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.
Campaign worlds need deep dungeons, lost dwarven holds, crumbling castles, ebon caverns and dusty necropolises for the characters to explore. Such locales need suitably evocative names.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreThrones are meant to present an image of power. The exalted personage occupying a throne is important and sits in style and comfort while others stand in their presence.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreA marvel of architectural engineering, the archway lends itself as much to decoration as it does to functionality. Many things can lurk in shadowed dungeon archways.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreUse these random encounters to add spice and interest to your dungeon. The encounters are designed to be relatively generic and should be easy to insert into almost any dungeon. As always, change or ignore any details that do not work for your setup.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreUse these random encounters to add spice and interest to your dungeon. The encounters are designed to be relatively generic and should be easy to insert into almost any dungeon. As always, change or ignore any details that do not work for your setup.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreA tapestry can be nothing more than decoration. However, a tapestry can also hide a concealed door, be climbed on or even be used to enfold an enemy (when pulled from the wall). More importantly, they can also be loot!
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreAs well as including “large” pieces of dungeon dressing—statues, interesting pillars and so on—in your dungeon, smaller pieces of dressing can also tell an interesting story and help bring your creation alive in your players’ imaginations.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreAs well as including “large” pieces of dungeon dressing—statues, interesting pillars and so on—in your dungeon, smaller pieces of dressing can also tell an interesting story and help bring your creation alive in your players’ imaginations.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreDungeons rarely comprise featureless corridors swept clean of debris (unless a gelatinous cube wanders the halls). Here, strange things abound.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
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.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreA bridge normally crosses a river, ravine, chasm, gorge or another obstacle. In a dungeon, a bridge could also span a deadly lava flow, glacial lake, pit of spikes, the den of dangerous subterranean creatures or other outlandish terrain feature. Deep pits (or more perilous falls) make bridges dangerous terrain to cross and fight on, particularly for characters without the ability to fly.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
Read MoreOne 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 More
Famed inn popular with adventurers and their hangers-on