becomes visible on attacking.
28 Casts fireball 1 time per day.
29 +4 on rolls to hide in darkness or shadowy areas.
30 Casts Phantasmal force 3 times per day.
31 Detach one eyeball. Moves 18", can see through it at any distance, regenerates next day.
32 Two tentacles, each of which can attack (1d4 + strength bonus) and manipulate objects.
33 Immune to all poisons and acids.
34 Animates the dead once per day.
35 Always invisible, and fights invisibly (+4 AC against enemies that cant see invisible).
36 Summons a rock spirit (fights as a hill giant under his command) once per day, for one battle.
37 Takes 2x damage from fire and roll twice more on this table.
38 Shadow appears monstrous. +3 to rolls to influence through intimidation.
39 Crushing claw, extra attack for 1d6+Strength bonus each round. Save to break free.
40 50% chance to be instantly reborn completely healed each time slain.
41 Heals 3 hit points per round from all but fire or acid.
42 Changes to an amoeba-like creature at will. Fits through any opening, cannot drown.
43 Flies 24" per round.
44 Hound-like snout; faultless tracker.
45 Each enemy hit must save or be immobilized (up to 4 enemies at once).
46 Instead of attacking, can generate 2d6 electric shock to all adjacent, save for half.
47 +3 to hit and damage after his blood is drawn. Save after battle or attacks his friends.
48 Immune to disease. Melee attack causes disease; save each round or unconscious.
49 Air Elemental Servants: Once per day can cause a flying vessel or creature to crash.
50 Water Elemental Servants: Once per day can cause a seaborne vessel or creature to sink.
51 Once per day, all adjacent foes save or fall unconscious, reviving after the battle.
52 Despairing Song casts Hold Person twice per day.
53 Death Gaze 3 times per day. Opponent must save or die.
54 50% immune to hostile spells.
55 Enemies save when hit in melee or flee in terror.
56 Enemies save when hit in melee or flee in paralyzed for one hour.
57 25% of hostile spells reflected back on caster.
58 75% immune to hostile spells, damaged only by magic.
59 Always wins initiative.
60 Teleports without error 1 time per day, with normal equipment load.

61 Immune to curses and cursed objects.

62 Can change form to one of two animal shapes at will. No abilities except mode of travel change.
63 Once per turn, can emit a shriek causing all within hearing -2 to hit in melee, no save.
64 Never gets lost or disoriented, can see and fight normally in total darkness.
65 Manticore's Tail: 24 tail spikes, throws 6/round as arrows.
66 Hideous: If he surprises, his side gets 3 free rounds of action.
67 Can return the dead to life once per month, in a creepy, undead form (Charisma halved).
68 Doppleganger: 25% immune to hostile spells; can appear as any person.
69 Takes double damage from silver and enchanted weapons, roll twice more on this table.
70 Unerringly smells precious metals and gems within 100', no matter what blocks his scent.
71 Can command all nearby sea creatures to fight for him, no save.
72 Can command all nearby insects and arachnids to fight for him, no save.
73 Can always detect a lie, regardless of magical protections.
74 Cannot lie; roll twice more on this table.
75 Can command all nearby undead, no save.
76 Splits into 3 copies, one battle per day, has the average hit points of all when recombined.
77 Knows the powers and history of anything he touches, without error.
78 Casts Haste twice per day.
79 Metallic skin: improves his armor class by 4. Can still wear armor.
80 Can devour the brain of anyone he slays, and retain all its memories for one hour (no spells).
81 Can possess any human or animal in sight unless it successfully saves, until dawn.
82 Half of any damage he causes in melee heals his own wounds (cannot go above maximum).
83 Military Genius: All troops under his command gain a +2 to hit and damage.
84 Any level 1-3 spell cast at it is ineffective, only healing the character for spell level x1d6 hp.
85 Can spit acid at one foe for 1d4 x level damage, save for half, instead of a melee attack.
86 Hold Person on one enemy in melee range per round, in addition to other attacks.
87 Runs at triple human speed.
88 Cactches any first or second level spells cast at it, and holds them for later use, until dawn.
89 Undetectable by magic, +1 Intelligence and Wisdom.
90 Can leap up to one mile, seven times per day.
91 Never surprised for any reason.
92 Always receives double hit points per level.
93 Incorporeal (immune to non-magical damage, pass through obstructions) 3 rounds per day.
94 +2 to all saving throws.
95 -3 to all saves against mind control and illusion, roll twice more on this table.
96 +2 to hit with all melee weapons, roll once more on this table.
97 Can speak with the dead at will.
98 +3 reaction with all independent Mythos races (D&D GMs consult the CoC rules for this).
99 His shadow fights for him once per day, as he fights, returning after the battle, even if slain.
00 +2 to Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, and Constitution; -1d6 to Charisma.
Note that this table was inspired by the Chaos Features table from early printings of Rune Quest, and
the Gateway Bestiary referenced it as the chart for random abilities of the Spawn of Yog-Sothoth,
which, of course, is just what the Mighty Children are. If you have those documents, I would definitely
use them when creating such a character.
Note also that both the above table (ODD/ADD and the Chaos Features table) could be used to ramp up
more highly evolved (read: nastier) monsters, and animals. The stinghorse, for example, is just an

