Duchy of Saint Albus: 20 Rumors

Inspired by Jeff's Gameblog, below are rumors circulating the Duchy. 

Fair warning: Some of these may be true.

Roll a d20 or pick one: 

1) Duke Gruber Bant's family has traded their eldest children to devils for generations. It is the origin of their lands, title, and wealth.

2) There is a treant in the Forest of Kurn named Wand who has mentored the druids that serve Shorwald County (which includes the Duchy).

3) Luvelda Mor, Mayor of Spartanville, has slain two dragons.  

4) Willy Dung was the brightest student of magic the Hexenschule had seen in over a century. Unfortunately, a single night in the dreaded Scholomanse on Lake Thane left him mute and prone to seizures.

5) The Green Wraith that haunts the Wraithwood was Duke Gruber Bant's older brother, Evard. Gruber murdered him so he could become Duke.

6) Morkin's Comet will bring doom when it arrives on the Summer Solstice.

7) Naomi Volstang hates wizards because her twin brother, Nester, died while attending the Hexenschule.

8) The Green Wraith that haunts the Wraithwood is an elf druid who has turned her back on Obad-Hai and now frolics with the Black Goat during the full moon. 

9) Duke Gruber Bant has taken Tsarina Tetlaunna IX of Yurik as a lover.

10) A werewolf prowls the moors east of the Hexenschule. It has claimed seven victims in the last three years.

11) Golden Hall is a staging ground for azers to invade the Duchy.

12) The wood elves of the Forest of Kurn have taken to eating humans.

13) Rangers stationed at Fort Buckler say it is haunted.

14) A teenage girl in the village of Oakhurst was kidnapped from her bed two nights ago.

15) Old Scratch, an ancient wyvern, is nesting in the ruins on Parliament Hill.

16) Clerics at Glyph Abbey have begun charging more for their services because they have lost favor with Ioune.

17) Katarina Malifaux, a member of the Crimson Steel adventuring band, purchased the Lummock family farm to spy on Duke Bant for her older sister, Belladonna, who is the Jarl of Jarlsburg.

18) Grimm, a prize pig raised by Neville Breck of Brighten, is said to be fluent in seven languages and has taken over running the Breck farm. 

19) The ground has been trembling to the west of Golden Hall, close to Blunder's Pit.

20) The Brotherhood of Bones and Teeth has returned to St. Albus after 50 years. Fishermen say to stay away from caves on the shore of Lake Thane.

Monster Monday: Jade Giants for Shadowdark

JADE GIANTS for Shadowdark

You can download a PDF here.

According to Abu Engg, Marquis of Byth and First Librarian of Thu Q’en, the jade giants arrived from beyond the stars about four months after the mantisfolk landed aboard the Envoy. Zek’tune, the Sorcerer of the Pinnacle, made first contact with them and gifted them the Iron Forest. For well over a century they kept to themselves and were mostly forgotten until the sky started following along the edges of their homeland. Fire and smoke rose like a devouring monster and within a month the Iron Forest and the Pinnacle were no more and in their place huge, silk yurts dotted the region and every man, woman, and child within the jade giant's ranks began to prepare for war.

AC 14 (chain), HP 29, ATK 2 longswords +4 (2d6), MV double near, S +4, D +1, C +2, I +1, 

W +0, Ch +0, AL C, LV 6

Fury. If they take damage they have ADV on their next attack roll with melee weapons.

Spell Resistance. Hostile spells targeting them are DC 15 to cast.

Monster Monday: Icemen for Shadowdark

Icemen for Shadowdark

You can download a PDF here.

Loki is a cold and unforgiving deity who sends forth long nights, blasting winds, and a cold that can seep into one's soul as easily as their bones. Ever vigilant, Loki listens for the cries of the dying and offers them an alternative to a lonely death. Those who accept his whispered offering find their very skin hardening into transparent ice that no longer feels the wind or the cold as they follow his clarion call to join him in his realm. Once there, they wait to be unleashed upon his enemies.

AC 15, HP 6, ATK 1 spear (close/near) +1 (1d6),
MV near, S +1, D +0, C +1, I +0, W +1, Ch -2, 

AL C, LV 1

Hopeless. Immune to morale checks. 

Impervious. Cold immune.

Invulnerable. Immune to critical hits with weapons.

Monster Monday: Void Shaman for Shadowdark

VOID SHAMAN for Shadowdark

You can download a PDF here

Chod’Xoth, the Unending Night, the End of All, the Nightmare Primeval, recruits their servants from those suffering from lifelong night terrors, slowly but surely alienating them from any loved ones they may have and shattering their sanity night after night after night. A Void Shaman is a pitiful creature, their mind and body warped and their corruption total and complete. The only thing left to them is loyalty to the monster that hollowed them out.

