Hexennacht and Saint Kriemhild's Day

 Or: what happens when you learn about German holidays from anime

In the 1e Oriental Adventures sourcebook, the author recommends keeping a calendar for in-game time in your campaign and having special events take place as time passes in-universe. I do this for my campaigns, as I find that this helps add a sense of versamilitude and dynamism to the game world, and the advice they give is relevant even outside of "Oriental" settings. Even when the PCs aren't doing things, the world still goes on, and things can happen that shake up the world.

In the Lunar Lands, the passage of time is governed by the Wheel of the Year, with certain events in the year having significance both cultural, spiritual, and supernatural. Holidays have power, and this can translate into game terms through the application of some special rules. In what's going to be the first of a series of posts, I'd like to discuss one such holiday that has come up in my campaigns.

The holiday of Beltane is one of the Cross-Quarter Days of the Wheel of the Year, happening at the midpoint between the Spring Solstice of Eostrefest and the Equinox of Midsummer. As one of the key events in the calendar, it is celebrated in some way in just about every culture. In western Vardessy, the celebration coincides with Saint Kriemhild's Day.

What is also notable is that the night before Saint Kriemhild's Day is Hexennacht - Witches' Night - one of the two nights in which the boundaries between the Mortal Realm and the Realms Beyond is weakest (the other being Samhain). As such, it is a favorite occasion for witches and warlocks to practice their rituals and summonings, while those faithful to the Pantheon of Divines choose the night to shelter in their homes making protective charms against black magic. One can often tell if one is a Pantheonist or a follower of the Old Faith based on if they choose to wish travelers good fortune on Saint Kriemhild's Day or Hexennacht.

Centuries ago, Kriemhild of Klareswassen was a young maiden from Vardessy who was stricken with divine visions that prophesized her victory over a coven of witches that made council on the mountain outside her hometown. Taking up the bow and gathering the aid of four peers (together, they formed a party known as the Five Companions, consisting of Kriemhild along with the Saints Liliana, Oktavia, Ophelia, and Candelaria), she drove the witches from Klareswassen in a battle one Hexennacht that was commemorated by the foundation of a great temple in the town, one that would eventually hold her tomb as she was canonized as an important saint of the Cult of Torvald, God of Boundaries and Repelling Evil Forces.

Today, pilgrims from across Vardessy celebrate Saint Kriemhild's Day by visiting the paladin's burial place in Klareswassen for good fortune and the graces of the gods, as well as for the blessed oil that is said to emanate from Kriemhild's body. There are many inns on the road that cater to pilgrims, who typically identify themselves by wearing a red ribbon - either worn in their hair or pinned to their hat, cloak, or tunic. However, pilgrims should hope their faith protects them, for witches still celebrate Hexennacht with chants and hilltop bonfires when the moons rise over the mountains before the sound of bells fills the streets of Klareswassen...

(Also notable is the nearby village of Tollunstadt, which suffers from an inexplicable plague of ankhegs every autumn, but that is another story.)

Special Rules

Hexennacht takes place at sundown on the night before the First of Flowermoon (analogous to April 30th, or the night before the fifth new moon in the world's lunar calendar). On this occasion:

• All saving throws against necromancy spells are made with disadvantage until the next sunrise.
• All necromancy and conjuration spells are made as though they were cast with a spell slot one level higher than what was actually used until the next sunrise (for example, a spell cast using a second-level spell slot behaves instead as if it was cast using a third-level spell slot)
• All Warlocks gain a free extra Eldritch Invocation until the next sunrise, as their Patrons can reach especially close to them. This applies even to first-level Warlocks who do not have the Eldritch Invocation feature.

 

Magic Items

The Blessed Bow of Saint Kriemhild

Artifact

Among the Cult of Torvald's most favored artifacts is the Blessed Bow of Saint Kriemhild, the yew bow that was used by the saint to fire the arrow that pierced the heart of the leader of the Klareswassen Coven. Although the Bow is one of the many relics now held in the Holy Archives of Lescatie, it has been known to disappear from time to time and appear across the land to find its way into the hands of a worthy champion.

The Blessed Bow has the stats of a Shortbow. Any arrows fired from the Blessed Bow are as +1 Arrows (+1 to attack and damage rolls) regardless of make or origin. Additionally, these arrows have advantage to any attack rolls aimed against a witch, hag, or warlock. On Hexennacht and Saint Kriemhild's Day, the arrows behave as +2 Arrows instead.

