Lightning Bolt. Classic staple. My understanding of electricity is that it will arc to the nearest point of access to reach the ground. Therefore, a line 60 feet long is off the believability scale for me and allows me to have a little bit of fun with it. Such as the question of what happens when you cast it under water!? For the simplicity of consistency, I am perfectly happy saying “it is magic” and still functions as a line. On the other hand, if you are completely submerged and cast it … I am inclined to think you just created a lightning ball centered on you! If you were to say, stand at the edge of the water, and cast it into the water, I feel like that might turn it into an inverted cone (or perhaps just a hemisphere). Now, we all know that electricity likes (most) metal, and there are even spells like shocking grasp that gain power against targets with metal. Therefore, if you were to cast lightning bolt and thread the needle between some metal armored targets without hitting them, I might just opt to partially zap them at the expense of shortening your line. I do now think that it could be fun to have a metamagic feat that lets you pinball a lightning bolt (if there isn’t already an option/spell to do so) around. Then you can give your armor wearing allies some resistance and use them as lighting rods … literally.

Fireball. The other classic. Fire is hot, I mean, it is fire. But how hot is enough to burn skin and cause damage? I am pretty sure it has to be over 120F because some fevers can get that high and they don’t burn the skin (other dangers aside). Water boils at 200-ish F (not going to search details, remember!) and that will do some solid damage if you stick your hand in there. Based on various media, dragon’s breath can melt metal, and some metals require temps of 1,000F or more. Fireball starts at 6d6 (3rd) and reaches 16d6 (8th level) which is 1d6 more than an adult red dragon’s breath. When you account for weaker spells that do fire damage, such as produce flame and burning hands, I think we should assume that the 3rd level version is more than hot enough to boil water, right? Normally, we use fireball out in the open, where the heat it brings can be neglected, heat rises, and so it is quickly out of sight and out of mind. Inside, I will often point out any heat damage to nearby objects, but likewise assume that the temp normalizes rapidly … but I also haven’t had anybody cast a fireball in an enclosed space before … which brings me to my next spell in the water fun-for-all. I claim that a proper fireball, of any level, is going to boil the water it hits. If you target a koi pond you are going to have some seared fish lying on dry ground. Now, in an open ocean or large lake, I think we can assume a similar dissipation to our open air idea and not worry about the lasting effects of the heat … but I am still curious about some things. Water that hot should steam, right? What have we learned about the Bermuda Triangle from all those UFO theories? That’s right, gases released from the ocean floor can make things less buoyant than they normally are! (Don’t fact check me, I am having fun.) Therefore, if you were to fireball somebody (or even just below) that is underwater, I would likely say that in addition to boiling them, they would also descend to the bottom of the sphere as though falling during flight!

Gust of Wind. This one actually has me on the fence. “A violent wind issues forth from your palm …” If started out of the water, I think I would just have it stop at the water’s surface, or perhaps alter direction/angle to continue along the surface. The issue here with casting underwater is that the water’s density would likely cause the air to bubble up (I think). Or it might just make an awful lot of bubbles (not unlike what i think a fireball would do; only without the heat). Because we are using magic and a magical violent wind seems like it should at least do something, and so perhaps a half-strength hydraulic push seems like a valid option? Again, the option to just say “magic!” and let it happen is there, but using an air spell underwater is just begging for alteration.

Hydraulic Push. Because I discussed Gust of Wind, I wanted to take a beat to point out why Hydraulic Push doesn’t need alterations in my mind. When cast on land, you basically firehose somebody. We have all seen videos of it, it makes sense. While we could modify it when underwater because the other water would technically get in the way more than air, for some reason it just makes more sense for a water spell like this to be full power under water.

Invisibility. I am not so much on the fence here as I am just as happy with changing it underwater as not. Water makes light bend and wobble and stuff, so it totally makes sense to me that an invisible person or object would cause some sort of weirdness when viewed underwater. At the same time, the illusion tricks your eyes on land, so it should underwater, right? The displacement, though, is where I flop back again … you can see an invisible person moving through smoke/fog … so you should see the “bubble” of not water where they are, right?

Obscuring Mist. This one is all about making mist (water droplets) to obscure vision. I can easily get behind this working underwater by creating air bubbles in the water instead of water bubbles in the air!

Levitate. Yeah, I would totally make an underwater target of levitate start to rise at a speed as though they were falling with feather fall.

Gaseous Form. This is one of those ones that could go a couple ways. I wouldn’t argue a GM noping me from using it. I also can see shooting up to the surface as a lighter more buoyant substance than water. But then, there is particle man … does he get wet or does the water get him!?! I think I would let the spell happen but basically treat your shape as a water elemental until you leave the water.

Cone of Cold. Let’s end this discussion with the opposite of fireball. The damage is (I think) the same when you heighten fireball. For simplicity, let’s say the temp ranges to damage conversion are the same just on the opposite sides of freezing and boiling. When you cast above water and hit water, I envision it like super heroes and cartoons that freeze water to surf/slide/skate across it as they move. The water just freezes out from impact, deep enough to possibly stand on depending on how much contact and how much damage. But more importantly, I *really* think a full power cone of cold that is cast underwater should encase your foes in an iceberg … just saying.

Tune in next time for the exciting conclusion of how the Crimson Evoker intends to teach our twin adventuring wizards all about lightning bolts and fireballs … IN WATER! (For real, no bait and switch on the topic next time.)

Thank you for following along! Please join us at our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj to let me know what you think or to simply have a chat!

The doors swung open, much quicker than the wizards had intended, and slammed into the walls. The twins looked at each other with surprise and awe … surprise that the giant stone doors were almost weightless and awe at the sight and sounds before them. They have studied magic for years, traveled all over to gain different insight, but never had they seen the splendor of the domed water arena. The sound of the doors echoed back at them multiple times as the sound bounced around the open room, the 100 yard circular pool doing nothing to lessen it. As they stepped forward to the water and looked down to see the underwater coliseum style stadium, their instructor hissed at the echos, twisted his wrist in a quick spell that stopped them, then spoke to his assistant “Please make another reminder for the custodial guild to please put doorstoppers at all four entrances.”

The pool is exactly 100 yards across, perfectly circular, with 10 feet of pebblestone surrounding it. The walls are all smooth plaster, water proof, with murals painted all the way around that depict the various magical lessons that are taught there. The building is domed, initially 10 feet high at the outer edge (the four doors are aligned with the compass and are all 8 feet tall), the dome rises to 50 yards above the water in the center.

The dome above, a honeycomb of tinted glass, sparkled in the afternoon sun and provided more than ample light to see the entire arena below. Tarlaya started to kick off her shoes while her brother Lartus began to take off his cloak. They had both set down their gear on the ground to undress and The Crimson Evoker (aka Rewton Redcloak), having dismissed his assitant, walked over and simply pushed them both into the water while they were off balance. They both cried out in surprise, and then as they surfaced, it became panic. They flailed around for nearly 30 seconds, neither knowing how to swim, before Rewton said simply “Stand up.”

In naming Rewton Redcloak as “The Crimson Evoker” I have just decided that it is canon for all graduates of the Caldera Magical Academy to be given a moniker by the faculty … and yes, I love Full Metal Alchemist.

Embarrased, the twins stood in the knee deep shallows of the pool, then stepped out and awkwardly stood there for a bit before Lartus asked “Does this mean the session has started?” Rewton kept his stern look for an entire minute, he had to count it out because he wanted to laugh so hard, before he finally broke down and said “Yes, of course.” before smiling and continuing “To be honest, I wanted to kick your gear in but I wasn’t sure if I could keep it all dry and didn’t know what you might have in there!” he finished with a laugh. Relieved, the twins waved their hands over themselves to magic away the water which, once it all landed on the ground, it flowed gently through the pebblestones to the water. As they dried themselves, Rewton magically floated their gear away from the water and against a wall, where a locker rose up from the floor and opened to accept the gear before then closing and receding out of sight.

The floors are pebblestone for two reasons, and if you grew up with a pool you just might know why. The water can easily run through the cracks/grooves back to the water without creating puddles, which means that you can walk on it easily without fear of slipping on a wet surface or a puddle. I also originally was thinking about lockers and seating and tables around, but this place is primarily for training in the water, so I figured it would be a waste. And when you get into the physics of moisture in a room like this, a sun lit dome as well, non magical materials become a hassle, so I devised the force locker pocket spaces as a solution.

“Ok, I knew that water was a weak spot for you, but I didn’t realize it went so far as an inability to swim. When you approached via flight, it didn’t even occur to me that you couldn’t swim! Anyway, my schedule is full and I don’t want to dilute our training with swim lessons, but I will reach out to Swell, the Aqua Warlock, to see if she can fit you in this week.” Rewton turns toward the door as it opens, seeing his assistant lead a custodian into the building. “Zap!” he calls to his assistant, “These two need to get in Swell’s next class.” he finishes, and then waves his assistant off on this latest task. He turns back to his twin pupils “Ok, I know you are experienced wizards, but I am not making any assumptions about your background, training, or knowledge. We start from basics, and we start out of the water casting in.” he walks up to stand between the two of them. He then lifts a leg twists his body a little, arm behind him, then steps forward, flinging a flat rock he didn’t have a moment before, skipping it across the water. “Let’s start with telekinetic projectile, and how solid objects interact with the water’s surface.”

Hey, I made it a point that guilds are everywhere, right? While Swell is a low level azarketi witch, who really just enjoys the teaching experience (both magic and swimming/diving), how scary would it be to be told you were taking swim lessons from “The Aqua Warlock”!?

They had paid Rewton for 10 lessons, over 5 weeks, not realizing how intense the course would be. They had heard of the water arena, it was why they came, but they just hadn’t processed what the training would be like. Tarlaya had envisioned something like an outfit made of bubbles so that she would move and breath without getting wet while Lartus just hadn’t given it much thought. After their first lesson was simply skipping rocks on the water and throwing spears into the water, they joked (in their room at night) that they could have paid less for a fisherman to teach them. To ensure they didn’t waste any more time out of the water, they took their swim lessons seriously. They spent the next 3 mornings in a shallow pool under the tutelage of Swell, with a bunch of children, learning to float, then dog paddle, and finally swim. They spent their evenings experiencing life in the city.

I mean, seriously, you fly to this amazing city to learn magical water combat and you aren’t going to take in the sights between lessons?

They step up to the water for their second lesson. Tarlaya asks “Are we changing into our swimwear today?” to which the Crimson Evoker laughs “Oh … no. Ha! You need to be able to swim and fight and cast in your most awkward clothing. Surely you don’t expect to be traveling the world in a swimsuit!” he hops into the shallows, purposely splashing them both. “Get in.” he says as he walks a couple of feet and then steps down, so that the water is up to his waste. “Today, is much like last week.” he pauses as the twins look at each other confused. “You need to be able to perform simple evocations and conjurations, maintain them, and walk and attack … all with the weight the water that is soaking into your clothes and dragging at your feet, knees, waist, and arms as you move about …”

We gloss over underwater combat in our games with simple “take this feat” rules, but actually being able to move your body to do simple things under water can be scary hard if you have not practiced and trained for it. And swimming (mostly) naked is a far cry from swimming clothed.

They did not go out that night. They were exhausted by the added strain that moving through water caused, let alone what it did to their spellcasting ability. Again, not wanting to waste their time and money on this trip and this training, they spent the next couple mornings swimming with Swell, but these days they practiced casting while doing so. Rewton was happy to see that they were actually putting in the effort and impressed with how quickly they mastered the third lesson, which was neck deep water and simple swimming while performing the same simple casting tricks. For their fourth lesson, he started off by saying “Today is a dry day, at least to start.” as he summoned a force locker and retrieved a series of wands from it. “This one here”, he holds a wand with a zigzag pattern out to Tarlaya, “will allow you to summon bolts of lightning, while this one here,” he hands a charred wand with a fire motif on it to Lartus “will let you summon balls of fire.”

Tune in next time as we find out how the Crimson Evoker intends to teach our twin adventuring wizards all about lightning bolts and fireballs … IN WATER!

Thank you for following along! Please join us at our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj to let me know what you think or to simply have a chat!

This entire topic started by me bringing up the fact that I wanted to figure out what sorts of magic was considered more important in each of thee regions, and then figure out what their training might look like so that we could figure out how they were trained, by whom, and what their preferred “weapon” of choice is … re: staves vs wands. Funnily enough, I started this before the Advanced Player’s Guide (APG) came out and even mentioned wanting to wait for it before discussing witches … and now I want Secrets of Magic before I discuss summoners, magi, and whatever else they are going to drop on me. Setting that aside, here is where I have landed on training in the basin outside the Caldera, but, before I can really dive in, I want to address another world building topic that I have purposely left vague up until now.

The setting we are building here in Groundbreaking is a single region, Marathis’ Cradle, that is somewhat isolated from the rest of the world due to the topography of the land. The sort of wizard academy that I am touting Caldera Magical Academy to be really would require a location that has access to “international” trade: goods, ideas, money, students, and more … I want this place to be a premier, top of the competition educational system, with hundreds of low level (cantrips) students and scores of mid-high tier casters (5th+) on campus at any given time. As we have gone out of our way to point out the lack of frequent interactions outside the Cradle, we should really account for this level of magic training and education.

Future episodes will cover the outside world, and even the planet itself …

But for now, we are sticking with the magical education of the Cradle at large, beyond the Floating Campus. Wizards. They love their books. They love to study. They love to be boring right up until they blow something up. (Ok, not all wizards, but go with me here.) Pick any other caster (maybe not cloistered clerics) and you will find somebody that does not want to be cooped up … and wizards know their strengths and like their cushy assignments, so when the academy expanded and grew, they all sorted out a system that worked for everybody. All magical educational locations contract with the Caldera Magical Academy and operate as a satellite location that employs local staff and educators preferentially, focusing on teaching and researching magics that are good for the region.

This current arrangement is far from the first pass at trying this, it took many years of trial and tribulation before everything settled down and all the towns and cities (and the people therein) became comfortable with such a wide reaching network of spell casters. During this transitional period, one of the changes that is now considered almost a core aspect is the unionization of the faculty. Originally, the contracted campuses were taking funds and not properly distributing them … and it didn’t turn out well. A byproduct of the unionization of the faculty was that ensuring a union instructor was qualified meant the founding of a magical licensing body. While you are required to be licensed to teach anywhere in the Cradle, you are not required to be licensed to use magic, but many guilds like to get their employees licensed when they can to use it in contract negotiations. Thus far the amount of double dealing with licensing agents or completely fabricated licenses has proven to be minimal …

Ok, stepping back to the thousand foot view of what we have just created, let’s see if we have accomplished our goal. We have a massive magical educational system that is focused in the only metropolis in the region. To account for the number of casters we have in play here, we have limited the educational systems outside the metropolis to satellite locations that are focused on arts that are specifically tie to or useful to that region. Instead of outside teachers there, we use locally sourced talent that has been licensed and contracted to ensure a minimum level of reliability and mutual respect. This should cover the focus of magical training in one primary location while giving us a bunch of various sites that we can expand upon at our leisure to continue the debate of identifying where you were trained and as well as “weapon” of choice.

Let’s take a quick look at some of the more interesting options you might have for satellite assignment/location/training.

• Dreamer Campus The gnomish dream caverns are still their own school, but they have worked out an arrangement for transfer/exchange students. Illusionists and oracles are the majority of those that try to get in and although the selection process is lottery based, there is a competitive element and it. gets. tense.
• Flooded Covens If you were really interested in the occult tradition and wanted to get first hand experience (beyond simple calling/summoning in a lab) you would likely put in for a coveted spot with one of the covens that operate out of the swamp near the ancient flooded city of The Misty Ruins.
• Gorge Tower This “campus” is usually the shortest attended training location. It is a simple hundred foot circular stone tower (classic wizard tower look to it) with an aerie at the top that opens out over one of the highest points of the gorge in the south-east region. Their speciality is flight.
• Molten Forges This is more or less just an apprenticeship, but it is with the finest dwarven smiths and crafters of Tar’Urzeft. Clerics and wizards looking to become crafters are likely to request assignment here, but the quality demanded of the dwarves often sends them into other career paths.
• River Drake Fire Brigade The farmlands have many grain silos, mills, and just generally a lot of things that can burn and will burn fast and dangerously. If you are a crazy daredevil, have a knack for bonding with drakes, or happen to be good with water magic … then you might just get recruited. As much as most people think they are flooded with applicants, when it really comes down to it … casting spells atop a drake while flying through fire isn’t really something one dives right into. With many cities trying to lure them away, they currently can’t train recruits fast enough.
• Treetop Campus If you want to focus your magic on the primal tradition, working with or even becoming a druid, you will likely get a transfer here in the northern forest.
• Don’t worry, I have plenty more where these came from … can you think of any?

To break stride here a second … I just finished watching the 4th season of My Hero Academia and I am doing everything in my power not to incorporate something like that here! If I were still doing Terraforming, I would probably just run with it.

Thank you for playing along at home! Please join us at our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj to let me know what you think or to simply have a chat!

“What, you’ve can’t swim?” asks the instructor. “Well, soon enough you will be able to cast at least one spell under water before you need to come up for air!” the instructor beams. “But … but …” the student stammers, “I’m a fire mage …”

This time on “What Aspect Of The Caldera Magical Academy Are We Talking About” I think we should go ahead and take a look at the core layout of the academy, physically and training wise. I have mentioned a couple times in the past that the layout is that of a central spire surrounded by a ring (or rings) of towers. Well, I am finally going to make a call on this, and I am going to just go big (don’t wanna go home). We are going to have 3 concentric rings of towers that surround the central (and tallest) spire.

The first is going to contain 4 towers … sure, this could be called a square, or a diamond, but the pathways from tower to tower in circle creates a ring (as seen from above). These four towers are going to represent the basic “alchemical” elements of fire, earth, air, and water. These towers are the shortest, as they represent both an introduction to the magical arts as well as a little bit of grounding the arcane with some basic alchemy. This is done by way of extensive learning of magical components and their substitutions (and the other “mundane” bookwork). Much of this early education is meant to both provide a solid foundation and to weed out those that aren’t committed to learning/memorizing the sheer volume of knowledge needed to perform wizardry at the highest levels. Most students find themselves questioning their decision after their 1st month, but those that can complete the first semester can often find comfortable guild work. Many that make it through the first year but decide they just aren’t cut out for more are usually able to find decent work as an alchemist.

The second ring of towers contains 5 (nope, not a pentagram) that represent fire, earth, metal, water, and wood. These towers stand twice as tall as the inner ring, but only half as tall as the spire, and are where students begin to learn how magic interacts with nature. While most students spend a year or two in the inner rings, some with a knack for can skip parts (or all) of the early education to work with the primal parts of the education provided in these towers. Caldera Magical Academy takes students from all backgrounds and teaches all traditions, and so this ring is where most of the non-traditional wizards spend most of their time and receive most of their education and training. While on the surface it seems that this is the “primal” ring, it goes well beyond that by taking the base elements from the inner ring and adding finesse to elevate them. This is where a lot of the “mixed” elements or “inverted” magics are taught and mastered. What is ice but water with no heat? Those that master ice are usually a master of both water and fire (drawing heat out of the water to freeze it) but can also be master of water and air (the ability to use air pressure instead of heat/cold to change water to ice).

The third ring represents the classic 9 schools of magic. The towers stand taller than the inner two rings, with 10 floors each, and arch toward the central spire. This is where the classic arcane wizards are trained. The bottom floors are mostly used for common training (non-classic wizard casters), with the next few focused on “general school knowledge”, while the upper floors are reserved as home and study for specialists. While the towers have 10 floors, they don’t correspond to spell level, but are more or less:

• Ground Floor: Basics / General School Knowledge
• 2nd Floor: Cantrips / Specialist Introductory
• 3rd Floor: 1st Level Spells
• 4th Floor: 2nd Level Spells
• … and so on …
• 10th Floor: 8th Level Spells

While the lower levels are organized much more like schools (or trade schools), once you hit the 4th floor the number of students drops off drastically, and the rooms and spaces are much more open and designed for experimentation and practice. There is only ever one instructor shared across the top 3 floors (5th-8th spells), another shared across the next two (3rd-4th spells), a single instructor for the 4th floor (2nd spells), and a varying number of instructors on the bottom two floors as dictated by attendance.

As you would expect of a magical academy, there are illusions and abjurations everywhere. From safety nets for those practicing flight to veils that keep all the goings on hidden from those outside the grounds, magic is everywhere. Especially in the ground and supports that hold the campus on top of the water! Not only did it take a lot to raise and hold the ground in place, but it continues to take upkeep every year to avoid a collapse or other disaster. But, being on the water does provide one unique aspect of training that not many other places can boast … an underwater arena! Technically, there are two domed arenas on campus, each offset from the spire such that if one were flying above and squinted, they might look like the dots to the outer circle’s yin/yang. The arena closest to the city is an above ground arena where most public ceremonies are held, while the arena out furthest on the water is actually the air bubble above a water-based arena, designed to train casters how to work with water.

Ok, well, I think we covered a lot of ground in regards to describing the physical structure and the basics of what each of the primary buildings are used for- there are many little sheds and other buildings around the grounds that connect to the various towers at ground level (or below). I want to stop here because I am honestly not sure where I want to go next with this… be it more detail on training or perhaps the organization/faculty, or somewhere else in the region entirely …

Thank you for following along! Please join us at our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj to let me know what you think or to simply have a chat!

“And what about you?” asks the clerk. “Fire Suppression and Forge Maintenance” answers the young ysoki sheepishly. “Ahh, FSFM is what made me the man I am today!” the clerk exclaims proudly as he hands over a sack of supplies and clothes to the recruit. The ysoki does her best to not to stare at the clerk’s prosthetic fingers but can’t help notice that the remaining parts of the hand were very clearly damaged in some sort of fire.

Randal here, back again to continue breaking ground on our Caldera Magical Academy. Let’s dive right in. In a master and apprentice system of education, you don’t have a lot of overhead. Scale up to a small schoolhouse, and historically, villages often had a single teacher for all the children. Once you start scaling up beyond that, you run into a need for support staff. Mix in the fact that you are working with magic, and you need a more uniquely qualified support staff … which means more magically educated people … which leads to training more students. The cycle continues on. I have previously made the assumption that cantrips are common in Marathis’ Cradle, and that fey in the lake area are known to teach children, and last time I straight up said that fey are commonly seen as familiars in the area now. With that in mind, we are treating cantrips as the “norm” for “technology” in the Lakeside Proper region. Fish vendors keep their fish on ice created through cantrips, for instance.

This is where my brain takes a slight detour into a conversation had on the KD Discord about a lamplighters’ guild. While the core purpose of the Caldera Magical Academy is the pursuit of magical knowledge … those pursuits take place in the bigger towers, away from the common areas, by students who have proven to be truly gifted with magic. Their studies are years long, exhausting, and expensive. Therefore to subsidize their training, the academy realized they needed another source of income. Thus began the push for common cantrips to be trained to the common people, which are then organized into various guilds for public works and services. While these guilds are staffed by apprentices, the academy’s council learned early on that the common population has a love-hate relationship with magic. They love it, but they can’t do it, so they fear it, and they hate that they fear it. When they find out that they are being helped by an “apprentice” … that fear kicks up a notch, because how do you trust somebody with magic if they are still learning it!? Therefore, they decided to organize their students into guilds as a simple way to gloss over the fact that they are still apprentices.

The academy almost functions like a small city on its own. Part time students and Day Staff (those working the common areas or with the guilds) generally live off-site and arrive and leave as needed. Tower Staff/faculty (those involved in the more serious and long term magical education) are given quarters onsite to accommodate their frequent and lengthy hours of work/study. For most people passing through, or even those living or working at the academy, looking around any given common area would feel just like looking around any modern college … but with magic and fantastical creatures.

Before we dive into the magical training aspects, let’s take a brief look at some of the day staff guilds at the academy that help to make Lakeside Proper the magical fantasy city on the water that it is. This training, and these positions, are designed to teach simple magic by applying it to maintaining a “progressive” society. It is educational and civic minded in a way that teaches members to help others while showing the public that magic can be helpful rather than destructive. Other than the fact that they employ magic, these guilds are essentially common laborers plying their trade to pay off their education. Most of these guilds are chapters or branches of larger guilds around the region that act as a conduit for apprentices to move on to more permanent roles in their communities.

Ferry and Foundation Guilds. What started out as apprentices moving through the city in flat bottomed boats to inspect building foundations for rot, grew and then diverged. In the early days, popular guild members like the lamplighters, often received tips, while the out of sight types, like the foundation fixers would not. Some of the lamplighters learned that shortcuts to their tasks could be make through the back alleys, and so they would often use some of their tips to bribe foundation fixers into ferrying them. As the practice expanded, the academy needed to put a stop to it because foundations were being missed or skipped, but the fact that there was a source of income available hit home. The ferry guild was thus created as a separate entity from the foundation fixers. Today, foundation fixers are often engineering students taught water, earth, and wood magics to clean, seal, or repair the stilts and posts that make up most of the city’s foundations. The ferry guild is mostly made up of  water and air specialists (to manipulate currents) … but many start out unable to use magic and simply rely on their poles. Many ferrymen of the southern farmlands might want to come here or got their start here.

Fire Suppression and Forge Maintenance Guilds. While they are two separate guilds, these two groups train together and often trade shifts with each other on a regular basis. So much so, that most folks just call them themselves FSFMers. When you live on the water, fire isn’t quite as common as other places, and also easier to put out … but working with fire is still a difficult thing to do and some people just can’t handle the heat. Certainly useful in the farmlands!

Icemakers’ Guild. Again, I have briefly mentioned ice once or twice. While there are some non-guild members that have the ability to freeze water, the guild has specialists that can make ice of varying size, shape, and opaqueness. They have also work with a local carpenters’ guild to make ice boxes. While useful everywhere, for some reason, this is pretty unique to Lakeside Proper. Only the wealthy employ an icemaker outside the Caldera.

Lamplighters’ Guild. As mentioned previously, many locations around the city are lit up at night by magical street lamps. Light is a simple cantrip, one of the most common in use, but also one of the most under-appreciated. Like most guilds, most members are simply students doing their time in the guild to master the particular craft before moving on in their training. Some, however, are specialists that can do things with light magic that goes above and beyond the simple cantrip, such as altering the color or emulating different times of day (as opposed to simply “bright light”). Part of the completion of the course is to create a light crystal, which is then added to the city’s “light crystal grid” … this is how the guild manages to light up so much of the city with so few lamplighters.  While the city pays for the main roads to be lit, some of the richer citizens pay to have their block or favorite park lit up at night. Most other major cities have non-magical lamps on their streets.

Lumber Guild. This guild start out as a partnership with the local logging consortium many years ago when the lumber became scarce in the region. It is from this relationship that the current logging industry was ultimately able to spread throughout the region and the source of some of the early mechanisms and inventions that allow logs to be brought from the northern forest all the way up to the caldera! Locally, they mostly ensure that the logs hauled up the mountain are properly maintained for maximum quality and distribution while working with the sawmills to ensure that usage is maximized and waste is minimized. This involves knowing how to cut logs better as well as finding buyers/uses for any pieces that are leftover after a project. 99% of lumber is from the northern forests, all regulated in some way through the guilds.

I did not start this piece with the intent of going on about the guilds more than the school itself … but my mind grabs a thread and just keeps pulling at it. Next week we will hopefully look at the purely educational/magic side of the academy and see what we can come up with. I can’t guarantee that, though, as I also keep thinking about the structure and amenities of the floating campus …

Thank you for following along! Please join us at our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj to let me know what you think or to simply have a chat!

Last time (which happened to be “Episode #50”!!!) we were discussing plans to figure out where and how the various types of casters in the region could go for training as well as what that training might look like. I was originally going to start by looking at the type of education that a “proper” wizard college would look like in Lakeside Proper. While rereading my short notes, I had some thoughts that made me change most of what I had in mind for the city.

As the hub, it is the most metropolitan, and thus likely to involve more social aspects than any other educational systems in the region. Located on/around the water it will have some unique water related aspects. Wands are more likely to be used for “proper duels” as a staff would be seen as cumbersome and “primitive”.

This original thought was based off the idea that the waterfront city would be the cultural center of the entire region, making wizards somewhat more common and respected, thus the idea of students being public servants as part of their education, to give some sort of sense of using their magic for good. Plus, it is fun to think that the main streets are lit at night by apprentices walking around at sun down to cast light. And with a more “proper and educated” way of doing things, it seemed somewhat akin to a Harry Potter feel in the education of wizards, which led to the wands vs staves angle. At least, that was where my head was at when I wrote that blurb last time, which brings me to where my head is at now … and boy are there some differences.

First and foremost, I had forgotten to incorporate two of the foundational aspects of the area … fey influence and druidic oversight of logging and building. While I can imagine a wizardly education in the presence of fey that takes itself serious … I don’t really want to! Also, if druidic approval is required for building and logging, then it is most certainly going to effect how the use of magic is allowed to effect nature. In my mind, this combination of fey and druids is going to give us a some social and elemental views of magic. Not only does this new take seem very different, if not the opposite, from the proper magic school … it also seems to me that staves would be as popular as wands, if not more so. That might be a bit premature, as I am not sure I laid out the details for why that makes sense, so let us walk through the various ways I would like to implement this school.

I want the academy to be on the “open” water. Originally, I was going to place it along the edge of the “shelf” giving it a nice view of the lake and likely be in one of the nicer districts. But the more I think about it, I want it actually on the water, a truly magical and wondrous construction feat. Plus, an old home brew city I used to use had something similar and I would like to get it back (I don’t use that world anymore; and a lot of GMing and world building is knowing what and how to reuse ideas). This gives us a lot of room to explore some of the premises we have set out with combining fey, elemental/druidic, and arcane arts. We don’t need to get into the details of the construction now, other than simply claiming it to be a combination of engineering (struts, supports, flotation) and magic (stone shaping, controlled growth, material alteration).

Since I am “borrowing” my old ideas, I am going to say that the building itself is a series of rings of towers arranged around a central spire. This central tower is the common space: lodging, offices, libraries, etc. Spaced evenly around the spire are towers representing the elements … depending on your preference for elemental options, you could go with 4 (air, earth, fire, water) or 5 (fire, earth, metal, water, wood), and at this junction I am not 100% on which yet. To be honest, it only popped into my head and I want to think on it more. I am actually considering adding another ring, so that we have a 4 element ring and a 5 element ring. More on this later when we actually design the academy. Outside the elements, the largest ring will be comprised of 9 towers, one for each traditional arcane school of magic.

Ok, we have a basic foundation of the size and “wings” of the academy, as it were. We have a place where we can learn about all the different aspects of magic from tradition to school to element to philosophy and a series of libraries and labs for study. I see this as a true cross discipline place of learning, where primal casters can be just as at home as arcane (occult and divine should fit in too, but are less of the focus based on premise of wizards and druids and fey). In a city built on the water, where the foundations (both the stone shelf and the wooden supports) can be quite the problem if not maintained, I think this is the perfect avenue to introduce our apprentices (going to call all new academics apprentices for now; can revise when we deep dive into the academy) into the public servant role.

I have already mentioned that I like the idea of apprentices walking the streets at sundown and casting light spells at intersections or major thoroughfares (as opposed to maintaining lampposts or torches), and I intend to keep that. In my old blog from before my Know Direction days, I wrote about magic items that I thought would be fun to have at 1st level, and one of them was a special receptacle for casting light, and if you made them in batches and placed them close enough together, they would daisy chain the light spell. I will be bringing that concept forward. Every day, just before sundown, the major streets and other areas designated by patrons of the academy, are visited by apprentices that cast light spells on strings of light crystals so that they area remains lit until sunup the next morning.

We have touched on the fey influence a couple of times, and it dawns on me that I need to reread the blog and make sure I properly documented where that comes from. Super short recap, there are tiny fey that live in the region and play with kids because they are only visible to children. But, for our current purposes, it is very common for apprentices (young and old) to take on fey tutors, and many often stay on as “familiars.” Normally, such a fey presence is likely to cause any number of silly shenanigans or other problems, but the prominent social status of druids in the area keeps them at check, at least ostensibly. (I mean, we gotta leave room for fun plots and other game elements, right?)

And, now we are on to the druidic aspect of the academy. Primal magics, especially those favoring the water they live on, and the wood and rocks that make up their foundations and buildings, are going to be important in upkeep. While newer apprentices are charged with simple things like lighting, the more advanced students will be tasked with maintaining the various supporting structures (both living and non-) to ensure they the water, weather, time, and other unforeseen elements do not degrade the city’s foundation. This results in a common sight of academy students (with or without an instructor) either wading through or pushing a flat bottomed boat or canoe through the shallow alleys of the city to inspect, repair, and report what they find. The use of poles to push help walk in the often uneven shallows, or push themselves on their mini barges, brings us full circle to the staff vs. wand debate. It would make quite a bit of sense for students to learn how to build and maintain a staff since they are likely to spend a year or two in this type of role … having your casting focus in hand when you potentially fall or get attacked is a pretty good idea.

Next week, we will dig more into the actual academy itself, so let’s summarize what all these meandering thoughts gave us as a foundation:

• Socially conscious (students as public servants)
• Maintain fey aspect (tutors, familiars)
• Multi-discipline (all traditions welcomed)
• Visually and physically inspired building
• Prominent position in society

Thank you for following along! Please join us at our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj to let me know what you think or to simply have a chat!

Just over a year ago, I wrote a post about how my personal switch from 1st edition to 2nd edition wasn’t going to change my overall plans for this blog. Until recently, I think I have done a good job of keeping my content rules light, focusing on the lore aspect of everything. And by “until recently” I am referring to the Eidolon Summoner Dedication archetype that I wrote, followed by the Patron Summoner Dedication that piggy-backs it. I bring these up to show that I am enjoying 2nd edition so much that I am constantly coming up with new and cool ways to expand the game for myself and my group(s). When I wrote those archetype feats, I didn’t even think twice about how to fit these new rules into a 1st edition package, telling myself that the summoner already exists so there wasn’t much need to worry about it (even though I wrote this for the Eidolon angle and not for the Summoner aspect). The truth is, I have left 1st edition behind completely, and am not looking back.

World building is about lore, first and foremost. Where are you, who is there, what are they doing, why and how are they doing it. When you are writing purely for the sake of writing, then you need not look further. However, when you are writing within the framework of a game, you need to keep that framework in mind. If you intend the lore to be interacted with during the game, you really need to remember that. The lore that I wrote about the aquatic kobolds was fun, and I plan to revisit them soon, but as I kept that bit as strictly lore, there wasn’t more I needed to do. I really wanted to write up a kobold ancestry (not knowing one would be in print so soon) along with multiple heritages around their aquatic and cavern lifestyle. If I had done so, while keeping in mind that I was saying edition neutral, I would have needed to include rules for both 1st edition and 2nd edition. Kobolds existed already for 1st edition, but I don’t recall any aquatic options. They weren’t in 2nd edition yet, so I would have had to write it from the ground up (which I actually did for a home game I was running). If I wanted to have the lore for the area that the kobolds were mentioned in, and try to include the rules for both editions, I would have had to make some concessions.

1. The most obvious is that it was all extra writing, taking up more space, and requiring extra work to ensure that it was readable and the two different editions were easy to access/read without confusing you about which is which. Generally, I keep my posts here above 1,000 words, but usually below 1,200 (an easy number I could meet weekly; and just carried over when I cut back because I cut back due to free time constraints). Would I split the content into two posts, one for each edition? That gets sticky about tying the lore to one and not the other … do I do a lore post and then two edition posts? Nah. See, overthinking it. I would likely either write less, or cut things out to try and even things between the systems. Nobody wins there, and cutting content or writing less than what I want isn’t fun! BTW, if you want to see a master of game write and release content for multiple systems, Owen K.C. Stephens does an amazing job of this (for 4 systems!) with his 52 in 52, go check it out here!
2. Which leads me to my next concession … fun! We are writing this lore, and building this world, because we are having fun and it is enjoyable. I am so wrapped up in 2nd edition, that I have actually forgotten a lot of the 1st edition ruleset, and I don’t care to recall it, to be honest. Let’s say I whip up a new Kobold ancestry and heritages for 2nd edition. I would then have to spend time, 30 minutes, and hour, or more trying to figure out what already exists for kobolds in 1st edition before pointing to it or writing new content, which would then require more time to lookup similar content to make sure I remember how it is supposed to be formatted. I already don’t want to do 1st edition, so it would take longer as I distract myself with other things … it is not fun. For me. For you (to read my half-hearted attempt at a 1st edition parallel).
3. And my last concession is about … time. Regardless of the size of your world, or the reason for doing it (homebrew, paid work, fun blog), writing takes time. Creating new lore, and making sure you don’t step on your existing lore, takes time. Some people have more time than others, and that is to be expected. If you have been following since the beginning, you will notice that I started doing this every other week, but was having so much fun and had the time that I stepped up to weekly posts (granted I alternated with Terraforming; but it still applies). Recently, I have had very little time … and unfortunately, I will be taking a little bit of a hiatus as I work out some issues with my free time (by-products of moving). I won’t be able to write blog posts for two months or so (at this point I think I will miss my next 4 slots).

