Friday Encounter: What Is It, Lassie?

This encounter can be used anywhere - a town, on the road, in the wilderness, or in a dungeon. However, it's probably best used in an environment one might conceivably encounter a dog - having one turn up in the middle of a dungeon might invite unwarranted suspicion from the party. A PC with access to speak with animals or similar effects may make this encounter trivial to solve, so you may want to consider your party composition and determine if it would be suitably challenging for your table.

The PCs are approached by a large dog, which runs up to them wagging its tail and sniffing them excitedly. If they respond affectionately (most players will, in my experience), the dog will tag along with them, following them wherever they go. Even if they try to get rid of the dog, it will catch up to them as soon as possible, taking every measure possibly to keep up with the party, unless it is physically incapable of doing so (such as if the party crosses a bridge that falls behind them, and the dog is unable to clear the chasm). Notably, the dog will bark and try to get the party's attention once it is sure they are friendly. It seems almost like it's trying to communicate with them.

As a matter of fact, the dog is trying to communicate with them. It is in fact Athansios Panossias, a powerful wizard who, upon being defeated in a magical duel with his rival Hermokrates Nikolaios, was cursed into the form of a dog. Though he retains his memories and his learned mind, Athansios can only speak and act as a dog can, and thus is incapable of performing the gestures and incantations needed to work his magic. Desperate to lift the curse and get revenge on Hermokrates, he seeks out any passing adventurers who he might be able to lead to his mortal enemy.

Athansios cannot say or do anything a normal dog couldn't, but he will nevertheless attempt to get the party's attention and lead them in the direction of Hermokrates's tower, trying to explain his predicament as best he can. However, he faces significant limitations in doing so. The PCs will likely misunderstand his directions, and this may well lead them on a wild goose chase. It's okay if this happens - it's fun!

In the Lunar Lands, all animals are sapient, but have their own languages indecipherable to other species. Athansios might not be able to communicate with the party, but he can communicate with any dogs they have with them, and they will understand them. These dogs may try to pass on the same message if they're swayed to his side, but of course they face the same difficulties in doing so. If there's a Really Good Dog in your party, you should relay Athansios's messages to their player privately and have them try to relate things to the rest of the party without using verbal communication, to keep things balanced.

The Deserts of Isis

You probably didn't need me to figure this out, but Isis is the stand-in for ancient Egypt in Dragon Quest III's overworld. It's located in the largest stretch of desert in the game, corresponding to the real-world Sahara, around an isolated oasis. Actually getting into Isis is somewhat of a minor puzzle - you have to enter the oasis from a specific direction in order to have access to the city. This, to me, suggests that the capital city is difficult to reach, with a natural moat creating a strategic checkpoint around the entrance. 

One could, if they wanted to, play Isis as a lost civilization, isolated from the rest of the world by inhospitable desert. The place definitely has a more ancient vibe than anywhere else in the game world - however, as we've established, the world of DQ3 is very much History's Greatest Hits anyway, so it doesn't really seem that out of place when ancient Rome and feudal Japan exist in the same world. Furthermore, Isis seems like a fairly powerful kingdom. It has its own queen and an extensive palace, and an arena similar to the one in Romaly. There are also NPCs there who reference having come through the desert, suggesting that it does get foreign traffic. With that in mind, I'd be inclined to theorize that only the capital is difficult to reach, and that Isis actually controls a number of cities and settlements throughout the desert, though the oasis it sits in is likely an uncharacteristically fertile spot that allows for enough crops to be grown to sustain the population (fittingly, you could compare this to the Nile Valley). It's also located fairly close to Portoga, which could imply the existence of important trade routes. All of this could explain why such a prosperous kingdom is located in the middle of the desert.

Isis is clearly a land with a rich history. There's a pyramid located to the north, which forms one of the largest dungeons in the game. Even by the time the game takes place, the pyramid is clearly an ancient one; the NPCs regard it as an abandoned ruin rich with treasure and traps alike, where the bones of bygone kings are buried. Clearly it's the remnant of an older civilization - paralleling how Cleopatra was closer to us than to the pyramids - and there could very well be all manner of ancient ruins from the same era scattered throughout the desert as well. The pyramid is the location of the Golden Claw, one of my favorite items in the game. It's one of the best weapons available, but once you pick it up you'll be constantly attacked by the undead until you either leave the pyramid or drop it. A powerful magic item that attracts enemies would definitely be a fun trap to include in a dungeon, forcing the PCs to evaluate the risks and benefits of keeping it.

Art by Nassr

It seems that Isisian funerary traditions continue in some form to the present day as well. There is a system of tombs under the palace where treasure is buried - one such tomb is haunted by a ghost who appears if the treasure is taken, but is willing to let the party go with the treasure if they answer honestly when asked if they took it. I feel like Isisian tombs, both ancient and modern, could offer a lot of potential for dungeons, with all the traps, treasure, and haunts they entail.

Considering that Isis exists alongside ruins of a more ancient civilization, and it's ruled by a queen renowned for her beauty, the closest real-world era would be Ptolemaic Egypt. A DM could lean into this by incorporating ancient Greek influences into the kingdom alongside the Egyptian ones. It's worth noting that one of the townsfolk is a man named Sokras who spouts philosophical musings that others find eccentric, like "I'm waiting for nightfall. But when the night comes, I long for the morning." I didn't make this connection myself, but apparently this is supposed to be a reference to Socrates. There's just as much precedent, if not more, for putting hoplites and agorae in Isis as in Romaly. If you're concerned about Isis feeling too much like a copy-and-paste version of Egypt, incorporating more Greek elements might help set it apart.

Friday Encounter: Deals at the Crossroads

For optimal folkloric resonance, the best place to use this encounter is at a crossroads, preferably at night. As everyone knows, the crossroads is a place where the boundaries between worlds are weak, and it's easier to contact the other side - or, for that matter, for the other side to contact you. However, it would also work in the wilderness, in a dungeon, or perhaps even in a town, after everyone else is asleep.

Background

In the Lunar Lands, there are numerous places where the fabric of reality thins, and it is easier for things from other worlds to slip through. Crossroads are particularly susceptible to this, as an already liminal space where multiple routes intersect. Alimuth, a demon, has taken advantage of this. Like all demons, he delights in using his magic to bring mortals to ruin and spread discord, and he has come into the possession of multiple mortal souls through offering fabulous powers in exchange for immortal servitude. Now, the PCs might well become his latest clients...

The Encounter

Alimuth will appear to the PCs at the crossroads when no one else is around. He takes the disguise of a wealthy merchant, wearing fine clothes embroidered with fur and brocades, but all in shades of red. Like all demons, Alimuth is physically incapable of invoking the names of any gods, and instead refers to them by epithets and titles whenever possible. Additionally, a DC 20 Perception check reveals that he has slit pupils like those of a cat.

