NPC: Dul Bilderbottom

Another NPC. This one is very closely related to the last, as they are meant to be a pair. I didn't really know how to convey how I wanted this one to play as, but mostly I do want to see how he would work in a planned-out battle.


Name: Dul Bilderbottom
Race: Gnome
Alignment: Neutral Evil

Appearance:
This gnome is far from what you would expect. While he is of a normal build and height, he has a certain threatening appearance that doesn't befit his kind. A jagged scar runs down one side of his face, crossing lightly over one of his eyes. His hair is black and scraggly, and his skin is as pale as the moon. He wears dark purple robes, with small silver charms dangling from his wrists. He normally wears a hood to conceal his face. He has no apparent facial hair.

Profile:
  Dul Bilderbottom is a gnome that has seen too much of the world to retain his former cheeriness associated with his race. He is now completely devoted only to his own self-interest, specifically his pursuit of magical power. He has seen no small amount of death and injustice done to living beings, and decided that the only way to survive was to become ruthless and brutal himself. He is a Wizard of exceptional strength, and conducts numerous experiments to further his goals. Those goals change between the years - Dul has studied many different fields, ranging from necromancy to golemancy to enchantments. He is mostly attempting to master each field of magic as he sees fit, understanding that his goals may require a number of different approaches. This requires him to constantly seek artifacts, masters of each discipline, and enough subjects to experiment with. Dul tends to be somewhat secretive about his work, unless he is discussing with a contemporary. When he begins to talk about his studies, he can sometimes go into gruesome detail. 
  Dul is, above all else, an opportunist. When the PCs encounter him, he is working with Kel Deathsickle as his "court wizard." Dul sees everyone in his life as tools to further his cause, and Kel especially appeals to him. They both have similar motivations to acquire power, though they treat it very differently. For now, Dul helps Deathsickle wage his wars at the price of unlimited freedom in his research. Dul often employs random adventurers to bring him magical trinkets from around the area to further his research, something made much easier by his political connections. Dul Bilderbottom considers Kel to be the closest thing he has to a friend, but his affections are hardly expressed outwardly. They help each other to achieve their goals, and Dul sees nothing wrong with manipulating Kel, but would still prevent harm from coming to him. They oftentimes tell stories of their adventures, but Dul prefers to do so in private while Kel boasts of them openly. 
  With the PCs, Dul Bilderbottom is manipulative and at times antagonistic. He may employ them to get magical artifacts for him from the surrounding area, and will pay them accordingly. However, if they ever find out about his unethical research and try to oppose him, he will try to destroy them by all the means available to him. Kel Deathsickle will likely intervene and prevent him from killing them outright, but he will oppose them politically at every turn. Perhaps even hire assassins to go after them. He is obsessed with forms of magic that he has never seen, and will lose sight of any conflict he's had with the PCs if they bring him something interesting. 
  Otherwise, Dul is secretive and quiet. He spends his time in Bicka in his study, occasionally attending meetings that Kel Deathsickle holds. His studies are done in secluded areas, mostly underground. He responds in short, curt statements to most people that try to engage him. If they annoy him enough, they may become his next experiment. While he is not really a combat expert, Dul Bilderbottom does have very powerful magic at his disposal. Most notably, he has a number of trinkets that have impressive defensive enchantments, and is capable of using a variety of spells in a battle. If he has time to prepare, he may plan a very elaborate mixture of different schools of magic to assault his enemies in every way possible. Mostly though, Dul falls back on illusions and trickery, much like his own personality. If he is fighting with allies, such as Kel, he is very adaptable and will aid them with his own magic. 
  Dul had a number of adventures that left him so world-weary and cynical. He rarely talks about them to outsiders. Most of his adventuring was done with a party of like-minded good people, back when he himself was a cheerful gnome. However, a number of his tales have bittersweet endings - demon lords were sealed away, but the cost of life was too great. Personal sacrifices were needed from all of them to drive back the forces of the Underdark. He was forced to battle his personal demons, and lost. One by one, each member of his band was either killed or disillusioned as they saw the horrors of reality. They faced down the greatest darkness in this plane of existence and most of the others, and none of them walked out the way they went in. Dul has no interest in finding his previous comrades, and presumes them either dead or irrelevant. He doesn't like being reminded of his scar.

NPC: Kell Deathsickle

This NPC profile is for a major character in my campaign. He was created explicitly for this purpose, but I felt that he was worth fleshing out more than usual. I'm not sure how much he'll be used after the initial story arc is completed, but I am certainly considering making him a recurring character.

Name: Kell Deathsickle
Race: Drow
Alignment: Lawful Evil

Appearance:
The dark elf standing before you has skin the color of ash. His hair is short and silver, and his body moves with a predatory preciseness. He is tall and muscular, and bears scars crossing over almost every inch of his flesh. The scars stand out as jagged white lines across his dark skin, and he proudly displays them by wearing nothing but a simple harness and loincloth. His eyes are dark and intense, and match his facial features in communicating a sense of danger. He holds himself proudly, fully aware of how intimidating he can appear. At a moment's notice, his harness sprouts thorns and black leaves to cover more of his body, but still leaves most of his skin exposed so as not to limit his mobility. He wields a dark purple sickle in one hand, covered in ugly black thorns and a dark green vine wrapping around his hand and wrist. You can see small drops of dark poison oozing out of the tips of the thorns on both his weapon and his armor. 