What does this have to do with world building? My hope is that I was clear enough that world building is a labor of love, that takes time and dedication. To improve the quality of the time you spend, you need to focus on the things you enjoy the most, or at least find a way to latch on to those things while you write. Sure, a purely lore blog is great, but if you are trying to tie the world to a game world, you might need to buckle down and make some choices.

What does this have to do with Groundbreaking specifically? Going forward I will be focusing on 2nd edition Pathfinder so that I can have more fun while providing more useful content. It will be much more useful to be able to simply open to a blog post and use the material directly, instead of trying to figure out which parts fit your system, or flesh out parts that I left undone to avoid choosing a system (or worse, only half developed to keep my work load down).

What does this mean going forward? When I return from my hiatus, I will be picking up where I left off. Spellcasters and how they are trained. With the news that Magus and Summoner will be playtested ahead of the Secrets of Magic book, I have a good chance of being able to include them in my plans as well! Additionally, I will be starting an effort later this year, or perhaps early next year to go back through Groundbreaking and revisiting all the various bits to ensure I have them properly done within the 2e ruleset (the early rumors stuff was a hybrid of 1e and 2e playtest skill checks). Also, I plan to start including more info when I do quests and such, so that they are much easier to grab and play, and I might just include more usable rules like the Eidolon Summoner archetype.

Take care, my friends, I will see you again in a couple months, rested and ready to sling some spells (and also to carefully duel with some magic). Please join us at our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj to let me know what you think or to simply have a chat (I will still be around)!

“No, no, no, no … that wand will not do. You have an affinity to air, get something a little lighter.” suggests the wizened gnome behind the counter. “But I want to burn things during my finale, not knock them over!” complains the student Dolf, much too inexperienced and impulsive to even know to ask why. After taking a second to size up the young man, the gnome decides to do the headmaster a favor. “In that case, you are going to want one of these fire staves. Not only are they preconditioned for fire spells, but you can alter your spells simply by changing the volume with which you use the command word ‘forzare’ so you only need the one command word for all your fire spells!” the gnome finishes a genuine smile on his face. Seeing the excitement on the old gnome, the boy’s imagination takes over as he grabs the staff and holds it in a few poses whispering ‘forzare’ as it blasting a foe.

Hello, and welcome back to Groundbreaking. I had originally planned to write up some rules for expanding wands and their usage, but my kids decided that they had other plans for me all weekend, so the time I needed to spend rereading spells, wands, and other stuff slipped away. As I try to keep the process behind the world building a part of this blog, let’s dive into the thoughts I am having in regards to expanding magic via wands, staves, and more.

Throughout my weekend, I had numerous chunks of downtime where I wasn’t able to do much but sit (or lie) and think. I spent a lot of that time thinking about what I would like to see done with wands and staves in 2e, and in addition to alternate wands (or alternate wand usage) I kept coming back to treating them kind of like fighting styles … sometimes like champion blade allies, sometimes like druid orders, and other times like monk stances. The more I thought about it, the more all of this reminded me of some world building I did back in the DnD 3rd edition days. Back then, I wanted to separate the sorcerer and wizard in a more thematic way than simply studied vs. innate. I was riding the high of a sorcerer class, but reeling from the fact that it was still fundamentally the same thing: arcane caster + familiar. There was a supplement that I latched on to (but can’t recall anymore) that replaced the familiar with a staff that leveled up (a precursor to Pathfinder’s arcane bond).  I was in the middle of some world building at the time, preparing for a campaign, and was creating some NPC mentors for the player characters in the game. I wanted to showcase the difference between a familiar and a staff, and I wanted all the NPCs to know each other by reputation, and that was the spark I needed.

“Look at this staff!” beams Dolf, as he shows of his new purchase to his pals. He turns it on one of them and shouts ‘FORZARE’ as he channels his meager talent through the weapon. Everybody jumps back at the unexpectedly large flame, surprised that Dolf had been able to command such strength. Before they can praise him, they see the headmistress approaching from behind him and scatter. He turns nonchalantly, twirling his new staff clumsily, and smiles like a cat with a mouse. “And you said I wouldn’t amount to much, that I would fail, that my parents were wasting their money on me!” he chides her. “Well, their money has just ensured that I am powerful enough to pass the finals!” he finishes, laughing without a clue. “Forzare, forzare … where have I heard that before …” she muses as she does her best to not roll her eyes at Dolf’s clueless admission of cheating. “Duh, ‘forza’ is ignan for furnace and ‘zare’ is infernal for force.” Dolf rolls his eyes. “How *did* you become a wizard!?” he mocks.

Wizardry is all about the study of magic and its applications. It takes years to master it. While there are legends and tropes galore about isolated wizards in towers, there are also stories about wizard academies that include multiple teachers to cover the various disciplines. Sorcerers (as well as bards and witches) are likely consulted in the educated quest to devise a spell, complete a ritual, figure out a sigil, or simply try something different. That means you need to network, which means you need to know who else is out there, what they can do, and how good they are at it. Additionally, wizards all have an arcane mark to distinguish them by, and schools always have mascots, so I wanted to make sure that part of the identification process could pinpoint where one was trained. At the time, I felt staves were more wizardly than familiars, likely due to Gandalf, and I saw sorcerers more akin to witches, so I made the decision that in my homebrew only sorcerers could have familiars and only wizards could have staves. From there, I broke it down such that identifying required various Knowledge skills, depending on your affiliation and the affiliation of the person you were trying to identify. Knowledge of animals helped in identifying possible mentors of sorcerers while knowing various carving patterns and wood choices improved identification of wizards.

So, how does that inform my decisions for Groundbreaking? Huh? Shout out your answer! Well, you two are both wrong, but you, in the back, you are pretty close! First, we need to figure out who teaches magic in Marathis’ Cradle. Also, I want to address what it means to teach and learn magic. In the older editions, this conversation was strictly about arcane casters, primarily wizards, but not any more. Bards spend a lot of time studying, cloistered clerics can as well, arcane sorcerers can use spellbooks, and witch familiars *are* spellbooks. If you get crafty and hang with an alchemist, I am sure you will study together … and let’s not forget how easy it is to mix and match all of this via archetypes. Pure source of potential aside, methods of learning have always been subjective … working well for some but poorly for others. Who’s to say a blaster arcane sorcerer that can’t read or write won’t learn to maximize her potential by learning the physics behind the elements she is pushing around? Why shouldn’t a purely sigil based conjurer meditate with clerics to get in touch with his feelings to better communicate with the entities he summons?

I believe that a society with magic would produce casters that either benefit the community as it is, or attempt to hold that community to ideals that it espouses (either good or bad). To that end, we are going to look at the types of communities found around Marathis’ Cradle to put together a list of potential educational systems. I want to make sure I don’t step on any lore that I might have previously created, so I am going to spend the next two weeks rereading the blog and cataloguing any references that will be pertinent to this discussion. It is late, and I need to get to bed, so I won’t be doing any of that now … but with that in mind, here are a couple core concepts that I expect to discuss as we move forward with this topic.

“What do you mean I failed? So what if I burned a couple books!? I don’t care if I couldn’t create fire for as long as the others students, the fire I did create was bigger and better than everybody’s combined! Do you know who my parents are!? I’ll know the dean … personally!” Dolf continued ranting well after the headmistress left. She now sees why he had to fail, but his family could make a lot of trouble for the school … perhaps she should make sure.

Regions Within each region is a distinct subset of our society that will inform magic users based on how they interact with the world around them and how they interact with each other. We have gone around the Cradle numerous times discussing various topics already, but this time we are going to come up with a couple generalizations related to magic usage and then create a place where each type of caster can go and study their craft. I am going to spitball some ideas below to give us a bit of direction (and remind me to do my research) for next time.

Caldera As the hub, it is the most metropolitan, and thus likely to involve more social aspects than any other educational systems in the region. Located on/around the water it will have some unique water related aspects. Wands are more likely to be used for “proper duels” as a staff would be seen as cumbersome and “primitive”.

North While the dense forest is most likely associated with the druids and rangers, there are cities that are governed by other groups of people. Instead of a stereotypical elven city (which I believe I haven’t mentioned elves much at all) I think it would be fun to have some duality with a proper city neighboring a commune of sorts, built around competing wizardly schools that are polar opposites in regards to nature vs. “progress”. I would expect more intricate and higher quality wands and staves to originate from here as they compete for and with natural beauty. I envision more nature based theming of spells, not sure about wand or staff combat use yet.

East The desert. Well, I think I should finally think about a settlement or two that aren’t underground. Although, I will certainly have some words to say on dwarven rune magic … and I already mentioned the Gnomish Dream Caverns and their illusionist college (I think). I am thinking that I should have a school that teaches magic related to the astrology and a school that teaches magic related to astronomy. Perhaps “school” is a strong word here. A cabal of astrologer witches could suffice. Perhaps just one old wizard with the world’s biggest telescope takes on apprentices every year? Unsure about wands or staves here …

South The farmland is going to be very community based, but in a completely different way than the big city. Travel magic and transmutation magic are going to probably be specialities far and beyond things like enchantment or illusion would be in a metropolis. Here, you are more likely to be trained by the local hedge mage or witch, or perhaps a traveling bard, than you are to attend a proper academy. I don’t see a lot of wands in a place like this, as a staff is extremely practical as a tool (comparatively). Honestly, I see this as being the source of more familiars than anywhere else. Minstrels likely abound as well.

West The secretive nature of the swamps, mists, and hidden valleys pretty much screams for witches to be the staple in this region. Perhaps I need to wait until I get my hands on the new APG before I finish my thoughts on how I think a predominately witch based magical academy would operate, and what sorts of combatants they would produce …

“It has been some time, hasn’t it?” the headmistress asked, standing in the doorway to the shop. “Nostell …” the gnome replied, letting her name linger in the air as he continued stocking shelves out of sight, “… it has been far too long, has it not?” Nostell sighs as she steps out of the light of the sun, refocusing her eyes in the shadows within. “Why him? Are you certain?” she asks, calmly, be with a seriousness that hints as concern. “Yes” replies the gnome, simply. “He cannot be allowed to graduate. I have seen to it. Do not interfere.” he commands the headmistress as he continues sorting tomes, still out of sight. She steps passed a bookshelf, then another, looking for the gnome, but not wanting to find him. “But, the last time… the boy never …” she begins, but is cutoff. “You asked for my consult on your students, you have paid my fee, and I have rendered my verdict.” he snaps a tome closed, and the sound echoes heavily … “Now see yourself out … I must prepare to meet potential apprentices for the coming year …”

If you made it this far, I hope you enjoy casters as much as I do, because we are going to have some fun with them! If you don’t, well, thank you are reading and being a good sport! As always, please continue to join us at our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj.

He ran from the pens screaming. Guards stopped him to ask what was wrong, but before he could answer, they saw. They shoved him aside and armed themselves, only to be savagely ripped to shreds. Blood and gore splashed his face, causing him to scratch himself in a frantic attempt at cleaning himself. When he saw the remains of the guards, his screaming returned, as did his fear. He fled again, this time out of the building and toward the tree line. The shadow of the creature kept pace with him for a split second, as if daring him to run faster … he did. He left the clearing that his organization was using for their “research” and barely slowed as he tried to find is way through the unfamiliar forest. He realized that there might be a reason they teleport apprentices in … that it might be trapped, or worse. He only had a split second to ponder that before the reality fell out from under him … just as the ground did when he ran off of cliff and began falling towards a river below.

Welcome back to Groundbreaking. Randal here, finally taking that dive into providing some more lore for RoRawr and “Ida Lone”. If you enjoyed the Eidolon Summoner dedication (Groundbreaking – The Return of Ida Lone), stick around (or jump) to the end, I have decided to have a little bit more fun with the Pathfinder 2e rules involving archetypes.

He had been abused growing up, bullied and pushed around, and taken advantage of at academy. He had been misled about the post that he signed up for, told that it was theoretical research. Once on assignment, the cycle began again, but this time there was no place to hide. When he finally realized what it was he had been tricked into doing, he snapped, and ran. As he fell from the cliff, watching the water rush up towards him as he tumbled awkwardly head over heels, he realized that this fear, panic, and flight was just a temporary schism to protect what little good was still in him, to allow him to continue his fight to make the world a better place. He was about to smile at the thought of how complex and wonderful the brain was when he hit the water and lost consciousness.

I had originally wanted to use a duskwalker, as I like the theme of returning from the dead and bringing another spirit with you, but it turns out that there are two reasons I don’t want that here. First, I have already used a duskwalker and should probably branch out a little (the guardian of the stairs Groundbreaking – The Secrets of the Stairs). Second, I wanted to tie the stories together a little bit tighter than just some previously unknown entity coming back from the dead.

He awoke on a gravelly bank, wedged between a couple large rocks, his head just barely above water. He tried to stand, but couldn’t place his feet below him. The pain almost blinded him. He managed to pull himself out of the water to about his waist, but in trying to roll over the pain over took him and he blacked out again. When he awoke again, he was dark. He lay there, still in pain, too tired to get up still. He saw at the moon and realized that its location in the sky meant that morning would come soon, but he had no way of knowing how many nights he had been there. His feet were still in the water, but his shirt was dry from the chest up. It was then that it dawned on him, not only could he not feel his feet, but he couldn’t pull them out of the water … in fact, he couldn’t move his legs at all.

He spent the next few days fighting to find hope. His magical talent, while above his peers, was still limited due to lack of training and lack of spellbooks. He was able to fetch some food from nearby bushes and water from the river, and build a fire to warm up and keep predators at bay while he continued to plan and search for a way out. When a pack of trollhounds found him, he assumed all was lost … but put hope in one last act by tumbling into the river once more in hopes of washing up out of the reach of those creatures that would have surely eaten him alive. Time after time he went under as he fought the current with only the use of his arms. Finally, darkness overtook him.

He saw a light approaching, a white ball of light in a void. As it neared, the light split apart, becoming three lights of different hues. “Who are you?” he asked. “What is this place?” he queried again. The lights replied, speaking in an echoing unison “Our time is not up. You saved us, now we save you. Your time, our time, is now one. We are now one. We had other names, just as you. Shed Roger and wake up as Ida.”

And thus Ida was born, a witch with the Patron Summoner class archetype.

Patron Summoner Dedication – Feat 1
[Archetype] [Class] [Dedication] [Witch]
Not all witch patrons are mysterious and unknown, working through a familiar.  You know the True Name of your patron and are capable of manifesting your patron when you need their assistance.
You do not gain a familiar, instead you gain an eidolon. This functions as Eidolon Summoner Dedication with the following changes. Any witch abilities that required a familiar now require your eidolon, such as preparing spells. Any ability or feats that would have effected a familiar now effect your eidolon, such as Enhanced Familiar. Even when not manifested, you may still commune with your eidolon to prepare spells or use powers (if needed).
    Special If you take this archetype at 1st level, you start with all the benefits, and you must spend your 2nd level class feat on this dedication.

Eidolon Rider – Feat 4
[Archetype]
Prerequisites Eidolon Summoner Dedication
Your bond with your eidolon has made you able to think and move as one. Your eidolon gains the mount special ability and you gain the Ride feat. Your eidolon can carry you if it is your size or larger, but must be at least one size larger than any other rider. If your eidolon is not at least one size larger than you, it can only use its land speed and it can’t move and Support you on the same turn.

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But then I was sad, we had no eidolons, and APG isn’t out yet (not that I have confirmation we will see an eidolon in there, mind you). I spent all of my writing time, as well as all the time it took to get my kids to bed, thinking about how I would write a 2e summoner. After going around and around, I realized that being a summoner in 1e felt disjointed to me. Were you a beefy conjurer or were you the master of an eidolon? So I spun around and around with the 2e mechanics before I decided that I felt a 2e Summoner should really be focused on the eidolon. Champions, Druids, and Rangers have animal companions that scale up (with the help of some feats) and can branch out depending on class and feat choices. What is an eidolon but a summoned animal companion?

Well, I couldn’t get this out of my mind, so I went ahead and did it. I present to you, my Eidolon Summoner Dedication … along with a bunch of feats to make sure you continue to have some fun with your eidolon as you progress in level. I figure we are going to get one in APG, and I wanted to see if I was even close to how they handle it, and since I can’t drop this online after and claim I was right, now is the time! 🙂

Eidolon Summoner Dedication – Feat 2
[Archetype] [Dedication]
Prerequisites trained in Arcana, Nature, Occult, or Religion; possession of a True Name
    Eidolons are willing souls or sentient essences from beyond the material plane, contacted so that they may be called forth when needed. You gain the Manifest Eidolon focus spell, a focus pool of 1, and access to the Rejuvenate Eidolon downtime activity.
    Special Obviously fantastical variants of animal companions, they follow the rules for animal companions (page 214) with the following changes. They have the summoned trait. When you regain your spell slots for the day, your eidolon regains all hit points and removes all conditions except the Banished condition, which it decreases by 1.

Manifest Eidolon – Focus 1
[Concentrate] [Conjuration] [Somatic] [Verbal]
Cast [A][A][A] material, somatic, verbal
Range 30 feet
Duration sustained up to 1 minute
    You manifest your eidolon to assist you. If your eidolon gains the dying condition, it is instead dismissed and gains or increases the Banished condition by that same value. You may dismiss your eidolon as per Dismiss a Spell.
Heightened (2nd) Duration sustained up to 10 minutes
Heightened (3rd) Duration 1 hour
Heightened (4th) Duration 8 hours
Heightened (5th) Duration until the next time you make your daily preparations

Banished (Condition)
When your eidolon has been banished, it loses some of the connection to the material plane that you provide it. This works just like Drained, except that if your eidolon reaches Banished 4, then your link is severed and you must spend a week of downtime to recreate the bond.

Rejuvenate Eidolon (Activity)
[Downtime]
You spend a day of downtime bonding with your eidolon through ritual. This reduces the Banished condition of your eidolon by an additional 1 when you next prepare your spells.

Eidolon Armor – Feat 4
[Archetype]
Prerequisites Eidolon Summoner Dedication
    When you manifest your eidolon, you may instead create a stylized suit of force armor, granting yourself an armor class bonus and temporary hit points. You gain the effects of mage armor at the same level as manifest eidolon as well as temporary hit points equal to your eidolon’s remaining hit points. Any temporary hit points you lose count as your eidolon taking damage, and when it reaches 0 hit points, it is Banished.

Enhanced Eidolon – Feat 4
[Archetype]
Prerequisites Eidolon Summoner Dedication
    You infuse your eidolon with additional magical energy that is usually reserved for familiars. Each day, you may select one familiar ability or master ability from the following options: all familiar abilities, lifelink, spell delivery.
    Special This feat may be taken multiple times.

Bonded Eidolon – Feat 6
[Archetype]
Prerequisites Eidolon Summoner Dedication
    You have learned a bonding ritual to strengthen the ties your eidolon has to you. Your eidolon is now a mature animal companion (page 214). In addition, your eidolon never attacks you, even if it is magically compelled to do so.

Quick Manifestation [F] – Feat 8
[Archetype] [Concentrate] [Metamagic]
Prerequisites Eidolon Summoner Dedication
    Your bond is such that you can call your forth your eidolon faster than before. If your next action is to manifest your eidolon, reduce the number of actions to do so by 1.

Eidolon Suit – Feat 8
[Archetype]
Prerequisites Eidolon Summoner Dedication, Eidolon Armor
    You have become more adept at wearing your eidolon. When wearing your Eidolon Armor, you may spend an action to change into the form of your eidolon. You are your eidolon in all ways except that you retain the ability to speak and you use your own hit points (and temporary hit points from Eidolon Armor). This action has the concentrate trait.

Chimaeric Eidolon – Feat 10
[Archetype]
Prerequisites Eidolon Summoner Dedication, Bonded Eidolon
    Your bond is so strong that you can summon forth and bond an additional willing soul. Choose an additional companion type, making your eidolon a chimaera of all the companion types it has. For each additional companion type, your eidolon gains an additional melee attack and speed type, if applicable.
    Special You may take this feat up to two times. Each time, choose a different companion type.

Anchored Eidolon – Feat 10
[Archetype]
Prerequisites Eidolon Summoner Dedication, Bonded Eidolon
    Your bond continues to imbue your eidolon with growing power. Your eidolon is now a nimble or savage animal companion (page 214). In addition, your mount cannot be sent back to its home plane by effects such as banishment.

Broodmaster – Feat 12
[Archetype]
Prerequisites Eidolon Summoner Dedication, Bonded Eidolon, Anchored Eidolon
    With your bond more stable, you are able to fully bond and manifest a second eidolon. You gain a young animal companion as another eidolon, using half your level to determine its stats.
    Special You may take this feat twice.

Specialized Eidolon – Feat 16
[Archetype]
Prerequisites Eidolon Summoner Dedication, Anchored Eidolon
    Your bond with your eidolon is strong enough that it may specialize. Your eidolon gains one specialization of your choice. (See the Animal Companion section on page 214.)
    Special You may take this feat up to three times. Each time, add a different specialization to your eidolon.

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“Turkey legs, get your turkey legs here!” a man calls from just inside the festivals main entrance. “Piping hot turkey legs!” he bellows again from behind his booth, which holds a pile of turkey legs cooked to various degrees of unappetizing. The smoke from the fire pit behind him wafts in and out of the covered booth, soaking him, and everybody within 5 feet in the stench of overcooked meat.

Across the road, another booth (a much cleaner booth) is also selling turkey legs. This vendor, however, has clean booth, and is wearing a formal chef’s outfit from the local academy of the arts. Raw turkey legs hang from the covered booth, waiting to be purchased. “Can I interest you in the best turkey you have ever tasted?” asks the chef. “You pick the leg, you describe the flavor, I make it happen. It is that simple!” he exclaims with excited optimism.

The greasy, smoke covered man steps out from behind his booth and approaches. “No, no, no. You don’t want that. He’s selling PMC turkey. You don’t want your future kids to be born with tails, do you?” He holds out two massive turkey legs, one bloody and the other almost charcoal. “See these legs here are non-PMC. You can tell because they are bigger, and they were cooked, by hand, individually, by me, a 3rd generation turkey man.” he spits towards the chef’s booth. “This imposter is a disgrace.”

Hello there, and welcome back for more Groundbreaking with me, Randal! We were celebrating my twins’ 4th birthday today, with their meal of choice … chicken nuggets and cake. While my wife made the cakes and frosting by hand, the nuggets were the frozen variety. At some point, for reasons that escape me, I had a chuckle at all the things with silly ingredient lists as well as things marked non-GMO. Later, I was rereading Prestidigitation for unknown reasons (don’t give me that look, you know what i mean) when this idea occurred to me. Let’s dive in!

Founded 10 years ago, the Marathis Academy of Arts for Everyone was designed to provide lessons to all that had an interest in the arts, not just those that were rich or sponsored in some way. As such, their curriculum was geared towards day to day arts, such as cooking, music, or weaving instead of the high arts of wizardry. They expected to draw a crowd for music, and so had a few bards on staff, but to their surprise, it was their cooking courses that ended up becoming popular. Recent popularity in alchemy began to bleed over, and soon the school was known for innovating the culinary landscape of Marathis’ Cradle’s elite. With some free time due to a lack of music students, and never the type to stay away from the popular people, the staff bards began to take lessons to augment their use of prestidigitation to cook food.

It was then, that the school made its mark. Combining simple alchemy, simple magic, and proper culinary skills, they were able to mould some of the most talented chefs in decades. The academy’s popularity was instant. This was the turning point in their attempt at educating the common folk. They received funding to open satellite campuses around the basin. They chose their locations carefully according to two pieces of criteria. First, was access to ingredients unique to the region, creating training opportunities that weren’t found elsewhere. Second was financial sponsorship, ensuring that money was available to build and staff as quickly as possible, as well as provide families interested in sending servants to learn.

The original academy in Lakeside Proper has been internally nicknamed Academy Prime, and is known mostly for the unique fresh-water fare that comes from the fish unique to the lake. Academy West is located in Glintwood Clearing and is known for their mushrooming menu (see what I did there?). Academy North is located on the river near Bloomeweave, specializes in big game meats, and has been pushing their luck with the Hunstmen. Academy South is located outside of Walnut Grove where they hope to make friends with the gnoblin inventors to take their creations to the next level; their food showcases grains and nuts. Academy East is currently a bit of a bust. They began to setup shop in Bazarton, but a rumor went around that they their use of alchemy in making drinks was riling up the dwarves of Tar’Urzeft. This intrigued them, and so they are currently trying to negotiate a deal where they can setup campus in the dwarven keep/city instead, and then hopefully get access to their secrets as well.

While the initial wave of popularity was fun for their original alumni, but it quickly became clear that they were being snubbed. This caused the common chefs, cooks, and other food mongers to begin a war against the academics that were trying to hone in on their business. The battle against Prestidigitation Modified Cuisine is only the beginning. What started as a cleverly worded quip, was quickly shortened to the acronym PMC for shouting in loud and crowded markets, and has since seen usage spread further than expected. There are rumors that the dwarven contempt for the academy is all part of some meat monger conspiracy, or that both sides are being played by the meat monger mafia (it could exist!).

As a counter offensive in this stirring food war (sorry, I can’t help myself), the academy has begun to setup booths, demonstrations, and even contests at many markets and almost every festival in the region. Booths show off the flavor, demonstrations show how safe and accessible their craft is, and contests “prove” that their food is better and that you can’t tell which is which. When they can, they hire a simple meat monger to compete against one of their students to see who can cook the most consistent fare over the course of an hour. Often, they simply provide samples that aren’t labeled for guests to taste test and guess if they can tell if it was an academy recipe or not. Other times, they will hold competitions for festival patrons that consider themselves competent in the kitchen. These competitions usually split the patrons into two teams, led by academy chef instructors, to see which team can master a technique the best in a short amount of time. These usually include the use of wands to allow non-casters to soup-up (oops, I did it again!) the meal while proving how safe the use of magic is, even in the hands of “normal people”.

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Hello again, and welcome back to Groundbreaking with me, Randal! Today, let’s take a look at an up and coming business in Marathis’ Cradle: In-House Services.

GM Note. My mind was drifting tonight as I was putting my kids to bed, and for some reason I kept thinking about all the ways to provide plumbing for sinks, showers, and primitive septic systems. I thought it would be fun to sort out which towns are likely to have indoor plumbing, but somehow I wound up on this tangent instead. I think it was the use of magic and possible drama that drew me in.

The Business. “In-House Services: We Bring the Out House In!” a fancy wooden sign, in the shape of and out house hangs in front of this two story affair in one of the quieter sections of Lakeside Proper. The sign says it all. In-House Services is in the business of creating what they call “in-houses”, a place to make waste inside the house. Two major factors in out houses are the smell and the fact that they eventually fill up. After the installation crew is finished, and the “pit” seeded with a spongy ball that is reminiscent of a jellyfish, In-House Services only needs to return every three months to reseed the pit (for a very modest price, of course!). It is that simple! What started as a bit of an experiment has turned into a popular little, but growing business. In the last year, their orders have steadily risen such that the inventor hired proper craftsmen, delivery crews, installers, and even traveling sales folk so that he can stay and oversee the construction.

The Inventor. Lissie Fa’thel’tl (half-elf) used to be a cleric of Nethys. After many years of faithful service, something changed. During this time he came be be very interested in alchemy and began devouring any books, notes, or treatises he could find on the subject. The decades spent in dedication to the god of magic instilled in him an ability to focus and learn that few others can even comprehend. He started spending nights studying, then working at the lab, then would stay overnight once a week. Then twice. After a year, he barely came home. To pay bills, he would create and sell various alchemical goods. Aside from his focus keeping him from realizing time was passing, his experiments altered his lifespan beyond that of most half-elves. By the time he completed his greatest works, and was ready to unveil his invention, his family, along with all his friends, were gone. He finally completed his vision, and had nobody to share it with … so he moved somewhere he could start over and founded “In-House Services”.

The Invention. After an “incident” with a lab he was renting, he found himself in the rubble of a city’s sewers inside of, but not being dissolved by, a sewer cleaning ooze. After years of testing and experimenting, he realized that the accidental explosion had soaked him in chemicals that treated him immune to the ooze! While, he was able to confirm this information, he was never able to duplicate the mixture again; even after recreating the explosion. During all this time, however, he did discover that types of ooze could be bred to create pleasant fragrances when digesting their food. Additionally, while crossbreeding oozes for his experiments, he happened to create a type that could sense the presence of holy water, and when within 10 feet of it would remain perfectly still … as if trying to hide. This particular breed starts small, the size of an apple, and grows to about 6 feet in diameter after about three months … give or take depending on how much it feeds.

From Order to Delivery, and Beyond. Once an order is placed with a traveling sales person, the craftsman and carpenter work with the buyer to plan size, shape, and installation location. The master woodworker ensures the design is compatible with the destination and purpose while being sturdy enough to last not only delivery, but installation and use. The “In-House” itself is made from a specific combination of woods of specific ages, all soaked in holy water and cured before being sealed. The master carpenter travels with the delivery team to perform the installation with their help, accompanied by the master alchemist that seeds the pit. Once installed, a schedule is maintained for a maintenance crew to arrive every three months. This crew, led by a master alchemist, arrives in a covered wagon and uses something akin to a ship’s bilge pumps to “cleanse” the pit before reseeding it.

No Complaints. All customers are satisfied, are all too happy to recommend the product, and consider it one of the best purchases they have ever made. Except for the woman that was found face down in the pit of her “In-House” … rumors are that she kept telling people that she heard voices whispering to her every time she used it. She was only found because the house burnt down, but only her top half. Oh, and there was a man that went crazy, saying that he kept seeing shadows following him around his house. It got so bad that after his wife took the kids and left he boarded the place up so that no light could penetrate … he did so from the inside, and has never been seen since.

The Legacy. Surely these two incidents are completely coincidental. It doesn’t matter that nobody, not even his own employees, knows what he does with the grown oozes that they remove from the pits every three months. What are the odds that his sudden departure from religion and magic to a life of alchemy and public service are somehow part of a nefarious plot? The world may never know …

… or will it?

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Without further ado, I present to you a series of “Sights, Sounds, and Finds of the Forest”: Marathis’ Cradle Edition.

The Phoenix Redwood. This redwood stands above the local trees, and can be seen from quite a distance (assuming you are far enough from the forest’s edge or can get above the tree line). The scale of this tree almost seems unreal, but that is only the first part of this wonder. If you actually travel to and find the base of this tree, you discover that there is even more to be amazed about … the base of the tree is growing from within the petrified stump of an even more ancient, even larger tree. While the live redwood is as wide as two wagons (15 ft.), the petrified stump is easily another wagon bigger (22 ft.) and almost 10 feet tall!

The Giant Logger’s Road. Much of travel through a forest is slow going as you walk over and around trees, bushes, and more. If you are lucky, you find a game trail going your direction, but these are often just as hard for people to traverse than making their own path. While following one such trail, you stumble into a 15 ft wide clearing in the forest that runs in a straight line as far as the eye can see in either direction. The remnants of grooves in the ground indicate that larger/wider than normal carts passed through here, but it doesn’t seem to have been used in a very long time.

Woodpecker Mimicry. When walking through a forested area, it is common to hear the jack-hammering sounds of a woodpecker. There is a particular grove of semi-sentient trees (animal intelligence) that have learned that woodpeckers can help rid them of certain insects that are bad for their health. On the flip side, they need to be able to scare off the birds to avoid extensive damage to the trees from prolonged feedings and nesting. To this end, they have evolved special branches that create the sounds of a woodpecker when shook and they teach their saplings the various woodpecker drum beats used to indicate an abundance of food to attract or a territorial dispute to scare off.

The Clearing. Vegetation grows anywhere that it can get water, sunlight, and nutrients. Forests do not form shapes or patterns on their own. As the light brightens ahead, you realize that there is a clearing and you walk out into it, only to be stunned by the perfectly square shape, roughly 100 ft. on a side. The edges are marked by the stumps of trees space roughly 5 feet apart, cut about a foot above the ground. The interior of the clearing is simply grass with a few daisies mixed in. Further inspection from above the would imply that there might have been a home’s foundation in the clearing, based on the shape/layout of the grasses, weeds, and flowers. It would take digging at least 3 feet down to find anything.

The Collapsed Well. When large wells are drained, the ground above them can settle. Digging to water and building a stone well is going to add a bit of weight to the area. Increased foot traffic might just be the straw that broke the camels back. The collapse and loss of a well could very well spell the end of a fledgling settlement. Walking through the woods and coming upon a sinkhole of 15 to 30 (or more!) feet with some felled trees lying across the crumbled remains of a stone well is sure to be a confusing sight. Any attempts to investigate would involve risk of falling. Any attempts to move or dig up the site would risk further collapse into the cavern below.

The Bear Buffet. Far from the last source of water you have seen, your canteen is running dry. You flip through your spellbook and use your know direction to water spell, turning yourself to the direction to travel, and holding the incantation until you have a rough distance. Turns out, you aren’t all that far! About half an hour later and you hear the sounds of a bubbling brook or fountain around the other side of a large maple tree. As you approach, you notice that there is a low droning hum, or buzz, and that there are a number of bees in the air. You cautious walk around the tree to see that a small fountain seems to have been built against the base of this maple tree, capturing the bubbling water from a natural spring that pours out from between its roots. Additionally, there are taps on either side of the pool of water. After investigating, you discover that the one on the left is simply a tap for the sap/syrup of the maple tree while the one on the right is a tap for the honey of the enormous beehive in a hollow above.

The Killzone. A particularly traveled game trail is now used as the main path for travelers on foot or horseback, but due to the thick brush and dense trees in the area, wagon traffic is forced to go around. You are traveling along a particularly thick and dense section when you realize you have to relieve yourself. You notice a tree next to a little drop that would be perfect, and step off the path to take care of business. When you turn around to return to your group, you realize that the thick and dense foliage that makes up this mile long stretch of trail is in fact a carefully crafted net that has living vines and branches woven throughout its length and up to a height up 10 ft. or more. You just happened to look upon a section that seems to have been damaged recently during a storm. Who built this net and for what purpose are quite the mystery.

Ok, I might have stolen that last idea from Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood.

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For simplicity, we are going to lump Highway Robbery into two categories: “Full Stop” vs. “Fast and Hard”.

• Full Stop For this scenario, I am implying that the robbers have a way to stop the entire group, keep them under their control, and either have a way to take all the valuable belongings with them or simply take all the wagons. Pursuit is usually not an option due to having transport stolen or disabled.
• Fast and Hard For this scenario, I mean to say that the robbers ambush the group, using chaos to scatter and flee with the stolen goods. Pursuit might be possible, but you might end up on a wild goose chase or you might end up alone and surrounded.

Now, you might be asking what I mean when I say “All Terrain” … highway robbery in the desert is going to be very different than highway robbery in a swamp. Here is how I envision these differences, as they could be found in Marathis’ Cradle. GM Note: I did no research for this, I simply combined memories of books, stories, and movies along with my own “how would i do it” to come up with these simplistic scenarios.

Fantasy Live Role Playing Characters, Hardenstein 2014

Farmland (Full Stop) This is likely to be one of the least strenuous places for a criminal to partake in highway robbery. Lots of tall grasses or crops to hide and lots of flat lands upon which to escape. While they have all the room to run, it means that pursuit is also easier, and so criminals here are likely to be less extreme in their demands, perhaps taking just enough to make the effort worth while but not enough that the victims immediately demand justice or pursue. This means they are more likely to stop families or groups that have few “strong men” capable of fighting back, and that they simply extort a fee for “safe passage”. Often, to avoid a chase, they will cut loose any animals to ensure the victims are too busy afterwards. GM Note: If you want to add some tension, and it won’t upset anybody’s boundaries, you could have the thugs take a specific animal or person/child to create the “We will let them go when we get away” scenario; this could just be enforcement, or you could let it turn into a rescue scenario as well.

Swamp (Fast and Hard) The fog can change moods, visibility, and circumstance in the eastern swamps. Not to mention hide large animals that might be sneaking up on you. You generally don’t stay in place long when you are looking over your shoulder, and a good criminal is constantly looking around at their surroundings. Most robberies take place with an ambush of some sort, be it horseback, standing behind a tree, waiting under a bridge, or hiding in the muck. Because even the most seasoned trackers can get lost in the mysterious and overwhelming swamp, the bad guys are likely to have a favorite tree stump in the swamp that they drop their loot in during an escape. This means that they don’t have to go far, and if caught, they generally don’t have the goods on them. GM Note: This can also be used to divide a band to thugs by having the loot go missing before the designated regroup time.

