South-Western Marches of the Blood Kingdom Hex Key

Cartography by Faxfire

I created the map above for my Empire of the Ghouls campaign portion which has turned into a Homebrew deep dive into fighting the Blood Kingdom and Ghoul Imperium. While there are labeled locations, I also want to have interesting locations keyed to each hex in case they attempt to explore and I need to break out hex crawl procedures. This is represents my best attempt at following Justin Alexander's advice on keying every single hex in a map for a hexcrawl. While I came no where close to that, the exercise left we with a significant amount of interesting material, most of which I can reuse, even with a different map or setting.

Key:

A1: Perhaps a great statue once stood here. All that remains is a crumbling stone hand, covered in moss which provides some shelter from the incessant wind.

A2: Haunted Battlefield: The moldering remnants of a battle between Blood Kingdom and Krakovan forces lie here. The battlefield is haunted by ghasts, unsettled spirits, and other monsters that are attracted to sites of mass violence.

A3: A mysterious circle of crumbling standing stones suggests some long forgotten significance to this place.

B5: Rebel Camp: A secret camp of Krakovar rebels is located in this portion of the swamp. They are led by two Spearmaiden of Sif named Yavkanka Ravengrove and Elya Gajou. There are perhaps thirty rebels total. They seek to defeat the Band of the Twice Damned, aid the people of Jatow, and also frustrate Lady Illmalad’s designs.

B7: Castle Bloodvale: Stronghold of the Lady Illmalad.

B10: Gybick, the former City of Scribes, is now a hallowed out shell of its former glory. Its fabled great library is plundered, and its great printing houses destroyed. 

C1: The burned remains of a farm are the only sign of humanoid life in this area.

C2: Griffon’s Tower: A ruin of ancient origins. It was built in the time of the Eagle Emperor, Valeresh, but this knowledge is long forgotten. It has now been used variously by brigands, warriors of Dornig and Krakovar, along with the occasional group of paladins of Grisal on a raid. Now it is the current headquarters and stronghold of the Band of the Twice Damned.

Cartography by Dyson Logos

C4: A crypt complex in the marshlands lies here, holding secrets of the Elector Kingdom of Krakovar. 

C5: The town of Jatow, which with its bridge is the best crossing of the Yoshtula for miles around. Jatow has suffered greatly under the predations of the Band of the Twice Damned and their company of mercenaries. The main camp of the Twice Damned's company is near Jatow.

C8: Town of Dimwick.

D4: Lesser traveled ford across the Yoshtula River. At times menaced by an angry water elemental.

D5: Werewolf’s Lair: The cave of a werewolf lies in these hills. The werewolf walks among the people of Jatow when not transformed into their true form.

D8: Hermit Priest’s hut: See adventure Keevial’s Rage in MCDM’s Arcadia Magazine, Issue 6, pg. 19. 

E3: Ruins of the town of Skalanta: Skalanta was made an example several years ago by the Blood Kingdom. The town was massacred and the survivors marched off as food for the ghoul soldiers of the Darakhul Empire. Monsters include various undead, carrionettes (Von Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, pg 231). Also contains a tavern called the Burning Skull. Skeletons of the former denizens mimic life, but are harmless unless provocated. The barkeep is a crippled dhampir named Stump who took up residence after the fall of the town. Secretly, Stump is the unwanted and abandoned son of Lady Illmalad. He knows that the town was betrayed and destroyed by Lord Tytus Boczar in exchange for undeath and membership in the Ghost Knights. Boczar is currently Lady Illmalad's consort. Stump knows all this and that Boczar's final death is the only thing that will bring peace to the cursed town. Stump is standoffish and gruff, but opens up to adventurers who are nonhostile and treat him with kindness, which has been a rare experience in his life.

E4: An ancient Barrow Mound lies amongst the hills of this area (see the Orden Barrow Mound in Dungeon Delvers Guide, pg 203). It is an ancient burial site for the Deathsworn, the terrible warriors of Valeresh.

E8: A mine worked by the inhabitants of Brevic for generations has been the site of recent upheaval. Strange new gems and stones have appeared. The ghouls have also begun harassing the miners (see the Old Number Ten Mine in the Dungeon Delver’s Guide, pg 200).

E10: Devil’s Cave: See adventure Keevial’s Rage in MCDM’s Arcadia Magazine, Issue 6, pg. 19.

F5: Shadow Gate: At the site of a cross roads, and the convergence of a ley line, there is a ruined portal. It was once two standing stones with a cross piece of stone bridging them. Now the left standing stone is fallen, and the bridge stone leans against the right stone, creating a triangle large enough for one creature to pass through. At dawn and dusk, while the light still shines but before the sun peeks over the horizon, the gate opens. It is guarded by a Shadow Fey Knight of the Road (Creature Codex, pg 146) named Lady Sagra.

F8: Town of Brevic.

G9: A hidden cave here holds a secret entrance into the Ghoul Imperium. 

H3: Secret cave lair of the Night Cauldron of Chernobog. Lady Illmalad’s dhampir son, Fane, is a leader of the cult in this region and often is here with the other cultists. Spawn of Chernobog, Dark Folk, and other monsters.

H6: An ancient stela stands here. Script in a dead language is weathered and written upon it. It is a monument dedicated to Mavros. Offerings of broken and decaying weapons lie in front of it. 

H8: Contains a dungeon of worked stone that is the lair of a Nihileth trapped in deep slumber since the primordial age (right wing of dungeon). The mysterious sigils are inlaid with gems, and when attempts are made to remove the treasures the creatures awakened. In the crypts (on the left side), funerary boxes mysteriously covered in ice are visible through a glass window in each door. Carved on the sarcophagi are strange aberrant humanoids with tentacles on their faces. They appear to be in deep freeze for an unknown purpose. Opening any of the doors causes the chambers to begin to thaw and a strange whirring noise begins to eminate from the boxes until they eventually open.

