A library is nothing without books. Some libraries hold but a few dozen tomes while others hold thousands. No matter the size of the library it no doubt has books on a variety of subjects.
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From the common wand of magic missiles to the awesomely rare and much coveted staff of the archmagi, rods, staves and wands can channel awesome power. Such items rarely appear to be nothing more than a tapered stick or quarterstaff.
Use this list, to determine the appearance of the item found by the characters.
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On what was once the lonely crossroads of two rarely used roads sits the village of Lady Cross, a tight community of stone houses surrounded by a high stone wall. Now a popular rest stop for travellers and merchants alike, Lady Cross is known for the heady spirits distilled in the village and sold at the local inn, The Lady’s Rest. Unknown to most, it is a different type of spirit the villagers fear—a sinister secret wreathed in foul treachery and hysteria that speaks to the darkness and greedy lurking in men’s souls.
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Wherever people come together to buy and sell, they also exchange news, rumours and gossip. Thus, marketplaces and common rooms are a great place for adventurers to learn more about the town, its surrounds and recent events. Not all the rumours they hear will be relevant to the party’s needs or have anything to do with their upcoming adventure. They do, however, enable a GM to create verisimilitude and depth to the party’s visit to the marketplace.
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Beggars, petty thieves and vagabonds are a feature of most settlements bigger than a borderland hamlet. Most such folk give powerful—and probably violent—adventurers a wide berth. A few, though, may approach the PCs for some—probably nefarious—reason.
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Gloya’s Bridge is a village swathed in secrets. Wearing masks and veils in the streets is normal, giving a chance at unparalleled anonymity and the freedom to indulge in a variety of entertainments with minimal restrictions. Those who want a second chance flock here, in no small part because an unconventional order offers a chance for criminals to leave their pasts behind and be recognised as reformed. Yet, not everyone has the will to reform or the patience to prove it, and the work of the Merciful Order is not enough for all the foes dogging some troubled souls. The offer of a new life for anyone is an important promise to many in Gloya’s Bridge, but the richest patriarch has designs on a new, firmer order. And deep below the surface, a conspiracy threatens to dim or even extinguish this beacon of hope as it gathers the hidden secrets of dangerous and troubled people who have come here from across the region.
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A monastery is far more than the sum of its buildings. Most monasteries feature surrounding gardens, a graveyard, outbuildings and the like.
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Sahuagin, the so-called sea-devils, are the bane of ships and coastal towns alike. Striking from their undersea kingdoms they raid the surface for slaves and treasure for their twisted religion or purely for the enjoyment of murder and destruction.
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Long voyages can be deathly boring, and sometimes the GM just glosses over the journey. Occasionally, pirates, sea monsters or worse intercept the ship, which relieves the boredom!
Other times, minor events of interest may punctuate the day, providing some light relief for the PCs and the GM with a way to add detail and verisimilitude to the session.
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The ghoul is a creature of nightmare for any adventuring group. From the packs of mindless, carrion-eating undead to the ancient civilisations deep underground, screaming adulation to their sheep-headed god Orcus, all ghouls have one thing in common. An eternal, gnawing hunger that no amount flesh can ever sate.
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Standing on the fringes of a vast and noisome swamp, Thornhill is a miserable, hard place of cloying mud, grasping thorns and insular, superstitious folk. There is a little cheer to be had in Thornhill; the few visitors describing it as dull and dreary as the surrounding swamps. For all that, though, a steady trickle of adventurers visit Thornhill for the half-buried and drowned ruins of several tombs said to lie forgotten in the surrounding marshland and the villagers have friends among the nearby degenerate lizardfolk who make excellent guides in the trackless, far reaches of the swamp.
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May is upon us!
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From well-dressed dandies to undercity scum you never know who covets your wealth from the shadows. Whether it’s through violence, trickery, misdirection or subterfuge they know a hundred ways to liberate gold from their victim’s pockets.
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Ruled over for centuries by the scheming, ambitious Lorsch family, Woodridge is little more than a backwater village standing on the eastern bounds of the Duchy of Ashlar. Standing astride an ancient, now little-used trade route the village is a poor, but seemingly peaceful place. Its folk tend their small fields, pay their lord his due and are content to be left in peace. But all is not as it seems. Spies lurk among the populace, and dark forces gather which would see Woodridge’s lord, Hilduin Lorsch, converted to their faith or dead.
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Ogres are generally stupid and brutish creatures, but they desire the safety and protection of a home.
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Sewers are noisome, dank places full of civilisation’s leavings. Such places are wholly different to a normal dungeon. Thus, it stands to reason, the dungeon dressing should also be markedly different. Use this list, to determine what minor piece of dungeon dressing the characters discover:
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The once quiet and quaint halfling community of Underdell rests along the Old Road near the Salt Mire. Steeped in tradition and idleness, the Underdellians found themselves unprepared to deal with the horrors of the plague outbreak in nearby Ashford. Terror gripped Underdell, tearing apart the strong bonds of family and friendship. Fear and paranoia took root in the halflings’ hearts as they tried to escape sickness and death. As Underdell falls apart, a vile halfling bandit has used the chaos to take control of Underdell, enforcing a strict martial law. As neighbour turns on neighbour, a group of bandits terrorize merchant caravans traveling through Ashlar, raiding with impunity and aided by a rich noble. The Underdellians, their smiles and laughter turned to tears and hopelessness, live in fear of another plague outbreak and the harsh punishment of the bandits who insist they are protecting and enriching the village.
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Havage, bestial creatures of rage and violence—minotaurs are terrifying enemies. Often solitary beasts haunting labyrinthine dungeons, or similar locales, they delight in hunting and terrorising their prey. Minotaurs are innately cunning—surprising given their bloodthirsty, atavistic tendencies—but employ straightforward, simple tactics in battle. Legends tell of their origins—of how the gods created them; most minotaurs, however, believe their roots to be more demonic.
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The characters are bound to discover all manner of trinkets and treasures while sacking an orc village. Use the list below to add depth and flavour to their looting.
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Nestled between desolate, windswept hills the village of Macrimei is home to a hard people. Dung fires warm their homes built from the ruins of an ancient buried city whose remnants can be seen in the tumbled stones scattered about and the massive red-hued obelisk looming over the settlement. The Red Obelisk, said to be home to Macrimei’s god, has attracted the attentions of a band of raiders led by an evil wizard, who dwells in a mysterious black tower and seeks to uncover the ruin’s buried secrets. Now, Macrimei’s villagers live in sullen fear as the raiders capture people from the surrounding area to dig a deep pit to intersect with the ruins below.
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