Forest (Fast and Hard) The thick, lush forests of the north are an interesting thought experiment. In addition to lots of travel being done by game trail, the region has the largest contingent of people dedicated to stopping somebody daring enough to rob you roadside. The hunters are training in virtually every part of the forest year round. Anybody willing (or desperate) to take on this life of crime needs to be able to stay out of sight, move fast and light, and lose a tail. It would make even more sense, in this place where law of the land rules, to not worry if you are being pursued at all. Unfortunately, this means that they are more likely employ traps at their ambush sight, and that they likely don’t care how injured you are by this. Additionally, there is a good chance that they have a hidden cave or hollow nearby, or possibly one for the loot and the other for themselves, so that they don’t have to run far to get away. GM Note: Pit traps are hard to create, so any kind of snare or trap that injures feet is a great way to deter pursuit. Knowing that rangers and druids are about, often with animal companions, those criminals that last the longest know how to cover their scent as well.

Desert (Either/Both) I can make a case for both styles of robbery here. Not being seen is difficult, and you would want to be mounted to cover great distances. If it is an ambush, then there is a good chance they are timing it such that they can ride in with the sun at their back (sunrise or sunset) or perhaps just taking advantage of the haze on an extra hot day (or wind/weather magic or illusion if you choose a higher skilled enterprise). Alternately, if the road/path travels between dunes then they could hide around a dune with a single scout keeping watch. Additionally, shifting sands might provide a great place to hide out in the open with a properly camouflaged covering, be it canvas or netting. Instead of a quick ambush, simply setting up a blockade with a mounted rearguard could be sufficient for a full stop scenario. Being lost or detained in the desert is a bad thing, so taking (or threatening to take) water or shade is often enough to ensure compliance and deter pursuit. GM Note: Should a pursuit take place, it might be long, drawn out, and involve the death of mounts (assuming a daytime desert heat).

Hills & Mountains (Either/Both) Hills and mountains provide all their own challenges, most of which will tire out all but the strongest of athletes. Expect criminals in these areas to have multiple paths mapped out that require intimate knowledge of the terrain, be it caves, cliffs, hollow trees, gullies, and more.

Waterways (Either) Fast and hard is difficult on the water, so it is more likely to be a blockade at a narrowing point of a river or stream. Most often this ends up just being a toll, because unloading or moving cargo is not simple, and showing up with somebody else’s cargo can get you in trouble. Additionally, somebody could sneak over to a vessel and simply push/pull a single crate or barrel or bundle into the water with the expectation that there is somebody waiting with a hook to grab it. Odds are good this crime won’t be noticed for hours or days.

Did I miss anything? Did I get anything disastrously wrong? Let me know and please continue to join us at our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj.

I’m Randal, and welcome to this week’s Groundbreaking. While thinking about a topic for this week, I tried going through the list of things I had already written to see if there was anything else I wanted to follow up on or expand (or left hanging), and then I realized that I could simply look at my Lost Omens books for topics/ideas that I could cover for this setting. It didn’t take long before I realized I haven’t come up with any cool archetypes, which made me realize I haven’t really covered much about where you would even find the various classes roaming around the region.

Alchemist Every city and town in the region has at least one alchemist shop, and each city is likely to have at least a small guild. Many settlements likely have somebody at least familiar with alchemy, quite likely working with or as another commonly needed tradesperson, like a blacksmith. As far as research fields are concerned, bombers are generally found where they will get into less trouble, such as the desert. Chirurgeons are welcome in most cities, but sometimes are kept at arms length in the smaller settlements, but not nearly as much as mutagenists; most of whom need to hide their studies and practices. Adventuring alchemists should have no trouble acquiring supplies from settlements that at least have a general store, but they might need to travel a half a day to get em.

Barbarian The cities and towns of the cradle are no stranger to feats of raw strength, but there isn’t much of a calling for the traditional life of a barbarian tribe. That said, there are a few known settlements in some of the less tamed reaches of the mountains, ravines, and valleys where the inhabitants live a bit more of a “primitive” life than those of the cities and farmlands as believers of the animal and or spirit instincts There aren’t a lot of known followers of the dragon or giant instincts. Adventuring barbarians might find their way of life more suited for life in the misty swamps, the empty desert, or perhaps working with the rangers to the north.

Bard Bards are gonna bard. While Marathis’ Cradle isn’t known or acclaimed for its teaching or artistic institutes, anywhere there is coin to be had for singing a song, you are going to find a bard. Almost all the bards you meet have polymath as their primary muse, but it shouldn’t be difficult to find a maestro or two in the big cities. You may need to travel to the cities or settlements of the desert or swamp to find an enigma muse. Adventuring bards are … let’s face it, they don’t need a rhyme nor a reason to be where they are found. You do you, bard.

Champion One of the bylaws that all the cities in The Cradle abide by, is that each City Guard includes in its leadership champions (paladins) of Erastil and Iomedae to help ensure that the city remembers to protect the citizens both inside and outside the walls. Champions (redeemers or liberators) of Cayden, Desna, and Sarenrae are more likely found performing duties closer to the populous, and are the champions most likely found in the smaller settlements. Adventuring champions are welcome anywhere their deity is worshipped and anywhere they do good works for the people.

Cleric Clerics are another group that is found throughout most of the region. The desert sees less clerics simply due to the lack of population, while the northern forest has more druids among the population than clerics. With relative peace, cloistered clerics far outnumber the warpriests in the region. Adventuring clerics are just as welcome as champions, if not more so for cloistered clerics due to the perception that they are less militant.

Druid Druids are an integral part of the balance of life and civilization in Marathis’ Cradle. Little, if any, expansion is done without their knowledge and consent. They don’t tend to congregate, but that doesn’t mean their numbers are low or that they aren’t around. Wild druids are generally not encountered by “civilized” citizens, but can often be found hunting with the Rangers of the northern forests. Animal and leaf druids are the more commonly encountered, while the storm druids are quite often the leaders in the region, although they generally spend the majority of their time tending to internal druidic issues or other unknown threats. Adventuring druids are almost always accepted with respect in all corners of The Cradle.

Fighter Fighters are the backbone of the militias and armies (which are usually just made from merging militias). They are also just as likely to be a thug or bandit as a rogue, and can even make a quite capable Hunter if they were so inclined. They are more common than bards, and adventurers are generally assumed to be fighters until they prove otherwise, which is, sadly quite often what adventurers are known for … proving themselves trouble. To sum up, fighters are everywhere you find people in The Cradle, and some places you probably shouldn’t.

Monk Monks, like fighters, are really just people with some specialized combat training. Aside from a small group of monks that teach their own form of meditation in the gnomish dream caverns, the only formalized monastery in the region can be found far to the east, where the desert sands blast clean the sheer cliffs that mark the eastern boundaries of The Cradle. Little is known about the Temple of the Setting Sun, but those that encounter them have never had a negative thing to say. Adventuring monks cause no more fuss than any other visitor from outside the region, and a local adventuring monk might just be a celebrity!

Ranger The rangers of the north, The Hunters of The Hunting Grounds, are a common enough sight in most settlements that wearing their cloak is often enough to keep prying eyes from following their activities, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by some of the more nefarious types. Coincidentally, rangers with the outwit edge are often called upon to hunt those that hide behind the cloak of a Hunter. Those specializing in flurry are often the ground troops in any mobilization while those specializing in precision are most often tasked with leading hunting expeditions. Adventuring rangers should be at home in all but the most urban districts of the largest cities.

Rogue Rogues, like bards, are gonna rogue. Ruffians are usually found in your smaller settlements and villages, working a simple bandits. Scoundrels are more common in the roadside taverns and stopover points than small towns, but also make their homes in the bigger cities. But in the cities, thieves are the ones you need to look out for if you have attained wealth and wish to keep it. While each population center has its crime, the smallest thorps aren’t likely to have cause for alarm and only the largest cities are likely to have a true guild, such as the Water Lillies in Lakeside Proper. Adventuring rogues are probably fine, provided they keep don’t advertise any illegal skillsets.

Sorcerer Sorcerers are quite often treated like druids, wielders of respected power … as long as they don’t use it for personal gain. That’s when relationships sour and authorities might get involved. In the area, the predominant bloodline found is fey, with elemental and draconic a distant third and fourth. The other bloodlines are all but unheard of in natives of The Cradle. Adventuring sorcerers of all bloodlines are welcome, and even invited to the annual Gathering of the Magii, a festival to share information about families and powers, or just to meet other like minded souls. It is held in a different location each year to allow word of their group to better spread.

Wizard Wizards are treated as a hyrbid of an alchemist and a sorcerer. They wield great power, but are more often just a tool or a means to an end. That said, there are three colleges in The Cradle where wizards can be taught the basics before they are then forced to find a mentor on their own to further their studies. This means that the most commonly found wizard is a low level universalist, while the more powerful wizards are almost always a specialist. At the last census, there was still at least one wizard teaching each of the primary schools of magic to graduates of the colleges. Traveling wizards are likely treated a little like rockstars by the local, low grade univeralist wizards.

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A person admires the Aurora Borealis late at night on the Snaefellsnes peninsula in western Iceland.

I am going to be moving soon, and so we have been making some trips recently to see some people we aren’t going to be able to see much anymore. I just spent the weekend driving my family around California, through varying types of terrain at speeds that would haunt pretty much any NPC in Pathfinder. We live in a valley that sees temperature swings, seasonally, that range from just above freezing in the coldest of winter to over 110F in the worst of summer. We drove to the cold and damp coast of San Francisco one day and then up and over the snowy mountains to the dry desert of northern Nevada. On our drive home through the mountains, the weather was so bad that we spent 2 hours at the top of the mountain driving through fog, rain, and snow at roughly 10 mph in a line of hundreds of cars, if not thousands. The point of this context, is that I had a lot of time to think about vacations and travel, and as we all do, I started to relate that to gaming.

Marathis’ Cradle doesn’t exactly have a Department of Tourism, but there are always popular stories and tales of places to visit should you have the time and means. Plus, traveling bards are often paid to spread positive opinions of places they have been, and adventurer’s are always talking about their favorite watering hole, some epic climb they made, or how big their monster fish was that they caught. Here are a list of “common” vacation activities and where you are likely to best enjoy them in Marathis’ Cradle.

• Stargazing / Aurora Gazing Possibly due to ley-line activity, there are some amazing auroras above the Cradle. The eastern slope of Mount Marathis is known to have some of the best views. The better serve vacationers that wish to see the auroras and their full glory, while also being fully pampered, a halfling named Sissan Quinn opened a little resort on the eastern cliffs, near the top of the mountain. What started as a Bed and Breakfast for the daring, they have expanded and can now host over a dozen guests, in 5 suites that include hot tubs and meals on demand.
• Mountain Climbing / Canyon Sights The Gorge in the south-eastern part of the Cradle is home to dizzying heights/drops and the most difficult to cliffs you could possibly want to (try to) climb. Rock and Company has grown in size to the point that they are branching out, and it turns out that canyon tourism isn’t terribly different than desert tourism, but more lucrative. They are working on ways to make the sights and climbs more accessible without the constant need for feather fall.
• Cliff Diving / White Water Rapids The river through the Misty Forest picks up a lot of energy and speed as it squeezes through the ravines on its way out of the Cradle. While it isn’t exactly a sport, there are those that make their money navigating said rapids, which means there are those that can be hired to traverse them should you feel the absolute need to do so (be that for fun or on the run). Likewise, generations of Rapid Riders (as they call themselves) have charted all of the safe areas and pools, many of which are caused by deep holes in corners of the ravines and are thus “safe” places to cliff dive.
• Backpacking / Hiking / Camping Let’s face it, it is more of a modern thing to want to “get back to nature” … our adventurer’s entire lives is often backpacking from place to place and camping out. That said, should you want to do so, you have a wide assortment of options. Mountains, hills, forests, rain forests, deserts, cliffs, ravines, pick your terrain, your favorite town, and simply follow a game trail until you get tired and want to camp for the night. The Hunting Grounds are the most popular, especially in summer, when the weather is conducive, the large game are easy to find, and the Huntsmen are more likely to be around to keep you safe from predators.
• Waterfalls While water pours out of 3 faces of Mount Marathis, the southern faces is said to have the more magnificent of the falls. Something about their location seems to catch the light better, through more of the day, allowing you to bask in warn sunlight while enjoying the cold mists from the falls. As the more commonly used road to Lakeside Proper is on the southern side, there are also many more chances to explore the dozens of falls that water flows down the height of the mountain.
• Fishing This is another activity that is more lifestyle than hobby, but if you want to experience fishing there are many choices out there for you. The rivers in the north are likely to offer the best fly fishing, while the lakes in the south are likely to offer bigger fish, provided you take a boat out on the water. The slow currents and swells in the swamp are going to be great for noodling, and the rapids are likely to provide fighting predators … assuming one doesn’t crawl onto the land and eat you first.
• Lava Tubes / Liquid Magma While they aren’t known for their open arms, the dwarves of Clan Stormbrew are trying to better their relationships with top siders so that they can improve their exports. The most difficult part of this vacation is finding their doors in the desert.

And there we have a number of vacation ideas for your characters in Marathis’ Cradle. It shouldn’t take much to adapt these to locations on Golarion or in your homebrew. An let’s face it, each one of these is simply a thinly veiled premise for something to go wrong and become the start of an adventure.

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Clang, clang, clang, hisssssss. “Ah, the sounds of a smithy in action. That, my boy, is an honest way to earn a living. Unfortunately, there will always be fighting to be done, and where there’s fighting, there’s a need for armor. Let’s step in and see if they …”. The man’s voice trailed off as he opened the door, the sight of the smithy absolutely confounded the image that he was expecting to see.

Randal here, back for more Groundbreaking. Today I wanted to just do something simple and provide something that you would see in Lakeside Proper, but could easily be ported to any other game/campaign. I hope you enjoy!

A Basic Blacksmith Forges are generally a rather simple affair. You need a source of heat, something to contain that heat that won’t melt, something harder than the metal you are working with to hammer against and with, and a way to cool the metal. The high heat usually needs a fair amount of room to dissipate, often meaning a large open space that is generally well ventilated, especially if there is a roof. This most often comes in the form of a stone or brick fireplace with a hearth, bellows, cooling tank, and an anvil. Depending on the specific work there are numerous other implements and tools, including a variety of hammers and tongs. Quite often, your local smith is also your local farrier, and so their shop might have an open front, high ceiling, and a hitching post. I know there is more variety and that I could have provided more details, but I just wanted a baseline for how different this place was going to be.

The Shop Ancil’s is no ordinary blacksmith’s shop. First of all, they deal in far more than iron, and in fact, they rarely work with iron because they are constantly busy with commissions for far more difficult to work metals. A quick look around their shop makes it very obvious that they don’t shy away from difficult orders, and a longer look reveals that their work is impeccable. Second of all, they don’t use a flame to heat the metals that they work with. With so many businesses operating on the waters of the lake, people don’t bat an eyelash anymore when they see some shop or activity on stilts above water that they would never have thought could operate as such. Ancil’s, on the other hand, still manages to surprise traveler’s (and even some locals that don’t get out much).

The shop is a two-story building located on the shelf, looking out over the lake, and is more solid and sturdy than many expensive buildings in the neighborhood. The front of the shop includes a door and one large window, containing the largest pane of glass in the city, that allows passers-by to look in on the craftsmen as they work. The interior walls of the first floor are covered in some of their more common products, those that they regularly work on and keep in stock. Scattered around to maximize space but allow for movement are variously sized and shaped mannequins wearing various pieces to show how they look on a body, and also to encourage trying them on. You can usually find any common metal items, however they are usually made with a variant allows instead of simple iron or steel.

What really draws the attention, however, is the completely out of place and oversized alchemical lab in the center of the room. In the center of the room, the floor descends several feet (simple wooden steps) until it is even with the water level below; you can see the water seep through the gaps in the planks as somebody steps or the waves beneath move. In the center of this lowered area is a series of glass bulbs, flasks, funnels, and condensers that appear to be floating on the water, that contain liquids and gasses of various colors that are bubbling or hissing or smoking at various degrees of vigor. In the middle of it all, is a pair of giant kiln shaped pieces of glass with glass chimneys that lead up through a large opening in the ceiling (along with a number of other, smaller glass tubes) to the second floor and beyond. It is in these large kilns that the smiths alternate between heating and cooling their materials as they work them.

Ancil There is no Ancil. Ancil’s is operated by a local born and raised brother (Antoin) and sister (Cecilia) that attended college in a distant capital city. They said Ancil is not a combination of their names, but nobody believes them. They had different primary studies, but were eventually drawn to alchemy before they graduated, ultimately taking it up as their focus. Children of successful merchants, they knew the drawing power of something new and gimmicky and so formulated the idea of Ancil’s shop before they were even able to master the skills they would need. Antoin dabbled in Arcana and magical crafting while Cecilia became obsessed with the “duality of metallurgy and woodworking”, as she called it.

The Process Because of the cost of bringing wood up to the caldera, it can be expensive to run a forge in Lakeside Proper, and even more so to run one out on the water. The popularity of alchemy brought with it more and more ideas and formulas, as well as a larger supply of reagents that lowered the overall cost of entry and experimentation. Once that lowered cost neared the rising costs of running a forge on the water, the market was ready to take the plunge (so to speak). The various reagents used to create the heat needed to work with these difficult metals and alloys are all stored on the second floor where they are carefully measured and poured into the various tubes (all properly labeled and separated to avoid confusion). It was discovered that by spacing the administration of different compounds, they fumes from one reaction could be used to fuel the next reaction, and so a cascade of chain reactions is essentially the fuel that keeps the temperatures up. Because the metals are working in bubbling chemicals or gasses, as opposed to open flame, and cooled in similarly frigid chemicals and gasses, their makeup can be altered more readily than with simple heat. Additionally, the temperatures can be more easily regulated to a specific degree and turned on or off at a moment’s notice, unlike the amount of time and effort it takes to properly heat a kiln or forge.

The Products Ancil’s is known for producing the best of quality items, as well as creating alchemical or magical items by commission. Any metal equipment found in the Core Rulebook can be found, but normally iron items function like both cold iron and alchemical silver while any steel items function as mithral. They can work with any material brought before them, and are actually looking to work on their first piece of orichalcum; so much so that they are willing to throw in a free property rune just for the opportunity.

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The Hunting Grounds are home to a fair number of large game animals. Winter feasts here are generally comprised of venison (moose, elk, deer) for larger communities while boar and hare are popular in smaller settlements or families. It is considered a sign of prosperity and good fortune for the coming year if the feast includes an animal with larger than average antlers. While smaller communities or single families may not have the ability or skill to hunt such prey, larger communities are limited in the number of kills they are allowed each winter in accordance with long standing relationships with the druids of the forest. This has led the northern region to adopt the jackalope as their winter feast mascot, and so they include in their meal preparations the largest hare they can get dressed up to include the largest horns or antlers that they have (often a family heirloom). What is a jackalope, you wonder? Traditionally, a jackalope is seen as a common hare with the horns of an antelope, but many in this region are seen to have the body of a snow hare and the antlers of a deer or elk. Every community or family has their own fables, history, and lore of their jackalope, and they usually have one mounted and displayed prominently in a common room or feast hall.

Large, extravagant meals are a rarity in The Dry East to begin with, and so winter feasts are no simple feat. What the desert lacks in abundance it makes up for with uniqueness. There is a special cactus found in only one ravine that appears to lie dormant through most of the year, strangely budding only during snowfalls. The buds swell into a fruit during this time but only ripening during the winter solstice. The cleverly named Dragonapple is somehow a cross between dragon fruit and pineapple and once ripe its juices are always icy, as if on the verge of freezing. If plucked before or after ripening, they appear as though sculpted from shaved ice, breaking or melting as expected. How best to serve a fruit that is always cold, you ask? Over seared and cooled giant fly and scorpion steaks, of course. While nobody knows why there are giant flies and scorpions in the region, it is known that they are easier to handle in the winter months and that their meat somehow manages to enhance flavors cooked into them once cooled. The most commonly served dish of celebration during the desert’s winter feasts are seared then cooled giant fly with roasted cactus and dragonapple.

The Farms in the south have been bucking the trend of rare wintery foods for going on a decade now. With the rotation of the crops and plots of land combined with easy storage and distribution, they have been able to ensure enough food throughout the year that there aren’t any foods that are considered special or unique during the cold times. They still have fewer crops in bloom, and thus fewer (if any) harvests during this time and so spend less time working the land. This allows families to interact and mingle more than when they are frequently in the fields, and so winter feasts are usually a time of large and boisterous gatherings that involve extended families, neighbors, or entire communities. Cornucopias containing wide variety of foods are the staple at such events, usually setup in a central location and left throughout the day so that folk can eat when they feel hungry and play and dance and make merry the how they see fit. I thought Cornucopias were a fall festival icon, you think to yourself. The farmlands have the largest concentration of halflings around, and they love their food and their tradition, so why not just keep using the same decorations that were already out and already hold a lot of food! It is here that you are likely to see your more traditional festivals, including numerous games of skill for adults and children that involve snow or ice, such as skating or sledding.

Not to be outdone by the unique steaks and fruits of the desert, The Misty Forest has its own delicacy that you will not find anywhere else. Masters of fungus and berries, the residents of the rain forest begin preparing for their winter feasts months in advance. Long ago, they discovered that some dinosaurs, when killed at a certain age and prepared in a certain way, leave a carcass that is perfect for growing special fungus berry bushes. What is a fungus berry bush? Some of the forest’s berries, under the right conditions, can accelerate and enhance the growth of a unique local fungus, causing them to take on a bit of the color and flavor of the berries upon which they grow. While it takes some work and planning, the meat is usually moved and frozen in neighboring regions during this growth period, and then returned and cooked with the berry fungi to provide a rather sweet and slimy dinosaur kabobs that you are not likely to soon forget.

As for Lakeside Proper, seasons don’t have quite the same impact on their fishing as is seen in the food variation in the other regions. What do you see are various neighborhoods taking on decorations that indicate the ancestral region of the families found therein. As they don’t have immediate and direct access to the foods from the other regions, they will often make close approximations and then combine them with those from the other regions to create a very mixed and confusing array of tradition, celebration, and gastronomical confusion. The one thing that they do have unique to the region is a special roe from one of the fish that live in the lake but are native to the fey realm. Something about the full moon of the winter solstice causes them to rise from the bottom of the lake and create a layer roughly 100 feet deep. Nobody knows how they first learned about it, but dragging for it is very difficult and so a few very special cold water free divers train year round for this one time of year. If you have been to Lakeside Proper, you know of them, they are favored celebrities and likely haven’t had to buy a drink in years.

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“The sign clearly says ‘No animals!'” growls the bartender. He stares daggers at the huntsman who’s wolf is currently lapping up some ale that spilled when a scared server dropped a tray. The huntsman laughs, throws a small coin purse onto the counter, and starts walking toward the hearth “This should cover any costs incurred.” He barely finishes as his druidic companion enters from the darkness “And pay for a new sign too” she says as there is a loud crack of wood breaking outside. Shortly after she crosses the threshold a 7 foot tall black bear ambles in, chewing on what used to be a wooden sign. The bartender’s jaw drops, and he starts to stammer “Y-y-you can’t b-b-ring …” he trails off, not sure if he should grab his crossbow he keeps behind the bar or run. Another voice enters the tavern slightly before the floppy hatted wizard it belongs to “Why don’t you weigh that purse before you finish that sentence?” the elf suggests as a crow flies in and lands on his hat. Just as he was sure he had seen everything, the bartender watched in stunned silence as a halfling riding a velociraptor entered behind the wizard, followed by a gnome leading a goat. His mid snapped so hard it reset itself, and he picked up the purse, put it in a pocket and asked “What’ll you have?”

Like much of medieval fantasy, Pathfinder is no stranger to animal companions and familiars. While the rules generally try to limit you to one magically bonded animal, it is still easy to wind up with an array of characters that provide you with a stable, or perhaps farm, full of different animals. But how do you play them differently? Do you even play them differently? I have found that over the years, there seem to be common themes or patterns with how the animals are played or treated during the course of games. This topic is very much under the heading of YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary), but after writing “Familiar Blues” I wanted to take a look at it under the (perhaps stretched) guise of providing some context to how the animal companions and familiars of Marathis’ Cradle are treated while also trying to inspire new ideas for possible stale tropes.

Tired: Unused / Underused Animals as companions quite often are ignored or forgotten. While this is often seen as a beginner player’s problem, I have seen it just as often in veteran players. (Admittedly I mostly play with veteran players so my sample size is skewed.) Some players get overwhelmed by their options and forget to include their animal among said list, while other (more likely newer) players aren’t aware of how controlling a companion works.

Wired: Set Dressing / Exposition Even if you are overwhelmed by options or simply don’t want to deal with the numbers and actions that go with controlling another character, you can still get mileage out of an “unused” companion. Describing how the animal reacts to your actions and moods can do wonders for setting a scene, setting a mood, or providing context clues. Many people that have animals speak with them as if they were sapient, so using such conversations to provide context and exposition to scenes also makes wonderful use of an otherwise “unused” animal companion.

Tired: Simplified Many see familiars as simply the skill/save bonus (1e) or the extra focus point (2e) or spell delivery system and similarly see animal companions just as a status condition (flank) or temporary hit points (when enemies split attacks between the two).

Wired: Redefined Come up with quests or missions where you are retrieving something for your companion in which they get to shine as a part of it. Find ways to utilize their skills and abilities outside of deadly situations. Write up their backstory, habits, and goals … regardless of how simple.

Tired: Mistreated / Misused While I haven’t witnessed animal companions being used as trap bait, I have seen (or heard of) animals being sent against overwhelming odds when they should have retreated. Just because a paladin would sacrifice himself, it doesn’t mean his steed would. Just because the druid is injured or dying, doesn’t mean his companion will throw itself into the midst of a pack of wargs. Every veteran knows that the second your crow delivers your shocking grasp spell that it will be the next thing the lich targets with disintegrate. While treating companions as trap bait is usually the domain of summoned creatures, I still contend that you gain a rep with outsiders for it.

Wired: Redirected / Repurposed A fast companion, such as a mount/steed could in theory lead slow foes on a chase to provide respite for healing and recovery. A strong companion, such as a bear, could pick up and carried a downed ally. A dexterous companion could retrieve and administer a potion. A vocal companion could use mimicry to confuse or lead foes astray, perhaps splitting them up. Companions are smarter than your average bear, and if their partner isn’t, perhaps they know that their allies need to be made aware of the stupid thing that is about to happen? (This involves some solid role-play or a little GM fiat.)

Distinguishing Companions With a wide array of companion types, it can be hard to make them feel different from each other. Here are some common notes/ideas I use to remind myself to make one type of animal distinct from another:

• Animal (pet) A pet is just that, and animal that you adopt (or were raised with, or perhaps it just adopted you and never left) and feed and love, but ultimately protect like a child instead of taking on adventures. If you have a pet you take on adventures, you have likely trained it very well to stay out of harm’s way or have a method of keeping it away (such as a leash or harness you can tie somewhere safe).
• Animal (worker) Working animals are things like plow oxen, wagon horses, or shepherds. This type of animal is often not distinguishable from a pet, but due to the physical labor they perform you need to take extra care with their well-being to ensure you do not over work them. Common adventuring working animals would include the horse or mule that pulls your wagon or carries your packs as well as things like a goat you take along for fresh milk.
• Animal (mount) I consider mounts are a more specialized form of working animal. While they may not work as hard daily as say a plow ox if you just ride them lightly a couple hours, they need to be in top shape and ready to run at a moments notice. Additionally, they are more likely to be in danger, and so their well-being is going to involve a little extra stress-release that animals with simpler jobs may not.
• Animal (bonded) A bonded animal is somewhere between a pet and a companion. You have worked hard to bond with this animal, but it is still just an animal that you have trained with. Sure, it is going to go above and beyond that of a pet or worker, and likely a mount, but there isn’t (yet at least) any kind of innate spark that binds you as companions.
• Companion (Champion) A champion’s ally/warhorse (paladin’s mount for you non-2e types) is something of an edge/special case in my opinion. The animal usually starts as a mount that progresses to a bonded animal before obtaining the divine spark that makes it a true companion. In some cases, you first meet the animal when the spark occurs while other times it is a natural evolution of the bonding process that creates the spark.
• Companion (Druid) I view a druid’s animal companion as more of a sibling or a child/parent relationship. Perhaps you were raised together, making it a true sibling bond. Maybe you adopted the animal and raised it as your own. Whatever the story, even if you meet them one your travels, something inside you both just clicks and you know it.
• Companion (Ranger) A ranger’s animal companion is similar to a druid’s, but I view them more as a partnership, like that of a sniper and a spotter. You may have liked each other when you first met, but you had to work together and overcome differences before becoming the perfectly matched hunting duo that you are.
• Familiar (Alchemist) An alchemical familiar is a creation of life from your own blood. This creature is intrinsically tied to you and is likely to never question you, your actions, nor your motives. It would give its life for you without every questioning the ask.
• Familiar (Sorcerer) Distinguishing between a sorcerer’s familiar and a wizards’ familiar might be a wasted effort, but I like to think that sorcerer’s get their power from their blood, and that a sorcerer’s familiar is somehow tied to that. Perhaps the creature was present when your gifts manifested and were touched by your power. Perhaps the creature is part of a line of animals that have simply been drawn to your familial talents. Perhaps you just met them and something clicked between you. I see this as the more open ended of the connections, but try to shy away from what I consider witch or wizard familiar bonds.
• Familiar (Witch) A witch’s familiar is liken to a deity’s avatar grooming a cleric. It is the physical embodiment of some unknowable creature that is intrinsically linked to your powers, in fact, the source of your powers. You aren’t so much a slave to it, as you are simply dependent on the bond if you wish to grow. You will never truly know the inner workings and thoughts of your familiar all the while constantly needing its presence and fearing its absence. This can be a powerful euphoric bond, an intellectually stimulating bond, or even something akin to a chemical dependency.
• Familiar (Wizard) In keeping with the tropes of wizardly masters and apprentices, a wizards familiar is often seen as a simple assistant to the wizard. In many cases, even with the best of relationships, that is truly what a wizard’s familiar is all about. Somebody to bounce ideas off of, somebody to help with lab experiments, somebody to fetch ingredients or help find something. The important thing is to try and make the relationship a positive, perhaps about teaching the familiar the larger world they were awakened into, instead of simply using them as a tool.

Well, there you have it … my thoughts on animal companions and familiars. I hope I inspired you to rethink how you handle them, both as a GM and as a player!

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Location Background The southern farmlands are a common stopping point for many migrating birds. After a nice cool, long rain, flooded fields are especially inviting to various waterfowl (ducks, geese, swans). It is rather common for hunters or rangers to have relationships with farmers in the region, going back generations, relationships that provide hunting privileges in exchange for goods or services. These goods are usually just a portion of the prey while the services are often a bit of training or help with trapping critters. Local adventurers know that this time of year is not a good time to practice their archery for fear of making a hunter paranoid that they might have lost their access. Many bar fights have been started over adventurers simply passing through that carried bows. In recent years, signs posted outside farming communities have included large messages warning adventurers to stow their bows.

Quest Background It is a rite that in the fall of their 10th year children, are taken on a hunt by a parent and local hunter to kill their first migrating bird. Duck is the usual target, but geese are considered to bring the child luck in their life while killing swans are said to be bad omens. Due to the long standing relationships and superstitions that have been built around this tradition, there are codes for each of the communities that the farmlands fall under that must be followed to protect against poaching a child’s first kill. While killing a swan is considered bad luck, it is even worse for a child to not even attempt a hunt during his tenth year.

While locals swear this rumor has been around as long as the hunts themselves, a woman by the name of Charlie is living proof. In her eighth year, her oldest brother went out on his hunt and against all tradition killed a swan. That winter he died of pneumonia. During her ninth year, her family was unable to secure a hunter for the now oldest boy due to their misfortune the year prior. But her determined father contracted with an adventurer to ensure he got to hunt. This adventurer didn’t believe in the superstition and convinced the boy to kill a swan to prove it was all a sham. The boy was killed the next week by a freak accident with farm equipment. To ensure that the family’s misfortune didn’t spread, the community hired adventurers to follow the family’s oldest girl during the fall of her tenth year and make sure she didn’t touch a bow and arrow.

Eighteen years later and Charlene’s life has been the most outrageous series of bad luck that anybody can imagine, so bad, in fact, the locals nicknamed her No Duck Chuck. Passing bards scoff at the mere idea that her life story is even plausible, that no one person could experience such a poor treatment from the gods over the death of two swans and no duck. Her bad luck is generally minor, such as a stitch popping the first time she puts on a shirt she just finished sewing, but it these minor events happen to her almost daily.

Quest Giver It is now the fall of Charlie’s oldest daughter Pettany’s tenth year. In addition to a life of minor bad luck affecting Charlie, the months leading up to this fall have grown more dangerous. Pettany’s hair began falling out a month ago. Her husband Jaten had a freak accident similar to one that took her brother all those years ago and can no longer walk. The hunter that they have worked with for years now, Kamber, came down with goblin pox and blamed the family curse, telling all the other families and hunters to steer clear. After breaking her arm the week before the hunt, Charlie is desperate and seeks out passing adventurers to take her daughter on a hunt … this time ensuring that they know all of the rules. She is desperate, and jaded, but not stupid. She knew this was coming and has set aside a sum of coins that is double the going rate for Downtime work like this. If that is not enough, she is willing to give up her home and land if it means her daughter is spared the curse that she has endured.

Quest Progress They have two weeks left in the season before Pettany loses her chance to avoid her mother’s fate. Because nobody is willing to work with the family, the party will need to rely on their own knowledge of hunting and the area to find a good place to have a duck hunt. To avoid any conflict with neighboring families and hunters over hunting grounds, they will need to make 3 Very Hard checks (Survival or a Lore skill related to the hunting ducks or the local region), at a rate of one check a day. A failure indicates they came into conflict with an angry farmer or hunter. This can be mitigated by simply leaving and losing that day. If this check was not a critical failure, it might be possible to bribe them with an Incredibly Hard Diplomacy check that requires a week’s worth of Income be paid to the person they encounter. The money is spent on a success or a failure, with a success counting towards their 3 required successes and a failure wasting their time and money. A critical failure on this check imposes a -2 penalty on all further checks as rumor of their bullying gets around.

Once they have found their hunting grounds, it is a “simple” matter of helping a ten year old girl shoot a duck or a goose with a shortbow. The thing is, there does seem to be some sort of misfortune following the family and every check they party makes and every shot the girl makes requires them to roll twice and take the lower result (a misfortune effect). For each hour she is hunting, each PC can make a Trained Survival check to line her up on a target, with a critical success indicating a goose and a critical failure indicating a swan. She gets only one shot at each target, requiring a flat check with a DC of 15. Critical failures should cause some sort of incident, such as a broken bow string or the like.

Quest Resolution The party is welcome to try and teach her to hunt and shoot, and to apply magics to enhance her skill or negate her misfortune, but they are not to touch her or the bow when she is taking a shot at her first kill. The winds of fortune will know, as will the half dozen locals that are keeping an eye on them to ensure that no malarky takes place. Every time a misfortune effect causes a failure, it should be something absurdly silly and embarrassing to the PC, such as slipping in mud and landing face first in a dung. Play it up to really build an air of bizarre coincidence.

If they are able to successfully help Pettany they will become legends to the locals for overturning twenty years of bad luck. Charlie and her family will be forever grateful, and should the party not ask for any (substantial) payment (such as bartering for the land), they will forever be in their debt. Wether there truly is a curse or not is entirely up to you. The misfortune could be entirely a state of mind or paranoia brought on by the weight of the stories told. Her daily accidents could just be that she is clumsy and terrible at making clothes. It could be the anger of a witch over the death of a favorite swan all those years ago. The true cause is ultimately irrelevant. The story told is the key.

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The Animal Analog.
Many people don’t have children, but instead choose to have a family of pets, most often dogs and cats. These families aren’t terribly different than a family with children, they just have a different dynamic due to the animals having an intelligence cap (supposedly comparable to a 5 year old human). Even with these differences, pets often need their owners/parents to understand that they have feelings too, and that they need to be able to play and act like an animal instead of constantly being shushed while guests are over. Take the situation of a child not having words for their feelings and consider it with your pet … that is not even capable of speech, let alone our higher level brain functions. There is going to be some frustration there, I assure you.

Familiars.
They are animals, they have intelligence, the should be treated like children being raised by a parent, but they are more often than not simply treated as a pet that can do more advanced tricks due to their higher intelligence and magical powers. Go fetch that scroll. Take this spell and go touch that barbarian. Bring me my potion. There is very little back and forth with a familiar, and that makes me wonder how many old wizards aren’t dying of natural causes; or perhaps that spell that fizzled due to a missing component wasn’t an accident. If people (adult and children) have the ability to speak with a professional about their unresolved feelings, and animals can too for that matter, then familiars are a class of sentient creature that is ripe for the need of professional support.