Oil of Saint Kriemhild

Potion, Uncommon

On her feast day, the relics of Saint Kriemhild held in her temple in Klareswassen secrete a holy oil bottled by the nuns of the temple and sold to pilgrims for a price of a gold coin (though they are reluctant to sell more than one bottle per visitor per year). The Oil carries the properties of a Bless spell - when applied to a weapon, it grants +1d4 to that weapon's damage roll until the next successful attack, and when applied to a creature, that creature has +1d4 on their saving throws until a successful save is made. If the damage roll is made against a witch, hag, or warlock, or if the saving throw is against a necromancy spell, the bonus is +1d8 instead. Alternatively, the Oil can be used to remove curses (as the Remove Curse spell).

Cheating Death

 

Talisman

Before the release of 5e, I ran a few games in my setting to introduce new players to roleplaying using the Dungeon World system. For those of you who haven't played Dungeon World, or any of the other games using the Powered by the Apocalypse system, the basic mechanic is that for any sort of conflict resolution, the player rolls 2d6 and adds the appropriate modifiers for their character's stats or situational bonuses or penalties. A 10 or more is a success (for example, you successfully pick a lock and open the door); a 7-9 is a success with complications (you pick the lock, but you hear the footsteps of guards coming around the corner); and a 6 or less is a failure (your lockpick breaks).

When a PC dies, there's a move called Last Breath that applies, and it's quite interesting. You have a vision of Death arriving for you, and you roll a flat 2d6 with no bonuses (as the rulebook puts it, Death doesn't care how cool you are). On a 6 or less, you die. On a 10 or more, you survive. On a 7-9, Death lets you go, but with a quest or another special condition you must fulfill if you want to live.

The death save mechanic used in 4e and 5e is similar to this - when a PC dies, they must make three successful rolls on a flat d20 with a DC of 10 before they make three failed rolls in order to survive. Most people run this as a simple near-death experience, but I enjoy carrying over the conversations with Death from Dungeon World, reskinning the death saves as Death (in my setting, the god Morthanos, but feel free to substitue your favorite psychopomp) deciding whether or not to let the deceased go.

And, more to the point of today's post, that gives wily players the option of cheating Death. If you want to restrict access to resurrection magic but want PCs to be more durable, while giving your games a more mythic flavor, read on.

The Seventh Seal

While making a death save, a PC may choose to challenge Death to a game over the fate of their soul. Chess is traditional, but Death is well-versed in all manner of games. This doesn't change the DC of the death save, and you cannot add your proficiency bonus even if you have proficiency in the appropriate gaming set - even the greatest chess player in the world can't outwit Death on a level playing field. Where this comes in is if one wishes to cheat Death.

If a PC wishes to cheat at Death's game (rearranging the chessboard when he isn't looking, or switching to a set of weighted dice, or slipping a trump card out of their sleeve, for example), they may make a Deception or Sleight of Hand check, or another appropriate skill - work with the DM to figure out which fits the most. The starting DC is 15 - see below.

If this is successful, the PC automatically passes the rest of their death saves until they next drop to 0 HP. 

If this is not successful, Death notices he is being cheated, and he will consider this when weighing their soul. The PC has disadvantage on the rest of their death saves until they next drop to 0 HP.

Even if one successfully cheats Death, however, it won't be too long before he realizes he has been had. DMs should consider this when going forward - perhaps the PC will be hounded by messengers of Death, or be stricken with ill fortune, until they manage to complete a quest to put them back in Death's favor. It is up to the DM to figure out an appropriate punishment; ideally, it should be one that will provide a special challenge to the PC in question.

For that matter, Death will remember he's been cheated before, and he will be especially vigilant the next time it happens. Each time a PC successfully cheats Death, the DC to cheat him increases by 5 the next time anyone (not just the PC who did it before) attempts to cheat him during that campaign. A party that has had many of its members cheat Death may want to think twice before attempting it again.

And if all else fails, those who find their way to the Land of the Dead can attempt to make a case with Death for the release of a fallen friend's soul. I have the Dungeon Crawl Classics module Blades Against Death saved up for such an occasion...

An Overview of the Lunar Lands

So, before I get ahead of myself, I feel like it would be useful to put out an overview of my setting. This will help provide context for a lot of the subjects I'll be discussing later on. I will make posts to explain the different parts of the world in more detail later on, as well as some of the overarching themes and design decisions, but for now, consider this a primer on the important details.

I've been plotting out this setting as a hobby project of sorts, ever since I was in school, and starting many years before I even ran my first game in it. It started out as a mashup of a lot of things I liked, but it would be revised over time, smoothing out the junctions and creating a more cohesive whole. I've run multiple games in it, through multiple editions of D&D as well as a few other systems, but I try to carry over plot points from one game to the next, allowing my players to make their impact on the world. In this way, it's grown and changed as time has gone on, and I always find new corners of the setting to explore.

