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.
You don’t need magic to mess with the PCs. A simple rumor will do, whether it is about them or someone else. Delicious tales should always be a part of the campaign-setting backdrop, and not just to plant the seeds of adventure. Here’s one method for incorporating tall-tales, speculation, and fantastic stories.
Vile Rumors and Unsubstantiated Claims in D&D
The PCs, having helped the village with their monster problem—after spending a few weeks recovering from various wounds—decide to travel to the city thirty miles away to deliver an heirloom they found to the Baron.
They enter the city, and when walking by a food cart, the vendor screams: “Ah! It’s the werewolf!” and runs off.
Now, the PCs don’t know that a traveling merchant told a nearby tavern, “Those monster killers, they fought them dire wolves like they were werewolves themselves!” And then described what one of the PCs looked like, as the PC entered the Bouncing Mutt Tavern, wounded and in need of a celebratory beer.
By the time the rumor reached the food vendor, that PC was a werewolf. Completely untrue, and a bit funny. Well, for the rest of the players and DM, that is.
Designing Rumors—setting the basics
Put yourself in the shoes of the commoner in a quasi-medieval campaign-world. The nobility is in the hot seat for protecting the locals from the depredations of monsters and magic. Most commoners never wander past the horizon. So a PC, be them a “monster killer,” “magic warrior,” or “wizard,” is just as fantastical as the monsters themselves. Commoners will even view priests of a respected religion as a bit of a freak show, as the priest wandered away from the safety of the church walls.
On the flip side, magic and the objectively observed existence of divine power also has an educational effect. The local populous doesn’t need to create fantastic mythology to make sense of the world—they can ask the resident priestess that channels power from her god, or ask the educated wizard having a beer at the local.
This is the basis of the Rumor Landscape. Before we can dive right in, let’s talk about the basics of a good rumor.
Objective Truth and Falsity
Rumors are true, false, and in between. Creating an accurate tale about a PC is easy, so is embellishing bravado to the point some of it never happened. And then there are outright lies.
I like black because it makes me look good.
But the best lies are rooted in truth. “That warlock talks to voices inside his head, he’s crazy, and will steal your thoughts!” The warlock does talk to voices inside his head and does have access to people’s thoughts on occasion—but he has no capability of stealing or altering memories.
Yet.
When adding rumors to the game, try to keep the ones that are entirely untrue to a minimum.
One of my favorite rumors is the “black widow.” A PC is wearing all black because (the player) she likes the way she looks in black.
But the local populous, wearing black is a symbol of mourning. And thus, the PC finds people calling her “the Widow” because they think she is mourning. Some get confused, mostly if the PC acts against the cultural expectations of someone grieving the loss of a family member. And the player might think it’s funny (or not), up until a widower approachers her asking for advice in dealing with grief and loss.
Designing Rumors—Level Plus Charisma Method
In a game as complex as D&D (and it’s variants such as Pathfinder), it behooves a DM to keep track of information about each PC in a spreadsheet, OneNote, or other note-taking software. That’s where you want to store your rumors!
Here’s the “Level Plus Charisma Method”
For each level, a PC should have one true rumor and one false rumor about them
Add a one true and one false rumor per Charisma ability modifier. So, a first level PC with a 16 (+3) Charisma would have four true rumors and four false rumors about her
As the PC levels, the DM occasionally replaces rumors with stories specific to the location the PC now inhabits or more juicer tidbits introduced by the PC’s actions upon the game world
Now that you have your rumors—have at it. Use them when the energy at the game table seems low, or if a player hasn’t contributed much that evening, or, better still, at the worst opportune time, socially, for the PC.
Rumors as a Weapon, and Plot Device
As deeply-rooted as junior high, using rumors against rivals is as old as sin. Players, once they realize there is a game mechanic around the Rumor Mill, will start to use gossip and slander to their advantage, in addition to battling such from their enemies. Eventually, in any political environment, there will be propaganda.
Which is not to say folk are entirely gullible. Many people participate in the rumor mill just for the sport of it all, exchanging stories for the thrill of making life less mundane than it is. But salacious rumors about good people are damaging. Give your players a chance to deal with rumors as-is—if they engage in hurtful behavior, show the consequences of that, but also allow them to make things right.
