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!
Check out our recent posts, many of which include free downloads, or visit the Archive to browse all our blog posts.
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…
How can Raging Swan Press help you have more gaming fun?
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.
When your characters return from a successful adventure laden with loot their thoughts often turn to shopping. Curio shops, pawn shops and the like are ripe venues for browsing and haggling. Use these lists to add depth and verisimilitude to the curio shops, pawn shops and market stalls in your campaign.
Read MoreUrban adventures are often set in slums. In slums, the long arm of the law is often absent, thieves and cultists are rife; opportunities for adventure abound.
Read MoreThe furthest flung outpost of a mighty kingdom, turbulent waters and forbidding, trackless forests separate the folk of the Lonely Coast from civilisation’s gaudy lights and soft pleasures. Pirates and slavers ply the southern storm-tossed waters while goblins and other foul things creep through the gloom of the Tangled Wood that seemingly chokes the forgotten holds and sacred places of the Old People. Deep within the forest, a narrow, rock-choked defile piled deep with shadow cuts through a nameless range of rugged, tree-shrouded hills birthing dark, fearsome legends of terrifying monsters and glittering, doom-laden treasures. The perils of the Lonely Coast are legion and thus there is always a need for those with stout hearts and skill with blade and spell, or for those merely hungry for glory, to defend humanity’s most tenuous enclave.
Read MoreA horrible amalgamation of dragon, goat and lion, the bizarre chimera hunts to feed the urges of three monstrous beasts rolled into one. Use these lists, to add depth and flavour to the chimera dens in your campaign.
Read MoreSlavers and cannibals gnolls are a horror to fight, and even more terrible to be captured by. Vicious and lazy they wander the hills with their hyena pets looking for treasures to steal, carrion to feed upon and slaves to take back to their primitive camps.
Read MoreWithin wizard’s towers, terrible, eldritch deeds are wrought and strange, otherworldly research is carried out to its logical, but sometimes unwise, conclusion. Such arcane works leave their mark on the fabric of the place.
Read MoreSome urban landmarks are only notable in the immediate locality. The landmarks below could appear in virtually any village, town or city.
Read MoreEvery town and city has landmarks great and small.
Read MoreShunned by most, the witch is the taker of children, bringer of bad harvests and seducer of good men. Living apart from good honest folk, the witch plays on superstitions to create her terrifying reputation. Beware the dark woods…
Read MoreStanding on Selka Street, this rowdy inn is a favoured haunt of adventurers, mercenaries and other rough and ready sorts. Run by the grizzled ex-mercenary Rister Osma the place offers cheap, no-frills food, drink and accommodation.
Read MoreLurking twixt the crag-jagged hills south of Dunstone sit the ruined remains of an old dwarven fortress-temple. Rusted helms and broken blades jut from the surrounding soil like cast-off husks of iron grain, betraying the area’s violent history.
Read MoreDeep within the tangled mangroves and bottomless pools of noisome swamps black dragons lair in sunken ruins of miasmic evil.
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.
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.
Read MoreAdventurers often need henchfolk and hirelings to round out their party. Often, however, such folk end up being nothing more than one-dimensional fighters, clerics or whatever.
Read MoreRuined castles are a classic adventure locale, particularly in borderland or contested regions. A castle’s lofty, crumbled walls and towers can hold many foul things (along with the treasure those foul things have accumulated). Use these tables, to add depth and verisimilitude to the ruined castles in your campaign.
Read MoreAdventurers often need henchfolk and hirelings to round out their party. Often, however, such folk end up being nothing more than one-dimensional fighters, clerics or whatever.
Read MoreNestled in a deep valley, sunlight has never caressed centuried Shroudhaven. Thick fog—rendered permanent by ancient magics—fills the valley. Here, refugees from a long-forgotten war found sanctuary from their enemies. Most villagers are undead, and a dark reputation hangs over the village. Visitors to the village, though, tell a different story. They speak of the undead battling their basest urges and trying to live peaceful lives.
Read MoreFor much of its life, the village of Arcmoor was a sleepy place, far removed from the doings of heroes, kings and warlords. All that changed, however, when an orcish horde was destroyed near the village by the hero Therald Arcmoor. Therald died at the moment of his greatest triumph, and his death—strangely—heralded great change in the village. A shrine raised in his honour has grown increasingly popular of late and Arcmoor is slowly being transformed from a sleepy backwater into a popular destination for pilgrims, visiting warriors and the like.
Read MoreWhite Moon Cove is a respectable fishing town located in a cove which acts as an excellent, natural harbour. The inhabitants of this tightly-knit community are sober, hardworking and amiable fishermen, traders and other sturdy folk making their living from the sea.
Read More
Famed inn popular with adventurers and their hangers-on