For our first Tales of Lothmar module, Burials of Teganshire, we used a new printing tier. The printed book is 8.5” x 11”, and the printer uses a digital offset laser press on premium 70# paper. This was taken with my crappy cell-phone camera:
That’s just the technical, physical side. We use a graphics designer and layout artist to layout the book. Guthrie is also a fellow RPG player, so he knows what is what. He has expert stat blocks, and the Tales of Lothmar layout he designed pops the text on the PDF, but especially in the premium printing. Our physical Tales of Lothmar books are some of the best in the industry.
So, if you’ve been on the fence about PDF vs. Print, go both: you won’t be disappointed.
For those of you outside of the US, international shipping has gone cra-cra. We don’t have a non-US print agreement in place (yet), but we do upload our print files to DriveThru RPG, and they have worldwide distribution for Print on Demand. Our distributor also has a relationship with Amazon, so our books show up there, too. So, for our international fans, hang-tight. One day we will offer better international shipping options, but until then, a digital pledge still goes a long way.
I’m a big fan of magical items. At their core, they are more worthy and defining than (optional) feats and class powers. You can find magic items, kill for them, steal them, create them, trade them, and sell them.
Magical items can even be cursed, intelligent, malignant, or helpful.
For D&D (the Pathfinder variant, not so much), a DM can design a campaign that does not allow magical feats but has magical items that empower the PC with the feat’s power. If the player wants his character to have that power, they go on an adventure to obtain it. Especially in a sandbox campaign, these player-directed plot points add just that right roleplaying flair.
There can never be enough magic items in a DMs story-telling arsenal as long as the DM is not twinking out the players in some “I wish I were a player” wish fulfillment. Here are three that you can add to Fire on Claymore Woods or any other module.
True North
This +1 dagger is of dwarven manufacture (stamped with a small dwarven rune from its maker) but made for either an elf maiden or a human noblewoman. It is elegant and feminine in design and very sharp.
True North has an odd property for such a beautiful weapon. If spun on a flat surface, its blade will always point north when the dagger stops moving.
The Golden Pocket Stopwatch
The Golden Pocket Stopwatch is a fantastic bit of engineering and practicality. It has two hinged openings:
On one side is a watch that tells time in hours, minutes, and seconds. The adjustable dials on the sides of the watch can manipulate and change the hours and minutes.
If the other side is open, it reveals a stopwatch. Pressing one of the small dials will reset it, while another will start and stop it. It has an hour, minute, and second hands.
The magic imbued in the watch does two things. It makes it impervious to the elements (the watch even works underwater) and serves as the tiny power source. It needs no winding.
On the interior of one of the watch’s doors is a handsome, mustached man’s face engraving. The other door has an odd phrase in draconic: “Everything lost in time except my memories.”
The Weirding Mirror
The Weirding Mirror has a bad reputation, but not of its own making. It’s a pocket silver mirror and has the passive benefit of raising a PC’s Charisma attribute by 1.
If someone looks into the mirror, it activates and goes well beyond showing the wielder a reflection of themselves. It takes a week of carrying around the mirror to attune and activate its properties.
After a week, the reflection moves and speaks to the wielder (in the owner’s voice) of its own volition. It is a sophisticated psychic construct of sorts, able to hold an intelligent conversation, remember details of what someone told it, and an understanding of the current world.
The talking reflection has one goal: to dispense relationship advice. It will listen to the PC and offer advice, usually practical. It has a keen understanding of human nature and will try its very best to have the PC meet their relationship goals, gently guiding a PC into a long-term relationship.
And that’s all the mirror does. However, things frequently go wrong with the use of the mirror:
The reflection for other people is only a reflection. The independent speaking and movement happen in the wielder’s mind. Observers of someone using the mirror usually think the owner is talking to themselves. Thinking to the mirror doesn’t work; to communicate with it, the owner needs to speak aloud.
The mirror design facilitates human relationships in a feudal society. Outside of that context, it is unhelpful and will admit as much. All it can do is offer pithy advice (get a haircut, clean your robes, etc.).