Profile:
  Kell Deathsickle is one of the few Drow on the surface world. He is vicious and violent, but mostly good-natured unless he has reason not to be. Kell never hesitates to enter into a fight, and actively seeks those challenges. He is obsessed with physical strength, but doesn't necessarily hate magic. He himself is a primarily melee combatant. Kell Deathsickle wields his namesake - a fierce sickle covered in hooks and thorns, that secretes poison. He fights wearing similar armor, such that it does not obstruct his movement. If the opponent yields, he is not averse to taking prisoners or accepting their surrender, but he usually fights to the death. When not in combat, Kell spends his time dueling or otherwise having a good time fighting.
  Kell Deathsickle left the Underdark at an early age, mostly out of boredom. He feels no special attachment to his kin, and feels most at home in the central region of Fomor playing at being a warlord. Due to his physically impressive stature and prowess in battle, he became a moderately successful warlord. However, he stands out because, unlike most others, he has remained in power over his small city-state Bicka for several decades. He mostly focuses his time on training the small military that he has, instilling a sense of personal loyalty into them. He keeps the area around him in his control by using his forces mostly to secure the area from the local harm - bandits, troglodytes, and dangerous wildlife are the norm here, and Kell disposes of them quite regularly. 
  Deathsickle is intended to be an early ally of the PCs. They arbitrarily begin in Bicka, and meet with him multiple times. They are never formally inducted into his army, as he feels they are best suited to being free agents. He first ensures that they are competent by having them clear out a cave of troglodytes, and then begins to hire the PCs to take on missions to help him conquer a nearby city-state. This is intended to be the major story of the PCs early levels. Kell is never shown as being sentimental or even caring for the PCs - only that he has an appreciation for their talents. He doesn't try to betray them, but makes it explicitly clear that if they ever become a liability rather than an asset, they will become his enemies. The PCs should be reminded often of just how cruel Deathsickle can be - sacrificing people in a battle to get the upper hand, executing prisoners for mediocre crimes, etc. 
  RP-wise, I portray Kell Deathsickle as being a stereotypical 80s exercise video host. Ridiculously muscular, over-the-top in the manliness department, and constantly making references to his body. Especially while fighting, as he has invented most of his own combat maneuvers. He revels in physical challenge and hand-to-hand combat. He especially loves mocking his opponents, making reference to how superior he is to them. While in reality he tends to be rational and aware of his own weaknesses, Kell recognizes the value of intimidation in battle. However, he is still very proud and overestimates himself on occasion. He is easily goaded into a fight, especially if someone makes the claim that he is a coward or otherwise incapable of fighting them. 

Character: Drimmith Beldrimor

So in my excitement of posting something different, I forgot to post at all yesterday. Oops. This is a character profile that I made for a play-by-post D&D game online. What I like to do is use these sometimes to make more fleshed-out NPCs in future games, and Drimmith is definitely a good example of an NPC with an actual personality for the PCs to interact with.
Edit (6/11/2013): So I just noticed that the format here looks really weird. That particular site had rules for how dialogue and such had to work, and I didn't want to edit that out. So it's just always going to look kinda weird. Sorry!


Name: Drimmith Beldrimor
Gender: Male
Age: 40
Alignment: Neutral Good
Race: Gnome
Campaign Trait: Ruin Raider
Class: Sorceror (Deep Earth Bloodline)

Background: 
  Drimmith's parents, like most gnomes, were notoriously curious. Once they found out people would just pay you for delving into dungeons and coming out with stuff, their course was set for Magnimar in a heartbeat. After delving into many dungeons and amassing what they considered a decent amount of wealth, they had Drimmith. Noticing early on that he had a magical talent, they took him on an adventure deep in a dungeon as a coming of age celebration, intending to spark his interest in following their own career path. He'd always seemed more comfortable undergound, and had seen his fair share of cave explorations for artifacts. Unfortunately, his parents tragically met their end in this dungeon, slaughtered before their son's very eyes, and him only escaping by a chance of words. After he returned to the surface, loot in hand and nothing tying him down, he was quickly recruited by the Pathfinder Society.
  Drimmith himself is of average height for a gnome, and is slightly slimmer than most. His eyes are gray, but still have the glint of youth. He keeps his hair and beard short, but sylized to be what he considers a "sorcerer" look. That is to say, he has a goatee and tries to look mysterious. It doesn't really work that well. Although he certainly tries to be serious, as the child of two moderately-renowned treasure hunters rightfully should, he's still a gnome at heart. He has a reckless disregard for his personal safety, and the safety of others, if it means he can stick his nose somewhere it doesn't belong. He has an insatiable curiosity, especially for magical artifacts. He quickly loses his patience in social settings, preferring to get underground and investigate some ancient runes that may or may not be the secret to ultimate arcane power. Either that or instructions for baking bread. Either way, he's sure to learn something new, and at the end of the day that's all that he cares about! Except for gold. Drimmith is always up for gold. His neighbors thought that his parents had adopted a dwarf for a son, with all the time he spent underground and trying to find ways of getting more shiny coins. 
  As impatient as he might seem to most people, Drimmith does exercise a healthy amount of caution in the arcane arts. He knows that while his bloodline has given him access to great power, this power will be limited until he finds ways of making it grow. Sitting in his parents' basement hurling globs of grease at the wall and making illusions of young gnomish maidens could only get him so far. Sometimes Drimmith stops to question whether he wants to become a pathfinder for the gold, or for the opportunity to increase his magical aptitude…but he quickly gets distracted from deep thoughts like that. 