The "merchant" is found sitting on a cart hitched to a donkey on the side of the road. The cart has lost a wheel and sunken into a ditch - Alimuth is particularly interested in corrupting good-hearted and generous souls, and wants to pose as someone in need of help as a way to lure the PCs closer. He calls to the PCs for aid as they pass.

It's a simple enough task to find the missing wheel and fix the cart - no rolling is necessary. Alimuth just wants to get the PCs close enough to make his pitch. He graciously thanks the PCs and commends them on their kindness - then offers to repay them in a way only he can.

At this point, Alimuth promises to impart each of the PCs with a special "blessing." He will teach any of the PCs one spell from the warlock spell list, regardless of whether or not they have any levels in warlock. This spell should be one suited to the character's class, playstyle, and strategies, and should be one spell level higher than the highest level of spell slot a warlock of the same level as the PC would have access to - this is a more powerful spell than what would otherwise be possible of the PC. If the PC is a spellcasting class, the spell is cast as they would normally cast any other spell and takes up one spell slot of their highest available level. If they are not a spellcasting class, they can cast it as a warlock would (ie. their spell save DC is 8 + proficiency bonus + CHA, and their spell attack modifier is proficiency bonus + CHA), once per long rest.

However, this comes at a cost. To teach the PC the spell, Alimuth will need ownership over their soul as payment. If the PC dies, their soul is immediately damned to Hell; they automatically fail all death saves, and they cannot be resurrected or communed with unless their soul is retrieved from Hell directly or Alimuth otherwise relinquishes control over their soul. Furthermore, they are to forfeit their life after a year and a day (you are keeping track of time, right?). If they are still alive at this time, Alimuth will send a pack of three hellhounds after the party to attack them. The hounds appear at nightfall every day until the affected PC dies, heralding their arrival with the sound of a loud howl, and will track them relentlessly. If the hounds are killed, they simply respawn the next night. If the affected PC dies, the hounds immediately vanish and do not attack the rest of the party. The hounds cannot enter holy ground, such as a temple or the burial ground of a saint.

Although a demon, Alimuth is a man of his word and does not attempt to mislead or trick the people he deals with. He presents the PCs with a contract in which all the relevant information is laid out (albeit in circuitous language that is difficult to understand), and will not teach them the spell until the PCs sign the contract in their blood (he provides a quill with a pointy tip, if necessary). However, he will try his best to persuade them, describing how it's in their best interests to branch out with magic, and they surely won't be in any danger any time soon with such fabulous magic on their side.

If the PCs turn him down, Alimuth will disappear, but emphasizes that the PCs are welcome to change their mind at any time. He will also disappear if attacked. If they return to the crossroads with the express intent of visiting Alimuth, he will be right where they left him. He will not appear if they are just passing through.

Optionally, you might rule that a cleric or paladin who sells their soul to Alimuth will no longer be able to use class features that rely on divine favor, since their soul is no longer pledged to their patron god. However, this runs the risk of mechanically crippling a character and may necessitate multiclassing for them to remain viable, so it's best to talk this over with your players to make sure they're prepared for such measures. If you don't see a year and a day passing over the course of the campaign, another optional measure to speed things up would be to have Alimuth's contract specify it expires in a year and a day in Hell, and he comes from a domain of Hell where time passes faster than it does in the mortal realm - so he may come to collect the bargain sooner than expected!

Furthermore, even if Alimuth does collect a PC's soul, that might not be the end. A resourceful party might find a way to track the demon down and convince him to give up their ally's soul - or even free their companion from Hell itself.

Saga of the Ortegids: Races

The settings of the Dragon Quest games tend to be quite humanocentric. Almost all playable characters throughout the series have been human, and the ones that aren't tend to be cursed humans or tamed monsters rather than sapient humanoids. In the entire Erdrick Trilogy, there are only two nonhuman polities (three if you count Charlock), and nonhumans are not found in human realms. However, nonhuman races do appear in the Trilogy, and some play quite a prominent role in certain quests. Thus, there is room for discussion on what role the different playable races fill in The Saga of the Ortegids.

In general, nonhumans have their own kingdoms, and there is little overlap in demographics between them and human states. Mixed settlements are rare to unheard of. This is clearly a world closer to Middle-Earth than Faerun. This doesn't mean that nonhumans should never be found in human settlements - I think there's something to be said for leaning into the Blacksandliness of Ashalam and having some beastmen there, for instance - but this should be rare, and worthy of comment.

• Elves are your typical willowy magically-inclined forest dwellers. From what we see of Elvenham in Dragon Quest III, they don't have much in the way of permanent structures, which may imply a semi-nomadic lifestyle, or else they live in the trees and we can't reach their dwellings. I'd be inclined to rule them as wood elves, rather than high elves, but they do tend to be fiercely xenophobic and look down upon humans. They have one kingdom, Elvenham, located in the forests in the far north of the Romalian Empire. I would give them multiple such realms in wooded areas throughout the worlds. In particular, I think it makes sense for them to have a heavy presence in the Worldforest.

• Hobbits appear a few times in DQ3,mostly as one-off NPCs. Of note, the series consistently uses the term "hobbit" rather than "halfling," and I'm going to be keeping that - this project is already an act of copyright infringement anyway, so Tolkien lawyers can't stop me. Curiously, these hobbits tend to be quite solitary; the only two with significant dialogue both live alone in the wilderness, in contrast to the typical bucolic villages we expect of halflings. For The Saga of the Ortegids, I would run hobbits as typically being loners and hermits dwelling far from civilization, leaning into a more fey vibe. Ironically, more Tom Bombadil than Frodo.

• Dwarves do not actually appear in the Erdrick Trilogy, but it feels weird to have elves and hobbits without them, especially if translating the setting to D&D. I would add dwarven strongholds to the mountainous regions of the worlds, likely as self-sufficient and isolationist holdouts that trade little with the outside world to explain their absence from the games. The fact that the world is hollow does have some interesting implications with a subterranean race. There may be dwarves who maintain tunnels linking Erdland and Torland, allowing for travel between the two worlds - though this would, of course, require gaining the trust of the dwarves involved. There is a considerable overlap with hobbits here; one of the hobbits in DQ3 lives in a cave in the mountains, and some translations of the game use the term "dwarf" instead of "hobbit" for these characters. However, the term "hobbit" is used in the GBC release, which is what I'm most familiar with, and the Japanese script specifically uses the word "hobitto," so I'd like to keep them as halflings.

• Beastmen, also referred to as Orcs, would take the place of orcs, goblins, and other monstrous humanoids, and would be represented by their stats. This is a catch-all term to encompass the various humanoid monsters encountered in the Erdrick Trilogy (at least the ones that don't appear to be actual humans, and there's far more of those in earlier games than one familiar with later entries would expect). The series uses anthropomorphic animals more than it uses humanoids with odd skin tones and bestial features - orcs are consistently pig-faced, for instance. So if the Caves of Chaos exists in Torland, it's inhabited by wolf-men, swine-men, bird-men, ape-men, rat-men, and lizard-men instead of orcs, goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears - which is quite satisfyingly pulpy anyway. There aren't as many of these sorts of monsters in 3 compared to the first two games, so I'd say that beastmen are native to Torland, but they've no doubt established populations in Erdland as well from past excursions. Beastmen tend to be brutish, barbaric, and degenerate, but in the interests of portraying a more realistic ecology than what's in the video games, they would have some degree of society, with villages and fortifications scattered throughout the worlds.