Cartography by Dysonlogos

I6: Contains a forgotten crypt housing a Necrichor (Von Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, pg 238).

J4: Location of Papa Toadleg’s abandoned camp. Remnants of fire pit and rough lean-to are in grove of trees near the road.

J9: The lair of a Loup Garou (Von Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, pg 237) is hidden in the forest. This powerful werewolf is the sire of the infected werewolf in D5.

J10: Papa Toadlegs’ new lair. It is a remote cave with magical wards to hide the old red hag from the Mavka hunting him. It contains the Cauldron of Blood.

K1: Contains a small outpost of dwarven soldiers from the Black Fortress commanding a ruined watchtower. They are led by a grizzled paladin of Khors, Holdna Brightshield. There are about twenty to thirty dwarves manning the outpost at a time, usually working in squads of four led by a graveslayer sergeant.

Arcadia 5 Reactions

Image is copyright MCDM Productions

Another beautiful piece of cover art from Sean Andrew Murray depicting some sort of great siege engine. I love it.

Introcaso’s editor’s note focuses on asking logical questions about the fantastic details of our D&D worlds and carrying them to their conclusions. Certainly good advice for world building and reflected in this issue.

The first article is Long-Term Curses by Leon Barillaro. This provides six curses immune to the Remove Curse spell. These all seem to be less mechanical than narrative elements. The Curse of the Betrayed is interesting narratively, but seems like it would be difficult to do in practice. The Curse of Cassandra, paying homage to the Iliad, seems like it would be easier to roleplay. It’s harder to keep control of a group that is actively undermining one another and lying because it creates greater opportunities for problematic player behavior. While the prophecy curse provides an interesting narrative component that is easier to implement (the other characters simply need to act as though they don’t believe the prophecy, which is the curse, exactly as portrayed in the source material). 

The Curse of the Living Dead is distinct in not really being character focused. Instead it provides the idea of a town infected by necromatic energy that causes the dead to rise at midnight, meaning that their corpses are destroyed and removed from the immediate area before they arise as zombies. Instead this is an interesting narrative element that you can insert as a quest line in almost any campaign. I may use it to describe a town in Krakovar in my Midgard campaign, defiled by the magic of the ghouls and Blood Kingdom. The characters would need to break the curse as part of their work as rebels.

The last three curses are similarly interesting narrative devices, but my favorite is the Curse of the Watchers, which slowly adds to a folk of ravens who follow an adventurer who stole a seemingly mundane item of the GM’s choice from a dungeon until the swarm attacks. This would also be a great tie in to the Grove of Crows in the Path of the Planebreaker. The Grove is essentially a horror themed demiplane with similar vibes and esthetic. Just reskin the ravens as crows.

The next article is the Goldmonger Subclasses, by Carlos Cisco. I love these subclasses, like the unique and nuanced take on avarice as a divine domain. You don’t have to be evil to be greedy or a voracious collector of valuable magic items. The article is also very well written in my opinion. 

There’s a flavorful but brief description of Pta’u as a god of deals before launching into the cleric subclass. It has some powerful features, like the ability to duplicate a domain spell effect on yourself or an object you are touching after casting it on another creature or object. That means you can cast haste on your martial friend and yourself, or a number of other decent spells. Additionally there are other interesting abilities that add up to having a degree of battlefield control. Overall probably a middling subclass in terms of power, so it shouldn’t break your game.

The next is the Circle of the Gilded Druid, focusing on guarding natural resources of gold and gems from those who would take them. So I imagine they hate miners (not a subclass for Lost Mines of Phandelver perhaps). I’d need to test out the subclass to see how it performs, but largely it tries to boost the melee capabilities of the Druid with a ranged attack boost late at level ten. You’d still have the core controller and support spells of the Druid, but this certainly seems geared towards your character primarily relying on primal savagery for most of your attacks. A small boost to AC and resistance occurs at sixth level, meaning like most druids it would be advantageous to pick an ancestry that provides earlier buffs to AC if you plan to spells any significant amount of time in melee. So some cool abilities, but limited utility as far as their use. Probably another subclass that won’t break the game.

Next is the Paladin Oath of Acquisitions. The flavor on this one immediately makes me think about running an Acquisitions Incorporated game. It would definitely be a good addition thematically. It seems a little overtuned, with several abilities allowing you to impose disadvantage on enemy attacks. The aura allows this on any enemy within 10 feet, which seems like it could do a number on a boss encounter. 

The final article is Alabaster’s Almanac, by Sam Mannell. This article details nine new spells for arcane casters. They are all generally balanced, if sometimes a little too specific in their use cases. There is an odd ninth level spell that lets you turn illusions into real objects or creatures (but not magic items). Much like the other spell offerings, potentially useful to inject on a case-by-case basis, or give to an NPC or villain in your campaign.

That’s it for Arcadia 5!

Arcadia Reactions Page

Krakovan Rebels: NPC

Vojislov Sorokyn

Appearance: Middle aged human male, Vojislov has pale skin and brown hair. His features are unremarkable, allowing him to move through his people undetected by their vampire despots. He is clean shaven except when in the field, when he allows his beard and mustache to grow. He does stand slightly taller than the average Krakovar male, at just over six feet, and is solidly built from a lifetime of hard work.

Roleplaying: 

• Vojislov always puts the people of Krakovar first, above the cause and above petty motivations like revenge.
• He is quiet and his eyes look distant, as though fixed on some far horizon.

Background: Vojislov Sorokyn was a blacksmith in a small village in central Krakovar before the invasion. Like most people, he simply tried to survive when the Blood Kingdom invaded, aided by the ghouls. His family was taken in a blood tithe by the local vampire lord. He swore vengeance and staked the vampire through the heart with his own hands. Now Vojislov dedicates himself to fighting to protect others from the same fate.