RP Sample:
Did you know people will just pay you for this stuff?
  Those were the last words Drimmith heard his father utter before being sliced apart by an ancient apparition. It was his birthday, his coming into adulthood, and his parents thought that going deep into a dungeon nobody had braved in years was a smart thing to do. Granted that they were gnomes, not always renowned for their senses of self-preservation, but even famed treasure-hunters should have known to be more careful. The relic his father had been holding was now coated in his blood, rolling across the floor toward Drimmith. Before he could even process what was happening, his mother was cut down by the same spirit while she grabbed for the artifact. 
  Drimmith was alone, facing down a ghost that just murdered both of his parents. 
The apparition, seemingly human, and very angry, slowly turned towards the frightened gnome, and began walking towards him.
  Drimmith knew that his magic wouldn't be able to save him, and he'd ever-so-wisely positioned himself away from the exit - with the ghost between them. 
So…he went with the only thing he could. He tried talking to it.
"Um. Hi." 
he stammered, trying not to look at the corpses the ghost was walking away from. The ghost made no motion to indicate that it had heard him, and continued towards the gnome.
"Listen, I don't want anything, I swear!"
  While not technically true, as the idea of gold was always appealing to gnomes young and old, he was much more concerned with escaping than getting money at this point. Either the ghost saw through his "clever" deception, or simply didn't care.
The ghost was less than ten feet from Drimmith, and was only just now standing over the discarded, bloody relic his parents had seen and been appraising. All Drimmith could think to do was point at it and say:
"Hey, did you know that people will just pay you for that stuff?"
  That stopped the ghost 'dead' in his tracks. Drimmith only just now noticed that the apparition was heavily armed and armored, clearly a guardian of some sort. An ancient warrior perhaps? He didn't know enough about the history of this place to even claim a time period for it, and at the moment he didn't much care. 
  But…if it was a guardian, why did it care about money? Or maybe it was just so furious that the little gnome, trembling in his boots and cloak would dare suggest such a thing, it was letting him be afraid for just a little longer? Or maybe, just maybe, it wasn't a guardian out of some sworn loyalty or out of it's own sense of nobility and honor. Maybe it was a guardian like any sort of mercenary or bodyguard. Drimmith decided to take a risk, and presume that it had been slighted in life of it's payment, and cursed to guard over this place. Either that or die, and he knew which he preferred. 
"Yeah. Stuff just like that. Pay you loads. Especially if you've been guarding it for so long, gotta be super valuable. In fact, I was sent here just to come collect it and pay off your debt with it. Funny story that, you see - "
  Before he could finish, Drimmith could see the ghost look down at the relic, which he just realized was an urn of some sort. The apparition looked at it for a few seconds, and then vanished into a thin, blue mist. The smoke slowly gathered around the urn, and filled it entirely. Drimmith slowly walked over towards it, picked it up, and looked at his deceased parents. Fighting back the pain, all he could do for the next few days was sit by the dungeon, burying his parents in the earth. Once he'd finished, he looked back at the urn and thought - 
"I sure hope someone pays me for this." 

Location: Hang Son Doong

Another post from the "23 Unbelievable Places" series, with credit to Reddit user Boatakk. I think this will be the last one from that album for a little while, though I do intend to finish it out.


Description:
The cavern is immense, and seems to continue downward forever. The walls stretch at least 100 feet high, and the stone slopes and bends all throughout the cave system. As you descend deeper and deeper, the light from the entrance wanes, and is slowly replaced only by the phosphorescent fungi that live in the depths. The air is damp and cold, and this intensifies as you go deeper. Massive stalagmites interrupt the descent every now and then, and you can just make out the faintest sounds of life as you approach. 

Associated Knowledges:
Nature:

• This cavern, or at least part of it, was carved out by water flowing for centuries until an opening formed on the surface.
• Even by just glancing at the first entrance you see, you can know that this cave system must span miles of the surface, but you can't tell how deep it goes.
• Something about this cave is definitely not natural, and this feeling intensifies as you go deeper.

