From ramshackle patchwork barges to the decks of fishing boats and smuggling vessels, riverfolk halflings are found along the greatest rivers of the Crossroads… and some of the less great. The gruff barge pilot in the wide-brimmed hat, predicting a river with near-prescient skill; the singer, stamping out rhythms on the deck while belting out bawdy songs; the charming huckster, swindling the big folk out of their savings for promises and trinkets with a gleam in his eye—all different but all riverfolk and all making their sometimes contentious homes wherever the current takes them.

Barge-Born

Riverfolk are, by their own description, not as “fussy” as the courtfolk, bowing in Arbonesse, or their stodgy winterfolk cousins, scavenging in the Rothenian Plains and farther north. Riverfolk laugh more, drink more, fight more, and by their own consideration, have much more fun. They have dark coloring all around, various shades of woody browns from hair to eyes to skin. They blend as well with a dark alley as a ship’s deck. Men and women dress similarly in practical working clothing, mostly tough canvas or leather shirts and pants, and favor hefty, good-quality work gloves. Most riverfolk don some type of hat as a preferred accessory, from the floppy, wide-brimmed to caps bearing jaunty duck feathers. Riverfolk are small, as all halflings, a little stockier although more graceful than most.

Most riverfolk are found along the River Argent, especially around Zobeck and its neighbors, but wherever river routes are good, they go. These halflings have made themselves a home in most every river port where they’ve been permitted to spread. Zobeck, Magdar, the Seven Cities, and even Krakova—riverfolk found they can do a brisk business with the dead if one doesn’t get squeamish—regularly have riverfolk in their ports.

Preternatural Navigators

The courtfolk have it that the riverfolk and winterfolk were servitors like them but forsook their oaths following the Great Retreat and lost their connection to the Summer Lands. Riverfolk put no stock in this story; according to them, the riverfolk were once the only type of halfling there was, and most riverfolk now are descended from the ones who didn’t get wooed by elven promises. As to why the elves took interest is a subject seldom brought up to outsiders: the riverfolks’ birthright, an inherent connection to the mysterious ley lines of Midgard.

Riverfolk don’t claim any type of powerful arcane culture, now or ever, but they sense ley lines the way others can sense a storm brewing without a cloud in the sky. Some even learn to follow them, accessing the shadow roads for brisk travel or even last-ditch hiding places. Most take the presence of a ley line as a sign to be cautious and nothing more. That connection, however, must have surprised the elves and maybe even intimidated them—and so they took some riverfolk as favored servants in pretty cages and slowly warped that power into the glamour the courtfolk now possess. Those halflings who fled into their ranks following the Great Retreat regained their ley line connections over time but lost their glamour and longevity. According to the riverfolk, that’s all the proof they need of the truth.

Rough and Tumble

Riverfolk love matching strength and wits against the big folk—and against each other too, if the drinks are flowing. Their favorite competitive game is barrel walking along their decks or on the piers, a display of physical prowess. Riverfolk excel at it, and they’re glad to show off to romantic interests or challenge others, especially if money is involved. If riverfolk have a major weakness, it’s money; they aren’t attracted to luxury comforts so much as their frequent hobnobbing with big folk has taught them that money is the surest way to respect and freedom. This has given them a predilection to gambling, typically unable to resist a card or dice game. While halflings are notoriously lucky, they can push that luck to the limit. Once it runs out—well, there’s more than one reason why riverfolk make a habit of crime.

Riverfolk have shrewd business minds, and they go where the risk-reward ratio is best. Smuggling proved a natural fit for them, especially once they sorted out that few non-halflings could tell them apart. Barges keep complex smuggling schedules that operate primarily through word-of-mouth with illegal cargo seldom being shipped on the same barge more than twice in a row. The patchwork barges the big folk deride as floating eyesores are perfect smuggling vessels: they are infuriatingly hard to search as they go against typical construction layouts and have many hidden pockets and secret trapdoors impossible to distinguish from the main ship. In the time it takes to search one halfling barge that may have no smuggled cargo on it, two more have time to load up contraband and leave.

Few dare suggest the halfling barges be outlawed altogether however. Despite the complaints against smugglers, riverfolk are more notable for their remarkable capability in forging rivers, and few others can with the same efficiency. They’ve been welcome sights in remote areas in need of food and common goods and in the larger cities and kingdoms for the rare goods and news they bring back.

Animal Ken

Most barges utilize draft mules to haul their boats upstream, but the going is notoriously slow and tedious. Riverfolk, however, enjoy a knack with animals that persuades their mules to work as part of the team. Riverfolk mules are efficient and determined, hauling their barges upstream faster with less goading and few mishaps. When asked if they use magic to get their animals to behave, riverfolk just shrug and say everyone works better when shown proper respect.

This knack extends beyond draft animals. Riverfolk fishermen enjoy bountiful catches, reeling in fish while big folk swear the river’s gone barren. Birds like to roost on riverfolk boats and homes and tend to bring small gifts when they visit, ranging from seeds to shiny coins. This respect goes both ways; while riverfolk seldom farm or tend gardens, they regard rivers with reverent consideration. Anyone showing cruelty to animals or polluting the rivers with filth or garbage are quickly introduced to the business end of a riverfolk pole.

Some riverfolk explore these bonds further, leaving the hectic river-trade lifestyle for a while and becoming rangers and druids with special interest in river ecology. Stories circulate about a riverfolk barge being helplessly ravaged in rapids, only to have the waters separate around it with one wave from a halfling druid abord, and of greedy fishermen poaching fish in strained areas being overcome by schools of river sharks, the largest ridden by a riverfolk ranger…

The Empire is here!!!

Citizens of the free city of Zobeck are going missing! Catacombs beneath the streets may provide answers, but what lurks in them may not enjoy company…

Who will uncover and stop the foul and ghoulish workings? Will your adventurers have the fortitude and ambition—or the greed and cunning—it takes to put a stop to them?

Empire of the Ghouls is a complete campaign for characters level 1 to 13 for the 5th edition of the world’s first RPG, with over 350 pages of adventure. It includes a gazetteer detailing the Ghoul Imperium in the depths of the Underworld—complete with map—and appendices loaded with new cults, creatures, magic items, and NPCs.

Sharpen your blade and conjure your magical light to root out the foulness below the earth!

AND…!

The Underworld Player’s Guide and Underworld Lairs and the Roll20 Marketplace packages:

• Bundle
• Underworld Players Guide
• Lairs
• Empire of the Ghouls Adventure

Not All Heroes Wear Shining Armor!

New backgrounds, subclasses, spells, trinkets, Underworld beasts, cults, adventures and so much more, adding layers of grime and death to any game!

Dearest Mother and Father,

It has been too many months since my last letter. Fear not, I am safe and well though I made the unfortunate error of embroiling myself in a conflict between two families in Glasvale…

Familial Feuds

Some issues are beyond solving with words or at the holmganga. When this occurs in the Northlands, it often results in a feud. While feuds sometimes result from legitimate wrongs, just as often they begin as petty disagreements between two parties. The stubborn pride of the Northlanders rarely allows a feud to end peacefully, so it isn’t uncommon for entire families to be exterminated as the pattern of violence and reprisal perpetuates. Unless a feud threatens commerce, community leaders rarely intervene, hoping to maintain their neutrality. If a feud threatens to get truly out of hand, some huskarls and jarls will surreptitiously have both parties eliminated to keep the greater peace. Generally they try to mask this intervention as an accident or the work of bandits so as to avoid their own feuds with each party’s survivors.

In Glasvale, a riverside farming hamlet a day east of Amberhall, the feud between the Kibarnes and Jurrgenstine families has embroiled the entire community, requiring all members to declare their affiliation with one family or the other. The conflict is generations old, and the psychological scars carried by the entire settlement have made it impossible to find peace. Each time one of the parties is ready to settle the matter, old hatreds rise to the forefront once again. Visitors to the feuding community are sometimes drawn in inadvertently. The Jurrgenstines have become proficient at creating potent bombs made of grain alcohol and fertilizer, which are prone to killing or injuring otherwise innocent bystanders as collateral. A generation ago, the Kibarnes family targeted the Dusty Mill, a tavern owned by Jurrgenstine allies, and slaughtered everyone inside as a reprisal for an earlier attack. Most of the people present were merchants who were completely uninvolved in the feud. Sometimes other residents of the hamlet target strangers using the feud as a cover for their own criminal activities. Unwise visitors have been known to get involved trying to stop the feud, which usually gets them killed by whichever side is more angered by the interference.

