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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We storm into February with a small flock of new resources for your gaming pleasure along with some new pages for our website.
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…
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.
The village of Swallowfeld stands hard against the turbulent waters of the Lonely Coast and the forbidding depths of a trackless, primeval forest. A hard, frontier place hemmed in by danger without and threatened by a lurking darkness within, the village is in dire need of doughty protectors.
Read MoreWolverton rests on the rocky shores of the far‐flung Lonely Coast. The mighty fortress Caer Syllan keeps a protective eye over its harbour which hosts ships from all over the world coming to trade for the precious metals and gems pulled from the nearby mines. A muddy, noisy place, Wolverton is home to hardy frontier folk eking a living from the earth while contending with half‐goblin tribes, packs of shadow wolves and other monsters dwelling in the nearby Tangled Woods.
Read MoreMost sarcophagi will have the name of the person interred within carved upon their lid.
Read MoreDesigned to house the dead, crypts and catacombs often include many religious features as well as decorations dealing with death and the afterlife.
Read MoreIt seems adventurers are always poking about in dusty, seemingly abandoned crypts. Often, the lairs of the blasphemous undead or the repository of forgotten treasures such places draw adventurers like moths to a candle. But not all areas of a crypt are stuffed full of undead and treasure.
Read MoreA lich’s lair is a terrible and dangerous place. Few adventurers are brave enough to explore a lich’s lair (and fewer still are powerful enough to survive the experience). Such a place should be memorable and flavoursome; this is not an average, run-of-the-mill dungeon. Strange—and perhaps deadly—sights and sounds should be the norm.
Read MoreWhether lurking unseen in the urban jungle or stalking the wilderness or ancient ruins, medusa are a terror to any that befall their stony gaze. Worshipped with adoration by some their cunning makes them truly terrifying enemies.
Read MoreFew dungeons have no features of note or interest, and the characters are likely not the first to explore its halls.
Read MoreA stone circle marks the confluence of ley lines in this bleak and broken place. Among the ancient runes and onyx pillars burn secret powers hidden by gods and men alike. But to the people of Y’taris, the stone circle is just a tourist destination for the rich. Every year, hundreds of spellcasters make the long pilgrimage to the stone circle high in the Broken Mountains. The villagers provide food, shelter, baubles and entertainment, all for exorbitant prices. Merchants bleed visitors of their gold, while pickpockets and scam artists take the rest. Y’taris is a nest of thieves. Anyone is welcome, until they run out of coin.
Read MoreSometimes the characters emerge from the dungeon laden down with bags of coins, pouches stuffed with gems and jewels and even magic items! Other times, they emerge with items somewhat trickier to sell on…
Read MoreRuined castles almost always have dungeons, burial vaults and cellars. Such locales are the favourite haunts of undead, necromancers and other foul things trying to hide from the sun’s harsh radiance. Heroes often explore such places, in search of gold and glory.
Read MoreIsolated coves, sheltered bays and sandy beaches pockmark the coast. Well known by travellers, mariners and fisherman alike such locales are often important local landmarks. In such places, smugglers can sneak ashore in the dead of night, fishermen can ply their trade and holy folk can meditate free from distractions.
Use this list, to add notable beaches, bays and other coastal features into your campaign.
Read MoreA 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 MoreSome adventures like Keep on the Borderlands or the Village of Hommlettare classics. Other adventures are somewhat less good. But what makes an adventure awesome?
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 More
Everyone—even the powerful—has enemies, and the Nameless Mage was no exception…
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.