Dungeoneering:

• The entrance to the cave is sloping steadily downward.
• The entrance to the cave appears to be made of natural stone.
• This cave goes deeper than any you have ever heard of - but you can not tell just how deep that may be.

Planes:

• The entrance to the cave appears to be anchored readily in the material plane.
• You can detect a faint aura of planeshifting that gets stronger the deeper you go.
• The cave appears to be a passageway between the material plane and the Underdark.

DM Info:
  Hang Son Doong is an entrance into the Underdark from the material plane. Depending on what level the PCs are, this could be completely undiscovered from the denizens of the Underdark, or could be used as a major route for invaders. In either case, the cave should be incredibly dangerous the deeper one goes. The cave itself was formed completely naturally, and has been growing steadily for thousands of years. However, as it got deeper, the cave actually formed it's own rift into the Underdark, seamlessly joining the two planes together. The cave itself is massive, and covers some few hundred square miles of territory on the surface. The entrances to the cave are somewhat randomly scattered. They all are interconnected, but not necessarily directly - some tunnels might be a straight drop into the Underdark, others may be a gentle slope, and others still could be some combination of the two. The cavern is so massive that an entire army could feasibly move through it, assuming they could deal with the difficult terrain. This will, of course, play a significant role.
  The cave itself is not that interesting, aside from being very large. It is a cave, with stalagmites, stalactites, random pits, and made of stone. It is natural, and so has no rational structure. It generally always slopes downward, but there could be some spots where it's more of a random scatter, or could be more or less level. The cave itself doesn't necessarily have structured "floors," but you could certainly have the PCs go down some sort of tiered pathway if you so desired. It is effectively a mega-dungeon that never ends. It directly leads into the Underdark, which in and of itself is a massive dungeon of sorts. 
  The deeper the PCs go, the more magically attuned the cave becomes. Fey and Nature magic will become more evil-aligned just due to the "nature" of the Underdark, pun fully intended. Different parts of the cave don't necessarily resonate with any particular type of magic, although the system itself is random enough that there certainly could be one or two areas that coincidentally did so. Perhaps there would even be some sort of crystal formation growing there, as a natural response to the magic, as an indicator to the PCs that it's important. Actually, I like that idea, so there are some areas of the cave that resonate with magic and will have weird crystal formations to indicate that. 
  The wildlife of the cave varies depending on how deep you are. On the surface, the cave has very normal cave-dwelling creatures. Goblins, Kobolds, bears, etc. The deeper you go, however, the more dangerous and magical the creatures can become. Carnivorous plants, fiendish bats, giant spiders. Deeper still you will find Drow who might not know of the cavern's importance. Even more scary would be Drow that DO know of the cavern's importance, and intend to use it for their own benefit. 
I like this idea because the cavern presents a very easy plot device. The players might discover the horrible nature of Hang Son Doong, and attempt to cover it up. Or perhaps they never investigated that weird cave, and all of a sudden the Drow are staging a massive invasion of the surface world. Also, it's a giant cave, which more than one monster or adventurer has probably attempted to hide their loot in, only for it to be lost. 

Adventure Hooks:

• A number of bandit raids are coming from an area that has a lot of caves. The PCs then discover that all the caves are interconnected.
• Rumors have spread that long ago, the caves were actually a nest for the Formians, and they had treasure buried deep below.
• A powerful Drow warlord has "surfaced" - pun again fully intended - and is using the caverns as a base of operations to stage his invasion of the surface world. The PCs are tasked with closing this gateway forever.

Location: Bamboo Forest

Another post from the "23 Unbelievable Places" series, with credit to Reddit user Boatakk.


Description:
The Bamboo Forest exists in the Feywild, or some plane with an equivalent theme. The stalks of bamboo stretch up to unnatural heights. An almost solid wall of green surrounds the worn path, inflexible and uncompromising. The air is humid, but despite the moisture the plants stand almost perfectly upright. You can hear the noise of life all around you, but can only see a few insects buzzing about your head. The forest seems to stretch for an eternity, with the sun hanging perfectly overhead at all times. The path somehow looks both worn and smooth, and winds through the forest seemingly without end. It branches off, but seems to have no immediate destination. You feel as though you are always watched here, but can not make anything definite out of it.

Knowledges:

Nature:

• The forces of nature are strong in this place.
• Most sources of food here are inedible to life of the material plane, but some can be found.
• Nearly everything here is not just alive, but sentient to varying degrees. Even the bamboo stalks could be described more as plant-based tentacles of some larger creatures.

Arcana:

• Natural magic flows easily here.
• Some schools of magic may have unpredictable effects, bending to the nature bias in the forest.
• Many creatures here are inherently magical - making this check will allow the player to determine some base powers of different creatures, plants, or environments.

Planes:

• The Feywild is a nature plane, dominated mostly by fairies and plant life.
• Magic in this plane can sometimes be altered to the attunement of the plane itself.
• Nearly everything in the Feywild is magical in nature - making this check will allow the player to determine some base powers of different creatures, plants, or environments.