The Rumor Mill in D&D is for the creation of DRAMA. Drama can lead to conflict, and conflict leads to action. Action leads to rolling dice and killing monsters.
Even a rumor about wearing black can turn into rolling dice and killing monsters. Perhaps that widower needs to face down the alligator that killed his wife at the swimming hole. And, maybe the PC wants to help him, not knowing that the gator in question is a demon. Perhaps the PC finds a common bond with the NPC, after, of course, she sets him straight about her fondness for black dresses.
Magic is weird. The PCs are weird. Weird things should happen to them. Here are ten strange things to throw at a deserving (cough) PC.
Using Magic to Mess with the PCs in D&D
Roll 1d10 if you’re feeling punchy.
1. The Box of Shenanigans
Every time the PCs travel to a different urban location or stay in their current one for a few days, they run into a person who mistakes one of them for “Lee Branford, famous locksmith.”
Only the PC isn’t a locksmith, and if they question the person, he or she will claim that the PC, a few months ago, did maintenance on all their locks for a modest fee. All will be friendly, praising the PC for their expert locksmithing skills.
After a few months of this, the PC finds a box in his room. It has the name “Lee Branford” on it with the symbol of a lock. Inside are finely crafted locksmithing and lockpicking tools, along with the Tome of the Guildmaster, a book that only the PC can read. It takes a week to read the book, and after that, the PC has proficiency with both toolsets.
If the PC throws away or destroys the box without opening it, it reappears in their gear 2d4 days later.
2. The Raven Barks at Midnight
A raven lands on the PC’s shoulder and whispers, “the dog barks at midnight” and flies away.
The next time someone asks a password from the PC, the password is “the dog barks at midnight.”
3. A Fist Full of Coins
One of the coins a PC has starts glowing one day. It has a faint aura of conjuration. If tossed in the air, it flies in a direction for several rounds, leaving a trail of blue, sparkly, motes, and drops to the ground.
If the PC finds the coin again, this process can be repeated until the PC is led into a copse of trees, and there they will find a small coffer of 100 gold pieces.
After the PC finds the coffer, the coin ceases to be magical.
4. Sad McSadderson
The PCs visit a pub called “The Gloomy Cloud.” The next day, if any PC express sadness or unhappiness, a small cloud will appear over their head and throw shade over the PC. This occurs even if the PC is indoors. If the PC further declares their sadness, the cloud will start to rain, and if the PC gets angry, small lightning bolts appear accompanied by soft thunder. This persists for 1d4 hours.
If the PC goes back to the pub, the bartender will shrug his shoulders and say, “Yeah, that sometimes happens. Didn’t you know? I mean, that’s the name of the pub, yeah?”
5. That’s Awkward
For 1d4 hours, the PC is weightless. If the PC is off the ground when the weightlessness expires, he or she floats back to the ground under the effects of a feather fall spell.
6. Go Away, Don’t Come Around Here No More
When a PC walks by an oak tree, twelve squirrels start throwing acorns at the PC, chattering angrily. If anyone speaks with animals, one of the squirrels will say, “They killed Fredrich!”
7. Meow
When staying at an Inn, when a PC wakes up, there are 32 cats in their room, sleeping. If the PC wakes up one of the cats, they all disappear. If the PC manages to get dressed without waking up any of the cats, they are gone when the PC comes back.
The PC is then charged five silver for “32 bowls of milk,” but nobody remembers who made the order.
8. Illusionary Problems
The party is minding their own business when a man in noble garb asks them to be witnesses to a duel. If they agree, they are lead by the man to a park, and a rapier duel between two older gentlemen commences. The contest ends when one is stabbed in the eye. The winner becomes distraught and runs off, yelling, “I’ve killed my best friend! I’ve killed my best friend!”
This sene is an elaborate series of illusions, detectable with a spell, or if one of the PCs touches the duelists, their seconds, or any other onlookers.
The caster is nowhere to be found, and divinations do not reveal any information other than “What happened was never about you.”