The mirror will get angry if the PC uses the advice to “love and leave” a paramour. If the PC does this on several occasions, it causes the construct to malfunction. It will turn into a sociopath, and the only way to get back to normal is to give the mirror to someone else, which resets its magic. However, if the PC keeps following the sociopathic advice, their alignment will shift to Chaotic Evil.
While the mirror does improve the owner’s Charisma, it dispenses advice and nothing more. However, over the years, people have accused it of manipulating the object of the owner’s affections. Many people react negatively to being magically charmed, even if they technically were not. The mirror warns the owner of this but unfortunately hasn’t figured out that telling the owner to hide its properties makes it more suspicious, not less.
If broken, the mirror will not function, but a spell caster can quickly repair it with a simple cantrip or other low-level magic. The magical properties are associated with the mirror’s silver frame. An owner can replace the mirror glass at any time.
This is a story about Taco, the Fighter. Taco was the very first D&D PC I played. I was introduced to D&D in Jr. High this way:
“Yo, Anthony. Want to play D&D?”
“What’s D&D?”
“Dungeons & Dragons. It’s a game. You can play an elf, a dwarf, a halfling, or a human.”
“Oh, like Lord of the Rings!”
“Something like that.”
Off to the library we go, and we get a lecture from Karen, the Librarian, about the noise of dice on the table (solved by rolling dice on a large map book). The DM helps me make a character and says I should play a fighter. He briefly explains rolling dice and says that I can do anything I want, and he’s the Dungeon Master, which means he referees all the actions.
Something clicks in my brain. “You mean I can act out how my character does things? I don’t have to follow some rules? We can just do stuff?”
“Exactly.”
So, at this point, I’m only moderately confused, and the adventure starts. I’m watching the other two players do things, and it becomes clear what role-playing is. The other two are cautious and want to know what everything looks like and what they hear, and smell and the weather and and and THIS IS THE BEST GAME EVER. I still don’t see how we go from my character sheet to doing things, but in my mind, I picture exactly how everything looks.
Eventually, we find the Orc bandits, and the DM plays them as amused thugs. They challenge us on the trail. Give us your coin, and we will let you go. The other two are getting ready to attack.
“Hey, we can do what we want, right? Let’s talk to them and see if they’ll join our own gang. We could even offer to pay for them.”
“Yeah, right,” says one player.
“They are orcs,” says the other player.
“I go talk to the orcs,” I say.
“Sure,” says the DM. “You going to do it from there or walk up to them?”
Me: “I walk up to them!”
DM: “OK, you’re at the two orcs.”
Me: “Hey, uh, orcs. Do you…”
DM: “You have the coin, slug-skin?”
Me: “No, let’s…”
DM: “You hear rustling behind the trees next to the orcs. Roll initiative.”
Other Player: “Oh, man, a 1.”
DM to Me: “Longbow arrows come out of the woods at you!”
DM: Rolls dice.
DM: You get hit twice. You take 14 points of damage. You die with an arrow to your throat!”
At this point, I am sad because the other two are battling the orcs, and I died and didn’t, and then further sad as the other two (badly wounded) PCs get to loot the orcs and split it only two ways.
But I quickly rolled another fighter, called him Potato, and off we went. Potato lasted three encounters, but when he died, he had a will, and all of his stuff went to his brother Yogi. And I knew at that point D&D was the coolest game in the world.
How about you? How did you find out about D&D, and what was your first PC?
Choices and Consequences: which way will the PCs go, who will they support, and how far will they go to achieve victory?
Choices
In Fire on Claymore Woods, we present the PC with many choices, including making no choice at all. For example, do they help the villagers protect the village core and its chapel with the mysterious obelisk, or do they help the surrounding farmers protect their farms?
But that choice is only available if the PCs solicit a knight in defense of the village. The knight is concerned with his farms and tells the PCs the villagers can rebuild it. But the Burgermeister counters that the farms rely on the village, and without it, everything from obtaining supplies to surviving the winter will be difficult and potentially catastrophic.
PCs might not even know the farms need protection! The local knight is the only NPC with the strategic training and forethought to realize their enemy will try to draw them away from the village by setting fire to structures far enough to draw them away from the chapel.