Up the River

…which required that I make a hasty retreat before suffering some unfortunate fate! I escaped by joining a longship crew, and oh! What a difference there was between this travel and my earlier sea voyage!

Northlander longships are narrow with a shallow draft, enabling them to travel via river as well as on the open ocean. When necessary, the crew of a longship can portage the vessel overland between waterways. Ships manned by raiders are often decorated with their shields hanging over the sides. A typical longship is around fifty feet in length and can carry sixty people.

The design of the longship allows northern reavers to assault and pillage communities sitting inland from the coast. A great deal of mercantile activity is also facilitated by longship, allowing more remote settlements that are reachable by river to trade for goods they would otherwise be unable to get their hands on. Longship captains rarely take on passengers, but when they are missing a crewmember or two, they’ll often fill those benches with travelers in exchange for their manning of the oars and taking on other shipboard responsibilities.

Silver Scales

I had to work on the longship, rowing us upriver and helping to bail water after a heavy storm caused a crack to form in the hull! I was also allowed to fish for food, both with a net and on a line!

Southerners tend to stereotype Northlanders as tall, fair-haired berserkers and raiders. While it is true that many northerners take up the life of a raider, most of them tend to more mundane occupations. As such, fishing is a common livelihood in the region. In addition to being a food source for people, fish innards, skin, and bones are commonly rendered and fed to sled dogs or otherwise used as animal feed or fertilizer. Fish oil is a commonly used light and heat source in the north.

Seaborne fishers catch salmon, cod, herring, haddock, small eels, and some sharks. A few Northlanders have taken up whaling, but the dangers outweigh the potential profits for most unless they can afford to hire enough muscle. Seafood that isn’t purchased and eaten fresh is sold to the many seaside smokehouses where it is preserved for later consumption. Herring is a notable exception to this and is commonly pickled. Jars of pickled herring are easily found in most humanoid settlements in the north.

Pike, perch, catfish, and trout are caught by freshwater fishers. Large pike bones are widely sought by scrimshaw artists as they hold images beautifully. Most of the fish oil produced in the north comes from freshwater fish, particularly perch and catfish. Those who make their living by fishing inland may be safe from the dangers faced by their seafaring peers but instead contend with predators such as bears and axebeaks attracted to their catch.

As you can see, I am learning so many useful skills here. I want to stay in the north longer, so I can see and learn more. I have yet to see one of the bearfolk or a goblin city or even the primeval mountain-dwelling dragons I have heard tales of. At the same time though, my heart misses you and my brothers so very much, and sometimes I long to return home.

Until I see you again, I remain ever your daughter,
Inbar

<<PREVIOUSLY

Now, let’s look in more detail at the third of the 13 Midgard icons: Ozmir Al-Stragul, the Dragon Sultan!

There’s an overview of the 13 Midgard icons here along with icon relationship mechanics you can use to connect player characters with their world more powerfully in D&D, Pathfinder, and many other RPGs.

DRAGON SULTAN

The scarred and cunning dragonkin ruler of the Mharoti Empire, Dread Sultan Ozmir Al-Stragul, is a general of great skill and a politician of utter ruthlessness.

Quote

“We accept your surrender. Swear fealty to the Scaled Lords, and peace and prosperity shall be yours as vassals of the Mharoti Empire. Refuse, and we will grant you a swift death.”

Usual Location

In the Golden City of Harkesh at the Imperial Palace of the Eight Elements.

Common Knowledge

The vastly powerful Mharoti Empire was founded by dragons and is run by dragons for their enrichment. It is one of the few places where humans and their kin are distinctly second-class citizens, though there is one notable exception: the dragons choose not to appoint one of their own to rule the empire. Their vanity was such that they could never agree on a dragon ruler, so they gave the job to a clearly inferior species instead. The empire is ruled by a human or dragonkin sultan or sultana who loosely holds the reins of power.

On a day-to-day level, the Dread Sultan Ozmir Al-Stragul administers the executive office of the Mharoti compact: appointing judges and decreeing laws, bestowing and stripping titles from the nobility, and granting land and privileges to the morza, a term translated from the Draconic as “prince” or “dragon governor” or “great lord.” He collects the taxes, distributes bread and tribute, raises and leads the armies (or chooses the general who does), and makes everyone cooperate. His harem assassins threaten dragonkin and human satraps who fail to toe the line. His command of the armies gives him leverage against any individual great lord, though the morza remain independent powers to a large degree.

Most of all, the sultan looks out for the empire as a whole. If he didn’t exist, the empire would not be an empire—it would more closely resemble eight draconic kingdoms at war.

Adventurers and the Icon

Most adventures that involve the Dragon Sultan also involve the affairs of dragonkind, from kobolds to dragonkin to drakes. Those that involve the Great Dragon Lords themselves are the most dangerous and most lucrative.

Adventurers may be recruited by the Dragon Sultan or his organization to help resolve issues of nesting rituals, peculiar forms of status or insult, or assassination of seemingly inconsequential personages—or they may become embroiled at the highest levels in court intrigue or even a naked power grab.

Allies

The Dragon Sultan does not trust Baba Yaga in the least, but she has proven a valuable source of information and counsel. He seeks to forge good relations with the Queen of Night and Magic and the Queen of the Road, seeking new opportunities for trade and diplomacy throughout Midgard as well as realms beyond.

Enemies

The Dragon Sultan’s aggressive expansion of the Mharoti Empire began with the conquest and subjugation of Illyria, one of the Seven Cities. As a result, the Oracle of Kammae and First Duke-Admiral Cadua of Triolo consider the Dragon Sultan the chief threat to their city-states and engage in violent skirmishes and privateering against Mharoti vessels.

History

Ozmir Al-Stragul deposed the young human Sultana Casmara Azrabahir after her armies lost the Battle of Wheeling Angels in the Eastern deserts and her fleet sank under the combined power of the Seven Cities in the Battle of the Ragusa Narrows. The empire convulsed with the death of tens of thousands and the annihilation of an entire legion in the east. The sultana’s elite palace guards—the Order of the Wyvern—fell quickly in line with the new sultan. The sultana herself barely escaped the coup, fleeing on dragonback into exile in the Seven Cities.

Dread Sultan Al-Stragul has a great deal of power but only because the governors don’t trust any of their own number with that much authority. Yet he seems able to plan effectively and to command the morza and the imperial legions: indeed, his rule depends on turning military failure into conquest, and he has shown the ruthlessness needed to grind Illyria’s resistance into the dust, conquering a new province and proving the blessing of the dragon gods upon his authority.

The True Danger

Everything will be all right as long as the Dragon Sultan cannot achieve his goal of conquering Nuria Natal and plundering its ancient secrets.

___

Midgard is a place of war and intrigue, where powerful figures pursue agendas that have roots in the distant past. In some cases, their plots, alliances, and enmities are older than Midgard itself.

In the 13th Age Roleplaying Game, these individuals are known as icons—and adventurers, even those just beginning their careers, are vital to their intrigues. Player characters can use their relationships with their chosen icons as a resource during the game, getting aid from those who serve the icon or (if the relationship is a negative one) from those who oppose them.

<<PREVIOUSLY

Welcome back to our series on Midgard ley magic. In the inaugural entry, we revisited ley lines, discussed GM prep, and introduced a couple of new ley magic spells. In this article, we dive deeper into GM preparation, presenting a set of optional tables used to answer the most common geomancer question: “Are there any ley lines nearby?”

Locating Ley Lines

Ley line savants (2nd-level geomancers) and Ley Initiates (feat) can sense the presence of nearby ley lines. As an action, they can discern the distance to the closest ley line within 1 mile as well as the direction to every ley line within 1 mile. If they have line of sight to the line itself, it’s visible to them in some obviously magical fashion.

GMs must ultimately decide if ley lines are present at various locations within their adventures. From a narrative point of view, adding ley lines introduces a new variable that could significantly affect the outcome of an encounter should the group include a ley magic spellcaster.