DM Info:
  This plane of existence has a very heavy nature theme. The way I actually envision this area is not necessarily in the Feywild, but rather just very heavily in touch with it. Some faerie lord could have made this place his domain, or perhaps a coven of druids have set this up to be their territory. This is supposed to be another sort of puzzle area for the players - the path winds them through the forest, but doesn't actually go anywhere. Sounds indicate there is danger, but it's mostly artificial unless the players attempt to stray from the path, in which case the bamboo forest will actively turn against them. This is very hard, as the bamboo stalks form a nearly impassable wall.
  The bamboo stalks are actually all part of a very large creature. It could be either some subterranean entity that has bamboo spikes shooting - pun fully intended - up, or a very large plant creature like in "The Swamp" from Avatar: The Last Airbender. In either case, it is fully aware of the player's presence and simply watches them. If they attempt to attack, it responds in turn until they return to the path. The way to leave can change depending on different circumstances, but I imagine it will involve appeasing whoever's in charge of the forest.
  Magic works weirdly in here. This can either be randomly generated or systematic differences. Nature-based magic should be amplified, but not always in a beneficial way! For instance, if a Druid were to use Summon Nature's Ally, that ally may not appreciate being summoned like that, and is now strong enough to rebel. Depending on the circumstances, different forms of magic can be altered. For instance, if a group of Good druids own the forest, then violent or evil magic may be turned against the user. Evil ones may twist magic into being even more destructive. Faerie lords may turn playful, and just randomly twist magic. Almost all of it will take on a more nature-y theme, but may not impact the actual effects of the spells beyond a quick re-flavoring. 
  The environment is not entirely inhospitable. There is some food available, but much more of it is inedible to most people. The sun remains in the exactly same position at all times, directly overhead, no matter how far or for how long the players walk along the path. When they decide to camp, they will also wake to the sun being in the same spot. They won't be able to find any shelter for their camp, and may turn to trying to harvest some bamboo for a makeshift shelter. This will trigger a violent response from the stalks. The stalks will stop attacking as soon as the players stop trying to cut them down, otherwise they will attack without end. 
  Different encounters can occur when the players stop to rest. Faeries may come to riddle with them, or angry druids may confront them. Alternatively, nothing at all could happen, until the players solve some sort of puzzle. Things should change whenever they stop for the night, however - either the time of day will be different for the entire next day, the path will be slightly different, the clouds will change, whatever. The entire area is shrouded in some sort of time lapse, and the weather is frozen in place. Encounters should happen, otherwise walking along a path can become quite boring. 
  Possible enemies are either the bamboo stalks themselves, which I imagine will have basic slam attacks, but be otherwise stationary. Mud elementals, faeries, and magical beasts are other creatures I can imagine here. If you want to go a less magical route, the setting could also lend itself to elven attacks, or possibly faerie-ninjas of some description. 

Adventure Hooks:

• The players are en route to some other location, and accidentally wander into this secluded area. Once they exit, time will have either completely not passed since they entered, passed very rapidly while they were inside such that they spent months in there when it only felt like days, or passed at a normal rate.
• Someone was lost in the wilderness, and the players are tasked with finding them. Turns out they were lost in the Bamboo Forest.
• Mischievous faeries are plaguing local druids, and they ask for assistance. They were kicked out of their own domain, and the forest itself is being enslaved by the faeries.

Location: Black Forest

Another post for the "23 Unbelievable Places" series, with credit to Reddit user Boatakk. This is a case where I couldn't really think of too much to say about the setting, but I really liked the ideas that I had. 


Description:
The forest is dark and surreal. The trees are bent and irregular, and are crusted with black, twisted bark. A faint blue fog permeates the entire forest, and seemingly clings to your body as you move. Putrid yellow flowers grow in random spots, their petals apparently covered in a sickly ichor. The air is cold and moist, and the grass is spongy beneath your feet. This place is almost a swamp, and you can smell death in the air.

Associated Knowledges:
Nature:

• The plants in this place don't seem entirely natural.
• The flowers are poisonous, and seem to be choking out the life from the rest of the forest.
• The flowers are actually some sort of undead plant, and the trees are the withered husks that remain after being preyed upon. 

Arcana:

• Magic permeates the forest.
• The same sort of magic seems to emanate from the flowers.
• The magic is a mixture of natural and arcane, and radiates evil.

DM Info:
  The Black Forest is a den of evil. The exact kind of evil can vary depending on your needs - my basic ideas were a clan of satyrs, an evil necromancer, or a witch of some sort. In either case, the forest is highly unnatural. Spooky yellow flowers grow all around the place, but are actually a special type of undead plant. They have basically eaten all the life out of the other plants around here and turned them into more undead plants. The flowers themselves are poisonous. The way I'm imagining this is that the flowers are an experiment by whoever has made this forest their domain: a blend of natural magic and necromancy. All of the plants are, to some extent, the minions of the forest's master. He can either see directly through them, control them, or at least have a general sense of what is going on at all times within the forest. The flowers are especially connected to the master of the forest, and perhaps are sentient themselves. 
  Encounters in the forest should involve heavy usage of the flowers. They have a few special powers, such as being able to emit a cloud of poison, or sapping energy when they're touched. Since they're experimental in nature - pun intended - they should have different powers in different areas of the forest. The trees, then, should also have different characteristics depending on which flowers "killed" them. Examples I can think of:

• The "standard" flowers simply drain life out of anything they touch. The trees around them are wooden carcasses, and emanate negative energy.
• Another group of flowers actively puts out poison gas. The trees in that area have poisonous bark, and look more sickly than others.
• A different type of flower moves very slightly, with small tendrils grabbing insects in addition to killing the surrounding trees. It's victims are also reanimated, and the tree branches sway slightly, trying to push prey into the flowers. 