If the PCs don’t talk to him, they might never know.
Where do they go now?
That’s a sample of the decisions the PCs must make. Once they defend the village (or not), they need to find the druids to talk to them or exact revenge. But the Claymore Woods are wild and dangerous, filled with threats, supernatural shenanigans, and wonders. There is no map of the woods, the PCs are on their own, and they will need to explore.
The direction they choose sets the stage, but the deeper they go into the woods, the more dangerous it gets. They’ll need to do more than make a few tracking rolls. They’ll have to start thinking like their adversaries. They’ll need to decide how sneaky to be, or if a good-old-fashioned “kill everything that moves” play is in order.
Consequences
We hope that gives you as a Game Master a sample of the adventure flavor in Fire on Claymore Woods. Like most Griffon Lore Game products, there are no easy answers, and those answers are usually not right or wrong. Indecisiveness is the best way to “lose” our modules, and the players always have the ultimate choice:
Designing a dungeon to put the D back into D&D? A good dungeon design considers not just who built it, but who added to it later.
Layer Your Dungeon From the Game World’s History
“Dungeon” doesn’t necessarily mean a hole in the ground. Still, it is more difficult to replace underground structures rather than walling off unneeded portions, so, even a new “owner” of the dungeon would not make many underground changes.
In our example, we’ll use a Castle. Since we’re going to turn the castle into a “megadungeon,” most of our design will center around history. The smaller the complex, the less work the DM should do. If the place fits on a small map, grab an exciting monster(s) from the Monster Manual(s) and design the dungeon around that.
Step 1: Establish a History of the Dungeon
In our castle example, I sketched out a history that jives with the region history:
Age of the Heirophant
The hierophants of old established a monumental civilization that spanned thousands of years. They used “world magic” and had no use for structures, tools, or artifacts. After a very long while, their civilization ended when the hierophants expanded their existence beyond the physical realm and left the world.
One of the places they left behind was a Fey Gate, a place where they could stand and will themselves into the Feywild. It’s a 5ft. square of beautiful stonework that does not age or diminish.
Age of Wanderers
Nomadic humans wandered the region, and not knowing what the Fey Gate was, surrounded it with a small monolith structure. Later humans worshiped the place as a whole, but they eventually died out to war and environmental hazards.
Age of Elves
The elves migrated to and then built an extensive civilization in the region known now as Lothmar. They had more than passing knowledge of the Hierophants, and, when investigating the monolith, recognized the Fey Gate for what it was. Knowing that this side of the gate was inactive, they built a warding statue that preventing anyone from opening the entrance from the other side.
Having spent a considerable amount of effort on the warding statue, and also admiring the artistic beauty of the elf maiden it depicts, the elves built a castle-like structure that included the monolith, with its new figure, as a courtyard garden. Over time, the place became an area of study, much like a university.
Gekk Conquistadors
The gekk, a four-armed, arcane magic resistant race of lizardmen, invaded the elven nation and pushed all the elves north. When they came upon the abandoned elven complex with the statue, they admired its beauty and liked the central garden. They had their dwarven slaves expand the structure underground, for both the storage of goods and the imprisonment of their many captives.
Imperial Crusaders
The dwarves built elaborate underground corridors in pride, even as slaves.
The Paladin Lothmar destroyed the gekk in a holy crusade under the banner of the Immortal Emperor. Coming upon the odd (in their minds) elf-like complex, also appreciating the artistry of the statue, and wild garden in the middle, an Imperial Legion commander decided to make the complex his headquarters. His War Wizard told him the statue was magical and warned against occupying the place until she figured out what it was, but the Legate said, “Well, if it didn’t bother the gekk, it’s not going to bother us.”
The legion built extensive fortifications around the elven buildings, turning the place into a proper imperial castle. They closed-off unneeded portions of the dungeon, and the Castilian contacted a group of nearby dwarves, recognizing the dwarven constructions underneath.
The dwarves related the sad, sad tale of the dwarven slaves, and also told the crusaders that there were indications of rich mineral deposits under the castle. The imperials paid the dwarves for this information, and, throughout a couple of hundred years, created a mining complex underneath the gekk dungeon.