9. My Girlfriend Lives in Canada
The PC makes a connection with someone who returns their affections. They can have a relationship, but after a month, everyone has forgotten who the paramour was or even that they existed—except the PC.
If the PC investigates through magical means, they eventually meet their lover. The paramour tells the PC that they were sick for a while with the inability to dream. A wizard fixed their malady, but one of the dreams “escaped,” and that’s who the PC encountered.
The real person is highly embarrassed this happened, but they already are in a relationship, and asks the PC to forget whatever happened.
10. Of Course, It’s a Druid
When the PC is out riding, their horse suddenly turns into a druid (if a stallion) or a druidess (if a mare). The druid is very confused and has no memory of how they wild shaped into the horse. Their last memory was finding an odd runestone with a glowing rune of a horse on it.
It should not take the PCs long to figure out the druid is not quite right in the head. If brought to another druid, he or she thanks the PCs and gives them a minor potion of healing.
If the PCs keep the addled druid around, they never return to normal but can stay in horse shape for as long as they want, which seems to please them.
Saving the World requires heroes to get their hands dirty, and perhaps, what makes them heroes is keeping their valor and honor when everyone around them sacrificed those attributes on the Altar of Survival.
D&D Villains That Are Also Allies: Campaign Design
A campaign—not necessarily the game world—has a beginning, middle, and end (one way or the other), and using “morally challenged” individuals requires planning and creativity. The tricky part of the process is knowing your players. If the DM runs a sandbox campaign, then spends days designing a plot point requiring the PCs to travel in a specific direction is a risk. It’s tempting fate. Running a localized campaign can mitigate that risk by organically encouraging the players to engage the game-world on a local level. Still, it will be a sad day indeed if you turn the Baron sixty miles away into one impressive dude, and the players decide that barony in the opposite direction needs conquering.
So, there are two types of a Villainous Allies a DM can use, the Macro Villain Ally and the Micro Villan Ally and which one to use depends on the type of campaign.
The Macro Villain Ally
More challenging to pull off but epic in scope is the Macro Villain Ally (Macro VA). The Macro VA could be an entire culture, nation, or some leader of the same.
This type of VA is well-suited for a campaign that is more “open-world” vs. “sandbox,” that is, players show up to play in a campaign where the general plot is known ahead of time. They are having fun adventuring and doing their own thing within the boundaries of the game world that supports a story rather than a story based on the players’ interpretation of the game world.
In other words, the DM has a pretty good idea that if he makes a Macro VA, the players will run into the VA.
Example of the Macro VA
(campaign beginning)
A bad neighbor is a great plot device and generates drama. It can even be the primary antagonist for the earlier portions of the campaign. My favorite is the Bad Baron plot device.
Bad Baron, one Torc Mac Ceti, was just the worst. He waged a hidden campaign of agitation against the PCs, and when they finally found him out, the cold-war turned hot, and there were battles. The King intervened and had the Bad Baron thrown in jail, and because the PCs’ hands weren’t exactly clean in this conflict, he made one of them marry the Baron’s daughter so the two neighboring regions would stop feuding and start becoming allies.
(campaign middle)
Things are going not-so-well, the neighboring barony views the PCs as interlopers. There are low-level protesters (the PCs are, after all, backed by the King so, like the Bad Baron, most of the agitation is covert) and the Baron’s former allies cause issues as they liked Torc Mac Ceti. The PCs, not so much. Things escalate until the PCs have just had enough and are planning to go overt, despite the complication that one of their own is married to the beloved daughter of the barony.
(campaign end?)
All through the campaign thus far, the King has been seemingly unconcerned with the PCs’ various plights as he always grumbles about the exterior threats he faces. Well, that all comes to a head because Super Evil Bad Guys invade the kingdom, and things are now looking grim.
And one of the first things the King does is let Torc Mac Ceti out of jail because Bad Baron is a military tactician. He puts the Bad Baron under the command of the PCs and tells them in no uncertain terms they need to all work together or the Super Evil Bad Guys are going to destroy the kingdom and basically everything in it.
Bad Baron was never the primary antagonist in this campaign. In fact, everything up to this point, even with hours and hours of gameplay, could reasonably be considered prolog to the main plot point. Bad Baron, indeed is a shit. But he’s a patriot, and, the villain that he is, he would die for the kingdom.
