Saga of the Ortegids: The Tower of Shampan

When I started blogging about The Saga of the Ortegids last year, I intended to conclude the project with a thesis statement of sorts. I was inspired by how some of my earliest dungeons came from me taking the maps from my Prima strategy guide for Dragon Warrior III and adapting them to D&D, and I wanted to do the same thing from the perspective of an older and more experienced dungeon master, creating a full-fledged dungeon based on one of the ones from the game.

I intended to write this post a lot earlier, but a lot has gotten in my way between then and now. But now that I've had the time to write up the dungeon and run it as a one-shot to simultaneously playtest it and introduce some new players to the game, I think it's finally ready to share with the world. Consider this a culmination of my efforts for Saga, and as my own way of revisiting my roots.

While written for The Saga of the Ortegids, this dungeon can be used in any setting - feel free to change names and details as necessary. I've referenced the very same dungeon in my Lunar Lands setting, which can be found in hex 031.026 of the Golnir hex map, so it would be appropriate to use there as well.

Lastly, my playtest was intended to test both the dungeon itself and my previously-proposed concept of modules in the form of DM screens containing all relevant DM-facing information on the inner surface. Thus, I designed the dungeon to fit on three 8.5x11'' sheets. You can get it in PDF form here. The first two pages are for the player-facing side of the screen; the second page should be printed twice to be placed on either side flap.

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)

Taloon the Arms Dealer

With the Year of the Barbarian drawing to a close, I can't deny that the biggest project it's seen has been The Saga of the Ortegids - my attempt to construct a tabletop-friendly setting based on the original Dragon Quest trilogy as depicted through the grittier, sword-and-sorcery-flavored art of Katsuya Terada, as used in early Western box covers and manual art, instead of the now-iconic work of Dragon Ball's Akira Toriyama. My original intent was to have a dungeon to show for my work by now, capping off the year by revisiting my roots and adapting one of the games' dungeons to the tabletop. My work schedule has kept me from attending to that as much as I'd like to, so I won't have any of that ready to share until the beginning of next year. However, in the meantime, I did have an idle thought that refused to leave my head, and I'm making that your problem.

In my original post outlining the project, I specified that Saga would only strictly adapt the first three games in the series, which all take place in the same universe; continuity gets a lot more loose after that. That being said, Dragon Quest IV did see a Western release at the tail end of the NES's lifespan, and with similar marketing. Eagle-eyed fans will already know that a couple of references to DQ4 and beyond have slipped into Saga, though not always in their original context. Therefore, I think certain elements are still on the table, and it's one of those I'd like to discuss today.

I would consider Dragon Quest IV to be the first "traditional JRPG" in the way we understand it today. Yes, there were RPGs made in Japan before it, including the first three Dragon Quest games, but those games are almost indistinguishable from western RPGs of the era, with PCs frequently being customizable blank slates and the gameplay focusing more on player-driven open-world exploration. DQ4, meanwhile, emphasized the story first and foremost, with a more linear plot and a predefined set of characters whose struggles were told through scripted cutscenes and personal arcs. Hell, the antagonist is a brooding silver-haired twink in a black coat who wants to destroy the world because he was wronged by society, and this was almost a decade before Sephiroth made it cool.

An entire genre exists
because of this man.

It's interesting, then, that such an influential game would also introduce the character of Torneko (or Taloon if you're a Westerner, or Torneko Taloon if you're a Westerner who got into this after the 90s). Torneko is about as far from a typical playable JRPG character as you could imagine. In a cast that consists mainly of sexy teenagers with emotional baggage, Torneko is a jolly, rotund, middle-aged dad who just wants to raise money to support his family. In spite of this, or more likely because of it, he's probably the single most iconic and beloved character in the entire series. He got his entire spinoff series, which kick-started Japan's own take on the roguelike genre with the mystery dungeon, and he continues to make cameo appearances in later games to this day. If Dragon Quest has a mascot that isn't the Slime, it's Torneko.

With that context out of the way, I'd like to pivot to the much-argued dichotomy of transliteration versus localization. Stay with me, I promise we're going somewhere with this.

In adapting media produced in one language to another language, the eternal debate is this: do you translate the original material directly word-for-word to preserve the original intent, accepting that certain cultural references might not land the same way in a new context, or do you rewrite the source material to be more understandable to a new audience? There's been plenty of ink spilled on the topic of which approach is better, and it's not a subject I intend to get into in this post. I think there's a right and a wrong way to do both.