  Keep in mind that before this evil force arrived, the forest was still very much forestlike. Other groups of creatures such as fae, elves, or treants have been either driven off or killed since then. The ghosts or reanimated bodies of these creatures or plants could still be present in the forest. Perhaps even with infighting - the ghosts of those slain creatures are trying to reclaim or destroy their now corrupted bodies. Alternatively, their spirits are bound by the same evil masters of the forest for further experimentation. There's a lot of room for different weird and evil stuff to be happening with all of this. 
  The forest itself is larger than The Black Forest, which refers only to this place of evil. In the larger, more normal forest, the climate is more what you would expect in a forest, and all seems relatively normal. The closer the players get to this part, the colder and damper it gets, and the blue mist forms. The yellow flowers can not survive without that sort of climate, so it is magically maintained. However, the masters of The Black Forest are slowly trying to expand their territory, for further experimentation. Also because they're evil.
  The lair itself will just be a small grove in the center of the area. It will be surrounded by the standard sort of yellow flowers, as they are the most well-developed and were created first. It should be pretty small, I was thinking either a cave or an open grove of trees. Since the masters are likely spellcasters, they should have minions to protect them. 

Adventure Hooks:

• Local fae have been driven from their home, and have asked the players to help them.
• A great evil has been detected from the forest. The players have been tasked with destroying it.
• Necromantic minions are venturing further than they should be. The players investigate and come to this part of the forest.

Location: Antelope Canyon

This is the first in a series of posts that will be based off of images I got off Reddit. This and many others came from an album entitled "23 Unbelievable Places" but unfortunately I forgot to copy down the name of the Redditor who provided it. Google tells me it was Boatakk, but I'm not sure if that was the post I got them from or if it's just reposted a lot. C'est la vie. 
My idea here is pretty simple, but I find it exciting. I will take the images I find as inspiration for a location in my D&D campaign. The write-ups will be hopefully setting-neutral enough that they can be adapted to anybody's game, but I will definitely focus on how I personally would like to use them. This is the first one that I ever did, and honestly I consider it the one that I did the best job with. I may edit it later and post a "revised" version of all this at some point in the future, but I have yet to decide.


                                                         Description:
The walls of the canyon stretched up towards the sun. The walls looked oddly smooth, worn by centuries of wind howling through the halls. The canyon's walls and ground were caked a reddish brown, the dirt packed hard like the stone pillars all around. The light from the sun was cast about the canyon, with shadows playing off the walls with harsh streaks of sunlight glaring into your eyes. The air is dry, and the heat bears down on you to no end. The canyon forms it's own natural maze, twisting and turning, the random patterns on the walls never looking the same twice. The wind howls through the passages, forcing you to block your eyes or be blinded by all the dirt. 

Associated Knowledges:
Nature:

• Long ago, this place was a mighty river that has long since dried up. Over the course of centuries, this canyon was carved out.
• Though it doesn't seem like it at first, this place teems with life underneath the ground.
• Pools of water can be found hidden in some areas in the canyon.

Arcana:

• An ancient magic thrums through these halls. In some places it seems to resonate with the structure of the walls of the canyon.
• Some of the shifting patterns on the walls seem magical in nature, obscured by the natural worn look of the canyon.
• Old illusions play through these canyons, sometimes obscuring passages or turning you around. It is very subtle, but strong.

History:

• This place is mostly uninhabited by sentient life.
• A long time ago, a kingdom was centered here.
• The civilization that once held it's center in this place extended through this entire region, but this canyon was the site of the capitol city.

Finding pools of water: Knowledge(Nature) or Survival
Detecting the shifting patterns on the walls: Perception, Knowledge(Arcana), or Spellcraft