When faced with the decision to place a ley line on an encounter map or within 1 mile of a ley magic spellcaster, three approaches present themselves to a GM:

• Let the Story Decide. GMs who place great emphasis on story and roleplaying could be tempted to only include ley lines if they narratively contribute to the overall plot. However, since most adventures aren’t ley line–centric, this results in making ley lines very rare. While it raises the aura of mystery enshrouding ley lines when encountered, this rarity leaves ley magic spellcasters in a lurch most of the time.
• Let Encounter Balance Decide. Pragmatic GMs can include ley lines if they feel that party members could use an edge or exclude them to limit the contribution of ley magic spellcasters. GM fairness isn’t a topic to be debated here, but following this approach tends to put the potential impact of ley magic spellcasters squarely into the GM’s hands and to take away from player agency.
• Let the World Geography Decide. The Midgard Worldbook provides high level guidance, summarizing where ley lines may be found and where they are rare or non-existent. By reviewing this guidance, a GM can reach reasonable conclusions on nearby ley line locations.

Geography (reason #3) should be the driving factor used in the placement of ley lines. Each GM should decide for themselves, but ley lines are a feature of the world in Midgard and should be treated equally as a game mechanic as they are a story element. That said, GMs should still feel free to prioritize the story or encounter balance when appropriate.

The next section presents optional randomization tables directed at GMs looking for more specific guidance when deciding on the placement of ley lines based on world geography. If there are no ley magic spellcasters in your party, knowing the location of nearby ley lines becomes an academic exercise that can be skipped since it won’t have any repercussions on gameplay.

Placing Ley Lines During GM Prep

GMs can use the tables presented in this section to pencil down in a few minutes the location of ley lines in their various adventure maps. While the tables below are usable during a game session, they run the risk of slowing down the action and causing resentment from the players toward ley magic spellcasters. These randomization tables are designed to assist GMs during adventure design and pre-game preparation, providing easy lookup tools to determine the location of nearby ley lines (if any), their type, distance, and direction.

Note that some rolls can result in placing a titanic ley line where none appear on the official Midgard map. This is normal since not all titanic ley lines are named or mapped, and ley lines can temporarily shift in the world. Ley lines are mysterious, not absolute.

Calculate the Location-Based Modifier

Start by calculating the appropriate location-based modifier using Table 1. A high positive modifier leads to higher chances of locating ley lines nearby.

1. Using the Compass tool on the Midgard interactive map, find the base modifier (step 1) which is relative to the distance between the caster and nearest titanic ley line. Use your best approximation.
2. Apply the greatest Location modifier (step 2, one only).
3. Apply one or more Nearby Features modifiers (step 3).

Table 1: Ley Line Presence Modifiers

Once the modifier is known, roll a d100 and consult Table 2 to determine what the ley line presence is.

Table 2: Nearby Ley Line Presence

Once the number of ley lines is known, roll a d20 once for each type of ley line detected and consult Table 3 to determine the distance to the nearest ley line of that type.

Add a +1 modifier per additional ley line detected for each type. For example, if there are 2 strong and 6 weak ley lines within a mile, roll once at +1 to determine the distance to the nearest strong ley line and roll another time at +5 to determine the distance to the nearest weak ley line.

When mapping out the presence of ley lines ahead of time during adventure preparation, use the center of the map as a point of reference. When rolling live during the game, use the location of the ley magic caster.

Table 3: Distance to Nearest Ley Line

To determine the direction in which the closest point to a ley line is located relative to the caster, roll a d8 and consult Table 4. You can assume the flow is perpendicular to the caster. For example, a ley line located to the east would have a north-south flow.

Table 4: Relative Location of Ley Line

Knowing the exact location of ley lines creates interesting opportunities for tactical gameplay when ley magic spellcasters are involved. It also opens the door to new spell mechanics as explored in this series, creating greater differentiation for geomancers and other ley initiates.

In our next entry, we’ll explore ley line properties, tapping ley lines for effect, bound ley lines for geomancers, and potential ley line encounters resulting from mishaps.

New Ley Line Spells

This new spell is available for ley magic users.

Ley under Cover

2nd-level conjuration (ley line)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S, M (a piece of opaque glass)
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes

You tap into a ley line within range and create an area of visual distortion that extends in both directions along the path of the ley line. The area is heavily obscured by the distortion, preventing creatures from seeing through it. The size of the distortion area is based on the strength of the ley line. Weak ley lines produce an area 10 feet wide by 10 feet high, running 50 feet in length along the path of the ley line. Strong ley lines produce an area 20 feet wide by 20 feet high and 100 feet long while titanic ley lines produce an area 40 feet wide by 40 feet high and 200 feet long. The area of distortion is not affected by walls, structures, or the elements (wind, snow, rain, etc.)

If there are no ley lines within range of the caster, the spell has no effect. A geomancer with a bound ley line can instead choose to similarly create a 10-foot-radius sphere of distortion centered on the caster, which does not move after being cast.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the length of the distortion increases by 50 feet (weak), 100 feet (strong), or 200 feet (titanic), or the radius of the distortion (caster) increases by 10 feet for each slot level above 1st.

Player Feedback

Have you played a geomancer before? Do you have any questions about ley lines? As a GM, how do you handle the placement of ley lines? How are the new ley line spells working out in your adventures? Leave your feedback below and come back for the next installment in this series.

<<PREVIOUSLY

This hunched, man-like figure lurches with a strange, half-hopping gait. Tattered clothing hangs from its muscled shoulders, and its legs are those of a ram, ending in cloven hooves.

Trespassers on the Rites. The first of the goat-men was the victim of a powerful curse intended to punish him for spying on magical rites exclusive to the women of his tribe. Admiring the grotesque result, the Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young adopted him as its servant and ensured that all who committed the same taboo fell to the same curse, and thus into the Black Goat’s service.

Bleating Speech. A goat-man’s head is tusked, adorned with curling ram’s horns, and its beard often drips with gore. Rows of transparent, needle-like teeth fill its mouth; these teeth are malformed and make clear speech impossible for goat-men, though they understand others’ speech perfectly well.

Serve Foul Cults. Cultists of Shub-Niggurath or the Black Goat in good standing are sometimes granted the services of a goat-man. The creatures guard ritual sites, visit settlements to capture or purchase suitable sacrifices, and perform certain unspeakable acts with cult members to call forth ritual magic.

GOAT-MAN

Medium monstrosity, chaotic evil
Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 65 (10d8 + 20)
Speed 40 ft.

Saving Throws Dex +4
Skills Acrobatics +4, Athletics +6, Stealth +6
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from
nonmagical weapons that aren’t silvered
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11
Languages Common, Giant, Trollkin, but cannot speak
Challenge 3 (700 XP)

Headbutt. If the goat-man moves at least 10 feet straight toward a creature and then hits it with a slam attack on the same turn, the target must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone and stunned for 1 round. If the target is prone, the goat-man can make one bite attack against it immediately as a bonus action.

ACTIONS

Multiattack. The goat-man makes one bite attack and one slam attack.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6 + 4) piercing damage.

Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage.

___

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!

After you’ve covered the basics of running 5e one-on-one, you’re ready to move on to step number two, adapting your game’s PC for this smaller-party play style! In terms of mechanics, one-on-one works best when you make sure the PC is flexible in both melee and ranged combat. This post covers a few different options for making these adjustments to the core classes.

Even with a more flexible PC, we still suggest adjusting the number of combatants to make sure that 1) action economy doesn’t get too imbalanced and 2) the PC has someone to talk to on their adventures. Ensuring that the small party isn’t drastically outnumbered will go a long way toward keeping combat engaging instead of overwhelming, and having a fellow traveler, whether animal or person, will allow them to engage in RP throughout and provide them with additional support in social encounters and exploration.

Adaptation #1: Boost Spells and Attacks with Magical Items

It’s always fun to receive a present perfectly selected for you. Crafting magical items unique to the PC—their personality, class, and subclass—will have precisely that effect for your player. As you’re just trying to please one person, you don’t have to worry so much about making sure the items are balanced across the characters at the table, though you may want to craft an item that can grow with the PC. They don’t need a legendary artifact at level 3.

So what types of items might help increase the PC’s flexibility without sending them over the OP edge? Let’s look at the three base types of PCs separately and extrapolate from there.

Full Casters

In general, casters in duet-style play might struggle to deal enough damage before their enemy does them in, especially if they’re in a melee situation or have had several combats in one day. You certainly want to challenge them to make creative use of their spells and other abilities—playing in a duet is amazing for encouraging creative problem-solving—but sometimes they’ll need a boost.

At the earliest levels, help give them a small bump to AC and some healing potions, and they should be alright. Once they hit level three, go through their spell list and see if there’s a cool spell that they might need in a pinch that they don’t want to keep prepared at all times like revivify, sending, detect magic, speak with plants, or counterspell. You can even ask the player for their thoughts on what their PC would like!