Pertinently, I'm of the opinion that the modern approach to translating the Dragon Quest games is exactly how you should not do localization - the series' current localization team takes heavy liberties with how they present dialogue and characterization, often painting things in a much more light-hearted and comedic light than what was intended in the original Japanese, to the point where the head translator had to apologize in an interview for writing horse puns into a scene where a child has his father brutally murdered in front of him. Some people like this approach, and that's fine, but it is absolutely not what the series is in Japanese, and I wrote Saga in part as a rebuttal to this very phenomenon.

However, I'd be lying if I said that the Dragon Quest series hadn't suffered from transliteration at times as well. One of my favorite examples of this is how the English NES manual of Dragon Warrior IV describes Taloon as an arms dealer.

See, if you've experienced enough Japanese fantasy media, you can figure out exactly how this happened. In Japanese RPGs, the stores where you would purchase weapons are often referred to as buki-ya, literally "weapon shop." A localization would likely render this as "blacksmith" - while that's a different word in Japanese, anyone playing an RPG would recognize a blacksmith's shop as the obvious place to upgrade your equipment (interestingly, Taloon doesn't actually appear to make the weapons he sells; rather, his operation seems to consist of going dungeon delving to loot weapons and then selling them to other adventurers). However, the NES manual directly translated buki-ya into English, and Taloon was described as an "arms merchant" - something that has a very different connotation in the English-speaking world.

Normally, this is the part where we'd all point and laugh at how ridiculous that makes this character sound. But this is an RPG blog run by a deranged autist who gets inspiration from the weirdest places. And I kind of love it.

In popular media, the stock character of the arms dealer is usually a villainous figure tied to organized crime. Think of Ulysses Klaue from Black Panther, or if you're older, Destro from GI Joe. They're usually depicted as unscrupulous cold-hearted capitalists profiteering off of senseless bloodshed, willing to prop up civil wars and tinpoint dictatorships simply to line their own pockets. With this in mind, an arms dealer turning out to be a wholesome family man is actually a very interesting subversion of expectations.

If The Saga of the Ortegids is intended to be an exploration of the implied setting of, specifically, the Western presentation of Dragon Warrior lore, resisting the urge to add context from the original Japanese, perhaps Taloon really is an arms dealer. Maybe he's not merely supplying adventurers, but covertly running weapons to different sides of an ongoing conflict to make some extra coin. It's quite thought-provoking to contemplate how someone like Taloon could have ended up in this situation. Are times so tough that he's forced to extend his trade to the black market to make ends meet, knowing that he can't fail his beloved wife and son? Is he perhaps attempting to gain favor with multiple warring factions in the hopes that they can be swayed to leave him and his family out of the conflict?

Yes, the Taloon we see in Dragon Warrior IV is very clearly not doing this, but perhaps there's an alternate universe counterpart of him that exists in the universe of The Saga of the Ortegids who is. It wouldn't be the first time a version of him showed up outside of his original context  (not even on this blog), and because the source material for Saga doesn't directly include DQ4, I feel comfortable taking more leeway on how I present him compared to how I present characters from the original trilogy. It'd make for a fun nod for any players who were familiar with the original games, as well as an opportunity to turn their expectations on their head with the true extent of his operations.

More practically, an unwilling arms dealer would also make for an interesting NPC to shake up faction dynamics. If he's supplying an ongoing conflict, does he take sides, or does he try to play both sides against each other for his own ends? The PCs could easily become involved in his schemes, perhaps running weapons for him, or bailing him out of trouble if his smuggling operations attract the wrong attention. Because Taloon's family-oriented motives are sympathetic ones, more morally-inclined PCs might be more willing to back him up than they would a stereotypical arms dealer motivated only by cold hard cash, which could open fun opportunities for faction play to parties that might not ordinarily want to get involved with the criminal underbelly of the setting. At the same time, it presents a moral dilemma - are they willing to perpetuate a bloody conflict if it means a sweet old man gets to come home to his family another night?

So, yes, this is all a very deliberate misinterpretation of a bad translation. But it's a fun one, dammit - and I can't help but feel like dropping this incarnation of Taloon into a campaign set during the Kinslayer Wars, or another conflict in a different setting, would shake things up well.

