The City of the Titans by CAS

The City of the Titans

I saw a city in a lonely land:
Foursquare, it fronted upon gulfs of fire;
Behind, the night of Erebus hung entire;
And deserts gloomed or glimmered on each hand.

by Clark Ashton Smith, 1915

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Chaoses Limb: How is it different from Holmes Basic?

Chaoses Limb Chaoses Limb is an OSR retro-clone based on the Holmes Basic Dungeons and Dragons version (~0e). Changes made to the original Holmes Edition: Changes to make it ‘more’ OSR: Race as Class: One of the attributes of 0e is that demihumans have predefined races with the elf being the prime example, combining both fighter and magic user. I have extended that concept to dwarfs and halflings making halflings multi-class fighter and thief and dwarf multi-class fighter and cleric. The choice for halfling makes sense given his Hobbit origins and Bilbo Baggins the Burglar. For the dwarf, other than the fact there weren’t many unique combinations left, having some spell use for the dwarf felt like it hearkened back to the dwarfs of myths and fairy tales that predated Tolkien. Zero to Hero: OSR characters start as weak unremarkable characters and only become heroes after many challenges and obstacles have been overcome. I modified the level progre...

The City in the Desert by Clark Ashton Smith

A poem by CAS: The City in the Desert In a lost land, that only dreams have known, Where flaming suns walk naked and alone; Among horizons bright as molten brass, And glowing heavens like furnaces of glass, It rears with dome and tower manifold, Rich as a dawn of amarant and gold, Or gorgeous as the Phoenix, born of fire, And soaring from an opalescent pyre Sheer to the zenith. Like some anademe Of Titan jewels turned to flame and dream The city crowns the far horizon-light Over the flowered meads of damassin .... A desert isle of madreperl ! wherein The thurifer and opal-fruited palm And heaven-thronging minarets becalm The seas of azure wind.... (Note: These lines were remembered out of a dream, and are given verbatim.) Clark Ashton Smith, 1922

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