After you’ve selected the spell(s), play out the PC embedding the enchantment into an item over time or coming across a +1 weapon that would also let them cast the spell once per day without using a spell slot. These items also make great rewards from mentor characters at the end of a narrative arc, especially if you want them to have access to a spell that characters inside their class normally wouldn’t have.

Non-Casters

For our fighting friends, you can go a couple different directions while keeping flexibility in mind. Do you want to make it easier for them to use their current skills and abilities, or do you want to give them access to magic they might not otherwise have?

One of the places where non-casters will tend to be weaker is in area of effect. Again, get your player involved here. Do they want to design traps so that they can infiltrate larger spaces with multiple combatants? You could use fog cloud as inspiration for the functionality of their smoke machine-esque device that they set up before sneaking around the cultists’ lair, and then they burst out of the fog or use it to hide in, slashing in whichever signature style they prefer.

Alternatively, a magical weapon with a small boost is everyone’s best friend. Perhaps their dagger can cast entangle once per day, or as in one of my favorite magical items we’ve ever used, you might give them a ring of returning which will boomerang their thrown weapons back to them.

Half-Casters

We’re all thinking it, so let’s just say it: in many ways, these classes already have the best of both worlds for one-on-one play. By definition, they’re flexible and well-balanced, but this can bring its own problems, especially in boss fight situations. Depending on the build, your half-caster is probably going to lean more toward melee or ranged fighting, and they might also struggle with area of effect as we saw with the non-casters.

An additional struggle arises, depending on the PC’s class and that of their companion(s), when they’re facing creatures resistant or immune to nonmagical attacks. These encounters will be a lot more difficult and could even be impossible, if your half-caster doesn’t have a magical weapon. If they’re fighting werewolves with a standard, non-silvered longsword for example, they’re in for a really frustrating fight.

Other Ideas

There are additional creative tweaks you might make, such as expanding a character’s range for their attacks without imposing disadvantage, or adjustments like having advantage on stealth checks when they’re in shadow.

Adaptation #2: Borrow from Other Subclasses in the PC’s Base Class

Consider allowing a PC to select features from more than one subclass when they level up. This is a tweak you’ll want to be careful with as not all subclasses are created equal in terms of their combined power in a single character. Generally, you should aim for abilities that would give characters an either/or type of bonus and avoid stacking advantages.

If we look at bards for instance, some subclasses allow them to have enhanced spellcasting options while others increase their fighting prowess, particularly in melee. They won’t be able to use both of these abilities at once and will need to choose if they want their action to be used toward spellcasting or a melee attack. PCs in large groups don’t need this increased flexibility, but it can open up in-combat choices and options for both players and GMs in one-on-one play.

Adaptation #3: Give Their Adventuring Companion a Unique Tweak

One of the functions of the PC’s adventuring companion is to help balance them out. If your PC is clanging around in plate armor, maybe their companion gains proficiency in stealth. You don’t need to go overboard here. Some of the boosts will depend on if it’s the GM or the player running the companion during combat and how fun the player will find these additional mechanics and strategies.

You can combine any and all of these adaptations to equip your one-on-one campaign’s hero to take on monsters and villains in all of their guises. Don’t be afraid to tinker and adjust as you go. Empower your PC, and they’ll surprise you with ingenious solutions to the nefarious hijinks you place along their path.

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You can find more advice and ideas for one-on-one play at dndduet.com.

No creature epitomizes the art of graceful service like the courtfolk, an accomplishment these halflings take with great (but quiet) pride. Courtfolk are defined by their dedication and deference to the great elven courts of old, but their identities are in flux in the wake of the Great Retreat. Now their oaths are sworn to the variable moods and personalities of scattered elfmarked lords, to the humans in large cities who see halflings as a simple labor force, and to rare elves who are not quite what they once were. Centuries of elven absence have been difficult on the courtfolk, but they, like all halflings, have proven capable of adapting to a world that no longer needs them as they were.

Fey-Touched Finery

Courtfolk are as small in size and stature as any halfling. Their long proximity to elves and the Elflands shows in their complexion, usually pale and freckled with light-colored eyes and curly mops of hair. Courtfolk prefer neat, well-tailored clothing (most of which they make themselves) with touches of elven inspiration apparent without ever descending into gaudy imitation. Men typically wear baggy trousers and tight vests and women favor flowing skirts with bodices. Colors are pastel or forest tones and muted, befitting a servant, but never drab. Elven jewelry is common among halflings of any gender as are smoking pipes. Courtfolk women particularly favor pipes of unique design.

Courtfolk are not motivated by material wealth or luxury, finding genuine contentment in simple things, but what they do keep, they desire to be of fine quality. They take pains to care for their clothing, family heirlooms, musical instruments, work implements, and other valued possessions.

History of Servitude

The provenance of the courtfolk—indeed, all halflings—is the subject of speculation, and one the halflings themselves are curiously unconcerned with solving. Some suspicious humans maintain halflings were once human servants, but frequent exposure to the Elflands and the magic there left them stunted and enthralled to the fey. An occasional mage postulates the halflings were wholly created as elven servitors, made up partly of Midgard’s substance and given life by fey magic.

The courtfolk themselves laugh off such claims. They maintain they are simply halflings, but unlike the reclusive winterfolk and sly riverfolk, they did not break faith with the covenant they forged, by choice, with the great elven lords and ladies of old. The courtfolk are what halflings should be, they claim, and their pitiable offshoot cousins are defined by their loss of purpose.

Numerous families of courtfolk once served elven courts from Arbonesse to Valera and every holding in between. They were expert craftsmen, faithful seneschals, discreet handmaids, efficient butlers, reliable messengers, unexpected bodyguards, and talented gardeners such that their elven masters trusted few others with their breathtaking gardens and courtyards. While never ostentatious, halflings whose families served since the earliest days of the elves’ arrival bore a certain prestige among their own, respect owed for the lengths of their good service.

Most of these families disappeared in the Great Retreat with their lords and ladies, separated from friends and kin. Those remaining behind honored their oaths, lingering in the fading courts and subservient to elfmarked descendants of once-mighty rulers. Time wore on, and a seed of sorrow took root in the courtfolk, though hidden by deference and cheery service. The names of kin gone since the Last Horn are recorded among them from generation to generation and repeated in their private songs and stories.

Servants Without Masters

Courtfolk enjoy long lives, lingering in a pleasant old age for up to 350 years, a century longer than most halflings do. Most have a parent or grandparent who remembers the old courts and passed down their stories, mannerisms, and a keen sense of loss. As such, adapting to newfound freedom in only one or two generations has proven difficult for those who remained after the Last Horn. As observed with some small bitterness, those halflings who abandoned their duties and wandered away, becoming winterfolk and riverfolk elsewhere, seem to have had less trouble.

Only the secluded River Court and the Imperatrix’s own Royal Court still maintain families of courtfolk servants in significant numbers. Outside of the remaining courts, courtfolk struggle to maintain their family identities against their oaths, scattered as they are among elfmarked fiefs and baronies. Worse off still are the greater numbers of courtfolk in the young kingdoms, working as common servants to humans and other races without the mutually beneficial arrangements enjoyed under their old elven masters. Courtfolk families try to stick together in these circumstances, but kinship ties tend to unravel while serving those who neither understand nor are inclined to learn the necessities of courtfolk family relationships.

Courtfolk without holdings or patrons to serve sometimes find places to settle as families. Reywald, a popular destination, has so many halflings that it supports Little Reywald, a halfling and gnome village north of the city. It’s not the elven courts, but for many courtfolk, it’s good enough to serve in the city and come home to family. Others realize they are very much stuck—nothing more than leftover servants for others to use.

In recent decades—and virtually unheard of before then—some courtfolk, primarily castoffs from the still-functioning courts or the rare halfling who emerges from the military with exemplary service, spearhead a business enterprise with their family. These businesses number a mere handful in Dornig and less in the Crossroads. Still beholden to courtfolk nature, such business attempts orient toward hospitality and service: artisan shops, bakeries, inns, plant nurseries, taverns, and the like. Breaking from the mold as servants and underlings is difficult. In order to do so, courtfolk must overcome dismissive attitudes toward their role as servants, which is uncomfortable for them. They aren’t predisposed to be ashamed by their lives of service. As a result, even successful courtfolk accept less than what they deserve and settle for subsistence…

Why should any enterprising GM settle for any old +2—hey, what are you—

AHAHA, puny humans, you are now subject to the wares of Grut Duckgut, Orcish Armorer to Warchief Krup of the One Functioning Eye! Gaze upon the unmatched might of orcish ingenuity and surrender your goods and services! YOU! Describe them with your pathetic human words!