Key Info: 

• Vojislov always puts the people of Krakovar first, above the cause and above petty motivations like revenge.
• He has great mutual respect with the Shield Maidens of Sif.
• Vojislov has a personal vendetta against the Band of the Twice Damned—any who frustrate their designs are ones Vojislov considers his friends.
• He is concerned at the methods that the Grim Accord are rumored to be employing in their fight against the Duchy of Morgau. They harm civilians indiscriminately.

Stat Block: Champion Warrior (Monstrous Menagerie, pg. 497)

Additional NPCs in Vojislov’s band: Use veteran stats.

Stanislava Bulganin

Zorana Svoboda

Vjekoslav Koci

Walled Temple

Walled Temple map - by Faxfire

Surrounded by high stone walls and with a large interior space for gardens, contemplation, or solitude, the walled temple is a touchpoint for those of the faith. 

This map can be used in a variety of different campaign situations, and can used as a temple with an altar, or even be used as a fortified ancient shrine, with its religious use now long forgotten. I drew it to be the repaired stronghold for my players in a concluded campaign. It is shared for your personal use.

Lore Book: Book of Endless Dark

This lore book is for my Midgard Empire of the Ghouls campaign and is based upon the lore on the Night Cauldron of Chernobog found in Demon Cults & Secret Societies, and in a few Kobold Press blog posts.

This aged book’s pages are yellowed with age. The title is blazed across the second page, covering much of the page, as if the scribe sought to blot out the entire surface with the dark ink. Within the book speaks of “the deceptions of the gods” and their “lies that persuaded the Lord of the Night to allow the stars and sun to alight.”

It speaks of a future “age of glory to come, when the sun sets for the last time, and the stars are choked in endless void.” It urges followers of the Black God to throw off their shackles and embrace the Cauldron of Night, “heralding the “Architect of Disaster that is to come” and will “leave the World Tree burning” in their wake.

The book is inscribed to “My loyal pupil of the Night Cauldron, Fane Illmaladson, in preparation for you to receive the Black God’s Blessing,” and is signed with the symbol of a cauldron marked with a bear paw.

Sword Coast Regional Map

 

This map of the Sword Coast and the North region near Phandalin was something a friend mentioned they could use for their ongoing campaign. It’s my first attempt at a regional map in many years, but I was able to practice some new and different techniques.

Conan the Barbarian: Rogues in the House

Mild spoilers follow for the story…

This short story by Robert E. Howard was really quite delightful to read. I saw so many aspects that have become tropes of tabletop roleplaying along with sword & sorcery stories. Particularly the traps in the house. The enlistment of the villain as part of the group against a monster with which they are trapped. 

The entire arc includes political intrigue, the enlistment of Conan as a champion for one. Explorations, battle with a monstrous adversary, and the betrayal and eventual death of a villain. It’s quite a fun story, and showcases Howard’s descriptive skills. I’d recommend it to anyone wanting insight into one of the many stories that likely directly influenced the spread of the TTRPG hobby.

En5ider Reactions Issue 15

Party of One: Rewards of the One-on-One Campaign is by Matt Click. This article doesn’t provide any new mechanics or assistance for running one-one-campaigns, instead dedicating its word count to attempting to persuade the reader of the virtues of this type of play.

The article isn’t bad, but doesn’t really grab me the same way that others which offer more concrete tools for this type of play do. For instance, Arcadia Issue 22 provides Heroic Champions: Powerful New Classes for Parties of One by Bill Doyle, a bold and creative idea to actually allow a game master to use a normal amount of monsters with a fun challenge level for encounters in a one-on-one game. I’ll write more on this particular idea, which I tried out in my session on Hurkaz the Mighty.

Although this article disappoints, it did remind me of my preferred one above. It would certainly be fun to run some published adventures that it’s more difficult to get a group together for due to time constraints as a one-on-one.

En5ider Reactions Issues 12-14

Issue 12 of En5ider is titled Fantastic Times & Librams, by Russ Morrissey. A d100 list of titles of books, with authors, physical description and an optional rarity, price, and page count. I really love this article because I love books and it provides an easy way to include mundane books in adventures as loot or flavor. Not much else to the article than this, but the books are creative.

Image is property of ENWorld Publishing

Fire of the Mind, in Issue 13, is by James Abendroth. 

I am including a content warning for discussions of trauma and mental disorders for this discussion of the article.

This article discusses real world mental disorders and their potential applications for a 5e game. The discussion is generally understanding and treats those who suffer from these disorders in the real world with respect. However, I personally don't see a great need to gamify elements of mental disorders. The proposed player options mostly focus on roleplaying (like most mental effects in 5e). There are some mechanical suggestions for penalties or impacted skills, which could be used if you are playing with the optional sanity mechanics for 5e. However, I largely don't see a need to have player characters use this type of material in the 5e system. The GM advise is slightly more helpful in providing options of how to incorporate some of the behaviors descripted into their adventures through NPCs. Some care is needed to make sure to be sensitive in the course of gameplay though. Overall, it doesn’t break much new ground and it’s not likely that I’ll personally use this particular article.

Issue 14 is Strands of Life, by Giltônio Santos is an interesting article. It reminds me of the style and tone of articles I've seen in old issues of Dragon Magazine. The article includes a brief discussion of different classes capable of healing in 5e. Then various strategies of healing or preserving allies hit points are outlined. These are quite interesting. This includes a brief discussion of damage mitigation spells, direct healing, and noting that gradual healing spells are lacking in 5e compared to previous editions. Then it proceeds to address this and the gaps in healing capabilities in 5e. These spells aren't all worth including in your game, but I might test a few out with the Life Cleric in my current Ptolus campaign.

