Let’s Make a Hexcrawl Setting

[Sanglorian]

CORIAN (The Shuttered City)

Inspiration: Designed to place the 5E adventure The Wizard’s Amulet in the Shrouded Lands.

Corian is a troubled apprentice in the Necromantic Office of the Shuttered City, the greatest city in the Shrouded Lands. Despite his training, flame and heat come more naturally to him than the animation of the dead or the touch of the grave. Only the absent-mindedness of his master has kept him from being expelled or reassigned elsewhere.

A few weeks ago, Corian came across a letter from the mad necromancer turned vintner Ranmore meant for his master. The letter revealed that Corian was the child of an Ossery woman who had died giving birth to him. Accompanying the letter was an amulet - Corian’s birthright. It would prove his identity and allow him to discover his heritage among the Osseries.

Corian’s master’s other apprentice, Vortigern, came across the letter and has set his heart on the amulet. He wants to learn Ranmore’s forbidden necromantic techniques, and intends to pass as Corian in order to learn them. To do that, he needs the amulet. He is accompanied by an imp and has mastered the control of zombies, dark magic which suggest that Vortigern has made a pact with Baron Autumn and abandoned the faith of Alberon. Perhaps he can be redeemed; perhaps not.

Corian is currently in The Giant and the Gnome, seeking companions for the trip to the Ossery homelands:

• Bannor is a knight of Thring, called by the Green Lady to her service despite his roots in the Church of Alberon.
• Belfin is a grim ranger from the Kingswood, determined to hunt down Brigadier Kalas Montra-brey.
• Cedric is one of the didgeridoo-playing, whale-watching druids of the Bitter Coast.
• Drebb is a disgraced dwarf from Titan’s Sull who bravely presents as female.
• Drinnin is an initiate in the Stern Way. His master is a stone giant who rarely talks.
• Farkle Hurp is a gnome and born and bred resident of the City, angered by the discrimination his people face.
• Flarian is an elf of the Timberlode with an inexplicable connection to Trimueil.
• Galdar is a priest of Alberon, commanded to stick to Corian by his superiors in the Church.
• Helman is a halfling of Jar Town.
• Krel is a changeling, a full-blooded orc raised by the long-suffering humans of Northburn Holding.
• Marren is a wizard of Jahur. Her familiar, seemingly a raven, is actually an ifrit trapped in animal form.
• Phelps is a thief who has stolen something from the Doge and needs to get out of town while the goods are hot.
• Warrid is a citizen of Ninbolm and a practicing illusionist.

 

[Sanglorian]

Before the Lords of the Sky (25.01)
An orc boychild - or girlchild prepared to shoulder the Double Duty - who feels drawn to great things can supplicate before the ikons erected to represent the lords of the sky.

These ikons, delicately painted with fine brushes and gilt with gold, depict many-tentacled, boggled-eyed, toothed and re-toothed beings staring at the viewer with a benevolent hunger. An orc might commit himself to the lords, begging them to come forth from the sky on their steeds of iron and light, burning the land, and making it fit only for the growing of potatoes.

Or an orc might commit herself to the lords, begging them to spare the Lands one more year, and give the orcs an opportunity to capture and hold the five fastnesses, push down to Grumluda and reunite the orc race under orc rule for the first time in history.

Either way, the lords of the sky will sometimes hear the begging and make a sign - an eye may blink out of the moon, or an octopus will be birthed by a cow, or all orcs will feel a stirring to stare at the skies.

Hooks

• Are the lords of the sky linked to Alberon’s Spear and Shield?
• Do the lords of the sky exist? Are they connected with the plane of dreams?

After the Lords of the Sky (27.01)
Perhaps an orc who is young and brash will see eyes, tentacles, teeth and ooze everywhere, even in the sky, but as orcs approach their maturity these things seem to say more about youthful vigour than they do about the mystical beings who guide the orc race.

Orc elders are inclined to retire peacefully to fortresses on mountaintops or huts built across ice-cold streams, like those found in this hex. There they can relax, needing only to fight off wolves and giant eagles, endure freezing temperatures and convince potatoes and berries to grow in the inhospitable terrain. There are no buttery shortcrust pies for these ascetics.

In return, the ascetics come closer to the lords of the sky. Vague whisps and flashes slowly coalesce into voices and fierce fire-winged orc maidens in horned helmets prophesying war. The orc elders return from their religious retreat reinvigorated for battle - if they do not die of exposure on the slopes.

The dead are eaten by vultures and crows, and so each vulture and crow is called “Grandfather” or “Grandmother” by the orcs and treated with the respect that they deserve. It’s even been said that in the throes of hunger and exposure, a vulture circling ahead might be mistaken for a orc maiden, and the cries of crows for prophecies of war.