• Dragonborn, or Dragovians, actually fit pretty nicely into the setting. The Dragon Quest games have a number of NPCs who are dragons capable of taking human form, and having dragonborn be playable would represent similar characters. In the interests of game balance, these would have to be lesser descendants of dragons that cannot take the form of a true dragon, but still possess draconic powers. They look mostly human, but may have horns, patches of scales, unusually-colored eyes, or other such features. Their primary realms are Charlock in Torland, and a small kingdom north of the Worldforest in Erdland.

• Tieflings aren't specifically present in the games either, but I would allow them as a playable race anyway. A number of villains in the series have monstrous features that are never really explained, and the amount of demonic incursions into mortal domains would make it quite believable that some interbreeding would occur. Tieflings would be very rare, appearing only sporadically and often being shunned by society, and would not have much in the way of their own civilizations.

• The Drokkarim are something of my own creation. In DQ3, the villain Baramos looks like some kind of saurian humanoid. He's probably supposed to be some kind of demon, but due to technical limitations, they reuse his sprite a few times, including as a generic monster in Zenithia. And one boss, though portrayed in recent releases as Baramos's ghost due to a mistranslation, is actually supposed to be his brother seeking vengeance. Based on this, I've interpreted Baramos to be a member of an entire race I've called the Drokkarim. These creatures are twice as tall as humans, with dragon-like heads and wings and three-fingered claws. They were originally created through the experimentations of the mad wizards of Old Aliahan by breeding humans, demons, and dragons together, and the knowledge behind their creation is long since lost, but scattered populations of them still live on. Drokkarim would be very rare, solitary creatures and would not be available as PCs.

Ashalam

The city of Ashalam is Dragon Quest III's stand-in for the Middle East as a whole, and while there are no major quests there, it's one of my favorite locations in the game for just how evocative it is. Even before you get there, you're told that it's a great trade center, and indeed, there are more shops here than anywhere else in the game. Some of the merchants are more unscrupulous than others and dramatically overcharge you for their wares, insisting that they need to do that or they won't make enough money to feed their family, you see, and you don't want their family to starve, do you? You can play a simple haggling minigame to try and lower the prices, but even then, the lowest they'll ask for is still more than what you could get the same items for in other places.

Unlike many towns in the game, where NPCs retire to their beds at night, Ashalam is busy night and day, with different encounters you can find at different times. There's a tavern where dancing girls are performing at night, and a woman who propositions you for a "massage" - which turns out to be a scam and a waste of money if you take her up on her offer. Ashalam is noted as being famous for its dancers, and one of them can be found as far away as Alefgard.

This already sounds like the kind of city Conan would brawl and wench his way through, and I would play this up for The Saga of the Ortegids, running Ashalam as something akin to Shadizar or Port Blacksand - a hotbed of thievery, crime, and charlatanism, where all the authorities are corrupt and you can never take anyone at face value. A city where gold and silver flow in the streets, but where fortunes are gambled away as soon as they're won. A city where all manner of vices are indulged in openly, where a cheer can be heard from every tavern and the scent of black lotus hangs on the air (Isisian, the best! Would I sell haga to a slayer such as you?). Turn the wrong corner and you'll be shaken down - or worse.

Ashalam could serve as an excellent home base for a more roguish party; as a regional trade center, there would surely be rumors heard from all over, and plenty of patrons in need of someone willing to work under the table. If one wanted to emphasize the danger of the city, it could even be run akin to a dungeon - it certainly has enough potential for chaos to unfold, and one could find plenty of adventure within the walls.

Art by Vitor Ishimura

Like Kazave or Noaniels, Ashalam has no authority figures, but it's located quite far from Romaly, so it's hard for me to justify it being a part of the same empire. I would instead run it as a free city-state, likely established as a stopover point for caravans, and run by a few powerful merchant dynasties - probably with several rivalries among them, to make for higher-level intrigue and faction play. Most likely, there would be other mercantile city-states in the region of similar character, though I'd be inclined to make Ashalam the most notorious of the lot.

Interestingly, while the ground in the city itself is sandy, the overworld doesn't have any major deserts in the vicinity - those are all over by Isis. Instead, Ashalam is surrounded by forests and grasslands, inhabited by carnivorous apes and wild dogs. Perhaps, geographically, the region would be more akin to the savannahs of the Sudan, or maybe the Iranian plateau. There are still deserts nearby, but it's not the endless sea of sand you'd expect from most settings of the sort.

Friday Encounter: The Limestone Caves

As far as geological phenomena go, I've long held the belief that limestone caves and similar formations are woefully underused in fiction in general, and RPGs in particular. Limestone is known for collapsing without warning as it's eroded by water, which can lead to the structure of limestone caves changing dramatically in short periods of time. This could make for a dungeon that can't easily be mapped, and which presents dangers when navigating - one could find themselves sealed in a cavern if the entrance collapses behind them, or they could even be caught in the collapse of a tunnel while it happens. To say nothing of the risk of the caves filling with water! All in all, being trapped in a limestone cave is horrifying, and something that deserves to be utilized more.

This encounter aims to mechanically represent the dangers of an unstable limestone cave system. It can be used in a variety of different ways. The cave entrance could simply be dropped in the wilderness, along a road, or even in a town, or the ground could suddenly collapse as the PCs pass by to reveal a cave entrance! You could even use limestone caves as an extension of an existing dungeon. If the PCs aren't the types to investigate a cave out of curiosity, you could have NPCs impart rumors of treasure being hidden in the caves, or perhaps a shepherd hires the party to track down a sheep that went missing there.

I've provided a map of a sample limestone cave, but you're welcome to make your own. You could even spin the concept out into an entire dungeon, stocked with traps, enemies, and puzzles accordingly. There are six rooms, marked with numbers on the map, where an objective might be located - this could be treasure, or a missing sheep, or whatever the PCs might want to venture into the caves for. There are also 13 passages linking the rooms.

Click here to enlarge

You'll need to do some rolling in advance here. First, roll 1d6 to determine which room the objective is in. Then, roll 1d4 for each of the passages. The result of the roll is the number of times that passage can be passed (by the entire party) before it collapses. Once the count is up, roll 1d6. On a roll of 1, the passage collapses while the PCs are in it, and everyone crossing must make a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or take 5d10 bludgeoning damage from the falling rocks. On a roll of 2-6, the passage does not collapse until after the entire party exits through it.