En5ider Reactions Issues 9-11

In issue 9, Circles of Power, by Mark Kernow, provides three druid subclasses. The first is the Circle of the Birds and Beasts. This class is similar in theme to the circle of the shepherd, but focuses on controlling animals in it's powers. They are very utility focused, but not necessarily combat effective. Not my favorite subclass, and reflective of some very early and quirky 5e design.

The next subclass, the Circle of the Elements, reminds me of a bender from Avatar the Last Airbender. Again, kind of odd design. The final class, the Circle of Life, has similar oddities, including a change to spellslot recovery that references the wizard's arcane recovery feature. Referencing another class or ability generally strikes me as bad design because it requires consulting another source rather than making the subclass ability standalone.  Overall, not my top article from En5ider.

Issue 10, by Carl Heyl, focuses on creating puzzles for your game that are actually fun. This brings up an issue I've often had with puzzles—challenging the players, instead of their characters, can be frustrating for them rather than a fun game experience. Additionally, there’s an inherent danger in putting anything important behind a puzzle because your players may not figure it out. While interesting, this article still didn’t quite crack the nut for me on this subject.

Issue 11, Winterheart, is a brief adventure by Esper. Spoilers from here out. And content warnings for self-harm, familial death, racism, and sexual assault. I'd recommend you just pass on this adventure if these concern you.

It contains some problematic tropes that diminished my interest at the beginning. It begins as a bit of a Romeo and Juliet story, but rapidly we find that Juliet (named Katina in this case) dies with her father while fleeing her lover's family. Her younger sister is captured and given to the Romeo character (named Aldric Sangellion) as a "war trophy" by his father. The objectification of this character (her name is Chryssa) bothers me. If I were to run this adventure, I'd treat her as a prisoner, rather than using the language of implied enslavement and elements of potential sexual assault currently conveyed. There is certainly enough material to turn Chryssa into a non-helpless captive too, as the core tension of the story (there are a few too many plot threads) seems to be that if she remains captured, the trauma of losing her family will drive her to commit suicide and unleash her nascent winter magic to create an eternal winter (a la super dark version of Frozen, and thus the title of the adventure). As is, Chryssa's depiction follows the trope of the young maid in the tower (and the room she is in is noted to be Aldric's bedchambers--which further reinforces the negative and potential sexual violence mentioned above). There's also some elements of motivation for the two families, driving their conflict, which involves a magic tree, and the racial tension from one faction being humans and the other elves.

You might be able to rectify some of the problematic elements by removing the more problematic language used to describe Chryssa's capture and imprisonment. The old tropes and other problematic themes could also be broken up by gender swapping characters, and not grounding the conflict in a racial difference. 

The dark, tragedy elements of the story are compelling to me, and I think provide reason not to toss out the whole thing. There's also a lovely little regional map that I think is a good tool to facilitate an adventure. But as I mentioned above, I certainly understand completely passing on this adventure. It's interesting to see how much EN Publishing has adjusted its content (similar to others like Kobold Press) to reflect a more inclusive view of the hobby. It's just unfortunate that it's really only been the past four or five years. I imagine there may be other adventures with these themes in the next several dozen issues.

Lore Book: Battle of the Field of Blood

This lore book was written for my ongoing Ptolus game, but also establishes some of the lore regarding the mortal understanding of fiends in my own setting.

This battered, black leather book relates both a series of lists of commanders and troops in a battle said to have been waged “upon the fields of blood in the circle of envy.” The unnamed author’s descriptions decline in clarity until the latter pages which descent into utter gibberish—perhaps the last ravings of a broken mind.

The initial entries praise the “lords of the entropic hosts,” lauding the “great vision and glory” of their commander, the “cambion son of the great ascended Gnasher of Endless Bones,” a balor said to have slain “a thousand devas of the ill-begotten chorus of wailers.” 

The account of the battle lists “a hundred war chiefs of a thousand legions of the blessed hosts of chaos” arrayed against “the ill favored armies of the infernal pit.” The fallen angel, Dalferion, is noted as the head of this force, with the hell knights “Flegthas, Naras, and the dread knight Karcius” as her lieutenants at the head of these “endless, ant like hordes.”

Lore Book: The Ebon Binding

The following lore book was written for the players in my ongoing Ptolus campaign to provide some in-game lore to the players on the cult of the Ebon Hand, one of the chaos cults operating in Ptolus. 

This large tome of battered leather, with metal reinforced corners and spine seems to contain the book of scripture of the “Ebon Prince.” It speaks of an ancient ritual undertaken to “bring the Ebon one into the world that the darkness might blot out the light” and that the “holy tenebrous city might be exalted once more with tithes of blood and skulls.”

The hand of the Ebon Prince is said to have been cut off when the portal to the “realm beyond understanding” was shut by “the Iron Spike.” The only further mention of this person or entity is a reference to them being placed upon a black spike on the walls of the “desolate city thrown down in lasting shame.”

Scrawling in the last few blank pages of the book includes the words “Crimson Coil” and “Tolling Bell.” The rest is indecipherable.

Kickstarter Spotlight: Beyond the Woods

I don’t often showcase products in development or crowdfunding, but Beyond the Woods strikes me as a product worth highlighting via my abet limited reach. I want to note that I don’t know the creators, and they aren’t providing me any compensation.

This project just started its crowdfunding campaign two days ago and has already reached and exceeded its goal. This article from Polygon provides a great overview of the project, along with some interview questions with the principal creator behind the project, Emmet Byrne. This also bodes well for the project, as Byrne was a lead designer on multiple highly successful products from Cubicle7–including Broken Weave, a 5e setting I absolutely adore (I am in process of writing perhaps the most in depth review of that product on the internet, so stay tuned for it to drop once I have time to finish it!)