Alright, alright. I guess this month it’s… orc… weapons.

AHAHA! BEHOLD!

Boil Bag

So here is a leather bag filled with boiling water that I assume you throw at your enemies. The water would probably only stay hot enough to scald for about 5 minutes. But the heat is so extreme that the wielder takes 1 fire damage per round while holding it.

Brick-Tied-to-Head

This is a simple clay brick that you tie to your forehead. And you hit enemies with your head?

YES! With EXTREME FORCE!

Well you would definitely deal 1d4 bludgeoning damage to yourself each time you deal damage with this. And on a fumble, the brick falls off and would need to be retied.

Drop Cape

This filthy cape seems to have teeth sewn into the lining? I don’t really understand—

It is simple! Each round you grapple your opponent, shake them VIGOROUSLY within the cape, letting the teeth, tusks, claws, needles, arrowheads, and pointy sticks rake and scar their soft flesh!

I just want to point out that if you fumble on the grapple check, you would catch the cape on your armor or clothes and be restrained until you spend a full round freeing yourself.

Gorger

I understand this one. It’s just a full boar’s head. If you run at your opponent at least 20 ft. in a straight line and hit with an attack with the gorger on the same turn, the target takes an extra 1d6 slashing damage and needs to make an opposed Strength check or be knocked prone. And if you fail the Strength check, you would be knocked prone instead.

Ha, like a pup exposing its underbelly!

You’re really close to my face…

Jawlock

It’s a beartrap for your mouth and takes a full round action to equip or unequip it. So you attack with it, and if you hit, you make a Grapple check with advantage. If you succeed, then you’re clamped on to the opponent and have advantage on all subsequent grapple checks against them.

DO NOT FORGET, if any of your grapple checks fail, the jawlock is LOCKED, preventing you from speaking, drinking, or eating! It may only be reset by succeeding a DC 15 Strength check! Such is the orcish way!

Muscle Blade

AHAHA my favorite implement of death!

A flashy knife that you tie to your bicep. And when you use Intimidate… by flexing… you can make a free attack against an enemy directly behind you. Huh. And on a fumble, you stab yourself in the ear! I actually like this one.

THANK YOU WELP! Now continue to peruse or meet your end!

Right—

Ten Thousand Blades

This is a giant key ring with a dagger, a shortsword, a longsword, and a greatsword jangling on it. Take a full round action to find the right one and you can wield it with both hands (though it’s treated as one hand given its weight). And only a wielder of Strength 15 or higher can even swing this thing. Novel.

Throwing Shield

Ow, why are the sides of this shield so sharp?

The sharpest edges, whetted to a knife’s point by HUMONGOUS SMITHS!

You can throw it like a plate, but unless you succeed a DC 10 Dexterity check, you’ll also cut your own hand for 1d4 damage and make it unusable for one minute because of the intense pain.

War Dart

So this is an extremely heavy dart the size of a cat that you shot put—

Alright, I’ve had enough! You need to leave.

WHAT??? You dare speak to me this way! Fool, suffer as I bring the full might of 10,000 years of orcish smithing down upon your stupid head…!

—cartoon sound effects—

AAAARGH!

He’s dead. See you next month.

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Staying safe and sane at home? Playing lots of games? Us too!

So this week, to ensure that you have plenty to play with, we’re giving away Prepared! A Dozen Adventures for 5th Edition, giving you 12 ready-to-go, one-shot adventures. Just add dice!

Download yours now!

All you have to do is use the coupon code SaferAtHomeWeek2 during check out, and you’ll be good to go: prepared with Prepared! This will be available through Sunday, May 31.

What’s Prepared! you ask…?

So, your players went off on a tangent?

A Dozen 5th Edition One-Shot Adventures for Levels 1 to 15

Never fear—Prepared! offers GMs quick solutions to keep the game moving and players entertained, while you figure out your next move. Here are short, one-shot adventures for every environment, including:

• An alien factory where victims are drained of their essence and transformed into ethereal horrors
• An abandoned alchemical lab where one inhuman assistant got left behind
• The sky literally falling, right in front of the adventurers
• Goblins who’ve built a most unusual “fortress” in a roadside ditch
• A mysterious stone terrace rising up out of the snow, with an ancient machine glinting from the topmost level.
• ..and much more, lavishly illustrated with maps by Meshon Cantrill!

With Prepared!, designer Jon Sawatsky has created dozens of 5th Edition fantasy scenarios ready to use in any fantasy campaign setting, at a variety of PC levels. Never be caught without a plot again!

These adventures feature monsters from the core 5th Edition MM and from the Tome of Beasts.

It was with a chill of excitement that I opened up Kobold Press’s latest offering. Empire of the Ghouls is the product I’ve been dreaming of since I first discovered the Midgard setting—a hardcover adventure, and one which takes PCs all the way from 1st to 13th level.

From lead designer Richard Green with contributions from Wolfgang Baur, Jeff Lee, Chris Lockey, Kelly Pawlik, and Mike Welham, this roughly 350-page hardcover volume is both an exhausting campaign guide to the ghastly Ghoul Imperium and Midgard’s first book-length campaign. Now, I knew going in that there would be lots of ghastly, ghoulish, grisly undead experiences waiting in this tome’s leaves. What I didn’t expect was what a marvelous world-of-Midgard-hopping experience I would get in addition to that. Empire of the Ghouls takes us on a whirlwind tour across the flat world of Midgard before we ever venture into the nightmarish Underworld with adventurers traveling across the Crossroads, journeying by Shadow Road to the Southlands, and returning to travel deep into the Northlands in a quest to stop the ghoul’s from gaining a magical upper hand on the realm of the living. As such, this isn’t just a great book for clerics looking to dish out some Divine Smite on some admittedly deserving walking corpses but also a fantastic introduction for everyone to Midgard itself and a demonstration as to why it’s one of the best campaign settings for D&D ever conceived. We get to see the wonders of the world but also deal with the international tensions, active war zones, courtly politics, diplomatic rivalries, and near-to-exploding “powder kegs” that make Midgard such an exciting place to visit. And in true Midgard fashion, the Ghoul Imperium isn’t a faceless empire marching in cold lockstep to a single drum but is itself rife with factions, rivalries, rebellious kings, diverse races, and disparate priesthoods all vying for their bit of pie—or rather, pound of flesh. In short, it’s near everything I love about Midgard crammed into one book.

The adventure kicks off in Zobeck—(where else?)—and this first episode is guaranteed to acquaint you with the city. I was thrilled to find it starts with one of my all-time favorite Midgard NPCs—Skirtal, the kobold culinary master and owner of the Rampant Roach! I think Skirtal is emblematic of what I love about Zobeck and Midgard—namely that the “monster races” that other settings treat as nothing but fodder to mow down are people here. Whether it’s gnolls in Per Bastet or kobolds in Zobeck or trollkin in the north, Midgard doesn’t treat any class of humanoid as wholly good or wholly evil, and while plenty of kobold’s might stab you in the back, Skirtal isn’t one of them, and the worst you’re liable to get off this scaly chef is indigestion. But the Rampant Roach is just the start of this adventure, not the end, and by the time the PCs have left Zobeck, they will have trekked all over the city, visited the dangerous and fascinating Cartways beneath the streets, entered the Zobeck catacombs, met with the Oracle of the Gear Goddess, and even encountered a Kobold King. Then it’s off to the dwarven canton of Grisal, those pious cheesemakers who’s city is claimed by both the elves of the Grand Duchy of Dornig and the vampire empire, the Greater Duchy of Morgau, but who stand as an independent city in defiance of both. Next, it’s off to Krakovar, that unfortunate country that recently fell to Morgau, and then a trip to the Free City of Jozht in the Wolfmark. Next, we’ll sail the Nieder Straits—never an easy voyage—then visit Reaver’s Cave in Wolfheim, eventually journeying as far as Huldramose in the Northlands (which may or may not include a visit to a World Tree!). There’ll be a visit to the ruins of the fallen dwarven empire of Nordheim, a trip to Siwal in the Southlands, and finally, spelunking in the Underworld, where the PCs will have to avoid appearing on the menu at the Pure City of Vandkhul. Along the way, the PCs encounter monarchs, attend feasts, partake in contests of strength and skill, engage in diplomacy and politics, brave the Shadow Roads, and of course thwart scores of horrendous undead in a quest to prevent the ghouls earning a magical boon from the dark god Vardesain that could allow them to run rampant over the overworld. But just like everything else in Midgard, the ghouls aren’t one-dimensional baddies but a nuanced, complex society with a host of competing perspectives, some of which border on sympathetic to the players’ goals. Of course, that doesn’t mean they won’t eat you.