The Isle of the Sun

Our gazetteer of the world(s) of The Saga of the Ortegids is pretty much complete. Over the last few months, I've summarized every major region in the first three Dragon Quest games and explored their potential for TRPG scenarios. However, just today I started thinking about one small area I didn't pay any heed to before, but one that just might be more interesting than I thought.

In Dragon Quest III, upon crossing through the Pit of Giaga, you come out on a small island in the western gulf of Alefgard, directly across from Tantegel. This is the only location in this part of the game that has no counterpart in Dragon Quest I, likely because there's no sea travel in that game. On it is a small, unnamed port - there are no shops or inns here, so it's likely a small fishing village rather than a regional trade center. It's really just there to give you access to a ship while in Torland, and for this reason I overlooked it in my discussion of Alefgard.

However, one of the NPCs there asks the party if they've come from "the upper world," which indicates that the people of Torland are familiar with the existence of Erdland. To recap the cosmology I'm using for The Saga of the Ortegids, I have chosen - in part because it provides for more interesting gaming opportunities - to interpret Torland as literally being inside of a hollow Erdland, with the Pit of Giaga being an actual, physical pit connecting the two surfaces. Interestingly, the Western fandom tends to interpret the Pit of Giaga as being a portal and the worlds as separate universes, but the Japanese fandom is more equivocal about it. In any case, for Saga, it's a physical pit - which ties into my next point.

Torland (unlike Erdland) has no consistent day-night cycle and is shown to be in a state of constant night before the Sphere of Light is used for the first time in DQ3. Furthermore, the Dragonlord stealing the Sphere in DQ1 is sometimes said to cause an unending night, depending on what source you're reading (this could be metaphorical, but for me it's not). Under my interpretation, this implies that Torland had no natural light source until the Sphere of Light created one, being the inside of a hollow planet and all. So far, everything is interally consistent.

But then I realized that if the Pit of Giaga physically separates Erdland from Torland, if there's a big hole in the ground in Erdland, there must conversely be a big hole in the sky in Torland. And we do know that Erdland has a sun. Before the Sphere of Light was used, this island below the Pit of Giaga must have been the only place in Torland to receive natural light - that is, what was able to stream through the Pit when the sun was overhead.

Art by Vsevlod Ivanov
(Seriously, check his stuff out)

This likely wouldn't be enough light to illuminate all of Torland on a regular basis, but it would mean that this one island would receive direct sunlight for part of the day. In an otherwise lightless world, this would no doubt have a significant effect on the local culture. Perhaps the locals of this island, even if they know of the existence of an upper world, don't realize how a natural sun really works, and view this light as a divine phenomenon. This would transform the Isle of the Sun, as I've called it, into a natural choice for a holy site, with cults springing up around the light and adherents making pilgrimages to witness it.

With this in mind, perhaps the port we see in DQ3 isn't the only settlement on the island - perhaps there is another city that serves as the center of this sun cult, and we just don't see it in-game because there was nothing useful for gameplay or narrative purposes there. Given the Norse vibes of Torland in general and Alefgard in particular, let's call this city Sollenborg. While ostensibly a subject of the Alefgardic crown, it would be an autonomous power headed by a cult worshiping the sun, with the priesthood holding local positions of authority.

Art by Noah Bradley

In a campaign set in Torland before the events of DQ3, this city could be a curiosity for the party to investigate, or a regional power given its apparent blessed nature. It would also offer another religion to add to the worldbuilding of the setting. Also, one of the easiest ways to kill vampires in a pre-sun Torland. I also find it interesting to think about how even in a magical fantasy world, there would still be perfectly natural phenomena that are misinterpreted as miracles.

I also think it's interesting to consider what might happen to Sollenborg after the events of DQ3. Surely the sun cult would lose quite a bit of its authority with the Sphere of Light providing constant sunlight. This could lead to a crisis of faith for its adherents - and perhaps the more worldly of the cult's authorities, fearful of losing power, might be jealous of what the Sphere provides and covet it for themselves. You could also probably tell an interesting side-story about how the sun cult would handle the Dragonlord's theft of the Sphere. If Alefgard was suddenly deprived of its sunlight, the cult would have something unique to offer the people, who would surely grow desperate in such a time.

Magic Items of Erdland

To round out my posts statting up magic items from the first two Dragon Quest games for The Saga of the Ortegids, here's a few magic items from Dragon Quest III.

Lifestone

Wondrous Item, Rare, Requires Attunement

1 lb.