Whimsy Fuzzibottoms
Born smallest of her litter of seven, Whimsy Fuzzibottoms was adopted by the family’s youngest daughter, who wanted to ensure that her small size did not mean she was pushed around by her siblings. Over the years, the daughter’s love of books meant that she was read to every day. The family managed to scrape together enough money to send the daughter off the college, and as the perfect study partner, Whimsy went too. As her girl grew in wizardly power, so too did Whimsy grow into her power. Part of their education involved socializing with the other familiars. As her girl grew into a woman, she began to spend more of her time away from her books and studies, leaving a more aware Whimsy with more time to explore and socialize alone. It did not take her long before she started to notice commonalities of the emotional states and the students and their familiars. Additionally, she began to notice the differences in how common animals were treated from familiars, both in positive and negative ways. At some point, she realized that this was much the same as other young adults being treated differently from the students.

Dr. Whimsy Fuzzibottoms
There was an event in her human’s life that changed everything. It was horrifying, and it almost broke her human. She was unable to help her cope as she had during all their downs prior. Finally, her human began to speak with a professional, and she started to recover. This was the “Aha” moment in her career. She had been watching the other familiars at their academy and noticing trends of behavior that implied something was wrong, but none of them ever talked about it. She found her calling, and so too, it seemed, did her human. The help that her human received set her on a course to help others in the same way that let her find herself again, and this was exactly what Whimsy was hoping for. Again, they studied together until they were accredited by the college. They found a small office just outside the grounds and began to work with former colleagues and students that were in need of support to make it through their tough moments, days, or lives in general. While the human world at large was relatively unchanged by the addition of another professional in the area, the college itself saw an uptick in positive behavior. More exceptional, but almost completely unreported, was the enormous uptick in the attitudes across the entire student body’s familiars …

I, Randal, have two dogs that are older than my three kids: 5 y/o (dog), 4 y/o (dog), 2x 3 y/o (kid), 1 y/o (kid).  I work at home, and my dogs spend all day laying around with me while I work. I try to walk them every day and play with them during lunch, but this past year or so has cut that down to walking almost daily because work is demanding and my kids are higher on the food chain after work. I can see how it affects my dogs by how they act around the kids and react to me playing with my kids after work, so I take them to a “Doggie Daycare” facility here in town from time to time where they can play with a full pack in a supervised environment without my presence specifically to give them some social time where I know they will be safe (our dog parks suck).

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Randal here, back after Halloween to fall-oh up on how the region of Marathis’ Cradle celebrates the fall season.

Northern Forest: Lumberjack Competitions. The majority of the trade goods coming from the northern area are meats, pelts, and timber. As it is easier to fell and move trees in the summer, there are usually stockpiles of logs at various points along the rivers just waiting to be moved to their destinations. While it is said that the first competition came out of a bet from a logger that claimed a local Hunter couldn’t do any “real labor”, it is equally common to hear that it wasn’t a competition but that a team of loggers asked a group of hunters to help them finish felling some trees during a year with a very early winter. Either way, what started out decades ago as friendly competitions between the Hunters that protected the forest and the people that worked/lived in the forest have evolved into public spectacles in their own right. Activities vary each year, but common staples are axe throwing, speed climbing, log rolling, and various log chopping, sawing, and lifting events. To allow those with magical talent to show off without overshadowing those without, more recent events include speed carving, speed sawing, as well as some team hauling events. While they don’t attract quite the crowd and money as the Giant Pumpkin Race in the souther farmlands, there are a couple standout teams that are paid just to train for this event each year. The most well known team (human team named “The Foresters”) won the most events each year for 7 years running only to be unseated from their wooden throne by a new team of halflings that call themselves “The Stumps”.

• The Block Tower. The last two years has shown the rise in popularity of a new event, known simply as The Block Tower. The game is simple, rectangular blocks of wood are stacked in a criss-cross pattern, and participants are to remove a block from the stack and place it on the top of the stack, with the intent of making it impossible for their opponent to do so without toppling the tower. Part of the popularity is that it can be done by all contestants, across various skill levels, but the magic class is popular because the towers are generally taller and more precarious than those built by hand. The key to its rise this year was that the new halfling team (“The Stumps”) managed to compete and win in the Magical Class of the competition without using magic. They brought one of the treeshaker devices with them, and while not against the rules, there are rumors about whether they will be allowed to compete next year or if there will be an all new class added to the competition.

Valley Rainforest: Tea Ceremonies. While the various berries, fungi, and other crops do change with the seasons, the variance isn’t all that great and the locals have found numerous pockets and areas in which they can trick different berries to grow year round. There is, however, a tree that lies dormant in the fogs of the swamp for most of the year and only blooms for two months in the fall. This tree’s leaves are well known for their flavor as a tea that can have various medicinal uses when paired with the different berries found in the region. It is a long standing tradition for communities to collect tea leaves together and hold ceremonies where they partake of various combinations of hot tea and berries to help heal those that are sick as well as bring the community together with new flavors. It is common to trade newly made winter clothing amongst neighboring families. While honey is not common in the region, it has been rumored that mixing honey in the tea can give humans temporary low-light vision. These rumors have caused some alchemists in the region to start buying up some of the limited supply of tea leaves for experiments.

Eastern Desert: The Burning Giant. There is always a portion of society that feels like the rich didn’t earn their wealth and that they are only using it to keep the poor down. A few years back, a group of recently jobless workers from The Goblet found themselves without a target for their anger. Their employer had gone bankrupt due to competition and gambling, and so they decided they were going to form a mob and demand that the competition take them on so that they could have enough money to feed their families that winter. Little did they know that that one of the town’s wealthiest members had actually owned both businesses and pitted them against each other for sport. Not wishing to have a mob ruin one of their sources of income, but mostly scared that such a mob might uncover their misdeeds, they hired a troupe of traveling performers to host a free music festival at the edge of the desert at the eastern base of Mount Marathis. The event turned out to be a huge success, and not one to miss out on profit, the wealthy villain behind it all has been slowly growing the event each year since.

Not one to let nature stand in the way of money either, the founder of Burning Giant (named for the huge effigies of giants that are burned during the days long festival), has become more and more at odds with Rock and Company. The feud grows every year as Sandy does her best to make each location unsuitable, but money and magic have so far stymied their subtle attempts. It is only a matter of time before they take active measures against the festival.

Southern Farmlands: The Festival. The largest of the fall festivals is simply known as The Festival to most residents of The Cradle. Farmers, vendors, and craftsmen of all walks gather together in a giant tent city for a week in Lamashan just before the temperature turns cold. It always coincides with the last big harvest of the year, and includes a number of contests and games designed around said harvest. Mazes in corn and haybale forts are common sights and often where the younger crowd spend much of their time while adults tend to their various reasons for attending, be it selling wares, buying goods, finding work, or simply sampling the food and drink. Two of the most popular events of the The Festival are the Inventor’s Faire and the Giant Pumpkin Race.

• Inventor’s Faire. Creators from all over the Cradle arrive with their inventions to try and wow the people, find a buyer, earn funding, or simply show off what they have made. Contestants are responsible for no less than two fads each year, annoying parents from all walks of life, and sometimes they even change the way locals treat newcomers to the area, such as the year the Treeshakers brought their device to show off.
• Giant Pumpkin Race. One of the most coveted prizes of The Festival is the Giant Pumpkin Blue Ribbon. More popular by far, however, is what happens afterwards. After the ribbon ceremony, the top 10 of the giant pumpkins are carved into kayaks or canoes and are raced (either across a pond or down a stream/river depending on where the festival is that year). The race is mostly for bragging rights, ever since the aquatic kobolds started winning 5 years ago it has become a challenge to find a team that can defeat them. This has caused all sorts of money to exchange hands by way of sponsorships and betting pools.

The farmers learned early on through local druids that they needed to rotate their crops annually, as well as leaving some land unused to recover. This need, coupled with the amount of damage a festival can cause farmland, is why the festival’s location changes each year.

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Changes in Weather. The weather in the basin tends to be dryer in the fall months. While the rain forest and swamps stay wet and unchanging to outsiders, the locals notice the dip in humidity. Without the warm air above (that can hold more water) more of the local humidity escapes the valley, causing the air to feel (and taste) differently as the water levels of the swamp and river lower. The temperatures dip in all regions, but the northern forest tends to protect the denizens more so than the open plains to the south and deserts to the east. The Goblet itself sees increased winds during this time, creating all manner of mischief all its own. This increased wind also has the ability to affect the surrounding area greatly when two larger weather patterns collide nearby. When warm and cold air mix with the wet air rising up from the valley it can create some nasty thunderstorms. If the colliding weather fronts are large enough, or they are angled enough that the Goblet causes wind shears, the storms can grow to great size.

Changes in Flora. Vegetation in all regions starts to shed or color as appropriate. The swamp and river tends to become cluttered with branches or vines that have been sloughed to prevent water loss. The plants in the desert are generally about as small as they are going to shrink after the summer, and so they begin to hunker down through the cold to wait for the rains to come. The leaves of the forests to the north all begin their colorful retreat into winter as a start contrast to the unchanging evergreens. While generally not as colorful, the trees and bushes in the southern farmlands also begin to either bloom or hibernate as their crop and cycle dictate.

Changes in Fauna. Life in the swamp changes little, but during this time of lowered water levels, there is more activity from the denizens as their favorite watering locations move. This makes fall a popular time for hunters, as their prey are generally easier to find, but it also makes hunting more dangerous as the larger predators are also aware of this. Many of the larger forest animals begin to fatten up for their winter hibernations as many of the smaller creatures set about nest building and collecting food stores. The desert creature tend keep on keeping on, with an noticeable increase in large vermin activity. As plants shrink and wither, fewer animals roam the desert for foot or water and thus the vermin that feed on them must travel further to feed. The farmlands to the south generally start having issues with roaming packs (such as coyotes) that are looking for easier meals near farmlands instead of hunting in the hills further away.

Brown bear in the forest, fall colors, searching for salmon in a river. Brown bear (Ursus arctos) Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska.

Changes in Civilization. What does all of this mean for Groundbreaking and Marathis’ Cradle? It really depends on who you ask. The farmers in all corners of the region change gears as their crops shift with the season. The valley’s mushrooms, berries, and fungi depend on different water and humidity levels while the standard crops to the south lean more towards sunlight and temperature (they have irrigation for water). The forest is more about hunting than gathering, so they begin their seasonal migration with the herds, and that includes preparing for the colder months. The desert dwellers generally deal with the same issues (warm days and cold nights) but the temperature range shifts and water is harder to come by. Many of the seasonal inhabitants move to the farmlands or the Goblet for seasonal work or just to relax for a few months. Either way, most of the civilized sections of the region begin to slow down production a bit and begin to rely on extending their stores and begin a time of reflection and restoration (of mind, spirit, and community).

Festivals. What does this mean for festivals in the region? A number of things, actually, and many of them aren’t far from what we are used to seeing in the real world. Festivals can be gatherings to share or exchange crops at the end of a harvest (or harvest season). They can be ways to gather with like-minded individuals to share in cultural practices (or perhaps to share your culture with neighbors or outsiders). They can be a way for a community (or ruler) to give back to the people that make it thrive. They can also be ways for the rich or powerful to appease (or sometimes intimidate) the poor and downtrodden. Festivals are often a combination of all of these ideas and more. Next time, we will look at a couple of ideas that would make for great common themes through the region as well as festivals of the different regions that play on those themes differently.

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Guard, can you please ask our guide to mark the perimeter of the swamp for us? We really need to catalog the number of dwellings here and it would be helpful if he could do that instead of just sitting around all day.

Location Background Deep within the Misty Forest lies the flooded remains of an unknown civilization. This swamp is more than just the marshy overflow of a river, it is home to some of the strangest phenomenon known to Marathis’ Cradle. From its perpetual fog that may, or may not, conceal some form of gaseous undead to the infamous will’o’wisp swarms, every visitor has a tale to tell, and every local has a warning to give.  Known as The Misty Ruins, these stone reminders of the long forgotten seem to be the only thing able to withstand The Shallows. As the water in the area rises and drains away with the weather and the seasons, the true expanse of the ruins is all but impossible to map out. Many locations can be found with a foot or so of wall intact, allowing you to see the actual layout of a home, but much of the buildings are buried feet deep in muck. The vast majority of these are out in the water, anywhere from 10 inches to 10 feet deep in water, mud, and ooze. Additionally, thousands of years have allowed the ruins to be overgrown by the same imposing trees as the rest of the are, making it difficult to see very even when the fog is thin. Most of the wildlife is small and scurrying in nature, but there are a number of larger beasts roaming around that just might be interested in the presence of humanoids. While the location can be reached to in just a few days from Berry Bustle, taking an entire team of academics and their gear makes the trip substantially longer.

Quest Background It would take years with a dozen teams, to be able to fully map out the full scope of the Misty Ruins. Nobody with that kind of money has that much interest in the area, and all those with that much interest have very little grant money left over. But, somebody had an interest in sending in a party to find evidence that a larger scale expedition was warranted. And that somebody did have enough money to make it happen. They put together a team of 6 academics, all with field work expertise. They also hired a team (the PCs) to double as their protectors (should anything go bad) and assistants (should they need another set of hands). The PCs are to get them there and back safely, with the help of a guide that was also hired by the interested party. It is a good thing they didn’t skimp on the guide’s bill, right? The expectation was 10 days to the site, a month at the site, and 10 days out. The guide was paid for the first half of the trip and was to be paid the remainder upon return to Berry Bustle.

As soon as the group arrived at their destination, however, the academics stopped treating the guide as a trusted advisor and began using them as just another grad student. After being commanded like a common dog, the guide grumbled and muttered something about curses and monsters before setting off on the given task. Come dinner time, they didn’t return. Unconcerned with their absence, the dig team has tasked the PCs with finishing those chores, in addition to their own, all while keeping them protected and assisting them as needed. The PCs can’t be certain that the guide just wandered off to avoid being mistreated or if something actually happened to them, but to avoid breaching their contract they must do as they say and investigate on the side. Not sure they can lead the group back to civilization without a guide, the PCs need to resolve this situation or find another way home.

Quest Giver This quest expects the PCs to be self starters. After passing along the request to have the guide mark the boundaries, the guide goes missing. Not in the usual “disappeared in the water but here’s my boots next to croc tracks” kind of way. They have one month to either discover the whereabouts of the guide, or figure out how to lead the group back through the fog themselves at the end of the trip. Additionally, they need to deal with any other situations, incidents or discoveries that arise. Each of these items can be done in whichever order the GM likes, but keep in mind that they PCs are supposed to be here for a month so spreading them out, or making them last days, will help fill the timeline.

• Incident. The guide doesn’t return for dinner on the first night. While it looks like the guide wandered off and doesn’t return.
• Discovery. The contents of the guide’s pack is strange. All the items required for camping over night are missing, but rations and canteen and other things used throughout the day are still there. A simple search implies that the items left behind have never been used before, and were likely bought just before leaving on this trip. A thorough search reveals that the equipment left behind was supplied by the group and not purchased/owned by the guide.
• Situation. With the loss of the guide, the PCs now need to add search and rescue to their daily tasks if they are going to be able to safely return home following the schedule outlined in their contract. While they may be able to find their way home, doing so on their tight schedule will be difficult at best.
• Incident. The team demands that the PCs track the guide. Angry about the audacity to leave them there, they insist on sending one of them to supervise.
• Discovery. The direction in which the guide disappeared leads to swamp covered ruins that require careful navigation. Following tracks in that area lead to what appears to be a struggle at the waters edge. A simple search of the region implies that the guide may have been eating by a crocodile or other swamp predator. A thorough search reveals that there were multiple creatures in the area, but also the guide may have departed via canoe.
• Situation. The “supervisor” injures themselves and blames the PCs for it. Tensions mount.
• Incident. The food stores are targeted in the night, regardless of precautions. If they are not protected in any way, velociraptors smell them and enter camp. If they are buried, then crocs dig them out. If hung from a tree, a giant snake (or two) gets them. The culprits should be encountered during the heist and strong enough that they are scared off instead of outright defeated.
• Discovery. A simple investigation implies that the aggressor came from, and returned to, the same direction the guide’s tracks led. A thorough search of the area shows that there seems to be some sort of game trail leading to the water in that same location.
• Situation. With the loss of their food supplies, the PCs now must forage or hunt for food if they are to stay the entire month and get paid per their contract. This will add tension to the trip as they are now splitting their focus further between protection, assistance, search and rescue, and provision gathering.
• Incident. Some of the excavation supplies and tools go missing. This angers the dig team and ensures that the PCs must spend more time helping them instead of performing other duties.
• Discovery. Missing supplies and tools are found in some ruins in the direction that the guide went missing.
• Situation. There appears to be somebody else in the swamp trying to beat the dig team to some specific artifact. Not only does this irritate them, but it makes them begin to argue with each other and even with the PCs. Paranoia sets in.

Quest Progress Using the above pattern of Incident, Discovery, and Situation, the PCs should continue to be put into a bind with tracking down the guide and finishing their contractual obligations to keep the dig team safe. The sheer number of things they can encounter in the swamp are limited only by your imagination, especially a place as infused with mystery and fantasy as this. At some point, they should get lost in the fog for a day or more. If for no other reason than to remind them just how far away they are from civilization and just how quickly you can become isolated. If they continue to investigate the waters, they should encounter amphibious threats, but perhaps they also discover a flooded basement that seems to have been recently excavated (just to add to the mystery). They should find minor evidence that the guide is still alive, along with more missing equipment. It should be vague enough that the academics turn on each other, using the PCs as mediators. Perhaps they even turn on the PCs if mediation goes poorly. It might even be fun if the PCs begin to suspect one another.

Quest Resolution The intended outcome of this scenario is as follows. One of the academics of the dig team is secretly the individual funding this expedition, which serves a dual purpose. The core premise of the trip is legit, to catalog enough information to warrant further grants. What nobody else knows, is that there is a secret agenda to study the effects of isolation and stress in this region’s “magic fog”. The guide is alive and well, following secret instructions given by the funding party. The PCs should ultimately realize that the animals are all under the control of the guide, but then they must decide if he is doing nefarious deeds or not. The alternate dig sight is a sham to raise the paranoia of the test subjects, but it ends up actually finding something significant when they are investigating it as a group. Assuming the PCs don’t kill the guide or secret patron without hearing their stories, they have no problems leaving the forest according to their outlined schedule and receive their contracted pay. If they keep their cool and go above and beyond, they receive a bonus.

I know I left this very open ended, but I wanted to set the scene and provide a framework much more than I wanted to write out this particular story. Horror should be customized to be done right. Let me know what you think! Please continue to join us at our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj.

You had been traveling through the oppressively dense trees of the Glintwood for days. The ever present drone of insects just out of sight. The constant shifting of shadows as you turn your head. You had become numb to it, as you traveled west along the road they called The Highway; dubbed that only because it was the only road between Glintwood Clearing and Berry Bustle. There was little conversation, even your mount made little noise, you heard only that which the forest chose you to hear. At night, you barely slept as your senses were barraged by croaks and chitters and hums and shrieks. As your guide dismounted and began leading his horse on foot toward the creek near the trail that led south, you couldn’t help but feel dread that you were going to be consumed by the forest without The Highway to keep them at bay. You made camp on The Highway one last night, but you were unable to sleep. It seemed as if the noises were louder and quieter at the same time, there seemed to be an air of contention in the forest around your party that night. Without realizing it, you finally hit your wall and fell asleep. You were not prepared for what you saw when you awoke.

Randal here, finally getting back into the swing of things with Groundbreaking. We have discussed The Glintwood, and Glintwood Clearing, as well as Berry Bustle, but we still have quite a bit of the Misty Forest to cover. The ancient ruins that are constantly covered in water from The Shallows is very likely to be a draw for adventurers, so I thought it would be a good idea to provide a bit of atmosphere beyond the simple descriptions we have used previously.

You awoke to an absence, but one you couldn’t place. As soon as you noticed it, your eyes were drawn to the trees along the creek. While you had torches to see the night before, you had to travel a good 100 yards off The Highway to find a spot good enough to camp. Waking up, you find that the style of trees are different, not only in species but in spacing and tone. They are no longer massive and dominating, towering above you to block out the sky. These trees seem more … looming, and ponderous. Although spread further apart their branches reach out and manage to stifle the air around them. You can’t ride twenty feet without needing to duck or dodge branches, and you feel certain that some of the branches are reaching out to grasp at your cloak. The sound of the branches against your clothes, gear, and saddle make the strangest grating sound. And that is when it hits you … it is quiet, too quiet. Suddenly it is all you can focus on, the silence. No insects, no wildlife, nothing but the clop of your mount’s hooves, the grating of the tree branches, and the beating of your heart in your chest. Even your mount’s hooves begin to sound dull, as your heartbeats get louder as you look around at the others, who seem to be ignoring you, then to your guide, whom is watching you with a strange smile on his face. You stop, eyes locked with his for a full 10 breaths, your ears only register heartbeats … boom, boom, boom. Your guide’s mouth twitches, and then he breaks out in laughter, a deep, rich, belly laughter that draws the attention of all around you. The spell is broken, the forest seems normal again, you even hear raven cawing as they flap away, annoyed by the laughter. “I see this is your first time entering the fog.” you’re guide chuckles again as he turns to continue leading the group. The others look at you quizzically before following, and it is only after they disappear one after another into a fog you hadn’t seen before do you realize why the rumors about this place persist.

GM Note. I wanted the swamp to be just as strange and powerful as the forest is, but in a different way. As before, I want it to seem plausibly realistic, but with an obvious fantasy angle. While the forest and swamp are both oppressive, I wanted them to feel so for different reasons. With the forest, I was kind of going for an “ever out of reach” vibe in that you can hear things, and even see things, but you just couldn’t reach them due to the thickness of the trees or the dimness of the light or the ever present bugs. I think with the swamp I am going more towards a claustrophobic angle. The fog will ebb and flow, but it will be constantly making your look around to make sure you aren’t alone, and the every present quiet will only deepen that feeling.

Where the forest canopy dimmed the light, the ever present fog creates a grey pall over everything. Almost immediately after setting off, your guide lights a lantern, but you cannot see any noticeable difference in the lighting. The fog moves through the trees, but seemingly never in the same direction for long. It will close in one minute, giving you only twenty or thirty foot visibility only to dissipate and let you see hundreds of yards ahead. Your guide is following a trail that you cannot see, and your companions all let your attempts at conversation drop, as if speaking would offend the fog. Eventually, you start to feel the same way, and turn your thoughts inward, trying to figure out how long you have been traveling. Time doesn’t exist in this forest, in this fog. You have just begun to realize this when your guide calls out that it is time to stop for lunch. Afterwards, as you prepare to continue, you see him refilling his lantern using a bartender’s jigger, and you realize that he is using the lantern to track the passage of time in this place.

GM Note. Fogs are really just clouds on the ground. Clouds are dense pockets of airborne water, and so they are going to change in density and visibility as they move passed you or you move through them. Once you make them move in different directions, they seem to take on a life of their own.

On the second day, you notice that you barely go 15 minutes before you are walking through puddles, then shallow pools, then around pools of water that don’t seem to have a source. On the third day, your mount spends more time ankle deep in water than dry. Eventually, after pushing lunch back an hour, your guide informs you that you have reached your destination. After a short meal of rations, he gathers you all on a low stone wall, the remnants of a small hut, you think. “As promised, I have delivered you to the Misty Ruins. Gather round, and pay attention, because you aren’t going to get to see this again for at least a week.” he says as he pulls miniature bellows from a pouch hanging around his neck. He licks his finger and holds it up, a motion you have seen him do numerous times to check the air. He smiles, “Good, I got us here just in time.” he beams proudly, the most emotion you have seen from him since he laughed at you. He then chants something in a language you can’t place before giving the miniature bellows a squeeze. Magic wind springs forth, creating a cacophony as trees and debris and water are all blown away. It is from this sudden and violent expulsion of air that the fog is blown away, and the area becomes suddenly bright as the sun can finally reach the ground. You reflexively shield your eyes, unaware of just how accustomed to the dim light you had become, and are able to see it all, at least for a minute. You gaze at the remains of buildings and other structures, likely spread out for miles, but filling the entirety of this momentary clearing. You have yet to take it all in before the fog thickens and blocks out the sky, and then, almost angrily, closes in on your group until you can only see a couple of feet ahead of you. It is in this moment that you realize that babysitting archaeologists might not be as easy as it sounded.

GM Note. I haven’t decided how much of the ruins I want to divulge, perhaps keeping it a mystery, but I did want them to be expansive and difficult to navigate. Describing it from an outsider’s perspective is the clear choice for describing how strong a new area affects you when you visit. Since PCs are almost always outsiders, being murder-hobos and all, I feel this style of narrative is a good fit. Although, I am starting to wonder what goes through the mind of the guide now that I am thinking about it … perhaps another time.

Perhaps next time we will deal with a haunting, visit the dinosaurs, go fishing, or head into the caves … Join me before then to discuss what you would like to see included at our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj.

Ancestries. Starting small, let’s take a look at races ancestries. We are going from dozens of playable options to 6 core options, each with 4 or 5 variants. What does this mean for our world? Nothing. The other creatures still exist, we just don’t have the specific rules information to build a new character using them, but that doesn’t mean we will be removing them from the world. If you have a PC playing one, then it should be a simple matter to use the new core options to cobble together something acceptable (until a time that it becomes “legal” if you even care about that). We haven’t done a census of Marathis’ Cradle, but thus far the majority of the inhabitants fall into the core playable options anyway. After we finish our current tour around the Cradle, I will start to layout more of the makeup of the inhabitants.

Backgrounds. Moving on in (the new ABCs of) character building, we have backgrounds. In 1st edition, this was sort of a hodgepodge of various minor mechanics that included traits, flaws, backgrounds (that unlocked traits/flaws), and the background skills variant. Shifting to 2nd edition, this mishmash has been codified as a single Background and I don’t see this as a very big change to the game, in fact, I think it will simplify things. I am looking forward to creating backgrounds for various aspects that have already become Groundbreaking canon as well as plans for the future. Keep in mind, that you may not even need to create your own, as there are quite a few in there already. I immediately thought “I should totally create backgrounds like ‘Berry Bustler’!” but then realized that an existing one like Farmhand would work just fine. Admittedly, the long list of existing options should provide fertile ground for mixing and matching ideas and options to customize them to your campaign and/or world. In a future episode I will take a look at the list of options and where I think they would be best utilized in the Cradle.

C. C is for Classes. (What can I say, I have 3 little kids.) This is going to be one of the largest sticking points for players and GMs with edition changes. “Man, now I can’t play my gunslinging arcanist slayer!” I personally subscribe to the following philosophy: Characters in the games I play can call themselves whatever they want. I have a fighter/wizard that spends his entire life breaking into homes because he is a thief. The lack of a witch in the new rules doesn’t mean we no longer have witches. It simply means that we need to get creative if we actually need to actually resolve the actions of a witch. If you simply go consult with a witch in her glade, then who cares if she is a fey blooded sorcerer (or even has a class at all)? If you loved the theme of the 1e witch, then simply find the right casting option for you and reskin it! Without looking at the rules, I think a bard (already an occult caster) would make a simple reskin as we can take the party boosting and enemy hindering abilities and call them hexes. It might be bubble gum and duct tape, but it should hold for now.

Equipment/Magic Items. Going forward, things are going to be different. Potions, scrolls, rods, staves, wands … they are all going to function differently (likely the bulk of magic items). I personally feel like this only becomes a problem if you let it. As the entirety of the rules about them changed, instead of simply not including one or the other (as with ancestries/classes) then using the new rules and moving on with life should be the path of least resistance (not to be confused with a Ring of Resistance, Least). I only see issues if you have plot items or random NPCs with neat items that fleshed out a character but now become items well beyond their means or power (or possibly NPCs that were powerful because of an item that now no longer functions). In these cases, I would simply hand wave the issue, finding the closest parallel that fits the need that I have for the NPC/item.

Bestiary/Ecologies. Regardless of how or why you placed creatures where they are, or how or why they are allied with one another, an edition change should have no effect on that. The information in a bestiary is there to be equal parts inspiration and explanation for why you are likely to find them as encounters in printed materials. It provides cohesion across the many many products (Paizo and 3PP), but it is not meant to force your hand at telling your story your way. You should not feel like you have to change anything about your aquatic kobolds hanging out and befriending some locals. Do, however, keep in mind that they are meant to be inspiration and look at any changes to them as there are likely to be new changes or additions that will inspire you to create more unique stories in your world!

Groundbreaking 2e. How is second edition going to change Groundbreaking? It isn’t. I already implemented a (mostly) edition neutral ranking for things like encounters and checks that I use (when I remember to include them in, that is). I am personally moving on to 2e and not looking back (as a GM), but I will continue to try to keep the core of Groundbreaking on the more neutral side, and will try to point out where things I include (such as ancestries, backgrounds, classes) could be altered to fit better in 1e.

Sir, you are an adventurer from Lakeside Proper, are you not? And you own your own home? Wonderful! As a representative of Berry Bustle, I officially beseech you, a land owner, for aid!

Location Background. Located deep in the Glintwood Forest, Berry Bustle is the largest of the settlements beyond Glintwood Clearing. Found between the beginnings of the extensive cave system along the north wall of the valley and the Misty Ruins in the center, Berry Bustle is known for its annual Bonanza (yes, the Berry Bustle Bonanza). Every year during the first week of Erastil, the population of the town doubles in size as seasonal workers arrive to help the farmers pick berries that are then the focal point of the celebration that takes place the following week. During the second week, the population swells to triple its original size as visitors from all across the forest, even the furthest reaches of the caldera, arrive to partake in the event.

Quest Background. The majority of the farms that supply the town are on land owned by a halfling named Clempsy Bustle Bunch. As the event has grown more popular in the past decade, she has seen such an increase in profits from it that she has begun taking lavish vacations. Two years ago, while she was still away, one of the farms had their crops stolen right off the bush a week before the workers were to arrive. Although that particular farm took a major loss that year, the Bonanza was still a success. Last year, a different, larger farm on the other side of the region was hit, and then a pair of traveling groups from outside the Glintwood were robbed upon the road the days after the event. While Clempsy was still away her deputized estate manager (a halfling named Cliffton Thorny Funston) put together a group of local huntsmen, but were ultimately unable to track down the culprit. This year, with two weeks before the picking week, all the farmers have banded together in an attempt to hire some help in defending their crops while many of those that run events in town are looking for ways to defend their patrons. Unfortunately, Cliffton seems to have gone missing, leading to why the PCs are approached.

Quest Giver. The PCs are approached by an older gentlemen with raven black hair and a hint of a limp. He introduces himself as Frederick Singman, Chair of the Berry Bustle Bonanza Council, and Chief Administrator of the local Temple to Abadar. He outlines the escalating events of the past few years, the absent Clempsy, missing Cliffton, as well as the way in which the PCs can become land owners if they successfully save them from this unknown brigand via the Landlord By-Laws. He provides information about the farms that have been victimized, the stretch of forest road where the robberies took place (a mile long stretch with dense trees on one side and a creek on the other), as well as the location of a camp where the seasonal workers gather to apply for their working permits prior to heading to the farms.

• The Doon Family Berry Farm (1st victim). North of Berry Bustle about 10 miles, a single large farmhouse dominates a clearing surrounded by almost a half a mile of berries. Along one edge of the clearing are a series of pig pens that have small huts built atop them to house the seasonal workers. Investigation of the clearing is mostly useless after two years, but Nature checks can reveal the likely path used to enter the region and leave again without being seen, but also that there is no way this was the work of a lone brigand. If the PCs are threatening or careless, the pigs get restless and stampede out of their pens, destroying them.
• The Zuft Commune (2nd victim). South of Berry Bustle about 6 miles, this series of small farms is roughly a square mile and surrounded by recently constructed wooden palisades. Only one entrance can be seen, at the north east corner. Originally they joined together to simply share the hiring and housing of seasonal workers, but began building a perimeter after they were targeted. While the more recent of the two victims, the palisades make a Nature check harder to learn information but allowing an Engineering check to realize that the locations of the palisades provide good intel on the likely path taken as well as the information that this isn’t the work of a loner. If the PCs are threatening or rude, they are kept out by force and must fight their way through or over the gate to get in.
• The Highway (3rd and 4th). Five miles east of Berry Bustle is a stretch of road almost a mile long that has dense trees along a ridge on the north edge with a low creek along the southern edge. Nature checks point out two viable choke points, one along a small bridge (10 ft. wide and 10 ft. long over a 5 ft. drop) and the other where an overgrown tree has fallen along the ridge where there is a bigger drop into the creek. Engineering checks can also be used to identify these places as likely constructed for the purpose of the robberies. The victims were non-local, residents of Lakeside Proper and The Markets.
• The Worker Camp. Located a mile west of Berry Bustle, this camp is located on the sight of a burnt out farmhouse. Successful Diplomacy or Intimidate reveals the names of a handful of workers from each of the two farms. Subsequent successes reveal that they either saw somebody or claim to know somebody involved in the previous berry thefts. If the party discovers names and was too obvious, loud, threatening, or rude, they are attacked by half a dozen seasonal workers (working for the brigand) that don’t want to be caught.

Quest Progress. Successfully discovering the paths used or the names of some of the thieves enables them to discover the target farm for this year in time to catch the criminals in the act. If they are able to discover both the paths and the names, they are able to discover this information early enough to set a trap ahead of time (takes place the same day/time as the previous years, one week prior to scheduled picking). Discovering the robbery sites along the road allows the PCs to find the next sites early enough to either catch the robbers (or be the victims themselves) in their second act while also knowing the names of some thieves they can catch them the first day (they take place the same days/times as last year). Learning all 3 pieces of information (paths, thieves, robbery sites) allows the party to find the Brigand’s hideout early enough to stop it all while not learning anything means they are only able to piece together the location afterwards.

Quest Resolution. The Berry Bustle Brigand is a simple hedge mage (halfling that calls himself Klake) using his prized ocarina of fey command to summon fairies and pixies to steal berries for him. He then uses charm magic to convince gullible seasonal workers to take his berries into town and sell them for him, as well as to commit the robberies along the road. Successfully capturing Klake to turn over to the authorities allows the PCs to discover that he is in fact Cliffton! If the PCs can prove that they stopped Cliffton, they are then presented with the opportunity to become Landlords. If they happen to stop him before his crimes are committed, the PCs are offered a bonus (in the form of a purse of coins) by Frederick. If they fail to stop or catch him, the targeted farm goes bankrupt and a merchant from Glintwood Clearing is killed during a roadside robbery.

Let me know what you think! Please continue to join us at our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj.

Randal here, back at more Groundbreaking. Today we are going to take a look at the city of Glintwood Clearing.

Iggy and the Wheel. Iggy’s roots run deep into and under a large pond formed by a natural spring. When the city was first built, the architects of Lakeside Proper’s mill system were hired to design and oversee the construction of an aqueduct system that would lift water from the pond and deliver it to the common rooms of all the buildings being built. The buildings (homes and businesses) closest to Iggy have 4 floors, but as the buildings move further from the center, they become shorter and shorter. This layout serves multiple purposes, including easier access to water, cleaner sight lines from the center out (or the border in), as well as allowing the richest homes and businesses to stand above all others. As the residences facing the tree and pond are the most opulent, the pond itself was modified into a large fountain, complete with statuary over the water source with both form and function (hides some of the mechanisms that enable the water to be piped upwards). The city itself is laid out like a wheel with the tree and pond at the center, circular roads that separate each tier of buildings, major avenues that cut from the center in roughly the compass directions as well as additional “spoke” roads in the southern half of the city that line up with seasonal changes. The eastern and western roads line up with the rising and setting sun during the summer solstice (longest day of the year) while the other spokes provide indicators of the equinoxes and winter solstice.

GM Note. A city that is surrounded by a rain forest, including an unnatural fog, is going to spend a lot of time in shadow and gloom. I thought that lining up the city as a sort of calendar would be a neat way of providing a bit of acceptance of that fact while still showing a love of the sun. Plus, a wheel setup with up to 4th story buildings allows for a higher population density than the size would normally allow and makes sense to me as I would expect inhabitants of this dense a forest to need/want to dwell together for both safety and social reasons.

(A Glintwood Village)

Population Growth. While it can be easy enough to build a home in a small clearing, building villages in a forest such as the Glintwood is no simple matter. Clearing the land takes a lot of hard work and time, between felling trees, removing stumps, and then hauling them off. When Glintwood was founded, it was apparent that it would take many years (and thus a lot of money) to build out the entire city. A number of the secondary and tertiary families of wealth around the caldera were contacted in regards to moving to the Glintwood to become the new aristocracy. They used their funds to purchase land and existing settlements (locations where multiple families had grouped together) and then to funded the creation of a proper village for those residents (or to draw in residents in unsettled areas). In turn, those residents would pay taxes to their new landlords, which would in turn fund the creation of the city of Glintwood Clearing. While there were those that opposed, overall resistance was minimal after the first year as the clearing of villages allowed for easier farming and safety of livestock. While the population grew enough to support plan, it didn’t reach the numbers projected and over time some families couldn’t recoup their investment and were bought out until there were only eight land owning members of the aristocracy of Glintwood Clearing.

