Old-School Fantasy RPG Adventures and Campaigns

Read more about the article Hekselannen

Hekselannen

Here I sketch a few details in broad strokes. I’m saving a rumor table for the final article, which pulls previous articles together into a campaign background.

Reading Map

This is the seventh article of a series outlining a B/X D&D campaign inspired by an old map.

G. FILL IN IMPORTANT DETAILS AND POINTS OF INTEREST.

Names

In the May 1999 Dungeoncraft installment (Dragon #259), Ray Winninger addresses the naming of people and places in our imagined settings. He suggests several pointers for coming up with appropriate appellations, one of which is to borrow from existing languages. “Remember this number: 400,” Winninger writes:

“That’s the Dewey Decimal Classification number for language. If you go to your local public library and browse around the 430s through about the 490s, you’ll find plenty of foreign-language dictionaries, each of which can be mined for good names.”

Being of the old school, we remember the number as well as the Dewey Decimal System and public libraries, still proud bastions of knowledge and learning. Today, though, no foray to base town is required. Online dictionaries and interactive translators put entire lexicons at our disposal.

We already covered noble titles in “Thirteen Graves.” In “Monstrous Denizens of the Pale Moor,” I made reference to a few names, which I noted on the map (reproduced above). These are examples of the system’s loose application. As source languages for this region, I lean on Frisian, Dutch, German, and Old High German, though other languages are not excluded.

Emden: Many historical names on the map are serviceable for our purpose. Seems to me that Emden (city) and Emder (county) must be related to the Ems (river). Porting all three saves us some trouble. I don’t find any etymology for the root, which leaves us carte blanche to invent a fantastic meaning for “em.”

Broeckemeer: Embellished from Emmius’s map. Suitably suspicious.

Reidermark: The name for the territory now submerged beneath the bay is also lifted from the historical map. I change it from “land” to “mark” as it was, before the flood, a boundary province. At the time of the campaign, it is most often referred to as Lost Reidermark.

Dragons Watch Mountains: Here I resort to English. We came to know them in Wyrm Dawn as the Western Mountains. Throrgrmir dwarves refer to this range as Fjallaheim (mountain home, Old Norse). Since dragons heard rumors of wyrmlings creeping in the dwarven dungeon, these low peaks make convenient roosts within easy flight of the place the Age of Dragons is prophesied to begin.

Elding Wood and Ellriendi Forest: Both names are from the Valormr Campaign. Last summer’s game flew by in a fog of war, but I believe I pulled them somehow out of Old Norse.

Valhallan (misspelled on map): Settled by a warlike clan of religious zealots, the grave takes its name from the chief god’s great hall.

Hekselannen, “The Hex Lands”: “Hekse lannen” is Frisian for “witch lands.” I concatenate to arrive at the proper appellation of the Forsaken Peninsula. From there, simple word play gets the vulgar name.

Grave Subjects

Most human PCs hail from one of the thirteen graves and, as such, are subject to the landgrave and, if the landgrave swears fealty, to the herzog. We established earlier that the graves compete with each other for the Pale Moor’s resources. Persons of the adventuring class, then, are valued subjects, provided they agree to undertake the occasional quest for the hierarchy. A subject who is known to undertake quests for other landgraves is admonished or punished according to the quest’s importance and impact. Penalties range from a small fine to public execution.

A DM might introduce the idea of adventuring licenses—something akin to letters of marque—issued by the landgraves or the herzog, which grant a limited authority to act in the name of the issuer, usually to claim land and other resources.

Total Protonic Reversal

This might qualify as crossing the streams, but there’s definitely a very slim chance we’ll survive.

I think it fairly obvious that, when naming the Keep on the Pale Moor in the Valormr Campaign last year, I had in mind the most famous keep in D&D. Then, in “About the Reedition of Phenster’s,” I mentioned the resemblance of the fictional society’s “Great Halls of Pandemonium” to the Caves of Chaos.

I want to put the two ideas together. I don’t mean that we drop in the Keep and the Caves and be done with it. I mean that we reuse parts of Dungeon Module B2 that fit the scenario. I’m thinking specifically of the Keep map and the concept of the Caves.

The Keep on the Pale Moor

We reuse the map of the borderlands Keep (B2, 16), but the once great fortress, constructed as a staging area and supply point for the Chaos Armies, is now in ruins. Recently, its walls and gates have been crudely reconstructed by its current hobgoblin inhabitants.

Maybe the hobgoblins are aware of the “secret entrance to a long forgotten dungeon” from the cellar beneath area #16 (B2, 25). Or maybe they have reason to believe it exists but haven’t found it yet.

Either way, the key to lifting the Pale Moor curse lies at the bottom of the dungeon. Therefore, the Keep on the Pale Moor becomes the campaign’s initial focal point. The PCs must, first, defeat the hobgoblins and reclaim the keep before the Wraithwright can raise an undead army. Then, using the surface ruins as a base, they must defend the keep, while they descend into the dungeon to lift the curse before the Wraithwright, with his now-raised army, destroys the keep.

The Dungeon: The Great Halls of Pandemonium

After events play out at the keep, the campaign’s focal point shifts to a ruined city of the Greater Ones, taken over by demons, rebuilt in their chaotic fashion, and named by them Pandemonium, after the capital city on their home plane. The cyclopean ruins are now sunk beneath the mires of the Pale Moor.

Because events at the keep will have an impact, it’s too early to tell what the scenario might be when PCs arrive at the Great Halls. The vision, in general terms, is to apply some of the concepts of the Caves of Chaos:

  • Each “hall” is a small dungeon, most of them connected to adjacent halls.
  • A temple is dedicated to the demons who once lived there. Within the temple complex, evil priests work to call the demons back to the Great Halls.
  • The halls are densely populated with creatures of chaos, as the evil priests gather the chaotic horde to fill the ranks of the demonic legion.

To complicate matters, the Warlock abides in a nearby tower. To further his goals, the Warlock uses devils—or devils use the Warlock to further their own.

Evil Factions

There are two major villains in the campaign. Each leads a faction. The Wraithwright, aligned with demons and chaotic evil creatures, may sometimes work with—and sometimes work against—the Warlock, aligned with devils and lawful evil creatures. Departing from B/X rules as written, the remainder of this series assumes a five-point alignment system as in Holmes Basic. (See Demons and Devils and Alignments in “Monstrous Denizens of the Pale Moor.”)

Secret #10: It was not long after the Rending and events of Song of the World Dragon that demons came to the ruined city of the Greater Ones. They sought a powerful object constructed by the now extinct beings. They found it. I don’t know yet exactly what this object is, but its misuse provoked the destruction of the rebuilt demon city of Pandemonium and sent the demons back to their home plane. It’s possible that devils, jealous of the prize, were involved. It’s probable that recovering this artifact is a primary objective of either or both of our villains. There is no doubt, though, that it may eventually be found deep in the sediment beneath the shallow bay where lies Lost Reidermark.

Base Town Emden

I thought to cover the last three steps of the D&D Expert Rulebook’s Designing a Wilderness (X54) in a single article. I try to keep the word count between 400 and 1,000. This one, covering the next step, approaches the limit. So, I cut the remainder again into parts, one article per step, and the “short” series becomes less so.

Reading Map

This is the sixth article of a short-ish series outlining a B/X D&D campaign.

F. OUTLINE THE BASE TOWN.

Description and Population

Emden is a fortified town. A river borders the south side, and defensive walls enclose the remaining perimeter. Four gatehouses at drawbridges allow entry. Canals divide the town into large quarters and give access to one small port, maybe two. The population is 10,000.

A large town gives PCs access to all the usual resources, while allowing room for growth through their actions. As the campaign progresses, PCs might reduce the monstrous threat from Darkmeer, remove the Pale Moor curse, and extract great wealth from the interior. Population increase follows.

Emden.
Inset from Tabula Frisiae Orientalis, Ubbo Emmius, 1730.

Government and Defense

The herzog maintains the seat of government in Emden. He resides in a palace (which may well be under construction or recently constructed at campaign start) and keeps a palace guard. In addition, the sovereign may raise an army. While the herzog manages affairs of the duchy,1 an appointed burgrave is charged with the administration of the grave itself, including the town. A town guard maintains order within its precincts. In case of outside threat, the burgrave may call upon the local militia.

Supporting Services

Church

The church holds great sway in the Thirteen Graves. The landgraves need the church’s support to combat the undead and the infernal menace from the Pale Moor. The church takes advantage of the situation to gain secular support to give its edicts the weight of law. A bishop (7th-level cleric) runs the church in Emden and leverages the herzog’s power to establish the church hierarchy throughout the duchy.

Secret #8: The bishop believes the church is much more capable of defending the realm and defeating the infernal hordes. He schemes to take over the duchy and make it a theocracy.

Religious Factions

Here we have an opportunity to come up with some factions within the church that promote a particular doctrine. Here follow three examples:

Crusaders: A knightly order of warriors who battle demons and devils wherever they encroach upon civilized lands. When an infernal horde gathers, the knights petition the bishop to proclaim a crusade, and they lead expeditions into the Pale Moor. Members are clerics, paladins, and fighters, knighted by the herzog.

Inquisitors: A sect that believes witchery is the root of all evil. Their inquisitors search out any practitioners of the black art. Witchery is the practice of witchcraft. In the context of our setting, witchcraft, strictly defined, is any dealing with a devil or demon. Therefore, warlocks and witches are the primary target. But sometimes the sect’s definition of witchcraft may become overly broad.2

Undead Slayers: A band of clerics that recruits warriors to destroy the abomination that is the walking dead. The band is known to make daring raids into the Pale Moor.

The Ghouling Gauntlet

Given the opportunity to reuse—or in this case pre-use—an already created element, we take it. The Ghouling Gauntlet is an ancient order of undead slayers that appears at the end of Wyrm Dawn and the beginning of Wyrmwyrd, thousands of years in our current setting’s future. Perhaps the order is recently formed in response to the moor wraiths. (See the heading The Ghoul of Tower Mill in Wyrm Dawn’s “Empire of the Undersun.”)

Guilds

Magic-Users: While it accepts members regardless of alignment, the Magic-Users Guild is dominated by lawful members, many with ties to the noble family. It maintains strong relationships with the magic-users guilds of the other lawful graves, often working together to further the herzog’s goals, which its lawful members believe coincide with their own. Chaotic members may join together temporarily to foil the efforts of the lawful group when they interfere with their own objectives.

Thieves: The Guild Master of Emden’s Thieves Guild is a member of Broeckemeer’s ruling clan. Her major ongoing operations include spying on the ducal hierarchy, harassing trade routes in and out of the capital, and political assassinations.

Lodging

Travelers and locals may find accommodation, restoration, and entertainment in a few inns, several boardinghouses, and numerous taverns. Following are examples, lightly sketched.

Gasthaus Herzogs: Situated just outside the palace gates, the herzog’s inn provides luxury quarters and gourmet meals to its wealthy clientele. It is patronized by diplomats, aristocracy, the richest merchants, and the spies who note their comings and goings and pretend not to be listening to their conversations.

Gasthof der Langenruhe or Inn of Long Repose: All sorts of travelers, including merchants, adventurers, and the occasional aristocrat, stay at this inn on the main square. Locals sometimes dine in its private dining hall. Mercenaries and men-at-arms frequent the inn’s public taproom.

Geitenhoef Taverne or the Goat’s Hoof Tavern: The southeast quarter has declined in recent years. Geitenhoef Taverne once catered to more affluent patrons. Now, its regulars are laborers, low-ranking soldiers, and adventurers down on their luck. The Geitenhoef is reputedly a hangout of members of the local Thieves Guild.

Widow Walpurga’s Pension: After her husband died 30 years ago, childless Frau Walpurga—known to everyone as Widow Walpurga or “the Widow”—began renting rooms of her large house. Her reputation is that of a kindly old woman, hard of hearing. One or two lodgers may be permanent residents. The Widow keeps one small room for herself at the top of a spiral staircase in the widow’s watch.

Witch Hunting

The landlady is named after Walpurga Hausmannin of German legend. The historic Frau Hausmannin was a tragic victim of a witch hunt. Our Walpurga may be more malefic.

Secret #9: I leave this candy to the DM. For inspiration, I refer you to the transcript of Hausmannin’s trial: “Judgement on the Witch Walpurga Hausmannin.”

To give context to the trial as well as to the general setting, I recommend Chapter 7 of Carl Sagan’s Demon-Haunted World.3 The chapter gives its title to the book.

1 I find it awkward in speech, but a DM might replace duchy with the German herzogtum.

2 An inquisition scenario might be fun. I’d be careful about letting it dominate the campaign.

3 I recommend Sagan’s book, as a whole, for it gives context to the present real-world situation. Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, New York: Ballantine, 1996.

Homage to Sutherland

I always wanted to do this. Final motivation provided by book cover necessity.

A Homage to David C. Sutherland’s Cover of Basic D&D (1977).
Lines traced with No. 2 graphite. Blue monochrome achieved using three shades of colored pencils.
Cover of Blue Flame, Tiny Stars

“Stephen’s delightful memoir makes you want to travel upstream to your own formative D&D headwaters, dig out your old graph-paper maps and worn dice, and rediscover the gateway to what the author calls ‘the fantastic path.’”
—Ethan Gilsdorf, author of Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms

“A celebration of dice, maps, friendship, and, above all, imagination—the very stuff from which the hobby of role-playing is made.”
—James Maliszewski, author of Grognardia: Musings and Memories from a Lifetime of Roleplaying

Warning: Reading this book will make you want to play D&D!

Now Available on DriveThruRPG in Paperback, EPUB, and PDF
Read more about the article Monstrous Denizens of the Pale Moor

Monstrous Denizens of the Pale Moor

Reading Map

This is the fifth article of a short series outlining a B/X D&D campaign.

After determining human-controlled areas, it may seem little space remains for monsters. But the interior is wild and infested with ferocious beasts, walking dead, and tribes of chaotic humanoids. Surrounding the Thirteen Graves are the sea and three territories. Being borderlands, these last are wilderness areas, whose inhabitants may encroach upon civilized lands.

Secrets and Names

I debate with myself about disclosing the secrets I come up with or letting the DM make his own secrets. On the one hand, publishing them here gives them away should players become overly curious. On the other, I’m likely to build on some of the secrets in later articles. The reader must be in the know. Of course, the DM may change the secrets or devise others. I have added one secret each to “A Forsaken Peninsula” and “Thirteen Graves.” The debate continues.

I have also resisted putting names on the map, thinking to leave that to the DM as well. But place names are useful in writing as references. “The county that claims the Pale Moor” is wordy as well as awkward. I’ve written on the map a few names used in the text.

E. PLACE AREAS UNDER NON-HUMAN CONTROL.

I mention PC races at the end. Otherwise, monsters are divided by geography:

Not all monsters described are shown on the map.

Monstrous Denizens of the Pale Moor

Pale Moor

Troglodytes (not shown on map): Native inhabitants of the peninsula, the troglodytes were pushed out by human settlers. Remnants of their caves, found throughout the region, testify to their former territory. Restricted now to the interior, they often raid human settlements out of necessity if not revenge.

Kobolds (not shown): The dog-men infest the Pale Moor. They shelter in any dense thicket or tangled copse of trees.

Goblins (not shown): Goblins seek uninhabited troglodyte caves in which to make their lairs. They may be encountered most anywhere on the Pale Moor.

Hobgoblins: Inhabiting the Pale Moor’s southeast, hobgoblins frequently raid the southern graves all the way to the Gruttemar, the lake shown on the moor’s western border. To augment its army, Valhallan enlists hobgoblins, goblins, and bugbears. Parties crossing the grave’s perimeter are likely to encounter these goblinoids in border patrols.

Moor Wraiths: The result of the Pale Moor curse, these undead creatures plague the interior. Their appearance is much like a zombie: bloodless corpse, pallid complexion. Despite a vacant stare, they seem to act in concert and with a will.

Pale Moor Curse

Any creature that dies within the confines of the Pale Moor becomes a moor wraith within one day. Denizens adapt to this situation by burning their dead in impromptu ceremonies.

Secret #5: When the Battle of Throrgrmir was lost, remnants of the Chaos Armies disbanded. The Wraithwright, having arrived at the head of his undead legion near the battle’s end, still commanded the entire force. He withdrew into the Pale Moor. It is the Wraithwright who laid the curse upon the land. And it is the Wraithwright to whom the animated dead are enthralled.

New Monster: Moor Wraith

The Pale Moor curse acts as an animate dead spell, except a moor wraith has two more hit dice than the original creature. Rumors imply a moor wraith may gain additional hit dice.

Skeletal moor wraiths also exist, though they are less common. A so called “bone wraith” is created when a skeleton is brought into the moor or when the flesh of the recent dead is boiled. Bone wraiths have one more hit dice than the original creature.

Whether skeletal or fleshed, both are wraith-like in that they can only be hit with silvered or magical weapons. Moor wraiths do not drain energy levels.

Clerics turn a moor wraith as a wight or the undead creature with equivalent hit dice. A moor wraith may be dispelled. For purposes of spell failure, treat the curse as a 12th-level magic-user.

All moor wraiths act according to the desires of the Wraithwright.

Infernal Hordes: Though infrequent, demons and devils may be encountered on the Pale Moor. Hordes of these infernal creatures sometimes ravage the land, crossing into the graves to wreak havoc among the mortals.

Demons and Devils and Alignments

By adding demons and devils to a B/X game, we’re creating work for the DM. We can rob from AD&D, which is what I did in the ’80s. The biggest question lies in alignments. For me, demons and devils are distinguished by their cultures, which are tied to their alignments: havoc-wreaking demons versus Machiavellian devils. The one chaotic, the other lawful, both evil.

In a three-point, single-axis system, demons are aligned with chaos, clearly. But devils with law? Do we call them chaotic with their organized society? Or should we introduce a dual-axis alignment system?

Holmes’s five alignments are enough. DMs may decide for themselves. If incorporating more alignments, we might throw out alignment languages or restrict them to the three original alignments of the first axis. I’m thinking to experiment with only two languages: Law and Chaos.

Surrounding Lands

Lizard Men: Prowling the swamps east of the Jade Bight, the lizard men cross the bay on dark nights to raid coastal villages. They also harass shipping in and out of Port-of-Sands.

Orcs: Broeckemeer incites the orcs of the Dragons Watch Mountains to raid the southern graves. Because the orcs are unruly, the raids are infrequent, untimely, and therefore ineffective.

Gnolls: Several bands of gnolls range south along the west flank of the Dragons Watch. Broeckemeer is in contact with the gnolls, hoping to recruit them into an army when diplomatic contention comes to military conflict with the duchy. For the time being, though, the gnolls want nothing to do with the Pale Moor and its curse.

Secret #6: Broeckemeer, whose ruling family is made up of witches and warlocks (secret #4), endeavors to call upon the demon lord of gnolls to bring the rapacious bands under their dominion.

Nomads (not shown): While avoiding the Pale Moor, the Sadhakarani [introduced in Wyrm Dawn] wander throughout the peninsula and beyond, trading goods from remote lands. Also called Runefolk, they have an innate ability for magic-use.

Dragons

The Wyrm Prophecy yet unfulfilled, any number of dragons might lair on the peninsula, keeping watch over events in Throrgrmir. The most powerful among them are a black and a green (not shown). The black dragon lairs on the Moor. The green, at the edge of the Elding.

Northern Sea

Mermen: This submarine folk inhabits the deeper waters off the north coasts of the island chain. They keep to themselves and are rarely seen by fishermen and sailors.

Storm Giants: A clan of storm giants resides in a submarine castle, built from coral and giant mollusk shells. They are potential allies of law.

Secret #7: The cause of the Atlantean flood was not divine but giant. The storm giants and the knightly order were working together against chaos. I don’t know yet what was the transgression, but the order’s hierarchy crossed the storm giants in some manner. The giants’ retribution was swift, and the knightly order all but washed away.

Buccaneers and Pirates (not shown): There is a long tradition of piracy in the Northern Sea. From bases along the Fear Coast, pirates ply the channels that give access to ports in the bays either side of the peninsula. Though it is no longer a pirate holding, when referring to Thror’s Gate (off map, east, see Valormr: Pre-War Disposition of Forces), the pirates still call it Skullhaven. Broeckemeer is a reputed sponsor of pirate activity.

PC Races

Halflings: The Forsaken Peninsula is no place for such gentle people. The few haffolk who dwell here migrated with the humans from the Shire Hollows in the Throrgrmir Valley. They settle in small shires near human settlements in the lawful lands.

Elves: Any elves are from the Ellriendi Forest (Elding, Grunnthraesir, or Groennendr) also in the Throrgrmir Valley.

Dwarves: Dwarves come from either of two clans of Forn Fjallaheim in the Dragons Watch Mountains a few days march south. One clan is the Galti-Gler, the other not yet named.

Song of the World Dragon

Song of the World Dragon is a narrative poem. It is a creation myth of Earth’s far future—a world with magic, monsters, and a ring around it, with stars that aren’t fixed but dance and swirl.

DONJON LANDS is a far-future fantasy role-playing game setting.

I.

In the void between all things,
Surrounded by darkness and cold,
A faraway light shone dim.
The dragon lay dreaming in the void,
And naught else was in the void
But the dragon who lay dreaming and the light.
And in its dream the dragon dreamt
Of a world that was known as Earth.…

Continue reading: Song of the World Dragon

Subscribe, Comment, and Coming Up

In addition to a working search function on the site, I’m pleased now to offer the enthusiastic reader an email subscription to new articles as well as a useful comment system.

Subscribe to New Articles: Now you can get notification of new articles by email or feed reader. Clicking Subscribe in the header menu takes you to the appropriate section in the sidebar.

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Coming Up on DONJON LANDS

I’m working on a few articles for the near future. One is a follow-up to “Strategy on the Jousting Matrix.” I further the analysis, taking into account my brutal defeat in the live tourney with Dan Collins on last week’s Wandering DMs episode.

Another is the next in the series outlining a B/X campaign. After areas under human control in “Thirteen Graves,” we look at “Monstrous Denizens of the Pale Moor.”

And I’m finally going to come clean with all my talk about the “Rending” and the “Greater Ones” and just what do I mean when I say DONJON LANDS. “Song of the World Dragon” is a creation myth of Earth’s far future—a world with magic, monsters, and a ring around it, with stars that aren’t fixed but dance and swirl.

Your Comments Welcome

Whether by email or in the comment section, I am open to your suggestions or requests. Let me know what you’d like to read.

Migration Success

DONJON LANDS is back online. The CMS migration was successful. There were traps, there were illusions, there was… some… waiting—and a wandering monster! But all planned actions scored a hit.

In the migration, I strove to recreate the design from the old system. You might notice minor improvements allowed by the new. A biggish improvement is the search function, which now finds things like a clever party. Also, making a comment should be less onerous. Soon, I hope to implement email subscription to new posts and replies to comments.

The web feed addresses have changed. Feed readers and blog rolls can subscribe to the RSS feed or the Atom feed. I apologize for the inconvenience. [18:03 27 July 2022 GMT]

Temporarily Offline Wednesday

DONJON LANDS will be offline for some time on Wednesday, July 27, while I migrate the content management system. If all goes well, the process could take a few hours. If less than well, a couple days…

Migration Success: the site is back online. [12:28 27 July 2022 GMT]

Thirteen Graves

Continuing from “A Forsaken Peninsula,” we take the next step through Designing a Wilderness (Cook and Marsh, X54).

Reading Map

This is the fourth article of a short series outlining a B/X D&D campaign.

D. LOCATE AREAS UNDER HUMAN CONTROL.

Oft repeated on Emmius’s Tabula is “Amt” in conjunction with names of marked political regions. An amt is an administrative area akin to a province or county. Such small regions ruled by counts or nobles of similar rank seem appropriate.

Emmius shows ten provinces bordering the central region. Including the two small, more remote provinces—one on the river east of the Dollart, another on the opposite side of the map (left of the eastern inlet)—brings the count to 12. Twelve is a good number. Too good for a campaign with warlocks and witches, when we’re so close to 13. I’m going to carve one more county off the central region’s west end. It’s a “soft” border: the county claims, though does not control, the central region, which is the Pale Moor.

Competition

Going further with that notion, we already know that the warlock discovered much wealth and magic in the Pale Moor. So, the counties compete in some way for the forsaken interior’s resources, but they are confounded by the moor’s denizens. To increase the tension, we’ll add a curse: any who die within the confines of the Pale Moor return as undead, which also hinders incursion into the interior.

Opposition

Now, we have counties that desire something. Let’s also give them something to fear: an outside force. From the Valormr Campaign, we know that the dwarven empire of Throrgrmir lies to the east, and to the west, Darkmeer, a collection of belligerent fiefs. While Throrgrmir is a potential ally, Darkmeer is a certain enemy to civilized realms. Some time—decades or centuries—has passed since the Throrgrmir war. Darkmeer has recovered its losses and now threatens the counties with invasion, subjugation, and enslavement.

Character

Our thirteen counties should each have its own character to differentiate one from another. Space prohibits going into great detail, but we can sketch an overview of the political landscape and let the DM fill in the blanks. A handy way to divide the counties is by alignment.

Law: The counties united in an alliance against Darkmeer, a common threat. The alliance formed a duchy and elevated the ruler of the strongest county, whose seat is our base town (Emden on the Tabula), to the office of duke. The duke’s domain is shown in purple on the map, the other lawful counties in blues.

Thirteen Graves
Map of the Forsaken Peninsula Showing Political Boundaries.

Chaos: Among the counties were some abstentions from the alliance. Notably, the county that claims the Pale Moor did not join and considers itself an independent state, as does the large county on the moor’s eastern border. These counties, and others shown in reds, are chaotic.

Neutrality: A few counties that joined the alliance are less keen on subjugation to a higher ruler. Some may pay homage to the duke, but when it comes to either defending the larger realm against chaos or making fruitful gains in the Pale Moor, their fealty is uncertain. Neutral counties are shown in greens and oranges.

Atlantis of the Clay

We don’t ignore the mythical source of our inspiration (see “Atlantis of the Clay”). An order of knights once held land on the west bank of the western inlet, where now is a bay. The order charged itself with the protection of the counties against the threat of chaos. Some decades ago, the land was submerged by a sudden deluge, possibly an act of divine retribution for some transgression. Villages were covered in mud. Castles were flooded, their lower floors inundated with silt. Many knights were lost. Survivors reaffirmed the order and its mission, and the strongest county gave to the order a tract of land on the river, where the knights established a palatinate.

Titles

Taking title names from English’s Germanic roots, I exchange duke for herzog, or feminine herzogin, and count for landgrave or landgravine. A vassal to a landgrave is a graf or grafin. A more martial province is ruled by a margrave. The head of the knightly order and ruler of the palatinate is a pfalzgraf. Then, for the ambiance in it, I want to play with words a little and, instead of counties, the political districts are graves.

Secret

Secret #4: Members of the ruling family of the chaotic grave that claims the Pale Moor are witches and warlocks, who consort with demons. Maybe they are possessed, maybe willing. Their goal is not to annex the Pale Moor but to reopen the gate beneath the ancient demon city.

Added a secret. [07:16 9 August 2022 GMT]

Man vs. Machine: Chainmail Jousting Live Tournament

“If ever Dan challenges you to a game of Chainmail Jousting, don’t do it. Just don’t do it! He has a system…”—Paul Siegel, Wandering DMs

I was properly warned. But when I got an email from Wandering DMs co-host Dan Collins earlier this week with the subject line: “Jousting Sunday?,” did I heed the warning? Of course not, I’m an adventurer after all.

This week on Wandering DMs, Dan and I tilt in the lists. My strategy is based on an analysis of Chainmail’s Jousting Matrix, outlined here. I rank each aiming point and defensive position using a simple point system.

Dan’s strategy is based on the Nash equilibrium. It’s a math thing. Essentially, as Dan explains, the goal of calculating the Nash equilibrium is to “optimize the possibly-infinite sequence of ‘if you know that I know that you know that I know’ decisions.” Or, as I understand it, Dan fed the Jousting Matrix to the machine, which coughed up the optimal strategy for winning a joust, and Dan turned the results into a weighted table.

It’s an age-old scenario: a human does a thing well until some other human builds a machine that does it better, faster, stronger… I’m not talking Steve Austin. I’m talking less fictional characters against automated opponents: John Henry vs. the steam drill, Garry Kasparov vs. Deep Blue, Jeopardy! champions vs. Watson.

In all these cases, the machine wins! Have I got a chance…?

Watch live, Sunday, July 24, at 1:00 p.m. EDT: “Jousting in Original D&D | Live Tournament,” on Wandering DMs. Root for the human.