Slumbering Tsar: The Camp

Spoilers for the adventure Slumbering Tsar...

The Camp is an outstanding adventure location in so many ways. It is the hub and safe haven, but at the same time it's tone so perfectly matches the rest of the adventure by making a not a completely safe place. I love how the decisions of the players can truly take them into deep water early. For example, tangle with the Usurer because the party things the exchange rate for metal bits is unfair and suddenly they're fighting a lich. I can almost imagine the sheer terror and exclamations at such a discovery. It would probably end in a TPK, but then they'll know for the next time.

The hanged man too is so stylistic and appropriate for the ambiance, making the night dangerous and providing a truly scary encounter. I enjoy Father Death and his chapel to Nergal too, with it's macabe imagery and inevitable patience in the belief that the god of death will take everyone in the Desolation, no matter how long it takes.

How should a GM looking to play this section of the adventure in a system other than Pathfinder 1e proceed then? I think it ends up being fairly simple if you follow the adventurers' design philosophy. That is to embrace deadliness. So what if you put a full lich from 5e or Shadowdark? That's scary and thematic. It's a story they'll tell for years. For the NPCs I suggest grabbing existing NPC stat blocks and just going with it. For the hanged man, I'll do some of the work for you (at least for 5e!)

The hanged man is a unique and cool monster (and even better it's available under the OGL!) And we can make use of the handy monster stats available from the Lazy GM's 5e Monster Builder Resource Document.

The one in the adventure is stronger than the one depicted in the Tome of Horrors Complete, so we'll set our 5e version as a CR 5, and then bump up the hit points a bit. The big thing the hanged man does is try to lasso someone then hoist them from the crossbar of his own gallows, which will take a few rounds if we want to try to do it so he needs some hit points padding to stay up the 4-5 rounds to attempt that.

Advanced Hanged Man 

CR 5

Medium Undead

AC: 15

HP: 119

STR 19 (+4)

DEX 18 (+4)

CON 16 (+3)

INT 8 (-1)

WIS 7 (-2)

CHA 6 (-2)

Proficiencies: STR, DEX

Actions:

Multiattack: The Hanged Man makes two claw attacks and a slam attack.

Claw: melee attack, range 5 ft., +7 points to hit, on hit: 12 (3d6 +2) slashing damage 

Slam: melee attack, range 5 ft., +7 points to hit, on hit: 12 (3d6 +2) bludgeoning damage 

Entangle: ranged attack, range 20 ft., on hit: Targeted creature is restrained and begins to choking as they are suffocated. Each round the target is suffocating they take 27 (6d6 +4) bludgeoning damage. To attempt to escape the rope the target must make a DC 17 Strength Saving Throw with disadvantage unless another character assists them. The Hanged Man can move up to its movement dragging an entangled target 20 feet behind it and also use its multiattack.

Mercenary Company Campaign: Big Bad Evil Folks Concepts & Ideas

Players, get out please…

So I’ve been thinking about this as a sandbox game, and as such I think it’s best that I come up with several big baddies of various challenge ratings so that no matter what direction they choose to go off in I can present them with dilemmas, choices, and challenging situations.

I’m going to list out a few ideas I have, which will then be fleshed out in their own articles detailing the respective villain using the universal NPC template, along with their lieutenants and organization.

Balaur, Beast of War

(See Legendary Dragons by Jetpack7)

Balaur is a great dragon, saved from near death by the duergar clans of the Sunless Horde. Now he is a great weapon for their combined armies, but it is unclear if they command him or he controls them. The clan chiefs include the great duegar chief Armgrim Ragespite (combine blackguard and warlord MPMM stat blocks). Bendek Silentcleaver, Nisglia Battlestriker are the other powerful chieftains.

Matron Maelora of House Gullion

(See Rise of the Drow from AAW Games)

Matron Maelora rules Holoth, the City of Spiders, with fear and intrigue. She expertly controls an already murderous upper class of evil Drow, controlling and directing their energy now towards expansion both in the Underworld and on the surface.

Gar Shatterkeel

(See Princes of the Apocalypse from WOTC)

The various prophets of elemental evil from Princes of the Apocalypse lend themselves to being ripped out and used in other ways really well. The added benefit of using Gar and his faction is that I can use material from the Sharkadia issue of Arcadia. So he once again leads a group or network of cultists worshiping forces of elemental evil. 

Jarl Godag of the Njomand Clan

The jarl of a clan of frost giants dwelling in icy holds upon the Plane of Ice. Jarl Godag's reavers and frost-blessed thralls sail forth through various portals to raid the many worlds. They retreat to their holds for the winters of these planes, feasting upon the spoils that they gathered during the raiding season. Jarl Godag harbours ambitions of seizing footholds on these many worlds to establish permanent outposts and bases of operations, bringing slaughter and destruction to more upon the material plane.

Kossedi the Silent

Dao ruler of Onyxvault, a settlement on the Plane of Earth. Her forces capture mortals from across the material plane to work in the endless dark mines of the infinite elemental plane and transport the gems and riches extracted to markets in the City of Brass and beyond.

She Who Sees Beyond (The White Necromancer) 

This is a sandbox campaign, so I can’t be disappointed if the players completely avoid this plot hook, but if I’m running a Black Company inspired game then I may as well lean in, right? The White Necromancer is an essentially immortal spellcaster, who has raised an army of both mortals and undead, including powerful champions who act as her generals. She seeks to control the lands of the faltering Imperium, acting as an outside contender. Her true nature is unknown. The company might be her enemy, or might find itself in her service.

Tremocephalid

An elder brain, bringing in a colony of mind flayers as a plot device, I think this one is pretty cool. They can easily be brought in as raiders on the Material Plane, or tossed into the Astral Sea or other scenarios.