AC 14, HP 22, ATK 1 spell +4 or 1 whip +1 (1d4), MV near, S +0, D +0, C +0, I +1, W +4, Ch +2, AL C, LV 5

Blind/Deafen (WIS Spell). DC 12. Near creature has DIS on appropriate sense for 5 rounds.

Command (WIS Spell). DC 13. Issues a verbal command to a Far creature they must obey for 3 rounds. If it harms the creature, they may make a DC 12 charisma check to end the spell.

Ghostwalk. 1/day, turns incorporeal for 3 rounds.

Holy Weapon (WIS Spell). DC 11. Target weapon becomes magic gains +1 to attack and damage rolls for 5 rounds.

Smite (WIS Spell). DC 12. Near creature takes 1d6 damage.

Spiderwalk. Crawls on walls and shear surfaces.

Wraithsight. Hidden and invisible creatures can be seen.

Monster Monday: Death Knight for Shadowdark

Art by James Shields 

http://jeshields.com/wp/

Death Knight for Shadowdark

You download the PDF here.

Ardrik Arn, the King in Shadow, slaughtered the Knights of the Silver Star as they defended Empress Marvana of Urik outside of Red Moon Keep. The moment the last of them fell Arn’s sorcery spirited away their remains while ordering his army to retreat. Unbeknownst to all the King had unearthed the Kakodex, a supremely evil tome translated by Ogdu of Vol-Tak a thousand years ago. The King in Shadow used one of its spells to resurrect all fourteen Knights into his Heeku’Drom—his Death Knights.

AC 18, HP 44, ATK 3 long sword +6 (1d10), MV near, S +4, D +2, C +3, I +1, W +2, Ch 0+1, AL C, LV 9 

Deathbringer. Critical hits deal triple damage.

Death’s Mantle. 1/day, immune to a spell.

Invisibility. 1/day, invisible for 3 rounds.

Fearless. Immune to morale checks.

Greater Undead. Has advantage on charisma checks to be turned.

Pillar Of Salt. 1/day, near target of LV 5 or less becomes statue of salt for 3 rounds.

Smite (WIS spell). DC 12. Far target takes 1d6 damage.

Shadowstep. 1/day, teleport double near.

Weapon Properties for Shadowdark is On Sale Now!

A few weeks ago, Jeff Kraykovic brought up the idea of importing 5.24's Weapon Mastery into Shadowdark in the Facebook group and this is what I worked up. It uses luck tokens to power properties a weapon has for a special affect in combat. Additionally, I have optional rules to use them in Pulp Mode.

You can purchase it exclusively here (it is an affiliate link).

A to Z of the Polyverse: A is for And then there was light! (A to Z Blog Challenge 2025)

This is the A to Z of the Polyverse.

What is it? Glad you asked.

The Polyverse is what I call the setting of the various DnD campaigns I have run stretching back to the early 90s starting with ADnD 2E's Haunted Halls of Eveningstar. It was the first module I ever ran and my first time running ADnD 2E. I made a ton of mistakes. A. Frickin. Ton.

I had read the Avatar Trilogy and stupidly had Lolth tempt a player who wholeheartedly tried to kill the rest of the party. As they chased him out of Eveningstar he set fire to some grasslands to cover his tracks.

Those actions created a group of Elven terrorists who are plotting to take back their homeland known as the Kinn'A'Nacht.

From there a high level Wizard named Dunwich began recruiting for a secret society known as the Circle of Fire with the ultimate goal being to kill the Gods and replace them with him and his fellow members.

Then I didn't run much DnD for a long time. 

However, when 5E came out I started making up for all of that lost time. The Polyverse saw the murder of Tiamat and the ascension of Ashardalon as the God of Chromatic Dragons. 

Then Saint Cuthbert was trapped in the Demiplane of Dread known as Ravenloft.  The last group who tried to rescue him wiped each other out when one of the PCs found the Hand of Vecna.

The City-State of Jarlsburg and Duchy of Saint Cuthbert/Saint Albus both became major areas for my games. 

In my most recent game the city of Greenway and its Hexenschule came into focus and a plot by the Elves to murder Lolth and replace her with her brother Vulkoor was revealed. And Dunwich and his secret society began to set things into motion in the open by recruiting the PCs...it just took me over 30 years to get there.

Things are very much afoot.