A collapsed passage cannot be crossed. This, in effect, makes navigating the caves a tense experience - you can never trust each passage, and the layout is rapidly changing around you, so the route you took to get in might not work to get back. It is entirely possible for the PCs to get trapped at a dead end. This might lead to a TPK if they don't have access to teleportation magic or other means of getting out, so a more merciful DM might want to add some other exit - perhaps a hidden trap door that leads to a larger dungeon below. Then the PCs will have to brave its challenges to find the way out.

Another option is to have the rooms fill with water once the PCs enter. I recommend using this for the room with the objective, for maximum tension, but you could also use this mechanic as an alternative to having the tunnels collapse - have them start filling with water once the number of safe passes is up. Once a room or passage starts to fill with water, enter Action Time. After each turn (not each round!), the water rises by 2 feet until all PCs leave the room or passage. Hopefully, the PCs can get out quick, or else hold their breath...

The Romalian Empire

It does not feel this massive when you're walking around.

After leaving Aliahan, the first place you go in Dragon Quest III is the city of Romaly. Or Romaria, depending on which version you're playing. For the purposes of The Saga of the Ortegids, I'm going with Romaly being the city, and positioning it as the capital of a much larger Romalian Empire. The comparisons with the Roman Empire are obvious given the city's name and location, but aside from the superficial stuff, it's also the first city you go to that has an arena where you can wager money on the outcomes of battles, much like the Colosseum. The king is a greedy, feeble-minded man with no real desire to rule, to the point of insisting on passing his title to the first people who can help him with his problems as an excuse to abdicate and spend his wealth gambling. This makes for quite a memorable NPC, despite him having little importance beyond that, and it certainly brings to mind some of the more corrupt and decadent Roman emperors. In the game, you have to decline the offer if you want to progress (accepting means you get to walk around as the NPCs salute you, but you can't leave the city). However, if you want to incorporate domain-level play into your campaign, having a king so eager to offer the throne to the PCs could be a useful way to introduce players to this side of the game.

Romaly was likely founded as an ancient Aliahanian colony, given that there is a portal in a shrine in Aliahan that dumps you out pretty close to the capital. After the old Aliahanian Empire fell, Romaly was likely a center of power that was able to exert considerable control over its surroundings once communication with Aliahan was lost. It stands to reason that the region would have been settled fairly extensively by Old Aliahanians, and there would surely be many such ruins in the area. It's also not hard to imagine Romalia styling itself as a successor to Aliahan as the great empire of the world, and may have taken on some of its traditions, at least in the past - compare the Byzantine Empire's relationship to Rome. Or the Holy Roman, or the Ottoman, or the Russian, or...you get the idea.

There are two human villages located to the north of Romaly, Kazave and Noaniels, as well as Elvenham, a secluded kingdom of xenophobic elves living in the woods. Neither Kazave nor Noaniels has a king; additionally, villagers in the inn at Kazave mention happenings in Noaniels, which suggests there's some level of contact between the two - at least enough for rumors to spread. Based on this, I'm inclined to run both villages as subjects of the Romalian Empire, which would set its boundaries as running from the impassible mountains on the border with Portoga in the west to the Inland Sea (every sword and sorcery setting needs one of those!) in the east - I've marked this with red lines on the map. This would make Romalia by far the largest nation in Erdland, again fitting the Roman parallels. This is an empire in its prime - one of great wealth, luxury, and power. However, the Imperial forces might be stretched rather thin, considering no one has done anything about the curse in Noaniels. Noaniels is thus most likely a frontier territory of little concern to the imperial core. Thus, Romalia offers the sweet spot of being centralized enough for courtly drama to take place, but still feudal enough for there to be untouched opportunities for exploration and adventure where civilization hasn't smoothed things over. There's certainly enough territory, and room to place adventure sites, that one could run an entire campaign that never leaves the boundaries of the Empire.

Art by Samuel Sandelin

This is particularly of note when one looks at the western region of the Empire, which is cut off from the capital region by high mountains and is only accessible through a pass in the north, west of Kazave. I would, personally, add more passes closer to Romaly for the sake of player convenience, even if that route is the most accessible. Despite the geographic separation, the area consists largely of plains, which would appear quite habitable even though there's no settlements in that area in the game. I would hypothesize that this region is also Romalian territory, but a rough borderland where the law is at its weakest since it's cut off from the rest of the Empire - it is, after all, the location of Shampan Tower, the redoubt of a powerful bandit warlord, and it's mentioned that the place has been a hideout for criminals for generations. If one wanted to murderhobo their way across Romalia, they would face the fewest repercussions here. Of course, if one wanted a wilder, points-of-light style setting, it could just as easily be ran as unsettled wilderness yet to be fully explored.

Aliahan

The Kingdom of Aliahan is the starting area of Dragon Quest III, and consequently chronologically where the Erdrick Trilogy begins. It's only fitting, then, that we begin our exploration of the Trilogy's setting for The Saga of the Ortegids there.

Aliahan is, by the standards of the game, quite a large kingdom, seemingly occupying an entire (albeit small) continent. There are two towns and several dungeons located there - of course, we can assume that this is a constraint of game mechanics, and that any kingdom of such size would hold many more settlements that are glossed over due to not having anything to serve the game's narrative. Its remote location makes it isolated from other major powers, but numerous NPCs in other areas are familiar with the kingdom, so it can be reasoned that it maintains trade with them. Furthermore, it does appear to have a military - the castle has guards, and the protagonist's father, the titular Ortega, is noted as an accomplished warrior. Thus, it doesn't appear that Aliahan is particularly isolationist. At the least, it may need to deal with threats from inside its borders.

What is interesting is that NPCs in Aliahan mention that the kingdom "once ruled the world" - some nebulous time in the past, its influence was far greater than it holds in the present day. We see evidence of this in how the eastern end of the continent contains an ancient shrine with a portal to elsewhere in the world, and similar such shrines are discovered in the game, scattered throughout the overworld and allowing for fast travel.

I don't think it's much of a stretch to assume that these shrines are in fact the remains of magical infrastructure left behind by a much vaster and more advanced Aliahanian empire, perhaps one that established most of the cities in the game given how they tend to be located close by. This gives the vibe of a lost ancient civilization, grander and more powerful than its degenerate successors - both a very pulpy idea, and one in keeping with trends in OSR gaming. It's also very gameable - ancient Aliahanian ruins and artifacts would lend themselves nicely to dungeons and the treasures within.

Aliahan is one of the few locations in DQ3's overworld that doesn't have an obvious real-world counterpart. The land mass it's located on appears to be a completely original one, located in the center of what would correspond to the Pacific Ocean, and the culture has always been portrayed as generically medieval European. Some have correlated it with Australia or Antarctica, but both of those already have closer parallels in the game (we'll get to that in time). Others have cited comparisons to the lost continents of Mu or Lemuria, which certainly lends things a pulpy tinge.

