Let’s Make a Hexcrawl Setting

[Sanglorian]

I have a left-of-centre question.
One of the clever parts about the pre-3E saving throws is that they tell a new player, just by looking at their character sheet, what sort of challenges they might face: paralysation/poison/death magic, petrification/polymorphing, rods/staves/wands, breath weapons and spells.

What sort of saving throws would the Shrouded Lands have? Save vs melancholy? Save vs bewitchment? Save vs bureaucracy?

 

[Daztur]

I have a left-of-centre question.
One of the clever parts about the pre-3E saving throws is that they tell a new player, just by looking at their character sheet, what sort of challenges they might face: paralysation/poison/death magic, petrification/polymorphing, rods/staves/wands, breath weapons and spells.

What sort of saving throws would the Shrouded Lands have? Save vs melancholy? Save vs bewitchment? Save vs bureaucracy?

I love this idea and ideas in general that build setting fluff into the rules. Let's see, what would be the kinds of stuff that would require a saving throw that would crop up most often in the Shrouded lands:
-Melancholy (as you say).
-Curses (lots of those).
-Ennui
-Bewitchment
-Polymorph
-Confusion

That would cover the main ones.

 

[Sanglorian]

I love this idea and ideas in general that build setting fluff into the rules. Let's see, what would be the kinds of stuff that would require a saving throw that would crop up most often in the Shrouded lands:
-Melancholy (as you say).
-Curses (lots of those).
-Ennui
-Bewitchment
-Polymorph
-Confusion

That would cover the main ones.

Interesting, thanks Daztur. How would you distinguish save vs melancholy and save vs ennui?

 

[Electric Wizard]

45.18 Melikot

The human town of Melikot is notorious for its annual human sacrifice to Yith, the goddess of nets and lovers. It survives at the end of Geryon's Finger, a grey stone that emerges from the shore of the Keening Sea and extends a mile into the water, rising gradually until it points at the sky. Sosarian soldiers defend the town by manning Geryon's Ring, a fort that rises from the base of the Finger. Legally, Melikot is a vassal of Sosaria, but Imorcar the Many has trouble finding it on a map, and the cattle barons only visit the town for its steam baths, which are powered by the nearby leyline of fire. (44.19)

"Queen" Eylo rules the town, and like the queens before her, she upholds a savage custom from the final, decadent years of Bergolast. Every year before the rainfall, she sacrifices her husband to Yith and chooses a new man to become her consort for a year. When his time is finished, he too will be killed to honor the goddess. Kings live like spoiled children until the day they die. They are denied nothing, but are watched carefully in case they attempt to escape their fate.

Hooks
-Hale, a handsome 19-year-old, is Melikot's current king. He is actually an agent of the Temple Invisible, and is a key player in a plot that would give The Shuttered City control of the town. Ziwel, Geryon's Ring's garrison captain, sees through Hale's naive little brother act, and suspects Shuttered's involvement. He will reward anyone who manages to expose him.
-What happens when a king is not sacrificed, or he dies before his appointed time?
-Who or what is Geryon? Does Geryon's Finger have magical or mundane origins? Who built Geryon's Ring?
-Does Yith have faithful elsewhere?
-Tell me more about Melikot's bathhouses.
-What do the fishermen catch here?

 

[Sanglorian]

Hi folks,

I've had an idea. And my first attempt at this post explained why I thought this idea was a good one. But instead, I'm just going to throw it out there and see how people respond, and then we can dissect the idea later.

@Daztur: I've always wanted to know: "What is a seawig and why do eligible young ladies want it?" (Tenzerlins and Ghostas). Answer me that, in a hex entry, and you may challenge me (or another contributor) to answer a hook of your choice.

 

[Daztur]

I accept and will answer the challenge tomorrow as it is nearly midnight here.

As for melancholy vs. ennui, that is an excellent question. Perhaps ennui is more a condition of the mind while melancholy is a condition of the heart?

Edit: wait, I'm getting the glimmerings of an idea. Who were the people who lived in what is now the Keening Sea before that land was flooded? I'm drawing a blank.

 

[Sanglorian]

As for melancholy vs. ennui, that is an excellent question. Perhaps ennui is more a condition of the mind while melancholy is a condition of the heart?

Hmm, an interesting distinction.

Edit: wait, I'm getting the glimmerings of an idea. Who were the people who lived in what is now the Keening Sea before that land was flooded? I'm drawing a blank.

That would be Drowned Andara: http://shrouded-lands.wikia.com/wiki/47.11

(see also: http://shrouded-lands.wikia.com/wiki/51.12)

EDIT: And: http://shrouded-lands.wikia.com/wiki/43.12

 

[Electric Wizard]

Glad to see this is still going! Unfortunately, I made a mistake about Melikot's location. I wanted it to be at 45.18, not 44.20. I tried to edit the location in the Wiki, but I couldn't figure out how. Do we have to make an entirely new page, or is there a way around it?

 

[Sanglorian]

Glad to see this is still going! Unfortunately, I made a mistake about Melikot's location. I wanted it to be at 45.18, not 44.20. I tried to edit the location in the Wiki, but I couldn't figure out how. Do we have to make an entirely new page, or is there a way around it?

Too easy! First, log in to the wiki. Then click the down-arrow just next to the Edit button. Select "Rename" and enter in the new name. I've done it for 45.18.

 

[Electric Wizard]

Ah, thanks, Sanglorian!

01.03.02 Shrine of the Hilt

The Knife of Jarmond's hilt lies in a small shrine atop Mount Lorca, one of the clouded mountains surrounding Everdark. Alberon, in the form of a squire, commanded the archmage Vilenius Arkhouse to keep the hilt of the prophet's knife in a place shrouded by perpetual clouds. After extensive research, he found Everdark's current location to be the cloudiest place in the Shrouded Lands, and built a shrine to house the hilt. It is said that when sunlight touches the hilt again, it must be reunited with the blade and given to Alberon's new prophet.

The Temple Indivisible has made a plausible claim that the Knife of Jarmond contains some of Alberon's life. Therefore, it is a pseudo-form of Alberon. Since Alberon cannot leave The Shuttered City, they have declared Everdark to be a distant borough of Shuttered.

Every year on The Youth's Day, four young men from Everdark place the hilt in a ceremonial ark and carry it down Mount Lorca's treacherous paths to the town square. When it arrives, a festival begins. The King of Dogs is crowned at the end of the festival, and the four young men are sent off to find wives. After the farewell, four silent, cloaked figures appear and carry the ark back to the shrine.

Hooks
-Why was the Knife separated? Where is the blade?
-What will happen when Alberon has a new prophet?
-Has Vilenius Arkhouse "retired" from wizardry, or is the powerful archmage still meddling in world affairs?
-Has Alberon ever appeared in Everdark?
-What duties and privileges does the King of Dogs have?
-How often do the young men in the ceremony return to Everdark?
-Who are the cloaked figures that carry the ark back to shrine?