Some general notes:

• There are three moons, one larger moon with two smaller ones off to the side. This is why my players started referring to it as "Three Moon Land," and the name stuck. This is just a small background detail, really - I will fully admit that I made this decision in the name of one-upping one of my foremost inspirations, the Elder Scrolls games (these moons are in fact natural satellites made of rock, and not the constantly decaying-and-regrowing flesh of a dead god, mind you).
• I am a self-described armchair medievalist, and I like my settings to be grounded in a historical mileu. The general look and feel I'm going for is Europe somewhere around the mid- to late 15th century - swords and armor predominate on the battlefield, but new technologies are still being made, and gunpowder is present in an early form (nothing beyond cannons, bombs, and arquebuses), as well as the printing press. There are occasional aspects borrowed from earlier and later than this period here and there as far as the Rule of Cool allows, but to a point - a knight straight out of Durer's engravings might fight a Viking, or sail on a galleon, but you won't find anything like Waterdeep's Flintstonian horse-drawn buses.
• On that note, I try to portray the world as something with at least relatively more in common with the ways of the past than those of the present. Sociological and political factors are designed with influence from the pages of history books, because I'm the sort of freak who reads those for fun, and to lend the world more versimilitude and set it apart from modern life. If you're looking for a genuine historical simulation, though, look elsewhere. In general, I want to portray a world that feels distinct and authentically medieval, but only insomuch as it's fun and creates worthwhile story details to explore without making certain character options a chore to play - so feudalism and guilds are in, rampant gender inequality and religious persecution, not so much.
• The general magic level is low, more so perhaps than 5e assumes. Anyone can learn magic, but doing so generally requires the time and money that most people don't have and can't be bothered with. Everyone might know someone who's met a wizard, but actually seeing magic performed, even in the most advanced and cosmopolitan cities, is rare in most areas. It's not prevalent enough to significantly shape society, and magic items are to be obtained through quests and journeys, not by simply buying them at the store - and if you did buy it at the store, that store will usually be a cluttered hole in the wall at the back of a dusty, odd-smelling alleyway, run by a mysterious old man who can't quite tell you what the thing you just bought does.
• There is no such thing as an adventurer. There are people who go on adventures, sure, but they ideally have some reason to, and if they have organizations they'd resemble a mercenary unit, a guild of thieves, a knightly order, or a coven of magic-users more than anything that seems to have been constructed to justify game mechanics after the fact.

Next up, an overview of the major powers:

For best results, click to enlarge

• The Vardessian Empire forms the central part of the continent, and is perhaps its strongest realm - although the Imperial authority is limited; while the Emperor rules the Crownlands directly, a land so vast needs many hands to govern, and there are many Dukes, Counts, Barons, and other feudal lords that hold territories beyond their reach, often functioning as nations in their own right - such as Redwald, the Sonderlunding thanage signed over to the Empire in a pledge of loyalty after a war; the mountainous land of Halvardy, and the Freikantons, a confederation of fiercely independent villages and small holdings that produces (and is to some degree run by) many mercenaries. Analagous to the Holy Roman Empire.
• Togarmah is a diverse place, with treacherous mountains and impenetrable forests to the south giving way to grassy plains to the north, and with many different ethnic groups calling the kingdom their home. In a practice rare in the northern lands, the king is elected through a vote among the various noble houses. Analogous to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
• Kvesland holds itself as the last bastion of civilization against the North, though some would scoff at the suggestion. Originally formed from a few Togarman tribes, the ruling class is of Northman heritage, and even if they have largely abandoned the ways of their forefathers, they still practice traditions of magic and martial valor. Also here are the Levic Marches, a coastal region of thick forests and deep swamps where the mercantile League of Three Crowns holds stead. Analogous to Kievan Rus', as well as the early days of the Russian Empire and post-Viking Scandinavia.
• Beyond Kvesland, there are a number of so-called barbaric lands, inhabited by the Northmen, who sail longboats to the more fertile lands to the south for trading and raiding; the Ukians, a nomadic people who live off the rivers and forests; and the Northborn Orcs, who - like other orcs - are driven by the quest to achieve glory in battle. Respectively analogous to the Vikings, the Finns and Saami, and the various Siberian and Mongolian cultures (as well as some Also Vikings, But Orcs).
• Sonderlund, a rugged land known for its harsh weather and the rough men and women it breeds, is not a single kingdom, but a group of thanes and their various holdings that govern by mutual agreement. Beyond their territory lie the Highlands, where settlements are few and many live by the sword and the druidic ways as followers of the ancestral Old Faith. Analogous to Scotland.
• The western isles of Gul Braich are even less tame than the Highlands. Though a few villages and fields hug the coasts, the inland regions are covered in dense wilderness where only the elves and their fey masters rule, and the rocky islands are dotted by menhirs and stone circles where the druids meet. Analogous to Ireland.
• To the south lie the City-States, centers of culture, trade, and scholarship - though the name is a bit of a misnomer, as they range from true independent cities to larger kingdoms and republics. All tend to be based from a single city, with others being subjects thereof. The most prominent of these are the naval powers of Alcasse and Fiora, as well as the Holy Kingdom of Lescatie, the center of the cult of Voltan and a major forum of discussion between the ambassadors of different lands. Analogous to renaissance Italy, although the northern City-States are more French - and the free city of Karkossen, off of Vardessy and possessing great wealth from their trade routes, is more Dutch.
• Taldameer rivals Fiora for the status of the dominant naval power in the Great South Sea, though while Fiora has a wealthy and extensive merchant fleet, Taldameer's is a formidable fighting force. The kingdom is also known as a religious powerhouse, with multiple gods having cults based here. Analogous to Spain.
• Off the coast of Taldameer is the Republic of Valossa - founded originally by pirates exiled from Taldameer, it has since grown, not without scandal, into a mercantile center in its own right, though it has earned its reputation as a cesspool of crime and villainy, both from the corsairs that ride its waves and the bandits that prey on the scattered communities inland. Analogous to some unholy hybrid of the Balearic Islands and a gleefully anachronistic colonial Mexico - this one is going to get its own post later.
• Golnir, a kingdom that sits among the ruins of a bygone empire, is a hotbed of scheming and intrigue, as ambitious nobles attempt to gain favor with the decadent court. Analogous to the Byzantine Empire.
• Last but not least is the vast desert region of Quel'Ahma, governed by a caste system in which mortals toil over the land, while genasi run businesses and oversee local government, and the noble genies rule over all. The capital of Tasshen is said to soar above the clouds, with only genies laying eyes upon it its walls; the rest of the land is dominated by four emirates, all aligned to one of the four elements, though a few smaller kingdoms and city-states, including those of man, may still be found hugging the fertile coast. What unites these people is their worship of the elements, as well as their devotion to knowledge and trade. Analogous to the Middle East in general; the Abbassid Caliphate would be the closest comparison.