Ziqed Flamebiter

An Efreeti lord who divides his time between his luxurious apartment in the City of Brass and his own citadel in a coterminus zone in a volcano's caldera between the material plane and the Plane of Fire. Ziqed is slowly gathering allies including fire giants dwelling upon the plane of fire, along with salamanders and other creatures. He plans to make a play for power both in the City of Brass to advance his position and gain greater favor with the Sultan. His scheme to do this is by taking control of the great cities of the Southern Deserts of the material plane, placing his genasi children and bound warlocks upon the thrones as Emirs and Pharaohs.

Second Shadowdark One-Shot Experience

After really enjoying my first experience with Shadowdark, but not feeling like I’d gotten the full experience yet I jumped at the chance to do another one-shot with my regular group playing through Empire of the Ghouls. It was an alternative while one player was absent.

This also marked the first time I ran combat in Shadowdark. I was cautious, because I didn’t want to simply destroy the characters and my veteran players are very capable, regardless of RPG system, so my experience was probably skewed, but I was surprised how resilient first level characters are. The fighter was rolling well, which helped when I rolled an Oni as a random encounter for them. I was very concerned that one would be a TPK, especially as it immediately used its fade ability to become invisible. The fighter managed to hit and deal 16 damage. They totally wiped the floor with level zero spiders too. So I think I’ll need to try the system a few more times to truly become comfortable with the encounter balance.

The session resulted in some interesting new information on the setting, including that the town near the Barrows is called Direfield (the adventurers needed to rest). Additionally, the King and Queen appeared to worship four elemental spirits named Terrara (Earth), Aurelia (Air), Pyron (Fire), and Aquor (Water). 

The adventurers also resolved the central tension, deciding to wheel the chair (helm that allowed the monarchs to travel to other worlds) out of the tomb and build a cart to take it to Uquance, the City of Mages to see if they can find an artificer to repair it. Looks like I have another serialized scenario if this group ever tries Shadowdark out again.

EN5ider Reactions Issues 1-4

Trinket art from EN5ider Issue 1, by EN Publishing

The first issue of EN5ider was published when 5e was still young, on 25 February 2015. This four page issue by Ryan Chaddock outlines how to describe and use mundane, non-magical trinkets more effectively in your campaigns. The article is brief and concise, but I think gets its points across well, emphasizing these items as a way to provide plot hooks and roleplay opportunities to your players without the mechanical baggage of a magic item. I particularly like Chaddock's suggestion to use trinkets as a way to convey the culture of a group of adversaries or allies, like the items carried by a group of raiders or the gifts of a group of elves (not all the gifts in Lothlorien were magic items, right?) Practical advice on creating and describing trinkets is also offered in a nice callout box.

I’m most struck by the lack of mechanical content in the article, but it remains relevant and helpful for a GM. I think this is because of the conversational voice and the specific advice on how to apply trinkets to enhance your game. It’s almost a “bite-size” product, giving the reading something brief to take away and think about. I appreciate the honesty of the conclusion too: "Ultimately the choice to supply your players with these kinds of items is a negotiation. If your players seem uninterested, maybe trinkets are not for your group. Finding ways to keep them interested is the real trick. The payout is a richer game world, which is well worth it."

The next article is titled 5 Campaign Lessons from the Hobbit Films by Eric Pierce. This is the part where I realize that the final Hobbit film was released in 2014 and am amazed at the passage of time. The article is refreshingly critical, with the first advice to avoid GMPCs to not steal your players' thunder. It also brings up the interesting point that at this time in 2015 many tables were probably using actual player characters for NPCs with the party, rather than perhaps an NPC stat block or the simpler sidekick stat blocks introduced in the Essentials Kit or Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. There's some good general GM advice here, but nothing truly groundbreaking or innovative for most folks running a game. I do appreciate the advice on attempting to have your players provide secret desires for their characters that you can use alongside their external desires as plot hooks.

Archery Contests is by Russ Morrissey, the owner and creator of EN World. The article features a chart with scaling values to simulate the advancing AC depending upon both the tier of the archery contest the player finds themself in, along with the venue and level of competition, from a small village to the extraplanar level. This level of detail and design really makes this article interesting and useable. I really like this article, and it provides a great drop in event for any setting or location that you can use if you have a player who has specialized in archery.

The final issue we are looking at in this post is Battlefield Events, also by Russ Morrissey. It provides random events to add complications during your encounters. A similar design is used to simulate the fray of larger battles around the characters in Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen. The options are generalized to be used in almost any scenario. I think it's hard to use this type of tool for every encounter, but the article provides a great place to go for inspiration on effects that you could use in a smaller table for a specific boss or crucial fight.

It's clear that the magazine is still finding itself in this stage, as the art and layout are less polished than they become in later issues. A bit of a mixed bag in terms of easily usable content for 5e, but I think there's generally been something of utility. Even if reading one of these articles forces you to reflect on your own GMing style then its probably of some utility.

EN5ider Reactions

EN5ider logo is property of EN Publishing

EN World Publishing's 5e magazine, EN5ider has almost six hundred issues over the past nine years and is still going strong. There's plenty of great material and information that I want to integrate into my 5e games and that I think will remain relevant even as the new edition draws closer. So I'm going to start a similar collection to my Arcadia reaction posts where I can document for my own (and perhaps your) record my annotations and thoughts on the materials in this great resource. 

Each EN5ider issue varies in size. Some, particularly the adventures published in serialized format, are much larger, while many are four to six pages. Because of this I will be looking at them in order of issue, but organizing my own posts into larger articles treating perhaps three to six small issues at a time. The longer issues will receive their own posts.

EN5ider Reactions Issues 1-4

En5ider Reaction Issue 5

Yawning Portal Map

Cartography by Faxfire

Both the adventures Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, and Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage make the tavern the Yawning Portal a focal point. It is the titular feature of the anthology book Tales from the Yawning Portal. Yet none of these sources provide a map of the establishment. Justin Alexander provides a great history of the tavern on his blog in a series of posts connected to his remix of Dragon Heist, which influenced me to draw my own version. I've included the extra major element of a stage because I think it offers unique roleplaying opportunities for players. The upstairs levels are not detailed, because I think it's largely unnecessary. Those using the map should note that the black squares around the literal yawning portal are the supports for the upper levels and their balconies, which overlook the famous entrance to Undermountain. 

