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.