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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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…
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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.
A black dragon’s lair is rarely nothing more than a dismal, sunken cave stuffed full of treasure. Black dragons are wily, cunning and in-tune with the surrounding environment. Their lairs reflect their intrinsic connection with the surrounding swamp or marsh.
Read MoreMuch of a jungle’s landscape is unremarkable and mundane; however some features become local landmarks used as waymarkers in the jungle’s near-trackless depths or meeting places.
Read MoreMost shipwrecks hold items of curiosity or value to treasure-hunting explorers. The sunken ship’s cargo is likely valuable (but bulky and difficult to raise form the deep); other treasures are far more portable.
Read MoreDuring their exploration of a sunken ship, the characters will encounter many minor features of note.
Read MoreFew dungeons have completely blank, featureless walls.
Read MoreFew dungeons have completely blank, featureless walls.
Read MoreFive years ago, the bandits won. They overwhelmed the village of Hornwall, killed its citizens and looted their treasures. Then, they settled down. The bandits of Hornwall now reside within the very defences meant to keep them out. They have given up the sword and taken up the ploughshare, exchanging a life of danger for one of safety. The villagers hide their secret well, but bodies keep appearing—floating in on the current, dug up by dogs and even emerging from the thawing winter snows. And the citizens who wish to return to the old ways are murdered in their sleep by their loved ones and business owners who wish to keep the past dead and buried. If passing travellers learn the truth, they have a choice. Forgive and forget? Or avenge the uncaring dead and leave Hornwall nothing but ashes.
Read MoreWracked by disaster, Tigley is a village reborn. Standing on the fringes of the noisome Gnatmarsh, its folk make their living from the swamp and harvesting guano from the caves honeycombing the spire of rock upon which stands much of the village. But all is not peaceful in Tigley. The villagers’ burial rituals have attracted undead to certain nearby sunken ruins and goblins now lurk in the locality. In the village itself, influential figures vie for control of the local industries, a bully uses his influence to spread lies and cause trouble and the village priest hides a terrible secret. Once again, Tigley is a village teetering on the edge of disaster, but this time it is a disaster of the village’s own making.
Read MoreAn evil fane should be so much more than a room featuring just a bloody altar (and some treasure). These are places of ineffable evil and as such deserve decent design time. But who has the time? Use these lists, to add depth and verisimilitude to the evil fanes in your campaign.
Read MorePerhaps the single most pervasive feature of a dungeon is its near perpetual darkness. Darkness creates a serious disadvantage for surface dwellers exploring a dungeon and a great advantage for its denizens.
Read MoreThis beautiful, but stern, women wears a fitted black dress, and a white shawl about her slender, bony shoulders.
Read MoreWisps of glimmering multi-coloured mist swirl around the translucent figure of a woman. The woman’s visage changes—growing subtly older before your very eyes—as she approaches.
Read MoreThe quintessential fort (or keep) on the borderland is a classic locale for neophyte adventurers to visit at the start of their careers. Using the fort as a base, they can explore the wilderness and know a safe haven lies nearby. Borderland forts are not featureless places devoid of interesting features and folk. They are living breathing places.
Use these lists to add depth and verisimilitude to the fort on the borderland in your campaign.
Read MoreMany towns straddle rivers, and such towns need bridges! Often massive structures, a bridge can be the focal point of a town. Use this list, to add pieces of interesting dressing to the bridge towns in your campaign:
Read MoreMany towns lie on the edge of deep, dank and fetid marshlands. Terrible things often lurk in these mires, and the town’s folk need protection. Enter, brave adventurers! Use this list, to add pieces of interesting dressing to the marsh towns in your campaign:
Read MoreDuring the course of their adventures, our heroes are likely to slay many evil wizards (and loot their bodies). Sadly, most such individuals seem to never carry anything beyond a spell component pouch, a few magic items and some loose coinage. Use this list, to add depth and flavour to a dead wizard’s possessions
Read MoreWearing comfortable clothing suitable for sea travel, this human woman stands just over five feet tall. She keeps her light brown hair closely cut and wears a patch over her right eye.
Read MoreDuring the course of their adventures, our heroes are likely to slay many evil wizards (and loot their bodies). Sadly, most such individuals seem to never carry anything beyond a spell component pouch, a few magic items and some loose coinage. Use this list, to add depth and flavour to a dead wizard’s possessions
Read MoreThe vast majority of books in a library are nothing more than tomes of mundane knowledge, travelogues, diaries and other normal writings. A few books, however, are different. A few books—either because of the foul things they reveal, the power they hold or their monetary value—are kept away from the public in the library’s special collection.
Read MoreWhether it be a cobweb covered gate, a portcullis adorned with a green iron devil's face or a fissure in the stony ground belching a sulphurous smoke, the entrance to your dungeon sets the tone for the adventure.
Read More
We storm into February with a small flock of new resources for your gaming pleasure along with some new pages for our website.