The place became known as Castle Julia, named for the legion’s high priestess who died in the crusade.
Near the end of their control, the imperials re-opened and expanded the closed portions of the gekk dungeon, putting in a laboratory to study and create clockwork, of which their legions started to use by directive of the Emperor.
Kingdom of Lothmar
The rein of the imperials was short-lived when Lothmar split from the Empire. The Empire was embroiled in internal conflict, and several of their far-flung districts, such as Lothmar, left. The legion rushed home to the far away Empire and never came back.
Eventually, the Lothmari took over Castle Julia. They thought it odd that it was named after an elf called Julia, but the imperials were a bit out there, and everyone had to admit whoever this Julia elf was, she sure was beautiful. Eventually, the noble who moved in replaced the entrance with a grand gatekeep, hired a gardener to spruce up the central courtyard, and made it the seat of his County.
Abandonment
Unfortunately for Castle Julia, a not-so-far-away earthquake shifted the river that was the source of the County’s agricultural base. Several large lakes also drained away. The entire area around Castle Julia turned into a swamp, and the region was made inhospitable to travel, agriculture, and trade.
The noble at the time held out for as long as he could, but Castle Julia was now a big castle, in the middle of a swamp, guarding nothing as the Common folk all moved away to areas they could grow food. He sealed it off as best he could, said goodbye to the statue he always liked, and abandoned the place.
Step 2: Based on History, Establish the Dungeon Areas
At 762 words, that history might be excessive, but proper grammar and eschewing abbreviations certainly added its fair share. The history, however, gives us a “historically accurate,” in the game-world, architecture. So here are the areas of Megadungeon Julia!
Imperial Wall
A dual wall curtain surrounds the castle, braced by square, but decorative, towers, all built out of stone and imperial concrete. There are twelve towers in all, all identical and former troop barracks.
Upon closer examination, a mason, dwarf, or stone smith can spot repaired earthquake damage. Someone spent a lot of money to restore the place to full functionality.
Grand Gatekeep
This is a Lothmari-designed grand gatekeep: four, round 60’ diameter towers as the entrance to Castle Julia, topped off with a two-story building over the kill-zone entrance. The place is massive and is the latest in superior castle entrance design.
Elven Stone Buildings
There are four elegant multi-storied stone buildings arranged at the corners of a great, wooded courtyard, with a statue of a beautiful elf maiden in the middle. Each building has stairs going down into the dungeon.
A monolithic stone henge surrounds the wooded courtyard, marking its boundaries.
Smelter and Forge
Away from the elven stone buildings stuffed in the corner are a smelter, a metal storage area, and a forge, all obviously built by the imperials. There is also a covered, large coal bin, devoid of coal or other fuel. Minecart tracks lead to this area from the mine entrance.
Barracks Foundations
There is a large flat area with concrete foundations. The imperials used concrete on occasion, and while the Lothmari knew how to do so, they never had the manpower or equipment to do so.
The imperials made the barracks out of wood, but the Lothmari didn’t need to house a legion in the castle, so they dismantled the barracks, leaving the foundations.
Minecart Storage and Mine Entrance
This area contains a shed with several minecarts with tracks leading to the stone building of imperial design. The building is the entrance to the mine, with cart tracks leading into the gloom.
Some of the carts are magically self-powered and can pull or push up to five other carts filled with ore, rock, or dirt.
Dwarven Dungeon
This complex is extensive, and some of it is sealed off from the rest. The sealed off portions reveal an Imperial Laboratory, where they created clockwork and magical items (such as the self-powered minecart).
Several stairs go down into the mining area.
Mine Area
Created by the imperials, this area has seen better days as nobody has fixed any of the infrastructure damaged during the earthquake. The noble spent all his money repairing the castle before abandoning it.
It’s big, and just for fun and giggles, the DM can have this also connect to a series of natural caverns, henceforth explored only by an imperial geologist, who said not to bother with the labyrinthine-like caverns. The imperials sealed it off, but the stone wall fell down during the earthquake.