The Kobold’s always stress the “portability” of their adventures for GMs looking to carve them up and set them elsewhere, and while I absolutely don’t get the appeal of setting Empire of the Ghouls anywhere but Midgard, there’s certainly plenty here that could be worked piecemeal into other settings if that’s your cup of tea, from dwarven cantons to elven ruins to Viking settlements to fungal gardens beneath the earth. And the new mechanic of “Grace Points” is something that would be of use to GMs anytime they need to track how a party is getting on with powerful hosts they’ll need to seek favors from later. There’s also a lot here that’s of use in other Midgard games, from shadow roads, Krakovar, and Underworld encounters to tons of world lore, to maps of plenty of key locations. I can see myself referencing the tables and information in Empire of the Ghouls before we’re ready to start the campaign as it will aid in my current Crossroads and Northlands games. Meanwhile, if you’re looking to expand this already-considerable volume, the accompanying Underworld Lairs booklet can even be used to extend the adventure after the storyline concludes. And of course, the hardcover concludes with a host of new magic items, spells, monsters, and NPCs that are useful far beyond this storyline. Finally, the artwork is beautiful, the artists and art director really having outdone themselves. And I have to say I love the new “Meet the Designer” sidebar at the end of each chapter that tells you who wrote what and gives a little love to the brilliant minds that helped Richard Green bring this amazing tome to life. It’s just an amazing package, a hellishly fun volume that’s knocked the Necronomicon out of the top spot for the number one book of the dead.

In short, Empire of the Ghouls looks like one of the most exciting book-length storylines to appear for the 5th edition of everyone’s favorite roleplaying game yet. I’m so glad I got my claws on it, and if you’re like me, you will grab yourself a copy and not let anyone pry it out of your cold, dead hands.

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Lou Anders is the author of the novel Once Upon a Unicorn, as well as the Thrones & Bones trilogy of fantasy adventure novels (Frostborn, Nightborn, and Skyborn), and the novel Star Wars: Pirate’s Price. He has also done role playing game design for Kobold Press, River Horse, and 3D Printed Tabletop. In 2016, he was named a Thurber House Writer-in-Residence and spent a month in Columbus, Ohio teaching, writing, and living in a haunted house. When not writing, he enjoys playing role playing games, 3D printing, and watching movies. He lives with his wife, children, and two golden doodles in Birmingham, Alabama. You can visit Anders online at louanders.com, on Facebook, Instagram, and on Twitter at @Louanders.

In a southwestern “backwater” of Zobeck’s Collegium District, near the banks of the Derry River, sits a crooked little side street on which stands a tilted little shop. The sign reads, “P. Scrybb; Herbalist, Taxidermist, Conservator Exotique.” PCs find themselves traveling the narrow lanes and backstreets of this rather “less-illuminated” neighborhood, searching out said Mr. P. Scrybb.

Have adventurers returned from distant expeditions with exotic hides and trophies or strange flora for evaluation, preservation, or sale? Perhaps they seek the herbalist and taxidermist for a patron intent on collecting commissioned items or enforcing a refund? In any case, PCs turn onto lonely Derryside Road near the unusual workshop of Phineas Scrybb.

Encounter 1: The Worms get the Early Bird

Recommended Level: 5–7

You turn onto the old, somewhat neglected riverfront avenue of East Derryside. The handful of businesses operating here comprise small-time tanners and renderers, “discount” fishmongers, and the occasional second-(and third)-rate alchemy shop. The neighborhood’s “stimulating” fragrances doubtless explain its many vacancies. Soon a knot of people comes into view 50 yards ahead, gathered actually just outside your destination. As you draw nearer, the group confers furtively.

Developments. If PCs close within 90 feet of the taxidermist’s door, two of the seven bravos lurking outside (use black knight commander [un-mounted] and bandit lord; see Tome of Beasts) move to intercept, intent on discouraging and diverting them.

Deciding you’re no run-of-the-mill pedestrians, two burly figures step away and walk purposefully toward you. The lead man hails:

“‘Apologies for inconveniences, good citizens. We’ve had an ‘incident’ hereabouts. Deputies o’ the watch is handlin’ things now, but this here street’s closed to civilian-types fer, oh… an hour say. Please, be s’kind as to return then.”

Appearances suggest that any experience these men have with law-enforcement lies strictly on the receiving end.

PCs making successful DC 16 Charisma (Persuasion) or DC 19 Charism (Deception) checks keep the point men confused or distracted for 1 round/success/PC. Pressing forward, regardless, invites a full assault. PCs successfully approaching within 15 feet of Scrybb’s before the second round ends can attempt peering through the storefront with a DC 14 Wisdom (Perception) check before the remaining hooligans attack. Success reveals two rough-looking tieflings inside, knives and cudgels drawn, that are threateningly prodding a bald, bespectacled little man through an interior doorway.

Players attempting teleport, dimension door, arcane eye, and the like will find the shop infused throughout with forbiddance and nondetection magic.

For “deputies,” use two city watch captains (see Tome of Beasts), a gearmage, and a gnomish knife cultist (see Creature Codex, changing race to tiefling), adding three scrolls: order of revenge, revenge’s eye, vagrant’s non-descript cloak (see Warlock #3).

All six street thugs are under spell effects (5th level) of bless, protection from energy (cold), protection from evil (undead), and vagrant’s non-descript-cloak. Successful DC 16 Intelligence (Arcana) or Intelligence (History) checks identify ritual scarring on the knife cultist as symbolic to the Cloven Nine. Thugs fight until slain, preferring oblivion to the delicately lingering mercies rewarding failure to the Nine.

Encounter 2: I Swear It Just Moved!

PCs must enter via the front door or window, Scrybb’s has no fire exits or rooftop access, and the flanking buildings are boarded up and vacant. Scrybb’s long (70 × 40 ft.) interior showroom is high ceilinged (20 ft.) and aisled by tall shelves and wall-cases. Shelves contain wildly assorted taxidermic trophies from stuffed-and-displayed foxes, bobcats, and wolpertingers to mounted wendigo-antlers, worg hides, and sahuagin skulls. From the high rafters hang scores of shrunken-heads and stuffed game fowl, drakes, trophy fish, and an enormous cockatrice in flight.

Floor areas are crowded with propagation trays of herbs and mushrooms, pots and planters of latticed jasmine, nightcreeper, and other low-light plants. Nearby stands the (now un-barred) root-cellar door.

Developments. PCs may investigate so long as nothing is physically touched or moved. Doing so during Phineas’s absence causes five great mandrakes to uproot themselves and scurry about the shop maniacally, biting and shrieking at random targets. Three gloomflowers also rise from concealment and four “stuffed” drakes (use unhatched) break free, taking flight to attack (for all, see Creature Codex).

If after five rounds (GM’s discretion) combat continues, PCs hear, “Stand-down! All is well!”

Active plants and undead disengage, withdrawing as a bald, bespectacled little man, shuffles into view, still calling out from the open cellar door,

“My humblest-apologies, citizens. The watchdogs are set for aggressive vigilance during my absences. But welcome! I am Phineas Scrybb, my mother and I witnessed your quick thinking with our previous quests. We admire and appreciate action with discretion. That crew was sent here by those wretched tiefling gangsters, you know? Bullies sent to rob and intimidate, yes, but more specifically to pilfer Mother’s books. We know this much already. You see, we have them… ah, ‘detained’”—he smiles—”and Mother’s almost done… scolding them. Please join us if you are curious. I suspect our guests have much to interest you. Besides, Mother will want to thank you, and there’s Khandirian tea!”

He turns and descends into the gloom.

Encounter 3: Mother Grows Best

The 30-foot descent is surprisingly well-accommodated with thickly paneled walls and carpeted stairs. Luminous fungal globes growing in tall pots provide dim light. An ornately carved door stands ajar at the foot of the stair. PCs approaching within 15 feet detect a warm glow and muffled sounds of multiple voices, conversing beyond the door. Approaching within 10 feet causes all to fall silent.