My handdrawn version above is intended to provide a good visual representation that you can use in the intro scenario for Dragon Heist, or provide a real backdrop for your breaks from Undermountain in Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Enjoy!

Rappan Athuk: Additional Adventure Hooks

Major spoilers for the adventure—players the door is thataway…

As I’ve continued to delve into my copy (tome more like) of Rappan Athuk from Frog God Games, my initial impressions are borne out. The “granddaddy of all megadungeons” is an awesome canvas. It is filled to the brim with flavorful situations, some serious, some wacky in its funhouse dungeon portions. But if you want more than a beer and pretzels dungeon crawl experience with some actual meta narrative then you really need to develop your own plot and side quests. Luckily again, although the work is left to the individual GM, there are plenty of interesting tidbits of lore, characters, and magic items that you can use as motivation.

So without further ado, here as some of my ideas that fall in line with my overall hook and framing devices for a Rappan Athuk campaign. There will be an introductory portion for each section explaining some of my thoughts behind certain missions for context, but the mission and text itself will be written such that they can be handed to players, like a jobs board, or quest descriptions in a video game. I think this will help them keep better track of their missions, and if you use a VTT with a journal note capability like me you can make a journal folder and store their active quests and completed quests in different sections for their reference.

Church Patron Missions

Establish a Church Presence in the Region

The overall mission from the Church in my campaign concept is to find out what happened to the Army of Light and more specifically what happened to Zelkor, its leader.

There are a number of quests that stem off of this or might be good subquests. For instance, a first level party can’t go directly into Rappan Athuk (unless they really want to start with a total party wipe). So other sub-missions might be in order. Especially if we go with the concept that the Church is or has sent additional agents that will be our replacement characters when the primaries die. The Church is interested in developing a stable base of operations in the region for sustained efforts both to enter the dungeon, but also to establish a lasting ecclesiastical presence, particularly in the only real settlement in the area, Zelkor’s Ferry. Additionally, there are several lair locations or hideouts for the brigands in the area that could be useful bases outside Zelkor’s Ferry which are closer to Rappan Athuk.

Another important piece of this is that we need communications back to the patron that the party can use at low level. This might initially be an item like Sending Stones, paired with a stone in the cathedral of Usharia that the Archbishop and Archdeacon share. Later on as a reward for accomplishing some of these missions, a replacement character may bring along a Diplomat’s Pouch, as seen in the Chain of Acheron live play. This item then allows the characters to send actual notes to their patron or others possessing a pouch.

Send Regular Reports Back to Patrons

Via sending stones for short messages and via mundane letter delivery for longer communiques, send back regular reports on your progress to your patrons. You may receive new missions and directions from them as well.

Visit the Town of Zelkor’s Ferry

As the only settlement in the region, Zelkor’s Ferry is of great importance. Explore the town, taking stock of the goods and services typically available so that you and subsequent Church agents can use them. 

Establish a Local Church at Zelkor’s Ferry

The people of Zelkor’s Ferry need religion, and the Church needs a reliable base in the region. Figure out who’s in charge and which palms need to be greased to start building a church in Zelkor’s Ferry. Once you have settled the details, materials will be shipped via keelboat from up river and a priest dispatched to the area with acolytes to oversee construction. Construction of a small chapel will likely take at least two months depending on the weather.

Make the Roads Safer for Travelers 

There are many bandits haunting the roads and forest in this region. Investigate to see if there are any major groups or leaders. Attempt to bring them to heel, whether that be through negotiation or other means.

Obtain Hirelings

Adventurers need help doing difficult work like excavating, carrying torches and supplies, or bringing treasure out from the dungeon. Find some expendables and pack animals that you can use once to assist you.

Explore Castle Calaelan

Travelers passing through Zelkor’s Ferry recount of a castle they came upon while seeking shelter in an afternoon down pour. They were attacked by bandits or brigands inside and left two of their number dead. Return to the area and explore the mysterious castle.

Create a Staging Location for Church Expeditions Closer to Rappan Athuk

After clearing out the castle (above) or another lair of bandits, the characters can create their own staging ground as a stronghold, independent of Zelkor’s Ferry. 

Retrieve Holy Relics

Later on in the campaign once the characters are actually delving into Rappan Athuk, it’s interesting to note that there are additional artifacts of note from the Army of Light. So a corollary to their overall investigation of Zelkor might be to find holy relics in general, like tatters of flags, uniforms, or bones for reliquaries. Or even powerful magic artifacts lost. I got this idea from the Auren Beacon, a holy item listed in Rappan Athuk. The description is written very generally but encourages GMs to modify it as desired for their own campaign.

Retrieve the Auren Beacon

Amongst the many powerful weapons and relics the Army of Light brought to the siege of Tsar was a great mirror said to reflect the radiant power of the gods. Find this relic and use it to cleanse the evil in Rappan Athuk.

Locate the Ark of Magic

Said in song and legend to be the vessel in which an Archangel first carried magic from the gods to mortals, the ark has been lost to the ages. According to myth when the world stands on the brink of destruction, four heroes will arise bearing the ark. Could this treasure be used to destroy the demon worshippers of Rappan Athuk.

(This item is Open Game Content from Chapter X of the Book of the Righteous. See the Legal Page for the full OGL statement).