Step 3: Populate the Areas
And here is where we end. All the DM now needs is a map and a bunch of monsters, and motivations for exploration. Perhaps some imperial archeologist wants to lead an expedition, but she secretly wants some of the clockwork that is still functional and hidden away. Or maybe the dwarves wish to seize the mines since nobody else wants to do so, and someone needs to go in and clean it all out.
Or, maybe, the clockwork laboratory went into “automation” mode and is now creating deadly war machines without purpose. It’s grown in size, and now is a hidden threat to the entire kingdom!
Or, made a vampire lord moved in and stores treasure, and deadly secrets, in the caverns below.
Whichever you chose, this ends the 30 Days of Burial of Teganshire posts, well, other than the index post we’ll make tomorrow. Ending the blog series about a dungeon seems fitting. An idea of the history of the dungeon lets the DM give it an organic, believable design in the campaign setting. In a world filled with magic, things don’t need to make sense all the time, but the best campaign-worlds have logical consistency. A consistency that gives the world—you guessed it—verisimilitude.
Your players may never discover the complete history of the place, but they might wonder why things look the way they look. And who knows? Perhaps another earthquake can shift the river again, or the swamps drain away, giving PCs, one of whom is maybe the last of the noble line that owned the place, an excuse to occupy Castle Julia once more.
Epilogue
I have to admit, my favorite part of Megadungeon Julia is the clockwork laboratory.
Fighter: This door is obviously different. See if you can open it.
Thief: Um, it’s different because it’s locked from this side.
Cleric: Well, it should be easy to open, then.
Thief: This is the most elaborate lock I have ever seen.
Wizard: Open the door and let’s loot the place.
Thief: (sigh)
Thief: (eventually unlocks the door)
Fighter: (opens door)
Clockwork Dragon: BEHOLD! THE MIGHTY SINGULARITY ENGINE! THE PERFECT MERGING BETWEEN MAN AND CLOCKWORK! AND IT’S BEAUTY SHALL BE HAUNTING! CAN YOU SEE ME NOW, EMPEROR? I WILL MAKE IT SO YOU NEVER WANT TO LEAVE!
Fighter: (closes door)
Fighter: Shame. Empty.
Wizard: Yes, too bad.
Cleric: Uh.
Thief: I told…
Fighter (putting a gloved finger on the thief’s mouth): Shhhhhh. Leaving now.
Here are some NPCs you can add to the Burials of Teganshire. They’re not in the adventure, but Burials of Teganshire may mention them in passing. In blog post 20 in our series, we talked about roleplaying additions to the area. This post is specific to NPCs for the Dungeon Master (DM/GM) to use if the PCs engage the setting outside of the module.
Of course, the DM may have their own setting with their own NPCs. The below are lore-generic and can fit right in with some modification or used as-is. Sir Johansson, his wife, and his squire do not make an appearance in Burials of Teganshire. They are included here for the DM to use. Keep track of their dispositions towards the PCs, as that will impact the next adventure.
Sir Johansson
Sir Johansson is a knight that owns nearby farms and ranches north of Teganshire and west of the trade road. He has authority given to him by his Lord, Lord Teragan, and inherited his lands from his father. Sir Kyle Johansson has no political control in Teganshire, but he has considerable influence. He is the employer of the four well-paid guards in the guard tower along the road to Tegan’s bridge.
Johansson is rich, owning a multitude of farms and having significant inherited funds
Lord Teragan has Johansson oversee several of his own farms
The knight is well-liked by the local populous for being fair and hardworking
He has considerable knowledge on agriculture and animal husbandry
He’s trained in combat and a thoroughly dangerous individual
His wife is a minor cleric, known to heal the sick and wounded
Sir Johansson’s Motivations
While a fierce combatant both on horse and on foot, Johansson is less of a knight in charge of farms and more of a farmer with knightly training in logistics. His martial prowess has less to do with innate capability; instead, Johansson is athletic and healthy with good morale and leadership abilities. He has no fewer than a dozen men-at-arms, well-paid individuals with superior arms and armor ready to do violence on his behalf.
As a logistical-ordered individual, Johansson’s primary concern is food production. He does not hold the fascination with horses that his Lord and fellow knights do, believing equestrian dominance is an enormous money sink. His focus on wise spending and agrarian-based wealth has put him at odds with the other knights in the barony.