Monster Monday: Exoscout for Shadowdark

Autoscout for Shadowdark

When Zaul built his fane to Vor, the Hunger That Stalks, in the Wraithwood, he didn’t realize that the site was chosen due to the strange objects that fall from the sky once every millennium. The objects are exoscounts sent by the Confederation to ascertain if a world is worth annexing. They are designed to transmit data for approximately six months before they lose power and self-destruct but Vor has been reprogramming it, upgrading its power supply, and adding weapons to its load out. Outworlders would only mean more food.

AC 16, HP 16, ATK 2 claws +3 (1d8) or arm-mounted crossbow +3 (1d6), MV near (climb, swimb), S +4, D +3, C +3, I +3, W +4, Ch 0, AL C, LV 3

Deadly. Critical hit on a natural 18-20.

Impervious. Cold immune.

Keen Senses. Can’t be surprised.

Self-Destruct. Explodes after 1d6 turns at 0 HP. 

Near creatures DC 12 DEX or 3d6 damage.

Duchy of Saint Albus: Wraith Widows for Shadowdark

 

Wraith Widows for Shadowdark

Hundreds of years ago, Zaul, an evil druid dedicated to Vor the Hunger That Stalks, transformed a coven of hags, the seven Moonbow sisters, into giant, spectral spiders. He then raised a sprawling fane for the wraith widows to guard in the heart of the Wraithwoods. Those haunted woods loom large on the southwestern border of the Duchy of Saint Albus.


AC 14, HP 19, ATK 1 bite +4 (1d4 + poison) MV near (climb), 

S +2, D +2, C +1, I +2, W +2, Ch -2, AL C, LV 4

Incorporeal. In place of attacks, become corporeal or incorporeal.

Poison. DC 12 CON or paralyzed for 1d4+1 hours. 

You can download a PDF of the stat block here.

 

The Duchy of Saint Albus: 20 Questions

In the early days of this blog I worked on the Duchy of Saint Cuthbert setting and I'm thinking about dusting it off for my next Shadowdark game. I've decided to move away from using Saint Cuthbert though so Saint Albus it is.

Inspired by Jeff's Gameblog.  

1. What is the deal with my cleric's religion? Dominant religions in the Duchy are Bahamut, Erathis, and Ioun for the humans; Moradin for the dwarves; Corellon for the elves of Highsun and Sehanine for the elves of Leafhome.

2. Where can we go to buy standard equipment? Greenway, Pike's Run, Twincrest, and Black Hill.

3. Where can we go to get platemail custom fitted for this monster I just befriended? Klaxxon Ironshaper at Golden Hall.

4. Who is the mightiest wizard in the land? Magister Viola Plune of the Hexenschule.

5. Who is the greatest warrior in the land? Captain Morgan Stroud is the Head of the Duke's Royal Guard and a First Sword of the Steel Chateau.

6. Who is the richest person in the land? Duke Gruber Bant.

7. Where can we go to get some magical healing? The Seminary at Cypher Abbey or the Hearthblaze at Golden Hall.

8. Where can we go to get cures for the following conditions: poison, disease, curse, level drain, lycanthropy, polymorph, alignment change, death, undeath? The Seminary or the Orchard, a brothel run by Madam Enya Twomorrows in Greenway.

9. Is there a magic guild my Magic User belongs to or that I can join in order to get more spells? If your an Alumni of the Hexenschule you are automatically a member of the Harkness. Non-alumni can join the Harkness by paying an annual fee of 25 gold.

10. Where can I find an alchemist, sage, or other expert NPC? The Hexenschule, the Orchard, or the Seminary.

11. Where can I hire mercenaries? Greenway and Black Hill.

12. Is there any place on the map where swords are illegal, magic is outlawed or any other notable hassles from Johnny Law? Magic is outlawed on the Volstang family farm. Swords and magic are not tolerated in the Orchard.

13. Which way to the nearest tavern? The Merry Manticore in Greenway.

14. What monsters are terrorizing the countryside sufficiently that if I kill them I will become famous? Wraith widows (giant spiders), condorbears (a creation of the hexenschule), Old Scratch ( a wyvern).

15. Are there any wars brewing I could go fight? Tzorn has established a base in Tonga about 60 miles West of the Duchy and has been clashing with the City-State of Liberty for close to two years. The Dominion's Navy established a blockade along the coast of Dar Dang 3 months ago and tensions are rising fast.

16. How about gladiatorial arenas complete with hard-won glory and fabulous cash prizes? Black Hill's Bloodsport occurs on the last weekend of every month.