GM Note. That last note is a simple hint that we can use the history of the region’s growth to create some plot threads about the various families (both still in power and those that lost it all).

(A Glintwood River Crossing Village)

Governance. The Glintwood isn’t really known as a place friendly to outsiders. The dense forest causes a bit of isolation, and each village has its own superstitions that stem from this, such that it really takes a local born native to be able to properly communicate with the locals of the numerous villages and towns. Because most of the landlords originally come from outside the forest, the practice of establishing a representative of each settlement became the preferred way of collecting taxes and handing out edicts and rulings. In many cases, this person is a village elder or a town sheriff, but in almost all cases they are voted to the position by their peers. Each landlord is expected to handle any issues that occur within their holdings, while maintaining a seat at the table of landlords in Glintwood Clearing where they are to meet monthly to discuss matters of the forest at large.

Relations. It is this council that responds to any diplomatic requests from the other regions of the caldera. While they don’t like being told to do things by the nobles in Lakeside Proper, they respect their wealth and generally try to play along to curry favor. They tend to dislike the rangers and druids of the Hunting Grounds but also rely on their prowess when any large threats appear, so they tolerate them at arms length. Their strongest relationship is with the largest merchant families of the southern farmlands, and deals with the various landlords and families are constantly being bought, sold, or traded back and forth with each other as crop inventories shrink and grow. Knowing that they are at the limits of the money they can make from their tenants, the landlords are looking for other forms of income, such as “Iggy Infused Tonics.”

GM Note. Mostly a farming community (be it farming crops or berries or fungi) there really isn’t a lot of danger in the grand scheme of things, and so governing the area really comes down to managing the people and the finances more so than creating laws and raising armies. I did leave out any hint of what is on the land owning contracts, so there could easily be a draft clause should you want or need a military.

(A Glintwood Fungus Farm)

Transfer of Power. One quirk of the system, implemented due to the financial failings of a number of the original landlords, is that any request (of aid or other support) by a representative that goes unanswered for a month can be taken to any “owner of land”. Should that individual answer the request to the satisfaction of the representative, they  then have the option of buying the settlement from the unresponsive owner by making an offer. These offers are presented during a special meeting of the landlords in Glintwood Clearing where the lords not involved vote on the fairness of the offer (taking into account any reasons/rebuttals for the delinquent reply). A unanimous vote forces the current owner to accept the amount and hand over the deed to the purchaser, who does not have to be a current lord of Glintwood. This is, in fact, how a wealthy land owner from Lakeside Proper became one of the top four land owners of The Glintwood.

GM Note. This quirk gives something interesting and different to the area. This could provide plots for the PCs to help solve problems for unresponsive owners, perhaps even buying the settlements themselves afterwards. Lots of room for plots and intrigue should you want it.

Let me know what you think! Please continue to join us at our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj.

As your caravan inches closer to the forest, its canopy looms darker by the minute. As it rises ever taller you instinctively shrink into your cloak for protection as the open plain behind you comes to an end. You hear the buzzing of insects ahead in the distance as you approach the edge of the trees and pause, looking at a veritable tunnel in a wall of bark, branches, and leaves. The road leading into the Glintwood is easily wide enough for two wagons to pass each other but the atmosphere and shadowy path give the impression of tight tunnels underground. You have made this trip a dozen times, but you are still certain that something about this forest isn’t quite right. To punctuate that thought, a breeze kicks up slightly and mist wafts toward you, barely perceptible until it catches the rays of the sun, converting the sparkles into a rainbow. The timing causes the hairs on your neck to stand and you shift your weight in the saddle, to which your trusty mount turns its head, flicks an ear, and snorts as if to say “it’s just a forest, can we go already?” As you cross the last twenty or so feet from the plain to the trees, the sounds of buzzing insects increases, seemingly tenfold, only to die down immediately upon passing the unseen threshold of the forest.

Welcome back to Groundbreaking with me, Randal, as your guide. Last time I signed off hinting that we were going to talk about the villages of Glintwood Forest, and I intend to do just that. Instead of discussing government, though, I wanted to get a little more narrative this week to try to give you a better feel of what it is like to be there.

Your first visit through the Glintwood was marked with constant distractions … every change in pitch or volume of the insects set your hair on end, every animal and rodent fleeing you or simply playing or hunting sounded like a boar crashing through the brush. What was a simple two hour ride became a harrowing endurance test of your stress levels, and the return trip wasn’t much better. A dozen visits later, and you are able to ignore the constant drone of the insects just as you are able to tell a rodent from a bird from an actual threat to you … information you actually get from those other creatures that so frightened you originally. The insects swarm near the edges of the road because they are attracted to the light, but the open path allows for a breeze that generally keeps the road less humid than the trees just feet away, which they prefer. The changes in pitch are generally just their movement away as you approach and back as you depart, which seemingly creates a bubble of sound that moves with you. When you hear crashing noises, you no longer reach for your weapon if you can still hear birds and insects, for you know that it is simply a creature at play. It is more common to have rabbits, squirrels, or deer crossing your path than to not see any at all, such is the indifference the wildlife pay to humanoid presence. You now know when danger approaches because the entire forest goes still and silent moments before you will be able to hear any threat that you will need to take action against.

GM Note. The canopy should shade the road quite well, giving you the option of lowering the light in a way that would affect creatures without low-light vision or darkvision. Feel free to do so if you don’t mind tracking more conditions to add more atmosphere to an encounter, especially if you want to mention how the forest can seem alive or the fog can appear and disappear randomly. In a forest like this, the road is likely to turn frequently to go around a tree (or root, or stump) that was too much work to remove, and without druid intervention (which we can argue is already a lot of work to keep the road open), the canopy is going to fill quite a bit of the air above the road. These two facts are going to hamper a number of advantages that players would have in encounters such as flight or long ranged weapons so there is no reason to further hinder humans through lowering the light levels needlessly.

On your fourth trip, you became bored and careless when you stopped for a break. A squirrel stole your snack, throwing a rock at you before fleeing into the forest. You rashly ran in pursuit, chasing the squirrel for 20, 50, 100 feet before you finally lost sight of it. As you stopped to catch your breath, suddenly the only sound you could hear was that of the insects that you had so casually forgotten about. As the volume rose, you could feel a pressure in the air and you were certain you could see the bubble closing in around you in the dim light barely filtering through the canopy above. You knew you couldn’t have been more than a hundred feet off the road, and yet the disorientation you felt confounded you and it seemingly took hours before you stumbled upon the road again, nearly half a mile from where you left your horse and gear. While you were gone, some other creatures came and took what was left of your food, leaving much of your pack spread out upon the road … your horse doesn’t seem to care.

GM Note. The forest off the road should absolutely be considered dim light. Between the thickness of growth, multi-tiered canopy, and the humidity (arguably the cause of the fog), visibility should be cut down to a hundred feat or less. I would also encourage you to stress that any PC without survival training is going to get lost if they venture further than a thousand feet off the road, and that even training might not help them if they travel beyond a mile. On the bright side, the road travels east to west, so if they can gauge North, they should have an easy time of finding the road if they can remember which side they left it from …

Hours into your first trip, you had just grown accustomed to the droning insects when you noticed a shadow ahead. It appeared almost as if a curtain were draped across the entire width of the road, and while you had a sudden apprehension about it your horse seemed to completely unaware of it and kept on walking. Surprised that this sudden appearance hadn’t caused any changes to the sounds around you, you place your hand on the hilt of your blade just in case. As you closed the distance to the curtain, you began to see images take shape beyond, until you realized that you had reached the end of the forest. Emerging from the shadowed road into the clearing, your eyes adjusted to the sun in the same moments that it took you to realize that you could no longer hear any of the forest noises that had so dominated your senses. Children laughed and played in the various fields and gardens of the homes at the edge of the city that dominates the massive forest clearing. Your eyes are first drawn to the larger buildings in the center, made with what you suspect is an attempt at elven architecture, surrounding a lone tree that stands taller than the surrounding forest. You then take in the far edges, bordered by forest in an oval shape roughly a mile at its widest. While the children show interest in your approach and tend to gather and play around you as you pass, the adults make it clear that they do not recognize you and that they are watching you as you enter Glintwood Clearing.

Next time we will discuss the relationships of the various villages west of Glintwood Clearing … and join me before then to discuss what you would like to see included at our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj.

I digress (buckle up, I sense more coming). I am Randal, this is Groundbreaking, and today I wanted to discuss having a lot of small settlements but that are supposed to work as a single cohesive society but have no true government over them to enforce any standards. Thus far, in Groundbreaking, we have established the following key points about the settlements in an around Marathis’ Cradle

• Lakeside Proper (aka The Docks) – The focal point by virtue of location and the source of all water. Has the most/biggest history involving “humanoid-ity”
• The Glintwood Forest (aka The Misty Forest) – 99% of the humanoid population is in a series of small (primarily) human settlements near the (eastern) entrance to the valley
• The Hunting Grounds (aka The Northern Forest) – 3 hunting villages built in the trees that are operated and maintained by the Masters of the Forest and their rangers and druids (aka The Huntsmen).
• The Farms – This vast farmland to the south is known mostly for the many villages along the main roads where the farmers trade their crops for other goods (aka The Markets)
• The Parched Land (aka The Dry East) – This region is known to house entrances to Tar-Urzeft (home of dwarven clan Stormbrew) and the Gnomish Dream Caverns.

We know from this that there are at minimum 10 settlements (Glintwood says “series of settlements” and Farms says “many villages” so minimum of 2 for plurality) with no real idea how many there could be. This collection of locations is a prime example of creating something small and simple as needed, and then setting your notes aside afterwards and either forgetting or not finding time to integrate them into the whole. Make sure you understand, I have no problems with any of these locations, and I feel they all serve their purposes well in the world we are building. (Also, I am very self aware of my constant forgetting of something I create and lack of time to properly integrate between sessions.)

I was trying to follow up my previous piece on Masked Banditry, and as I was rereading this or that it dawned on me that the bandits would have a field day hitting locations and moving on. We have yet to outline any sort of government in the region that has the actual power to operate on a large enough scale. We have not called this a kingdom, we have no centralized ruler, keep, nor army to call a seat of power. Much of my thought on this subject (which you have obviously not be privy to) has simply been that the geography of the region keeps them relatively isolated and thus relatively safe. Therefore I have left out any hint at governance or law enforcement (with the exception of comparing the Huntsmen to law enforcement) for a couple of reasons.

First of all, I haven’t felt ready to tackle this topic yet. I have been having a really good time meandering around the region creating this NPC or that location or some other mystery to provide a reason to adventure. As I haven’t sat down and laid out all the settlements and how they truly interact with each other, I felt that it wasn’t time to deal with governance. Our stories in the region haven’t yet reached the scale that they need to deal with law enforcement nor armies. I feel like we should outline more of the settlements in the Glintwood and discuss their relationships before we decide how they fit into the larger body and treat rules and laws placed by those from Lakeside Proper (the likely seat of power in the region).

Second, were I (or you) to run a game anywhere in Marathis’ Cradle now, and the heroes were to be involved in a bar brawl or apprehend a pickpocket, it is a very simple matter to declare they “turn them over to the authorities” and move on. Should you want to include more details then that then it is just as simple a matter to declare the town has a sheriff and a jail cell or two, as these are going to be true of most societies regardless of the large governing body.

Thirdly (and truthfully hindsight now that I am almost 1k words into this topic) is that setting the government up for a home brew too early can color not only how it evolves but, more importantly (in my opinion), how it is portrayed by readers and players. I may have been using this region as a mostly utopian society that gets along because everybody is (mostly) happy with their lot in life and everybody pulls their weight. But you might have been seeing this same region as a high society of nobles that live on the lake are taking advantage of the work done by the farmers to the south that toil all day long, meanwhile those of the Misty Forest are eking out an existence plagued by dinos and deadly fog and are scared about the militant rangers and druids to the north. Both of these are very easy to imagine using the exact same context we have been creating here at Groundbreaking.

All of this to say … create your world in the order you want to create it. Don’t worry about forgetting things, as it will become apparent when they are needed, and don’t worry about only creating a part of something if you don’t need the whole thing. I think it is time that we start to figure out the bigger picture of how Marathis’ Cradle is governed, but I also feel that we need to detail the settlements more to determine how they work together within each region, how the regions work with each other, and how they all respect one another. Once we have that, we can then piece together a government that seems more organically grown to fit the whole instead of just declaring a government and shoehorning how each piece fits and why some don’t.

Join me next time as we look more into the settlements of Glintwood Forest … and join me before then to discuss what you would like to see included at our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj.

The Setup. The region’s location and natural borders creates a fair amount of isolation from the rest of the world. Even though each of the 5 major locales are distinct and have separate traditions, the entire population shares many things from simple spice preferences to the legends they tell their children at night. One such tradition is the telling of stories to children about various animal, fey, or lycan masks that haunt the region looking for children that misbehave. The tale originated during the time of war with the fey, as a sort of propaganda, and has continued ever since as both a form of boogey man as well as camp horror stories. The stories have changed over the years, mostly at the whim of the teller trying to prove a point to a specific child or simply to spice it up, but the basics are the same. A child is punished for misbehaving and decides to sneak out of the their home and play in the forest. They find a mask hanging from a tree that talks to them, offering them power over their parents. They are basically good kids so they decline and run away, but it follows them, always ahead on a tree as the child rushes home. The endings vary, but usually they find the mask on their bed or in their closet, at which point it animates and puts itself on them and they change forms and go wreak havoc, only to wake up the next day covered in evidence of their crimes with no mask to prove their innocence.

The Masks. Perhaps due to the proximity of the ley lines, perhaps due to the pervasive fey influence, maybe decades of group think and belief, or possibly just the creation of an evil wizard … but the masks have begun to take a life of their own. It started with a full moon festival in Lakeside Proper a decade ago, in which a bunch of children were attacked by a peer wearing a mask with the purpose of scaring them into leaving him alone. He was tired of being bullied, and so he intended to scare them, but they laughed and attacked again … until the mask came alive and transformed him. Adults nearby heard the commotion and arrived to see what they described as a werewolf attacking the children, only to discover who he was after they killed it and he reverted to the child wearing the mask. The mask was lost during the aftermath of the incident, thought to have fallen into the lake and never seen again. A year later, during another full moon festival, a group of a dozen kids were seen wandering the streets, all wearing similar masks, harassing other children and stealing from street vendors. As the night wore on, and their escapades multiplied, the local sheriff gathered some other adults together to stop the children before they became out of control, but it was too late. When cornered, they were all rabid with malice, forcing a local witch to cast sleep on them to contain them. As the spell took effect, the children all howled in rage, each shifting into the form of the creature who’s mask they wore, and they tore off into the village attacking all those in sight. Unable to contain them with magic, they were forced to use physical violence to stop the children, killing 3 of them in the process … but not before they maimed and killed almost a dozen other people. The masks were burned that night, and that particular festival has never been held again, as well as a law put into place enacting a curfew for sundown for that night.

The Banditry. While the festival is no more, the stories are still told to keep unruly children in line. Recently, a rash of roadside banditry has begun to gain notoriety. The bandits all wear masks that match the stories and histories of the full moon festivals, and only attack on full moons. At first it was a single bandit stopping poor farmers traveling with their crops, demanding completely bizarre forms of payment such as “an heirloom with a lock of hair” or “a fake coin made of copper.” As the crimes weren’t deadly, and the farmers were left with their crops, they were mostly just thankful for their lives and only complained to or warned people in their local communities to be on the lookout. It wasn’t until the first nobleman was stopped that the crimes reached the eyes and ears of a larger audience. Unamused at the audacity to stop his carriage and demand an heirloom as toll, the nobleman was struck down by what his driver described as a werebear that dragged his body off into the woods nearby as the horses ran away with the carriage and rider on board. The next incident to be reported included two mask wearing bandits. After a second person declined to pay up, this time a hunter returning with pelts to sell, she too went missing and a third bandit appeared. Shortly after, sightings of single masked bandits were reported to the north, east, and south, but as the months have passed, those bandits have become accompanied by other victims that have gone missing.

The Fallout. As the tales become more widespread, they also become darker and darker. Authorities worry that the change in tone of the stories are causing the crimes to get worse, as the bandits are enjoying their fame. Others, notably diviners and witches, worry that the strange specificity of the trinkets stolen are evidence that these crimes are building up to something far worse than the random thefts and murders that they appear to be. Claims that the masks are just superstition and legend have allowed most people to assume that those that died were taken and eaten by beasts and not converted to banditry, while a growing minority believes that necromancy is behind it all. Thus far, divinations seem to fail as nobody that survived an encounter got a look at more than the masks and divinations of the various masks all show the same thing … a single mask, hanging on a tree in the forest. So completely unremarkable is the scene, that teleportation cannot be used to travel there. As the fifth anniversary of the first masked robbery approaches, villagers from around the basin are slowly starting to panic.

GM Note. The idea here is to provide a long term evil that cannot be easily pinpointed, and thus, not easily eradicated. This can simply be a camp fire story told while passing through the region, or it can be the background for NPCs asking for help. It can form the basis for a simple side quest (escort this physician during a full moon), it can be the back drop of a horror themed quest (find the missing child in the swamp during a full moon), or it can be as far reaching as trying to determine the connection between the trinkets as a way to find a motive. Also, it could be used to provide a string of bad guys that grow in power until you finally find the source of the evil and vanquish it for good. Either way, it is intended to fill the role you need for your game, be it unredeemable evil or a wayward child that festered hatred after growing up abused by peers.

Welcome back to Groundbreaking. Randal here, ready to take a look at region that has all the makings of a remote wilderness, and yet is within striking distance of a major road and settlement.

GM Note. If you have been following along at home, you may notice some similarities between The Flooded Forest the swamp of The Rainforest Valley. While their basic design is the same at first pass (forest with water and general swampiness), the key difference between the two is tone. This forest is intended to have a backwater southern/floridian feel to it while the valley swamp is intended to invoke fear and unease with the sounds and fog and constant shifting of view and perspective.

The Flooded Forest. This forest is essentially all that remains of a forest that once existed in this part of the region prior to the cataclysm that reshaped the caldera. For whatever reason, the trees here were not flattened or destroyed when the rest of the area became blasted plains. As the waters began to flow southward, The Pond began to pool and flood the forest as it tried to find its way through the southern mountain range. This caused over 75% of the forest that remained to become permanently flooded at an average depth of 5-10 feet. On the western side, the land eventually rises so that there are a couple of miles of dry forest between the water and the plains. Just as The Pond entices farmers to look for possible hybrid crops that has floated down river, The Flooded Forest promises herbalists all manner of possibilities. Travel into the forest is almost always done by shallow boat, canoe, or kayak (Easy Check) in mostly the northeastern regions, and never at night (Medium Check). While dawn and dusk are known to be great times to harvest flowers, plants, and fungi (Easy Check; once per day), it is also when the giant dragonflies are most active, which in turn is when the giant flytraps are most active.

The Denizens. For the most part, the waters are inhabited by standard freshwater lake and marsh creatures, mostly small mammals, small and medium fish, and the occasional reptile (Easy Encounter; once per week). The major exceptions to this are the giant dragonflies and giant flytraps. For as yet unknown reasons, as the forest isn’t quite their normal and the water isn’t quite the right temp, giant dragonflies inhabit the forest. Despite multiple bounties to find (5 Hard Checks; once per day, critical failure resets count) and destroy their nest (3 Easy Encounters and 2 Medium Encounters) , none have yet to find it and complete the task. Luckily, and also for unknown reasons, the forest is home to a special type of giant flytrap. This offshoot appears to be a large lily pad, has a swim speed in addition to a land speed, and has an appetite for giant dragonflies (and giant flies too) that seems to help keep the insects from breeding fast enough to become a problem for nearby humanoids.

The Fish Monster. Those that have travelled furthest into the forest all return with the same advice: “Don’t”. Often the advice is usually prefaced with “Run!” (or “Paddle/Swim!”) until they are clear of the tree line before they are calm enough to explain what they witnessed. On multiple occasions, a group was chased out by what they called “a giant fish monster” that was “as big as a dragon”. One group was forced to leave an individual behind that fell in the water when another was maimed and the creature kept attacking the boat. He still has the scars to prove how big the bite of the “dragon fish monster” is. While descriptions of the monster vary with every telling, the only details that seem consistent are actually the strangest part of the story. Each group swears up and down they heard banjo music while a witch cackled along with the tune.

The Guardians. Those that account for all the tales and prepare accordingly (Medium Check) stand a reasonable chance of finding this notorious monster (2 Hard Checks; once per day). Success leads them to a Giant Gar, and once they encounter the Giant Gar, they are immediately set upon by its masters, a family of freshwater merrow. Generally interested only in running off trespassers, they only fight till first blood before retreating with a warning, but even that little skirmish is intense (Hard Encounter). It is possible to reason with them instead of fighting (Incredible Check), but they are not easily won over without some sort of gift or offering (Hard Check). Without some great danger to give them a reason to join forces, befriending them takes time (5 Hard Checks; once per week, critical fail cancels a previous success). Finding their home is nigh impossible (Ultimate Check) without first surviving an encounter with them and following them (Hard Check). The family is led by an old matriarch that possesses the powers of a witch. Her sons are as different as can be, one hulking brute carrying a massive axe while the other one more refined in appearance with a customized banjo slung over his shoulder. Additionally, at her beck and call, is a giant gar that follows the commands of any of the family. What the family is hiding, and why they defend it with their lives is a mystery to all that have been brave enough to try to find out and strong (or savvy) enough to survive such attempts. Anybody clever enough to ask what the druids think might be confused by their lack of detail and interest in changing the subject (Hard Check).

Mosswater Merrow by Nick Russell

Encounters and Checks
In the spirit of 2e (Playtest) compatibility, I have provided Encounters and Checks that have the following ratings: Easy, Medium, Hard, Incredible, Ultimate.
Checks are of a skill that the GM decides is appropriate. Encounters really implies a series of activities or encounters, but a single encounter can suffice for a short side quest. If not using DCs scaled to the party, then assume an average party level of 5. For first edition, use the following numbers:
Easy – Check DC 10, APL -1
Medium – Check DC 15, APL +0
Hard – Check DC 20, APL +1
Incredible – Check DC 25, APL +2
Ultimate – Check DC 30, APL +3

Please continue to join us at our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj.

Randal here, back for more Groundbreaking. This time I wanted to take a look at how we could incorporate something like cicadas and how it can be used by players and GMs alike to further enhance the role that the sandbox itself plays in games.

The Coming Storm. The first sign that the cicadas are about to spawn strangely comes from the rainforest valley. The winds that normally pass through and whistle and hum take on a different tone. Nobody has quite managed to explain why, but some suspect that the druids know and just aren’t saying. The second sign, is the suddenly dip in activity and presence of insects within the valley itself, especially the fireflies that are always a comforting presence in the usually gloomy villages. In the month leading up to the emergence of the cicadas, the valley’s tonal changes become more apparent to those further and further away, until eventually, those in Lakeside Proper can hear it.

The Changing Tides. In the two weeks leading up to the cicadian invasion, the fish of the rivers and canals begin shifting their populations. Larger fish leave the rivers and move into the canals, chasing away the smaller fish that must then hide in the creeks and pools and streams in the surrounding regions. In the last few days, the water itself begins to vibrate and hum slightly as the entirety of the lands west of the farmland carry the movement and sounds of the swarms from the tree covered lowlands and hills just east. In the final hours before it happens, the water begins to froth as the fish (and other water predators) go into a frenzy of anticipation.

The Migrant Hunters. As all animals are more in tune with their environment than people are, these warning signs are not just an alarm for those that must flee … they are a dinner bell for those that are hungry. Little vermin begin to run from the valley, knowing that the crops are going to attract the unstoppable swarm of death. This, in turn, summons the larger felines to an easy series of meals. Likewise, wolves and other predators from the northern forests will brave the fringes of the desert and swamp to make the trip south to feast upon the many herd animals that are either set loose to flee or simply get scared/spooked and run away. Even the giant scorpions move west looking for easier/softer prey, and the giant flies apparently have a hunger for the cicadas themselves.

Savior from the Deep. Within hours of the first emergent insect, the world appears to be vacant. All creatures that can run and hide have done so. Intelligent and animalistic alike. Few humanoids are crazy enough to stay out doors during the siege that decimates the crops that they were unable to properly harvest and safely store. Even with modern construction and knowledge of past events, some homes are still destroyed, their owners along with them, such is the might of the plague. Luckily, the region has a savior in the yet another swarm. Bats from deep within the ancient magma chambers below the caldera have learned over the millennia that there is a free meal on the surface every 17 or so years. Their senses can feel the vibrations coming from the grounds above their head, even before those on the surface can. The begin their month long migration through the chambers and tunnels and chimneys that ultimately lead them to the surface via the caves in the rainforest.

Recovery. While it takes a toll on the terrain, the druids have been very adamant that there will be no interference with the course of nature. So far, the farmers have all been happy to oblige, even with the loss of life that sadly still occurs. The destruction makes for new growth and the droppings from the bats continue to keep the soil fertile for the next 15 or so years.

GM Note. Why should we include such events in our games, especially when it is phrased and presented in a way that the players shouldn’t interact with it or cannot alter it? I think these types of events are a prime example of what makes a sandbox tick. It presents a sense of time and movement through that time, showing that the world around the PCs changes regardless of what they do to it or for it. Also, this presents a great amount of opportunity for the PCs to interact with the area in ways they wouldn’t normally when presented with a clear bad guy to kill. You can include PC families and preparing for the coming plague, or perhaps they return after a plague and need to help pickup the pieces. It provides a sense of realism for bringing in predators that wouldn’t normally be in a region, such as the giant scorpions or flies in the farmlands after I made such a big deal about their home firmly being desert. Perhaps they PCs must deal with a faction of humanoids that are “good” that have had enough with the plagues, so that they must now defend nature and stop “good” people. These types of giant, seemingly world shaking, events should allow you to enhance the story by mixing your stories and tropes up and allow your sandbox to display variety and change. Especially if you have felt it to be going stale.

GM Note. Per the bestiary, their flight allows them quite the range from which to acquire food, mostly picking easy prey. I will touch on this, but it is worth noting in advance for you to remember if you run this (or any chimera). Additionally, it mentions that solitary chimera are usually young males trying to establish themselves, or females with cubs, and that when banded together they form prides as lions do. This implies that their central (read core) personality is that of the lion. I am breaking from this concept in a couple of ways, notably that it will be more draconic in nature and also less “pure evil” and more apt to react to situations with intelligence than an angry evil animalistic one.

The Mother. While pregnant, its mother was captured and imprisoned by a court sponsored mage intent on creating a new winged mount for their military. After her initial capture, she never spoke a word, knowing that speaking would only anger them, cause punishment, and endanger her young. This lulled them all into forgetting she was more intelligent than a simple animal. Their plan was to augment the raw power and intellect of the draconic genes while dumbing down the stubbornness of the goat. Overall, the experiment was a success when a litter of altered chimera pups were born that seemed to have all the traits assigned just as the mages had planned. While not overly intelligent, the mother had been through enough with the group to understand that while her children were not going to have happy lives, they were going to be fed and allowed to fly if they behaved, but that she was going to be imprisoned forever. When they came for her last pup, the runt, she heard her handler (a young mage’s apprentice named Roger) question his orders to dissect the runt. “Roger”, her voices echoed eerily, “Roger”, again, and again, as the apprentice took her last child. The hair on his neck stood up, he had no idea she could speak, he stopped, staring at her, frozen in fear. “Roger, let us go” she pleaded. A heartbeat skipped, then another. “Roger” she pleaded, and this time, the pup in his hands squeaked “RoRawr” trying to imitate its mother. This time, flight overtook fear, and he dropped the pup as he ran from the room screaming, leaving the door open. Mustering all her rage, she broke her chains, snatched her cub, and ran out the door and flew off into the night. Stopping only to avoid passing out from fatigue, she flew for days until she spotted a gorge that looked sheltered enough for a pup to grow and thrive. After landing near a pond with a cave up the cliff face, she fell asleep and never awoke. As an aside, when I was reading the Bestiary, it mentions that a chimera’s voice is combination of all three heads speaking simultaneously, and I imagine it to have a haunting quality to it, and so I imagine it to be like Nina/Alexander from Full Metal Alchemist.

The Runt. While the runt of its litter, it was by far the more advanced with three blue dragon heads. Only the center head has intelligence (and very much a draconic intelligence) as the other two heads are vestigial and simply mirror what the primary one does (no elemental bite or breath). Although containing draconic intelligence, surviving on its own has left it curious of its world as a young human, getting into trouble as it attempted to interact with the various denizens of the region and learning things the hard way. While it is in close proximity to the southern and eastern edges of the basin, it has strongly imprinted fears of leaving the basin, and so it will never venture south or east of the gorge. While this temperament allows it to feel at home in desert-like environs, it is smart enough to know that this is a much safer place to live and hunt, while also a place of nostalgia for its mother. Its home is a cave in the cliff on the gorge, overlooking a pond that is filled with numerous fish from the rivers that pass through the area, providing all the food it could ever need, but over the centuries it has developed a taste for the large flies and scorpions that can be found in the desert. If it weren’t for the enhanced draconic tendencies, it would likely never leave the gorge but for simple curiosity or an invigorating flight above. However, it does have the desire to hoard valuables, and so it pushes the boundaries of its domain ever further in search of something new to add to its collection.

Interactions. RoRawr, as it calls itself, is a creature of habit. Rock and Company has encountered it on several occasions over the years, and after a tense stand off, they were able to negotiate a truce with hit. When the giant desert flies appear during each full moon, all caravans must either be rerouted away from its favorite meals, or they must be willing to offer a meal that it hasn’t had before. So far, Rock and Company has managed to keep all caravans from an encounter as few roads travel far enough south, but there are rumors that a few stray travelers have not been so lucky. Additionally, various animals from the nearby mountains, such as deer or moose, have been known to frequent the rivers that feet the falls and ponds of the gorge, and so RoRawr has been seen stalking those waterways when they are fullest in spring. When the weather is exceptionally bad over a year, and the supplies of fish are low or just plain boring, RoRawr has been rumored to venture into the farmlands of the south … but those rumors haven’t been substantiated by anybody credible. What those rumors don’t say, but can be learned from a simple conversation with Rock and Company, is that RoRawr is cautious by default. It runs when attacks, fighting back only if cornered or able to easily defeat its enemy. Anybody wishing to converse with it merely need to speak politely in draconic and offer a gift of food, the rarer the better. Over time, trust can be earned, as has happened with Rock and Company, if one wishes to work at it long enough. Additionally, it is unknown if Perry and RoRawr have been in contact (or for how long), but Perry is well aware of RoRawr and does not seem to be the slightest bit concerned by their proximity to one another. In fact, if asked the right questions, he seems to be quite fond of RoRawr.

The Hoard. As with many draconic creatures, RoRawr has a hoard of its most valued possessions. Unlike true dragons, due to its unfortunate entry into the world, its most prized possession is the skeleton of its mother. Over the years, as it hunted bigger and stronger prey, bringing them back to the lair to eat, it decided that it would amass a collection unrivaled by any other creature in the gorge, and eventually the basin. Make no mistake, each and every piece of this collection is as important to it as gold is a true dragon, and it will fight to the death to defend it and hunt to the ends of the earth to recover it; especially those of its mother. While this may seem very strange, and possibly morbid to many, it only inherited the desire to hoard things, but had nobody to guide its concept of value and so like a baby bird imprinting on the first thing it sees, it latched onto this as a concept of wealth. Particularly shrewd people can use this to their advantage in dealings with RoRawr if they have access to bones or skeletons from places beyond its range, just as particularly cruel individuals can use pieces of the hoard as a way to gain power over and command it.

I hope you have enjoy this idea as much as I do. As always, please continue to join us at our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj.

Welcome back to Groundbreaking. Randal here, bringing you the next bit of lore to flesh out our little world. I haven’t really touched the eastern region yet, and I have some nifty plans for it, but I wanted to provide something that was pretty simple with a touch of unusual.

The Setup. While the dwarves are the undisputed (also uncontested, or perhaps untested) masters of the lava tunnels below the surface, there is another group that maintains that title on the surface. About 10 years after the dwarves took residence below, their attempts at controlling the population of giant scorpions led the creatures to spend more further east where the lava tubes thinned out, which meant more time on the surface. To keep themselves focused on their own goals in their tunnels, the dwarves had put out a call to adventurers and sell-swords to continue the extermination. The first to answer the call was a halfling that went by the name Hannibal the Hungry, a self-proclaimed master chef that specialized in insect delicacies. He greatly underestimated the size of a giant scorpion. The second to answer the call was a group of relatively new (and surprisingly young) adventurers of oread descent, by the name of Rock and Company. After a brief meeting and negotiation for funding from the dwarves, they began their task in earnest.

The Company. A young group when the deal was struck, Rock and Company was comprised of six young souls full of ideals and dreaming of riches. Barely a hundred years between the lot of them, they made up for their lack of experience through dedication, teamwork, and the natural gifts given to them by their heritage. Their leader, a woman known only as Sandy, was the youngest among them, but made no attempts to hide charm nor bardic talents. She commanded the respect of the group, and treated each equally with the respect she was given. While she was closer to her cousin Mica (and Mica’s mate Peri), she in no way treated them as more than the others. Her second in command, Slater, was a little more refined in his manner and appearance, but also more deadly with a blade. His two boyhood friends, Basal and Alab (twins), are as loyal as you can find, and never leave his back unguarded. The two groups met while ditching prep school, and after a fierce but friendly encounter, their fates intertwined forever. They spent their last school year naming their group and themselves while finding and planning their first foray as adventurers.

The Change. After a few months they began to realize that the advert for keeping the region safe from scorpions wasn’t about the dwarves’ desire to help travelers, but was about covering for a problem they had created. They approached the dwarves and demanded that they stop hunting the scorpions, as it was their fault. Confronting the dwarves did nothing but make them realize how outclassed they were, both in experience and strength. Oh, and funding. They now had no income at all, but wanted desperately to stop the dwarves from further harming the region. As their group included a ranger (Mica) and a druid (Peri), Sandy tasked them with learning every square mile of the region that the scorpions were invading so that they could find a solution that didn’t include extermination. Slater and the twins were tasked with looking for other funding, while Sandy openly (and childishly) declared a “cold war” with the dwarves.

The Causeways. The first few years were very rocky for the group. They spent just as much time scraping food together as they did exploring, charting, and working. Eventually, they found a way to perform their self imposed regional protection of both the wildlife and the travelers that became more abundant as the region became more populated. By fully learning and charting the terrain and life therein, they are able to provide escort service to passing caravans that will include as much water as needed and as little danger as possible. As the decades passed, they began to take in others that preferred the isolation and dry climate, to include a gnoll with elemental powers and a number of half-orcs looking for a fresh start. It was after a half-orc named Izzy joined with her architectural background (studied at college before a series of events ran her from the city) that they conceived of the idea of using some magic and hard labor to create roadways that were easier to travel and included water collection devices that also doubled as shade and shelter. As they expanded their network of rest areas and safety zones, Rock and Company began to make a better profit on their caravan escort duties. Regardless of the distance from her declaration against the dwarves, Sandy’s desire to give them their comeuppance has not dwindled in the least.

GM Note. I originally started this thinking only about druid and/or elementalist using magic to build roads and the occasional stretch of wall to block winds and provide shade. Ultimately I felt that was too simple an idea and expanded it to be more of a highway rest area analogue.

Hello again, Randal here with more Groundbreaking. Today we are going to learn a little bit about an herbalist by the name of Perry that lives in the eastern most reaches of the lightly forested area  just on the southern edge of the desert.

GM Note. This idea came to me while chatting on Discord about mixing or overdosing on potions. I had originally wanted to do something related to the desert, but suddenly it popped into my head that carrying water, even in vials is going to be heavier than carrying powder. When you consider the need for water in a desert, it might be worth keeping the potion as a powder so that you can decide if you want water to live or a potion. The loss of breaking a potion vial, desert or not, is quite expensive and so a pouch of powder is safer for transport in that regard.

The Shop. A game trail meanders through this wild, untamed, lightly forested region of the basin at the deserts edge. Wandering along a low hill, travelers can easily see the desert to the north over the trees below. Following a dip in the terrain, the trail turns back on itself into a depression where a large piece of basalt is wedged between two knolls, under which one finds the most out of place sight you are likely to see in the basin (and that says a lot). A masterfully built shop worthy of any of the great metropolitan cities of the world, complete with ornate signage in multiple languages (common, draconic, elven, gnomish) and a cobblestone courtyard with benches surrounding a water fountain that could well belong to a king (Incredible checks identify the famous artisans that crate. The cobblestones surrounding the fountain (which has the statue of a pegasus as the centerpiece) form a dozen evenly spaced circular mosaic patterns.