His motivations:
Provide for food production of the land, lest during bad times we’re forced to eat the horses we love so much
Protect the farmers who concern themselves with feeding us
Increase the Johansson wealth through careful spending and protecting existing assets
Apply the King’s law fairly
Protect my family and legacy from a hostile world
Be the man my wife wants me to be
Roleplaying Sir Johansson
Appearances can be deceiving, and the knight fits the bill of a noble warrior with expensive equipment. However, he has a firm understanding of local life and has a lot of empathy for his farmers and ranchers. He is not impressed with shallowness, bravado, or smarminess. Anyone willing to defend the lives of the common folk has his support.
Kyle has a deep understanding of the logistics of the region and the hazards of warfare without adequate means to feed the troops.
Dame Johansson
A cleric of a good deity and of modest divine power, Serina Johansson is wed to Kyle Johansson through an arranged marriage. Selected by her husband due to her healing abilities, medical knowledge, and education, the Dame and the Knight enjoy a marriage of mutual admiration. They have four children, the oldest now in his early teens.
The Dame is an educated daughter of a wealthy horse rancher. Her father was surprised when Kyle Johansson’s father approached him to arrange a marriage, but the Dame was the youngest daughter and was set to enter into a life of serving the church. The resultant dowry has paid for itself thrice over
The Dame holds respect but is seen as a bit naive—she is aware of this and works against it, but she was raised to serve in the church, not lead a life of minor nobility. It doesn’t help that she was the youngest of her siblings, and was a bit spoiled and sheltered
Serina works to make sure her children have a good education and are pious, respectful children
Her divine power is academically based. While she understands prayers of battle, she has never used them
She deeply admires her husband’s firm, but caring leadership abilities
She has a full understanding of the family’s finances and the Johanssons make joint decisions
Dame Johansson’s Motivations
Support the Johansson legacy through planning, hard work, and the application of proper business acumen
Make sure her family and Kyle’s sphere of influence have proper respect for the divine and meet religious obligations
Heal the wounded and take care of the sick through divine healing and medical know-how
Raise the children to respect the King’s Law and the Church
Find Squire Artane a proper wife
Be the woman my husband wants me to be
Roleplaying Dame Johansson
Serina appears youthful in her mid-30s, and while not the most attractive woman, she carries herself with grace and confidence. She also likes to talk and gossip, feeling it is her duty to know everything about everyone. She is a highly religious person and cares deeply about her immediate family, her extended family, and her husband’s wards.
While she wears a holy symbol, she does not wear cleric vestments, nor carries clerical weapons. She can speak of religious issues and has a passing familiarity with history and arcane knowledge.
Squire Artane
Squire Gil Artane was selected by Sir Johansson as his squire for a combination of two reasons:
He is extremely accurate with a bow
He killed a grizzly bear with a pitchfork
Usually, a knight is supposed to squire sons of his peers and other nobility to teach them the ways of the knightly world outside of the influence of the squire’s family. Johansson was set to do that until one of his farmer’s sons killed a goddamn brown bear with a pitchfork. This impressed Sir Johansson so much he made the lad his squire, and the two have operated as a team ever since. It helps that Gil, as a farmer’s son, knows the agricultural trade and is not afraid to roll-up his sleeves during harvest and gets to work.
Gil is not a local yocal. Or, rather, he might have been at one time. Now Artane is a warrior, skilled with a blade, horseback combat, and all things archery. He has killed men in defense of his knight and has grown confident and shrewd. He has formulated a philosophy of “why kill bad guys up close and get stabbed when you can do it far away?”
Squire Artane’s Motivations
Protect his knight. We have to watch each other’s back
Become the best archer in the realm
Avoid getting married and losing my edge
Stay out of trouble and avoid bringing shame to his employer
Hard work and loyalty is the hallmark of good men everywhere
Make sure the men-at-arms have an excellent grasp of bow and crossbow usage
Roleplaying Squire Artane
Gil is well-aware of that his athletic build, youthful appearance, the scar on his face from the bear, and deadly reputation make him attractive to the fair maidens of the region. He has a natural way with people and flirts with the lovely opposite sex as easy as breathing.