Destroy the Priesthood of Orcus & Cleanse Rappan Athuk

This is certainly an ambitious goal, but not unwarranted. Bitter experience has shown that entire armies can disappear in the depths of Rappan Athuk, but perhaps a few mighty heroes can move more subtly and begin to weaken the power of the priests of Orcus in the dungeon. This portion of the campaign would occur after characters have had the revelation that this dungeon is dedicated to Orcus. A party making regular communications back to the patron might also receive some assistance in the form of obscure lore that will help them understand how some of the power and magic of the dungeon functions. They might need to leave the region of side quests to seek out answers to questions on their own or gather powerful magic to oppose the most powerful servants of Orcus. GMs who remember that the dungeon does not remain static in their absence though. 

Cast Down the Golden Idol of the Frog God

Once characters find or learn of the idol on dungeon level 14, room 14-3, this quest is revealed.

Mercenary Company Campaign: Company NPCs

Feeling inspired by the campaign concept, so I have been working on some NPCs that can provide clues or motivation to the characters to strike out in different directions. Some are inspired in part by their stat blocks, as I find interesting stats for NPCs and consider how they acquired these abilities and came to be part of the company. 

Rasp

Appearance: Dark skinned man with white hair. He has a full head of hair and a beard. Slim but strong and muscled. His shoulders stoop slightly from age. His eyes are a deep brown, but at times have twinkles that appear purple. They are deep and appear ancient beyond his years.

Roleplaying: 

• Has a rasping voice and often coughs. 
• Rasp is wary of strangers, but a solid drinking buddy and dice player with his trusted companions. 
• He falls silent at times and seems in deep thought. 
• As a sergeant, he is gruff, but looks out for his newer troops.

Background: Rasp was born in the far southern continent. As a young man he was kidnapped in a raid by mind flayers with others from his village. The illithids took him into the Astral Sea and he worked as a thrall for the colony. He was about to be implanted with a tadpole when the colony was attacked by Githyanki, who freed him. Rasp was forever changed by the near implantation though, developing psionic powers. He fought the mind flayers alongside the Gith for many years, unaged in the Astral Sea’s suspended time. Finally he returned to the mundane world through a portal only to discover his village long desolate, abandoned hundreds of years later. Rasp is over four hundred years old because of these experiences. He joined the company many years ago and has been part of it through many battles. 

Key Info: 

• Provides hooks to the Astral Sea.
• Info on mind flayers and githyanki.
• Introduces psionic powers.

Stat Block: Psychic War Veteran (Planar Bestiary 5e, pg. 111)

Ram

Appearance: Ram has the head of a goat and the torso and arms of a humanoid, with the bow legs and hoofs of a goat. She has a white stripe of hair that covers the middle of her face down to her muzzle and white hair on her ears. Otherwise her hair is brown. She has brown eyes, and wears light leather armor. Ram is quite tall, standing about six and a half feet in height.

Roleplaying:

• Ram is very talkative and friendly, always asking questions.
• Ram out loud bleats when she disagrees with something.
• Ram does not talk about her past and ignores questions about her unique ancestry.
• She dislikes orcs and half-orcs.

Background: Ram is an Ovisan hunter, a member of a people living on another world that are mortal enemies of the evil grethk. The ovisan send small groups of hunters called battle flocks through portals to hunt infestations of grethk. In Ram’s case her flock arrived in a remote region of this world near a tribe of orcs. The orcs hunted a killed her flock, believing them to either be magical mountain goats or strange aberrations. Ram escaped by surviving in the woods and hills until stumbling into a settlement where bewildered halfling farmers nursed her back to health. Once she had her strength back she worked for a time as a sheep and goat herder, but then journeyed and joined the company when it arrived in a nearby region. Ram continues to hold a grudge for all orcs and their kin, and she has vowed never to leave the company with a greater dedication than even the average recruit because it is her new flock.

Key Info: 

• Provides hooks to the grethk and other worlds.
• Ram has knowledge of how portals function.

Stat Block: Ovisan Hunter (Planar Bestiary 5e, pg. 102)

Nivs

Appearance: Nivs is a tanned and muscled human woman, with brown hair dyed with red and orange streaks. She bears both tattoos of blue and red ink on her face and applies daubs of paint as well before battle. Her eyes are deep brown. She is of middling height and weight but is solidly built and moves with speed and grace as she fights.

Roleplaying:

• Nivs speaks and moves confidently, acting with decisiveness in every action.
• Nivs can be bold and often speaks in anger without fully considering the consequences.
• Nivs carefully studies her blood hunter crafts and is a master of these mysterious arts.

Background: Nivs was trained in the mysterious ways of hemocraft from her youth by her adopted mother, a member of a blood hunter order in the Thornspire Highlands. When her order and mother were killed in the Dragonflame Rebellion, Nivs joined the company to escape the remnants of her old life and find a new family.

Key Info:

• Nivs possesses links back to the lands of the fractured imperium and Thornspire Highlands.
• Nivs knows the ways of the blood hunters.
• She is an accomplished tracker and hunter.

Stat Block: Bloodhunter (Explorer’s Guide to Wildmount, pg. 284)

Quick Shadowdark Adventure Using Lazy GM Reference Document

I want to run a quick Shadowdark game with some members of one of my regular groups, so I’m using the steps from the Lazy GM’s resource document by Mike Shea.

Prep checklist looks like this:

• Review the characters
• Create a strong start
• Outline potential scenes
• Define secrets and clues
• Develop fantastic locations
• Outline important NPCs
• Choose relevant monsters
• Select magic item rewards

Review the Characters 

Players will practice rolling and creating their own characters.

Create a Strong Start

Cartography by Dyson Logos

The map I picked is quite linear, but serves my purposes well because this is the first time playing for some of these players and everyone’s first time with Shadowdark.

The lure of fortune and glory has brought you to the Mounds of the Barrow-Kings, ancient rulers of a forgotten age. After discovering the hidden door in a mounded barrow and digging through the wet soil you unearthed a dank passageway leading to a heavy stone door. It appears untouched for long ages, as damp mildew coats the stone walls near the earthen opening and you see the signs of insects burrowing and spider webs strung in the corners of the hallway. All that remains is for you to light your torch and descend into the Shadowdark to see if you live or die and manage to loot some treasure along the way…

Outline Potential Scenes

As players crawl through the dungeon I will check for random encounters and use them if they fit the situation.