DM Info:
  Antelope Canyon was once the center of the Formian Empire. What the players may or may not realize is that, instead of their capitol city being above the canyon, they were actually both above and below ground. The canyon was originally formed by a large river flowing for centuries, but once it dried up the Formians moved in. The surface was burned away by the dragons, and the Formians have long since left the continent - but their infrastructure still remains. The ground and walls of the canyon have tunnels dug all through them, and the ancient magic the Formians used still lingers. New creatures have taken up residence in these ancient halls, but are largely divided. Some are just mindless creatures that stumbled upon the canyon, others are sentient and now consider this their lair. There is a lot of fighting raging beneath the ground.
  The canyon itself forms a natural maze above ground. Illusions may obscure passages or turn the players around until they find some way of overcoming them. This can be handled in a narrative through a skill check by an arcane spellcaster, or a very talented Survivalist specialist. While at one point the magic may very well have been one of the strongest spells in existence, it has been millennia since it was originally cast and has faded to a very subtle illusion matrix. Although the canyon was formed naturally, it was repurposed by the Formians into a sort of magical resonance chamber. Some areas of the canyon have been altered such that different forms of magic will have amplified effects there. Again, this has faded over time, but remains noticeable to anyone with magical talent that looks hard enough. Examples:

• Enchanting Area: Enchantments within that area are treated as though you had your caster level +5
• Summoning Area: Creatures summoned in this area have +5 HD, and last twice as long
• Crafting Area: Magical items made in this area can be made at one-third the price, and require half the caster level as normal.

Obviously these are just examples and aren't necessarily set in stone. Pun intended. Those numbers and effects were just made up by me on the spot, I know they aren't balanced at all. But that's the idea here.

  The environment is very inhospitable. As such, only some creatures live here. Examples are Lizardfolk, minor demons, Rocs, and other appropriately desert-themed creatures. Underground, the story changes: more powerful magical creatures live down there, either the descendants of whatever the Formians bred, or more dangerous entities trying to carve their territory in the old kingdom's home. I'm picturing older demons, illithids, and some random magical beasts. All of this should depend on what level the players are.

  The canyon has two levels: the surface and underground. The surface is a maze, and should feel more like an extended puzzle encounter. The illusions can be repurposed into a number of different things. Also, traps should include dumping some of the Formians' ancient experiments or baiting dangerous creatures into the players. Magical traps are also going to be par the course. The underground should feel more like a dungeon crawl: the halls will be irregular as they weren't designed for bipedal life, but dangerous monsters and factions will be everywhere. As will ancient treasure and magical knowledge. 

Adventure Hooks:

• A nobleman wants the party to seek out a particular relic he's heard of being somewhere in the canyon.
• A band of raiding lizardfolk have been seen coming from the canyon, and have found a way to hide behind the illusions.
• A demon lord is preparing to wage war from beneath the canyon, using ancient magic and subterranean creatures as his base for power.
• The players have heard that the canyon is filled with magic and treasure, and go to investigate.

Campaign Intro: Welcome to Fomor

This is the campaign intro that I sent to the players playing in my campaign over the summer. It is a brief document I made to introduce them to the general setting, and the guidelines for their character creation. Part of the intent of this blog is to catalogue the development of this campaign, as it is going to be my first real effort at making a large world for future games or entire campaigns. 


Background guidelines:

• I have left the world description pretty vague for a reason. I have the general idea of how the continent is set up, but specific details are very sparse. This is for YOU to fill in - tell me about your character, and make up details as you need them. Locations, factions, important people, customs, anything is up to you. Make of it what you will.

• Do keep in mind, however, that you're still new adventurers. There's nothing wrong with having some cool stuff going on, but remember that you're not quite taking on an army of Storm Giants on your own…yet. 

• Keep in mind the core idea of a background, that you're explaining why you became an adventurer to begin with! Were you driven away from your home? Set on a quest for vengeance? Or simply seeking your fortune?

• Do you have allies? Enemies? Do they consider you an ally and/or enemy? Why?

• Whatever your background setup is, do note that you will have to wind up in the center of the island when our story begins. You don't have to give a specific reason for it, but it would be great if you did.

• The way I do backgrounds is that they will tie into the story very heavily. The campaign I've been planning has very wide gaps in it, intended to be filled in by your backgrounds and the details you provide. With that in mind, I use a system that I find very encouraging for backgrounds. Every paragraph (5-10 sentences) that you write for your background is worth an additional 100 gold (to a maximum of 1000 gold). So try to flesh out your character as best you can. Note that I'll still have to approve your background to make sure you don't get too crazy.

  Welcome to the world of Fomor. The world as you know it is a vast, mysterious place; as far as you all know, there is only one continent with some outlying islands, surrounded by a vast ocean. Exploring vessels going out have never returned, or so you hear. The continent itself is pretty diverse - humans, elves, halflings, gnomes, orcs, and hundreds of other beings all live there. However, the majority groups are humans, halflings, and dwarves. There are forests, deserts, mountains, every ecosystem imaginable. The continent itself is massive - think Eurasia, give or take a few empires. It would take the better part of a year to walk the length of it, depending on what terrain you went through.