For The Saga of the Ortegids, I've chosen to portray modern Aliahanians as Anglo-Saxons - fyrds, shieldwalls, and boar-crested helmets. I'd even go so far as to combine the city's castle with the tavern you can recruit allies at to instead have a grand mead hall where adventurers from across the land gather.

There's a number of reasons behind this. In a meta sense, considering I'm taking liberal inspiration from Beowulf for this setting, it only seemed right to call back to the people who wrote it. But it also fits the insular location, and the presence of periodic unrest and blood feuds caused by a tradition of weregild would justify a martial culture despite the lack of hostile neighbors, as well as tying into the fact that the plot of DQ3 is largely driven by you seeking revenge for your slain father. The fact this would make the culture similar to yet recognizably distinct from the vaguely Nordic Alefgarders is a fortuitous touch. Also, the most important Aliahanian in the series is Erdrick himself, and the name "Erdrick" is derived from "Eardric," a (to my knowledge) invented name that would translate to "world ruler" in Old English. While 3 would retcon this into being a title, if Erdrick is only a historical figure in the setting rather than a playable character, I see no reason it can't simply be his real name here, in the name of streamlining. The presence of ancient Aliahanian ruins from a bygone empire would also make for an amusing inversion of Roman ruins in Britain, although that analogy may be a little strained when a Roman analogue also exists at the same time.

The World of the Ortegids

The setting of the Erdrick Trilogy has some very interesting worldbuilding implications. Not all of them were intentional - some appear to have been invented as a means to justify game mechanics and engine limitations - but if one was to run with them, it would produce some intriguing opportunities at the tabletop. For The Saga of the Ortegids, I've decided to interpret the setting as looking something like this, in order to best take advantage of these implications:

Erdland: The outer surface of a hollow planet, which behaves as a typical Earthlike planet would. Has a sun and moon and a normal day-night cycle. I've chosen to go with a geocentric interpretation here, mainly for symmetry with Torland. Very much a History's Greatest Hits-type setting in the vein of the Hyborian Age; the land masses correspond roughly to those of Earth, and the cultures and civilizations parallel those of the appropriate regions, though not always contemporaneous ones. Notable locations include the Kingdom of Aliahan, the Romalian Empire, the islands of Zipangu, Dharma Abbey, and the deserts of Isis. The majority of Dragon Quest III takes place here.

Torland: The inner surface of the hollow planet, with its own oceans and land masses. It is lit by an artificial inner sun, causing it to be in a constant state of twilight (this, incidentally, is because they hadn't figured out how to do a day-night cycle in the first two games, and rather than admitting that like a normal person, decided to go full Burroughs). The geography is invented; culturally, it seems to be vaguely Norse. It was said that demons, dragons, and monstrous races originated from Torland (compare Alexander's Land of Darkness), though most of them have established native populations in Erdland. Likewise, humans have settled Torland and established their own kingdoms there, including Alefgard, Rhone, and the three Ortegid kingdoms of Lorasia, Samartoria, and Moonbrooke. Dragon Quest I, II, and the latter third of III take place here.

Zenithia: A small floating island located in the clouds above Erdland. Inhabited by a magically advanced civilization of winged people, who dwell in Castle Zenith. At the summit of the Castle dwells the Divinegon, an immortal god-dragon who will grant one wish to anyone who can impress him in battle. Zenithia doesn't play a role in the games' story until IV, V, and VI (the "Zenithian Trilogy"), which are not explicitly canon to the Erdrick Trilogy and are thus outside the scope of this project, but it was added as a bonus dungeon to later releases of III, so it makes the cut.

The Pit of Giaga: A massive chasm in the earth linking Erdland and Torland, located at the caldera of a volcano in the Southlands of Erdland. Previously the only means of travel between Erdland and Torland; descending from the Pit in Erdland would cause one to fall out of the sky in Torland. It was sealed off after the events of Dragon Quest III, but no one can say how long that will last...

The Worldtree: A massive tree linking the three realms of Erdland, Torland, and Zenithia. It grows over the course of every Age, periodically wilting, crumbling, and regrowing. By the time of Dragon Quest III it was only a sapling, and we don't see it again in the Erdrick Trilogy, though similar features have appeared in other games. For the purposes of The Saga of the Ortegids, the Worldtree has grown to its full strength by the modern era, and serves as a means to traverse the three realms. Its mountain-like roots jut out of the ground in Torland, and one can follow them up into Erdland and Zenithia, or descend the trunk, which grows in the continent-spanning Worldforest of Erdland, into Torland. This has allowed for travel and trade between the different realms, though the locals of the different worlds have been slow to accept the sudden contact with other lands.

Friday Encounter: The Drunken Duelist

This encounter will make the most sense on the road, or in a town, preferably late at night. It could even work in a dungeon as well.

The PCs are suddenly accosted by a young man in fine attire, drawing a rapier from his belt and pointing it in their direction. He introduces himself as Dunstan von Larstead, the scion of a respectable noble line, and a master swordsman. However, it is quite noticeable that Dunstan doesn't have his head on straight. He has the scent of wine on his breath, he slurs his speech, his clothes are disheveled, and he walks with a stumbling limp. Despite this, his bravado is unchecked. He is so drunk that he doesn't realize he is drunk - which, in fact, will prove quite problematic.

Dunstan is, in fact, not a master swordsman at all - only the bored and listless son of a noble family in the area. He has little interest in learning to manage his father's estate, and prefers to spend his time idly indulging in worldly pleasures. He swiftly gained a reputation as a drunkard and a lout, and his father sent him off to study at a nearby university in order to keep his trouble as far afield as possible. Even then, though, he shows nary a care for pursuing higher education, and spends much of his time at the taverns in town.

In his inebriation and foolishness, Dunstan has gotten it in his head that he is an undefeatable master of swordsmanship, and he intends to prove this. He will, without hesitation, issue a challenge to the most capable-looking fighter among the party, insisting on a duel. Even if his offer is declined, Dunstan will not take no for an answer. If it becomes necessary, he will incessantly taunt and insult the party to try and provoke them into starting a fight, and if that doesn't work, he will attempt to just attack his desired opponent directly. Once a fight begins, he is so absorbed in his own delusions that he will ignore whatever pain or harm comes to him and has no qualms about fighting to the death. He cannot be talked down from his furor unless cured of his drunkenness by magical means, or incapacitated until he sobers up the next morning.

The problem is, Dunstan actually knows very little about swordfighting, and when he is as drunk as he is, he poses a greater threat to himself than anyone else. He has the stats of a noble, but has Disadvantage on all his rolls to hit and any Dexterity checks or saves due to his drunken state. If the party doesn't tread carefully, he may well get himself killed picking a fight - and that presents its own problems.

