CM6: Where Chaos Reigns

CM6 "Where Chaos Reigns" (1985) by Graeme Morris is a D&D adventure for character levels 17-19, set in the parallel world of Aelos.

CM6 "Where Chaos Reigns" (1985) by Graeme Morris.  Illustration by Brian Williams.

The PCs must rescue a civilization threatened by the oards, a humanoid race whose strength and power derive from the mundane arts of science and technology, rather than magic.

Creative Team:

Graeme Morris is given as the author on the cover, although shares credit for the storyline with Jim Bambra and Phil Gallagher, the same team that would collaborate on B10 "Night's Dark Terror" (1986).

Production and design was by Phil Gallagher, with editing by Jim Bambra, Tom Kirby, and Luke Renouf.

Cover art was by Brian Williams, with interior black-and-white illustrations by Jez (Jeremy) Goodwin.  Cartography was by "Paul Ruiz" (aka Geoff Wingate).

The Adventure:

The Immortals are concerned about the threat of the oards, a cyborg race which uses time travel to alter key events in a world's history, thereby rising to ascendancy

The PCs are unwittingly chosen to travel across time and space in the parallel world of Aelos, using something called the Nexus,* in order to defeat the Oards.

Have you ever walked into a room and had the feeling that you'd been there before, even when you couldn't possibly have been?  Just for that moment, before the feeling vanishes, it seems as if two places, separated in time and space, are the same place.  Well the Nexus is something like that... only much more.

CM6 "Where Chaos Reigns" (pg 2)

*the title for the module appears to derive from the following passage, describing travel in the Nexus:

The elven hut blurs, and the muddled scenes from the tapestry in the old man's cottage back on your own world swirl around you once more, accompanied by the shrieking whistle.  Chaos reigns, perhaps for a second or an age, who ran say?  Then the world becomes clear again and the noise fades.

CM6 "Where Chaos Reigns" (pg 10)

In the Beginning

The characters' first destination is prehistoric Aelos, where human societies are just beginning to form, and even the elves are a young race.

Primitive humans and elves are in competition with a race of brutish half-men, known as the garls, who are supported by the oards to destroy and enslave the other races.

At the conclusion of the scenario, the elves receive a Tree of Life, a gift of the treants of Aelos.

Forge of Power

3000 years later, the humans and elves of Aelos have developed the rudiments of civilization, a bronze-age culture which includes seafaring.

The characters must voyage to a far western isle, where a hephaeston named Diemlak guards a Forge of Power, awaiting the emergence of the dwarves from deep underground.

Bronze and Iron

After 500 years, one of the human tribes is granted the secret of iron-working by the oards, growing into the mighty Kolmede empire.

The characters are summoned by the druids of Arqwen, a land of humans, elves, dwarves, and halflings to unite the human and demi-human tribes against the Kolmede threat.

The adventure culminates in a sweeping war machine scenario.

Island of Sorcerers

1000 years later, the arts of magic have progressed.

Human magic-users and elves have created an underground library on the remote island of Talah, where a throne-like artifact called the Luminance is used for magical research.

The oards have infiltrated Talah, and must be sought out and defeated by the PCs.

The Entropy Bubble

Having rescued Aelos from the oards, the PCs' final destination is the oards' underground city of Cijal, located in an "entropy bubble", a pocket of reality cut off from the rest of the multiverse.

The land within the bubble is described as stark and barren, devoid of any beauty.  The oards must be destroyed, in order to prevent the ravage of other worlds.

New Monsters:

The villainous, cyborg race of the oards represent the module's centrepiece new monster.

Many have commented on similarities between the oards and the Borg from Star Trek, although the oards actually predate the Borg by a few years.*

*see "Creating the Borg" at Forgotten Trek

Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

The Borg were introduced in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Q Who" (May 8, 1989), and also featured in the cliffhanger season finale "Best of Both Worlds, Part I" (June 19, 1990), as well as the sequel on September 24, 1990.

*even the Nexus evokes comparison with the Nexus in Star Trek Generations (1994), in which time and space have no meaning, permitting travel to any time or place

Oard Devices:

Several technological devices used by the oards are described.

Commentary:

CM6 "Where Chaos Reigns" was years ahead of its time.  I don't know anyone who has run or played it, but it seems as though it would be a lot of fun.

Given that the adventure is not set in the PCs home world, it can be inserted into any campaign, although the length of time away from the main setting might be problematic.

The similarities between the oards and the Borg are uncanny, not to mention the similarities between the Nexus and the Nexus in Star Trek.

Another way to incorporate the module is to introduce the oards in the PCs home world, leading to a final confrontation using the Entropy Bubble section.