17. Are there any secret societies with sinister agendas I could join and/or fight? The Brotherhood of Bones and Teeth, the Parliament of Shadows, the Pit Vipers, and the Red Door.

18. What is there to eat around here? The Orchard's menu is legendary for culinary and carnal treats, Plum's in Greenway, the Caul and Crow in Black Hill, the Silver Stag in Twincrest, and Winnie's in Pike's Run.

19. Any legendary lost treasures I could be looking for? The Idol of Perrin, Moonsilver's Hart, the Black Trove of the Scholomanse, the wreckage of the Sea-Sprite.

20. Where is the nearest dragon or other monsters with Type H treasure? The green dragon Stranglevine in the Wraithwood.

I've heavily Revised Folk Lore Additional Ancestries for Shadowdark

Back in November 2022 I release Folk Lore: Additional Ancestries for Shadowdark and I just uploaded a fairly major revision of it. I think its better now. If you were kind enough to already purchase it the update is uploaded and ready to download. If you haven't and have an extra buck its on sale now. I'm also working on Folk Lore 2 right now. 

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/415611/folk-lore-additional-ancestries-for-the-shadowdark-rpg?src=newest_recent

Monster Monday: Ziggurnaut for Shadowdark

Illustration by Maia Kobabe

Large engines of destruction used to lead invasions for the Mage-Empress of the Dominion from across the Scarlet Sea. Ancient and powerful ritual magic transfers a decorated officer’s soul into the ziggurnaut and it is considered a great honor to be chosen for this role with the families of those chosen given land and title for their loved one’s dedication.

AC 18, HP 50, ATK 3 slam +6 (1d12) or 1 boulder (far) +6 (2d6), MV double near, S +5, D +0, C +4,   I +2, W +1, Ch +1, AL C

Construct. Immune to damage from fire, cold,
electricity, or non-magical sources.

Here is a PDF to download

Shadowdark: Turtlekin Ancestry

Art by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird

Turtlekin for Shadowdark

500 years ago, Emperor Titian was assassinated and the lands of Nugyen were carved up by over 30 warlords. This led to the formation of the 17 Great Clans that now dominate the region. Every ‘Kin embarks on a spiritual journey, led by the Kami, to understand their place in Creation.

You know the Common language and either the Merran or Reptilian language.

Kata. You gain the ability to wield one melee weapon of your choice and you deal a critical hit if you roll a natural 19 or 20 on an attack roll with it.

You can download a PDF here.

Thundercats: Jackalmen for Shadowdark

 

JACKALMEN for Shadowdark

Mutant scavengers from the planet Plun-Darr.

AC 14, HP 6, ATK 1 club +0 (1d4) or 1 crossbow (far) +1 (1d6), MV near, S +0, D +1, C +2, I +0, 

W +2, Ch -2, AL C

Carrion Tracker. Can track dead flesh unerringly within a mile.

Cowardly. When fleeing they have DIS on their morale check.

You can download a PDF here.

Shadowdark: Alternative to Advantage & Disadvantage

We are about to start our second Shadowdark campaign and the players weren't satisfied with the RAW version of Advantage and Disadvantage. They asked about converting it to a straight +5 or -5 but I'm not sure that I feel that fits Shadowdark so we will be testing out +1d6 or -1d6.  I'm not trying to model +5/-5 with the 1d6 mechanic I am instead trying to have the new mechanic guarantee a bonus or penalty and remain in the same range as the original rule. I'll keep you posted on how it turns out. Thoughts?

Monster Monday: Manacondas for Shadowdark

The subjects of the Nagarajah of Sssirabad are guarded and weary because many cultures view them with fear and suspicion. Twenty years ago the City-State of Thoda attempted to annex much of Sssirabad’s eastern border along the Rapi River before failing spectacularly. After their defeat Thoda began an intense propaganda campaign with the Nagarajah’s neighbors and trade partners. Recently, the Nagarajah has opened diplomatic talks with Thoda for some much needed economic relief. 

    Manacondas are lithe and graceful with scales of white, red, brown, yellow, or green in myriad patterns.

You can download a PDF copy here.

 

A RuneQuest Playtest

Last week, Chaosium revealed they were working on a new RuneQuest Project. The way Mike Mearls explained it is that it was like Pulp Cthulhu in relation to Call of Cthulhu. Soon after they opened up playtesting for those interested in it.

Here is the link for the announcement.

Here is the link to sign up for the playtest.

I'm very excited for this development.

State of the Planes February 2025

Art by Andrea Ardinghi

I've worked very hard at limiting my Gaming ADD over the past 12 months and I'm finally finding success with it. I'd like to impart some secret to it but I've just been focused on story over rules and being very intentional with my focus.