Hooks

• Which theory about the lords of the sky is correct? Neither? Both?
• What other roles do vultures and crows play in orc culture?
• Can these fire-winged orc valkyries be summoned for war?

 

[Electric Wizard]

Runcitor's Redoubt 15.22

Sir Halmut Runcitor, a rogue half-orc knight of Thring, has not given into the despair of exile, and seeks to scrape together a holding in these wild hills with the help of his friend, the halfling druid Belinda Codd, and a handful of depressed retainers. As of now, his demesne includes an ancient watch tower without a proper roof and a few snake-infested acres. Life is hard. Belinda manages to coax some potatoes, maize and tomatoes from the parched ground. Attempts to drain a nearby marsh (16.23) led to the grisly deaths of two retainers.
Runcitor projects a chipper attitude maintained largely by his enchanted flask of endless wine that keeps his followers toiling another day.

When examining the site around his tower, Runcitor discovered a score of overturned colanders similar to those in Jar Town (16.20). He took great effort to right them, despite Belinda's protests, and he awaits the annual rain. Belinda believes that any rain they catch will be afflicted with a dire curse. Runcitor will hear none of it, and their disagreement has put a strain between them.

Neither Belinda nor Runcitor know that their sad little home lies in the middle of a veritable snake library. Many of the book-snakes let loose during the massacre (16.23) that did not fancy the marsh life slithered here, and their descendants are being hunted to extinction. Each asp or cobra their retainers spear for their meat and hide is another chapter of knowledge lost to the world.

Hooks
-Why was Runcitor exiled? Why did he choose this area to settle, of all places?
-How did he get a flask of endless wine?
-Why is Belinda here? What is her history with Runcitor?
-Are the colanders the same as those in Jar Town? What will happen when they are filled with water?
-Who is angry about the book-snake massacre?

 

[Electric Wizard]

The Fisherspiders (7.16)

Here, waterfalls issue majestically from a cliff-face and spill into a lake. But not even the thirstiest venture towards them for a drink because they swarm with enormous spiders. Their webs entangle birds and beasts that are subsequently entombed in silk and devoured. None of the spiders are as large as the results of Severard's experiments, but they are ferocious enough to strike fear even in Snickersnees.

Recently, howls of inhuman agony have haunted the lake and forest at all hours. A troll named Lud was searching for a lair and found himself trapped in a web. The spiders gorge themselves on his flesh, but his regeneration will not grant him death. Locals believe a vengeful spirit haunts the lake, and are calling upon heroes to banish it. Lud is carrying his treasure, which consists of gold, silver and gems wrapped in a curious green cloak shaped like a manta ray. It allows its wearer to breathe water, and once a day, transform into a manta. A paladin of the Green Lady who dons it may purify water and speak with all aquatic creatures. Unfortunately, the cloak also gives paladins mild euphoria, which helps them cope when it begins transforming them into a manta ray.

Hooks
-Where did these spiders come from?
-Who else have they eaten?
-What is the source of these waterfalls?
-Where is Lud from?
-What is the cloak's history? How did it come into this troll's claws?

 

[Electric Wizard]

St. Birgit's Spring (12.18)

When St. Birgit roamed the world, performing wondrous deeds for the Green Lady, men often accosted her, begging for her hand in marriage. She was desired because she was a miracle worker, a niece of Duke Ulthar the Loved, and a true beauty. But she had to rebuff every suitor because the Green Lady ordered her to marry only a man from beyond the Bitter Sea.

Though St. Birgit was cool with her suitors, she did fall for a knight who wrote odes to her green eyes. He nearly romance her in this glade, but St. Birgit remembered the Green Lady's command. Mad with frustration, she lifted her fingers and granted the knight the part of her he adored most - her eye. Her horrified suitor tried to clean the wound, but found no water. Hearing his cries, St. Birgit struck a stone with her staff, creating a mighty spring. He washed her eye socket with the spring water and the bleeding ceased. The anonymous knight is believed to have kept her eye.

Today, St. Birgit's spring lies within a defiled temple. In the anarchy that followed Gore's collapse, Dead Tiamat cultists seized the temple and fouled the waters with sacrificial blood. The cultists are few in number, but they defend their temple with illusions and misdirection provided by a deranged alumnus of the Indigo Academy (5.24).

Hooks
-What else did St. Birgit do? Did she ever marry a man from beyond the Bitter Sea, or anyone else?
-What became of her plucked eye?
-What is the cult up to? How did they manage to hire a gnome from the Indigo Academy?
-Can the spring's healing properties be restored? How?