ordinary horse with a venomous sting in its tale (ability #3) which makes learning to ride and control one
a feat indeed!
SPELLS AND MAGIC
For ODD/ADD, spells and magic items are as per your game system, plus the Realm of Crawling Chaos
rules. If you really want to add in items that modify magic points, a low power Talisman of the Aurora
adds +1d4 per day, a medium level one adds +1d8, and a high level one adds +1d12. They are worth
1,000, 10,000 and 25,000 gold pieces respectively.
SPELL POWER
Also, Dark Conqueror spell casters tend to be somewhat more powerful than Tsan Chanese or other
humans, again, because of their magical background. All targets save against their spells at -3.
For CoC/BRP, allow Dark Conqueror spell casters to cast Dreamlands-Only spells in the waking world.
The barriers between the waking and dreaming worlds have become incredibly thin, and the highly
magical Dark Conquerors can penetrate those barriers for this purpose. Allow Dark Conqueror spell
casters to cast spells for half the ordinary magic point cost.
SPELL RARITY
For the Tsan Chanese and Dark Conquerors both, spells have become very rare, and sorcerers jealously
guard their knowledge. For an ODD/ADD game, player characters cannot gain spells beyond the 2 nd spell
level from the elder shamen of their tribe. Any additional spells must be discovered through
adventuring. Note that, as these peoples are illiterate, a spell book or scroll is only useful if the
character knows how to read and write. However, most shamen use other mnemonics such as carved
sticks stones or bones to cast their spells. Generally, how the spell is recorded should be based on
where it is found. Outside Tsan Chan, the more crude methods are most likely. Inside the empire,
scrolls and tomes are very common, and some spells may even be recorded on ancient computer
systems.
However, all spell casters must, on finding a spell, take the time to inscribe it in the manner most useful
to them (perhaps a days time for a low power spell, a week for a medium power spell or a month or
two for a high power spell) if they are to keep it.
For Coc?BRP, ancient books, such as the Necronomicon will be extremely rare in this period, but, if
found, will function according to the rules in CoC, but remember that not all races or gods that were
around in Alhazreds say are still around (and others have arisen), and so they may be less useful as the
GM decides.
HIGH TECHNOLOGY
For ODD/ADD, the best fix for this is to add in the following book, also from Goblinoid Games:
http://www.goblinoidgames.com/mutantfuture.html Mutant Future(C) is a post-apocalyptic game that
has a plethora of super-tech items perfect for alien civilizations, or from prior to the rise of Cthulhu and
humanity's fall. It also has a short section in the back that makes it compatible with Labyrinth Lord(C)