The upside is that my DnD 5.5 game is cruising along. Since being honest with myself about disliking the resource management aspect of combat encounters most of our sessions are filled with roleplaying with a combat every 2-3 sessions.  The plot is player driven with a fairly light outline in place but player goals are prioritized.

The game is set on Greyhawk and the group has just recently visited the sprawling metropolis to lie low from several agents of Iuz the Old.

I have come to except, to some degree, that 5E and its derivatives are what my group is most comfortable playing and honestly, while I do have a strong interest in Savage Worlds, Shadow of the Demon Lord/Weird Wizard, and Basic Role Playing, I do like the current version of DnD quite a bit and the 2024 update is an excellent product.

There are three plot threads in play right now: Finding a ritual called the Ebon Maw that can break a pact made by one of their allies; Acquiring a spelljammer to tool around in; And a mission into the sewers of Greyhawk to locate an asset of the Violet Spiral Thieves' Guild.

We finished up last night with the group entering the Black Ziggurat looking for the Ebon Maw. They encountered some skeletons, bypassed some traps, and are on the verge of meeting its primary resident.

The Ebon Maw ritual was created by a lich named Ikabod Langstrüm and is believed to be hidden within the Ziggurat which he used as a sanctum for many decades. There has been a lot of negotiating in this game and that is fine by me. At one point the players were really skirting the line of villainy but they pulled themselves back from the edge by putting some distance between themselves and those agents. I'm really leaning into the high fantasy aspects of DnD with a Greyhawk lens. All of my past successful 5E campaigns have formed a setting I call the Polyverse which feature Ashardolon as the God of Chromatic Dragons and Saint Cuthbert being imprisoned within Ravenloft. My intention is to allow them to rub elbows with the big players and I am prepared for them to make permanent changes to the mythology of DnD. 

The Future Starts Today!

Or some such thing. 

Happy 2025.

My blog is 12 years old and I didn't manage to post once a month on here. I don't know what 2025 holds but I'm trying to get back into the habit of expressing myself creatively on here.

I really struggled with my interests in RPGs this year. I've been with my Friday group 9 years now and our goals weren't always aligned this year. As a game retailer I'm often angry at whatever antics Wizrds of the Coast is up to and when it comes to my own personal money I often don't want to give it to them. Which means I have resented our DnD Beyond sub and really wasn't sure I wanted to even play DnD.

However, while WotC is often spot on in how it targets its customers. My store's Magic players, good people who are essential to my business' success, are often very happy with what they are doing. Even within my group there are people who are heavily critical but give them their hard earned sheckles with every new release.

Lets be frank: I'm lucky to have spent 25 years selling comics and games to our customers. I love my job and my customers. Its not my job to tell them what to play. Its also not my job to tell my group they shouldn't support WotC. I am the only member of my group that wants to move from DnD though.

It led me to realize that I don't enjoy the power level of 5th Edition. I like many of the mechanics but I'm drawn to the OSR due to its DM and player empowerment but most of my players were introduced to DnD with 3rd, 4th, or even 5th edition and they don't share that preference and that is okay. I struggled with just stepping back and moving on.

I didn't move on and instead started a 5.5 game.

Yeah...

I expected 5.5 to be a dumpster fire and it is a really well laid out and organized core book. The 2014 PHB had a small team and DnD was very much in danger of possibly fading away if its launch hadn't gone well by Hasbro's standards. The 2024 PHB takes into account the millions of new players we now have and the 2024 DMG is a significant upgrade over its earlier counterpart.

And like it or not DnD Beyond is a really good resource for a lazy player like myself. In looking at games like Savage Worlds or Basic Role Playing or Shadow of the Weird Wizard and their biggest miss is not having a tool like DnD Beyond. I get why they don't but it sure makes things much, much easier on everyone.

My 5.5 game is set in a version of Greyhawk and I'm about to finish my first adventure. Combat has been minimal because I'm often disappointed with it. Maybe its because I came from ADnD 2E but I don't like that encounters as resources to be managed and I'm a lot happier as a GM with exploration and interaction so we will see how it goes.

With all of that being said about DnD I'm a member of Mike Mearls' Patreon where he is building a fusion of 5E and BX (who isn't amiright?) that I'm finding delightful. Each preview really, really hits a sweet spot for me and while I really dig Shadowdark I think I'm going to like this better.

He's previewed the Fighter, Magic-User, Cleric, Rogue, an Ape & Mountain Dwarf ancestry, and a Miner & soldier background. I urge you to join it.