Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser RPGs
Rôle playing in Lankhmar

Unlike Elric, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser don’t have their own FRPG. However, TSR did create a “Lankhmar” campaign setting for Dungeons & Dragons.

(This followed the appearance of Nehwon characters in the original AD&D Deities & Demigods (1980; 2013) – and here they did better than Elric, being featured in all printings, including Legends & Lore (1985; 2013).)

Lankhmar: City of Adventure

A supplement for TSR’s Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, by Bruce Nesmith, Douglas Niles, and Ken Rolston, published in 1985 (9162). This consisted of a 96-page softcover book with a flap inside the back cover holding a smaller, 32-page booklet and a map.

The book contains the following chapters:

1. Adventures in Lankhmar and Beyond – With summaries of all Lankhmar stories up to Swords and Ice Magic plus the novella The Curse of the Smalls and the Stars.
2. The City Districts – Describes the city of Lankhmar, using a “framework” of a large map with empty squares, and small separate tiles called “geomorphs” that you can use to fill in those white spaces.
3. Nehwon beyond Lankhmar – Describes the lay of the land outside the city gates.
4. Player Characters – Descriptions of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser and others, followed by a whole bunch of NPCs.
5. Factions and Guilds of Lankhmar.
6. Lankhmar’s Gods.
7. Nehwon’s Monsters.
8. Adventuring in Lankhmar – Explains social levels, geomorphs, and random generation of characters and buildings.
9. AD&D Conversion Rules for Nehwonian Campaigns – Focusses on the difference between magic use in Nehwon and that in the AD&D rules.
10. Lankhmar Encounters (in the text, however, Arms and Armor in Lankhmar and Nehwon has the Chapter 10 heading, but all other chapters start on a new page, so it seems that this was an error and that section properly belongs to Chapter 9.)

Supplements, &c.

TSR also published two modules, each consisting of three scenarios, for use with the AD&D Lankhmar campaign setting:

• CA1 Swords of the Undercity by Carl Smith, Bruce Nesmith, and Doug Niles (1985; 9150)
• CA2 Swords of Deceit by Bourne, Dobson, Mecca, and Rolston (1986; 9170)

In the 1990s, TSR published a version of Lankhmar, City of Adventure, for Second Edition AD&D (1993; 2137) and a host of other supplements:

• LNA1 Thieves of Lankhmar by Nigel Findley (1990; 9276) – Detailed description of the Thieves’ Guild of Lankhmar
• LNR1 Wonders of Lankhmar by Dale “Slade” Henson (1990; 9295)
• LNA2 Newhon by Blake Mobley (1990; 9305)
• LNA3 Prince of Lankhmar by Dale “Slade” Henson (1991; 9318)
• LNR2 Tales of Lankhmar by Anthony Pryor (1991; 9329)
• LNQ1 Slayers of Lankhmar by Dale “Slade” Henson (1992; 9371)
• Rogues in Lankhmar by “Uncle” Wes Nicholson (1994; 9461)
• Cutthroats of Lankhmar by “Uncle” Wes Nicholson (1995; 9470)
• Avengers in Lankhmar by Dale “Slade” Henson (1995; 9481)

Fritz Leiber’s Lankhmar: New Adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser by Shane Lacy Hensley and Steve Miller (1996; 1144) was an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons “starter set” derived from this campaign setting.

Mongoose’s RuneQuest

While there is, as yet, no D20 material – the Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition Deities and Demigods (88165) doesn’t even include the Newhon pantheon! – Mongoose Publishing has published a Lankhmar supplement for its “new, streamlined, 21st Century edition” of RuneQuest.

Lankhmar provides everything you need to explore the world of Nehwon. Contained within are rules covering character creation, the unique creatures of the world and for black magic, against which the heroes Fafhrd and Grey Mouser were often in conflict. Packed full of detail it covers the city in detail with its major factions and individuals plus many of the locations found within the stories. The rest of the world is not neglected, from the frigid barrens of the Cold Waste to the stinking rat-worshipping city of Ilthmar and the grim, underground domain of Quarmall, the neighbouring lands are all covered allowing new heroes (or scoundrels) to seek their fortunes and create new legends beyond the city itself.