Welcome to the Raging Swan Press blog. Herein you’ll find resource and advice articles to make your game better. From time to time, we’ll also post exciting Raging Swan Press news!
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Successful thieves need a fence—someone willing to buy and sell their ill-gotten gains. Like their customers, such folk must keep their true business secret, and thus, they often openly practise some other legitimate trade.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Merchants, traders, artisans, and some ordinary folk, need somewhere to store their bulky goods. Some own their own warehouses, while others hire the requisite space on a temporary basis.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Houses of worship and quiet contemplation stand in or near many settlements. Within, the occupants seek spiritual enlightenment in the service of their patron.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Normally places for the poor or the penny-wise, boarding houses offer lodgings and food; most such places offer only the barest of essentials to their guests.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Far below the sunlit surface lie places and things undreamt of by decent commonfolk. Some such things have never seen the light of day, while others have escaped into the Underlands to escape the hated sun.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
It’s no secret that at Raging Swan Press, we are big fans of dressed dungeons. A dressed dungeon feels more real than an undressed dungeon. A dressed dungeon engages your players’ imaginations, promotes creative play and helps them immerse themselves in the adventure.
Atavistic warriors dwelling in the inner reaches of Ashlar’s Salt Mire, the Coiled Serpent tribe worship Yig—Father of Serpents—who they believe will one day consume the world. The Coiled Serpent tribe numbers about 100 or so individuals and they are an insular folk happiest when ignored by their human neighbours.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreA shadow of their former greatness, the Orcs of the Severed Hand tribe lurk beneath the numberless boughs of the southern forests. Once a mighty and feared tribe, the Severed Hand has never recovered from its war with the retired adventurer Valentin Ironwolf.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreSlaves of their tentacled master, the Troglodytes of the Ebon Lake creep through the eternal darkness of their home searching for both new ways to reach the surface and for discarded remnants of the ancient civilisation that raised their cyclopean home millennia ago.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreThe bugbears of the Frozen Tears are believed by many to be demons. Astride their glacier toads, they prowl the frigid passes of the White Cliffs, hunting for unwary travellers.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreThe wizened half-goblin druid Tal Nar has dwelt alone in the deep, trackless woods for decades. An outcast from his tribe, he has led a lonely life. With only the nameless, atavistic spirits of the primal forest, roving packs of wolves and the occasional bear for company Tal has sunk deep into insanity’s black pit.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreThe characters will be far from the only folk abroad.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreBandits lurk throughout the world. Whether they are persecuted peasants forced to make a life for themselves in the woods, freedom fighters struggling against a corrupt lord, or hardened criminals taking what they want, bandits are a danger to travelling adventuring bands.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreAre you a busy GM? Does session prep take too long? Do you never have time to work on the cool little details that can bring your adventures to life? These focused lists give you, the time-crunched GM, the tools to effortlessly add verisimilitude and detail to your adventures.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreAre you a busy GM? Does session prep take too long? Do you never have time to work on the cool little details that can bring your adventures to life? These focused lists give you, the time-crunched GM, the tools to effortlessly add verisimilitude and detail to your adventures.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreAre you a busy GM? Does session prep take too long? Do you never have time to work on the cool little details that can bring your adventures to life? These focused lists give you, the time-crunched GM, the tools to effortlessly add verisimilitude and detail to your adventures.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreThe leavings of many civilisations dot the land. Such places are often a magnet for minions of evil. Bandits, marauding humanoids or other—more terrible and ferocious—monsters can be found lairing in such locales.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreBuried deep in the snow and ice a white dragon’s frigid lair is a terrifying locale.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreDwelling in the seemingly eternal glaciers of the far north and south and in snowy mountain ranges, frost giants work the ice itself into magnificent castles and fortifications to better suit their frozen hearts.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreImmensely strong burrowing predators, bulettes—or land sharks as they are sometimes called—live only to feed. They fear nothing and treat everything moving as food. Bulettes range over a wide area and are always on the move.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreStirges hunt warm-blooded creatures, swooping down to use their long proboscis to drain their prey’s blood. Once sated and bloated with their prey’s blood, they fly away to digest their meal.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreVicious, warlike and mercenary hobgoblins set up their military-style camps almost anywhere. The camps are not just their home but also the springboard for their campaigns.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreWild and feral orcs take over caves with little care for secrecy or subtlety. Proudly displaying their battle trophies, they taint the area with their awful, savage presence.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreThe haunted manor house is a classic adventure locale. Every town and city—and many villages—has such a locale: an old, ill-favoured house lurking amid the myths, rumours and legends of the locality.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreExtreme weather—particularly storms—has the potential to wreak havoc on a travelling band of brave adventurers.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreMalevolent beings that feed on their victims’ fear and despair, will-o’-wisps dwell in the lonely, dismal places of the world. Deserted places—bogs, fens, marshes, catacombs and battlefields—are their domain.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read More
y of Ashlar is small and constrained. Always, the forces of evil and shadow press inwards upon its borders. If it were not for a stout few, death and darkness would have long ago overwhelmed the land. Dunstone was once Ashlar's northern bulwark. Now…