Opening the door invites attack. PCs waiting outside over five rounds are also attacked:

A writhing mass of tangled roots and thrashing, thorny tendrils lurches out at you through the doorway. Beyond it, more figures mill about a finely dressed elderly woman lying peacefully, partially submerged in an immense bed of soil. Growing around, over, and FROM the woman is the root mass of an undead, tree-like horror.

Attacking from the doorway is warlock’s trumpetbloom behind which a devilbough and (tiefling) mold zombie advance. Wrapping around and into the “planted” woman are the feeder roots of an ancient mandriano, busy (GM’s discretion) transforming the second tiefling ruffian into another worm-ridden mold zombie. Phineas Scrybb, a necromancer (for all see Creature Codex), begins spellcasting and raving,

“Did you think us fools? We will NEVER vacate, not to you, nor the Spyglass Guild, nor even the Cloven Nine! You thought my little pets upstairs challenging? Hah, Mother grows best!”

Phineas and his “mother-mandriano-symbiote” defend each other to the bitter end.

And not a drop of Khandirian tea in sight.

___

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!

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There you are, playing and everyone’s excited as they’re about to finally meet the big baddie they’ve struggled so long to get to, and you unveil… whatcha been cooking? Something impressive right? Some nasty boss fight? Something the players haven’t seen already? Something to really bring the session to the next level…?

Well, just for you this week, to give you something to ensure your players are blown away, we’re giving away Warlock #15: Boss Monsters, giving you 14 capstone-worthy monsters, spanning CR 3–27, so you’ve got something no matter the level of the adventure. And you get to see what we’ve been cooking over at Warlock!

Download yours now!

All you have to do is use the coupon code SaferAtHomeWeek3 during check out, and you’ll be good to go: monstering up with Warlock #15: Boss Monsters. This special offer will be available through Sunday, June 7.

Are you ready for Warlock #15: Boss Monsters…?

The centaur tribes who inhabit the Rothenian plains have no shortage of threats, but few are as troubling as the recent outbreak of the black strangles. Once a disease confined to livestock and cattle, the affliction’s jump to centaurs has spread fear, confusion, and near panic. Despite the resources centaur leaders are pouring into developing a cure, the black strangles continues to spread.

While most of the tribes seek a cure for the affliction, a small minority who style themselves “Liches of the Plague” or Khar Khul have turned to the rot as a source of strength and pride and even channeled it into a source of power.

These Khar Khul arose from within the Long-Teeth packs, and while the cause of the black strangles remains unknown, those who have embraced the disease have a lower mortality rate than those who merely suffer from it. This curious fact suggests that the disease’s cause, or possibly the disease itself, has intelligence or at least an agenda. The Khar Khul fanatics have even developed a rudimentary druidic tradition around the plague and believe it enhances the magic they command. The Khar Khul gain converts among those fearful of death from the affliction, but despite the progress they have made in this fashion, these druids remain ostracized by most centaur tribes. Their horrible, rotting appearance also spurs revulsion in most other creatures, including wild animals.

Aside from their evident push for expansion, the goals of the Khar Khul remain as mysterious as the black strangles itself. Some believe they are helping centaurs survive the disease; others view the cost of their approach as too great. It is true that while their path to power is unorthodox and considered distasteful by many, Khar Khul have been known to aid travelers and even become adventurers.

Druidic Tradition: Circle of the Black Strangles

The Circle of the Black Strangles is made up of those desperate to avoid painful death at the hands of the plague mixed with those who seek power for its own sake. Not a true druidic circle in the normal sense, the Khar Khul rule those weaker than themselves with threats and intimidation. As a member of this group, you might use your power to heal those you deem worthy, but it’s just as likely you simply seek to visit new anguish upon your foes.

Bonus Cantrip

When you choose this circle at 2nd level, you learn spare the dying as a bonus cantrip.

Long Tooth

Starting at 2nd level, your teeth have elongated, yellowed, and hardened far beyond their natural form, increasing their use as a weapon. You gain a bite attack that deals 1d6 necrotic damage, and if the target is a living creature, it must succeed on a Constitution saving throw using your druid spell save DC or take an additional 2d6 necrotic damage. If you are using Wild Shape, any bite attack you make deals its normal damage and necrotic damage on a successful hit. If the target fails its save by 5 or more, it contracts the black strangles.

In addition, no magic can cure you of the black strangles. Though the disease is not fatal or even debilitating to you, you cosmetically suffer all its physical effects. The GM may grant you disadvantage on Persuasion checks and/or advantage on Intimidation checks as a result.

Circle Spells

Your mystical connection to the black strangles infuses you with the ability to cast certain spells. At 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th level you gain access to circle spells connected to the horrific disease.

Once you gain access to a circle spell, you always have it prepared, and it doesn’t count against the number of spells you can prepare each day. If you gain access to a spell that doesn’t appear on the druid spell list, the spell is nonetheless a druid spell for you.

Plaguerider

Starting at 6th level, your body has adapted to the presence of the disease within you. You have advantage on saving throws you make to resist nonmagical diseases.

In addition, any beast you summon deals 2d6 necrotic damage in addition to its normal damage when it hits with an attack.

Black Tooth

When you reach 10th level, your bite deals 2d6 necrotic damage on a successful hit, and a target that fails the saving throw takes an additional 4d6 poison damage if it fails the saving throw. If you are using Wild Shape, any bite attack you make deals its normal damage and necrotic damage on a successful hit.

This feature replaces Long Tooth.

Black Strangler

When you reach 14th level, you have become one with the black strangles. You are immune to normal diseases and have advantage on saving throws against magical diseases.

In addition, the disease has fully developed within your body and seeks to replicate itself and spread. A creature that touches you or hits you with a melee attack while within 5 feet of you takes 1d10 necrotic damage.

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Magic is the lifeblood of fantasy. Arguably the dividing line between fantasy and other types of fiction, magic can be strange, mysterious, frightening, comical, or anything in between. And if you’re looking to explore the applications of magic in a fantasy roleplaying campaign, you want to visit the Sorcery Stop! 

5th edition isn’t designed for massive combats.

One of the most powerful things you can do in 5th edition and its derivatives is to either get more actions or deny people theirs. As the game is simulationist, adding more people into a combat becomes a brute-force way to make this happen, be that hordes of opponents, summoned allied minions, or simply lots of players or allied NPCs. Additionally, each combatant makes every round of combat take more time, resulting in more delays between player turns, increasing disengagement with the game, and additional mental load in tracking and running encounters.

The previous Tools of War articles introduced mechanics and suggestions to address specific issues with large combats but didn’t have the space to talk about design principles and balance to help you adapt those solutions. This article aims to provide those principles so that you can adapt the previous articles for your home games.

Your goal for all massive combat modifications is to simplify the experience and lessen the table-time of running the combat. Condense multiple actions into fewer actions, multiple units into fewer units, and prevent abilities from creating new actions. This will inevitably dilute the simulationism of the game and make some options weaker and others stronger. That is a necessary sacrifice in the name of simplification and one you will have to negotiate at home. Use the following as a guideline:

• If a change increases GM load, it isn’t worth it. If it increases player load, reconsider it.
• Expect to reduce damage output in favor of other metrics. Flexibility, area control, accuracy, and tanking are all areas you can tune up to compensate for falling damage.
• Try to avoid granular resources like spell slots and recharge in favor of simpler ones like short/long rest abilities and at-will use. Using charges, ala FFG’s X-Wing, or ammunition are useful half-measures.
• Use existing mechanics as a guideline for balance where possible. Formations and group turns balance against monsters, minions balance against spell slots, NPC allies balance against both party members and magic items.

The group turn and formation rules modify existing rules to do their work. Mechanically, a group turn turns every extra combatant in the turn into a pre-existing buff, either a better version of the Help action or a single-target version of crusader’s mantle, to massively reduce the actions and damage output of a group of enemies. This favors enemies with lots of attacks and enemies that are in groups of 3. Changing the nature of those buffs and adding more steps can result in group turns that incentivize different numbers of creatures or different types of attackers, allowing you to tune the difficulty at will.

Try to avoid grouping up wildly variant enemies or different types of spellcasters as this can bog you down in resource tracking.

Formations are built like swarms with multi-attack. You can use the existing tables to create them without issue, though you likely want to trend low accuracy with weight of attacks to increase their damage. The important thing to note is that their multi-attack and artificial damage output lets them concentrate melee damage far more than an equivalent number of creatures would be able to. Restricting how they may distribute attacks, like how the tyrannosaurus must target different creatures with each attack, lets you avoid this.

