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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It’s always the perfect time to game, and we hope you can find something below that will help you have more fun with your friends!
Small roadside shrines appear in many towns and cities. They venerate important saints, local deities, or gods without a formal church in the area and are often tended by a small group of dedicated lay worshippers.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
One or more stables can be found in any settlement of note—and many of those without note.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
At Raging Swan Press, we believe that games set in a richly detailed, immersive world are better than games that are not. It should come as no surprise that we are huge fans of dungeon dressing, but what exactly is dungeon dressing, and why do we keep going on about it?
With Citadel on the Wilderlands now out in the world, our attention turns to the Late 2024 edition of Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands and the Player's Guide to Citadel on the Wilderlands!
Citadel on the Wilderlands is a flavour-rich 5e mini-campaign setting designed for low-level characters intent on wilderness exploration and dungeon delving. Designed to be easy to prepare and easy to run, Citadel on the Wilderlands is perfect for GMs who don’t have unending time to prep for the next session.
Citadel on the Wilderlands is a flavour-rich 5e mini-campaign setting designed for low-level characters intent on wilderness exploration and dungeon delving. Designed to be easy to prepare and easy to run, Citadel on the Wilderlands is perfect for GMs who don’t have unending time to prep for the next session.
Citadel on the Wilderlands is a flavour-rich 5e mini-campaign setting designed for low-level characters intent on wilderness exploration and dungeon delving. Designed to be easy to prepare and easy to run, Citadel on the Wilderlands is perfect for GMs who don’t have unending time to prep for the next session.
One is hard-stretched to design a dungeon without noting the appearance of its walls. Whether the dungeon is an ancient and forgotten crypt haunted by the ghosts of yesteryear or a newly-built den of smugglers and slavers staffed by men most foul, a dungeon’s walls help set the tone for an adventure as well as player expectations for what horrors might lurk within.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreA ceiling affects a room’s mood and style. A ceiling’s style can vary between simple and plain to expansive and elaborate with ornate painted frescos (or somewhere in between).
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreTrapdoors come in many different shapes and sizes and often provide access to hidden chambers, treasure vaults, cellars, prisons and so on.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreThe dungeon’s floor is the one feature with which every adventurer will interact.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreDouble doors almost always guard areas of great importance. Often throne rooms, subterranean chapels, crypts housing the remains of important personages and similarly important locations lie beyond. Thus, such dungeon features are often well-built, sturdy and ornately decorated.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreDungeon doors come in many different shapes and sizes. Doors are one of the most basic dungeon features and as such can offer clever explorers vital clues to what might lie beyond.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreWhile often crafted to represent beautiful people, ferocious beasts, heroes or deities, fountains also serve a vital function by providing fresh drinking water. Fountains in a dungeon or cavern setting may be artistic creations of the current or past occupants, altars to deities (fair or foul) or something else entirely.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MorePools add an element of mystery to a dungeon. In their often murky depths, they can hide both treasure, monsters or other secrets. Dungeon pools can be magical or mundane. Some are naturally occurring with swiftly flowing water, while others feature elaborate fountains, traps or other features. It is a brave adventurer who willing steps into unknown waters.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreWealthy or powerful individuals may have elaborately decorated sarcophagi dripping with gemstones, precious metals and other decorations. These treasure-filled tombs are certain to be guarded with fiendish traps or deadly guardians to keep out would-be grave robbers.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreStatues come in many shapes and sizes and are a staple of most dungeons.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreStairs come in many shapes and sizes, including steep, gradual, precipitous and spiral. Stairs in dungeons don’t even have to be made of stone—some can be of wood, bone or other magical or fantastical substances.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MorePortcullises are imposing obstacles for adventurers. Their grid-like construction offers a glimpse of what lies beyond while providing defenders a powerful position from which to strike at interlopers.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreConcealed and hidden doors are a requirement for any suitably interesting dungeon, building or ruin. A secret door is generally a deliberate part of the dungeon crafted when the place is constructed. Concealed doors are somewhat more mundane, and can easily be added later.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreSecret doors are prolific in literature and even more ubiquitous in fantasy gaming. Rare is the dungeon crawl that doesn’t feature a handful of cunningly hidden secret doors. The challenge is in making each door a unique experience worth a few moments of wonder instead of just another excuse for a search check.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreChests, or more accurately their contents, are most adventurers’ favourite dungeon feature. Chests represent their hard-earned reward after days in the dark, exploring new terrain and overcoming challenging foes. Therein new and shiny discoveries await, equipping the heroes for even greater challenges.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreWells are important places in dungeons—a well might be the only readily accessible source of drinking water in the entire place. Given most dungeon denizens require water those controlling a well can become wealthy and powerful charging others for the water they draw. Thus, a well can also be a source of much conflict between the dungeon’s denizens as they all seek to gain control of such an important resource.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreAltars dedicated to dark, forbidden powers are a staple of many fantasy dungeons. Here, evil high priests officiate over bloody, blasphemous services or cultists gather to worship their terrible patron. Such locales are thus often an excellent place to find and slay said evil-doers or to recover their hidden treasures. A few such locales have even established a tenuous link with the deity itself, and strange, odd effects occur in their immediate vicinity.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MorePits are a lurking danger that have spelt the doom of countless adventurers. Pits can be used to kill, injure or trap intruders, block progress or prevent escape. An explorer trapped in a pit with no way of getting out is at the mercy of the first creature or character to discover their predicament.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreDrow, terrors of the Ebon Realm, normally stay away from the sunlit surface lands yet sometimes they wander too close. Setting up outposts near the surface they sneak forth to capture slaves to carry back to their subterranean home.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreCunning ambush predators, ropers lie in wait pretending to be stalagmites so their prey blunder too close to escape.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
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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.