The shop opens at sun up, closes for an hour at high noon, and locks up an hour after dark. The interior is an amalgamation of an herbalists shop, an alchemists shop, and a deli. While Perry is very open and honest about his herbs and potions, he always cracks a joke about the type of meat he is serving, usually to the tune of “biggest squirrels in the forest live right out back.” All herbs and spell component ingredients are displayed in baskets, drawers, and shelves, none of which are labeled. He will happily identify and ingredient, but he uses the lack of labels to gauge the worthiness of a customer as well as a deterrent for would be pickpockets.

It is easy to notice how out of place this is (Easy Check), but difficult to place the style of architecture (Hard Check), and even harder to identify the artisans that crafted the sign (Incredible Check), statue (Ultimate Check), and fountain (Incredible Check). Somebody well trained in arcana might recognize the cobblestone courtyard as modified summoning/teleportation circle (Ultimate Check), and with that knowledge recognize that the mosaics represent academies from around the world (Incredible Checks). The shop’s front door uses a key lock (3 Hard Checks) while the interior door to the back and the rear entrance have arcane locks (3 Ultimate Checks). Stealing from the shop is possible (Hard Check), and if somebody is distracting Perry (Medium Check) it becomes easier (Medium Check); but there aren’t any items of significant value to make it worth the trip.

The Man. Perry is an aged half-elf with a speech pattern that implies a privileged upbringing (Easy Check) and decades of formal education (Medium Check). The sight, on the other hand, is that of a hedge-witch trying to grow the perfect hybrid radish-carrot. His hair is long and properly tied back, but smudged from running dirty hands through it, just as his outfit is clearly that which a nobleman would put on in the morning only to have crawled around a garden all day in it. When a customer arrives, to the sound of the bell attached to the door, Perry finishes what he is working on before using magic to clean himself up, doing so slow enough to ensure that all guests can appreciate that he cleans himself up for them. In spite of his formal education, he felt his calling as an alchemist first, and a witch second. In fact, if you get him on the subject (Easy Check) and ask nicely (Medium Check) he will happily tell you about trying to summon a familiar at his academy only to meet a ferret that explained to him that being a witch was better than being a wizard; although it wasn’t until after he finished his alchemical training that he decided to take up the ferret’s offer. After graduation, he traveled the world in search of alchemical formulae and the hopes of finding the right companion to teach him the ways of the witch. It was during these travels, in a desert to be specific, that he ran out of water and during a bout of heat stroke he envisioned the thing that would change his life forever, powdered potions.

Although he lives far from civilization, he maintains the air and etiquette of somebody that spends his days in a bustling city. Befriending him is simple (Easy Check) but gaining his trust takes time (3 Hard Checks; once per week). Anybody visiting more than once a week is likely to encounter another customer, and observation can link their outfits to one of the mosaic circles (Hard Check). Anybody with his trust can expect him to request them to help with acquiring ingredients (Medium Check; once per week) or special meats (Hard Check; once per month) or even to take care of some wild life that is threatening him (Hard Check), his shop (Medium Check), or the various gardens (Medium Check) he maintains in the wild. Any attempt to threaten, coerce, blackmail, or attack him is met with resigned a counterattack that includes a water elemental and animated marble pegasus (Incredible Encounter).

The Process. Powdered potions are really quite simple, if extremely hard to master. By adding a special process to the creation of a potion or extract (adding 10% to the creation cost and raising the DC by 5), the water is completely evaporated. The resulting powder can be stored in a vial, pouch, or even folded parchment. The process of rehydrating the potion is as simple as pouring it into an ounce of water. While not very quick when in a battle, it makes carrying multiple potions easier and safer than in vials. A standard vial can hold 3 potions worth of powder, but it must be rehydrated at the correct dosage or the rehydration process fails. Those that have gained his trust, and have helped him out, can learn the process from him (5 Ultimate Checks; 1 per week) with the caveat that they do not operate with his clientele and they keep him apprised of their business dealings.

Encounters and Checks. I have provided Encounters and Checks that have the following ratings: Easy, Medium, Hard, Incredible, Ultimate. Checks are of a skill that the GM decides is appropriate. Encounters really implies a series of activities or encounters, but a single encounter can suffice for a short side quest. If not using DCs scaled to the party, then assume an average party level of 5. For first edition, use the following numbers:
Easy – Check DC 10, APL -1
Medium – Check DC 15, APL +0
Hard – Check DC 20, APL +1
Incredible – Check DC 25, APL +2
Ultimate – Check DC 30, APL +3

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Randal here, taking a look at what happens when you take gnomes, goblins, mundane farm life, and let it marinate for decades. Let’s dive right in.

The History. Decades ago, in lands far away, the gnomish Treeshaker Clan was rich and popular. They were the talk of the town. Their relationship and bond with earth elementals in the region gave them respect and power. For reasons simple and unworthy of repeating, they had a love of walnuts that bordered on addiction, and so they kept groves of walnut trees near they homes and holdings, and used their control of earth to cause the ground to shake so that the trees would release their prize. Paradoxically, they were known as the Treeshaker Clan before this practice began, but it is also why they are known by this name. Gnomes. During an incursion by goblinoid tribes trying to win a bet, their most talented went to war. While many of them were lost in a needless war, and they were able to keep the tribes from destroying their lands, the survivors returned home to an even more confusing issue. The war had been the last straw for a tribe of goblins also known as Treeshakers. The goblins, however they gained their name by their use of air magic to shake the branches of trees to distract foes before attacking. They saw a kinship with the Treeshaker gnomes and snuck out to return the injured to their homes as a peace offering in hopes that they could stay with them. When the other tribes heard about this desertion, they rallied and razed the lands, forcing the gnomes and goblins to flee for good.

The Merge. Being chased and hunted together can really form bonds, and so the Treeshakers became one big family. Months they traveled by caravan, trading walnuts for supplies as needed. Both gnomes and goblins became more skilled at mechanical engineering as they modified and enhanced their wagons as they broke down on the road. Eventually, they realized that they all had a similar zest for life and fun and experience, and with some tutelage from the gnomes, the goblins were able to keep themselves in check around the other, more civilized peoples. The gnomes, found the goblins’ zany antics just the thing to keep them on their toes, while they began to adapt some of the random junk builds that seemed to appear in the hands of goblin builders.

The Groves. Eventually, they came to the farmlands of southern Marathis’ Cradle. The sought out a nice area for growing walnuts, ensured that they had enough space that they wouldn’t have frequent issues from neighbors complaining about the goblins, set about planting, and named the land Walnut Grove. After a few short months, they had everything ready to begin summoning elementals to help coax the trees to grow quickly. It was then that they had a run in with the druids of the cradle. While they could summon and speak with elementals, none would work with them until they had gained permission from the druids. The farmlands was already a terraforming experiment on a grand scale, one that the druids allowed only if done by hand and respect of the land and animals it contained. Using elementals to speed up plant growth certainly got their attention, and they sternly warned the Treeshaker clans that the native land and animals wouldn’t be used in such a way. And so, they were forced to await nature to take its course, and until the trees were of age, they began taking on jobs and projects (mostly of the construction/tinker sort) to earn enough wages to feed themselves.

The Treeshakers. While they couldn’t work with local elementals, the elders did bring a couple bonded elementals with them. It wasn’t going to be enough for the number of trees that were planted, and so they looked for alternatives. While the gnomes enjoyed building contraptions, they always seemed to use refined materials, even if using them for unintended purposes. They were amazed, once again, at how the goblins could take discarded pieces and parts and combine them to provide something of higher quality. Wanting to be ready for their trees to produce, the best and brightest gnomes and goblins teamed up to build the best treeshaking devices in the event that they couldn’t reach a deal with the elementals. Surprising nobody, they managed to create a device that could walk to a tree, attach itself, and vibrate to drop any loose nuts. Surprising even themselves, the devices proved useful during the halfling ankheg wars; mostly as deterrents to keep the halflings from causing any trouble on their lands. Over the decades, the devices evolved, became more refined, and were more efficient. As they lost their talent with elements, their talent with machinery grew.

The Legends. One particularly industrious duo (a gnome with a bonded earth elemental and a goblin with a bonded air elemental) created a special war machine that traded out the tree grabbing arms for mallets and the shaking mechanism for a swiveling crossbow turret. They became adventurers for hire, but mostly just to pay for new inventions. To this day, songs about the Glory of Ganzeer and Grug are sung in the taverns of the farmlands. It is rumored that the leader of the gnomes can take the form of an earth elemental and the leader of the goblins can take the form of an air elemental. While there is no substantial evidence to the rumors, Treeshakers from both sides affirm and embellish the stories.

I had not intended to include the goblins in this bit of world building. I was basing Walnut Grove on a very similar idea I used in my own home campaign a couple decades ago. One that I never got a chance to flesh out. Recently, with 2e playtest, I have been joking about half-gnome, half-goblin ancestries and after playing a goblin inventor I couldn’t help but include goblins in this iteration of Walnut Grove. And no, I have never played WoW before …

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Today’s Groundbreaking is going to take a look at one of the stranger mysteries that we have hinted at. Previously, while discussing the ruined city found in the rainforest’s swamp, we mentioned sightings of stairs appearing and disappearing in the fog. Rumor has it that they are a special type of illusion that is caused by believing that the phenomenon is real, or paranoia about all of the sights and sounds that ebb and flow in the thick fogs of the swamp. Let’s dive into some rumors, reports, and possible evidence for and against their existence.

Finding the Stairs. With only a handful of settlements are truly inside the rainforest, there are simply very few humanoids that have enough experience with the swamp to be considered credible. Those that do have the experience rarely venture beyond the valley and tend to stay near their homes, thus there aren’t a lot of people that spend enough time with them to properly validate their stories. Combine this with the occasional hermit that purposely tells tall tales to scare outsiders and you have a region filled with amazing stories both fantastical and frightening. Speaking with residents of the villages near the mouth of the valley (Easy Check; once per day) provides rumors that are likely difficult to verify (Hard Check; once per day, critical failure requires another resident). Finding people that live closer to the swamp and the fogs takes time and a seasoned tracker (Hard Check; once per day) but they are more likely to have more useful information (Medium Check; once per day, critical failure requires another resident). Succeeding at all of these checks at 4 different settlements provides enough information to be able to encounter stairs in the fog by finding an appropriate location to look or camp (Incredible Check; once per day).

Finding the Guardian. If you happen to speak to the right villager that leads you to the right swamper (a critical success with residents of two separate villages) you can learn where to find a hermit that claims to have spoken with what he calls the “Guardian of the Stairs.” After finding him (Incredible Check), this hermit requires that the party perform some task before giving the information on how to meet the guardian, such as improving his home (Easy Checks; time/money), collecting rare materials from the swamp (Hard Checks + Medium Encounter), or taking care or a particular troublesome creature (Medium Checks + Hard Encounter). If the party isn’t able to befriend this hermit, it might be possible to intimidate or threaten him (Ultimate Check), but at this point the party will be seen as outsiders not much will convince him to part with any information at all. If his information is obtained willfully, the party can encounter stairs easier (Medium Check; once per day) than if coerced (Hard Check; once per week) and they will have the opportunity to encounter the “Guardian” (Hard Check; once per day).

Encountering the Stairs. Just as the rumors say, the stairs seem to appear out of nowhere. One minute you are looking at empty space, the next minute fog blows through and as it leaves you see stairs. The stairs can be any size or material that is generally found in a human civilization, from the simple brick steps of a stoop to the wooden stairs leading to a second floor and even wrought iron spiral stairs of more wealthy homes. Once they appear, there is no proven way to know how long they will last, but their unnatural presence seems to suppress the normal sounds of the area providing what might be the only possible countdown timer. While the rumors say that touching the stairs will be the death of you, nobody has any evidence of what might happen. Doing so requires a Will save (Hard) to avoid some form of mental damage or drain. Roughly half of the stairs that appear lead to a door of some sort. If you are able to make it up the stairs to the door, you will find the door to be locked and requiring either a master locksmith or a master caster. Should you overcome that, opening the door requires a Fortitude save (Hard) to avoid some form of physical damage or drain. Where the doors lead is completely unknowable until you pass through.

Encountering the Guardian. Usually found meditating, this grey-skinned creature looks to a cross between a humanoid and a toad. Accustomed to meditating in complete solitude, it is always surprised and suspicious when encountering others, requiring a gesture of good will before beginning any meaningful conversation (Medium Check). Should violence ensue, the party will not like the results (Ultimate Encounter), otherwise it is happy to discuss what it knows about the swamp (can provide locations of many safe paths and creature nests/homes), the fog (how to avoid getting lost in the rumored sentient fog), and the stairs and doors (how to avoid the mental and physical onslaught that comes with trying to navigate them). The creature is, in fact, a duskwalker void mystic (Oracle with Void mystery) named Theone (previously a boggard druid of the swamp) that has been using the stairs and their otherworldly nature to commune with the Void. Interest in the Void, and study under Theone’s tutelage can enable one to learn the secret of navigating the stairs to other planes. Doing so requires increasing difficult mastery (3 consecutive checks, one check a week; Medium, Hard, Incredible).

The Stairs. The creation and purpose of these stairs is truly unknowable. Their existence throughout Golarion (and the other planes for that matter) is essentially unknown. Theone’s best guess is that they are some sort of passage between the planes that was created when planes, dimensions and interdimensional/interplanar travel was first conceived. They were likely forgotten as other, easier, forms of travel came about. Mastering the stairs enables access to locations that magic is likely not able to reach.

Encounters and Checks
In the spirit of 2e (Playtest) compatibility, I have provided Encounters and Checks that have the following ratings: Easy, Medium, Hard, Incredible, Ultimate.
Checks are of a skill that the GM decides is appropriate. Encounters really implies a series of activities or encounters, but a single encounter can suffice for a short side quest. If not using DCs scaled to the party, then assume an average party level of 5. For first edition, use the following numbers:
Easy – Check DC 10, APL -1
Medium – Check DC 15, APL +0
Hard – Check DC 20, APL +1
Incredible – Check DC 25, APL +2
Ultimate – Check DC 30, APL +3

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Hello, and welcome to a Groundbreaking holiday special. As this week’s post fell on Christmas, I wanted to take a look at how the people of Marathis’ Cradle might celebrate the winter solstice or the new year. The more I thought about the canon as it is currently, I realized that the specialized weather we have in place could be a big player in our festival. While it does snow frequently in the northern forest, snow in the caldera is uncommon due to the unnatural warmth of the lake waters. Access to druids that take an active interest in the people and climate of the region provide us with the perfect formula for changing the weather. Druids do not impose their powers upon the weather if there isn’t a reason for it, and so we need some form of inciting incident becomes the foundation of the festival. The presence of fey in the area has been touched upon in bits and pieces, so perhaps including them could help to bring the history of this festival, and the region at large, alive. Let’s see how these elements work together.

The Inciting Incident. Not long after the village of Lakeside Proper was founded, the fey began to take note of the children in the area. Their love of play and boundless energy were the first human traits that they could grasp and relate to. As those first children became friends with the little and young fey, their parents and elders began to grow concerned. The creatures had powers that were dangerous, many children were injured playing with them, and one child was even turned into an ice statue. After a series of town hall meetings, it was decided that instead of running the fey off or destroying them outright, they would use their children as bait to capture the creatures and imprison them. Creating ice, after all, could prove to be helpful in food storage (as well as profitable). Consultation with witches and wizards confirmed that the villagers could harness the magical traits of the creatures to control the elements and weather, and so their plan was hatched. With the unwitting help of their children, they surprised, captured and imprisoned dozens of the tiny fey creatures that had befriended the children of the Caldera.

http://caranilsen.blogspot.com/2012/01/wolpertinger.html

The Battle. The queen of the fey in their adjacent realm (accessed via ley-line portal) was a quickling by the name of Closaunta the Swift and Vicious. While generally considered a kind and fair ruler, she had earned her name in civil wars in which she showed her enemies no mercy. When her people were taken, she immediately called for her guard and rode to war on her chariot pulled by wolpertingers. While she caught the human villagers off-guard, their witch and wizard allies were able to withstand the initial attack, and soon elemental energies (fueled by the nexus of ley-lines below) were wreaking havoc on both sides as well as the land itself. Within a week patrols of fey and spell-slingers harried each other on the shores and docks of the village, using so much powered magic that it was starting to effect the entire region. With the smaller numbers, the humans were defeated quickly, and the fey continued to patrol lake and its shore, going as far as enchanting denizens of the lake to do their bidding. Tainted water began running down the waterfalls and corrupting plants, trees, and animals across the basin. Heat from various effects began rising in erratic patterns, even further skewing the weather its already abnormal patterns. Legends say it even rained winged frogs for an entire day.

The Conclusion. So caught up in the guerrilla war, nobody noticed that the druids had decided that enough damage had been done. They gathered into four groups, at druid circles in each of the four compass directions, to perform the largest cleansing ritual they had ever devised. Proving that they were true defenders of nature, shepherds of the weather, and not to be trifled with, they spent a week performing the ritual … and every creature in the Marathis’ Cradle took note. The druids in the east collected the dry air of the desert into a dry tornado while the druids in the west pulled every last drop of moisture from the swampy fog to create a wet twister. As these two opposites advanced on the caldera, the druids in the north collected only the coldest air and those in the south the warmest to collide with the wet and dry directly over the lake. To make a show of the spectacle, the druids included colored light and deafening sound in their storms, ensuring that every creature for 100 miles in all directions could see these storms as they slowly advanced over the course of the ritual. The four storms met with an explosion: the warm and dry air was the source of a thunderstorm that forced the cold and wet air to rise quickly, creating a blizzard of epic proportions. The first 8 hours included lightning strikes and hail the size of coconuts as the wind and thunder reached a tumultuous crescendo that was followed by 24 hours of blizzard like conditions within the caldera, causing snow to fall up to 50 miles in all directions as well. When the storm cleared, Closaunta and her troops had all retreated to their realm, conceding the power of weather, nature, and guardianship of the lands to the druids.

The Festival. To this day, to serve both as a reminder of the past and a promise of the future, the druids gather on the day of the storm to perform a ceremonial version of their ritual. The druids gather upon rim of the caldera in the four compass points, and pass the weather from one group to the other. The druids of the west summon the moisture from the swampy fog, such that it appears in the shape of Closaunta on her war chariot, complete with wolpertingers. As it travels around the region, it gains in size and color and definition until it reaches the lake, where it continues to circle the lake late into the night, snowing until the moisture is gone. This display shows their continued power and control over the weather, as well as serving as a reminder to both human and fey that they were the ones that drove Closaunta back to her realm.

Over time, the fearful memories gave way to respect and honor for the druids and then joy and awe for the beauty of the ritual storm. During this time, the shallows of the lake freeze over, and the villagers take to the ice for fun and games. Fey that are normally only visible to children (see my Imaginary Friend template) tend to allow the adults to see them and join in the fun and games as well. Under the watchful eyes of the druids, upon whom both humans and fey lavish gifts of nature, all creatures enjoy a day of feasting, merriment, and gift giving. Fey will enchant pebbles with magical color trails, and children will compete to skip them the furthest across the water … using the color trails as markers to determine winners. Witches and wizards will travel the streets, performing minor magics for entertainment as well as a larger illusionary recreations of the final battle in which the fey gained the upper hand.

During the original ritual, one of the druids died from the exhaustion of performing the ritual for days without rest. As thanks for what they had done, many villagers gathered to offer what they felt the eldest druid would consider the greatest gift. To their surprise, the druids selected the only villager to arrive without any herb or seed, having only their life and service to offer. Ever since, after the passing of a druid, the circle will await the next festival and choose the replacement from those the villagers gathering to make an offering. During these years, at the final feast, those that wish to join line up and offer a gift to the eldest druid, who then accepts the gift from the most promising applicant.

Hello, and welcome back to this special Groundbreaking. We have a map! At some point during the first few posts of Groundbreaking, I decided to sketch out a rough idea of what I was working with. I kept it simple, so that I wasn’t spending a lot of time on something I am horrible at (art) as well as not wanting to redraw it every other week after coming up with new ideas. When I posted about the scale of the region I decided to revisit my original drawing and bring it up to date with all of the descriptions that I had done thus far. Almost immediately, I wanted to get a real artist to create a real map for us to have, and so I started to set aside some funds as well as look for ideas.

Recently, while working on a side project, I decided to reach out to the artists and boy am I glad I did! I would like all of you to take a minute and thank Tony “MrKrane” Carter by visiting his portfolio at https://www.artstation.com/krane. Please get this guy some more work so he will cut me deals on future art! 😉

My original drawing was purposely not to scale, so that I could see the details, and some of that leaked into the drawing I cleaned up. While working on this piece, I had the caldera made smaller to give the region a much larger looking scale than in the original drawing I posted previously. Additionally, some of the items he placed differently than I had visualized in my head (and tried to convey in my writing) but I really liked the way he laid them out and so I kept them, such as the ravine. Until I was putting this piece together, I had completely overlooked that I had purposely skewed the scale of the ravine and rainforest and swamp to the west! I enjoyed his rendition of it so much that I completely forgot that I called out the average depth (400 ft.) and width (1 mile) … numbers that probably shouldn’t be more than a line on the map!

Luckily, Groundbreaking is a blog about World Building, with a Sandbox location as the focal point. We can change what we want, when we want! Let us take a look at the areas we are going to retrofit, the inconsistencies on the map, and the locations that have been marked.

Retrofit: Adding the south eastern gorge

The gorge to the south-east is based on my mention of multiple ravines in the desert. The gorge is wedged between the mountain border on the south and east, light tree covered hills on the west, and a sliver of connection to the desert itself. Both of the rivers in this region drain into the gorge, join together, and make their way south east and underground where their final destination is unknown. This gorge is the rumored home of the chimera that is known to hunt in the south-eastern reaches of the desert.

Retrofit: The western ravine and rainforest

The ravine to the west that houses the rainforest can be addressed in multiple ways. As a retrofit, we can simply say that the previous numbers were incorrect, and that it is much wider, thus bringing the scale of the map in line with our canon. As there wasn’t a lot of mention of the terrain above the ravine, we could simply say that the maps are drawn with an incorrect scale as to showcase the terrain that exists inside the ravine for the purpose of annotating locations. We haven’t included any scale markers with the map, so this is simple and plausible. Additionally, we could claim that the lands in the ravine include a lot of underground cavern structures, that make it much wider below than above. This could potentially leave the scale of the map intact, while simply needing a caveat that the rendering is of the below ground areas. I like and can use all three, so I wanted to leave them all here for you decide in your own games.

For canon, though, I am going to combine the three. I am going to widen the average width of the ravine to 20 miles (from 1 mile) and the depth to 750 ft (from 400 ft) with areas of cavern structures that are up to 5 miles deep in some locations. This gives an area that was originally just a footnote or anomaly enough room to house some truly interesting locations and encounters without needing very much change thus far. It also makes the map look relatively close in scale. By keeping the western most area (that which passes through the boundary mountain range) to the originally specification, we are able to keep much of the original description of the whistling winds and white water rapids and hunting locations in tact.

by Tony “MrKrane” Carter https://www.artstation.com/krane

Location Markers

Marked on the map, you will find the following:

• Treehouse: Represents a Hunting Lodge
• Druid Circle: Represents the fact that a druid circle is rumored to be somewhere in that region
• Cathedral: The rumored ancient cathedral from before the volcano
• Houses: Towns (Pond Pass in the south, Glintwood Clearing in the entrance to the western ravine)
• Market Stalls: Farmland Marketplaces
• Stone Door: Dwarven Keep
• Question Marks: Places noted by travelers and adventurers that have not been verified as meaningful to the creator of the map.

I hope you enjoyed this update, especially our new map! Please continue to join us at our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj and let Krane#6373 know how you liked his map!

Welcome back to Groundbreaking. Randal here again, to further discuss the Huntsmen and the Masters of the Forest. In case you missed it, or it has been awhile, please refresh your memory with the last installment.

While the Huntsmen aren’t a military or law enforcement unit, they perform many of the functions of both and so tend to lean on many of the common methods of operation. This includes specific posts and duties that units are assigned to for regular intervals of time. To avoid stagnation, and increase overall knowledge, these units are encouraged to take assignments in different areas and perform different duties. Many prefer certain regions and do their best to stay put, while others become attached to certain herds and try to follow them year round. Those with specialties often find themselves repeated tasked with the same unit, but also enjoy the prestige that comes with being needed. Additionally, many become attached to their favorite Master, or try their best to avoid working under a Master they can’t stand. This can cause a little bit of a migration of Huntsmen when the Masters are reassigned and the rank and file aggressively look for new assignments.

Each Master of the Forest is given complete control over the region that they are in charge of, so long as they are in charge of it. While they know they are working as a group, and maintain that they are a united front, they each have their quirks that can make working for (or with) them difficult for those not accustomed.

Alice and Lala

(human accompanied by a dire showshoe hare) Alice traveled the forest with her father 15 years ago when he sought to join the Huntsmen. He was a ranger and trapper from the distant northern snowfields, but decided after losing his wife to a blizzard that he would find somewhere warmer to raise his (then) 10 year old daughter. Lala had accompanied Alice’s mother on her hunts, and so followed them when they left the snow. Soon after arriving, she began training with her father to join the Huntsmen, and was one of the youngest to join. Whether it is in her blood, her connection to Lala, or perhaps the rumors that her mother was an arctic elf are true, Alice is capable of withstanding cold temperatures that would normally incapacitate a human. Spending her formative years traveling great distances with her father to find a new home have caused her to chafe at the thought of staying in one place too long. These two traits are what tend to annoy those working under her the most. Regardless of her post, she will often disappear in the night without warning, especially in cold weather, and wander the woods for a couple days.

While there are a great many complaints about the amount of cold weather travel that she tends bring upon those working under her, she employs her most trusted to manage assignments in her region so that those that cannot or don’t want to are able to maintain a less grueling post. Her actions cause Alice the most grief with Hippnee as he takes his post and responsibilities as Master more serious than any other. He feels that when she is away, the others must pick up the slack and keep the appearance that everything is under control. He has yet to understand that she can be responsible, likely due to her younger age. She best gets along with Fancy, and sees her as a kindred spirit.

Fancy, Spike, and Fang

(awakened dire wolf accompanied a pair of wolves) Fancy was found as a pup and raised by the druids specifically to become an assassin of their order. Proximity to their circle, the ley-lines, the fey, or a luck of genetics provided Fancy with higher than normal intelligence than was expected. After given an order to kill the druid that raised her, she refused, and instead attacked those that gave the order. Her reward was free will and the intelligence to enact it for the greater good. She now understands that it was a small group of bad eggs, and has taken her place as a hunter for the druids, but in a capacity that does good, not evil. While she is capable of speech, she hides this fact by employing trusted Hunstmen to speak in her stead. She is well aware that she is viewed with caution by outsiders, even new rangers, and tends that play up that menacing look whenever it helps her to avoid confrontation, but she is happy to recuse herself from situations that her presence isn’t helping.

Her record as a Master is impeccable, and all those that work under her show her the respect she deserves, just as she does them. She enjoys traveling and hunting with Alice, loves to eat with Hippnee, but just can’t seem to get along with Zebb. Anytime the two of them are present together there is a charge in the air, and her fur just doesn’t quite lay down as it should. There is history there that nobody is talking about, although the rangers sure have a lot of theories about it.

Hippnee and Amber

(halfling accompanied by a lynx) Hippnee is all things halfling. He loves to lay about. He loves to eat. He loves to push his luck. While playing in the woods as an adolescent, he happened across Amber playing as well. Testing his fate by following her up and down trees and ridges led them to form a bond. Ultimately, it is she that led him to realize the calling as a ranger, but his love of the good life kept her around when it was time to eat and sleep. Although he didn’t follow in the mercantile footsteps of his father, the shrewd businessman that raised him as led him to take his role as Master more than serious enough to make up for any other areas he may be lacking (as compared to the other Masters).

While he enjoys frivolity as a free time pursuit, doing so on the job irritates him greatly. This is the source of his problems with Alice. He truly does enjoy the company of Fancy, but truth be told, their friendship started with him providing the best spiced meats he could get ahold of to the wolf pack to ensure that he and Amber were not on the menu. Still a little paranoid about working with an orc and a hobgoblin, let alone their family, Hippnee has a begrudging respect for the seriousness that Zebb puts into his work as a Master.

Zebb, Pishka, Nish, Grum, Petal

(orc accompanied by his hobgoblin mate and their 3 adult children) Zebb was banished from his tribe at an early age. He was forced to keep on the move until he found his way into a hobgoblin tribe that was more open minded than the other humanoids in his home region. He was able to enjoy life without constant warring, using his background and travel to provide for the clan as a ranger, and he even started a family. But he was never at peace, something in him constantly drew him away. When his birth clan began warring again, they eventually encountered his adopted clan, and instead of trying to defend his family from that fiasco, they instead moved on, looking to follow this calling he had. He eventually heard tell of a monk living in a hidden valley within a caldera that was communing with the void, and that any who studies with this sage for a season is able to calm the storm of their mind. Unable to find said monk, being in the caldera brought Zebb and his family peace, and so they stayed to raise their children.

Zebb is a being from multiple worlds, and so he is slow to show emotion in matters of import. This causes him to be seen as cold and distant by Alice. Although he gets along with Hippnee, the halflings frivolity irritates him severely. Fancy and her wolves remind him of his old clan’s war beasts, and he can’t shake the feeling that something is going to set her off. While he is slow to show emotion, he is fast and fierce with his judgements and punishments. He is as fair as any other Master, but the gravity with which he carries it out has given him a reputation as strict.

Well, now we know a bit more about the Masters of the Forest and how they see each other on a base level. I think next time we might take a deeper look into this sage, monk, disciple of the void, or whatever it might be …

Groundbreaking welcomes you back! Let’s just dive right in.

The northern forest, known as The Hunting Grounds, is an expanse of raw nature. The Huntsmen are a collective of rangers that work with local hunters and trappers on behalf of the local druids, ensuring that the land is respected and cared for. They issue any and all permits to live and work in the forest between the rivers, and act as judge, jury, and executioner to those that go against them. While they are compared to a town guard or local law enforcement due to constant disputes over boundary and contract disputes, they perform many other functions such as search and rescue, trail maintenance, or (more recently) tour guide to the wealthy.

The four lead rangers, known as the Masters of the Forest, have been selected from the ranks of The Huntsmen by the druids. Three to watch over the lodges (one each) and surrounding areas while the fourth roams the forest at large. They meet twice each year, during the solstices, at a hidden druidic circle deep in the forest. After the summer meeting, the Master Rangers travel the forest together for one month as a form of team building. While the rank and file perform day to day operations, it is the duty of the masters to ensure they are properly trained and equipped as well as abiding by the tenants of the job. The current Masters are Alice at the East Lodge (a human accompanied by a dire showshoe hare), Fancy roaming (an awakened dire wolf accompanied a pair of wolves), Hippnee at North Lodge (a halfling accompanied by a lynx), and Zebb at the West Lodge (an orc accompanied by his hobgoblin mate and their 3 adult children).

Each of the lodges has a postings board for the huntsmen to keep track of any activities or missions that are ongoing. This can range from listing berry patches that are currently ripe to notices of criminal activity to mysteries sightings or missing creatures. While intended to be for the huntsmen, anybody in good standing with the organization or looking to join them is welcome speak with the sergeant of arms about receiving special permission to partake.

The North Lodge has the following postings:

• Chris (locals named an owlbear Chris) sighted near popular berry patch
• dead bats found laid in a circle after past two full moons
• 10 gp reward for lost snakeskin hat; see Count Reginald (posted by tourist)
• truffle season!

The West Lodge has the following postings:

• help wanted to assist loggers until replacements arrive
• kobolds seem agitated about something lately
• 50 gp prize for finding a darkwood tree ready for harvest
• 93 days without a bulette sighting

The East Lodge has the following postings:

• Melvin and his cousin Kevin (local trappers) are a week overdue to return home
• Strange smells coming from ponds fed by river runoff
• Deer acting strange near forest edge
• Supply of whistle arrows on Wicket’s Trail empty

Next time we will look a little deeper into some of the drama and tension that can be found within The Huntsmen that might lead to some fun plots, encounters, and quests! As always, please continue to join us at our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj.

Welcome back to Groundbreaking. We set out to create a sandbox and while I was having fun building up the region’s topography and various locales within, I started losing site of the main task as we wrapped up the foundation.

“What exactly is a sandbox adventure or adventure site, and how do we create one.”

Using a very narrow definition of the term, we have done what we set out to do, and we now have a detailed region with brief descriptions of the people, places, and some history within that the PCs can ask about, travel to, and adventure in. I would now like to put forth that a sandbox isn’t a sandbox without some amount of seeding. If you read magazines like the old Dungeon or (more recently) Wayfinder, you are going to find articles like Plot Hooks, Side Trek Seeds, Weal and Woe, or even random generators for “X did Y to Z”. These are all great things to have by your side as a GM to help inspire you or to fill gaps in your adventures/modules or simply to give you a free night from creating too much at the last minute. I have therefore decided that I will not waste your time on simply populating the towns, we are going to spend our time here laying out all the things that make a place interesting and give your PCs something to do or ask about.

The mysterious figure known in and around Lakeside proper as Ranthak is a female goblin wizard that studies archaeology and evolution, and dabbles in architecture. She is quite old (60 years!) but hasn’t let that slow her down as her magical talents seem to be preserving both her mind and body at the age of a 30 year old. She moved into the area after learning about the aquatic kobolds in the northern region and deciding that they would make a great source of study on a thesis she is preparing for her studies at the Arcanamirium in Absalom. After arriving, the sheer number of things that caught her imagination prompted her to take a leave of absence, setup residence, and acquire a source of funding in the form of designing The Four Dives. She keeps her true identity secret to avoid all the issues that go along with being a wizard, a woman, and an academic. She doesn’t want to seem like a tourist or draw attention to her work in the odd chance that information might get back to the college and draw others that might try to steal her work.

There are a couple people around town that claim to have knowledge of Ranthak, each with 5 or 6 details but only 1 valid bit. Combined, the party might get 3 pieces of information at most. One of the owners of The Dives is secretly trying to find information on Ranthak and is willing to provide lodging for up to a week to get it. The druids know her, but a relationship with them must be established first. She can be encountered traveling between Lakeside Proper, the kobolds, The Misty Ruins (they believe to have an artifact there), and the Dream Caverns (she uses it to improve her memory).

Ranthak’s friendship with the kobolds can be simple to learn from the kobolds (Medium Check) or difficult elsewhere (Incredible Check). If she is tracked down on one of her visits, she can become an ally with some effort (Hard Check). Usually she has use of adventurers for a handful of tasks, that can be treated like side quests in the larger sandbox. Fetching materials for inks or spells in the farmland (Easy Encounter), tracking down a new familiar in the forest (Medium Encounter), finding a lost ring or rod in the lake (Hard Encounter), or obtaining some dragon scales from the desert (Incredible Encounter).

Her income from The Dives is more than enough to cover her expenses in the field, but not high enough to arouse suspicion from the owners, each of which is unaware that she has the same arrangement with the others. If this information were somehow learned (Incredible Check) and given to the owners, and they believed it (Hard Check) it could create trouble for Ranthak, causing her to confront the party. This would either end a friendship, cause enmity, lead to a fight, or worse. The party would need to be wary of her anytime they are in Lakeside Proper or near the kobold tribes. This information could be used as blackmail (Ultimate Check) if somebody had a reason to blackmail her.

Her study of the kobolds led her to a fascination of their most powerful sorceress, which turned into a relationship over the years. This angered a rival mate and unbeknownst to Ranthak, he has been making plans to quietly remove the goblin from their circle. While she has been very careful to not let her relationship affect her study of the tribe, she has been extremely careful to avoid any written acknowledgement of it in case her papers are rejected for her interference. Either the love interest or Ranthak (or both) could be taken hostage at some point, giving the party a chance at a rescue mission (Medium Encounter) that culminates with a battle with a half-dragon kobold warrior (Hard Encounter).

Encounters and Checks
In the spirit of 2e (Playtest) compatibility, I have provided Encounters and Checks that have the following ratings: Easy, Medium, Hard, Incredible, Ultimate.
Checks are of a skill that the GM decides is appropriate. Encounters really implies a series of activities or encounters, but a single encounter can suffice for a short side quest. If not using DCs scaled to the party, then assume an average party level of 5. For first edition, use the following numbers:
Easy – Check DC 10, APL -1
Medium – Check DC 15, APL +0
Hard – Check DC 20, APL +1
Incredible – Check DC 25, APL +2
Ultimate – Check DC 30, APL +3

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Hello, hello, welcome back. The overview is done, it is time for the dive into the details of the region.

