Saga of the Ortegids: Appendix N

If you haven't read the
Nintendo Power handbook,
do yourself a favor.

I know the Year of the Barbarian has run on longer than a year at this point, but I haven't had much time with which to sit down and write this post. In any case, I've put together an Appendix N for The Saga of the Ortegids, compiling a list of works that carry the same sort of feel I'm shooting for in my personal vision of the setting, or otherwise are useful as influences. See also this post on the "dials" of the setting - certain influences can be played up or down to convey different feels.

The Sacred Texts

These are to be considered in broad strokes canon to Saga.

• Dragon Warrior (1989), Dragon Warrior II (1990), and Dragon Warrior III (1992) (NES)
• Specifically the NES versions, including art and literature included in game manuals.
• The promotional art of Katsuya Terada (1963-) and Kensuke Suzuki (1964-2018)
• This art is the reason this project exists. If Dragon Quest canon is "Akira Toriyama's Dragon Quest," then The Saga of the Ortegids is "Katsuya Terada's Dragon Warrior."

Artists

• John Buscema (1927-2002)
• Clyde Caldwell (1948-)
• Larry Elmore (1948-)
• Ron Embleton (1930-1988)
• Frank Frazetta (1928-2010)
• Greg (1939-2024) and Tim Hildebrandt (1939-2006)
• John Howe (1957-)
• Ephraim Moses Lilien (1874 - 1925)
• Moebius (1938-2012)
• Earl Norem (1923-2015)
• Boris Vallejo (1941-)

Comics

• 300 (1998)
• Arak: Son of Thunder (1981-1985)
• Beowulf: Dragon Slayer (1975-1976)
• Claw the Unconquered  (1975-1978)
• Marvel's Conan the Barbarian (1970-1993)
• Dragon Quest: The Mark of Erdrick (1991-1997)
• Not canon to Saga, in large part because it wasn't translated until last year, but a good example of how you can expand on the lore of the Erdrick Trilogy while taking it in a grittier direction.
• Red Sonja (1977-1983)
• The Savage Sword of Conan (1974-1995)
• Vinland Saga (2005-2025)

Film and Television

• The 13th Warrior (1999)
• The Beastmaster (1982)
• Captain N: The Game Master (1989-1991) - S1E7 "Three Men and a Dragon" and S2E10 "The Trojan Dragon"
• Thankfully not canon to Saga, but it does at least give you a sense of how Western audiences perceived Dragon Quest when it first came out.
• Cleopatra (1963)
• Conan the Barbarian (1982) and Conan the Destroyer (1984)
• Deathstalker series (1983-1991)
• Dragonheart (1996)
• Excalibur (1981)
• Fire and Ice (1983)
• Gladiator (2000)
• Hawk the Slayer (1980)
• Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995-1999) and Xena: Warrior Princess (1995-2001)
• House of David (2025)
• Ladyhawke (1985)
• Legend (1985)
• The Legend of Zelda (1989)
• Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings (1978)
• The Northman (2022)
• The Odyssey (1997)
• Primal (2019-)
• Red Sonja (1985)
• Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
• Samurai Jack (2001-2004; 2017)
• The Scorpion King (2002)
• The Ten Commandments (1956)
• The Thief of Baghdad (1940)
• Vikings (2013-2021)
• Almost anything by Ray Harryhausen (1920-2013)
• Mostly his sword-and-sandal output, but even something like One Million Years BC could be taking place in the Worldforest.

Literature

• Beowulf
• Lin Carter (1930-1988); various
• The Epic of Gilgamesh
• Ferdowsi; The Shahnameh
• Gustave Flaubert; Salammbo (1862)
• Homer; The Illiad and The Odyssey
• Robert E. Howard (1906-1936); various
• Elias Lonrott; The Kalevala (1835)
• Fritz Leiber (1910-1992); various
• The Old Testament
• Orlando Furioso
• The Saga of the Volsungs
• Yes, that's where the name came from.
• JRR Tolkien; The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955)
• Valmiki; The Ramayana
• Virgil; The Aeneid
• Vyasa; The Mahabharata
• Wu Cheng'en; Journey to the West (1592)

Video Games

All entries include North American promotional art and manual materials, if applicable.

• Assassin's Creed series (2007-)
• Dragon Warrior I & II (2000) and Dragon Warrior III (2001; Game Boy Color)
• This is after the series started embracing its ties to anime in the international market, but they are in my opinion the best versions of the games, and some content added for these releases found their way into Saga.
• Dragon Warrior IV (1992; NES)
• Faxanadu (1989; NES)
• Final Fantasy (1990; NES)
• The Legend of Zelda (1987) and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (1988) (NES)

Friday Encounter: The Shrine of Blood

Here's an encounter I used in a recent session. It was originally designed as a dungeon room, but it could easily work as a feature on the road or in the wilderness as well.

I generally hew to the wisdom that magic items that just give flat bonuses to rolls are the most boring kind of magic items there are, and don't feel particularly magical. Case in point, it was only a few years ago that I realized that +1 weapons and armor were actually supposed to be magical, and not just a way to represent superior craftsmanship (maybe video games have spoiled me). If I'm going to use a magic item, I think it should always have special properties, abilities, and limitations that make it more than just a flat bonus. If you can abstract a magic item into the calculations of your attack roll, then you forget that you have the item in the first place, and magic should never be forgettable.

However, I can't deny there is a use for flat bonuses to attacks some times - it just makes for a really underwhelming treasure or quest reward. Here's a way you can make +1 weapons more interesting by giving them unique conditions to attain them, and limitations on their use.

The Shrine of Blood

The PCs should come upon a shrine where the statue of a god of war and battle (Kerne, Estark, Ares, Crom, or whoever fits the role in your setting) is stood with a shallow wide-brimmed bowl at its feet. Engraved in silver along the bowl's rim are the words "My champions shall be anointed in the blood of their enemies." A DC 10 Religion check will identify the god and their nature as a god of war; clerics, paladins, and characters with the Acolyte background or similar will know this automatically. Additionally, a follower of the god who prays in front of the shrine will receive a vision of the statue coming to life and dipping one of its weapons into the bowl.

If anyone fills the bowl with blood from a creature they have slain within the day and then dips a weapon into it, the statue's eyes glow, followed by the weapon glowing for a few seconds. That weapon then becomes a +1 weapon of the appropriate type until the next long rest, at which point it reverts to its original state. The blood is consumed through this ritual, but the bowl can be refilled an unlimited amount of times. The ritual will not work if the blood is not fresh, or if the user did not land the killing blow on the creature the blood came from.