 

[Daztur]

Any others?I’ve been looking through Shrouded Lands for things that would make good Non-Weapon Proficiencies 2ed style. Here’s what I’ve found so far:
-Butcher: not sure what thing one should do, but want to include it.
-Didgeridoo, Giant: the ability to play a didgeridoo made out of a hollowed out redwood tree and speak to the leviathans.
-Dwarven Drumming (can be used to send messages by sending reverberations through the earth).
-Earth Whispering: or should this be a school of magic?
-Eelmistress: can train electric eels to discharge electricity.
-Elevation/Depth Sense: the ability to sense how far above or below sea level you are, very useful in the City of Shuttered Windows.
-Shadowed Ballet: what mechanical benefits here?
-Song of Dust and Flame: if not included as a class feature, this could cover gnollish pathfinding songs.

Any others?

 

[Sanglorian]

Any others?I’ve been looking through Shrouded Lands for things that would make good Non-Weapon Proficiencies 2ed style. Here’s what I’ve found so far:
-Butcher: not sure what thing one should do, but want to include it.
-Didgeridoo, Giant: the ability to play a didgeridoo made out of a hollowed out redwood tree and speak to the leviathans.
-Dwarven Drumming (can be used to send messages by sending reverberations through the earth).
-Earth Whispering: or should this be a school of magic?
-Eelmistress: can train electric eels to discharge electricity.
-Elevation/Depth Sense: the ability to sense how far above or below sea level you are, very useful in the City of Shuttered Windows.
-Shadowed Ballet: what mechanical benefits here?
-Song of Dust and Flame: if not included as a class feature, this could cover gnollish pathfinding songs.

Any others?

What fun!

The Grey Comedy could produce a few, perhaps Juggling, Stage Magic and Animal Taming.

Forked Tongue (http://shrouded-lands.wikia.com/wiki/Forked_tongues) might qualify as a NWP too.

How about Curation or Collection, given that one of the leading figures of the Lands is the Collector?

Giant Beekeeping, Chandlery (for the creation of wax golems), Numinomancy (http://shrouded-lands.wikia.com/wiki/Numinomancy), Bargaining (with supernatural entities), Cry Nothing But Gems, Sad Storytelling, Wedded to the Green Lady, Ranching (http://shrouded-lands.wikia.com/wiki/Cattle_barons_(Sosaria)), Plague Doctoring, Goliard, Shroomwine Vintner, Shadowstepping/The Pilgrim's Way (http://shrouded-lands.wikia.com/wiki/Dust_Men - not clear that it's the same thing as the Shadowed Ballet), Stylites (doesn't require much - patience and balance!), Lamplighting (maybe), Windseer, Bird Superstition (http://shrouded-lands.wikia.com/wiki/Simone's_Aviary), Astrology.

One question I return to quite often is how best to emulate the Shrouded Lands in a roleplaying game. My current preference, I think, is for Dark Dungeons/Rules Cyclopedia. I think you could also do a satisfying job with 5E, though. In either case, I'd swap out the skill system of RC/5E with NWPs - I might write up some of my own and we can compare, Daztur!

Another interesting one could be Beyond the Wall, because it uses a small number of classes but has lots of playbooks to reflect different origins. So snickersnees and knights of Thring might both be fighters, but they'd be created from different playbooks.

 

[Sanglorian]

One thing I like about how much we've done on the Shrouded Lands so far is that I can go away and research what's been written, and get some interesting and extensive results. I'd appreciate it if you checked out these two wiki entries:

• Nobility
• Spellcasting

They're a couple of thousand words each, compiling what we know so far and reflecting on what it might mean. Are mages and wizards the same thing? What are the criteria to be called a lord or lady? How many spells have been described so far?

 

[Pillsy]

Holy (Night) Cow! I'd sort of lost track of this a little while after it moved from RPG.net, and now there a staggering number of posts. I can't wait to get caught up.

 

[Daztur]

Holy (Night) Cow! I'd sort of lost track of this a little while after it moved from RPG.net, and now there a staggering number of posts. I can't wait to get caught up.

Oh, wow, great to see you pop up on this thread. I hope you like what we've done with Thring, it's one of the most developed regions now.

I've been really busy over the last year setting up my small business (the good side is, it's gone really well, the bad side is that a small business going well means lots and lots and lots of work) but I really have to get back into this. There's just so much gold here.

From the original thread, I was able to get chutup posting quite a bit here for quite a while, Sanglorian and I kept it going and we have had a few excellent new posters like Electric Wizard.

What I've been planning to do for far too long is make some localized Gazeteers about some specific areas. If you want to get caught up we have this thread (of course) some PDFs that are a good bit out of date now and a wiki.

If you read through the first few pages are the weakest as they're pretty random stuff in the NW before we really got the groove going, so if you don't like the first few pages just open up a random later page to get a more Shrouded Lands kind of feeling (the kind of off-kilter melancholy that drives the setting).