These sketches should give you an idea of the continent most of my games have been set on. There are, of course, lands beyond these ones, but that is a story for another day...

Hello World!

Hello!

When it comes to the TRPG blogosphere, I've been a long-time lurker, but it's only recently that I've decided I have insights I would like to contribute myself. So, consider this my entry into the scene!

I have been a fan of tabletop gaming for many years, ever since my childhood fascination with myths, legends, and monsters led my parents to buy me a strange little game that came in a funny box from the town bookstore.

RIP Borders

That was my introduction to what I would discover was the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons - not yet 3.5 - and with it, the world of tabletop roleplaying games. It was here that I first learned what a Dungeon Master was, and what it entailed.

The timing couldn't be better. I can't remember a time I haven't been enamored with mythology and folklore - I grew up on the classic fairy tales before moving onto the gods and heroes of ancient Greece, Might and Magic VII was a fixture of our Windows 98 desktop (and even if I barely understood how to play it and never got off the island at the start of the game, that was well enough for me to pore over the manual and maps that came with the game and imagine what might lie beyond), and I had just finished a book by the name of The Hobbit, just before The Fellowship of the Ring hit the cinemas. Couple that with growing up in the Maine woods, just off a system of forest trails that I spent many hours hiking and imagining what strange creatures and hidden treasures might lie around any corner, I was already prepared to bring life to my own stories, and the worlds that they inhabited.

Not to mention having this as a view from a hill on one of those trails - and I was disappointed to learn that it was the remains of a hotel that burned down in 1914.

My love of storytelling, worldbuilding, and gaming only grew from there, guiding me through a hobby of creating my own fantasy setting I've used to set my games ever since my teen years, and keeping it alive and growing ever since. As I grew older, I found the blogs people like me set up to share their musings on gaming and game design - and now, I'm creating this blog to share my own.

This blog will primarily be a mix of lore dumps for my setting (which my players have dubbed Three Moon Land in lieu of any better name, but the Lunar Lands will work fine) and my thoughts on playing and running games. Most content will center around Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, as that's the system I work with most frequently, but by no means is it going to be exclusive. Despite my first exposure to the game being 3e, you'll find that my tastes tend to run more "old school" - you could call this an O5R blog if you wanted to, but that won't quite be fully accurate either.

Do I expect anyone else to play in my setting? Well, no, not really (although I would be flattered to know if that was the case) - but I hope that me sharing my ideas might inspire others to follow along with their own creations.

And if all else fails, I hope that everyone here can enjoy.