Like group turns, you’ll want to be careful about mixing in different unit types in a formation. This is a more severe limitation, as formations are mechanically a single unit, and mixing AC values or resource management is an enormous mess. Having abilities or attacks that shut off at health thresholds can represent individuals in the formation going down; additionally, the Leadership ability can represent an officer while spellcasting can represent an attached unit mage. The trick here is to make it clear that, mechanically, this character is part of the formation and cannot be independently targeted. Once you do, adding specialists, operatives, and attached casters to a formation is a cool way to add flavor to an enemy.

Or to justify a two-stage boss fight once a villain’s bodyguard is dead.

The Command action, as outlined in the minions article, is designed to sacrifice damage and action economy in favor of giving minions more variability. It allows them to provide auto-advantage en masse and to force tanking, something very difficult to do in 5th edition. This is broadly balanced against spellcasting available at 5th level due to the fact that animate dead is a 3rd-level spell and is the best guideline for mass-minion control the game provides. Spells like spiritual weapon and healing spirit all provide bonuses based on some sort of controllable or passive minions, providing the mechanical basis for bonus action commands and non-damage commands, and if you’re looking for new options for player commands (or ways to mechanize creative players giving weird commands), they’re an excellent place to start. That said, I would generally avoid straight damage as it’s more likely to scale oddly or break some of your encounter designs in a way that’s difficult to manage.

NPC Allies are the weirdest and hardest to balance in the Tools of War series. They’re drawing heavily from magic items, classes, and Powered by the Apocalypse playbooks to concentrate the experience of having an ally into a few, concrete abilities. While it’s hard to pin down rules for them, here are some guidelines.

First, NPC abilities represent total potential over the course of an encounter, adventuring day, or adventure. Don’t feel bound to how existing class features and spell structures work, but make sure that they don’t outshine player characters over the course of the campaign. Rest abilities should represent about two turns of successful actions or damage with associated resource expenditure. Long rest abilities should represent about four turns or significant expenditure of permanent resources. Passive abilities should represent the passive benefits of having another party member.

Second, NPC abilities can afford to bend or break rules the way that magic items do. Their abilities exist to outline a character and fill a role rather than be mechanically balanced tools that any player can try to manipulate. They can have spells that don’t fit the existing spell lists, perform martial feats that play fast-and-loose with existing class features, and mess with the battlefield and skill checks in a way players can’t. Players should never feel superfluous, but it’s fine if NPCs open up new ways of approaching challenges. Providing advantage to player checks in an area of expertise is almost always a solid passive.

Third, NPCs should never represent a straight upgrade over a player character. They should offer different, characterful ways of dealing with problems.

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Six infamous outriders in the service of King Lucan and Emperor Nicoforus the Pale.

The following serves as a grim dossier, detailing six unique non-player characters (NPCs) who prowl the shadow-haunted realms of Midgard’s Blood Kingdom. These villainous outriders are united by their allegiance to a sinister mercenary company known as the Band of the Twice Damned, a cruel and cunning cadre of elite vampire spawn and other denizens of the night led by the undead warrior Vilém Erzov.

If you’re a stranger to the Midgard setting, the Band of the Twice Damned can find a home in your own game world with the slightest modicum of effort. Rest assured, these horrific, headstrong characters belong anywhere they roam.

Scaling Encounters with the Twice Damned

The characters and creatures that comprise the ranks of the Band of the Twice Damned feature challenge ratings between 2 and 6, so gamemasters (GMs) should find them readily accessible for encounters throughout low- to mid-level campaigns. But that doesn’t mean the Twice Damned can’t give higher-level characters a run for their money as well.

You may find it somewhat difficult to scale these NPCs to 1st-level encounters without sacrificing many of the traits and abilities that make them unique, but you should run into very little trouble in your attempts to scale them upward for higher-level adventures. A few extra hit dice, a handful of minions, and a couple of interesting magic items can go a long way when it comes to balancing your encounters.

Dramatis Personae

Below are the members of the Band of the Twice Damned…

Žravika, the Mangler

Medium undead (vampire spawn), chaotic evil

A tangled mane of black hair obscures the feminine face of this imposing vampire spawn. A feral ferocity is evident in the bloodstains on her shredded garments and by her curious blood-soaked arsenal: a chain that dangles menacingly at her side, its far end fused to a rusty hunting trap. She lurches forward with a hiss, dragging the hefty iron trap along the ground before winding up the chain for a toss.

Hook and Pull. Žravika utilizes a crude and brutal arsenal to capture and savage her victims, including her supernaturally gifted claws and fangs as well as a bear trap hooked to a 20-foot chain. She almost prefers to snare her victims with the trap instead of her bare hands if only for the distress it seeps into their doomed and frantic souls. As Žravika is fond of saying, “Terror makes the blood taste sweet.”

Unholy Hunger. Žravika is nicknamed “the Mangler” by her allies because of the blood frenzy that drives her chaotic style of combat. It is a rare circumstance that a victim of Žravika’s is left whole enough to re-animate, and she is quite often drenched in blood after feeding. This untamed approach to battle is an effective one however—that is, when Žravika’s ruthless appetites don’t spook the quarry or needlessly hurry the chase.

Undead Nature. Žravika doesn’t require air.

Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 110 (12d8 + 56)
Speed 30 ft.

Saving Throws Dex +6, Wis +3
Skills Perception +3, Stealth + 6
Damage Resistances necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages Common, Darakhul
Challenge 6 (2,300 XP)

Blood Frenzy. Žravika has advantage on melee attack rolls against any creature that doesn’t have all its hit points.

Regeneration. Žravika regains 10 hit points at the start of her turn if she has at least 1 hit point and isn’t in sunlight or running water. If she takes radiant damage or damage from holy water, this trait doesn’t function at the start of her next turn.

Spider Climb. Žravika can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.

Vampire Weaknesses. Žravika has the following flaws:

Forbiddance. She can’t enter a residence without an invitation from one of the occupants.

Harmed by Running Water. She takes 20 acid damage when she ends her turn in running water.

Stake to the Heart. She is destroyed if a piercing weapon made of wood is driven into her heart while she it is incapacitated in her resting place.

Sunlight Hypersensitivity. She takes 20 radiant damage when she starts her turn in sunlight. While in sunlight, she has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks.

Actions

Multiattack. Žravika makes two melee attacks, only one of which can be a bite attack.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one willing creature or a creature that is grappled by Žravika, incapacitated, or restrained. Hit: 7 (1d6 + 4) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) necrotic damage. The target’s hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken, and Žravika regains hit points equal to that amount. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.

Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 9 (2d4 + 4) slashing damage. Instead of dealing damage, Žravika can grapple the target (escape DC 14).

Bear Trap Bola. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 20 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d4 + 4) piercing damage plus the target is grappled (escape DC 13).

Žravika’s Personality Traits

Ideal. “The greatest pleasures are derived from inflicting pain.”

Bond. “I thirst for the glory of the master.”

Flaw. “All living creatures are cattle and should be treated as such.”

Encounters with the Band of the Twice Damned

Whether presented as allies or enemies, there are many ways characters could come into contact with Vilém Erzov’s Band of the Twice Damned. Here are a few scenarios (both within and outside the Blood Kingdom) that could draw the party into a conflict or confrontation:

• The characters are soldiers in King Lucan’s army, training among the lower ranks of the Ghost Knights of Morgau. As part of their training, Commander Baleneus of Cantri Abbey has ordered the party to meet up with the Band of the Twice Damned outside of Heiderbirg. Here, they will collectively plan an assault against several barbarian tribes of the Wolfmark that have risen up against their vampiric invaders. Once the uprising has been adequately stamped out, the characters are promoted in rank by Commander Baleneus who stations them near Cantri Abbey for a new campaign alongside the Red Sisters.
• A wealthy merchant from the Free City of Jozht hires the characters to disprove a despicable rumor: that his offspring—a brash cleric of Thor named Magni Magnason—has not only fallen in battle against the dread armies of King Lucan but has been re-animated to serve their abyssal ranks in damnable perpetuity. With the name and last known location of the Band of the Twice Damned as his only leads, the elder Magnason offers the party a handsome fee to find his boy and either bring him home or put him out of his undead misery.
• The characters are all residents of a Blood Kingdom border town (such as Skogarholm, Lingenau, or the Obertal Freehold) that is sacked by the Band of the Twice Damned and allied soldiers in Lucan’s army. Instead of slaughter, the party members face a life of servitude to the Twice Damned. How they survive is entirely up to them…