Inspired by Irish myth and legend, Beyond the Woods certainly looks interesting, and beautiful based on the artwork already shared. You can take a look at all of this with their free QuickStart product, which provides an overview of new mechanics and an adventure for you to try out yourself.

But what really intrigues me about this product? Sorry to bury the lead—is the codified and robust hexcrawling system Beyond the Woods provides, along with unique inventory management and resource mechanics. There’s plenty of good hex crawl resources, like those from Justin Alexander. But this strikes me as an extremely polished, 5e-tailored system. This system is setting agnostic, allowing it to be ported to any setting or campaign. I think it would be a wonderful addition for Tomb of Annihilation, or other campaigns using hex crawls without a robust or detailed accompanying system. Along with pointcrawls facilitated by Cubicle7’s excellent Uncharted Journeys, this provides a great framework for my sandbox campaigns and adventures in the future. I think you could seamlessly use this alongside the aforementioned title to have long distance pointcrawls and also have hexcrawls in frontier and exploration areas. 

I’m also taking the time to highlight this project because it is a small publisher—I think this is an outstanding project, but I worry about the book being available for interested GMs in the future. So I hope their crowdfunding success continues so they are able to print a large run of copies and be successful in sharing their content and getting it onto our shelves, into our PDF libraries, and most importantly: playing at our game tables!

Ptolus Campaign Starting Session Concept

Browsing at the time I began this article, I found a great post from Gnomestew on starting your next campaign with a wedding. And I thought: that would be a great way to start a Ptolus campaign that includes political intrigue. So we come to this post. It has been several months since I started the campaign, but I offer it up to you as an example of applying a highly structured campaign technique—having a social event.

First I wanted to establish connections and stakes. So players were basked to either come up with their own reason for knowing about or being involved with the event.

d8 Reasons Your Character is at the Wedding

1       They are a distant relative of the bride or groom

2       They are a former love interest of the bride or groom

3       You fought in the wars on the continent with someone invited to the wedding

4       You have long been fascinated by the upper crust    and finally finagled your way into a noble wedding

5       You are impersonating a minor noble

6       You are a cleric officiating the ceremony 

7       You have helped transport and guard an extravagant gift on a long journey to the event

8       You have been hired to assist with the logistics and service of the ceremony

Party Planning

To plan the event for the session I’ll be using the following directions from Justin Alexander:

1) Creating a location with multiple areas to congregate. 2) Make a list of characters attending. 3) Come up with some events for the event, and finally 4) create topics of conversation.

Location Design 

I love this map from DysonLogos for a large estate with a ballroom, gardens, and nearby sitting rooms. (Note this map is not commercially licensed, but it’s available for personal use from DysonLogos’ blog—if you can please show Dyson some support on Patreon too!)

The opening social will happen as guests enter the house and check their coats, then move to the garden. The ceremony occurs in the rear gardens, then the party comes inside the ballroom, with hors d'oeuvres served, for the reception prior to the dinner. Some guests may linger in the garden, or even escape to the hedge maze for more private liaisons. The dinner is served on tables around the edges of the ballroom, and later on the first dance occurs. Throughout, a library just to the right of the ballroom provides a smoking room and socialization area with a piano that some guests may use too.

The property is located near the main Erthuo Estate on Three Princes Street.

Guest List

Valimar Thornborn: The count of Fardunfell, a county on the continent. He is the groom set to marry Avarilor Erthuo in the wedding ceremony. Valimar is a high elf, renowned more as a scholar than as a warrior. (Noble stat block).

Avarilor Erthuo: The bride of this event, Avarilor is a half elf, the daughter of Lord Galif Erthuo, and Lady Lithalin Erthuo. Galif is one of the titled members of House Erthuo, and the manor the event is occuring at belongs to him. (Noble stat block)

Lord Galif Erthuo: A half elf noble and scholar, Galif has little time or interest for politics, instead focusing on his own interest in the astronomical and astrological, along with their magical adjacent fields of study. Lady Lithalin is his wife. (Noble stat block)

Lady Lithalin Erthuo: An elf, Lady Lithalin is a poised beauty, and extremely intelligent. She is more interest in maintaining her family's social status than her studious husband. (Noble stat block)

Lady Peliope Erthuo: Head of House Erthuo. Galif is her nephew. Though she maintains the neutrality of her house, Peliope is engaged in a torrid long-term affair with Lord Renn Sadar. (Noble stat block)

Lady Enis Sadar: Wife of Lord Renn Sadar. Influencial in the Church for patronizing the Order of Dayra, supporting the poor and orphaned. (Aristocrat stat block)

Naephos Worldsea: Proxy of Lord Renn Sadar of house Sadar. Charismatic and well-mannered. Knows of the secret affair between Lord Renn and Peliope Erthuo. Male elf. (mage stat block)

Camren Khatru: Son and scion of the head of House Khatru. Camren is a soldier born and bred. He has lately returned from the continent, where he has fought in the civil war. It is rumored he was called back to be married and secure the future of the house. He is overconfident in his abilities and arrogant (knight stat block).

Raule Kath: A renowned singer and songwriter. He is directing the musicians playing for the wedding ceremony and the ball afterwards. He is a bit of a foppish young dandy, and gets quite familiar with people of all types when he's had a drink or two. Nephew of the head of House Kath. (Performer stat block)

Nicalon Regelis: Actually Navanna Vladaam, in this guise she appears to be a dark skinned human man. Nicalon Regelis is a member of the Knights of the Chord, an knighly order of bards associated with House Kath. Nicalon speaks out against the Vladaam to learn what enemies have to say. (Assassin stat block)

Kalbir Rau: Male human scion of House Rau. Maintains close ties to the Longfingers Guild and the Balacazar crime family. (Page 98 for stats).

Captain Nigel Blazehorn: A dwarf captain of the city guard, Nigel represents the comissar at the event, although he is a personal friend of House Erthuo. (City Watch Captain stat block, Tome of Beasts I).