Procedure:

1. Roll for Danger Level (pg 130)
2. Roll Room Type (pg 130)
3. Roll Tomb Random Encounter (pg 182-183)
4. Roll for Treasure if necessary depending on CR (beginning pg 270)

Lowest 

Develop Secrets & Clues

1. This tomb is for the ancient elven King Avourel and Queen Syvis.
2. The king and queen were worshipers of Caturix, the elder god of the elements.
3. The Barrow-Kings were of an ancient elven empire calling themselves the Arcanikion, or the Masters of Arcane Creation.
4. The Arcanikion possessed the secret knowledge of the mysterious travel via magical ships to other worlds.
5. The King and Queen’s advisors are buried with them.
6. The arcane contamination of a broken helm for traveling to other worlds has prevented the souls of any of the entombed from moving on to the afterlife.
7. Creatures have burrowed into the tomb over time, leading to a diverse collection of residents.
8. The King and Queen visited the legendary City of Brass upon the elemental plane of fire.

Develop Fantastic Locations

N/A. Rolling randomly regarding each room.

Outline Important NPCs

King Avourel: The ancient king is an intelligent zombie due to the mysterious power leaking from a broken magic helm preventing his soul from moving on. He is inclined to talk, but fights any intruder that takes any treasure without assisting him and his Queen in their plight. He resides in the left burial chamber on the lowest level.

Queen Syvis: The Queen, like the King, is an intelligent zombie. She is similarly willing to listen unless provoked by theft. She is in the right burial chamber on the bottom level.

Tyrael: Magical advisor to the King, Tyrael is a specter, as he has managed to leave his decayed body behind, but is unable to break his soul free of the place. Tyrael knows the source of the contamination, but can’t destroy it himself.

Meira: Long driven mad by her confinement after dead, Meira was once an advisor to the King and Queen. She has zombie stats and attacks immediately while raving regarding other worlds.

Narakles: Wight guardian in the first room of the treasure chambers.

Monsters

Done through NPC development and rolling others randomly.

Magic Item Rewards

Roll randomly for treasure except flying ship helm.

GM Reflections

While we didn’t finish the adventure, we had a good time with Shadowdark. It took a little bit to create characters, but everything worked well. I rolled randomly for encounters, we figured things out as we went. This was the first game I’ve ever run in my own setting, so I think the lore really interested my players. They discovered the mystery because of a random encounter I rolled. One player wanted to fight a wight that appeared “wreathed in holy radiant light,” while the wizard wanted to try to parley. So the wizard cast sleep on their party mates. All the players thought the situation was comical. The wizard player, used to 5e, thought it was interesting that there’s no saving throw for sleep, just the spell roll. It brought up an interesting balance thing in Shadowdark, because most monsters don’t get any way to resist these immobilizing spells.

All in all, it was interesting to see the added layers of tactics and rules that exist in Shadowdark that you really discover through play and adjudication. I still think it’s a great game and would play it again.

Arcadia 4 Reactions

Image is copyright MCDM Productions

Arcadia 4! Another awesome and evocative cover from Grace Cheung. I feel like this guy would make a great campaign villain or faction leader. 

This issue’s editorial letter from James Introcaso confirms that the three issue trial period of Arcadia was successful and that the magazine would continue for the indefinite future (until it ceased production in July 2023 to focus development on the upcoming MCDM RPG). He also confirms, according to polling data from the MCDM patrons, something that rings true to me. That the more basic the content the greater utility for GMs to be able to apply it to their own games. I think that makes sense, and it’s the reason some adventures in anthologies are so good and others just aren’t and can’t be shoehorned into an adventure. 

The first article is Swimming Through Sand to Sea: More Mounted Adventuring by Willy Abeel, in a follow up to his previous article in Arcadia 1. This article provides more mounts, but more significantly provides new magic items that let you take your more exotic animal companions with you even if that makes them a fish out of water, or allows them to shrink to fit into a dungeon. One, the water wagon immediately conjured up an image of an aboleth villain to me, unwilling to give up its swim speed, so now confined to the water wagon to maintain full maneuverability on land. I do feel that omnimounts, large mounts able to cross continents, feel a little underdeveloped. The single page without fleshed out unique mechanics doesn’t seem quite complete to me. Cool concept, but not something I can apply easily to create my own content.

The next article is the Chained Library by Cat Evans. A drop in location that can be added to any campaign, the library is intended to be a location where hidden and dangerous knowledge is secreted away. The artwork of the front door by Faizal Fakri is evocative and stunning. It’s an interesting concept and can be applied as either an ally or adversary to characters. I don’t love the maps at the end, partly because they lack a grid or scale, and partly because I don’t find them very evocative.

The final article is On the Road Encounters, by Derek Ruiz. This article provides five unique encounters that characters can have while traveling. Most of these are brigand-type combat encounters. One is a duel between a knight and a peasant, which I quite like. They all are fleshed out with names and motivations for the NPCs, which makes them nice drop in content. But my favorite of these is a scenario called the Cartographer, who offers several quest hooks. I love this as a diegetic device to give the players a map of the region, or provide quests.

That’s it for Arcadia 4.

Homebrew World: Expanded Ancestry Options

By default in my world I only allow certain player ancestries because most others are a bit too rare in the mundane world. However, some campaigns go beyond the world or range into remote or forgotten regions. In those campaigns, the list below provides an authoritative list of the ancestries that are thematically appropriate for my universe. I will note exceptions by exclusion in the campaign write-up. I’m also including a write-up about each species in my setting so players can use the information to craft their backstories appropriately for the setting.