  Magic in Fomor is rare. Most people have heard of it, and maybe seen it once or twice in their lives, but it's not exactly common. In big cities there are magic schools, but the wealth needed to be a practitioner is prohibitive. As far as most people know, the only kinds of magic there is exists in Clerics, whose power is gifted to them by their god, or through rigorous arcane study of Wizards. The idea of a Sorcerer being born into power is almost unheard of, as is a Druid pulling their strength directly from nature. With magic being so rare and expensive, magic items are even rarer and more expensive. They do certainly exist, but they can be very difficult to find and purchase. My intention as a DM is to give appropriate magic items at certain points in the adventure, tailored to suit your character specifically. My hope is that this will make your character exactly what you want him/her to be. 
  Guns in Fomor are a very recent thing. Most people who know about them think they're the combat equivalent of a fad, and so far they seem to have a point. The only existing models (that they know of) are very slow-loading muskets that are highly inaccurate. Rumors have been circulating about a few expert craftsmen who are improving the models, but nothing substantial has come up as of yet. It would certainly take a very talented individual to undertake an adventure where they could practice their craft and usage of such weapons. Big cities often tote their gunsmiths' products, but are largely ignored. Peasants and even most soldiers have never even heard of them.

Politically, the continent is divided into five main categories.

• The southern regions are very rich in mineral wealth - the mountains provide a steady source of precious metals along with iron and abundant supplies of stone. This area is largely ruled by dwarves and gnomes, with varying sizes of kingdoms. The political makeup of this area is very similar to medieval Europe. The everyday life tends to be based on vassal states and nobles supporting their lords. Wars are uncommon, but not unheard of, and are almost always fought over personal slights the very proud dwarf kings observe from one another. They are not unified in any way, but the mountainous terrain makes foreign invasion all but impossible.
• The eastern region is mostly farmland. There are scattered forests and swamps, but plains and grasslands are predominant. This place has no overarching government scheme, and has an almost equal representation of each major race. Some small lords exist, and an odd castle or keep can be spotted every few hundred miles. 
• The north is a trading region. Cities and towns are very common, and roads are well-maintained between them. Halflings and humans are the most common races here, although almost everyone has at least some representation. Different cities all have different ethnic balances, as well as wealth levels. This is the only region with any sort of unified territory - although each city has it's own system of government, they do co-operate to maintain the roads and keep trade flowing. The northern region also has the most ports out of everything else. 
• The west is almost unpopulated. The entire region is a very large desert, which is very inhospitable. Small groups of nomadic lizardfolk roam the region, but there is no real civilization present. Rumors exist that something big might be out there, but nothing solid has ever been found. 
• The center of the island represents the Holy Roman Empire circa 1632, or Japan during the 1500s. There are a large number of small warlords constantly fighting each other over territory. Maybe once this place had abundant farmland, but generations of war have left it a battered, desolate place. Power players come and go seasonally, with entire nations rising to the top one year just to be wiped out the next. The constant warring provides ample opportunity for mercenaries or aspiring young adventurers HINT HINT to cut their teeth and test their mettle.

A long, long time ago, the continent used to be inhabited by a race known now only as the Formians. Very few people know much about them, as their civilization crumbled long before anyone alive today. Rumors circulate that they were scorched by dragonfire, others claim they dug deep underground and never came out. Still more say that the Formians sailed off across the sea to other lands, that your civilization could never even dream of. Most of the evidence of Formians exists out in the west, where some ruined cities have been excavated. It's theorized that the heart of their empire used to be there, before they were burned by dragons, leaving the place in it's current state of desolation. As far as you know, no dragons live on Fomor today. 
For those of you who don't know, Formians are a D&D creature that's basically a giant ant. They're highly organized, build hives, take over territory, etc. 

Introductions

Hail and well met!

This is the first post on the first blog I've ever tried to create. Hopefully this will be a pleasant and memorable experience, and my hopes are high.

My goal for this blog is twofold:
1) I want to have a place where I can organize and plan all of the ideas I have for my D&D games.
2) I need a way to exercise some creativity in a semi-productive way.

My plans for how this is going to down:

• Those who frequent Reddit have probably seen many amazing pictures out of nature, or of architecture. Whenever I see those, the first thing I think of is "That would make an awesome D&D encounter." So here I will be creating encounters based off of those very images.
• I am currently in the process of creating a short campaign. I am intent on sharing my ideas here, and hopefully getting constructive feedback on them.
• Any other ideas I have for D&D will also go up here. Already I have ideas for encounter tables, combat mechanics, and other stuff that I like to incorporate into my games. 

My intent is to make at least one post a day. This may change later down the line. At the moment nothing is really going on for me, so I should be able to keep up with that rate. 

Some information about me:

• I am a senior in high school, and am basically done with school at this point. I'll be leaving for college in August, and I'm not sure if I will be able to keep this up past that point.
• I have played D&D pretty much all my life. My parents were very into it back in college, and I've inherited all of their books and materials de facto. 
• As of right now, I'm actually more of a Pathfinder fan. I've never done a fourth edition game, but from what I have heard I'm not sure that I would like it. I prefer the quicker combat and darker tone of 3.X. Characters in fourth edition seem too strong to me, although I could have some misconception. I first learned with AD&D and 3.5.
• Major sources I use for D&D information are Dawnforged, r/loremasters, and r/dnd. If you frequent those subreddits, you may have seen some of my comments over the past couple weeks as I have been trying to be more active.

And with all that, it's time to begin!