Captain Pharis Noldstrom: Second in command to the Commissar over the Commissar's men. He and a small group are acting as bodyguards for the Commissar's daughters, Therese Urnst and Marie Urnst, who are attending the wedding. Noldstrom is taciturn and serious, but extremely focused on his duties. He has a dark secret in that during his him at the imperial academy under the influence of alcohol and drugs he murdered one of his instructors and covered it up. His career will be ruined if it comes to light. (Veteran Stat Block with Defenders)

Marie Urnst: the second of Commissar Urnst's daughters, Marie 

Therese Urnst: The eldest of the Commissar's daughters, 

Ms. Fraulia Hall: The head organizer for the event, managing the help and those doing logistics for the wedding. (Commoner Stats)

Events

The program will follow the events above, but of course this is an adventure. A complication must ensue! Upon commencement of the event the GM rolls 1d4 + 1 to determine when during the program a group of Vai assassins will strike at the event.

1. Opening socialization 

2. Ceremony 

3. Reception & Receiving Line

4. Celebratory Dinner

5. First Dance

The Vai assassins will include one Assassin NPC, and two Cultists disguised as stewards. Their target is Camren Khatru. 

Topics of Conversation 

• Barbarians are said to be massing in the far East—perhaps they will devastate the fractured lands of the Empire or sack the capital again.
• Lord Zavere and Lady Rill are so insulting. They were invited as a courtesy but never responded, and did not deign to leave their “Castle Shard.” (Others may disagree, finding the pair magnanimous and kind).
• That madman, Helmut Itlestein, and his republican rabble are becoming more outspoken about Ptolus becoming a republic governed by the people. People say they plan to have a rally in front of the Administration Building in Oldtown.
• There is rumor that many delvers who go into the depths and operate out of Delver’s Square in Midtown are getting rich from their exploits. These people frequent the inns and businesses near Midtown for their equipment and lodging. They even have a guild.
• A number of nobles are wearing crimson Blood Hawk feathers on hats or pins. Anyone asked notes that it’s a new fashion that’s all the rage—you should get one! Send a servant to the market district and they'll surely find you one.
• Ratmen who live in the sewers are growing bolder or more desperate in their raids on the surface. The Holy Emperor has issued a bounty of three gold pieces per ratling tail turned in.
• The Tragedy of Narthius, the Wise Emperor, is opening next week in the Crown Theater. The Church has called for a boycott—so it must be good!
• Someone known only as Shilukar has broken into several homes in the Nobles’ Quarter and has stolen valuables of all types. Some say he has strange hyena men working with him.
• Sea-bound trade has suffered in recent months due to the predations of a group of pirates. It's said the leader is calling himself the Sea Lord and commands a fleet of three ships.
• The most extravagant gift has been bought by Lord Erthuo for his new son-in-law; a magic scriptorium, allowing one to shift between books very rapidly and scribe your thoughts by speaking. It is very large, and massively expensive. It was escorted overland all the way from Uquance, the City of Mages.

Review: The Book of Fiends

Today we’ll be discussing one of my favorite bestiaries, and one of the earliest books I acquired for 5e. The Book of Fiends, from Green Ronin Publishing. Written by Robert Schwalb, in collaboration with Aaron Loeb, Erik Mona, and Chris Pramas. The original Book of Fiends was published for 3e, and contains much of the same lore, but this review will focus on the most recent version of the book.

Content Warning: Please note that this product is for mature readers and deals with themes including death, violence, and other topics that may not be comfortable or appropriate for all readers.

Coming from the same author who designed the roleplaying game Shadow of the Demon Lord, this tome features vivid description, interesting stories, and beautiful—but at times gruesome or genuinely disturbing artwork. For those who choose to read it, the book offers a variety of fiends, beings of true evil from the lower planes where true evil lives. Beyond just the monsters, the are dozens of fiends of legend, such as demon or devil lords, each of which has its own description that include information on their cultists and their evil portfolio. Each of these entities could almost be spun out into their own campaign, or if you are looking at an adventure with plenty of intrigue about evil cults and their struggles to bring about their own apocalyptic vision of the future (like in Night of Dissolution) each of these could be used as a distinct cult to be investigated and fought.

One of the amazing things about this book is that the monster stat blocks in its second chapter and the rules in the third chapter (the character options) are designated as open content under the OGL. 

Now for a few warts, like some of the creatures within. One major criticism I have is the organization of the Book of Fiends. It has three chapter, which makes sense. The first chapter outlines the three major lower planes. It outlines them in alphabetical order: first the Abyss, then Gehenna, and finally the Hells. Then chapter two orders its topics alphabetically by type of fiend, with daemons, demon, and devils last. Perhaps this is a personal thing,  but I found it extremely confusing on my first read through that the locales were not presented in the same order as their denizens. If I were to offer advice, I’d say to nest the monsters under the location descriptions for easier reference and better flow.

Overall though, I highly recommend checking out the Book of Fiends if it sounds interesting and you can fit it in the budget. It is an outstanding resource for 5e monsters, along with plot points you could tie into any TTRPG campaign.

Mercenary Campaign: She Who Sees Beyond

She Who Sees Beyond (The White Necromancer) 

Appearance: Pale woman, with elvish features. High cheekbones and eyes like glass with faint bluish green coloring. She is tall and slender. 

Roleplaying: 

• Speaks often about her vision of a world made safe for all people through ending chaos.
• Rarely smiles or shows emotion.
• Stands too still. She lacks the swaying of a normal pulsing, living being. DC 12 Wisdom (Perception or Insight) to determine something is off, DC 18 to identify that she does not move except when she chooses to.