This region is the home of many of my own adventures and plots, and Lakeside Proper is the locale in which I placed the Side Trek Seed “The Nereid’s Shawl” for Wayfinder #18 (page 48). That Backstory says that the lake grew to cover the gate, but when writing this blog I decided to change the shape of the lake and decided that the gate fell to the depths of the lake. Other than that, the Backstory still holds and can be considered canon for Groundbreaking. I will delve a bit more into the the backstory here and in other pieces, but wanted to give you the option of reading that piece to get a taste of some adventure in the region.

Descending to Lakeside Proper treats travellers to the unique sight of an almost aerial view of the sprawling village built upon the water, with many buildings two or even three stories tall, and multiple rope bridges connecting them. The bustling activity provides they eye with plenty of distraction, from children chasing faeries, pets chasing each other, to fisherman and farmers hawking their wares along the main pathways. It isn’t until you reach the shoreline and have to travel another half a mile to the water that you realize that the view from above and afar gave a false sense that the village and lake are small. I wanted to convey that when you see something from afar, your perception of how it should be can affect how you see it. A large fishing village on the water just seems out of place, and so you tend to assume it isn’t as big as it really is … at least until you are right next to it and cannot ignore the scale.

It is this half mile stretch that visitors get their first taste of what it is to be in Lakeside Proper (or just Proper by the locals as their are many small groupings of homes or other buildings around much of the lake). Anybody familiar with a fish market will be right at home here with the sights and sounds that accompany an active and thriving marketplace. Strange to most outsiders are that the fish carts store and display their wares openly on a bed of crushed ice, which is quickly explained away as proximity to fresh catch and fresh snow (snow is not present during the warm seasons). There are, in fact a couple families that make their living creating ice for the markets in little stove-like devices placed in the waters below their homes. These families were befriended by the same fey decades ago and were taught this magic as children. They have been doing it so long now that they have completely forgotten the origin, but they keep it secret anyway.

Most outsiders are oblivious, but wary and traveled adventurers likely notice that something amiss with the population, but have a hard time putting their finger on it. The average age of the citizenry in Lakeside is lower than one generally finds, with the oldest humans or halflings no more than 50 years old (should one be so bold as to check ID). This development is less than a year old, when a particularly virulent plague (some say curse) tore through the caldera, taking lives of all ages but leaving none of the most elderly breathing. To this day, none of the elders from the neighboring areas dares to enter the caldera, lest they too be cursed. Life, however, moves on, and so the village continues to thrive under the leadership of the next generation of elders. A small number of families were wiped out entirely, their homes given to family outside the caldera or sold to families that wished to take their place. This change in leadership sees the stoic mourning of the older generation, and the excitable optimism of the younger generation as a dichotomy that will hopefully resolve itself and allow the village to thrive and maintain prominence within the basin. See the Rumor Mill below.

As is found in any lakeside fishing village, there are boat makers (a trio of siblings) that specialize in kayaks, canoes, and small sailboats. They are all on the northern edge of the village where they have easy access to the lumber from the mill and some open space to work. They each have their own suppliers for the adornments they prefer to use, such as sails, oars, and the like. Throughout the village, it is easy to find a dozen or more families that can build or repair fishing rods and tackle, each with a custom design or flair that they claim makes them better than others. Most families that have gardens are willing to sell any extras, and many teens can be seen wandering the neighborhoods carrying baskets of fruits and vegetables to be traded with others. While there are inns at the base of trail leaving the caldera, they are purely function over form (places to prepare before the long walk out or a place to rest after the long walk in). Just as any village, it is a simple matter to adjudicate simple shopping trips for adventurers. This town isn’t known for its magic, and even the specialists focus on keeping their families fed. It shouldn’t be difficult to get high quality (masterwork, export, master) fishing equipment or boating equipment with a few hours or a day of shopping.

The four tallest buildings on the lake are owned by the wealthiest citizens, are all of similar design, and all operate as taverns and inns. These three story establishments are built on the shelf nearest the edge, engineered by a mysterious figure known as Ranthak, and are collectively known as “the dives” because a running jump from the roof can clear the walkway and land in the deep of the lake. He convinced each of the four families to fund his enterprise, and in return he has a room in each that is never to be rented out, along with a servant on call at all times (even when not there; which is most days). Each of the locations has a special gimmick, but that is unique, but they all have some overlapping activities (such as fish racing in an open common area). Aside from general aesthetics, the one thing that truly proves these were designed by the same entity is that they all have identical water fountains in the center of their common areas. I wanted to have a mystery unrelated to the greater fey mysteries of the realm. I felt that an unknown or enigmatic figure would help give that mystery some legs.

The Rumor Mill
Each of the following rumors can be learned by spending an hour or more gathering information from locals. The DC listed is the target to determine if the rumor is true (T), false (F), or nobody knows (?).

The People of Lakeside Proper
DC 10 – (F) All old people entering the caldera are doomed to catch the plague.
DC 15 – (T) No citizens are older than 50 years.
DC 20 – (?) The current elders brought the plague so that they could make changes.
DC 25 – (F) The Ice Makers are wizards and witches.
DC 30 – (T) Ranthak has never revealed their identity, but is reportedly smaller than a halfling.

The Places of Lakeside Proper
DC 10 – (T) The channels/sloughs under the village are more complex than a city sewer.
DC 15 – (F) The boat maker siblings are all competing for an inheritance.
DC 20 – (F) The most successful businesses are owned by the same family.
DC 25 – (?) The four dives have a hidden purpose that only Ranthak knows.
DC 30 – (T) The four dives are used by smugglers when the fog is thick.

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Hello there and welcome back to Groundbreaking. Randal here. I have been avoiding this topic since pretty much the beginning, but after chatting about it on the Know Direction Discord server, I felt it was time. Buckle up for this oversized review and talk about scale.

The entire region discussed is known as Marathis’ Cradle, a large mountain basin with an average elevation of roughly 6,000 ft. that is surrounded by steep but not exceptionally treacherous mountainous terrain. The name comes from local tales that an ancient sky deity named Marathis fell from the moon, creating the basin and volcano upon impact. These stories have led to other regional names such as Mount Marathis, Marathis’ Goblet, and Marathis’ Finger. Mount Marathis is the volcano, Marathis’ Goblet is the caldera at the top, and Marathis’ Finger is a large obsidian column that rises above the lake in the caldera.

Waterfalls carry fey-infused water and fish down the mountain to rivers that supply the entire basin with life. Forest to the North referred to as The Hunting Grounds, farmlands to the South known as The Markets, a rainforest valley to the West called The Misty Forest and desert to The Dry East round out the the major biomes that we have detailed thus far. If we take the descriptions at face value, it is implied that each of the 4 regions begins at the base of Mount Marathis, extending in their compass direction. Depending on how wide the base of the mountain is, this can be possible, even if unlikely, or it can be downright unbelievable.

Let’s take a quick look at the numbers we have explicitly stated, calculated, or implied:

• the basin is 6,000 ft. elevation
• highest point of the rim is 7,000 ft
• a caldera roughly 4 miles wide (e/w) and 5 miles long (n/s)
• the lake’s surface is at roughly 6,500 ft
• traveling up the volcano to the caldera, however is a test of physical endurance
• villages scattered around the mountain are considered part of the larger community
• allow logs of all sizes to be brought from miles away
• farming communities that stretch for miles upon miles
• markets are held in this region, spaced every couple miles

Starting with the caldera and the lake, we have a lake perimeter of roughly 18 miles by adding the width and length twice. This means a leisurely stroll around the lake would take under a day. Climbing from the base of the volcano to the top and down the lake requires rising 1,000 feet and then descending 500 feet. Because we know that this trip is (supposed to be) a test of endurance, let’s assume that the average grade is between 10%-15%. Conservatively, this means that the trail is 10 ft long for each foot of elevation change, making the entire 1,500 feet of change in elevation take 15,000 feet of travel (which we can round up to 3 miles for simplicity). If we add half a mile as the width from the lake perimeter to the outer edge of the rim, and make the base of the mountain have an extra mile on all sides from the rim, we can make any given trail roughly 4.5 miles of total travel. Based on some googling, this trip should take 3-5 hours for an unencumbered person of a reasonable level of fitness, so we can assume anybody with wagons or carts or carrying other goods or gear is going to take a full 6-8 hours due to the slower speeds necessary to ascend or descend safely.

We know that there are villages scattered around the mountain. These are mostly around the base of the mountain where the ascending trails meet the main roads and rivers that head off in various directions. Most of these villages are small affairs that comprise of an inn and tavern for travellers to rest at before ascending or after descending the mountain, with a shop or two and perhaps a small farm or hunting lodge to provide food for the locals, as well as various clearings and sheds or barns to store various things that need to be taken to or from the lake. The farms are nothing compared to those to the South, while the lodges pale next to the great hunting lodges to the North. This accounts for there being multiple villages within easy reach of both the caldera and the waterfalls all on the mountain proper.

Briefly, we note that logs can be brought in from miles away. Originally, this is for logging on the northern slope of the mountain, but it wouldn’t be a very big stretch to say that they mechanisms in place would allow for lumber to come from days away, instead of just “miles away.” Once you hit the basin floor at the base of the mountain, the rivers would be less treacherous and thus easier to move lumber against the current to a point where the gnomish log movers could then help against the stronger currents in the mountainous areas. Looking south, we said that the farming communities stretched for miles upon miles and that markets are spaced every couple miles. This was pretty much just me being less than accurate and a little lazy in my wording. In rural areas that have a population you generally have some form of inn or cluster of buildings roughly spaced roughly a day’s journey (8 hours in our case) from each other. It was my intent that there would be markets at each of these locations along the southern roads.

With all of that information at hand, let’s discuss the scale of the basin directly. To be honest, the mountain likely isn’t tall enough to affect the weather in the region as I mentioned that it does, but I still want that to be an aspect of the region and will happily wave my GM hands and say “fey magic and ley lines” to get the result. As for the total size, unless I missed something in my recent review, we have no hard numbers. I wanted the northern forest to be deep and dense enough that non hunters could get lost for weeks, and I sort of mentioned that early settlers were to travel a week along the river to map it out before returning. Mixing and matching travel speeds of some water with some travel on foot in forest I am happy with 15 miles a day, 105 miles from the mountain base to the edge of the basin. Based on a rough map I drew when I started, the east/west dimensions are narrower, perhaps 80 miles in each direction, while the southern edge is probably 100 miles like the north. Spacing the farms out 20 miles from each other gives us 4 locations for markets, but the farms don’t reach far enough for the 4th location, so we have 3 major markets along the southern roads.

Scaled to Map of Crater Lake

This information gives us rough dimensions of 210 miles n/s and 170 miles e/w for an area of 35,700 miles and a perimeter of 760 miles. If we compare this to Crater Lake, which the size and shape of the caldera lake is based on we see that the region designed is roughly the same size as the southwest quarter of Oregon. It is a decent size, and capable of having the four types of areas laid out, but not quite likely without just saying “it is”. It would be a simple matter to double the distances in either direction, adding another 5,000-10,000 feet of height (and more width and length) to the caldera to provide that massive mountain that can affect weather without needing GM/magical assistance. Doing so is going to separate the regions further from each other and change the ways in which they interact such as how they govern themselves differently now that working together is less important and frankly less practical, how closely the different regions adhere to their belief that the waters are fey touched and that they owe respect to the villagers that keep up the old ways in deference to the fey legends, as well as if commerce is more of economical and less survival.

Scaled to Map of Marathis’ Cradle

Simply raising the height of the mountain can provide a little more weight to how it affects the region, with less need to worry about making the whole place bigger. Lessening the extremes of the different regions so that they are closer together with some distinctions in the further reaches could also allow for them to be different and yet a part of the whole. I leave those choices up to you and how you implement the region in your games, as I have gone on long enough for this week’s installment!

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Hello, welcome back to Groundbreaking! This is our 12 episode and 23rd(?) week together! Today was supposed to be a recap of where we had been, with a list of places and names to get us all on the same page before diving further into the details of the various things going on in the basin. But, um, oops! In going back through the list of locations that I had intended to include, and put out requests for names, I found some that never received proper mention and detailing, so here they are, in no particular order.

Nestled at the end of a wind and sand blasted ravine, the entrance to the dwarven keep has been carved directly into the walls of a natural hollow almost a hundred feet tall. Facing away from the sun, and back under the earth, the keep can only be seen when standing in the ravine in front of the hollow, and even then only if you have light. The ravine was original the first mine in the region, but when the dwarves took over, then moved their entire operation underground. To ensure that it was safe, and present a proper dwarven appearance, they converted the original mine into a proper dwarven keep, with all the defenses that goes along with it. This allows them to conduct official business and trade, as well as defend their claims with minimal effort.

Hidden in the forest, surrounded by terrain that is impassable by all but the most devout of druids and the most worthy of rangers, lies an ancient cathedral. Rumored to be a remnant of the land from before the forest grew from the ash of the volcano, the cathedral is the oldest and most holy mortal construct in the caldera. Built for an deity that predates those currently worshipped in this land, it has weathered the millenia by becoming a part of the glade that it resides in. Many pieces of the building have been slowly replaced or reinforced over time by natural growths while never destroying or lessening the original beauty. It is unknown if ancient humans had a hand in building it or if it is perhaps the work of elven architects. Nobody can claim to have visited the site, as those that are free to visit it will never admit to knowing the location. Sightings of the cathedral, however, have consistent enough that many children are told by there parents that wandering the forest alone will have them stumbling into the cathedral where the boogie man will eat them. In all reports, however, the cathedral appeared to kind souls that were lost, providing them shelter from a storm or other danger, only to not be there when they awoke in the morning.

The southernmost border of the basin has a large depression just before the pass that leads down. This large depression collects water from the river that passes through the farmlands, creating a small lake that is fairly shallow. This gives it a calm look, with few waves outside the primary currents, and so most locals simply call it The Pond. Due to the amount of silt and other debris that is carried away from the farmlands, the depth, size, and borders of this lake are constantly changing as the waters slow down and the debris settles out. This has the effect of a primary path of the river through the lake that leads to where the waters eventually leave the basin in multiple streams to the south. Much of the other portions of the lake are rather shallow (often ten feet or less) that contain all manner of wetland creatures mixed in with various crossbred plants due to mixing soils that are carried from the farmlands. Many farmers are known to send workers to the lake to see if they can find a new strain that they can use to enhance or augment their crops further. Large storms that blow hard enough for a days or weeks are the only thing that is known to smooth out this lake’s bottom, essentially resetting the size and shape and contents with each major weather event.

As we dive into the locations in greater detail, we are going to start naming families and shops and heroes (old and new) from the region. This list is simply a starting point for the major locations that would be found on a map. If I decided to give the location a proper name, the bullet points after include who named it in parentheses (not all locations had names suggested, but I picked from suggestions where I had them).

• The Basin – The entire region
  • Marathis’ Cradle (Seth laVox suggested Marath)

• The Mountain – The extinct volcano in the center of The Basin
  • Mount Marathis
  • The Caldera – The top of The Mountain
  • Marathis’ Goblet

• Lake Caldera – The lake in The Caldera
  • Caldera Lake
• The Docks – The fishing village on Lake Caldera
  • Lakeside Proper (DarranC suggested Portside Proper; but there is no port!)
• The Dark Pillar – The obsidian pillar rising from Lake Caldera
  • Marathis’ Finger (Milo v3)

• The Misty Forest – The rain forest west of The Mountain
  • The Glintwood Forest (DarranC)
• The Marsh – A marshy/boggy area during flood season in The Misty Forest
  • The Shallows (DarranC)
• The Misty Ruins – Overgrown ruins in the Misty Forest near The Marsh

• The Hunting Grounds – The forest north of The Mountain
  • The Phoenix Forest
• The Lodges – 3 Hunting villages in the The Hunting Grounds
  • BlueBriar Village (DarranC)
  • Azuras Village (DarranC)
  • Bloomeweave Village (DarranC)
• The Cathedral – Ancient shrine to nature god hidden in The Hunting Grounds
  • The Temple of Rebirth

• The Desert – Dry region east of The Mountain
  • The Parched Land
  • The Dry East
• The Keep – Dwarven keep built above the mines of Clan Stormbrew
  • Tar’Urzeft (Seth laVox)

• The Farms – The farmlands south of The Mountain
• The Markets – The many small farming villages where crops are traded
• The Pond – A lake at the southernmost point of the Basin

Please continue to join us at our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj.

Here we are, the eleventh episode of Groundbreaking, and the last of the high level looks at the various regions found in the basin. About half of what I have written is inspired by my various home brew adventures and campaigns, with about a quarter as spinoffs of things I have seen or chatted about online and the remainder simply made up as I sit down to write. I am constantly thinking about how each of the pieces fits together through the weeks between posts, to make sure that I don’t back us into a corner or completely disregard something already in place. This entry is a fun one for me, as it has two of my favorite creations that I dropped into my home campaign and have hinted at for decades (of real time as a GM) but no adventuring party ever stayed together long enough to ultimately take on that side quest (spent too long in APs). They are completely unrelated in origin, but after molding them for so long they actually make up a pretty good set piece for Groundbreaking as the primary source of underground interaction. Without further ado …

The dwarven clan was elated when the gnomes bought their flooded mine. That particular set of tunnels and lava tubes had been troublesome anyway, as their size meant they needed to spend more effort on defense and secrecy than they wanted to for a couple of reasons. First, they weren’t making as much money with their active mines as they were letting on. They were able to keep up appearances with all of the other inhabitants of the caldera and basin because they were pooling resources and funds from all the organizations they had going, including the bargemasters, the brewery, and other engineering and architecture projects. They are certain that they are going to be able to turn a profit on all of their mines as a family in the long run, but it has only been 100 years or so since they started mining the newest vein.

The reason they are running all of these mines at minimum capacity is also the one thing they aren’t telling anybody else about. In the northeast region, roughly located under some of the worst badlands the surface of the basin has to offer, the dwarves have found a new ore that they are trying to figure out. Nobody in the clan is familiar with it, and all magical (divine and arcane) attempts to divine information have failed. So far, they have damaged every piece of equipment they have tried to use to mine the ore. They have reached out to every known smith in a 100 mile radius, and a couple farther away using expensive scrying and teleportation magics, to no avail. Directly affecting the ore with magic has completely failed as well. The small amounts that they have managed to successfully retrieve have them baffled and elated in equal parts. The ore is as light as mithral, as sharp as adamantine, as hard as starstone, and seems to function as both alchemical silver and cold iron. The applications for such a metal are truly endless, and thus they are keeping tight lipped about their find until they can determine what it is and how to mine it. They are currently awaiting a special liaison of a brother clan that is a special representative of their deity as a last ditch attempt to divine what they are working with.

http://pfenixartwork.tumblr.com

Gnomes are creatures of The First World, and no scholar denies that, yet non-gnomes don’t understands what it truly means. There are certain magic traditions within gnomish culture that specialize in magic that makes use of remnants of The First World that have somehow made their way to the material plane. Much like ley-lines are able to provide power to nature or primal magics, gnomes have learned to harness First World interactions to help magics relating to divination, illusion, and fey. After visions of the caldera, and learning the inexplicable connections that the region has to fey creatures and tidings, a gnomish Dream Master put together a group of representatives to investigate the region for possible First World “leaks.” After an initial visit, she realized that this wasn’t just an expedition, but that it was going to require years of effort, and so volunteers from the various communities built up around Dream Colleges world wide were moved to the basin and caldera to setup a gnomish community for long term intelligence gathering and forays into the wild.

With so many unique aspects of the region, to include a ley line nexus under the caldera, the gnomish community spent an entire generation looking for but not finding that which they sought. It wasn’t until the dwarven mines flooded that the now venerable Dream Master realized that the visions she had received had not been of the region as it was at that time, but how it would come to be. The gnomes offered their dwarven neighbors help after the initial flood as a way to investigate the area and, as suspected, the waters were flush with First World energy. They purchased the tunnels and caverns by selling the Dream Master’s estates and immediately began construction of a college within. They are not secretive about their college as the dwarves are about their ore, but they do have a strict faculty/donor admittance policy that greatly limits the number of people travelling into and out of the Gnomish Dream Caverns.

The Rumor Mill
Each of the following rumors can be learned by spending an hour or more gathering information from locals. The DC listed is the target DC to determine if the rumor is true (T), false (F), or nobody knows (?).

The Dwarves
DC 10 – (F) The dwarves are refugees from a distant war.
DC 15 – (F) The dwarves aren’t miners and that’s why they can’t make any money.
DC 20 – (T) The dwarves are earning some money architecting and building for the gnomes.
DC 25 – (?) A dwarven engineer is secretly pursuing with a gnomish Dream Acolyte.
DC 30 – (T) The dwarves basin are all related by blood or marriage.

The Gnomes
DC 10 – (T) Many of the regions gnomes have given up on their quest and settled down.
DC 15 – (F) The gnomes are all secret agents spying on the local residents.
DC 20 – (F) The Gnomish Dream Master is a fraud that led a cult to the region.
DC 25 – (?) A gnomish Dream Acolyte is stringing along a dwarven engineer for information.
DC 30 – (T) The Gnomish Dream Caverns are the largest and most ambitious school of its kind.

Please keep name and content ideas coming in to our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj. After we get a handle on all of the locations, I will be picking names from those submitted to help flesh out the history of the region!

Here we are, back for more Groundbreaking. Randal here, making sure not to neglect the Caldera Basin while preparing for GenCon 2018. Today we are going to take a glance at the topography of the eastern desert. In my mind, it is very similar to the majority of Nevada, a flat, desolate place with little rain but plenty of activity below.

The general lay of the land in this desert is flat and empty, with occasional copses of hardy trees such as willow and eucalyptus. During the summer the average daytime temperature are in the 80s (F) with heat waves that can reach 100 (F), while generally dropping 30 degrees at night. During the winter, the average daytime high is in the 40s (F) while the lows are well below freezing, and these temperatures often drop lower during cold snaps. These extreme temperatures (both seasonally and daily) combine with the lack of moisture to create an environment that requires its inhabitants to be hardy, able to cover large distances for food and water, or live underground. If you aren’t familiar with terrain like this, the idea behind this is pretty straight forward. Hot in the summer and freezing in the winter, but only directly deadly if stuck in a heat wave without water or caught out at night without warmth or cover from winds. Getting lost for a week without (finding) water is likely to be fatal, just as being lost in a snowstorm is likely to freeze you to death.

The few paths that lead through this high plains desert traverse these desolate regions because it makes for quick and easy travel to the eastern region of the basin, even if extremely boring. If one travels prepared for the temperature swings, travel is rather safe during the day. Most creatures are easy to spot approaching across the open land, if they are even out during the day. At night, creatures that are likely to attack humanoid travellers are usually off hunting smaller prey. There are a series of campsites that have been used and reused over the years are spaced such that riders typically reach them every night or two, and have been chosen or fortified by locals as defensive positions against the elements and predators. While caravans are able to use their wagons for defense, there are a lot of hunters, trappers, couriers, and other travelers that are going to travel regularly to the lands further east. Over time, their favorite spots would have pretty worn firepits and likely some petrified wood for sitting on or against, as well as perhaps tying up horses or hanging goods from. Rock outcroppings and overhangs would make great candidates, as would the few trees that manage to grow along the trade routes.

Daniel Epaccaloni

Although the area looks barren from the beaten paths, there are a number of areas that either have water (river, stream, underground) or some respite from the constant sun overhead (ravine or the like). These areas are usually teeming with plant and animal life, and are often where the roaming animals go to get their water or mate. Aside from the occasional game animal (elk, moose, bear) and a family of dire bears, there are only a handful of creatures larger than a wolf that are said to be in the area. While rumors claim that a chimera lives in the south-eastern reaches in a hidden grove of willows at the bottom of a ravine, there are numerous reports of man-sized flies and horse-sized scorpions. These reports are from those that stray to the north, or from people that know of people that disappeared to the north. Few people have encountered them, and even fewer have killed them, so trying to explain how creatures of such size exist in the region has always been a mystery. Even the most extreme desert has life, and I didn’t really want to get into the nitty gritty, but instead wanted to provide info on the odd sightings. The source of the giant flies and scorpions will get hinted at in the future, but I think I want them to be one of the mysteries of the region.

While activity on the surface is hard to find, there is quite a bit of activity below. Both dwarves and gnomes have a presence in various underground locations. The dwarves mine mostly for quartz, with a single nickel vein, but there are rumors that they have found some gold and emerald in the area. For the most part, the dwarves stick to the lava tubes that were created in the time leading up to the volcano blast. Since exploding, the magma has receded deep into the crust and shows no intent of rising anytime soon. Although a single clan, they have kept the true value of the area to themselves and have thus far managed to keep it to themselves. Their primary enemy is a particular elusive nest of giant scorpions that they have yet to find and eradicate. While they keep their tunnels and dig sites private, the dwarves have a friendship with a local group of gnomish monks that are known for their magic school, one that specializes in illusions and divination. The gnomes arrived shortly after a mine flooded while digging too close to the water under the caldera, wishing to buy the abandoned cave system from the dwarves for their school. As the mine had shown to be more trouble than it was worth, and had caused the death of a clansman, they were happy to part ways with it for any price … but they were shocked then gnomes paid top dollar. It turns out that nickel and emeralds are found near volcanoes, and that gold is apparently formed when a magma chamber intrudes into water or water logged formations. Thanks Google!

The Rumor Mill
Each of the following rumors can be learned by spending an hour or more gathering information from locals. The DC listed is the target DC to determine if the rumor is true (T), false (F), or nobody knows (?).

The Desert
DC 10 – (F) The flies and scorpions are giant due to dead carcasses they live near.
DC 15 – (F) The hidden and lush groves of trees in the reaches are druidic secrets.
DC 20 – (?) The dwarves have many hidden entrances and exits to their mines.
DC 25 – (T) There is a chimera prowling the southern and eastern reaches of the desert.
DC 30 – (T) There is a crossroads above a ley line nexus that causes magic to go haywire.

The Mines
DC 10 – (T) The lava tubes are expansive, covering much of the basin.
DC 15 – (F) The lava tubes are infused with fey magic that is causing giant vermin.
DC 20 – (F) The dwarves and gnomes are performing experiments on vermin.
DC 25 – (T) The gnomish monks are protecting a sacred place of visions.
DC 30 – (?) The dwarves have found a new ore that nobody has ever mined before.

Please keep the name ideas coming in to our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj. After we get a handle on all of the locations, I will be picking names from those submitted to help flesh out the history of the region!

Randal here, and we are back for more Groundbreaking. My initial blurb on the farmlands way back in “episode one” mentioned that the farmlands were “steppe-like” plains. While I didn’t completely break with that, last time I did describe the area differently, calling them “ribbon-like” before ultimately having them be terraformed into a terraced format. When I realized it, I thought about going back and fixing it, but part of this process is about learning, right?

As the farmlands settled into their current configuration (terraced areas bordered by canals that both marked ownership and provided transportation; as seen previously), one would think that the families that worked the lands would settle into a pleasant, if boring, routine. One, and all, would be wrong. One of halfling families that trained the ankhegs began to feel that were better than the other families, ceasing to work any of their farms and relied on their ankhegs to supply them with income. This created a series of events that changed the area in a number of ways while also making it into a more diverse area.

Stephen Tren Kamp

Most of the farmland that was operated by halflings was operated by the two ankheg families. When the one family stopped farming, the other family thought it was a good time to take their farms and *also* increase their handler fees. This led to a dispute, which led to arguments, confrontations, and then to a small “underground” war of sorts. While they kept up appearances in front of the community, they battled directly and indirectly by sabotaging each other’s farms and nests. Over time, the families themselves shrank as members had accidents, fell victim to traps, or were attacked and eaten by “rogue” ankhegs. Many of the accidents were truly accidents, such as a tunnel collapsing while trying to set a trap against enemies. Most of the traps were set in defensive locations, and so injuries and deaths were considered justified. Setting an ankheg rogue involves getting it agitated, riled up, and using pheromones to make it uncontrollable, but to non-halflings it behaves just like an ankheg being trained does. Therefore, the community only knew that the halfling families were competing with each other and taking it too far, but they had no real context for just how far it had gone. Most of the other halflings in the area either left or chose sides, essentially being adopted into the families to keep their ranks up. Eventually, neither halfling family had the size, nor the demeanor, to farm at all. It was at this point, that they made an alliance, albeit a tenuous one, to divide the farmlands up and not compete for business. To this day, the Halfling War of the Ankhegs is the most talked about “secret” in the basin.

With farmland vacancies opening up due to abandonment during this time (both halflings and humans scared for their lives), the community began to include many races from many places, and the crops began to vary widely from the barley and wheat that had dominated the region prior to the completion and adoption of the canals. A group of elves arrives with the intent to study various crops when in this region, apparently having studied the are’s plant life long before humans knew of the area. They buy a plot and divide it up to grow a great many things. A clan of gnomes moved into one of the larger plots and began to grow nuts, mostly walnuts, while a young druid came down from the mountain and used his magics to manage a field of sugarcane. To protect his land and sugarcane from predators, and rogue halflings and ankhegs, the druid convinces a friendly scrag from the hidden valley to relocate and work for him. Dwarves from mines to the east decided to splinter their clan after a flood, in hopes of creating better crops for the brewery that is being built in the caldera. While trying to negotiate a plot of land, they hear rumors about a troll nearby and set out to find it. Tired of trying to navigate the canals in simply plank barges or canoes, or worse, swimming, the dwarves use their engineering insight to build better barges for hunting in the canals that divide up the farmlands. After finally catching up to the troll, its druid employer sets the record straight with the dwarves, which requires many assurances. Ultimately he is able to convince them that perhaps they would best benefit the area, and better enjoy their work, if they were to use their skills to create, maintain, and operate barges of their own design.

These major events, along with many smaller ones, have turned the southern farmlands into a hub of trade and commerce that mirrors (granted at a much smaller scale) that of some great metropolitan port cities. The river runs south along the western side of the farmlands, and thus the majority of the markets are held in this region, spaced every couple miles along intersections of the river, the canals, and the major road that passes through while branching off to the east. Humanoids from all walks operate stalls with licenses that list which farmers they may buy from, which barges they may utilize for transport, and which halfling family they may use for protection; all based on location. One of the favorite stories told at taverns throughout the region is that of the time that a dwarven bargemaster, a gnomish treeshaker, an ankheg riding halfling, and a human druid and his pet scrag fought together to save a winter festival from a clan of werewolves.

I think I just managed to merge the farmlands with Venice and throw in a little mafia while I was at it …

The Rumor Mill
Each of the following rumors can be learned by spending an hour or more gathering information from locals. The DC listed is the target DC to determine if the rumor is true (T), false (F), or nobody knows (?).

The Dwarven Bargemasters
DC 10 – (F) They are working for the halflings to price fix.
DC 15 – (F) They are convinced that the scrag is hiding something nefarious.
DC 20 – (?) They are outcasts from their clan and too embarrassed to do traditional work.
DC 25 – (T) Their engineering has created truly unique barges.
DC 30 – (?) They are working with the gnomes on a newer water transit system.

The Druid and the Scrag
DC 10 – (F) The druid employs the scrag dishonestly, tricking him into being a slave.
DC 15 – (T) The scrag was injured by some river creature in the hidden valley to the west.
DC 20 – (?) The scrag is a reincarnated friend of the druid.
DC 25 – (T) The scrag can be seen under certain canal bridges.
DC 30 – (T) The scrag is secretly cataloguing all of the ankheg tunnels.

Please keep the name ideas coming in to our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj. After we get a handle on all of the locations, I will be picking names from those submitted to help flesh out the history of the region!

Welcome back to Groundbreaking. This week we look at how rolling plains riddled with Ankheg are turned into wildly successful farming communities that stretch for miles upon miles.

Before settlers arrived, the plains to the south were simple rolling plains of grasses, weeds, wheats, and barleys. Stretching from the base of the mountain all the way to the southern edge of the basin, the plains had a ribbon like appearance as they declined in elevation. A mostly flat stretch of land would give way to slopes of 30° to 45° before leveling off again. These flats stretched roughly half the width of the southern end of the basin, bordered on either side by forested hills. This topography mean that rainwater would simply collect on the ground until it had enough volume to slowly travel downhill across each stretch before rushing down the slopes to the next. Due to the grasses (and other plans and occasional trees) that covered the plains completely, mudslides were rare, and only served to refresh an area every couple hundred years with new soil. I wanted this region to be a place that naturally attracted farmers. I know I am going to have the area overhauled, but I want it to be that they are improving existing qualities more than they are terraforming the area to be something that it isn’t. I am not positive that the rain and grasslands interact the way I describe, but I do know that mudslides are more common after fires due to lack of grasses and plants to hold the land together.

When the lands to the north became unlivable after the volcano erupted, much of the animal life there found its way to the southern lands. With very similar amenities, although slightly less rain, most of the animals found this new home to be extremely welcoming. As time went on, and the lands became crowded, competition for food became fierce among both predator and prey. It was at this time when settlers first appeared in the region, and for reasons they couldn’t comprehend, prey animals outnumbered the predators in a way that didn’t make sense. Taking advantage of their good fortune, they began to lay claim to plots of land, creating pastures in which they could try to coral the horses and bison that originally thrived here as well as bait antelope and deer to make hunting them easier. Once these animals became more stationary, they became much easier to kill by the area’s least known but most deadly hunter, the ankheg. Most herd animals make plenty of noise to attract something like an ankheg, but they are also usually quick enough to notice they are being hunted and scatter. Fencing them in changes that.

At first, farmers fought amongst themselves about killed or stolen animals. It isn’t until the first series of tunnels begin to collapse that the true threat is revealed. Even worse, they are also pressed with the issue of rising numbers of predators that are now less likely to be hunted from below. These predators also need meals and find fenced in livestock to be a quick meal. As time passes, tempers flare, and livestock decimated, the farmers finally decide that simply trying to defend their homes and their animals aren’t going to work. They cast their nets far and wide, searching for anybody willing to help them with their problem for the meager pay that they can offer. While they wait, they begin coming up with tricks and tactics to keep their homes from being preyed upon. They start by learning ankheg habits and patterns, then they begin baiting prey animals into an area where they know ankheg can get to and is safely distant from their herds. They wound the prey animals and leave nature to manage the rest. Sometimes the ankhegs win, sometimes they don’t … sometimes neither wins, making the farmers the big winners. I recently caught pieces of the various Tremors movies on TV, and it always made me laugh when something disappeared while people were looking the other way. There is always a fight between two rivals about something that goes missing and then the wild and crazy “conspiracy theorist” slash expert hunter is right and finds ways to hunt the hunter.

Over time, they perfect their knowledge of the ankheg to the point that they are able to domesticate a couple every (ankheg) generation. As more time passes, two halfling families emerge as master handlers, keeping their tricks as family secrets to secure their place in the communities. Each family selectively bred their pets for specific traits that they found made them better pets or tools, and in addition to ensuring that livestock are safer and predators more scarce, they used the tunneling abilities of the ankhegs to cultivate the lands for better farming. It took many generations to completely transform the rolling plains into terraced like farmlands, but the region has flourished manifold because of it. By creating canals that run from the river to the west across the plain and back, the farmers are able to keep a steady supply of fresh water as well as a way to send product back toward the river using its own currents. Terraced farms and farmlands are common in mountainous regions without a lot of flat land. I am not quite sure why I wanted this region to have that layout, despite it already being perfect farmland, but I am sure it will come to me as we continue to develop the area. Division of land with canals makes for easy demarcation and ownership, but the main reason was that I wanted these fields to comprise multiple farms and miles of land. Moving this many resources to market would be extremely time consuming and expensive when you consider wagons/carts, mules, and drivers instead of simple barges.

Well, I had no intention of making the ankheg much more than a footnote when I started, but isn’t the whole point of this to make places that are fun, interesting, and unique? Join me next time as I dive a little more into the farmlands and possible the ankheg families themselves.

The Rumor Mill
Each of the following rumors can be learned by spending an hour or more gathering information from locals. The DC listed is the target DC to determine if the rumor is true (T), false (F), or nobody knows (?).

The Halfling Ankheg Handlers
DC 10 – (F) The halflings have some sort of mind-link super power with bugs.
DC 15 – (F) The halflings created the ankhegs with wizardly help to control the farmlands.
DC 20 – (T) The ankhegs have been made more docile and less dangerous over time.
DC 25 – (?) The halflings secretly run the region like their illicit cityfolk kin.
DC 30 – (T) The halflings work together to ensure their prices are fixed … high.

The Farms
DC 10 – (T) There are many tunnels left over that occasionally swallow people forever.
DC 15 – (?) The many canal bridges in the region house some sort of troll.
DC 20 – (T) There have been strange symbols burned into the crops in recent years.
DC 25 – (F) The farmers hate the ankheg so much they are planning to run them out.
DC 30 – (F) The fields and livestock are completely safe from predators without help.