Dunstan is, after all, the son of a lord. If the PCs end up killing him, it would cast great suspicion on them, and may negatively impact their standings with local authorities - if not get them arrested. And Dunstan's family certainly has the means to see to it that their son's death does not go unpunished - he might be a fool, but he is their son. Even if Dunstan does survive, if he's caught up in such a foolish escapade and word gets out, it would be an embarrassment that he and his family will do whatever possible to save face about, lest their status fall - and that could land the PCs in trouble.

In Defense of Gor, Part 4: Stuff I Like

Welcome, everyone, to the fourth and (most likely) final installment of my series on why the Gor novels deserve a look if you're interested in worldbuilding. We've discussed why the series isn't as bad as people make it out to be, the influence it had on the early TRPG scene, and why the setting works so well for gaming. To finish us out, I intend to take a more personal look at the world of Gor, and go over a few aspects of the setting I find interesting. The stuff I couldn't really fit into my other posts, but which I enjoy all the same.

You might find some of these things cool too. Or you might not. You might even find other parts of the setting more interesting - your perspective is unique, and all your own. I encourage you to peruse the rich lore of the novels; with 59 years in print and 38 books, there's bound to be something that interests or inspires you. But these are mine.

Technology Laws

In my personal opinion, Gor is the only setting to do Medieval Stasis right. For those unaware, Medieval Stasis is a concept in worldbuilding describing how a setting can have an in-universe history stretching back centuries, yet never develops modern technology in order to keep the medieval fantasy feel. Various settings over the years have come up with their own answers to this, ranging from "magic makes technology unnecessary" to "technology just doesn't work on this world" - I, personally, just go with "the stories I am telling in this setting happen to take place during its preindustrial era." I don't think you really need an excuse to have medieval technology and society in your setting, considering our world had such things for hundreds of years. However, if one does need an excuse, Gor handles this concept the best out of every setting I've seen.

Gor, as a planet, exists simultaneously with our Earth in the modern era, just on the other side of the sun. However, the people there have technology around the level of Earth's Iron Age, with some later innovations like crossbows. Although it's technically a sword and planet story, I find the feel a lot closer to sword and sorcery - or perhaps sword and sandal - because of the relative lack of advanced technology. However, the possibility for advanced technology is there - but it's limited by the Priest-Kings.

Art by Chris Achileos

Who are the Priest-Kings, you might ask? If I am to spoil a decades-old book, the Priest-Kings are in fact a race of hyper-intelligent insects from another planet who have set up Gor as something like a wildlife preserve as part of a mysterious experiment. Humans from various cultures and eras have been brought to the planet throughout history, and the Priest-Kings take precautions to ensure their ways remain consistent. This includes enforcing strict regulations on technology - things like firearms, explosives, communication devices, and full-body plate armor are prohibited. Interestingly, this doesn't encompass all modern technology. Goreans have light bulbs, for instance, but they're prohibitively expensive for most people, and culturally seen as weird. They even have some inventions more advanced than those on Earth, such as portable translators. But most modern technology as we would think about it is banned.

If you're wondering how the Priest-Kings go about doing this, it's quite simple. Most Goreans don't know that they're alien bug people at all. They've established a cult around themselves to posit themselves as gods, and insist that technology is to be shunned as witchcraft. They themselves have technology the Goreans don't have access to, including spaceships, and use it to work "miracles," including causing people who invent banned technology to spontaneously combust. That tends to get the impression across.

Some might recognize this as quite similar to Forgotten Realms, in which the Harpers are an international organization that suppresses societal and technological progress by assassinating anyone who disturbs the status quo. The difference is that the Priest-Kings are actually portrayed as having questionable motives. They're actively suppressing progress in the name of their own ends, be it research or something more nefarious. This is an easier sell to me than accepting the Harpers as good guys in spite of everything they do. One could even conceive of a campaign in which the Priest-Kings are set up as the villains for this, and the PCs are rebelling against them. I find this answer does a good job of answering why technology doesn't advance, grounding it from a conceivable in-universe explanation that - better yet - offers compelling opportunities for storytelling.

Furthermore, if technology is illegal but not impossible, this creates even more opportunities. You could easily pull an Expedition to the Barrier Peaks and have off-world technology take the place of magic items in a Gorean campaign. Goreans would likely react to, say, a laser gun or a communicator as enchanted artifacts, which could help introduce what functions mechanically as magic into a world where actual magic doesn't exist. In addition, the party would likely have to hide these items from the authorities, lest they be reported as witches, which presents opportunities for conflict. This is actually where I would deviate from the books a little - instead of having the Priest-Kings be able to spy remotely on people and immolate them at will, if I was running a Gorean campaign, I would have "witches" be hunted down and persecuted by the people of Gor. That would make it easier for PCs with such items to avoid undue attention, and could allow for more human drama if the enemies they stand to make from using technology are people they can see and interact with directly.

Kurii

In terms of the roles they play in the story, the Kurii are essentially Gor's equivalent of orcs - a monstrous race that usually appear as antagonists and enemies of Gorean society. However, they deviate from the stereotypical orc in a number of ways, and those ways provide some insight into how one can shake up fantasy tropes to make them feel more fresh.

First of all, they are only orc equivalents in terms of the role they play in the story. Visually, they have more in common with Wookiees than anything else, standing seven feet tall and covered in thick fur, with claws and fangs. We've seen plenty of settings where the main bad guy race is one of tusked green-skinned brutes, but how many can you think of where the heroes fight armies of Bigfeet?

Secondly, in keeping with its attention to detail in worldbuilding, the series goes into great depth about the society, culture, and biology of the Kurii. Like most portrayals of orcs, they are a barbaric warrior race that enjoy fighting and believe that might makes right; they engage in ritualistic combat in order to be allowed the right to mate. They also see humans as a food source, and their word for "human" translates literally to "meat animal."

Where things get interesting is in their biology. They are more active at night, they go into a frenzy at the scent of blood like sharks, and they store food in a second stomach to digest it later, meaning they don't need to carry food while traveling. They also have four sexes, although two of them - Dominant and Nondominant - seem to be more akin to genders and have more of an impact on their place in society than their role in reproduction. Then they have another sex called a Blood-Nurser, which is akin to a cross between a queen insect and a biological incubator; an Egg-Carrier, after being fertilized by a Dominant, implants that egg in an immobile Blood-Nurser to gestate until the baby forcibly eats its way out of the Blood-Nurser. All in all, the Kurii truly feel like another species, and not just humans with funny heads.

What's perhaps most interesting of all, though, is that despite their warlike ways, Kurii are not merely dumb brutes that exist to raid and prey on civilization. They are, in fact, an advanced spacefaring race that are in a state of cold war with the Priest-Kings. Many Kurii on Gor are actually secret agents working to undermine Gorean society and overthrow the Priest-Kings, though others have gone native and have no ulterior motives. They don't just pull out guns and shoot everyone because they too are subject to the Priest-Kings' technology laws and will be persecuted for them, so they use the same limited technology Goreans do. It certainly subverts expectations if a setting's equivalent of orcs are some of the more advanced races around (ironic, because that's what they were in Tolkien, but I digress), and if they have bigger motives than just wanton destruction. Those motives also help to justify their role as villains. They aren't inherently evil, and in fact some Kurii even develop respect for the protagonists of the stories, but they're on the other side of a war most Goreans don't even know they're fighting.