Underneath the surface, Squire Artane is a warrior with a firm understanding of the use of violence. Like Sir Johansson, he doesn’t have any aspirations to go to actual war, having seen first hand what an arrow can do to someone’s face. His arrow. He has no regrets, but he also has no wish to prove himself “glorious” in battle, especially if the harvest is coming due.
In Gil’s understanding of the universe and his place in it, he leads a perfect life.
It’s real, folks. Behold! The printed proofs. We haven’t made the print order yet, so it’s not too late to order your own copy through the Indiegogo InDemand service! Once we shut it off, the discount goes *poof*. Click here to get your copy at a discount: https://igg.me/at/teganshire
We are going to move quickly to fulfillment. As soon as Indiegogo sends us the cash and emails, we’ll send out the PDFs’ coupon. We do digital fulfillment through our store website at https://griffonloregames.com/.
Print copies are moving along, too. Theoretically (it’s always a bit unsure in the COVID-19 shipping world), we should get the printed proofs today and approve them. We’re still optimistic the printed versions will go out in September, too.
Our support alias is support@griffonloregames.com.
In D&D and its derivatives, like Pathfinder, the designers, all the way back to Gygax and Anderson, developed a complex, highly detailed magical system that permeates everything. Low magic or high magic, epic magic, or gritty, it’s a beautiful system to play a fantasy roleplaying game.
And right from the get-go, a Dungeon Master (DM/GM) can use the system to add conflict to their campaign. This post is about Cold War-style conflict, that added undercurrent to the main events going on that add tension, tone, and drama.
A hot-war will take over the campaign. The Magical Cold War will add flavor to it.
Set the Stage to the Magical Cold War
D&D 5E has a magical system around these core concepts:
Arcane magic—direct from the weave of magic
Divine magic—magic from the gods
Druid magic—drawing on the divine essence of nature itself
You know what that looks like on the surface? It seems like three factions. Factions are a great way to add theatric sub-plots to a campaign setting. A low-level hum of struggle against the backdrop of PC actions that inserts authenticity onto the environment.
Defining the History of Magical System Conflict
Now that we have the three factions let’s see why they oppose each other.
Arcane Magic Users
Some time ago, demons corrupted a group of powerful sorcerers. These sorcerers started to take over small provinces to the Empire in secret. They built up considerable momentum but were found out by the Providence Magisters (similar to court wizards) in the more significant imperial regions. Events spiraled out of control, and rather than bring in divine help from the various churches, the magisters turned to infernal support through bargains with archdevils. Many of them turned themselves into liches.
Eventually, the wizards prevailed, only to be turned upon by the divine churches of the Empire.
Divine Magic Users
Caught unaware of the demon-devil conflict in their midst using wizards and sorcerers as their proxies, the churches of the Empire fought both and held the Empire together with sheer will, divine magic, and large numbers of men-at-arms. They fought a cataclysmic war with both arcane factions, but suffered heavy losses and the Empire collapsed into fragmented, waring kingdoms jockeying for power and survival. A dark age came upon the Empire, and they could not stop it.
Druidic Magic Users
The hierophants of old stepped into the power vacuum, and each regional archdruid organized what little remained of civilization into pockets of peaceful, relatively safe areas. They instituted monarchies to quickly assemble the remanents into a usable hierarchy. Not wanting to repeat the mistakes of the past, they installed themselves as the overseers of food production, the surviving paladin orders as Inquisitors, and forced arcane magic users into a caste system of serving the people, banned from holding positions of power.
However, over time, the monarchies became powerful nations. Eventually, they instituted the position of the Court Wizard, in which wizard schools, formally wizard prisons, reported to the Court Wizard, who in turn pledged fealty to the King.
Just an Example
This is just an example of the historical conflict. The idea is to be brief—this happened long ago. That also allows the DM the flexibility to flesh out more lore as needed. As long as the three factions had a conflict in the past, it’s all good. And it doesn’t even have to be true. It could be just what people believe and what is in the history books.