or any other ODD/ADD clone. It is probably more appropriate for Tsan Chanese characters to be hightech based than for Dark Conquerors, but anything is possible, and the Dark Conqueror who adventures
long enough may very well pick up a laser rifle or a .45 at some point.
For CoC/BRP players, things are, to the best of my knowledge, a bit more limited. There was once a
very nice BRP supplement called Future World(C), which had the characters adventuring in a Star Trek
like setting, though with gates between worlds, rather than starships. It had great rules for a lot of scifi
gadgetry of many types. Unfortunately, though I still have an old and rather beaten up copy, it is long
out of print and I don't think Chaosium ever reprinted it. The present edition of BRP may have rules for
scifi gadgets, but I know very little about that system.
Another possibility is that the only high tech gadgets are the modern stuff (early to late 1900s) from the
Call of Cthulhu rules, and whatever else the GM cares to invent. If I was going to take this route, I
might say that all primitive technological armor was no defense against firearms, and that animals and
monsters got only half defense against them. Creatures only vulnerable to magical weapons would
not, of course, be affected by non-enchanted firearms.
RUNNING THE CAMPAIGN
So what about the grim life of the nomads on the steppes? How many d6s of horn-bow and tulwar
armed warriors should my player characters encounter on the encounter table? Will the howling of
wolves that shoot laser beams from their eyes panic the steppe dweller's stinghorses? Do the Dark
Conquerors trade in gold? How many pounds of fuel made from dried stinghorse dung does it take to
heat a four man yurt for one night? How many pounds of dried stinghorse dung can I buy for one gold
piece?
Come on.
You're the GM. You can handle it. If you really feel that insecure about it, I'm sure somebody has
written an rpg splatbook for the conquests of Genghis Khan. If not, buy a biography of Genghis Khan.
As far as I'm concerned, this campaign = Genghis Khan + lasers + manticores + Cthulhu - Cthulhu 'cuz he
took off. You can make it happen.
MY IDEAS VS. THOSE OF MODERN LOVECRAFTIANS
I should point out that this is a story/ system that refers as much to the works of Clark Ashton Smith as it
does those of H.P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft was, in fact, much more open to interpretation of his "YogSothothery" than many of his modern disciples seem to be. He was happy to have both the sword and
sorcery oriented Clark Ashton Smith and the Christian oriented August Derleth play in his universe, and
he enjoyed what they did with it. So, I think I am being true to the spirit of H.P.L. in doing the same.
Also, remember that there are good and brave characters in H.P.L.'s works. DeMarigny is certainly
one, as are Randolph Carter, King Kuranes, the cats of Ulthar, and even Richard Upton Pickman at a
certain point in his life(?), and from a certain perspective. Even among the supernatural cast, not
everybody is irredeemably uncaring. Pickman's ghouls help out Carter on the Dreamquest, and they

are good allies, though he is uncomfortable with them. The priests Nasht and Kaman-Thah are
genuinely helpful to dreamers. Nodens and Yb'Tstll also thwart Nyarlathotep for Carter, when nothing
else could have saved him. Incidentally, Nyarlathotep's Hunting Horrors get the ever lovin' crap beaten
out of them, and Ny himself heads off to chastise earth's gods, presumably because he knows he ain't
got it when it comes to a fight with Nodens.
Thus, the spirit of The Dark Conquerors of 16000 A.D. is somewhat more heroic and hopeful than the
mind crushing attitude that so many H.P.L. fans seem to think of as canon. Yes, it is a hard world in
which the very blades of grass are out to get you, and poor Minghzhi's life is threatened by Rolf over a
careless word and a silver coin, but there is also courage and honor here too, as, so we are told, tends to
be the case for the more barbaric cultures. While Rolf certainly has his own prejudices (he will not
allow Mingzhi to order the beheading of himself or his sons, but neither his wives nor daughters seem
even to be a consideration) he is nonetheless loyal to his friend (after many years) and to his tribe.
Even Sven, though obviously as a character, he plays the part of foil, is nonetheless courageous, and
ends with a heroic death.
Dark though the Conquerors may be, they are not needlessly cruel like the Tsan Chanese, and do not
share the pettiness that cruelty implies.
Of course, if you prefer the "Oh crap, we're all ****ed now" variety of play, go for it.
enough to change.

It would be easy

REGARDING NAMES
One last thing. I passed this on to several good gamers I know for review, and one pointed out an
inconsistency with what little we DO know of the people of 16000 A.D. My names, this fellow said,
were obviously pastiches of the several cultures that the Dark Conquerors absorbed on the way to Tsan
Chan, but the only name we actually have from 16000 A.D., that of Nug-Soth the magician, is obviously
very different.
I had thought of this, but did it the way I did it for a reason. First off, over the next fourteen millennia,
names are pretty likely to change, and so it is unlikely that anybody that far off would be named "Rolf
Dylan Subotai." However, as the Khan's name is obviously a combination of Neo-Hyperborean, Yangkee
and Mahnghool monickers, so are his titles of Khan, Boyar and Sheriff a combination of Mahnghool,
Kazaky, and Yangkee honorifics. Certainly the pronunciations would have been greatly modified (and
spelling, for this nomadic people, would probably be meaningless). In fact, viewed through this light,
"Nug-Soth" might very well be a corruption of "Nugent Sotheby" or something similar, possibly
indicating that the magician had a very strong strain of Yangkey ancestry.