Exotics

Gor is a humanocentric setting, but other races do exist. The aforementioned Kurii and the Urt People, for instance, are sapient nonhuman species, but they don't appear to play a very big part in mainstream society. Most Goreans of most cultures are human. However, the books do make occasional references to so-called Exotics. They don't go into much detail about them, which is unfortunate, but the information we do get is quite interesting.

An Exotic is a slave that possesses some unusual quality. The term is a broad one, and it isn't limited to physical characteristics. One example given is that of a female slave who was raised not knowing about the existence of men, only having been exposed to women. But the term also describes slaves specifically bred to have unusual physical features. These traits can be cosmetic, like unusually large earlobes, or more unusual and stretching the limits of plausible human biology, like having venomous saliva.

I find this concept quite interesting, and it could certainly be used to add additional races to a setting that doesn't have them. Want to play a dwarf? How about someone with horns? Just keep whatever stats are relevant and flavor them as Exotics bred for those traits. It could also be a good excuse to break out your favorite mutation table. Even those Exotics that don't possess strange physical features could present interesting opportunities to roleplay as a character with a very unusual outlook on the world, shaped by their upbringing to serve as a curiosity.

No one can get kaiila right.

Wagon People

Those of you with a good memory might remember that what kicked off this series in the first place was me kitbashing some miniatures to make an army of Wagon People for something like Kings of War. I started on that a while back, and I do intend to return to it. My motivation goes beyond simply having the appropriate parts on hand, though. Out of all the cultures detailed in the series, the Wagon People might be my favorite.

The Wagon People play an extensive role in the fourth book in the series, 1969's Nomads of Gor. Because so much of the book focuses on them, we know quite a bit about their society and culture, which provides ample source material for gaming. Quite fortuitously for my project, we know what weapons and tactics they use, how their military units are organized, and even their heraldry - it all reminds me of the information found in wargaming materials (or even how humanoid armies were organized in the old Monster Manuals), and gets back to my point about how John Norman totally would've been involved with tabletop gaming had he been born a decade later. But besides being easily adaptable to a gaming context, the Wagon People are just cool.

As nomadic raiders and pastoralists, they fill a role similar to the Mongols; indeed, they seem to be largely based on them. They travel in tents on wheeled platforms similar to yurts, and their armies consist almost entirely of cavalry. However, while many cultures introduced later in the series have details borrowed heavily from their real-life counterparts, Norman did not get so lazy with the Wagon People, and they have many quirks unique to them.

They use an elaborate system of facial tattoos to indicate rank in society. They don't eat vegetables (meat, dairy, and fruits are okay) because they have a cultural taboo against eating anything that touches dirt. They accept certain outsiders as welcome guests and allow them to trade with them, but in order to receive such status (marked by a brand on the forearm), one must present themselves to the Wagon People offering gifts, and if they aren't impressed they might just kill you. Because they trust their memory more than the written word, they have people tasked with memorizing the calendar and recounting the passage of years - which are named after important events that happened in them, and are counted from snowfall to snowfall, so they don't have a fixed length. I love these sorts of little cultural details that give you a window into how these people think, and help make their societies feel more real, fleshed out, and lived-in.

Also, perhaps more usefully to DMs, the Wagon People are a good example of how you can vary up a culture based on a real-life one by mixing and matching details from other cultures. Although they're mostly based on the Mongols, they don't feel like Mongols, but like something all their own. A lot of the details are either completely invented or taken from other sources - they have skalds, for instance, and some have noted that they appear to be partially based on gauchos, as they live on the plains and use bolas and throwing knives. If this is the case, it showcases how the New World has just as many interesting cultures as the Old, and how even for a medieval fantasy setting one need not limit themselves to the medieval era when it comes to inspiration. As someone with a culture based on Mexico, I should know.

Finally, while most Goreans ride either giant birds or dinosaurs, the Wagon People ride a creature called a kaiila. Most renditions that I've seen draw them as horses with fangs. This is coward behavior. To me, the way they're described, with long necks, silky hair, and clawed feet, makes them sound much more like carnivorous killer death-llamas. I shouldn't need to explain why Mongols with bolas on carnivorous killer death-llamas are cool.

Verticality

We exist in three-dimensional space. That statement might seem trivially obvious on the surface, but it's something a lot of games forget. Because of the limitations of depicting it on maps, and because of the fact that we rarely have to interact with our world on a Z axis unless we live in a big city, not a lot of maps truly make use of three-dimensional space. Adding towers, chasms, tall ceilings, and the like can really liven up your dungeon design, quite literally giving the players a new dimension to explore, and adding new challenges to how they approach the world around them. For instance, they might need to scale a sharp cliff in order to get from one level to another, or balconies on one level could overlook rooms on another, providing opportunities for ambush. I think it's something a lot of people forget, since we're so used to dungeons being stacks of simple floors on top of one another. But looking at real-life cave maps shows how complex an enclosed vertical space can really be.

Gor has verticality baked into its setting, and because of that, it serves as a good illustration of what vertical design can do for a game. It achieves this through two ways - first, through the ready availability of flying mounts (one can buy a tarn for a single gold tarn disc, although that's "more than many common laborers will earn in a year"), giving characters a means to maneuver up and down, and secondly, through the use of vertical space in the design of its locations. Many large Gorean cities are complex multi-leveled affairs; buildings consist of tall towers, with different businesses and facilities on different levels, and bridges spanning between them. One could navigate a city not only through the cardinal directions, but also moving up or down, and discover new things. Mapping a Gorean city would be quite similar to mapping a dungeon, and could provide just as many opportunities for exploration. It would also make chases through the streets more exciting, as PCs would have to move between levels - or avoid falls off narrow bridges, particularly because Goreans think railings are for cowards. All in all, it's food for thought that presents an interesting perspective for designing dungeons and other spaces.

He just wants to discuss philosophy. 

Spider People

I love these guys. The Spider People don't really do a whole lot in the series. There's one brief encounter with them all the way back in Tarnsman of Gor, and they kind of get forgotten about afterward. But the concept is so batshit insane that I have to mention it.

The Spider People are another sapient race on Gor, dwelling in the swamps north of the city of Ar. With a name like that, your mind might conjure the image of driders. They're part spider, part person, right? No - Spider People are literally just giant spiders. They're "people" insofar as they're capable of rational thought and speech, but there's nothing anthropomorphic about them. Considering giant spiders are a staple of dungeons, having one of them turn out to be a friendly, personable NPC could be a fun way to subvert your players' expectations.