Expanded Ancestry Options

Note: Players may reassign ability score increases that are included in their ancestry.

• Astral Elf (Astral Adventurer’s Guide)
• Bugbear (Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse)
• Cambion (Cambion Player Option)
• Changeling (Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse)
• Chimeran (Path of the Planebreaker)
• Chthonic Scion (MCDM - Arcadia 11)
• Deep Gnome (Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse)
• Derro (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Dhampir (Von Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft or Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Dragonborn (Chromatic) (Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons)
• Dragonborn (Gem) (Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons)
• Dragonborn (Metallic) (Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons)
• Drow (Tome of Heroes or Player’s Handbook)
• Duergar (Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse)
• Eladrin (Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse)
• Fikrawi (MCDM - Arcadia 16)
• Firbolg (Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse)
• Genasi (Air) (Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse)
• Genasi (Earth) (Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse)
• Genasi (Fire) (Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse)
• Genasi (Water) (Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse)
• Ghoul (Darakhul) (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Githyanki (Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse)
• Githzerai (Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse)
• Gnoll (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Godsong Scion (MCDM - Arcadia 11)
• Half-Giant (Goliath) (Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse)
• Inkarnate (Path of the Planebreaker)
• Leonin (Mythic Odysseys of Theros)
• Lizardfolk (Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse)
• Modron (the_singular_anyone)
• Mushroomfolk (Tome of Heroes)
• Ogre (MCDM - Arcadia 14)
• Primordial Scion (MCDM - Arcadia 11)
• Ratfolk (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Ravenfolk (Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse or Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Reborn (Von Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft)
• Ruin-Touched (somanyrobots)
• Satarre (Tome of Heroes)
• Sea Elf (Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse)
• Shade (Tome of Heroes)
• Shadow Elves (Shadar-kai or Shadow Fey) (Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse or Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Shifter (Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse)
• Somnian (MCDM - Arcadia 3)
• Thri-kreen (Astral Adventurer’s Guide)
• Traveler (Path of the Planebreaker)
• Triton (Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse)
• Trollkin (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Vindicator Scion (MCDM - Arcadia 11)
• Yuan-Ti (Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse)

Descriptions

Astral Elf

Hailing from colonies in both the Astral Plane and amongst the stars of space, Astral Elves are the heirs to great spaceborne empires and powerful magic that drives their flying ships through the void to explore new frontiers.

Bugbear

Bugbears are found in greater numbers in remote areas, but also have communities in many large cities. They have great traditions of folk magic both arcane and divine, as well as a legacy of being talented and stealthy hunters.

Cambion

Cambions are the direct offspring of powerful fiends of all varieties from the lower planes. They lead diverse and often traumatic life experiences, often needing to fight to survive. Cambions are also inclined to oppose others of their kind, seeing them as competitors for power and control. Only one cambion may be part of a party.

Changeling

Changelings are humanoids possessed of the strange skill of being able to alter their appearance. Some discover this talent in their adolescence, while others grow up in changeling communities. Generally shunned in most societies when discovered, being a changeling is a hard life. Some adopt a particular persona and simply live out their lives, while others go off adventuring or journeying, changing their appearance in every place they find themselves.

Chthonic Scion

Chthonic scions are touched or literally descended from Dalquiel or Rindriaze. They most often manifest in families of Aasimar, already embued with the blood of celestials. These mysterious figures possess abilities to comfort or speed the dying upon their way. They are extremely rare, and often become known as saints for their activities.

Deep Gnome

Deep gnomes have bluish skin and have spent much more time underground than their surface swelling cousins. They often have experience in surviving and living in subterranean environments, and their culture emphasizes crafting to a lesser degree than other gnomes.

Derro

A subterranean people with blue and purplish skin, white shocks of hair, and wide eyes from generations in dark caverns, the derro may be related to dwarves, duergar, or gnomes. Some isolated communities of derro have taken to worship of strange eldritch beings or discovered corrupting artifacts, giving many who are familiar with the underground the false idea that all derro are insane. This is not the case, and many thriving communities of derro exist in hidden sanctuaries.

Dhampir

Not quite living and yet not quite dead, dhampir arise from a variety of circumstances—but most often after an encounter with a vampire. They possess a hunger like their undead kin and vampiric powers.

Dragonborn (Chromatic, Gem, & Metallic)

Dragonborn are rare in many lands, but many dwell with the draconic populations in the Thornspire Highlands. They possess some of the powers of their true dragon forebears, but are not as powerful as half-dragons.

Drow

An elvish people that primarily live in matriarchal societies in large cities deep beneath the earth, Drow are known to have potent spellcasters, and strong survivors against the alien entities in the deep places of the world.

Duergar 

Eladrin

Fikrawi

Firbolg

Genasi (Air, Earth, Fire, Water)

Ghoul (Darakhul)

Githyanki

Githzerai 

Gnoll

Godsong Scion

Half-Giant (Goliath)

Inkarnate

Leonin

Lizardfolk

Mushroomfolk 

Ogre

Primordial Scion

Ratfolk

Ravenfolk

Reborn

Ruin-Touched

Satarre

Sea Elf

Shade

Shadow Elves

Shifter

Somnian

Thri-kreen

Traveler

Triton

Trollkin

Vindicator Scion

Yuan-Ti

Mercenary Company Campaign: A Historical Timeline

One of the important themes in the mercenary campaign concept is that of continuity. Although individual members die, the company lives on, and carries on its legacy. This timeline is not all inclusive and events might be filled into the gaps based upon player backgrounds. This is designed to be a player resource as well. It reflects knowledge that would be available to them through the Annals. It will be added to as details are uncovered in the campaign and created collaboratively.

Present Day: Company has waited in garrison at Vraugate to repel the feared ice giant raid. Its strength has been replenished by Northerners from Vraugate and the surrounding region after the losses of the march North.