Background: She Who Sees Beyond is a powerful leader, of ancient days. She is an exceptional necromancer and is secretly an immortal lich. She rarely feeds souls to her philactery, instead subsisting off the feelings of fear and dread she invokes in those who see her, leading to one feeling that “a part of them is missing” after seeing her. This also impairs their memory of the event. This is from a portion of their soul literally being siphoned away. She consorts with bound demons, who loathe her as they serve her efforts toward law. She also works with devils, and is a master negotiator to have avoided being double crossed by the emissaries of the Hells. 

Key Info: 

• Secret lich.
• Rules a domain and desires to conquer the world. She has an eternity to do it.
• Potential patron for the characters—especially if they decide another foe is more dangerous and decide to ally with her, or are tricked into a contract.

Stat Block: Lich (A5E SRD)

This campaign concept is for 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.

Lady Illmalad of Castle Bloodvale

Spoilers for my Midgard Empire of the Ghouls campaign players…

This post details Lady Illmalad, the vampire lady ruling a fief East of the city of Gybick in Kobold Press’ Midgard setting. My players plan to support the rebels of Krakovar fighting the Blood Kingdom, and Lady Illmalad is their first adversary in freeing the region after having gained some favor with the peasants of the village of Morrowdown in her domain.

Lady Illmalad 

The dread Lady Illmalad, voivodina of the Western Marches, vassal of the Countess of Gybick, Lady Selina Bonecrusher. Lady Illmalad is a vampire Shroudeater, bound by her blood chains to Lady Selina, and back through her line to Prince Lucan. 

Minions

Consort 

Lord Tytus Boczar 

Formerly a minor Krakovan noble, Lord Boczar is a Ghost Knight, a member of the Knights Incorporeal. He is wholly dedicated to his order and his lady. Boczar was a violent man, even in life, and his name is still reviled by people of the Grand Duchy of Dornig, who suffered under his raids while he was a knight of the Elector Kingdom of Krakovar. His brutality ensured he would not be advanced by the late king, and betraying his fellows to the vampires and ghouls came naturally.

Vampire Spawn

Lady Illmalad possesses two vampire spawn of her own.

Felix Rudnyk

A prior consort of Lady Illmalad, in a fit of anger she transformed Felix into vampire spawn. Now he prowls the corridors of her dungeons, guarding the voivodina’s resting place in her coffin. Felix is a more recent creation, and he originally comes from the village of Jatow, where he used to be the mayor. The Lady took a liking to his handsome features as she surveyed her domain on a tour and brought him back to Castle Bloodvale to be her plaything. The people of Jatow are unaware of Felix's grisly fate.

Bogna Dominyska 

A girlhood friend of the Lady Illmalad, Bogna was transformed into a vampire spawn to relieve the vampire’s loneliness as a shroudeater. Bogna is extremely devoted to the Lady. 

Dhampir

Fane

Lady Illmalad possesses a dhampir son from a dalliance with a human. The young man is named Sir Fane. Fane is a vile follower of the Night Cauldron of Chernobog, and spends much of his time at a secret shrine South of Bloodvale with Melakian, a derro disciple of the Night Cauldron of Chernobog (Demon Cults & Secret Societies, pg. 106).

(Dhampir, Creature Codex, pg. 106).

Priestesses of Marena

Mother Ewelina Nadolska 

Priestess of Marrowdown. She has become lax in her exaction of the blood tithes from the people of Morrowdown and allowed their own rites to continue in secret. Lady Illmalad is displeased with this conduct and will dispatch Lord Boczar to remonstrate Mother Nadolska. He leaves a small unit of veterans with her to aid in keeping the people of Morrowdown in line.

Unhatched

Severjaw

Severjaw is a tortured pet of Lady Illmalad. An unhatched dragon—one taken while in their egg and stewed in an unholy concoction that turns the unborn dragon into an undead creature.

Unhatched
Small Undead, chaotic evil
Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 71(11d6+33)
Speed fly 40ft.30ft.

---

• STR15(+2)
• DEX14(+2)
• CON16(+3)
• INT18(+4)
• WIS10(+0)
• CHA9(-1)

---

Hatred

Deprived of parental bonds, the unhatched despise those who nurture and heal others. The unhatched has advantage on attacks against a creature whose most recent action was to heal, restore, strengthen, or otherwise aid another creature.

Minor Magic Resistance (3/Day)

As a bonus action, the unhatched gives itself advantage on its next saving throw against spells or other magical effects.

Innate Spellcasting

The unhatched‘s innate spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit with spell attacks). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring only verbal components: At will: chill touch, minor illusion 1/day: bane

Actions

Multiattack. The unhatched makes one bite attack and one claw attack.

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (3d6 + 2) slashing damage.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d8 + 2) piercing damage plus 4 (1d8) necrotic damage.

Desiccating Breath (Recharge 5-6). The dragon exhales a cloud of choking dust infused with necrotic magic in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in the area must make a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw, taking 16 (3d10) necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. A creature who fails this save can't speak until the end of its next turn as it chokes on the dust

Guards

Captain Gloz

A darakhul ghoul, Captain Gloz enjoys terrorizing his living subordinates, regaling them with stories of how they would be the main course in the ghoul kingdom. A petty and cruel task master, he gives the worse guard duties to his troops. Gloz is terrified of Lord Boczar and the Lady Illmalad, avoiding them whenever possible.

Guards

Lady Illmalad possesses a retinue of ten armed human guards who defend her castle.

Review: Cairn

I've been feeling an OSR, light weight RPG kind of mood lately. Cairn, first edition, is exactly that, providing a spare and concise system. Clocking in at about twenty pages of rules and content, it is an easy system to jump into, with faster character creation.