Do the PCs redeem Torc Mac Ceti? How do they deal with him being in their grill for the rest of the campaign? Can they set aside their differences? Do they show weakness that the Bad Baron can’t help but to exploit? Does the Bad Baron teach PCs some of his ruthlessness, and the PCs teach him some of their honor?
A DM can substitute Bad Baron with “the Nation Next Door,” orcs (a classic, especially if the PCs are morally ambiguous themselves), etc.
The Micro Villain Ally
One might think the Baron is a Micro Villain Ally, but he’s not. He’s a product of his barony, and the PCs were all set to smack the hammer down on the fostering rebellion even with him in jail. He comes attached to the barony, a product of both the region and the times.
The Micro Villain Ally, however, is a singular person, usually sitting outside of society, a constant thorn in the PCs side at every worst possible moment, and a hard target. The DM uses Micro VAs when he or she just doesn’t know what direction the campaign is going to go.
Let’s talk about the above example in the context of an Open World vs. Sandbox—the DM makes an adventure of retrieving the Staff of the Thunder Monk from a commercial product, the Isle of Dread.
And the players like adventuring on or near the sea so much, that becomes the campaign focus. The barony and all its problems tossed aside—Torc Mac Cetia can have it, they have a pirate fleet to capture!
Micro VAs are an excellent way for the DM to spend time and morph the VA to the current plot. Let’s go over some examples!
Root
Root
Root from Person of Intrestwas a compelling, creepy villain, viewing people not as smart as her as expendable tools she could manipulate and nothing more. Long before becoming a member of Team Machine, she played an expert hacker. Root was a villain when she first encountered what would become her people, and later would sacrifice so much to protect and even grow to love her friends.
Root in the course of the series was the Villain, the Tool, and the Ally. She had a compelling character arc along the Hero’s Journey and became a sympathetic character.
Agent Franks
Aw yeah, Agent Franks. A VA that was so captivating Larry Correia wrote an entire novel about him, most likely to shut up all the Agent Franks fans. As the Monster Hunter International: Nemesisbook copy says: “Agent Franks of the U.S. Monster Control Bureau is a man of many parts – parts from other people, that is. Franks is nearly seven feet tall and all muscle. He’s nearly indestructible. Plus he’s animated by a powerful alchemical substance and inhabited by a super-intelligent spirit more ancient than humanity itself.”
He’s not good. He’s not bad either. He’s, um, Agent Franks. Read the first four books of MHI to explore the fantastic world of Agent Franks.
Nil
If ever there was a disturbing villain that a protagonist occasionally works with, Nil from Horizon Zero Dawnfits the bill. He’s a serial killer who understands the problems of his pathology and kills bandits as an outlet. And he really isn’t redeemable, he’s basically a weapon, and you as the protagonist can choose to engage with him, or not. It doesn’t help that there are good-girl, bad-boy creeper undertones to Nil’s interaction, adding a disturbing and creepy undercurrent to a problematic, but a highly useful, ally.
At some point when I was slaughtering Yet Another Bandit Camp™ with Nil at my side, I was thinking—am I the baddy?
Nil, my psychopathic bandit killing (boy?) friend, my favorite Micro VA, I salute you!
Bottom Line: Let the Heroes be Heroes
When using a Macro and Micro VA, resist the urge to use moral lessons that have wormed their way into current entertainment media. Let the VA’s action stand on their own, and let the PCs deal with those actions as they see fit.
However, this type of gameplay is an excellent vehicle to interject higher-plot points such as nature vs. nurture, nobler motivations, moral lines in the sand, and the timeless redemption arc.
Heroes often fail. That’s the price of admission. Give players the chance to make things right. Allow players to turn their nemesis into their greatest ally. And if they all fail anyway, I can guarantee you the campaign will be anything but boring.
D&D was never about survival.
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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
The successful funding campaign is over, but Burials of Teganshire is still available on Indiegogo’s InDemand service. Click here to get your copy! https://igg.me/at/teganshire
Session 0 doesn’t necessarily mean a separate session but is a meeting of minds between the DM/GM and the players. It is where the DM sets the tone, logistics, and expectations.
Personally, I find it helpful to put Session 0 information in a handout, and then both email and then physically hand it to the players. Session 0 is also an excellent time to roll up a new PC, so the information should be sent before the DM expects the players to have their new PC ready to go.
Here’s an example Session 0 handout for Burials of Teganshire and the Circle of the Blood Moon Adventure Path. As always, simple information that a player would find helpful is better than a “lore dump” that just gives the DM a captive audience.
No need for a lore dump. Let the PCs make their own story, discovering the world as they go.
Session 0: Circle of the Blood Moon Adventure Path
Circle of the Blood Moon is a 5E D&D game using standard D&D rules.
When
Every Friday at Rob’s House
Player Books
D&D 5.0 Player’s Handbook or SRD (required)
Xanathar’s Guide to Everything (optional)
Stronghold and Followers (optional)
Campaign Setting
Homebrew, European-style feudal system
Races
All except Dragonborn and Tiefling
Classes
Any
Character Creation Rules
Any class out of the PHB
Standard Point Buy
Standard Starting Funds
Milestone experience
Roll for HP when leveling
PCs can have feats if they meet advancement requirements
PCs can multiclass
The campaign uses Encumbrance
Campaign Tone
This is a challenging and complex campaign where players will need to earn their PC progression through heroic actions and deeds. Players are in the driver’s seat to the extent that the DM has material to cover what the PCs are going to do that evening, and if they wander too far off the adventure path, then the game pauses for the material to catch up. It is possible to fail objectives and have the campaign continue—win or lose; there’s going to be action. Your decisions have consequences; this is not a railroad, but there isn’t a multiverse shattering puzzle, either. You’ll know soon enough what needs to be done.
PCs will be making trips outdoors. Outside of villages, it is widely known that the less-civilized wilderness contains monsters and fey. The local authorities are feudal-based and, for the most part, well-respected by the local populous.
Difficulty
PC causalities will happen if players bumble about or if merely unlucky.
Players are expected to use team-centric, combined-arms tactics/strategy. There are random encounters that could turn deadly, and PCs can wander into places beyond their ability to survive if the party does not retreat and reassess.
PC Death
PC death could result in a new 1st Level PC until the campaign advances to where it makes more sense to have a new PC at a higher level.
Magic
This is a heroic-magic campaign setting—there are NPCs with magic, but they usually do not wander about killing monsters. The frequency of magic items is straight out of the DMG.
There is no open market for magic items, except potions, and even then, the alchemist making potions usually has a customer list she’s working towards. However, most alchemists rely on external sources for their concoctions and are predisposed to people selling rare materials.
Coin
Circle of the Blood Moon uses the same coin system that is in the PHB. The nobility also uses letters of credit, which they can exchange for coin with other nobility and the crown. There’s no fractional banking system, but there are wealthy merchants that will exchange coins for these letters of credit.
Burials of Teganshireis a self-contained, modular adventure that emphasizes localization, so the DM can plug the module into their own environment. It’s also so the players can develop their own story without the plot forcing them to travel hundreds of miles somewhere else. Going back 20 days, we talked about Localized Campaigns:
These posts are a mix of DM Practical and DM Design. Practical is necessary for the DM to save time. The Design is essential for the DM to add bespoke flavor—no commercial product can anticipate all the needs of your game table.
This post gives you some practical options to liven up Burials of Teganshire. Page count, modularity, and such prevented the information from showing up in the module. Perhaps one day, when we complete the adventure path, we can expand the text to include all that flavor that makes a setting come alive.
Of particular note, the next adventure in the series in the Circle of the Blood Moon adventure path (#CBM2) will have more information on Teganshire Village, so the options here are generic.
Before the PCs Head Out
Before the PCs head out to take care of the “bridge problem,” here are some generic flavor additions.
Carols the Halfling Merchant
Carols is a female halfling brewmaster with a wagon of high-quality beer heading up the road to the bridge. However, Carols only has two guards with her, and they are accompanying her mostly to handle the four horses pulling the wagon.
She is now held up and will approach the PCs—she’ll add to their reward. Carols doesn’t have much spare money (only 10 gold pieces), but will pony up a keg of beer if the PCs take care of “whatever killed that poor man!”
Carols and Laura of the Bouncing Mutt don’t get along, as Carols never has any beer to sell her, selling it up the road where she gets a better price.
Randy the Rider
Randy is a message courier with a swift horse, wearing leather armor and a light crossbow, but obviously, he’s not a fighter, but a mailman.
He’s contemplating a bypass, but his horse is a jumper. He’ll ask the PCs if he can follow them, in hopes of saving time crossing the river.
Randy is not allowed to engage in combat, and won’t do so. As soon as the PCs kill the monster, he’ll rush the bridge at full gallop and jump over the damage, continuing on his route.
Randy is a young man and only carries a small amount of coin, as the stops on his route feed both him and his horse. Interfering with Randy has severe consequences, as the local authorities also use his route to deliver military correspondence.
If Randy watches the PCs kill the monster, he’ll inform his employer who will arrange for the PCs:
Discounts on fast riding horses
Free mail delivery throughout the region
Discount at the inns along Randy’s route for a month
No Empty Stomach Left Behind
Before the PCs head out, the matrons of the village pack the PCs lunch, including two freshly baked pies. Farmer Paul, a man of modest means, also gives the PCs two small bundles of high-quality, smoked sausages, one for the PCs, and one for the “nice fellows in the watchtower up yonder.”
While PCs are Traveling
Beyond the random encounters in the module, here are some things to add for additional flavor.
Three Men
Three men were riding war horses along the river coming from the west, hoping to cross the bridge. However, they could see the bridge had significant damage and turned away. They are now riding to Teganshire, to warn the Burgermeister of the issue.
They did not investigate the bridge, but their horses were very nervous, and since they are the ones who trained said horses, they left.
These men are horse trainers. Their mounts are high-quality, and they were set to deliver the horses. They will continue to Teganshire and then leave after a meal, avoiding the road, traveling west.
The Guard Tower
As mentioned in the module, the purpose of this guard tower is less of a way stop and more of a patrol waystation to prevent errant forest critters from molesting the farms and ranches to the west.
As such, they are highly knowledgeable about the region. If helped, the well-paid guards are a treasure trove of information about:
Local nobility
Which farmers or ranchers have eligible, marriage-age bachelors and bachelorettes (ranked according to appearance)
All have respect for Harold and tell the PCs his young wife died long ago before they had children. If the PCs seem like honest, good folk, one of the guards says to the PCs that Harold needs help getting over his grief, and it would be a shame if he continued to be unmarried, as he is a respectable man
One of the guards was shot down, spectacularly, by the owner of the Bouncing Mutt in the village. If the PCs haven’t heard her story yet, he tells it here. He feels terrible because he didn’t know she was in mourning
If the PCs help the guards, they can also supply the PCs with some fresh goods from the local farms. If given the sausage bundle, the guards share a recipe of fried sausage and eggs.
One of the guards knows how to skin and process animal fur. If the PCs killed the dire wolves, he offers to the skin and process the hides, so the PCs can turn them into clothing sometime later.
Machan’s Tower
This would be a great place to put in a cursed book that ties to the next module in the Circle of the Blood Moon adventure path. Just put it there with Machan’s journal, no need to be fancy about it:
Book of Celestial Whispers
This book does not detect as magical but is a highly magical tome and a dangerous one as that. If read, the book, will without fail, impart the ability to speak celestial to the reader. It will also turn the reader’s alignment permanently lawful, so if the reader was neutral good, they would then be lawful good. If the reader was chaotic evil, then the book would change their alignment to lawful evil.
Book Contents
The book, written in Common, is an engaging and well-written story about a paladin named Sir Hashmon Keirman coming to the aid of a celestial forced into mortal form and now besieged by enemies in the mundane world. The story ends with Keirman finding out his paramour is an angel, and in a bittersweet decision, convinces her to go back to Arcadia, and resume her position.
This story is true and contains a large amount of action, romance, and philosophical questions between the nature of duty and desire. It’s approximately 70,000 words.
Curse
However long it takes for the reader to read the book (some can read it in a week, some in a day), when completed the curse takes hold and is irreversible—the Law, Neutral, Chaos portion of their alignment shifts to Lawful. The reader is made aware of this, but they may not know why.
One of the “benefits” of the curse is the reader understands celestial but has no knowledge of the fact. Celestial spoken to the reader sounds likes the reader’s own native language. When they talk to someone else that understands celestial, that’s the language they unknowingly speak.
If the reader already knows the celestial language, the alignment shift still occurs. If the reader is already also lawful, they feel a supernatural sense of understanding Sir Keirman, and their Wisdom score is increased by 1 (to a maximum of 20).
Recharge
Once the book curses a reader, it takes 4d6 weeks for it to “recharge” before it can curse someone else (reading the book twice has no effect the second or subsequent times). If destroyed, it reforms 4d6 months later in a random location, next to another book on a bookshelf.
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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In addition to three custom feats, we’re going to go back up and talk about the custom backgrounds from several days ago, and provide some additional context on modifying those backgrounds and the feats.
But before we do that, let’s talk about D&D Beyond.
D&D Beyond is a 5E Customizer’s Dream Software
Have to admit, like many other people, D&D Beyond’s branding agreement with Wizards of the Coast confused me. I thought I was going to a Wizard’s site. I could not understand why Wizards would sell their hardcovers without an option to also buy a coupon to access the book on D&D Beyond. Stuffing a unique coupon in a printed book—there are a dozen ways to do it.
Then I went on their forum, and read the dozens of replies to confused people—D&D Beyond was not Wizards of the Coast.
Oh. Hahahaha. Take my money then, D&D Beyond, you go with your bad selves.
I love D&D Beyond quite a bit. It has a modern, responsive UI, almost everything I want is available, and I can subscribe and share all my custom goo, and the books I purchase, to our group’s game tables.
The customization, and sharing thereof, makes me a big fan.
Custom 5E Backgrounds—In It for the Roleplay
I can take or leave official Backgrounds, but in D&D 5E, it’s easy to pick one and apply it to your PC, so why not? The players I know like Backgrounds as it gives a bit of customization to the PC without expending a lot of effort, and that’s the appeal, I believe. If picking a Background meant doing a lot of work, they wouldn’t do it.
Let’s go over the list of Backgrounds from the Background post and why they were inserted into the game.
In the Kingdom of Lothmar Campaign Setting, there is a remote holdout city under the direct control of the neighboring Empire, the conglomerate of provinces Lothmar used to be a part of.
This University has strict requirements, and students at the Imperial University of Darathole must exhibit proficiency with magic, or the Dean of Students expels them. They are the elitists of the Empire and Kingdom when it comes to arcane magic. Graduates are either sages, court wizards, or war wizards (the other two backgrounds are under construction).
The campaign setting has a Barony that is run by mercenary compies. A player requested a mercenary forward scout Background, that was all about mercenary companies. She was precise: a scout had to have Perception, Survival, and Nature as skill proficiencies, available at first level, and that’s it. That’s all she wanted—no languages or tools.
Who am I to argue when a player does world-building for you? Certainly not me!
Someday I’ll run a mercenary campaign where all the PCs are forward scouts, kind of like the Black Company meets, um, the Black Company.
I made this as a mirror of the sage-like Imperial University scholar, only for the Kingdom’s theology students.
The (non) Balance of the Backgrounds
In an ideal world, this would not be a thing:
“As detailed in the rules for backgrounds, if a character would gain the same proficiency from two different sources, he or she can choose a different proficiency of the same kind (skill or tool) instead. This will happen automatically in the character builder.”
But it is, and it’s enforced in D&D Beyond. To meet the roleplaying requirements of the Background, I had to list three skills, which would set up the possibility of the player picking something else from the list.
Is this balanced?
Yes and no. It’s not balanced because the custom Backgrounds don’t follow this pattern:
2 skill proficiencies from a list
1 language
1 tool proficiency
However, it is balanced in my particular campaign world. For one thing, most encounters are designed to be Deadly, random encounters can also be deadly, and there are static locations that are super Deadly. And we play with gritty rules (long rest is a week, short rest is eight hours).
Furthermore, my players have a high degree of expertise in playing D&D. It’s a harsh and unforgiving place for their PCs. An extra skill proficiency just isn’t going to unbalance anything, given the extra planning and tactics they need to use to stay alive. In fact, the setting is so challenging; some of these backgrounds come with extra feats!
And here they are.
Homebrew Feats for Your Homebrew Backgrounds
The two “academic” backgrounds eventually come with extra feats. The gist of the feats is for roleplaying purposes for PCs and to set a particular tone with NPCs. These feats are awarded during the campaign after a year at the University. The student is no longer a freshman and has survived “The Culling,” in which the Dean of Students or the Seargent of Arms has expelled the students that did not pass muster.
The Dean of Students expells any student that does not show some proficiency with arcane magic after the first year. The ability to read and write magic is a required skill of any well-educated Imperial student, regardless of their study area.
You learn two cantrips of your choice from the wizard’s spell list.
Choose one 1st-level spell from the wizard’s spell list. You learn that spell and can cast it at its lowest level. Once you cast it, you must finish a short rest before casting it again using this feat.
Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
You become proficient in Arcana, if not already.
Design Comments
This feat is a modification of the Magic Initiate Feat, but specific to arcane magic and a prerequisite.
The feat goes with the Imperial University Scholar background, the campaign setting’s version of a sage. However, the school is much more vigorous than that. If the student doesn’t learn at least two cantrips and a spell, out the door they go, banished from the city gates!
When the game ticks from Freshman to Sophomore, the player adds the feat to their character. D&D Beyond supports this from the character sheet by clicking on the Feats gear icon.
This feat also has the design for application without the Background. For example, a PC or NPC that makes it past the first year but not the second.
The Royal University’s Seargent of Arms expells any student that does not show some proficiency with divine magic after the first year. The student must also pass a test on the Kingdom’s religions and church history.
You learn two cantrips of your choice from the cleric’s spell list.
Choose one 1st-level spell from the cleric’s spell list. You learn that spell and can cast it at its lowest level. Once you cast it, you must finish a short rest before casting it again using this feat.
Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
You become proficient in Religion, if not already.
Design Comments
Similar to the arcane counterpart, this feat adds the same flair, but down the divine path, to the religious college in the Royal City of Lothmar.
Your expertise as a mercenary troop/army scout makes you an expert at slinking through the wilderness, leaving no trace. You gain the following benefits:
You gain +1 to Dexterity or Wisdom, up to 20 in either ability
In the wilderness and other uncivilized places, you do not leave tracks or other noticeable signs of your passing.
Design Comments
Since we had three Custom Backgrounds, here’s a custom feat to go along with the Mercenary Company Forward Scout. Unlike the other two feats, this one the PC must pay for by choosing it when leveling.
Wilderness Shadow is a simple feat, but in the context of the campaign world, leaving no tracks without being a druid or a spell-casting ranger is almost a prerequisite. In the Black Company-like mercenary campaign, an enemy tracking a forward scout is a super big problem.
More telling, however, is the bump for either Dexterity or Wisdom. Not much use for that except for the mercenary forward scout. At least in the Kingdom of LothmarCampaign Setting.
The Mercenary Forward Scout usually has nice views. When it isn’t raining. Or being chased by bears. Angry druids. Occasional obnoxious fae. And mosquitoes. So. Many. Mosquitoes.
Departing Words on Feat Homebrew
The feat customization and creation options in 5E, once you use the core feats as a template, are a powerful, powerful way to add campaign setting specifics to your game world that has an immediate impact on players’ PCs. I also use homebrew feats to attach to homebrew magical items for a unique flair.
Before embarking down that path, a DM needs to keep in mind three things:
Player buy-in, as it’s their PC
Keep the feat balanced by using other core feats as a template
Willingness to increase the difficulty of the game if players are receiving feats outside of leveling
What are some of your favorite custom feats? Bonus points for a link to D&D Beyond!
Crossbow Man: absolutely going to pick Crossbow Expert feat at 4th Level
tossed in the air, it flies in a direction for several rounds, leaving a trail of blue, sparkly, motes, and drops to the ground.