18 Months Ago: After years of on and off participation in various sides of the civil conflict slowly tearing apart the Empire, the company received a contract request from the Burgomeister of Vraugate in the Northern Lands. They traversed the Desolation of Tsar, staying far from the ruins, and traversed the Mountains of the Spine. Some good troops were lost on the journey, but the company remained strong together.

Two Years Ago: The company was at the Battle of the Broken Spires, but its employer, Count Ebonshade, was on the losing side, alongside the exiled Patriarch Grimnar. Finding itself without an employer and not desired now that the civil conflict had lapsed into another uneasy peace, the company searched for new work.

Ten Years Ago: The company fought at the Storming of the Bloodshadow Citadel, beginning the current “hot” phase of the civil conflict within the Empire after the Uneasy Peace, which had lasted between the major imperial claimants and the fragmented Patriarchs of the Church for fifteen years.

Fifteen Years Ago: The company served one of the barons of the Thornspire Highlands during the Dragonflame Rebellions.

One Hundred Years Ago: The company arrived from the Southern deserts to the fractured imperium. They are said to have traveled on ships that could sail upon the sand.

Many Hundreds of Years Ago: The company participated in a defense of the City of Brass by an army of Genie and elementals from the Plane of Earth.

Mercenary Campaign: Session Zero Plan

1. Reinforce the Campaign Concept

You drive the story. Make good backgrounds that give you interesting motivations. If you hear about a place or thing you are interested in exploring you are welcome to pursue it.

The Company is everything. You are all sworn, like your troops, to put the wellbeing of the Company before all other bonds.

You joined the Company to leave your old life behind. You must pick a nickname which you are known by. Consider the following question as you build your character and backstories together: 

• What is your nickname?
• What is your true name? Who are your closest friends and comrades that you might have shared this knowledge with, and why did you share it? 
• Why did you leave your old life? Are you running from something? Were you out of options? Do you have a family somewhere else that you still send your money to? Have you made a new family or found a spouse in the company? 
• Who is an NPC from your past that is significant to you or has impacted your life?
• Are you related by blood to any of the others in the company? 
• What battles or wars have you fought in with your comrades? 
• Who was the previous officer that died so you could take your position? 
• What are your goals in life and as a leader of the company?
• What are your darkest secrets?
• What are your deepest fears?
• What are you interested in discovering, exploring, or doing in the world?
• What is a short term goal that you want to accomplish? (Pending GM approval, accomplishing this will earn you a free feat)

This campaign is designed to be a long term, player driven story. With downtime activities like recruiting troops, or long term contracts to guard a city or settlement years could pass in game. The details and ideas you come up with will help create opportunities and quests. You can always add additional details in coordination with the GM.

2. Design the Mercenary Company

The company existed long before your characters ever joined it. You will have a hand in creating it.

• What is the name of your mercenary company?
• What is your symbol? (You can draw something of your own or find something online for this)
• Which heroic organization type would you like to use to represent your company? (Kingdoms & Warfare, pg. 31-64. You can reskin an organization if you like certain powers or features better and make it a mercenary company that uses elements of the theme of the organization you picked)
• Where was your mercenary company formed? Did it originate on another world? (Your company is at least two thousand years old)
• Why was it formed? Or is this a secret lost to time or buried in the annals?
• What are the names of some recent commanders and officers that preceded you in leading the company?
• Your company will start as a size one domain with a number of veteran units equal to the number of players in our campaign. These units are comprised of approximately fifty troops (exact numbers don’t really matter for warfare because it is abstracted, but if you were to raid a settlement or enemy stronghold the raiding system we would use uses more exact numbers of troops), with stats provided by the GM.

Your company has spent much time in largely human dominated lands in the last few decades and so it is less diverse, although there are some interesting members from earlier days. If you want to recruit troops of different ancestries you must set up in a suitable settlement with sufficient population and recruit for six months, paying lifestyle expenses for yourselves and upkeep costs for lodging your troops during that period. It will be treated as downtime for you to do other activities, or you can go off adventuring on your own for brief periods, along with a cost to recruit, train, and equip new members (it will be an expensive undertaking). You can recruit units faster by engaging in Intrigue against other domains opposed to your goals. However, not every conflict will use the intrigue system.

Additionally, your company currently has a treasury of eight thousand gold pieces. Fifty percent of the money made via your contracts must go to pay the troops (but otherwise you only pay upkeep if you are stationary, lodged in a settlement). The treasury may be used for gear for your officers, but any major expenses (greater than a thousand gold pieces) are traditionally voted on as a group of the senior officers. 

Finally, you may take the titles conferred by your chosen organization type, but two of your officers must take the following titles:

Company Annalist. The long tradition of keepIng the records of your company has come down to you. You gain proficiency in the History and Religion skills. If you already have proficiency in one or both then you gain expertise in the respective skill. Your studies of the lore of the company also grant you advantage on History and Religion Checks that regard the company’s history. The annals are held in a massive chest, to which you hold the only key, carried on an iron chain around your neck. The chest is guarded by the most elite veterans of your company. On your belt you carry the current annals, which is a book connected by a larger iron chain to your belt. It never leaves your person until it is full and joins the larger collection, upon which you begin writing in a new book.

The Current Annals. This book contains your and recent annalist’s writings. The book is a mundane item, but contains great significance for the company. You should give your life before losing it or the other annals. While you maintain the book you may inspire your companions with a story from the company’s past, granting you and each of your companions one use of Inspiration each. Additionally, you can inspire one of the units you command in a warfare battle, granting them one extra attack on their first activation. These abilities can only be used again after you take an extended rest (one week conducting no other downtime activity other than recording recent events and studying the annals), and they may not be used more than once a month. Should you ever lose the annals your troops have disadvantage on all attacks during warfare battles until the annals are retrieved. If they are destroyed your company is broken and you lose all your units. You must undertake a great quest to restart the annals and the company in a new form.

Company Banner-bearer. The company banner has the power to motivate your troops and officers to accomplish heroic feats. You gain the feature below:

Rally the Troops. As a bonus action you may inspire your one of your fellow officers of your choice by waving the flag, granting them an extra attack on your turn. You may do this a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, but must complete a long rest before doing so again. The banner is mounted on a pole which functions as a mundane spear, but it has the light property, allowing you to benefit from dual wielding if you choose to use another weapon in your other hand. The spear lacks the thrown property though, and cannot be used as a ranged weapon. Additionally, when you command troops in a warfare battle each unit you command is inspired by your example and the banner, granting them advantage on their first attack of their first activation of the battle. This benefit may only be used again after you complete an extended rest of one week, and may not be used more than once a month.

3. Considerations for Characters

Characters can be extremely diverse, but the themes mentioned above should be kept in mind so you don’t create a character that is incompatible with the campaign concept.

You should keep in mind that you will need a party balanced for all types of play including: combat, dungeon delving, social and political intrigue, warfare, exploration, and survival. Depending on your goals you could engage with all types of play, and your party should attempt to cover all these bases. The list of party roles from RPGBot may be helpful in making these choices; the author notes that not all of these can be covered by most parties, but that some members can cover multiple roles:

• Blaster - Area of effect abilities
• Controller - Control battlefield movement or crowds of enemies 
• Defender - Protects squishier party members
• Face - Social interactions 
• Healer - Provides healing
• Scholar - Provides knowledge skill proficiencies 
• Scout - Infiltrates and/or finds traps
• Striker - Powerful at single target damage or disabling 
• Support - Provides buffs and debugging capabilities to help other members
• Utility Caster - Provides non-combat aids to travel or knowledge, normally through spellcasting

Your characters are veteran warriors and adventurers. The characters and their retainers are the primary spellcasters in the company (other than a few NPCs from your ranks that the GM may introduce). Your characters will begin at fifth level for this campaign.

Don’t over-stress about these decisions. If you find your character unsatisfactory after a few sessions we can easily kill them off, or have them elect to leave their senior officer position to step back into the rank and file. One of your retainers or a totally new character can be promoted in their place.

3. Introduce the Character Options

Player’s first stop should be my list of default player options, which includes all approved class and subclass options. It also includes the basic ancestries. For this campaign only one player may choose an ancestry from my rare ancestries list.

4. Review Additional Systems that will Impact Character Choices

This campaign will use the rules from Uncharted Journeys for long travel, which assign specific roles to different party members on a journey. Certain character types fit certain roles better, so keep this in mind while creating your characters (GM will provide the book and rules for reference). Additionally, if you were to capture or purchase a ship we will use additional ship rules which similarly assign different roles to characters, and those will be provided for reference too. Finally, you will derive certain mechanical benefits from your company officer roles, which you should have in mind from step two.

5. Build Characters and Create Backstories

Based on your work above and answers to the questions, create your fifth level character and work with other players and the GM to integrate your backstories together. The GM can answer questions about the setting and might work with you to create new locations and details from your characters’ background. 

Because we are starting at higher level, characters will have 500 gp plus 1d10 x 25 gp, one uncommon magic item, and normal starting equipment for your class and background. They can spend the gold on additional mundane equipment during character creation.

7. Pick Retainers and Create Backstories 

Your retainers are the junior officers of the company. Each player will pick two retainers who work for them. They will be roleplayed by the GM, but run by players in combat. Players can pick one of their retainers to accompany the party at a time on adventures. You can swap this retainer out whenever it makes sense narratively (normally when you return to wherever your company is bedded down to take a rest in safety. The same rule applies if the party gets into an encounter when with their troops, because the other retainers are occupied leading the rank and file in potentially fighting their own encounters too. Retainers are also intended to be an easily promoted replacement character should yours die, so keep this in mind when picking them.

Develop a background for your retainers, using the same questions that you did for your characters and put these details in the format of the universal NPC template from Justin Alexander.

Format:

Name: Self explanatory.

Appearance: A physical description of the retainer (in addition to this, find a piece of art work if you can for a token)

Roleplaying:

• This is two to three brief bullet points.
• They each describe different personality traits or attitudes.
• Maybe include one distinctive mannerism that they do.

Background: This is narrative and provides a brief description of the character’s past, answering the question posed above.

Key Info:

• These are bullet points of important information or roles the retainer has.
• Perhaps they are in charge of your spies.
• Or are in charge of your scouts.
• Or training your troops.
• Perhaps they are a surgeon or chaplain.
• Or a ritual healer.

The retainers available are found in Strongholds & Followers, Flee Mortals, and The Illrigger and they reflect the core game classes and subclasses from the Player’s Handbook, Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, and the Illrigger subclasses. Additional retainers made to represent other classes or the additional subclasses from the player options list will need to be custom made by the GM, so if you are interested in one in particular then just let the GM know what type of character you are interested in having as a retain let so they can build it.

8. Introduce the Scenario: Contract of Vraugate

Your current contract has brought you through the Desolation of Tsar and the Mountains of the Spine to the Northern Lands, where the stars dance alongside shimmering rainbow lights in the night. Your latest contract is to guard the small city of Vraugate from the predations of a clan of ice giant reavers and their ice goblin minions. The summer has been spent in indolence, but the attack has come on a cold night as the weather has begun to turn. It is the last chance of the season for the ice giants’ longships to raid the city before their passage is barred by the ice of winter. You need only repulse their assaults and you will at last have completed the contract and receive your final payment of fifteen thousand gold pieces, a massive boon to your treasury. What will your next moves be? You will decide if you can survive this battle.

The Contract of Vraugate is a challenging combat scenario with multiple dilemmas designed to demonstrate to you that you can’t solve all the problems in this campaign and that your choices have consequences. It will also allow you to synergize and develop your tactics as a group of powerful characters. Additionally it will provide several tutorial scenarios for the warfare system so that you can gain more familiarity with it.