Let’s build one real fast:

Name: Groua
Character Traits: Brawny, elongated skin, long hair, rat-like face, droning speech, filthy clothing, virtue: disciplined, vice: rude, dangerous reputation, disowned.
Age: 24
STR 11
DEX 9
WIL 7
HP: 3
Gear: three days rations (1 slot), a torch (1 slot), metal file, quill & ink (1 slot), tinderbox (1 slot), 9 gp
Weapon: Battleaxe

The mechanics for Cairn are as simple as the character generation. You get one action. Attacks hit automatically, and you roll the damage die for your weapon, subtracting it from HP. Anything exceeding HP is taken from the Strength score. When Strength equals zero, the character dies (this is like other games that use stat damage, such as Classic Traveller). Additionally, fatigue takes up gear slots, diminishing how much you can carry.

There are a few other nuances, but the rules are fairly simple, focused on narrative, and make combat lethal. The classless system and lack of level advancement means that you become more powerful by finding better treasure, but never become as powerful as our heroic, power fantasy characters. 

I don’t know that I would use Cairn for an extended campaign—I much prefer Shadowdark for that type of game. But I think it’s interesting and worth checking out. I can certainly see myself using it for a one-shot, or to introduce OSR-style play or even as a simple intro to roleplay. Just make sure you have lots of extra character sheets ready. You’ll use them.

Empire of the Ghouls - Out of Zobeck

Spoilers for the adventure follow…

After returning to kobold King Koto Crag-Claw’s palace with their prisoners and the rescued Rozalyn Turnyr, the adventurers were treated as heroes. Their efforts cleared Brik’s name and exposed the machinations of the Blood Kingdom against the city council of Zobeck. 

In addition to their treasure reward King Crag-Claw provided them a place to stay indefinitely and they always were guaranteed free meals at the Rampant Roach. Straic was made to pay for the damages to the restaurant and he provided his daughter’s rescuers any smithing services they required free of charge.

They spent the rest of the spring and most of summer in Zobeck then, but kept busy. Korwyn spent much of his time finding and then refurbishing a river boat to use for travel on the river Argent. He found it through a halfling river folk named Ply Waterfroth, who put him in contact with a kobold named Skitter who gave him a great price for the boat. Rolan studied the apothecary tools he’d found, but couldn’t figure them out yet. He also assisted Korwyn with his boat. Frost had Straic make him a fancy set of silver knuckles, and was gifted a sturdier but more battered set of magical brass knuckles by the kobolds. 

Rolan also received a note from a cleric of Valeresh who kept the shrine in Zobeck. He went to visit the shrine and conducted a ritual which resulted in a vision of two world trees burning in the Tomierran forest and in the Northlands. The old cleric assured Rolan that it was a vision of Ragnarok and must be averted. Rolan was more sceptical.

Korwyn received a note from an old shipmate telling him of how the Duke-Admiral of the Republic of Triolo was issuing letters of marque to attack the Mharoti Dragon Empire’s ships. The friend also sent him a magical ring of jumping to wear on his horn. 

Finally, Frost met Dalinda Plainsfoot, an old friend from his time as a caravan guard on the Rothenian Plains. She told old stories and bought a few rounds until eventually sharing that Baba Yaga and the mysterious and fiendish Master of Demon Mountain were both more active on the plains. The master was sending his Tiefling children as emissaries to the Blood Kingdom and Mharoti Empire. Frost listened intently and also purchased supplies for her to take back to the Plainsfoot and Frostbane tribes to aid their wintering on the steppe. 

Finally they all received a letter from Grigori, who has originally hired them to find his girlfriend, recounting how he had returned to his homeland, Krakovar, to join the rebels against the Blood Kingdom and their ghoul allies as revenge for the disappearance of his girlfriend, Illyana.

After conferring together, the adventurers resolved to go North to find the rebels in a city in the Grand Duchy of Dornig where Gregori had directed them. They prepared the boat and brought along Chitter, Skitter’s nephew on their journey up the river Argent. The heroes departed early in the month of High Summer. Autumn and Winter will soon follow. They cleared a trapper’s net blocking the river in the one major happening of the journey North towards the Freehold of Obertal, a two day journey up river from Zobeck to the point where they could no longer navigate the river on their boat, which they had named the Keister.

Tying up the boat on the seventh of High Summer, they saw two griffin knights circling over the ruined fort, possibly portending trouble…

GM Reflections

This was a really fun game. It was the first time this group has played in person. Additionally, everyone enjoyed the downtime activities from A Life Well Lived and the journey rules from Uncharted Journeys. I really opened up the aperture of the adventure, pointing them to corners of the world that relate to their character. They also have me some interesting backstory info that made it easy to create diverse quest hooks. It’s interesting that they are actually still kind of following the main adventure’s quest line. I think blowing this adventure out into a full sandbox is really cool though, because it allows us to explore so much of Midgard’s rich content. It was interesting getting to use the downtime rules not just mechanically, but to facilitate storytelling.

Everyone enjoyed the new systems, but we all agreed that Cubicle7 could have made them easier to present to players through better handouts, like creating a “menu” of downtime options, and the same thing with journey preparations, since it’s difficult to choose these without a list of options. These systems prompted lots of interesting and fun roleplay though, which leads me to my conclusion that Cubicle7 really has delivered on the social and exploration pillars of 5e that have been lacking for so long.

This also marked a major break with the established story in Empire of the Ghouls. I found myself so enjoying the lore of Midgard that I really wanted to simply turn the adventure into a sandbox facilitated by point crawling using the Uncharted Journey rules. Interestingly they still decided to go North, which means I can continue to use the source material. Since they’re going to Grigori and the rebels I’m going to have them do a few missions into Krakovar and the Blood Kingdom, and potentially obtain the Robes of St. Adelind (although they don’t have the quest hook, so that will be more organic). Then they may earn the chance to meet the court in exile and escort Duke Avgost to the Wolfmark. They’ll also have opportunity to investigate the world tree in the Tomierran Forest.