Please keep the name ideas coming in to our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj. After we get a handle on all of the locations, I will be picking names from those submitted to help flesh out the history of the region!

When last we were together, we discussed the northern plains and how the volcanic eruption turned them into the great northern forest. I would now like to lay out the sequence of events that led the locals from the caldera to inhabit the forest.

The northern forest was always known to be a vast wilderness of untapped potential. Hunters and trappers that spent any time there returned with story after story of the creatures they had seen. Always, they came with as many pelts, furs, and meats as they could carry. When the lake village began investigating alternate sources of lumber and ways to transport it to the caldera, they decided to hire those most familiar with the forest to lead an expedition. Due to rivalries, and an inability to convince the hunters to work together, it was decided that three expeditions would be sent into the forest. Four groups of people traveled down the river until it forked. One group was tasked to build a small lookout post at the fork while waiting for the others to return. One group traveled down each fork of the river while the fourth group traveled directly north over land. The task was to travel for one week before turning around and returning.

That year, a rather unseasonable (and unnatural) snowstorm hit just as the teams were to begin their journeys back. The strange weather caused portions of the river to freeze, making travel by water impossible. Each team was forced to scramble to find somewhere safe to take shelter and ride out the storm. Thanks to the skill and knowledge of the hired hunters, each team was able to survive a week of snowfall that has not been seen since. As they made their separate ways back to the fork, they were forced to travel well out of their way each evening to find a warm, dry, and safe place to sleep. It was during these sojourns that much more was learned about where the local creatures survived the winters than all the trips prior. After managing to return with all crews intact, the expeditions were deemed a success and plans were made to create permanent outposts. After much discussion, at the urging of a friendly druid, they decided to make multiple hunting lodges that would operate seasonally, following the herds as they moved around the forest.

The group traveling down the western fork of the river were investigating the kobold warrens when the storm hit. They were saved by the kindness of the kobolds and their subterranean home. When they returned to build a permanent outpost, they again met up with the kobolds and looked for a place that would not intrude upon their new reptilian friends. They were led to a clearing near the river, further than they made it the first time. The first hunting lodge was to be built here. Due to some poor decisions by the humans, their lodge was destroyed before it ever was completed. Nobody knows how or why, the bulette was attracted to the construction and proceeded to destroy the entire area, to include one of the kobolds’ favorite fishing spots. Unable to defeat it, they simply fled the area. Not only did it damage the work they had done on the lodge, but it also destroyed the good relationship they had with the kobolds. Ultimately, they found a location another mile down the river and decided to build the lodge in the trees to avoid any further destruction from under the ground.

Down the east fork of the river, the next group decided to build their lodge where the river forked again. It was here that the second, and biggest, hunting lodge was built. While they only operate as hunting lodges seasonally, this location was to also house surveyors and lumberjacks year round. It would take some time before the roads were completed, but this lodge was to be situated upon the only road built through the region. While construction started on the ground, word spread of the destruction of the first lodge and the plans were reworked. The original construction was turned into a meeting hall while the lodge was moved well out of reach of the bulette and his now now infamous ability to break the ground like a shark attacking seals. Inspiration for this lodge was drawn from drawings of elven architecture that had recently made their way into the caldera. As was now tradition in the region, a local druid was consulted to ensure that the trees were safe and that they had the blessings of nature to continue.

The third lodge was built roughly equidistant between the rivers, near the northern reaches of the forest. This remote location is the farthest and most separated place that humanoids have a presence in the forest. Sitting on a terrace of the lodge, it is a common sight to see all manner of animal simply wandering below, grazing on the abundant plant life. The disregard that they have for the hunters is one of the reasons that the hunters respect the forest life as much as they do, refusing to hunt simply to kill, and never hunting within sight or sound of a lodge. The serenity of this remote lodge is the reason that this forest and these lodges became a tourist attraction to begin with. When you have all the money in the world, but can’t seem to find that one purchase to calm your soul … a trip to this lodge seems to do the trick. Without fail, something about this forest, and this location, seems to calm and correct the greediest of souls.

These lodges are built amidst the trees at roughly 40 ft above the ground. While they operate as seasonal stops for the hunters, each location does support year round activity in the form of travelers, surveyors, and woodsmen. To enable that, tiny villages have been built just out of sight (to avoid spoiling the sights and sounds). These might be thought of as servants quarters in a manor house, where people live and work year round to ensure that the important guests always have what they need. While they allow tourists to hunt when they visit, they are always accompanied by a seasoned hunter and they are always told which prey they are allowed.

The Rumor Mill
Each of the following rumors can be learned by spending an hour or more gathering information from locals. The DC listed is the target DC to determine if the rumor is true (T), false (F), or nobody knows (?).

The Hunters
DC 10 – (T) The Hunters have guarded their knowledge since founding the lodges.
DC 15 – (T) The Hunters and the Woodsmen don’t get along and have a bitter rivalry.
DC 20 – (?) The Hunters consider the lodges theirs and that they aren’t a part of the calderan rule.
DC 25 – (F) The storm that trapped them in the forest was really their doing.
DC 30 – (T) The storm that trapped them was the work of magic of some sort.

The Lodges
DC 10 – (F) The lodges were engineered by an elf.
DC 15 – (T) The lodges were engineered by a dwarf.
DC 20 – (F) The lodges are unsafe and that the bulette can still reach them.
DC 25 – (?) The carvings on the exterior of the lodges indicate the location of a druidic circle.
DC 30 – (F) The lodges are used for nefarious purposes while closed down.

Please keep the name ideas coming in to our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj. After we get a handle on all of the locations, I will be picking names from those submitted to help flesh out the history of the region!

The overall shape and layout of the northern region has remained unchanged for millenia. Gently rolling hills appeared as frozen waves of earth from the base of the mountain to the edges of the basin. Due to a lack of constant water, this region was covered primarily by grasses while trees grew in the sloughs that flowed with water during heavy rain. Seasonally, rain would fall over the area or run down the north slope of the mountain, providing large growth of various plants that happened to have blown in on the wind. This cycle of plant-life and open space gave rise to large numbers of small animals (such as rabbit), some medium animals (like antelope), and those that preyed upon them (birds and wolves). These hunting grounds will be known for the variety of wildlife that seem out of place. Describing how the land was before makes it much easier to believe the explanation for why it is now.

Coywolf hybrids

When that fateful day came, and the volcano erupted, there was a southerly wind. This caused the entire northern region to be covered by a fine ash for weeks. With the opening of the caldera walls, and the sudden addition of a steady water source, the region gained two primary rivers, a third offshoot, and countless creeks and ponds. This steady source of water combined with other weather changes due to the mountain and, over time, the plains grew into a lush forest that was as thick as it was expansive. As much of the wildlife returned home and adapted to forest life over the generations, other creatures moved in and settled as they found a home that could support many more inhabitants than were currently there. As hunters followed their meals, the region became a very interesting mix of predator and prey from both grassland and forest environments. I wanted to have an odd combination of wildlife in the forested region to give it an extra bit of fun and flavor to make it stand out as a popular hunting location. We have now set the stage for just that without calling out too many specifics that might limit our options.

Due to the nature of the rolling hills that now lie under the forest canopy, there are many nooks and crannies in which animals can hide from weather as well as hibernate in the winter. It also means that there are places that get more rain or snow than others while certain sides of the forest get more wind than others, and this changes seasonally. Therefore, many of the animals naturally of the forest that usually nest in the winter have taken to following some of the plains creatures in a seasonal migration that leads them around the entire forest over the course of a year. Because they evolved for different biomes, but live together now, their favored grounds and movement patterns aren’t quite lined up, leading to a somewhat chaotic and sporadic transition each season. The most interesting effect of this is the overlap of predators that eventually led to some interesting hybridization of wolves and coyotes. Ever since reading about the coywolf, I have wanted to work them into a game somehow. And now I have. Quite by accident, truth be told. I originally started this paragraph with something else in mind, but am now saving it for another day.

The largest predator in the region, and also one of the least known reasons for the strength and density of the tree growth, is a solitary bulette. A resident from before the eruption, it created a series of underground tunnels simply by passing through the area. Much in the way that worms help to aerate and water grass, its mere presence helped the propagation of the massive forest at just the right time by giving the new rivers extra places to flow. There are now a number of underground streams and an underground river that have created a hidden cavern complex. Feeding on most anything, the bulette has kept many large predators in check, as well as the local dire boars, which has enabled other magical creatures to move into the region. An owlbear is known to reside in the forest, as is a griffon, and a wyvern is rumored to live near the base of the mountain. There are likely others, and certainly some other non-magical creatures, but I wanted to establish a known baseline for further discussion later regarding the hunting lodges.

In addition to the more animalistic creatures of the region, is a unique clan of kobolds. Residing in underground warrens as most kobolds do, this clan has become uniquely adapted to the water filled tunnel system created by the bulette. This adaptation comes in the form of webbed hands and feet and the ability to breath underwater. Additionally, they tend to spend less time hunting in the forest, surviving primarily on aquatic prey. Because they are not constantly in contact and conflict with the other humanoids of the forest, they are generally neutral or friendly to most surface dwellers of the region. They have been known to help lost travellers and have even been known to teach respectful humanoids the proper ways to fish for the tastiest catch. I wanted to have some sort of indigenous people in the region, mostly to provide a source of inspiration for settlers to respect the nature in the area. I originally wanted to have native humans in the desert region, but after adding the water filled tunnels I thought a fey-modified race of kobolds would make for a fun and unique twist on old tropes.

The Water Kobold Clan
by Wouhlven

The Rumor Mill
Each of the following rumors can be learned by spending an hour or more gathering information from locals. The DC listed is the target DC to determine if the rumor is true (T), false (F), or nobody knows (?).

The Flora
DC 10 – (F) The massively dense forest is due to fey influence in the rivers from the caldera.
DC 15 – (T) The trees in the region are among the largest of their kind in the world.
DC 20 – (T) Numerous pockets and thickets protect creatures from prey and hunters.
DC 25 – (F) Some of the oldest trees in the forest are sentient and deter intruders.
DC 30 – (?) Man eating plants defend a pond that is considered sacred to fey creatures.

The Fauna
DC 10 – (F) The kobolds have plundered all the large fish from the river system.
DC 15 – (T) The dire boars would have overrun the region if not for the bulette.
DC 20 – (?) The kobolds evolved due to fey influence and are not naturally adapted.
DC 25 – (T) The owlbear seems to avoid humanoids whenever it can.
DC 30 – (F) A wyvern was drawn here to rule the kobolds and is angry that they won’t abide.

Please keep the name ideas coming in to our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj. After we get a handle on all of the locations, I will be picking names from those submitted to help flesh out the history of the region!

A series of small human settlements near the entrance to the valley account for 99% of the humanoid population of the valley. These villages are primarily home to those that forage in the rainforest. This foraging is mostly just a part of survival in the region, but a large part of the basin’s berries, along with other plants used for medicines, are found only in the rainforest valley. These villages provide a point of trade with the rest of the basin communities. While much of the life of these villages is simple and mundane, they are frequently beset by mysteries that seem to only further implicate that the region has some sort of fey haunting intent on keeping people out. These mysteries range from missing possessions, dead pets or livestock, to people with missing time or even family curses. One of the most noticeable aspects of these villages to outsiders is the way in which the forest around these villages are subdued in both activity and sound. Almost no jungle sounds can be heard in, although a mere 100 foot trek into the trees envelopes a traveler completely, with no evidence that a human village is nearby. This creates a strange aura in the villages that manifests as a tension of sorts between locals and visitors that only adds to the strange tales of mysteries told by the locals.

The ruins found in the center of the valley have thus far been a complete mystery. While the evidence seems clear that the site was human in origin, there is no known history of the site, and no artifacts have been recovered that might be used to piece together such a history. Much of the ruins have been overgrown and eroded to the point they are hard to point out by casual observers. While the waters in this area are normally pooled in much of the ruins, the full reach of the ruins can be made out when the waters are low and stay within the natural border of the river. Doing so would require quite a bit of manual labor combined with either divination, the ability to move earth and plant life, or the ability to speak with plants and animals.

The most bizarre claims made by those that have visited the ruins are the appearance of stairs. While there aren’t any known standing portions of the ruins remaining, travelers in the area have reported that the fog will sometimes part, revealing a staircase that is fully intact. Just as quickly as it appears, the fog rolls back over it and the stairs disappear before anybody can reach them. People staying the night in or near the ruins are usually subjected to firefly swarms, while some are subjected to nightmares, night terrors, or worse. In almost every case of somebody witnessing any of these things, something is either removed from or added to the gear they carry with them.

Rumors abound of the fog in the rainforest having intelligence. Some claim that it follows them, while others claim that it either hid a trail from them or opened a passage for them. These claims are infrequent, but have been made by credible enough people that the locals have taken note and are sure to pass this information on. Many claim that this is proof that fey haunt the valley and are using magic and illusions to hide things from mankind. Others claim that the spirits of those they die in the valley are unable to escape, due to the same strange processes that have kept the rainforest in existence all these millenia. At least two clerics of credibility have claimed that through the use of magic they have determined that these patches of fog are undead creatures of some new sort, but that they are not malicious in nature.

Much of the animal life in the valley is made up of small/tiny birds, mammals, reptiles, and insects, but there are a number of larger predators. One notable smaller predators are tarantula bigger than the hummingbirds they prey on. Another predator, notable for its bizarre, fey-like, appearance is a variant of the mata mata; a fully aquatic turtle that that eats fish and other invertebrates. The river contains a variety of fish, many of which are larger than expected, as well as some predatory fish that live in and near the rapids. Piranha, eel, and catfish are the most commonly encountered members of the river. The most feared predators in the valley, can be found in 3 locations. Locals claim that near the rapids exiting the valley, there lives a creature that resembles a shark, but has been known to chase victims onto land. Near the ruins, people have encountered a trio of velociraptors hunting for food. Miles east of the ruins, in a short offshoot valley that becomes a cave complex, is the lair of a mated pair of pygmy stegosaurus. Thus far, the velociraptors seem to come no closer to settled lands, likely due to the abundance of food in their hunting grounds. Only one report of an attack by either sets of dinosaurs, and upon investigation it became apparent that the people were to blame.

The Rumor Mill
Each of the following rumors can be learned by spending an hour or more gathering information from locals. The DC listed is the target DC to determine if the rumor is true (T), false (F), or nobody knows (?).

The Ruins
DC 10 – (F) The velociraptors are afraid to enter the ruins.
DC 15 – (F) The ruins are that of a city that was destroyed by dinosaurs.
DC 20 – (T) There are spirits near the ruins that might be communicated with.
DC 25 – (?) The stairs are simply illusions brought on by group think and paranoia.
DC 30 – (T) The firefly swarms are provoked or controlled by will o wisps.

The Creatures
DC 10 – (F) The dinosaurs hunt humanoid children
DC 15 – (T) There are spiders big enough to attack and kill birds.
DC 20 – (F) The pygmy stegosauruses are really just another creature mislabeled.
DC 25 – (?) The undead fog has killed and is constantly on the hunt.
DC 30 – (T) There is more animal life up in the canopy than there is at ground level.

Please keep the name ideas coming in to our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj. After we get a handle on all of the locations, I will be picking names from those submitted to help flesh out the history of the region!

Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park, Washington State, 1992

Welcome back! We have a pretty good handle on our central mountain, and the lake and village inside. Instead of breaking ground today, how about we cover an area that broke up long ago. What happens when you take a ravine, run water through it, add forest, raise and regulate the temperature, and then keep the whole region wet on a regular basis? Hidden Rainforest!

When the volcano erupted, the land to the west cracked open, leaving a crevasse hundreds of feet wide that started near the mountain and ultimately made its way to the edge of the basin. The floor was covered in a light layer of magma, and over time the water running down the mountain found its way in, widening the crevasse into a deep ravine while feeding the plants that seeded the floor. Fast forward thousands of years, and the ravine has widened into a small, lush valley (averaging 400 ft. deep and a mile wide). In time, this valley would continue to grow deeper until the river is at the same ground level as the lands outside of the basin, much as the real world grand canyon has.

The river averages 100 ft. wide and is generally shallow (on average only 5 ft. – 10 ft. deep) with a deeper channel in the center that can reach 50 ft. wide and 50 ft. deep. Due to the relative flatness of the valley, the water is moves slow enough to allow a lot of plant-life to grow on the banks. This makes the true width difficult to measure. When exceptionally rainy weather persists, the shallow depths mean that the waters frequently extend well beyond the banks of the river. In the middle of the valley, the land surrounding the river is in a depression, causing the waters to pool into a marsh naturally, becoming swamp-like when the river is running high. It is at this location that ancient ruins can be found, sometimes covered by flood waters while at other times completely dry. From what I understand, flooding generally causes rivers to run faster in the deeper channels, whirlpools in shallows, and overflow often damages the surroundings due to the speed at which it bursts out. I wanted this river to be shallow enough, slow enough, and the land flat enough that overflow was very common and instead of damaging that it is just a part of the forest’s life cycle.

The end of the valley exits the basin at an altitude of roughly 3,000 ft. This passage is a narrow crevasse of bare rock, with the river running wall to wall at the floor. Due to narrowing and rapid descent, the river forms white water rapids, creating protection for the valley in that it effectively prevents entry. The speed and danger from the rapids make water transit deadly, the spray makes climbing the walls impossible, and the roar masks any sounds on either end of the rapids. Only when winds line up perfectly with the opening can it penetrate into the valley, and when doing so, the effect is heard more than felt; winds whistle through this narrow crevasse at high speeds, as if a tornado were coming, sometimes shaking the walls enough to vibrate the area for miles around. Due to the pooling of water and the way that the rapids have carved the ground under the surface, there are a lot of places for aquatic creatures to hide and hunt, making this area even more dangerous than the rapids alone. This makes the mouth of the river, at the mountain’s base, the primary entry point for most creatures that can’t fly, swim, or climb. This is somewhat crucial for maintaining that this area has become somewhat of a valley lost in time (which we will discuss more in the future).

While flight within 100 ft. of the top edges of the valley is dangerous due to wind effects that emulate whirlpools in river rapids, this layer of air also helps protect the valley from outside weather. Wind crossing over the top also creates a variety of sound effects in the upper reaches of the trees and cliff edges. This can vary from roars to whistles, hums to rumbles. Additionally, the valley walls are bare near the tops, which can often cause echos and reverb effects. As these sounds make their way down through the moisture and trees, they become muffled and muted, to the point of being just a part of the forest as the babbling of the slow moving waters. These sounds, combined with the near constant fogs are at the heart of all the tales that the region is haunted. I wanted to provide another way in which this area was hard to reach, but also protected from the outside. There will still be predators that can climb in and out, or perhaps tunnel, but we have now established that this valley is almost completely cut-off from the rest of the basin.

Due to the way in which I decided the prevailing winds cross the basin from west to east and rise up the mountain, much of the air and extreme weather will tend to stay above the valley. This causes a bit of a lid over the valley that tends to keep the moisture and temperature normalized for much of the year, and has allowed the flora to grow well beyond that found in any other parts of the basin. The forest is so thick, that even wind that does reach down into the valley rarely sustains more than a breeze. This allows moisture to persist as an almost constant fog that often moves through the trees in roughly the same direction as the river. I don’t know all the ins and outs of inversion layers and fluid dynamics that would be required to claim that this would really work as I want it to, so we are going to pretend that my limited knowledge from my interests in such things allows me to at least word it in a way that makes it believable.

The Rumor Mill
Each of the following rumors can be learned by spending an hour or more gathering information from locals. The DC listed is the target DC to determine if the rumor is true (T), false (F), or nobody knows (?).

The Rainforest
DC 10 – (F) Druidic magic protects the region from outside weather.
DC 15 – (?) Stairs from the ruins seem to appear all over, but never in the same place twice.
DC 20 – (F) The colorful insects and birds are fey creatures, not simply unique to the valley.
DC 25 – (T) Dinosaurs can be found in certain areas of the rainforest.
DC 30 – (T) The fog seems to follow people that enter the forest nefariously.

The River
DC 10 – (T) People have fallen into the river while crossing and were never seen again.
DC 15 – (F) Portals in the river let in the demon lights that haunt the valley at night.
DC 20 – (T) Aquatic predators the size of men live near the rapids that exit the valley.
DC 25 – (?) A black dragon lives in the marsh near the ruins.
DC 30 – (F) The elders sacrificed in the caldera lake are found on the river’s shores.

Please everybody, keep the name ideas coming in to our Discord server https://discord.gg/Rt79BAj. After we get a handle on all of the locations, I will be picking names from those submitted to help flesh out the history of the region!

When the lake was first settled, the fisherman built lakeside cabins and simple docks and piers. These used felled trees from within the caldera. As the supply of trees dwindled and demand grew, the settlers were approached by a previously unknown druid of the mountain. Knowing that the lake’s supply of fish could easily handle the growing population, she felt it was better to help them, to teach them to work with nature, instead of against it. To ensure that the ecosystem was not destroyed, she suggested they look elsewhere for their supply of lumber, such as the western or northern forests. Both of which have plenty of naturally felled trees, as well as areas that could be sustainably farmed (with the druid’s help). The trick was going to be finding a way to bring trees up the side of the mountain, a trick that the druid left to the people to figure out.

During this transition, the villagers began to reuse the lumber from their cabins to build docks and canoes that would give them more access to the water than simply fishing from the shore. Pelts and furs were made into tents or lean-tos. As they explored the shelf of the lake, they became better acquainted with how the fish lived and moved in and around the differing heights of the basalt pillars. Using nets and wooden planks, fisherman were able to build areas in which they could catch fish that came from the depths into the shallow waters. What appeared to be a perfect way to catch fish almost decimated an entire seasonal spawn when ravenous flights of birds (of all types) proceeded to steal most of the fish catch. The druid managed to redirect most of her amusement into providing a teachable moment by showing them better, smarter ways to farm fish in the shallows. Proper openings that allowed fish of smaller sizes to leave allowed young fish to continue to grow. Proper gating allowed an overfilled farm to let fish out quickly. Netting above the water kept out birds big enough to carry fish.

Gnomish ingenuity and druidic oversight (a.k.a restrictive approval) led to the eventual construction of a pair of sawmills. On the north exterior of the mountain, near the base, a mill was constructed that made use of the rushing waters that lead down into the forest. Not only does this river power the mill, but it can also be harnessed to pull logs up rollers built along the shore. This requires regular gnomish handiwork to maintain, but the rollers allow logs of all sizes to be brought from miles away. After the lower mill cuts logs down, into more manage lengths (or sometimes split into halves or fourths) they can then be lifted to the upper mill using a complicated set of pulleys. These pulleys are powered by the same waterfall that operates the upper mill, in which the smaller logs are cut to order. The finished wood is then dropped into a holding pool where it is either floated or carried on small barges to its destination.

Through trial and error, the villagers learned that certain trees (namely fir) provided the longest lasting piles (the supports upon which the buildings and docks are placed). Many buildings were lost the first few years as too much was built onto wood that just couldn’t handle the water, weather, and weight. Inadvertently, the locals did learn that scraps of fallen buildings provided more places for various crustaceous life to flourish, giving rise to sources of food other than fish. In addition to the village, a number of long docks and piers stretch away from the bustling activity, for no purpose other than fishing. In particular, a wide pier runs the entire edge of the shelf, from shore to shore, marking the boundaries of the shelf. All fishing boats dock on the exterior of this pier, while person shuttle boats stay inside, above the shelf. There is a single pier that extends away from the shelf for over 100 feet, made primarily of sections floating on empty kegs and barrels. This pier is often used for deep water fishing, but ends in a special dais that is used for a special annual ritual, and closed the rest of the year.

As skill for building on the water improved, so did the scale and quality of life. Now, an entire village stands above the waters on over 2/3 of the basalt shelf. Instead of common grassy areas for kids to run, there are pools enclosed by steps and ladders to provide easy access in and out to all. A form of water polo has become a popular way to celebrate events (and sometimes settle disputes) and so a small arena has been created (complete with bleachers). Each home has a water garden beneath it, which is an area in which the family can cultivate their own plants, fish, or other food. Living on the water doesn’t mean that the only animals you will find are under your feet, or that you are free from common pests. Chickens are still a common sight, pet, and source of food. Rats are a constant nuisance, but also a decent meal if cooked right. Cats and dogs are still found begging for scraps as well. Ducks, geese, and otter are common sights, and the occasional beaver sighting is sure to excite children and tourists.

The Rumor Mill
Each of the following rumors can be learned by spending an hour or more gathering information from locals. The DC listed is the target DC to determine if the rumor is true (T), false (F), or nobody knows (?).

The Mills
DC 10 – (T) Most of the initial builders of the mills died in an accident.
DC 15 – (F) The upper mill is haunted by the widow of a deceased builder.
DC 20 – (?) The gnome designer stole the plans from one of the dwarves.
DC 25 – (F) The druids disapprove of the mills and all they represent.
DC 30 – (T) The lower mill is haunted by one of the deceased builders.

The Docks
DC 10 – (F) The village invented the water sport they call beaver ball.
DC 15 – (T) Refuse collection is the number one source of punishment for crime.
DC 20 – (F) The basalt columns are shifting up and down, causing damage to the docks.
DC 25 – (?) The annual ceremony on the floating dais is where a village elder is sacrificed.
DC 30 – (T) Something from the water is eating pets and livestock

Quick Shout out: Seth laVox, Milo v3, DarranC from our Know Direction Discord … thanks for the great ideas for naming the locations. Please everybody, keep them coming in. After we get a handle on all of the locations, I will be picking names from those submitted to help flesh out the history of the region!

01400-columnar-basalt-and-waterfall

Before the explosion that created the caldera, the peak of the mountain used to reach 8,000 ft. above sea level, and roughly 2,000 ft. above the basin floor. Prior to blowing the top off of the mountain, the volcano melted the center of the mountain, slowly replacing it with large hexagonal basalt columns. The sizes of the columnar basalt range from a foot or two across to some that are in excess of 20 feet. I don’t think this is something that can really happen, I believe these are formed as part of volcanic cooling from air or water. I am sure they aren’t found in sizes bigger than a foot or two. I just really like the columnar basalt I have seen in pictures and wanted them as a part of this.

When the volcano finally did erupt, it destroyed or ejected the columns both up and out (pieces of which can be found up to a hundred miles away). This left a caldera roughly 4 miles wide (e/w) and 5 miles long (n/s) with an average depth of 3,000 feet, that is now filled with water to within 500 ft of the rim. The highest point of the rim is 7,000 ft, while the lake’s surface is at roughly 6,500 ft. The lake’s surface is at this level due to waterfalls from a series of holes along the rim that were created when the explosion blew out the sides. Each of these waterfalls leads to the head of a mountain stream or river. There are similar holes in other locations of the rim that are above the current water line, and thus they don’t lead to streams. While the height of the caldera does cause a lot of rain to the west, not nearly enough falls or finds its way into the lake. We therefore go with the idea of some unnatural source of water, which will be discussed another time.

Columnar Basalt – Giant’s Causeway

While most of the basalt columns were ejected, there are some leftover that form a shelf on the northeast side, at water level. This shelf is about a mile long and extends about half a mile from the wall. The water depth on the shelf is generally between 1 and 10 feet deep. Due to the elevation, winter cold weather freezes this shallow portion of the lake every year. While the lake is big enough and deep enough to not completely freeze, one would expect to see thin layers of ice and even partial freezing around the shoreline and adjacent to the shelf. For reasons as yet unknown, the water in the deepest portions is warmer than it should be. This warmth causes a constant, and sometimes strong, convection current. In addition to keeping the surface from freezing, this current also provides a source of food for the creatures below, and nutrients for the creatures above. This allows for numerous types of life not normally found in a mountain lake, such as shellfish and shrimp.

I have no idea how feasible this is. The warmth causing the convection should be valid. The circulation feeding the various layers should make sense. I know those types of life can be found in mountain lakes. I am just taking a leap by putting it all together because it fits the theme I want of magical mountain top lake that supports life in a difficult to reach location.

Resurrection Bay, Alaska

One of the features common to tall mountains, rainforests, and bodies of water that create temperature variances is fog. Depending on the weather, and time of year, the lake can be covered in a thick layer of fog. If there is a light breeze, one too weak to dissipate the fog, it can push the fog out the sides of the caldera, causing it to cascade down the exterior of the mountain. Most often, the fog is found in conjunction with feeding frenzies that occur with the plankton sized food and creatures surface and the fish congregate at the surface. This causes small particles into the air that then attract the water from the air into droplets that are still light enough to stay airborne. I visit San Francisco frequently, and I absolutely love to see the fog roll over the mountains and into the bay. I did some research on weather to figure out if our caldera would create fog, as I love the idea of this mountain top with fog falling out of the holes in the sides and flowing down the mountain. It is reminiscent of frothy cauldrons or foam on a beer. It would make for great myths and legends and stories, so I included it by utilizing the plankton sized life.

With the exception of the holes in the mountain, the thin shoreline that never exceeds 250 feet, and the basalt shelf, the only other “natural” feature of the caldera is anything but that. There is a single hexagonal column of obsidian, with perfect angles, and a diameter of 420 feet that protrudes from the depths to 100 feet above the water level. This pillar is the most defining and enigmatic feature of what is already a beautiful and enchanted landscape. Attempts to climb it have all failed, as have attempts to find any sort of cavity or hollow under the water. The winds atop the pillar must be severe, as birds are never seen flying near it. From the rim of the caldera, what appears to be some sort of henge can be seen atop the pillar, but nothing else. This is clearly not something that can occur naturally, and is intended to be the biggest source of curiosity and legend in the region. As such, we are leaving the details light for now.

That covers our deeper dive into the geologic history and makeup of the caldera. Join me next time as we begin to look at the people living within the caldera. What separates the fish catchers from the fishmongers? The size of the hook!

The Rumor Mill
Each of the following rumors can be learned by spending an hour or more gathering information from locals. The DC listed is the target DC to determine if the rumor is true (T), false (F), or nobody knows (?).

Lake Waters
DC 10 – (T) Fish (and other animals) are found in the lake that don’t exist elsewhere.
DC 15 – (?) Recent missing supplies are being taken by creatures of the lake.
DC 20 – (T) There is a large serpent or fish, large enough to sink a boat, in the lake.
DC 25 – (F) The feeding frenzy is really the water boiling to stay warm year round.
DC 30 – (T) There is an intelligent fey that resides in the depths of the lake.

The Pillar
DC 10 – (F) The pillar is an extension of a hellish spire, heating the lake with hellfire.
DC 15 – (?) The pillar holds all the secrets to the mysteries of the lake.
DC 20 – (F) There is a hidden cave in the pillar that can only be reached underwater.
DC 25 – (T) A druid circle is maintained atop the pillar, and guarded well.
DC 30 – (F) Druids are responsible for the well being of life in the basin and caldera.

Welcome to Groundbreaking!

We are going to spend every other Tuesday together, discussing what it takes to put together a large and dynamic sandbox location that your players will want to learn more about. This creation will have a backbone built on locations I have designed, as well as using suggestions from the comments and Discord chat between posts. All the while I will provide insight I have gained over the past 20 years of running DnD and Pathfinder games on the fly.

Crater Lake, Oregon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Crater_lake_oregon.jpg

The core of the design is a mountainous region, designed after the Lake Tahoe Basin. It is a climb that increases as you progress, rising thousands of feet before opening upon a large valley at the summit. Additionally, an inactive volcano with a lake in the caldera (similar to Crater Lake) forms the focal point, rising above the valley, high enough to affect the weather in the area. This creates 4 distinct climates, in the general direction of each of the compass points. For reasons not fully understood by the locals, the region has a fey influence, and thus the abundance of unique plant and animal life has made the area somewhat of a tourist attraction, even if the elevation makes it difficult to reach. Villages exist around the mountain, founded for various activities such as logging, hunting, fishing, farming, and more. All of the villages scattered around the mountain are considered part of the larger community, and thus are expected to follow the rules set forth by the council of elders that resides in the fishing village of the caldera. It has been this way for 50 years, and all the people of the mountain have prospered from the arrangement. The population is primarily human, with halflings found mostly in the farmlands. A clan of dwarves makes a living mining to the east, while a gnomish community has set up shop in some abandoned mines under the volcano. The forest to the west is largely unpopulated while the forest to the north is home to anyone willing to live the life of a hunter.

Travel up the mountains surrounding the basin is rather simple, if tedious. Clear cut paths and roads exist that follow meander paths between mountains, cliffs, and rivers. Traveling up the volcano to the caldera, however is a test of physical endurance. As such, there are a number or rest areas along all paths so that foreigners can take breaks without worry of blocking the path or falling down the mountain.

While the water level is hundreds of feet below the rim of the caldera, there are a number of large openings scattered around the the caldera walls. Most of these openings are at or near the water level, creating a waterfall that is a source of water for the area below. The openings not low enough to have waterfalls are used to travel to and from the caldera without climbing the extra 500 feet or more to the rim. Within the caldera, built directly on the water using stilts, is a fishing village much like Esgaroth (or Lake-town) from The Hobbit. What originally began as a series of simple lakeside campsites flourished when word spread about the abundance of large and unusual fish. With help from local gnome inventors, a contraption was created that allowed loggers to bring felled trees up the north face of the volcano to a sawmill that is built directly on the water. Easy access to lumber allowed for the fishing village to be built and ultimately flourish.

Hoh Rain Forest. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Acer_macrophyllum_in_Hoh_Rain_Forest.jpg

With a prevailing wind that blows from west to east, the mountain itself tends to cause most of the rain to fall on the western slope, creating a landscape full of wildly growing plant life of all kinds. In years that bring constant moisture from with this prevailing wind, the western region resemble a temperate rainforest. Spruce, hemlock, and maple trees grow to massive heights, with many completely covered in moss and ferns. Much of the berries gathered by and for the community come from this region, as well as a unique strain of hops that hasn’t been found anywhere else before. The mist that is continually found here during the wet season combines with the misshapen look of trees covered in moss and gives rise to rumors that fey haunt this forest.

The counterpoint to this is that the eastern slope receives much less rain. While the foliage to the east is more sparse, it comes in much hardier forms. Variants of willows and eucalyptus trees are common. A number of large game animals are known to lair in this rough and rocky region, such as elk, moose, and bear. For the right price, you can hire hunters from the north slope to lead you on a dire bear hunt. The most prominent use of this portion of the mountain, however is underground. The dwarves have been successful with their mines thus far, at least enough so that they are able to build a brewery in the caldera.

Any rain that pushes north, helps the forest of pine, fir, and aspen trees that provide a seasonal array of color and a thriving ecosystem for smaller to medium wildlife. Most of the hunting and trapping is done in this region. Red and grey squirrels are most common, while rabbit and deer are popular prizes. To support this, hunting villages have been built in different areas and are shuttered or opened as the weather changes and the animals migrate. As the area becomes more popular, some rich nobles and merchants have begun to hire the local hunters as guides for hunting game, both large and small.

To the south are a series of flat steppe-like plains that are perfect for farming. They generally receive enough rainfall to sustain crops, such as wheat and barley. Farming villages are found along the roads that leads up the mountain. Most of the farms are owned by humans, and account for most of the land, while halflings have taken to the smaller, less farmable areas. These residents often herd sheep or goats. While usually keeping to simple grassy pastures, they often partner up with farmers and utilize fields that aren’t being used for crops to feed their flocks simple grasses and leftover grains.

Now you have the foundation from which my design is coming, and have a general direction in which it is headed. By beginning with plausible real world locations, we have the seeds of something that will be both magical and believable. For the next few posts, we will look into one of these regions at a time, until we have a better view of each of the villages and its environs. After, we will dive deeper still into the lives of the people that exist and thrive in this place. As we continue on, further still, we will lay the foundation for simple adventure hooks, grand plots, and magical mysteries.

The Rumor Mill
Each of the following rumors can be learned by spending an hour or more gathering information from locals. The DC listed is the target DC to determine if the rumor is true (T), false (F), or nobody knows (?).

Village Founders
DC 10 – (T) Humans have been hunting and trapping in the region for 100 years
DC 15 – (T) The spawning fish saved inhabitants of the region during a desperate winter
DC 20 – (T) Dwarves came to the region looking for volcanic metal ores
DC 25 – (F) Gnomes flooded a dwarven mine to buy it cheaper
DC 30 – (F) Fey pact forced cooperation

Fey Influence
DC 10 – (F) It is common to see fey creatures all over the valley
DC 15 – (T) Fey creatures befriend the children of the caldera
DC 20 – (?) The mysterious fey influence controls the fish spawning season
DC 25 – (F) Village elders made a pact with the fey long ago to stay prosperous
DC 30 – (?) Village elders are still paying a debt owed to the source of the fey influence