Define the Current Magical System Conflict
Now that we have our history, what are our three factions up to? Apparently, shenanigans. Many shenanigans. Since this is all about conflict and drama—have some struggle and tension.
Arcane Magic Users
At one point, arcane magic users chafed under the yoke of Inquisitor tyranny (from their point of view), but that was long ago. Wielders of the arcane enjoy state-sponsored rights and protections for the “privilege” of policing their own—making sure the younger mages and sorcerers toe the line. However, these factions cross national boundaries, and over time, the Court Wizards formed a Council of the Arcane. While the nobility of the various nations deploys power through their feudal system, it is the Council of the Arcane that rule behind the scenes, now working to bring back the glory of the Empire by appointing an Emperor of Nations.
Two groups stand in their way—the Inquisitors that prevent the churches from falling in line and the Druids that run the nations’ agriculture systems. Yet in some rural areas, there are wizards and other arcane users who believe the Council to be an oppressive organization dedicated to stripping away freedom and dignity, all in the name of law and order.
Divine Magic Users
The churches of the nations, sharing the same pantheon, do not want to change the system that gives them power, money, and influence. Things are fine just the way there are, now that they’ve clawed their way back from the brink of annihilation.
Some paladin orders, however, stick to the old school way of doing things, which includes (but not exclusively), the Inquisitors. The Inquisitors aren’t buying the Council of the Arcane at all and undermine them at every opportunity, including waging 4th Generational Warfare in nations that have given their wizards more power than they should. They’ve been here before and see where this is going: a Cabal of Liches, plunging the realms into darkness one more “to save the people’s souls from demons once more.”
The Inquisitors have tried to engage their previous allies, the Druids, to no avail. Some think they’ve been compromised by witches and cultists.
Druid Magic Users
No one could say exactly when the nobility came to be the top of the hierarchy over the archdruids, but that’s what happened. Most druids have forgotten their contribution to putting together the pieces of the Empire back into a small modicum of civilization. Many wonder if that was a good idea, given the large Cities of Men and the power of churches. Churches are more concerned with coin and station than the divine souls of their subjects.
Regardless, the new Council of the Arcane seems precisely like an organization the Inquisitors of old, organizations the archdruids founded long ago, were supposed to prevent. Still, all indications are the Inquisitors are sitting on their hands without church backing or any semblance of higher organization, each Inquisitor chapter acting like a coven of witches or a cultist cell.
Now Engage the Magical Cold War
There you have it. The gist of the Magic Cold War is:
It is background conflict and drama
No one except a few want to see it turn into a Hot War
Each faction has a history
Each faction has a current description of why they are in conflict
That’s the recipe. DMs interested in fleshing out their worlds now have a framework on how these magical groups interact with each other, and it’s all conflict and drama. Each faction even has sub-factions that cause issues within the bloc and without, and there are also small groups that could ally themselves with like-minded members to the “enemy” factions.
The idea is here is that there are paladins who hate wizards and sorcerers. Why is that? And why do the druids have power over food production? And why is there some underlying conflict in cities with strong wizards, etc., etc.?
The Cold War. It’s everywhere. And sometimes it seems nothing can stop it from becoming a Hot War. Put that in the back of your campaign world and see how your players react. And it’s an excellent DM vehicle for tension.
Or, perhaps, a vehicle for lighting the nations on fire.
PC Wizard: Where is Lord Drake? We’ve returned from our quest.
Paladin: I hung Lord and Lady Drake for being witches consorting with demons.
PC Wizard: …
Paladin: …
PC Wizard: We’re not demon consort, um, consort-ers.
Paladin: That’s why you’re still standing here. I am Inquisitor Johanson of the Order of the Platinum Oath, and by the authority given unto me by the First King, I demand you help me save the souls of this demesne.
PC Cleric: You have no author…
Paladin: Quiet acolyte, the adults are talking.
PC Wizard: Why do you even trust me?
Paladin: Because I heard you speak against the Council. Because Bahamut told me to. Now, do you want this spellbook we’ve been keeping in our reliquary for hundreds of years or not?
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The Golden Pocket Stopwatch is a fantastic bit of engineering and practicality. It has two hinged openings:
