Encounters have consequences. Every slain bandit has friends who will want revenge, and every devil banished back to the Eleven Hells reports its failure to its dark lord. What happens when the PCs’ daring deeds come back to bite them?

The following encounter chains are more than just random conflicts. Each event flows organically into the next, sometimes without giving PCs the chance to catch their collective breath. Each link in the chain subsequently ups the stakes and the complexities of an encounter, thereby giving characters a sense of… out of the frying pan, into the fire!

Encounter 1: Chilly Receptions

Recommended Levels: 9–11

The canton of Vursalis is a jagged and towering land, surrounded by cloud and glacier and permeated by an uncanny sense of primordial power and deeds long forgotten. Winter travel among the western Ironcrags is rarely advisable, attempting the mountain passes even less so. But promises of risk and renown, gold and gain, rarely fail to inspire willingness and resolve among the daring or desperate, regardless of season.

Having followed the alpine sled routes from Bundhausen, you’re finally ascending the saddleback pass adjoining the Kronhorn and Mount Mergansar. Tired, freezing, and dehydrated, you press on, knowing that to finish this final, frigid haul upward means dry clothes, supplies, and hot food at the Mule’s Rest, a way station and trading post perched atop the pass. The establishment offers safe haven to travelers before beginning the final, winding descent into the Peshvai glacial rift and on toward the dwarf citadel of Vursalis.

Summiting the snow-mantled pass, you see the trading post, a solidly built log structure layered in hides, pelts, and antlers, but something’s wrong. The mule paddock and nearby campsites appear empty. And you realize you’ve smelled no cookfires during your approach, heard no mules braying or shouts of greeting or challenge. There’s no movement and no sound other than the soft creak and thump of the trading post door, swinging in the bitter wind.

Developments. PCs approaching the paddock realize first how wrong things are. The corral looks like a slaughterhouse: blood-spattered snow, gobbets of un-skinned meat, and the occasional hoof are what remain of the mules, ponies, and goats. A successful DC15 Wisdom (Survival) check reveals that the butchery occurred recently (within hours) and that the carcasses were carried away, northwest up the forested mountainside. A successful DC 17 Intelligence (Nature) check identifies yeti tracks among the bloody confusion.

Searching the campground reveals four mountain dwarf corpses, prospectors and trappers, frozen in their beds. A successful DC 16 Intelligence (Medicine) check indicates death by starvation at least 18 hours ago. The emaciated campers are now four quiet souls (see Creature Codex) who attack once any remains are investigated. They’re joined by four frostveil (see Tome of Beasts), lingering nearby. Attracted earlier by the slaughter of the draft animals, the frostveil move sporadically (1d4+1 × 10 feet/round) in the gusty, mountain winds.

Investigating the trading post reveals no signs of forced entry, violence, or foul play. The interior is also undisturbed, the cashbox, valuable pelts, supplies, and ore samples all untouched. A DC 16 Intelligence (Investigation) check reveals the proprietor and family were either carried or walked from their beds into the snowy night, roughly a day ago. A successful DC 17 Intelligence (History) check recalls (or locates) evidence of a secluded dwarf monastery nearby. Perhaps the family fled there? Outside the rear of the structure, a successful DC 14 Wisdom (Survival) check picks up the missing dwarves’ barefoot trail also heading northwest, up the Kronhorn.

Encounter 2: Abominable Inclinations

Despite fading daylight and mounting snowfall, PCs have little trouble tracking their quarry up the mountain. The chaotic and bloody trail converges with the older tracks of the dwarves. Three abominable yetis and their stolen carcasses, delayed by their earlier rapaciousness at the paddock, are now losing daylight. They expect no pursuit. Gorged, they begin bedding down. PCs are forewarned by the barking and squabbling of the unwary monsters and easily (GM’s discretion) approach undetected from downslope. Characters realize they must go closely around or through the monsters before regaining the swiftly disappearing trail.

Developments. PCs attempting to normally bypass the yetis use individual stealth checks (DC 15) made at disadvantage due to snowy, forested inclines and declining visibility. This disadvantage also affects melee attack rolls made against uphill targets. If alerted, the yetis attack, fighting until dead. If combat ensues, adversaries farther up the mountainside are warned by the howling; Friar Eldicar (see below) then teleports a wendigo (see Creature Codex) to the vicinity. The wendigo arrives 3d4 rounds after combat begins, attacking or, if necessary, stalking and later ambushing PCs.

Encounter 3: My Brother’s Keeper

Pressing onward, victorious PCs soon sense a snarling but soothing voice echoing within their minds.

“Yes, onward and upward bold heroes. Draw near and pay homage to the First Lords of the Kronhorn. You’re welcome as witnesses to our resurrection and to the eradication of all trace of the line of Vursalis from the face of Midgard.”

A little farther (60 ft.), PCs crest the incline onto a plateau-like stretch of thinly forested mountainside (difficult terrain). Ahead looming malevolently, a son of Fenris (see Tome of Beasts) awaits them patiently. Flanking the monster are two ghostly apparitions: emaciated dwarf monks, wielding ghostly greatclubs (use ghost dwarf, see Creature Codex). The forgotten friary stands 100 ft. away, its courtyard eerily lit behind silhouetted figures, indiscernible in the darkness and snowfall.

Developments. The monstrous trio attacks. If both ghost dwarves are destroyed, the son of Fenris tries “bargaining” (stalling) with PCs until Eldicar’s ritual nears completion. Successful DC 17 Wisdom (Insight) checks see through this tactic, revealing to PCs their adversaries’ timetable concerns. PCs have 3 minutes to reach the friary and engage the friar, interrupting the ceremony. Otherwise the dwarves perish and a second son of Fenris is conjured from somewhere beneath the monastery.

Eldicar performs the ritual alongside another wendigo. Its unique powers hastening the sacrificial “death by frost and famine” required for Eldicar to siphon off the dwarves’ lifeforce, transferring it into the quickly coalescing form of another son of Fenris. PCs disrupt the ritual with any successful attack roll against Eldicar at which point both he and wendigo attack.

Friar Eldicar: Use gnomish knife cultist (see Creature Codex) changing:

• Dwarf replaces gnome
• Challenge 9 (5,000 XP).
• Substitute monster text: “summon(ed) demon”, with “conjure(d) wendigo”.
• Wendigo’s Call (2/Day). (Replaces Demonic Summonings.) Substitute “1-hour” duration with “24-hour.”

Triumphant PCs questioning survivors, magically divining, or otherwise investigating the evidence and ceremonial site can (GM’s discretion) unearth clues (such as Eldicar’s or other monks’ journals), eventually piecing together the following.

Friar Eldicar was intrigued and seduced by the esoteric texts and forbidden histories of the old “mountain gods.” Feral gods of plague, frost, and famine—cast down eons ago—whose dark legacy his monastic order was established to safeguard and hide away. For years, Eldicar secretly delved into the sealed scriptoriums and forgotten vaults beneath the friary. What he awakened in those dark depths and within himself would soon spell madness and murder, cannibalism and undeath, for his brother monks and perhaps the whole of Vursalis.

<<PREVIOUSLY

It’s September, and the apples are plumping on the branches! So here’s a crisp set of wallpapers for your computer, your smartphone, or whatever electronic device you’ve got. This month, we’ve got a piece from Deep Magic: Alkemancy by William O’Brien.

Let’s keep those cauldrons bubbling, adventurers!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Please, click on the image you want to download to expand it into a downloadable image.

The Expanding Codex series fleshes out monsters from the Creature Codex, giving GMs ways to modify the existing monsters to surprise well-prepared players or to introduce monsters to a campaign.

Alternate Traits and Actions

The following changes allow GMs to alter a venom elemental without modifying its challenge rating:

Air Form. Aerosolized versions of the venom elemental are rarer than their liquid cousins on the demiplane of poisons. The venom elemental can enter a hostile creature’s space and stop there. It can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing. The elemental gains a flying speed of 60 feet.

The venom elemental also gains the Aerial Camouflage trait.

Aerial Camouflage. While the elemental is flying it has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks.

The venom elemental loses its swimming speed and its Liquid Form and Underwater Camouflage traits.

Engulf. Each creature in the venom elemental’s space must make a DC 13 Strength saving throw. On a failure, the target takes 6 (1d6 + 3) bludgeoning damage plus 3 (1d6) poison damage, and the creature must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned until the end of its next turn. If the target is Large or smaller, it is also grappled (escape DC 13). Until the grapple ends, the target is restrained and unable to breathe unless it can breathe water. If the saving throw is successful, the target is pushed out of the elemental’s space.

The venom elemental can grapple one Large creature or up to two Medium or smaller creatures at one time. At the start of the elemental’s turn, each target grappled by it takes 7 (2d6) poison damage and must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned until the end of its next turn. A creature within 5 feet of the elemental can pull a creature out of it by taking an action to make a DC 13 Strength check and succeeding.

The venom elemental loses its Multiattack action.

Envenom Liquid. As an action, the venom elemental divests a portion of its body into a pint of liquid. The elemental’s hit point maximum is reduced by 1d6 hit points, and this reduction lasts until the elemental finishes a short rest. The venom retains its potency for 1 hour before dissolution. A creature drinking the envenomed liquid must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or take 7 (2d6) poison damage and gain the poisoned condition for 1 minute.

The venom elemental gains the Vulnerability to Antitoxin trait.

Vulnerability to Antitoxin. When the venom elemental is struck by a vial of antitoxin (thrown as an improvised weapon), it takes 2d6 acid damage. Additionally, until the end of its next turn, creatures gain resistance to poison damage dealt by the elemental and have advantage on Constitution saving throws to avoid becoming poisoned by the elemental.

Spit Venom. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 15/30 ft., one target. Hit: The target must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw, taking 14 (4d6) poison damage on a failed save or half as much on a successful one. On a failed save, the creature gains the poisoned condition until the end of its next turn.

The venom elemental modifies its Multiattack action to make two attacks: one with its bite and one with its spit venom.

New Magic Items and Spells

The following magic item and spell are inspired by abilities possessed by a venom elemental:

Venomous Fangs

Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement)

If you do not already have a bite attack, these fangs allow you to use an action to attack a target with a bite that deals piercing damage with a +1 bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls and a damage die of 1d4.

While you wear the fangs, a successful DC 9 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) checks conceals them from view. At the GM’s discretion, you have disadvantage on Charisma (Deception or Persuasion) checks against creatures that notice the fangs.

You can use an action to cause the fangs to fill with a green poison. The poison remains active for 1 minute or until you hit a creature with a bite attack. That creature must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or take 1d10 poison damage and become poisoned until the end of its next turn. The fangs can’t be used this way again until the next dawn.

Liquidity

4th-level transmutation (druid, sorcerer, warlock, wizard)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (a sponge and liquid from a venom or water elemental)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour

You transform a willing creature you touch, along with everything it’s wearing and carrying, into a fluid form for the duration. The spell ends if the creature drops to 0 hit points.

While the target is in this form, its walking speed becomes 10 feet, and it gains a swimming speed of 40 feet. The target can enter and occupy the space of another creature. The target has resistance to nonmagical damage. The target can pass through small holes, narrow openings, and even mere cracks. The target can breathe water and air. The target’s reach with melee weapon attacks increases by 5 feet.

While in fluid form, the target can only communicate in Aquan. It can manipulate objects, but any objects it was carrying or holding when the spell was cast can’t be dropped, used, or otherwise interacted with. The target can’t cast spells, and it has disadvantage with all weapon attacks except unarmed strikes. The target’s unarmed strikes deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1 + its Strength modifier, regardless of any other abilities that modify this damage.

Venom Elemental Adventure Hooks

• Several people at a lakeside village have become sick after swimming along the shore. The inhabitants blame a neighboring village for poisoning their water, but the real culprit is a venom elemental.
• A cabal of serpent cultists devoted to a snake demon is set to perform a ritual to summon a dozen venom elementals to poison a large city’s water supply and set the creatures on the city’s inhabitants. The cultists intend to sacrifice poisoned victims to the demon in the desire to call forth the demon.

If you have any requests for monsters from the Creature Codex for future installments, please let me know in the comments, and I’ll make sure to add them to the queue.

<<PREVIOUSLY

Baba Yaga is one of the great mysteries and a most fearsome wanderer. Though many know her name and many more recognize her legendary dancing hut, few can honestly claim to have met her, and fewer still enjoyed the experience. Almost none can claim kinship with the Grandmother, and no one known can claim her friendship or support.

There are a few, however, that claim to use her power. Found mostly among expatriates from the Rothenian Plain, a handful of strange and seemingly unrelated individuals have begun calling themselves the Lábak—literally, the Legs—of Baba Yaga. Whether the Grandmother truly sponsors or is even aware of these individuals is open to question; Baba Yaga keeps her own counsel. But regardless of any direct involvement, many of the Lábak have undeniable magic power and use it to further what they believe (or at least claim) are her goals. The most powerful of the Lábak seem to channel the power of Baba Yaga directly.

The goals of the Lábak are as challenging to parse as the goals of Baba Yaga herself. No overriding strategy seems to guide their actions (despite claims the Lábak themselves make), but this apparent lack of cohesion may simply be part of a long and complex strategy yet unrevealed. Like the Grandmother, Lábak work in mysterious ways: they might ally with some characters and organizations and may well remain loyal to those groups for their entire lives, but few trust them completely. A Lábak character has access to great knowledge and may choose to share it with others, but the knowledge always comes at a price—a price as often paid by the Lábak’s companions as the Lábak themself.

Below, we present a warlock subclass for players who wish to create Lábak characters. Characters who take this option gain powers similar to those wielded by the Grandmother in many respects, but whether or not Baba Yaga is truly the character’s patron is left for individual GMs to decide with their groups. Note that unlike most warlock patrons, this one specifies a distinct individual, not a class of creatures; GMs may, of course, rename or adapt the information here as they see fit.

New Warlock Patron: Baba Yaga

Your patron is Baba Yaga (or at least you believe this to be the case). The Grandmother may or may not communicate with you directly, but you see signs and portents everywhere that you attribute to her guidance. Even when you are uncertain of your patron’s intentions or motivations, you seek to follow her path and act in her inscrutable image.

Expanded Spell List

Your patron lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you.

Baba Yaga Expanded Spells

Mad Knowledge

Starting at 1st leveI, your patron bestows upon you a massive amount of esoteric knowledge, but you are limited in how much you can willingly recall and how much your mind can handle. You can make one Intelligence check with advantage. If you fail the check by 5 or more, you take 5 (1d10) points of psychic damage and are stunned until the beginning of your next turn.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Fearsome Rebuke

Starting at 6th level, you can use your intuition and power to turn an attacker’s intentions against itself. When a creature makes an attack roll against you, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on that roll. If the attack misses you, the creature becomes frightened by you for 1 minute. While frightened in this way, a creature must take the Dash action and move away from you by the safest available route on each of its turns.

At the end of each of its turns, the creature may make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC, ending the effect upon itself on a success.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Shrouded Mind

Starting at 10th level, any creature that attempts to pry into your thoughts learns to regret it. You can make a saving throw against any effect that would reveal your thoughts, personality, alignment, or similar information even if the effect does not normally allow one, and if you succeed on the save by 5 or more, the creature that initiated the effect takes psychic damage equal to 2× your warlock level.

Vicious Rebuke

At 14th level, you can use your Fearsome Rebuke ability to cause physical harm to the attacker. In addition to being frightened, a creature affected by your Fearsome Rebuke takes 55 (10d10) force and psychic damage unless it is Baba Yaga or one of her Horsemen.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

<<PREVIOUSLY

No matter how sophisticated the civilized races of Midgard become nor how peaceful the times seem, the threat of war is never far off. Just in recent history, the vampires of Morgau and Doresh annexed the former Electoral Kingdom of Krakova whose ruling family in exile now wages an internecine war against their conquerors. In the Seven Cities, where war is a way of life with a specific season for waging it, the Mharoti Empire ceased to be merely a far-off threat when it seized the nearby Grand Duchy of Illyria. In the Wasted West, the scattered tribes of dust goblins are uniting under a single charismatic leader to bring death to the Seat of Mavros.

Wartime Careers

With the threat of battle never far off, the soldiers, officers, companies, and armies that hope to eke a profit from wartime are never hard to find. The following six specializations are particularly suited to different aspects of making war, though more traditional adventurers who hew to a strategic or warlike mindset will benefit from them just the same. Barbarians who choose the path of the herald learn to share their battle-lust among their companions. Bards from the College of Tactics learn how to inspire their troops to greater victories. Chaplains are fighters whose faith grants them the ability to spur their friends on in the face of adversity. Beast trainer rangers can create small armies out of even the meanest creatures. Legionnaires are rogues who will fight to win, no matter the cost. And sappers are the ditch-digging, bridge-building rogues who keep the army’s supply train moving.

PATH OF THE HERALD (Barbarian Primal Path)

In northern lands, the savage warriors charge into battle behind chanting warrior-poets. These wise men and women collect the histories, traditions, and accumulated knowledge of the people to preserve and pass on. Barbarians who follow the Path of the Herald, who are sometimes called skalds, lead their people into battle chanting the tribe’s sagas, spurring them on to new victories while honoring the glory of the past.

ORAL TRADITION

When you adopt this path at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in History and Performance. If you already have proficiency in one of these skills, your proficiency bonus is doubled for ability checks you make using that skill.

BATTLE FERVOR

Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, when you enter a rage as a bonus action, you can expend one additional daily use of rage to allow up to three willing creatures within 30 feet to enter a rage as well. The creatures must be able to see and hear you. Creatures affected by this feature gain the same benefits and restrictions you do when you enter a rage.

Battle fervor lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you are knocked unconscious or if your turn ends and you either haven’t attacked a hostile creature since your last turn or have taken damage since then. You can also end battle fervor on your turn as a bonus action.

LOREKEEPER

As a historian, you are well aware how much impact the past has on the present. At 6th level, you can enter a trance and explore your people’s sagas to cast the augury, comprehend languages, and identify spells but only as rituals.

BOLSTERING CHANT

At 10th level, when you end your rage as a bonus action, you regain a number of hit points equal to your barbarian level × 3. If you end your battle fervor as a bonus action, you restore a number of hit points equal to your barbarian level + your Charisma modifier to yourself and all creatures affected by it.

THUNDEROUS ORATORY

At 14th level, when you enter a rage, your attacks deal an extra 2d6 thunder damage. If you strike a critical hit, your target must succeed at a Strength saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier) or be pushed 10 feet away and knocked prone in addition to the extra damage. When you enter battle fervor, you and all the creatures affected by it deal an extra 1d6 thunder damage. If you or any of the affected creatures strikes a critical hit, the target must succeed on a Strength saving throw as calculated above or be pushed 10 feet away in addition to the extra damage.

COLLEGE OF TACTICS (Bard College)

Bards of the College of Tactics are calculating strategists who scour historical records of famous battles for tricks they can use to give their own troops, and those of their patrons, an edge on the battlefield. Members of this college travel from war zone to combat site and interview the veterans of those engagements, trying to discern how the victors won the day and leveraging that information for their personal glory.

BONUS PROFICIENCIES

When you join the College of Tactics at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with medium armor, shields, and one martial weapon of your choice.

SETTING THE BOARD

Also at 3rd level, you can move your allies into more advantageous positions like moving the pieces on a game board. As a bonus action, you can roll a Bardic Inspiration die and multiply your result by 5 to determine how much distance in feet your allies can travel. You can then move any number of willing allies who can see or hear you the total amount of distance rolled in increments of 5 feet. For instance, rolling a 4 on your Bardic Inspiration die allows you to move one or more willing allies 20 feet. You could use that movement to move one willing ally 5 feet and another willing ally 15 feet or to move two willing allies 10 feet each.

The movement generated by this feature does not cause your allies to draw opportunity attacks.

SONG OF STRATEGY

Beginning at 6th level, when you choose a creature to benefit from your Bardic Inspiration, it also gains one of the strategies of your choice from the list below. The affected creature must use the strategy before the duration of the Bardic Inspiration die expires but can use it on the same turn it uses the Bardic Inspiration die.

Once a creature has used the selected strategy, it can’t be used by the same creature again until it receives a new Bardic Inspiration die.

Bait and Bleed. When the affected creature uses its action to Dodge, it can make one melee attack against a creature that is within 5 feet of it.

Blitzkrieg. When the affected creature uses its action to Dash, it can make one melee attack at the end of its movement. If the attack is a critical hit, the targeted creature is frightened until the beginning of your next turn.

Counter Offensive. When the affected creature takes damage from another creature, it can use its reaction to make an attack against the attacking creature. The creature using this strategy must be wielding a weapon that can reach its attacker.

Distraction. When the affected creature uses this strategy, it can Disengage as a bonus action.

Hold Steady. When the affected creature uses its action to take the Ready action and the trigger for the readied action doesn’t occur, it can make an attack or cast a spell after all other creatures have acted in the round.

Indirect Approach. When the affected creature uses its action to Help a friendly creature in attacking a creature within 5 feet of it, all other friendly creatures have advantage on their first attacks against the target creature.

Rest and Recovery. When the affected creature uses its Bardic Inspiration die, it can recover one use of one of its features that has a limited number of uses per day, such as a barbarian’s Rage. A creature can’t use this feature to recover a spell slot.

ABLATIVE INSPIRATION

Starting at 14th level, when you take damage from a spell that affects an area, you can use your reaction to redirect and dissipate some of the spell’s power. If you succeed at the spell’s saving throw, all friendly creatures within 10 feet of you are also treated as though they succeeded at the saving throw. You expend one of your Bardic Inspiration dice when you use this feature…

___

Read more of this and other great articles in Warlock, only on Patreon!

These winged snakes are coastal beasts and sometimes confused with true dragons or wyverns. They are neither, but quite deadly in their own right.

Searing Acid. Drakon fangs do not deliver venom; volatile acid constantly burbles up from a drakon’s stomach and enhances its attacks. A caustic drool clings to creatures they bite, and drakons can also belch clouds of searing vapor. Their lairs reek with acidic vapors and droplets of searing liquid.

Dissolving Gaze. The gaze of a drakon can paralyze creatures and dissolve them.

Coastal Beasts. Drakons lair along warm, largely uninhabited coasts, where they explore the shores and the coastal shelf, spending as much time above the waves as under them. Fortunately, they rarely travel far inland.

DRAKON

Large beast, unaligned
Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
Hit Points 105 (14d10 + 28)
Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft., swim 40 ft.

Skills Perception +4, Stealth +7
Damage Resistances acid
Condition Immunities paralyzed
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14
Languages —
Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)

Dissolving Gaze. When a creature that can see the drakon’s eyes starts its turn within 30 feet of the drakon, the drakon can force it to make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw if the drakon isn’t incapacitated and can see the creature. On a failed saving throw, the creature takes 3 (1d6) acid damage, its hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the acid damage it takes (which ends after a long rest), and it’s paralyzed until the start of its next turn. Unless surprised, a creature can avert its eyes at the start of its turn to avoid the saving throw. If the creature does so, it can’t see the drakon until the start of its next turn, when it chooses again whether to avert its eyes. If the creature looks at the drakon before then, it must immediately make the saving throw.

ACTIONS

Multiattack. The drakon makes one bite attack and one tail attack.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage plus 10 (4d4) acid damage.

Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage.

Acid Breath (Recharge 5–6). The drakon exhales acidic vapors in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area takes 28 (8d6) acid damage, or half damage with a successful DC 13 Constitution saving throw.

<<PREVIOUSLY

___

But this is where we must stop for now, my friend. My mind, it wanders so at times. Do come see me again, though, for more of the wonders and surprises of Midgard. (OGL)

This creature comes from the Tome of Beasts. You can continue on this adventure in the Midgard Worldbook, Midgard Heroes Handbook, Creature Codex, and Creature Codex Pawns!

As every grognard knows, the original AD&D Dungeon Master’s Guide had a section at the end called “Appendix N: Inspirational and Educational Reading.” It was a list of the fantasy novels that inspired Gary Gygax to create the game. But it was also a “further reading” suggestion, the idea being to pay some love backward to the authors who carved out the fantasy genre while also serving up some sources of inspiration to beginning game masters looking for campaign ideas. And it was a wonderful thing.

Recently on Twitter, @RamblingSkull asked Chief Kobold Wolfgang Baur, “Do you have any suggested reading (Appendix N style) for someone about to commit to the Midgard setting?” And that got the kobolds thinking. So @RamblingSkull, this article is for you and for everyone wanting to read fantasy fiction with a touch of Midgard flavor.

Now, I have a background in science fiction and fantasy editing. Years ago, while wearing another hat, I created an imprint from scratch for a midsized publisher, and I ran it for ten years, acquiring and editing well over a hundred novels. So what I hope to do is list not only the obvious classics everybody knows but also some works you may not have heard of and bring them to your attention as well. Some of these suggestions are my own, and some come from other kobolds.

To begin with, one of the ur-texts is unquestionably Fritz Lieber’s tales of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. These short stories and novellas have been gathered into seven books beginning with Swords and Deviltry. Written across an incredible period of time, from 1939 to 1988, they tell the tale of a tall, red-haired barbarian and a short thief who together are the quintessential lovable rogues always getting into trouble, always surviving, but never quite coming out as on top as they’d like to be. Anyone reading them for the first time will be astonished at all the tropes that originated here, but one of the wonderful things about the book that isn’t so readily apparent, and why I think it’s perfect Midgard reading, is this: the Gray Mouser is forever pontificating on the nature of the world. Is the world inside a vast bubble? Are the stars contained inside giant waterspouts? Are the stars jewels stuck in the fabric of the sky? Invariably, his outlandish theories will prove to be correct at the end of the story even if—and here I think is the underlying point—they contradict one of his previous theories. Reading all the text together, I think the author is hinting that reality is truly what you make of it. This reminds me of the conflicting creation myths in Midgard and to an extent the masks of the gods. Regardless, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser wander all over their world, visit the realm of the dead, and even pass through a portal to our earth and back. They also apprentice to two warlocks, Ningauble of the Seven Eyes and Sheelba of the Eyeless Face. Of the former, Head Kobold Wolfgang Baur says, “Ningauble of the Seven Eyes was such an influence on Bemmea’s mages.” That alone should make the stories worth checking out! Meanwhile, those who want to see modern sword and sorcery duos cast in the vein of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are encouraged to check out Violette Malan’s Dhulyn and Parno novels, Michael Swanwick’s Darger and Surplus stories and novels, and Michael J. Sullivan’s Royce and Hadrian novels.

Before Saladin Ahmed became an acclaimed writer for Marvel comics, writing such titles as Black Bolt, Miles Morales: Spider-Man, and The Magnificent Ms. Marvel, he penned a magnificent sword and sorcery novel called Throne of the Crescent Moon. Any fan of Midgard’s Southlands would find much to love in this tale of Doctor Adoulla Makhslood, “the last real ghul hunter in the great city of Dhamsawaat,” and his young assistant, Raseed bas Raseed, a fantastic fighter who is as inflexible in his rigorous interpretation of piety as his master is relaxed. Clearly written as a love letter to D&D—the characters are essentially an older cleric and a young paladin/monk—this novel will resonate with anyone traveling to Per-Bastet and parts beyond. Likewise, Howard Andrew Jones’s The Desert of Souls is full of Southlands inspiration. A sort of sword and sorcery meets Holmes and Watson in an 8th-century Baghdad menaced by an evil magician, it’s certainly of interest to Southlands fans.

Glen Cook‘s Chronicles of the Black Company series sits between sword and sorcery and epic fantasy. Inspired by Cook’s own experiences in Vietnam, the novels tell the story of a mercenary company who may not exactly be the good guys. Or at least they may not be working for the good guys. Clearly an inspiration behind the Crossroads Mercenary Companies (see page 65 of the Midgard Worldbook), they would be an aid to anyone planning a sojourn in the ranks, especially those of Midgard’s Black Brotherhood.

It should go without saying that Michael Moorcock’s Eternal Champion mega-series should be required reading for anyone interested in any aspect of fantasy. This is the man who coined the term multiverse as well as the writer who switched the dichotomy from good vs. evil to law vs. chaos. His books range from sword and sorcery to highbrow literary novels but always feature an ever-changing protagonist who is the same person born over and over again in different guises to fight either for Law or Chaos but ultimately in the service of the Cosmic Balance. It was my privilege to publish his Elric novella, “Red Pearls: An Elric Story,” in my anthology Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery (co-edited with Jonathan Strahan). In that tale, Elric actually sails a vessel over the edge of his flat world, discovering what lies on the other side—something every Midgard fan wonders about!

Naomi Novik’s fanciful take on Rumpelstiltskin, Spinning Silver, is about the daughter of a small-town moneylender whose talent for the family business draws the attention of a creature who can bring eternal winter. Uprooted, also by Novik, is about a wizard known as the Dragon who takes one teenage girl every ten years as payment for protecting the villagers from a magical wood. A magical wood? Like the Margreve perhaps?

And speaking of the Margreve, no one would be amiss to look at the Russian fables of Baba Yaga and Koschei the Deathless. Or the original Brothers Grimm. Add to this the Arabian Nights, Ottoman tales, and Wallachian vampire stories. Heading northward, the Norse sagas would be good inspiration for a Northlands campaign; though if you like, you could certainly make do with Neil Gaiman’s retelling, Norse Mythology, in which he reshapes the stories into the arc of a novel. Prior to this, Gaiman also penned the Norse-inspired Odd and the Frost Giants. It was billed as a children’s novel, though I dispute that label. But it’s certainly worth reading. As is George R.R. Martin’s The Ice Dragon (which isn’t a children’s book either, despite how it was packaged, in my humble opinion.)

As an example of actual children’s fiction, I’ll recommend The Adventurer’s Guild by Zack Loran Clark and Nick Eliopulos. Zack and Nick are huge D&D fans, and they make no secret of the enormous impact that the game has on their fiction. Set in a world in which a wizard accidentally opened a portal to a realm of unspeakable horrors (Wasted West anyone?), there are only a few cities left and everything else is overrun by nightmares straight out of, well, the Monster Manual. Humans hide behind heavily warded city walls, live in highly regimented societies, and only the members of the Adventurer’s Guild are allowed outside. I love this book and its sequel, think every RPG fan should read it, and only wonder why it’s not a movie already.

Now if I can talk about some of the books which I actually helped usher into the world, I’ll recommend the criminally underappreciated works of James Enge. Enge chronicles the long life of Morlock Ambrosius, greatest swordsman of the world, master of the twin arts of seeing and making, estranged son of Merlin, adopted son of a dwarf, exile from his homeland, a hunchback and an alcoholic. Morlock lives on a flat world in which the sun rises in the west and sets in the east, in which there are dwarves but no elves. The six novels are collected in two trilogies; Blood of Ambrose, This Crooked Way, The Wolf Age, and then a prequel trilogy of A Guile of Dragons, Wrath-Bearing Tree, and The Wide World’s End. They range in tone from hysterical to horrifying, from near young adult to what I would call sword and sorcery erotica. They feel like Elric meets Doctor Who with a touch of Arthurian romance. There is nothing quite like them.

K.V. Johansen’s Black Dog tells the story of a goddess in a land where every river, hill, and forest is alive with spirit. This goddess, unlike the others, incarnates as a young girl and lives a human life, over and over. Each time, she is born small and grows into her power. When an evil wizard comes to devour her during her vulnerable youth, slaughtering her priestesses, she is forced to go on the run with a ruffian from a foreign caravan. He introduces her to his companions as his illegitimate daughter, and she grows up on the spice roads. It’s a coming of age story featuring a deity that has a lot to offer fans of both the Southlands and the Rothenian Plain, told with the lushness of Tolkien but with more of an Eastern and Middle Eastern influence.

Jon Sprunk’s Shadow Saga (Shadow’s Son, Shadow’s Lure, Shadow’s Master) is about an assassin accompanied by an invisible girl that he believes to be an imaginary friend. She’s been with him since he was a baby, but when he grew up, he was very surprised to find that she would not fade away. She helps him by passing through walls and telling him what’s on the other side and warning him of danger and generally just being his edge. I won’t spoil what she is exactly, but I’ll say people who like the shadow roads and the shadow fey will certainly find plenty to love here.

Anyone planning a trip to Morgau wouldn’t be amiss to first read the Vampire Empire novels of Clay and Susan Griffith. Beginning with The Greyfriar, these books are pulp fiction meets horror meets paranormal romance meets steampunk. Imagine the Scarlett Pimpernel set loose to war with a kingdom of Nosferatu in a world of flying airships.

And finally, if I can be forgiven, if you still need recommendations, I’ll humbly suggest my own Thrones & Bones trilogy. The series starts off in a Norse-inspired corner of the world, but my protagonists cross two-thousand miles of territory across three books, visiting realms inspired by Switzerland, the last days of the Byzantine Empire, and a hybrid of classical and medieval Greece. Starring a boy who is essentially a young Viking board gamer and a half-human girl whose father is a frost giant, the books are middle grade novels but were written to appeal to fans of all ages and strongly reflect my own love of elaborate RPG campaign settings.

And that’s it. I hope you’ve enjoyed this Appendix M. Obviously, no list is complete, and this list is just one opinion (with a few kobold suggestions incorporated). Feel free to offer your own ideas and offerings in the comments below. And happy reading!

___

Lou Anders is the author of Frostborn, Nightborn, and Skyborn, the three books of the Thrones & Bones series of middle grade fantasy adventures, as well as the novel Star Wars: Pirate’s Price. You can find out more about him and his works at www.louanders.com and visit him on Facebook and on Twitter @LouAnders.

In this installment, we’ll talk about headings (or headers, the terms are interchangeable), which are used to separate content into smaller pieces and indicate what information each of those pieces contain.

The 5th Edition style guide says, “We expect headings to be used logically and consistently throughout a manuscript.” From my perspective as an editor, this means a few different things.

Use Headers Regularly. This one is pretty simple: if you have really long blocks of text that aren’t separated by headers, it will be hard for readers to find what they’re looking for. Using headers reasonably frequently helps GMs hone in on the information they need while running a game. Plus, avoiding a page-long wall of text simply makes the content more readable and approachable. Your sections will vary in length based on their content, but as a rule of thumb, if you have a chunk of more than 400 words without a header, consider splitting it up into smaller pieces or condensing it to be shorter.

Use Headers Intelligently. A header generally indicates what kind of information is imparted in the block of text under the header. If the header is “Daily Life in Zobeck,” then all of the content in that section should (you guessed it) be about daily life in Zobeck. Save the breakdown of the Undercity and the Collegium for other sections. Of course, if you want to discuss daily life for different kinds of Zobeckers, you might want to use subheadings, which brings us to the heading hierarchy.

Follow the Header Hierarchy. There are five different kinds of headings in this style, as well as formatting options like bulleted lists and sidebars, which we won’t get into for now. The five headings are:

• Chapter Title
• Heading 1
• Heading 2
• Heading 3
• Inline Subhead

Chapter titles are pretty self-explanatory: “Chapter 2: Races” is an example of a chapter title header. Note that, if you’re creating something short like a subclass, you don’t need a chapter title. Also, chapter titles always span the entire top of the page, meaning that they are formatted in a single column, unlike the rest of the document’s body text, which should be in a two-column format.

Chapter titles are followed by first-level headings (or heading 1 or H1, such as “Choosing a Race”), which are followed by second-level headings (or heading 2 or H2, such as “Racial Traits”), and then third-level headings (or heading 3 or H3, such as “Ability Score Increase”).

I think of headings like a series of nesting boxes: a chapter title box contains one or more H1 boxes, which can each contain one or more H2 boxes, and so on. The style guide specifies that you should “Use a heading for a structural reason, not an aesthetic one.” You don’t get to skip from an H1 to an H3 just because it looks nice; the H3 box must be inside an H2 box. The one exception is that the name of a spell at the top of a spell description is always an H3.

Inline subheadings are occasionally called fourth-level headings, but don’t be fooled; they don’t look like other headings, which appear above the body of the text. Inline subheadings are set in bold and italics and are followed by a period (also in bold and italics).

This Is an Inline Subheading. It probably looks familiar (especially since it appears earlier in this article). Inline subheadings are generally indented (see the “At Higher Levels.” subheadings in spell descriptions). If you’re writing for Adventurer’s League or an official product, each header option will have a specific style in the Microsoft Word styles pane. It’s important to use those styles rather than manually bolding and italicizing the text, since the styles persist when the document is transferred from text form in Word to layout in InDesign.

That’s it for the headings in official 5th Edition style. To understand more about how the breakdown in this article is used in practice, take a look at a physical copy of the books and an official adventure. When I’m writing, I often look at the books to make sure I’m following established conventions for headers. And note that the style conventions on D&D Beyond, particularly for headers, don’t always follow the same rules as the print books.

Comment below with any questions, and feel free to suggest topics for future posts in the Designing with Style series!

___

<<PREVIOUSLY

The Designing with Style series breaks down the official 5th Edition style guide to help designers create content that’s well written, polished, and precise. Understanding the style guide is the key to producing products that are both usable and professional.

Greetings, travelers! And welcome to Beyond the Audience where we provide tips and tricks for building an RPG show that is loved by both your players and the larger audience beyond your table.

This time, I want to focus on a specific narrative strategy that does wonders for both players and viewers: incorporating teams into your storytelling. What exactly does that mean?

Well let’s dive in!

In the fantasy genre at large, there is a common trope that goes a little like this: hero is a normal person until one day they show extraordinary abilities, they are then rescued by a wise figure, and this figure introduces the hero to a powerful group for training. With some variations, we’ve all encountered this sequence before and with good reason because it serves so many narrative functions. Incorporating a team or faction that your party belongs to opens a ton of doors to delight your audience. I’ll home in on three specific benefits here (though there are many others): access to a home base, a way to incorporate more characters, and branding potential.

People love having a home base. Time after time, I hear stories from players about how exciting receiving a house, a boat, a fortress, a tavern, and so on, was for their RPG group. If you build a faction into the world of your game, you instantly have a way to create a grounded location for your story. Whether your party works for a hero’s guild, a wizarding school, a police force, or any other type of group, that team requires a physical seat of power. But what is so helpful about having a home base? A home base is an excellent place to return to between large narrative arcs of your story. Both your players and your audience crave excitement and danger from your game, but there is no faster way to lose people’s attention than having high intensity all the time. People need lulls in the action, they need interludes to recharge their excitement for the next big thing you’re cooking up, and a home base is the perfect setting for these little breaks to occur. People also need those shopping episodes! Jokes fly around about shopping episodes in RPGs all the time, but again, it’s with good reason. A home base is an easy place to populate with items and resources your characters logically need to advance in power. Shopping episodes are a perfect way to engage your audience using some of the methods I discussed in my first article. The most important part of having a team home base, however, is giving your players (and your audience) a place to love. The world of your game is likely a scary place, full of conflict, so having an island of friendliness and order is vital to the morale of your consumers.

Having a place where “everybody knows your name” is hugely beneficial to the morale of your party, but it’s also an incredible way to introduce new characters to your story. If your characters are connected to an organization in-game, you suddenly have a huge network of possible NPCs at your disposal. A team can be filled with memorable co-workers, quirky quest givers, and adorable pets, the possibilities are endless. And since you already have the forged connection of “being on the same team,” you don’t have to reinvent the relationship wheel with every introduction. The ability to introduce new characters like this is incredibly useful for a podcast or stream that features guest players. I’ll touch on the topic of guest players in a later article, but having the freedom to introduce new characters via such a network is a life saver for plot continuity.

My final point about the benefit of building a “team” into the world of your show is probably the most important: branding. Creating a solid brand is important to the success of any product, including your show. If you have an organization in your game, you can create a logo to represent them, and in turn, that logo can represent your show in the real world. My favorite example of how powerful branding can be is looking at the sorting houses of the Harry Potter franchise. It’s been almost two decades since the first Harry Potter book was released, and we still all talk about which house we belong to. People still buy specific colored scarves, patches, notebooks, and other merch that declares which house “brand” we belong to. And why? Because we can all see ourselves in one of these groups. They feel personal and welcoming to us. You can capture that same feeling with your audience. There is a special power in displaying an enamel pin of a show logo you love; it automatically declares to those in the know that you are “also on their team.” This comradery is the foundation of successful fandoms.

Ultimately, building a team your characters belong to in the fiction of your show can be a hugely beneficial tool. If you want to check out more examples of shows that have done this with aplomb, take a look at the Acquisitions Incorporated franchise. The whole empire of Acquisitions Incorporated is based around belonging (or rather trying your best to belong) to a specific team. Another phenomenal example to look to is Rivals of Waterdeep, a show that binds a group together because of their opposition to several established “teams.” There are hundreds of examples in the genre, so get on out there, check out those fellowships, factions, and families, and until next time, happy gaming!

<<PREVIOUSLY

Tell us about a monster to win BOOKS!

RPG monsters are the greatest thing ever! (Fight me!)

For real, who doesn’t love monsters. They were literally the thing that drew me into RPGs, and there will never be enough of them. The My Monster flash monster contest is your chance to show off yours! And for this contest, we’re going into the dungeon…

Share a description (up to 60 words) of your monster with us, and a panel of judges will pick out four finalists to post on the Kobold Press website, and then we’ll ask the public to vote on the entry they think should win the grand prize! Your monster should be a dungeon denizen, and your entry should take the form of a monster entry’s descriptive text, such as this one for the bloody bones monster from the Creature Codex:

A long-limbed, pale humanoid with a skinless head and saucer‑shaped eyes stumbles forward. A steady drizzle of blood descends from its crown, painting its face, shoulders, and back a deep crimson.

No monster name, no mechanics, just the best descriptive flavor you can summon. Any type of creature is fine, but it must be at home in a dungeon. And the creature must be original because the winning monsters will become a part of Midgard, getting designed and illustrated by the Kobolds for the pages of Warlock in an issue next year devoted to Midgard’s mega-dungeon, the Scarlet Citadel! Winners will also receive a copy of that issue, and the Grand Prize winner will also win a copy of the Warlock Grimoire.

So pour your soul into that description, and make us simply have to pick yours because it’s a monster that is just screaming to be designed, that needs to be in everyone’s game. Show us what conflict our games are missing. But remember, no more than 60 words (which is about twice the average descriptive text in order to give you a little more freedom). NO MORE THAN 60 WORDS! Entries over that will be fed to the otyugh.

Full details in the rules below:

Prizes

Finalists: creature designed and illustrated, and the art + the Scarlet Citadel issue of Warlock (print)—total retail value approximately $65.

Grand prize: creature designed and illustrated, and the art + the Scarlet Citadel issue of Warlock (print) + Warlock Grimoire (print)—total retail value approximately $95.

Who Is Judging?

Our talented and experienced panel of judges are as follows: Wolfgang Baur, Marc Radle, and Clinton J. Boomer.

Now What?

Read the contest rules below—they include very important information about making an eligible submission.

OFFICIAL RULES

By submitting an entry to Kobold Press, you are entering the Kobold Press (the “Sponsor” or “Kobold Press”) My Monster Contest (the “Contest”).

As an entrant, you (“you” or “entrant”) represent and warrant that you meet the eligibility requirements set forth in these Official Rules and agree to be bound by these Official Rules and any other requirements designated by Sponsor. The Contest is governed by U.S. law and is subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations. If entrant is a minor in entrant’s place of residence, entrant’s parent or legal guardian must agree, on entrant’s behalf and on his or her own behalf, to follow and be bound by these Official Rules and all decisions of Sponsor relating to the Contest.

1. Who is Eligible: The Contest is open to anyone who is at least thirteen (13) years old at the time of entry. Employees of Kobold Press and each of their immediate family members (spouse, parents, siblings and children) and members of their same households (related or not) are not eligible to participate in the Contest. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW.

2. How to Enter: To enter, follow these instructions:

Send an email with your submission to the “My Monster” contest at scott(at)koboldpress(dot)com no later than October 16, 2019.

The submission must take the form of a single monster description not to exceed 60 words and taking the form a monster entry’s flavor text, embedded within the body of the email. On addition, include also a physical address in the email to which prizes should be sent in the eventuality that you win. One entry per person.

The email subject line should read My Monster Contest Submission in the email’s subject line. Your full name and contact information and the entry should be the only content of the email.

LIMIT ONE ENTRY PER PERSON. Multiple entries received in violation of this entry limitation, or false or deceptive acts or entries, or entries generated by script, macro or other automated means or by any other means that subvert the entry process will be void and will render an entrant ineligible. By entering the Contest, each entrant (and his/her parent or legal guardian) fully and unconditionally agrees to and accepts these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor. All entries become the property of Sponsor and will not be acknowledged or returned.

3. Dates and Deadlines: Eligible entries must be received no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on October 16, 2019. Sponsor’s computer is the official time-keeping device for the Contest.

4. Who Will Win: On or about October 23, 2019, four (4) finalists will be selected by the Sponsor from all eligible entries received. All decisions made by Sponsor on all matters relating to the Contest are final and binding. The finalists will be notified on or around October 23, 2019, via the email address provided by entrant at the time of entry. If a winner does not respond to the notification sent to the email address he or she provided after two (2) notifications have been sent by Sponsor, such winner will be disqualified and will forfeit the finalist position. In such event, the finalist position will be awarded to another eligible entrant chosen from the remaining pool of entries in accordance with the terms set forth herein. Finalist prizes will be fulfilled approximately one (1) month after the conclusion of the Contest. The finalists will be announced on the Kobold Press website, and then the voting public will choose an entry from among these four (4) to be the sole winner of the contest’s grand prize. Voting for the grand prize winner will close on or around October 30, 2019, and announced on Halloween.

5. Prize Information and Approximate Retail Value: Four (4) finalists will be awarded a prize pack consisting of the following:

• Finalists:creature designed and illustrated, and the art + the Scarlet Citadel issue of Warlock (print)—total retail value approximately $65.

One grand prize winner will be awarded a prize pack consisting of the following:

• Grand prize: creature designed and illustrated, and the art + the Scarlet Citadel issue of Warlock (print) + Warlock Grimoire (print)—total retail value approximately $95.

If winner (finalist or grand prize) is a minor in his/her place of residence, the prize will be awarded to winner’s parent/legal guardian. Each winner (his/her parent or legal guardian in the case of a prize awarded to such parent or guardian) must provide his/her mailing address to Sponsor and must execute and return an affidavit of eligibility, a liability release/publicity release (except where prohibited) and any other legal documents that Sponsor may require, within five (5) business days from notification in order to receive the prize, which will be provided by Sponsor to the address provided. Prizes are not transferable, assignable, or redeemable for cash. Sponsor, in its sole discretion, may substitute a prize of equal or greater value than the prize identified herein. If any winner or winner’s parent/legal guardian either fails to timely provide his/her mailing address or declines a prize or fails to comply with any of the Official Rules as outlined herein, or if any prize is returned as undeliverable, such winner will be disqualified and an alternate finalist or winner may be selected at Sponsor’s sole discretion. Winners (winner’s parent or guardian in the case of a prize awarded to such parent or guardian) are solely responsible for paying all applicable federal, state and local taxes, and all other expenses associated with any prize.

6. Disqualification: Failure to comply with these Official Rules will result in disqualification. Further, an entrant’s entry will be disqualified, at the sole discretion of Sponsor, if he or she attempts (a) to enter the Contest through any means other than described in these Official Rules; or (b) to disrupt the Contest, circumvent the terms and conditions of these Official Rules, or in any way tampers with any component of the Contest. If any of the above occurs, Sponsor has the right to remedy any such action, disruption, or circumvention, and to seek damages from the participant to the fullest extent permitted by law.

7. Limitations of Liability: Sponsor and its agencies are not responsible for any claims, damages, lawsuits, causes of action, proceedings, or liability due to any injuries, theft, damages, expenses, costs, or losses to any person (including death) or property of any kind resulting from, arising from, or in connection with: (i) any error, typographical or otherwise, in the printing of the Official Rules, offering or announcement of any prize; (ii) any lost, late, stolen, misdirected, damaged, incomplete or garbled entries; (iii) any error in the collection or retention of entry information, including but not limited to incorrect or inaccurate transcription, receipt or transmission of any part of the entry due to human error; (iv) any wrongful, negligent, or unauthorized act or omission on the part of the Sponsor or its agencies or any of their agents or employees; (v) the Contest and any elements thereof, and the participation or inability to participate in the Contest, including, but not limited to, any damage to an entrant’s (or any third person’s) telephone system and/or its contents or computer equipment and/or its contents or smartphone device and/or its contents, related to or resulting from any part of the Contest; (vi) any malfunction of the telephone system or internet servers, whether technical or due to human error, lost/delayed data transmission, omissions, interruptions, deletion, defect, line failures, postponement, cancellation, or modification of the Contest, including, but not limited to, interruption or inability to access the Contest due to hardware or software compatibility problems of any telephone network (TSP), computer online systems (ISP), servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the internet or at any website or any combination thereof, including injury or damage to entrant’s or to any other person’s telephone or computer or smartphone system related to or resulting from participating; (vii) acceptance, receipt, possession, attendance at, travel related to, defects in, misuse, inability to use, or use of any prize element contained in any prize including, but not limited to, lost, stolen, damaged, delayed, or misdirected or destroyed prize (or any element thereof); or (viii) any change in the prizing (or any components thereof) due to unavailability due to reasons beyond Sponsor’s control, including, but not limited to, by reason of any acts of God, any action(s), regulation(s), order(s) or request(s) by any governmental or quasi-governmental entity (whether or not such action(s), regulation(s), order(s) or request(s) prove(s) to be invalid), equipment failure including, but not limited to, overloading of the Contest site due to excessive use, threatened or actual terrorist acts, air raid(s), blackout(s), act(s) of public enemy, earthquake, war (declared or undeclared), fire, flood, epidemic(s), explosion, unusually severe weather, hurricane, embargo, labor dispute or strike (whether legal or illegal), labor or material shortage, transportation interruption of any kind, work slow-down, civil disturbance, insurrection, riot, or any other cause beyond the Sponsor’s sole and reasonable control. In the event of sabotage, acts of God, terrorism, computer virus, worm, bug or other events or causes which corrupt the integrity, administration, security or proper operation of the Contest, Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest. In the event of termination, Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to award the prizes from among all non-suspect eligible entries received up to the time of such action. In no event will more than six (6) prizes be awarded.

8. Liability Release: By participating in the Contest, each entrant and entrant’s parent/legal guardian agrees to forever and irrevocably release, discharge, indemnify, and hold the Sponsor and each of their employees, affiliates, and all prize suppliers, harmless from any and all liability, losses, damages, rights, claims, and actions of any kind in connection with the Contest, or resulting from acceptance, possession, use or misuse of any prize, including, without limitation, personal injuries, death and property damage, and claims based on publicity rights, defamation, or invasion of privacy, whether suffered by entrant or a third party. By entering the Contest, each entrant and entrant’s parent/legal guardian agrees to abide by and accept as final the judges’ decisions and waives any right to appeal.

9. Publicity Release: By accepting a prize, each winner and winner’s parent/legal guardian grants Sponsor permission to use, except where prohibited by law, winner’s name (including online screen name, if applicable), and likeness, and address (city and state only), for Sponsor’s advertising and promotional purposes in all forms of media, throughout the world in perpetuity, without notice or additional compensation.

10. Information Disclosure: The information you submit in the Contest is disclosed to Kobold Press at PO Box 2811, Kirkland, WA 98083.

11. Sponsor: This Contest is sponsored by Kobold Press, PO Box 2811, Kirkland, WA 98083.

Two hundred years of war between the Mharoti Empire and Great Khandaria destroyed the fair country of Sindhu. Rivers of blood spilled from the clash of armies, titanic detonations of alchemical munitions, and arcane corruption from all manner of spells transformed this once fertile land into the Red Wastes. Yet among the hastily buried corpses, shattered skeletons of siege engines, and forgotten encampments, great plunder and lost arcana await the bold or foolish.

Alchemical Geyser

1st-level evocation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 120 feet
Components: V, S, M (a dilution of alchemist’s fire in a vial)
Duration: Instantaneous

With a tremendous explosion, a fountain of alchemist’s fire erupts from a chosen point within range. Every creature in a 10-foot radius centered on that point must make a Dexterity saving throw. A target takes 1d4 fire damage on a failed save and half as much on a successful one.

A creature who fails its saving throw takes an additional 1d4 fire damage at the start of each of its turns. A creature can end the ongoing fire damage by using its action to make a DC 10 Dexterity check to extinguish the flames.

At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, you create one additional geyser for each slot level above 1st. Overlapping damage from different geysers do not stack.

Blessings of the Animal Lords

2nd-level transmutation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (a pinch of fur and feathers tied with silk cord)
Duration: 8 hours or until dispelled or triggered

Channeling the power of the Animal Lords, you trace a glyph onto a willing creature that bestows a specific blessing. When you cast this spell, you choose which Animal Lord symbol the target creature receives. The symbol is nearly invisible and requires a successful Intelligence (Investigation) check against your spell save DC to be found.

The target of your spell can activate the glyph as an action or reaction depending on the type of Animal Lord chosen. A creature can possess only one glyph on its body at a time. When 8 hours have passed or when a glyph is triggered, the spell immediately ends.

• Bat King: Keen Hearing [Action]. You gain advantage on your next Wisdom (Perception) check that relies on hearing
• Brother Ox: Deflect Missile [Reaction]. When struck by a ranged weapon attack, you can reduce the damage by 1d10 + your spellcasting ability modifier + your proficiency bonus.
• Lord of Vultures: Winged Reposition [Action]. On your next movement, you can fly up to 60 feet without provoking opportunity attacks
• Monkey King: Drunken Dodge [Reaction]. When you are struck by a melee weapon attack, you gain resistance against that type of attack until your next turn.
• Mouse King: Keen Sight [Action]. You gain advantage on your next Wisdom (Perception) check that relies on sight
• Queen of Birds: Parry [Reaction]. You can add 5 to your AC against one melee weapon attack that would hit you, provided that you can see the attacker and you are wielding a melee weapon.
• Queen of Cats: Agile Leap [Action]. On your next movement, you can move up to your speed, jumping or climbing over obstacles, and ignore extra movement from difficult terrain.
• Queen of Serpents: Ophidian Fortitude [Reaction]. You gain advantage on your next saving throw against poison.

At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, you can inscribe another glyph on a different willing creature for each slot level above 3rd.

Burning Cyclone

4th-level evocation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 120 feet
Components: V, S, M (a small piece of red dragon scale)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

Invoking the draconic mastery over fire and the sky, a whirling cyclone of wind and flame covering a 10-foot cube erupts at a chosen point within range. Each creature in the area must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 5d8 fire damage or half as much on a successful one.

A creature takes the same damage when it enters the cyclone for the first time on a turn or if it ends its turn there.

Upon casting the spell and at the beginning of its turn, each creature adjacent to the 10-foot cube must make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, the high winds of the vortex pull the creature 5 feet toward the center of the cyclone.

At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, you can create one additional cyclone for each slot level above 4th. Damage from overlapping cyclones do not stack.

Caustic Sphere

2nd-Level conjuration
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 120 feet
Components: V, S, M (a pinch of powdered alum, niter, and sulfate)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

A glowing green orb flashes from your hand to a chosen point within range for the duration. When the spell ends, either because your concentration is broken or because you decide to end it, the orb ruptures into a cloud of acid. Each creature in a 10-foot-radius sphere centered on that point must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 2d6 acid damage on a failed save or half as much on a successful one.

If at the end of your turn the orb has not yet ruptured, the damage increases by 1d6 (maximum 1d6 per caster level).

If a creature enters a square adjacent to the greenish orb or touches it, the creature must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the spell ends immediately, causing that orb to rupture.

On a successful save, the creature can pick up and throw the orb up to 40 feet. When it strikes a creature or a solid object, that orb ruptures.

At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, you create one additional orb for each slot level above 2nd. You can choose to trigger individual orbs to rupture.

Expeditious Attack

3rd-level enchantment
Casting Time: 1 reaction which you take when an ally within range makes a successful attack
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: Instantaneous

When you witness an ally’s successful attack, you can use a reaction to give that ally an immediate bonus attack with a −2 penalty to the attack roll.

At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the target ally gains another bonus attack for each slot level above 3rd. However, each bonus attack after the first adds a cumulative −1 to the attack roll penalty (that is, −3 for 2nd bonus attack, −4 for 3rd, −5 for 4th, and so on)…

___

Read more of this and other great articles in Warlock, only on Patreon!

The Seven Cities both revel in and depend on war. Customs and laws limit their wars’ gross destruction, provide a season for it, make it a source of status for their generals and nobles that glorifies their power and right to rule, and—not least of all—make war a source of valuable plunder and tribute from weaker states.

Fighting a war correctly requires obeying its limits and forms. The practices and rituals governing war in the Septime lands and the free companies operating there include the mustering of soldiers, the blessings of a company, the taking of plunder, the ransoming of hostages, and the limits of the season.

None of these understood rules and customs matter one bit to the Mharoti of Rumela. The draconic legions fight to win and do not feel bound to any Septime notions of law or propriety.

Mustering and Blessing a Free Company

The free companies gather in the month of Springmelt, or at latest in Sowing. Dwarven companies in the Ironcrags muster early to march south as mercenaries, while minotaurs from the south wait until the muddiest roads are clear for marching. Those bound for Friula, Triolo, and Trombei assemble in the Canton of Melana. Companies serving in Capleon, Kammae, and Valera gather outside the walls of Valera, near the Fist of Mavros, an auspicious place.

A free company might include as few as a dozen men, women, dwarves, and minotaurs, with a small train of horses and supplies for a fast-moving scout company, or it might number scores or hundreds. Typically, individual sell-swords negotiate membership in established or newly forming companies rather than directly with employers, but a rare few specialists can make a living as lone soldiers. A company offers its services for the season, defined as the first day of Sowing or after the Rites of Spring, depending on weather and pay. The season ends with the Harvest. Attacks after that date are described as pure banditry by the faithful of Mavros.

A score of soldiers cannot declare themselves a company and entertain employers, however. A legitimate company must create articles declaring its name, rules, captain (sometimes chosen by the members, sometimes a noble, professional mercenary, or patron), the division of spoils among its members, the cause they fight for, and the length of their service. All members must sign this contract. Those who don’t sign on in the spring receive only half shares.

With their articles in place, most companies choose a priest of Mavros to bless their venture, though those from Kammae petition Hecate for blessings, and the dwarven companies ask for the aid of Perun, Volund, or even Loki. The company wears a badge or insignia so its members can identify themselves, something as simple as their captain’s banner or heraldic device.

Captains of the various companies can gain status and wealth, but they also make themselves targets for capture, assassination, bribery, and enchantment. When a captain dies or otherwise cannot command in battle, a designated lieutenant or sergeant takes over, but in many companies, a single strong leader both ensures the company’s effective operation and holds the whole group together. Opposing forces know this. After their first season, few mercenaries question why free company captains earn 20 shares rather than one.

Triolo, Capleon, and Trombei establish sea companies along similar lines to land-based ones and offer comparable commissions. Sometimes the city owns the ships involved, with the company rounding out the crew or marines, and sometimes successful captains or merchants bring their own vessels. Otherwise, the principles are the same.

Pillaging, Plunder, and Ransoming Hostages

Unlike the mad warriors of the Rothenian Plain or the brutal savages of the Goblin Wastes, Seven Cities armies rarely kill civilians or prisoners.

Most don’t even hold the latter for long, depending on how quickly they can secure a ransom or parole. Generals offer an honorable surrender to cities before besieging them. Everyone honors those traditions that compel both sides to refrain from violence, and the payment of tribute can secure a treaty. The purpose of war, after all, lies in the advantages it wins and not the fighting, and if clever words and intimidation can carry the day, the glory remains.

The Septime states follow rules of warfare, though justice isn’t one of them. Brutality and atrocities happen frequently, prisoners are sometimes murdered to make a point (though the practice is usually limited to those who fail to surrender or who practice partisan tactics or attack villagers or other noncombatants), and war unavoidably means violence and death. The Seven Cities pretend to a little chivalry, but their commanders are pragmatic, and they rarely show mercy when a foe stubbornly resists or has little ransom value.

Warfare is civilized because it is a matter of status as much as a matter of conquest. The point is to please Mavros, to move a border, and to grow rich. Wiping out a neighboring city defeats the whole point, so surrender does not mean extinction. However, every loss is a humiliation, and perhaps the end of a dynasty and the start of onerous tribute. Capturing a foe and extorting money from their city is better business than killing one more enemy soldier.

As part of the code of war, victorious commanders offer to ransom captured officers and nobles back to their family, city, or feudal lord. The price prisoners bring goes to the captain of the company that caught them, divided up like any other spoils of war. Typical costs for ransoming a powerful or notable personage run to 100 gp per point of Status (see page 25) and 1,000 gp per point over 20.

Campaigning Season

The season begins once the mustering and signing of articles wraps up. The early stages involve gathering supplies and marching many miles to a border. A declaration of war officially opens hostilities, followed by crossing the border and settling down to one of four activities: a small raid, a great raid (cavalcade or chevauchee), a siege of a town or castle, or a formal battle…

It’s October, and magic is filling the land! So here’s a haunting set of wallpapers for your computer, your smartphone, or whatever electronic device you’ve got. This month, we’ve got a piece from Deep Magic for 5E (awaiting you now at Kickstarter), by Marcel Mercado.

Let’s fire up those pumpkins, adventurers!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Please, click on the image you want to download to expand it into a downloadable image.

The Expanding Codex series fleshes out monsters from the Creature Codex, giving GMs ways to modify the existing monsters to surprise well-prepared players or to introduce monsters to a campaign.

Alternate Traits and Actions

The following changes allow GMs to alter a swolbold without modifying its challenge rating:

Audience-Driven Overconfidence. The swolbold has advantage on attack rolls against a creature if at least one of the swolbold’s allies is within view of the swolbold and the ally isn’t incapacitated. After its turn, and until a creature successfully hits the swolbold with a weapon attack or the beginning of its next turn, whichever comes first, creatures attacking the swolbold make weapon attacks with advantage.

The swolbold loses its Pack Tactics trait.

Bulk Out (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). As a bonus action, a swolbold can increase in size for 1 minute. While the swolbold is larger, its slam attack deals an extra 1d4 damage, the escape DC for its grapple and the Strength saving throw DC for its Crush action increase by 2, and it has advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws. For the duration, its AC is reduced by 2, and it has disadvantage on Dexterity checks and Dexterity saving throws.

The swolbold loses its Leaping Attack trait.

Stranglehold. One creature grappled by the swolbold must make a DC 14 Strength saving throw, gaining one level of exhaustion on a failed save. At level 6, the creature becomes unconscious rather than dead. If the creature suffers another effect that causes exhaustion while it is suffering level 6 exhaustion from this action, the creature dies.

The swolbold loses its Crush action.

New Feat

The following feat is inspired by abilities possessed by a swolbold:

Crusher

Prerequisite: Strength 15 or higher

You’ve learned how to crush the bones of foes you grapple, gaining the following benefits:

• Increase your Strength score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• Your unarmed strike uses a d4 for damage.
• You can use your action to force a creature grappled by you to make a Strength saving throw. The saving throw DC equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier. On a failed save, you deal bludgeoning damage to the creature equal to twice the damage dealt by your unarmed strike.

New Magic Items and Spells

The following magic item and spell are inspired by abilities possessed by a swolbold:

Swolbold Wraps

Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)

When wearing these cloth wraps, your forearms and hands swell to half again their normal size without negatively impacting your fine motor skills. The wraps allow you to use an action to attack a target with a slam that deals bludgeoning damage, with a +1 bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls and a damage die of 1d4.

If you successfully hit a target with the slam attack granted by the wraps and the target is no more than one size larger than you, you can use a bonus action to automatically grapple the target. Once you have used this bonus action three times, the bonus action can’t be used again until the next dawn.

Mindless Vengeance

1st-level transmutation (sorcerer, warlock, wizard)
Casting Time: 1 reaction, which you take when you take damage from a melee weapon attack
Range: Self
Components: V, S, M (a scale from a swolbold)
Duration: 1 round

You gain physical prowess in response to an attack at the cost of your mental faculties. Upon casting this spell, you drop whatever item you were holding in your primary hand. You can attack with an unarmed strike against the creature that damaged you with the instigating melee weapon attack (if it is in range) as part of the casting of this spell.

For the spell’s duration, your unarmed strike uses 2d4 for damage. When attacking with an unarmed strike, you double your proficiency bonus on your attack roll and add your proficiency bonus on your damage roll.

Conversely, for the spell’s duration, you cannot cast spells, and you have disadvantage on Intelligence checks and Intelligence saving throws.

Swolbold Adventure Hooks

• A swolbold enters a bar and challenges all patrons to unarmed combat. He offers 200 gp to anyone who can best him. In truth, the swolbold and others like him are locating competent fighters their kobold kin should incapacitate before an imminent kobold attack.
• A group of swolbolds wish to turn away from their bestial impulses and seek a more contemplative path. They have identified a monastery where they can theoretically study in peace and require an escort to reach the mountaintop location.

This installment of Expanding Codex came from a suggestion on Facebook. (Thank you, Tylor!) If you have any requests for monsters from the Creature Codex for future installments, please let me know in the comments or elsewhere in the Kobold warrens, and I’ll make sure to add them to the queue.

<<PREVIOUSLY

Intelligent creatures have used beasts and birds as implements of war since the concept of warfare was invented. Easy to train animals are used as mounts, messengers, weapons, and sometimes even siege engines if the creature is large enough. Appendix A of the Monster Manual contains statistics for numerous beasts that one might find on a battlefield. The beasts on the following pages are trained to thrive in a warzone. Many of them can be used by the animal trainer ranger archetype’s Train Animal feature detailed earlier in this book.

Training a Beast for Battle

You can use Wisdom (Animal Handling) to train a beast with an Intelligence of 2 or 3. Doing so requires the beast you desire to train and one week of training per point of challenge rating (minimum one week). During training weeks, six to eight hours per day must be spent with the animal being trained. The DC of the Wisdom (Animal Handling) check varies depending on the purpose you are training the beast for, but training a juvenile animal that has been separated from its parents gives you advantage on the check.

Basic Combat Training (Training DC 10). An animal with this training does not get spooked or flee when they are in an area of conflict. The animal knows which humanoids are friendly to it and which ones aren’t, even in a pitched battle. The animal will take commands from up to two humanoids. These designated humanoids can command the animal to Attack, Defend, Disengage, or Help by using an action to make a DC 10 Wisdom (Animal Handling) check.

Advanced Combat Training (Training DC 15). An animal with advanced combat training gains all the benefits of basic combat training, plus it will take commands from up to four humanoids rather than just two. In addition to the commands learned in basic combat training, the designated humanoids can command the animal to Dash, Dodge, Hide, Ready, or Use an Object. The Use an Object command can be used to deliver an object to another character or fetch it from a willing character or the environment. If possible, the animal remains on the field of battle until all of the humanoids friendly to it have left the area.

Deliver Message (Training DC 15). This animal can deliver a written message that has been attached to it to one of up to four specific locations, humanoids, or both, in any combination. One of the locations or humanoids must be designated as the messenger animal’s home. For example, a messenger falcon can be trained to deliver messages to its trainer (designated as the animal’s home), its trainer’s spouse, a tower in its trainer’s home city, and a garrison 150 miles away from its trainer’s home city. Once the message is delivered, the messenger animal will take a long rest before returning to its home. An animal in basic or advanced combat training can be trained to deliver messages as part of that training. Doing so increases the total DC of training the animal by 5.

Mount (Training DC 10). This animal has been trained to allow a humanoid of up to one size smaller than it to ride it and direct its movements. An animal in basic or advanced combat training can be trained as a mount as part of that training. Doing so increases the total DC of training the animal by 1.

Scout Area (Training DC 12). This animal has been trained to scout ahead and report back to its sender. The beast will maintain a range of 50–100 feet from its sender in a direction designated by the sender. The animal will then return to its sender to quietly report if it detects any dangers in the area scouted. If the animal is attacked, it returns to its sender immediately. An animal in basic or advanced combat training can be trained to scout an area as part of that training. Doing so increases the total DC of training the animal by 3.

War Animals

The following creatures can all be trained for war.

CAVALRY CAMEL

Large beast, unaligned
Armor Class 12 (light barding)
Hit Points 37 (5d10 + 10)
Speed 40 ft.

Senses passive Perception 9
Languages —
Challenge 1/2 (100 XP)

ACTIONS

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) bludgeoning damage.

Spit (Recharge 5–6). The cavalry camel spits a nauseating wad of phlegm at a single target within 15 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or be blinded until the end of its next turn.

In the deserts of the Southlands, a cavalry camel is worth its weight in exotic spices. Aggressive to others but loyal to their masters, these combat-trained beasts are as much a weapon as a mount and will fight to the death to protect their riders if they are dismounted. Cavalry camels are usually single-humped dromedaries, though double-humped camels are not unknown on the battlefields of the South.

MEGARAPTOR

Huge beast, unaligned
Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 127 (15d12 + 30)
Speed 60 ft.

Senses passive Perception 10
Languages —
Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)

ACTIONS

Multiattack. The megaraptor makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its scythe claw.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) piercing damage.

Scythe Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (3d10 + 5) slashing damage.

Prehistoric titans still walk the hidden jungle reaches of the Southlands. Despite being almost thirty feet in length, megaraptors are speedy, agile, and relatively light, weighing only 1 ton. Unlike other raptors, with their sickle-clawed feet, megaraptors have a footlong scythe claw on their forelimb that they use to dispatch their prey. Some Southlands tribes know the secret of raising and training megaraptors and use them as mounts and beasts of war…

Constant vigilance is life’s price within occupied Krakovar. Here, even wildlife is suspect, any bird or rabbit a potential spy for the vampiric conquerors of this once sovereign principality. And her lean, northern daylight hours are no guarantee against the predatory aristocracy controlling this dismal, fog-drenched region.

Encounter 1: Through the Neck

Recommended Levels: 11–13

PCs currently follow one of the clandestine trade routes, surreptitiously blazed across northern Krakovar by powerful salt interests in Salzbach, Steinhafen, and Jozht. Nicknamed the “Neck,” this 44-mile salt-run stretches from Dornig’s northern frontier to Jozht and cuts a fragmented trail of backroads, footpaths, and smuggler’s hideouts.

Perhaps adventurers are scouting out new waypoints and safehouses in vampire territory, mapping out the latest overland salt-run to the Wolfmark. Or do they courier shipment schedules or drop-point information from arms dealers in Hirschberg or Tomierau to Krakovar resistance fighters? In any case, PCs find themselves warily traversing damp, rolling moorlands, following the hilly glacial moraine marking the Siarka Swamp’s northwestern fringe.

PCs may (justifiably) grow preoccupied with evening’s approach and closing proximity to more populous, militarized zones. As characters descend into yet another fog-damp gulley, allow DC 17 Wisdom (Survival) checks to detect recent activity. Successful PCs can’t be surprised when an instant later the ground erupts around them. Violent explosions of wet turf and gravel burst upward, each ejecting a howling, snarling confusion of muddy steel, claws, and bristling fur.

Characters must succeed at DC 17 Dexterity (Acrobatics)—or if mounted, Wisdom (Animal Handling) checks—to avoid 8 (1d10 + 3) bludgeoning damage and being knocked prone (dismounted).

Steadying yourself, you squint through the dwindling hail of peat and gravel to make out your attackers. Dwarves. Dwarves on giant badgers? You hear battle cries: “Burn in Baldur’s light!” and “Parasites, Ninkash rebukes thee!” Suddenly facing an onslaught of pony-sized predators and their wild-eyed, mud-smeared riders, you brace for impact of spear and fang.

You are instead splattered with thick, dark beer.

As combat initiates, allow DC 15 Intelligence (Religion) checks to recognize the clerical—“holy-water”—beer splashing and dwarven attempts to “turn” PCs.

Developments. The ambushers are four Ironcrag war-badgers (see Warlock #12)—each carrying two dwarf riders—and four dwarf mercenaries (use wolf reaver dwarf, see Tome of Beasts), two clerics of the brew, and two graveslayer dwarves (see Creature Codex).

The dwarf clerics and graveslayers utilize round one for beer splashing and turn undead attempts against PCs; others attack normally. During round 3 (GM’s discretion), passed-out dwarf lookouts—two dwarven ringmages (see Tome of Beasts)—are roused. If any dwarves or badgers are slain, they attack, spellcasting from above. Otherwise, they wade into combat, hoping to intervene and establish order.

PCs can attempt to cease hostilities during round 2 with three successful DC 16 Charisma (Persuasion) checks made by PCs (collectively) in a single round. If dwarf PCs are present or if the ring-mages have (benevolently) arrived, these rolls have advantage. If calmer heads prevail, see Encounter 2: Developments (paragraph three).

Encounter 2: Honey, I’m…

Combat or no, fate intervenes. An unsettling sound is heard and then another, yelping howls, approaching fast. Suddenly, two bearfolk crest the nearby hillock at a run. Brandishing weapons, whooping, and roaring dwarven profanities, they charge the PCs!

You see the towering bulk of one and then two heavily armed bearfolk cresting the rise, roaring and waving weapons while charging downhill at you. Drawing nearer, you see mixed expressions of bestial rage and concern. Then you spot them, the flying shapes: dark, apple-sized spheroids, darting at and around the bearfolk, pursuing them relentlessly. You see more flying over the hilltop and then more, scores of them swarming in vengeful pursuit.

Developments. The first “bees” reach PCs and dwarves well ahead of the charging bearfolk. A DC 15 Intelligence (Nature) check identifies them as giant bumble bees, dubbed “Tomierran bumbledogs” by the dwarves of the Wolfmark for their aggressive “doggedness.” Use eight greater death butterfly swarms (see Tome of Beasts) in three waves: two swarms arrive one round before the bearfolk reach PCs, three arrive with the bearfolk, and three arrive two rounds after.

If hostilities persist, the arrival of this common foe should unite the parties. If after ten rounds the bumbledog swarms aren’t driven off, cooling temperatures and fading daylight disperse them. Once things calm, parlay is possible. Give PCs and NPCs a moment to breathe, make apologies and introductions and learn the following:

The blood-and-honey-grimed bearfolk are Gunvldyr (use war priest, Creature Codex) and her hulking brother Adelbert, a bearfolk chieftain (see Creature Codex). The ursine siblings are Bjornrike huscarls and leaders of this ragtag mercenary company, a mix of dwarven reavers, cantonal mercenaries, and professional adventurers. They’re currently under hire to “special military interests” in Johzt and tasked with (volunteered for) ambushing a particular Morgau envoy.

With their company positioned and dug in before mid-morning, the bearfolk took time to double-back, to investigate promising “bee-sign” passed by earlier. They unwisely left the boisterous company alone with two clerics of the brew and roughly 12 hours to kill.

Buried for hours, bored, anxious, and with no message from “topside” indicating friend-or-foe, the now-more-than-half-drunk ambush team, relying on badger tremorsense, sprung their trap.

The instant the teller ends the tale, a red-fletched crossbow bolt neatly pierces her throat.

Encounter 3: Cattle Drive

You turn to see four ebon-clad knights on silent, skeletal warhorses charging from the mists, two lower lances.

The heroes are engaged by two (shroud-eater) vampiric knights (see Creature Codex), preceded by two ghost knights (see Tome of Beasts).

Developments. Sometime during round 2 (GM’s discretion), a second party crests the fog-shrouded hilltop. The envoy that the bearfolk’s band lay in wait for has arrived. The voyra (baronet) Masha Spahn and her escort Radomir are two (shroud-eater) vampire patricians (see Creature Codex) riding shadhavar (see Tome of Beasts). Masha Spahn gains the variant vampire warlock’s (see Tome of Beasts) Innate Spellcasting ability.

Clinking behind them, a chain-line of collared and shackled dwarves stumble. The cattle drive’s whipmaster is the prisoners’ former-commander-turned-(corrupted) dwarf graveslayer, their battlefield betrayer. The bearfolk company’s eagerness for this assignment now becomes plain.

Radomir and the corrupted graveslayer attack. Masha remains with her “livestock,” spellcasting from range while evocatively proffering all manner of political, material, and vampiric enticements to PCs. Once two vampires fall, Masha flees west toward Heiderbirg.

The fate of heroes vanquished by Masha Spahn’s entourage is too gruesome to detail here and is left to GM creativity.

PCs overcoming the undead entourage (or joining them) will find themselves with new allies, enemies, and options. What of Gunvldyr’s (or Masha’s) invitation to join forces? What about PC’s prior commitments, and what was so important about those bees that bearfolk would potentially compromise a mission? And lest anyone forget, it’s now well past sunset, and they’re thirty miles deep into vampire country and accompanied by thirteen half-starved POWs.

___

Encounters have consequences. Every slain bandit has friends who will want revenge, and every devil banished back to the Eleven Hells reports its failure to its dark lord. What happens when the PCs’ daring deeds come back to bite them?

These encounter chains are more than just random conflicts. Each event flows organically into the next, sometimes without giving PCs the chance to catch their collective breath. Each link in the chain subsequently ups the stakes and the complexities of an encounter, thereby giving characters a sense of… out of the frying pan, into the fire!

<<PREVIOUSLY

A curious bunny, an abandoned infant, or a delicate songbird can spell slow and agonizing death for the unprepared. Beneath any of these facades may lurk a treacle waiting to feed on a gullible victim, mewling and cooing all the while. Whether by natural selection or arcane tampering, these compact oozes prey on kindness.

Diet of Blood. Treacles feed on blood but lack the natural weapons or acid of larger slimes. To survive, prey must welcome and embrace them, unaware of the threat. The treacles’ soft bodies absorb psychic impressions and take the shape of unthreatening creatures. In the wild, treacles assume the form of an animal’s offspring to lie close for several hours.

Pet Polymorph. Among humanoids, treacles transform into pets, infants, or injured animals. In the most horrific cases, these oozes resemble children’s toys. Treacles don’t choose their forms consciously, but instead rely on a primitive form of telepathy to sense which shapes a potential victim finds least threatening or most enticing. They can hold a new shape for several hours, even if the intended victim is no longer present.

Slow Drain. Once they have assumed a nonthreatening form, treacles mewl, sing, or make pitiful noises to attract attention. Once they’re in contact with a potential victim, treacles drain blood slowly, ideally while their prey sleeps or is paralyzed. If threatened or injured, treacles flee. A sated treacle detaches from its victim host and seeks a cool, dark place to rest and digest. With enough food and safety, a treacle divides into two fully-grown oozes. Rarely, a mutation prevents this division, so that the sterile treacle instead grows in size. The largest can mimic human children and the elderly.

Treacles are small, weighing less than six lb. Their natural forms are pale and iridescent, like oil on fresh milk, but they’re seldom seen this way.

TREACLE

Tiny ooze, unaligned
Armor Class 13 (natural armor)
Hit Points 22 (4d4 + 12)
Speed 15 ft., climb 10 ft.

Skills Deception +4
Senses blindsight 60 ft., passive Perception 5
Languages —
Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)

Amorphous. The treacle can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing.

Charming Presence. The treacle has an uncanny ability to sense and to play off of another creature’s emotions. It uses Charisma (Deception) to oppose Wisdom (Insight or Perception) skill checks made to see through its ruse, and it has advantage on its check.

ACTIONS

Reshape. The treacle assumes the shape of any tiny creature or object. A reshaped treacle gains the movement of its new form but no other special qualities.

Blood Drain (1/Hour). A treacle touching the skin of a warm‑blooded creature inflicts 4 (1d8) necrotic damage per hour of contact, and the victim’s maximum hit points are reduced by the same number. Blood is drained so slowly that the victim doesn’t notice the damage unless he or she breaks contact with the treacle (sets it down or hands it to someone else, for example). When contact is broken, the victim notices blood on his or her skin or clothes with a successful DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check.

___

<<PREVIOUSLY

But this is where we must stop for now, my friend. My mind, it wanders so at times. Do come see me again, though, for more of the wonders and surprises of Midgard. (OGL)

This creature comes from the Tome of Beasts. You can continue on this adventure in the Midgard Worldbook, Midgard Heroes Handbook, Creature Codex, and Creature Codex Pawns!

The Deep Magic Kickstarter is soaring! There is so much magic on its way. And if you’re like me, you’re impatient for it… so I pestered Art Kobold Marc Radle for a sneak peek at some early, brand-new content!

(!!!)

We were able to catch up recently with the busy Jeff Lee, designer on the forthcoming Deep Magic, which is currently being offered through a Kickstarter campaign, and capture his thoughts on this magical new tome.

KP: Can you give us a brief recap of Deep Magic as a project and where it is today, about your involvement with it past and present?

JL: The current Deep Magic Kickstarter is a project that is creating a huge book out of the compiled and revised Deep Magic for 5E PDFs that have already been released: from the first one through the recent alkemancy release. On top of that, there are over a hundred new spells being added as well as new sorcerous bloodlines, wizard subclasses, bardic colleges, and more. I was involved in the first Deep Magic project, for Pathfinder, and provided a bunch of spells for that. This time around, I’ve written several dozen spells for the project. I’m also finishing up a few subclasses and even more spells for stretch goals that have been met and have yet to be met.

KP: What’s so great about magic? What’s its role in D&D?

JL: Magic is the lifeblood of this game. It’s what makes the fantasy genre fantastic. It’s what allows all the amazing things that happen in the game. Your characters can use magic to alter the very fabric of reality. Even if your character can’t cast so much as a cantrip, magic is a part of play. That healing potion that saves your character’s life, the magic sword that allows them to slay terrible monsters, the powerful artifact that your party finally gets its hands on after long, grueling quests, all of those are integral to the experience.

KP: What’s your inspiration for magic? Where do you like to draw from?

JL: Literature and mythology, though there’s a lot to be gained from history and pop culture as well. The Internet is a fantastic resource. Humankind has a huge number of occult traditions in history, and you can find all of that stuff online now. It’s weird, fantastic stuff, and it’s ripe for turning into game content. I wrote the Emerald Order, from Demon Cults & Secret Societies, based on real world legends of a set of emerald tablets that had supposedly been unearthed in Egypt and contained the mysteries of the universe in them, which a person can command if they study and understand what’s written there. It’s wild stuff.

KP: Favorite school? Fave spell?

JL: Conjuration. My favorite wizard character ever was a conjurer. His whole philosophy of magic was that it should do all the work, and for him, it did so by calling up beings and forces to do all the hard work for him. Nothing better than a spell that calls up creatures that make your enemies’ lives hell.

Favorite spell? Wish. Do I really have to say why?

KP: What would you like to see more of magic-wise?

JL: Versatility and variety. I think a lot of the work that I and the other writers of Deep Magic have done provide that. Especially where the various subclasses are concerned. I love seeing new twists on old favorites and mechanics that really match the flavor of the style of character a person wants to play. That’s the game at its best.

KP: What are you working on right now?

JL: As I mentioned in the first question, I’m working on material for stretch goals that have been recently unlocked, or will be unlocked in the near future. One of the things I’m working on is the diabolist/demonologist wizard subclass. The diabolist learns to conjure and parley with devils, making deals to increase their powers, learning dark secrets that take their magic above and beyond other wizards at the risk of their very souls. Through this method of magical study, diabolists gain access to new spells, like chains of perdition, which grapple an enemy and inflict both physical and psychic harm upon them while they are chained.

I’m also always working on new things for my Patreon, where my patrons are free to request new material for a variety of systems, which I produce specifically and on occasion for the public at large. I’m currently working on new and more detailed warlock patrons per one request. You can find me at https://www.patreon.com/jeffalee.

KP: Why should I care about Deep Magic? What will it add to my game?

JL: Deep Magic provides an enormous amount of new assets for your 5E game. It’s packed with original material, and there’s something for everyone. It doesn’t matter what spellcasting class you play; there’s new material in it for you. If you’re running the game, this is a resource you don’t want to pass up. The subclasses can provide you with the basis for new secret organizations, cabals, cults, knightly orders, and other facets to add to your game world. Your players can undertake a quest to find a lost spellbook—full of spells from Deep Magic that are lost to time—and bring these spells into your world for the first time. Or maybe the characters themselves invent these spells. You could even add the names of these creators to them, just like the classic spells in the game. Deep Magic will make your game more fun, more fantastic, and so much more magical.