What's also quite interesting is their culture. Although the Spider People are sapient, the people of Ar hunt them for sport and to harvest their webs. They could easily wipe them out if they wanted to, but keep a small population alive to have a steady source of silk. The Spider People are completely okay with this and do nothing about it, because they have such a strong taboo against violence that they will not do anything to harm another sapient being, even in self-defense. If a person wants to kill them, they'll just assume they have a good reason to and let it happen. This line of thinking is so alien that it stands as a great example of Norman's approach to worldbuilding, making his cultures and races feel truly distinct from humanity, and avoiding Flintstonism.

I hoped you enjoyed this look at the world of Gor. Hopefully, you came away from it with a better idea of what the setting is, how it's informed gaming, and how it could continue to do so. For all the books' flaws, I truly do find the series to be up there with some of the most fascinating worldbuilding projects put to paper, and I'm sure many of its ideas would appeal to DMs.

This will probably be the last post I write about Gor. There's so much more I could talk about, but Luther has already catalogued everything far better and more extensively than I ever could. I might make some more posts here and there if the mood strikes me, but for those interested in looking into the setting more, I encourage you to click around his site, or even to seek out the books if you truly are interested. Until then, I'll be continuing to post on other settings, and intend to get back to The Saga of the Ortegids. See you then!

Friday Encounter: Double Agents

This encounter assumes a conflict that the PCs are outsiders to, so it's best used as something the party comes upon while traveling on the road. Ideally, at least one PC should have ties to nobility. As always, feel free to modify this encounter to suit your campaign.

Background

Like many small feudal subjects, the village of Rielenberg answers directly to its lord. Also like many small feudal subjects, the results of this arrangement depend heavily on how reasonable this particular lord is. Rielenberg, as it so happens, is under the thumb of Baroness Gloria von Habischem, a woman who believes it is the right of all nobility to do as they will, unfettered by the voices of the peasantry. After all, they should be grateful the nobles even allow them to stay on their land - who are they to complain?

Recently, Baroness Gloria's forces repelled a bandit raid elsewhere in her territory, but the cost of maintaining and raising a sufficient army put strain on her coffers. In response, she subjected the people of Rielenberg to crippling taxes in order to make up the cost. For the people of Rielenberg, who have long felt that the nobles were uncaring and indifferent to their concerns, this was the last straw. The people are planning a revolt in secret, uniting around the leadership of the blacksmith Lorenz Bahr, a charismatic visionary who feels the time is right for the peasants to fight for their freedom. Though they are sure they don't stand a chance in a head-on assault of the Baroness's castle (not knowing how meager the garrison is), they have begun stockpiling weapons and plotting movements to disrupt her patrols in what they hope will be the first step in a long guerilla war.

However, the forces of the Baroness have picked up rumors of these plans. And when the PCs arrive on the scene, it'll soon be realized that their status as outsiders could be valuable to either side...

The Encounter

While traveling, the PCs should come upon either the village of Rielenberg or Baroness Gloria's castle, which is located about a mile to the northeast. Decide which location you would prefer to use. The players may be swayed by whichever side they hear from first, so keep that in mind.

If they go through the village first, they will find the people are struggling to sustain themselves under the burden of taxation - their fields are poor, they don't have much to sell at the market, and they can barely scrounge together enough food to offer a meal at the local tavern. If the PCs enquire about this, the people will explain that they are suffering under the Baroness's taxes. They will direct them to Lorenz, who they explain is forging weapons on the side and hiding them at caches around the village (in barrels, under hay bales, and the like). Lorenz sees an opportunity in the party - as experienced fighters, they might stand more of a chance in taking on the Baroness's forces than any of them could alone. If they seem trustworthy, he will let the party know of the location of his weapon caches and inform them that he is planning on ambushing a patrol of the Baroness's guards under the cover of night in three days' time, where he plans to hold the guards for ransom. He invites them to participate if they wish.

If the party visits the castle first, they will similarly discover that it is facing hard times. The castle's halls are empty and the guards are few in number, making it clear that it was built to hold a larger garrison than it currently does, and everything is covered in dust, as there are not enough servants to attend to its upkeep. If the party seeks an audience with the Baroness, it will be granted; alternatively, if there are any nobles in the party, one of the Baroness's knights will invite them to the castle, hoping that they might be sympathetic to her cause. There, the Baroness will explain her situation, noting that she suspects that the peasants are planning an uprising under her nose - they have, after all, been speaking in whispers whenever the guards are around, and moving around barrels and hay bales for seemingly no reason. The castle surely will not be able to defend itself against a revolt unless it is crushed soon - and she hopes the PCs might be able to turn the tide. She requests that the PCs gather information on any potential revolts, reporting back to her on their movements or leaders. She emphasizes that under no circumstances can the peasants learn that the castle is undermanned, or they would surely be emboldened to attack.

For this encounter to work properly, the PCs should have the opportunity to visit both parties and hear both sides of the story. Both factions feel the party would be able to help them - as outsiders, they would hold no preconceived loyalties. Naturally, this makes for the perfect opportunity for the PCs to act as double agents - they have information on each side that the other side would want. It's only a matter of choosing which side to aid.

Further Developments

If you want, you could easily extend this encounter with the PCs performing missions for whichever side they choose. The peasants, for instance, might request the party's aid with transporting weapons to potential allies, while the nobles might need them to set a trap for the peasants during one of their mobilizations. To make things really interesting, both sides can give the PCs missions as long as they believe they're on their side, and the PCs can aid or sabotage them accordingly. You can keep this going as long as you, and your players, find it entertaining.

The end goal for the peasants will be storming the Baroness's castle and deposing her from the throne, while the end goal for the nobles will be stamping out the leaders of the rebellion. Ultimately, the conflict should culminate in one of these things, and the PCs may well be involved on the front lines.

If the PCs sided with the peasants, the people of Rielenberg will have little to offer them, but they will be hailed as heroes every time they return to town, and the people will be happy to provide them aid. Any of the townsfolk will give them a bed for free if they need to stay the night, and they will lend their services if called upon to the best of their ability. Lorenz will also offer to forge each of the PCs an enchanted weapon of their choosing - it has +1 to all to-hit and damage rolls, or +2 if the attacks are made against a noble or similar authority figure.

If the PCs sided with the nobles, Baroness Gloria will be thankful for their aid and grant them all knighthood, with all the privileges that entails. They will be able to stay at the castle as welcome guests whenever they wish, and she will provide them land on which to establish a manor of their own. This could be a good introduction to domain-level play, if one so desires.

Regardless of the outcome, the status quo will surely be shaken up, and this can be used to fuel further adventures. If the Baroness is deposed, it will leave a power vacuum that must be filled at some point - and her feudal masters might step in, not wanting to leave such a powerful peasant levy unchecked. If the rebellion is crushed, it might well inspire another such group to take up arms some time down the line, seeing the attacks on the people of Rielenberg as a gross abuse of power they are motivated to fight against. And the bandits that plagued the Baroness's forces might well return, too...