These stones are inscribed with powerful magic governing the forces of life and death. It is believed that the means of creating such items was first devised by the ancient Isisians, but this civilization left behind records of the process, and lifestones have been produced over the milennia by many subsequent magicians. Isisian legend tells that if the holder of a lifestone was to die through unnatural means, the stone will take the place of their soul in the afterlife, allowing them to go on living. This has made them prized as protective talismans, and more than one warrior has credited their lifestone with allowing them to survive a close brush with fate on the battlefield.

If a creature attuned to a lifestone drops to 0 HP, they do not roll death saves and are considered automatically stabilized (but are still at 0 HP). The stone then shatters and cannot be reused.

Vase of Drought

Wondrous Item, Very Rare

2 lb.

Though it appears from the outside to be an unremarkable vase, this vase possesses two notable qualities - it can draw in water and store great quantities far in excess of its apparent dimensions. Each Vase of Drought can store up to 3d100 gallons. When it is submerged in water (or another liquid), it begins to rapidly suck in fluid at a rate of 1 gallon per 8 seconds until it is either full or removed from the body it is submerged in. This fluid is stored as though in a bag of holding and can be decanted at will, up to the amount stored. Stored fluid does not affect the weight of the vase.

Sword of Rubiss

Artifact

A sacred treasure of the goddess Rubiss, this sword is imbued with divine magic. Though Rubiss is the goddess of life and creation and normally detests senseless violence, she nevertheless blessed this sword for one of her champions in the God-War before it was lost into the bowels of the earth. Rumor holds it is buried beneath Leiamland, guarded by a ferocious golden dragon.

The Sword of Rubiss behaves as a +3 longsword, and deals an additional 1d10 radiant damage against fiends and undead. Additionally, the blade is inscribed with the word "THORDAIN." A DC 10 Religion check will determine that this is an incantation in the tongue of the gods relating to thunder and lightning; characters with proficiency in the Celestial language will know this automatically. As an action, a creature who points the sword at a target and speaks this inscription to cast lightning bolt at a spell save DC of 15. The sword has three charges; using it in this fashion consumes one charge. It regains one charge at dawn each day.

Staff of Reflection

Staff, Very Rare, Requires Attunement

This staff has a mirror set into its head, and is sculpted with clouds. It can be used as a magic quarterstaff that grants a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it. Additionally, as an action, the staff can be used to generate a barrier that reflects magic around any creature in touch range. To maintain the barrier requires concentration. Any spells of 7th level or lower that are made against a single target instead target the caster, using the slot level, spell save DC, attack bonus, and spellcasting ability of the caster, if made against the shielded creature.

Staff of Change

Staff, Legendary, Requires Attunement

This staff can be used to alter the user's form. It can be used as a magic quarterstaff that grants a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it. When the butt of the staff is stamped against the ground, the user can adopt the shape of any creature. This functions as the polymorph spell, but is not limited to beasts. The user can use this to appear as a generic specimen of the chosen form (eg. an elf), or as a specific one (eg. the King of Manoza). If they adopt the form of a humanoid, they can alter any items they are wearing or carrying as well. Each time the staff is used, there is a 1% chance that it backfires, instead transforming the user into something else - roll 1d20 on the table below.

1. Rabbit

2. Sheep

3. Pig

4. Bird

5. Toad

6. Dog 

7. Cat

8. Horse

9. Wolf

10. Slime (stats of a grey ooze)

11. A different specimen of the user's race, of the same age and sex.

12. A different specimen of the user's race, but 1d20 years younger.

13. A different specimen of the user's race, but 1d20 years older.

14. A different specimen of the user's race, of the opposite sex.

15. Elf (as 11 if the user is an elf)

16. Dwarf (as 11 if the user is a dwarf)

17. Hobbit (as 11 if the user is a hobbit)

18. Beastman (stats of an orc. If the user is a beastman, roll 1d6: 1-4, as 11; 5-6; they become a beastman with the features of a different animal)

19. Dragovian (if the user is a Dragovian, roll 1d6: 1-4, as 11; 5-6; they become a Dragovian of a different color)

20. Young Red Dragon 

Magic Items of Torland

Continuing off my last post, here's a few more magic items for The Saga of the Ortegids, each based off items that debuted in Dragon Quest II. Stay tuned for the conclusion to the trilogy next week.

Mirror of Larus

Wondrous Item, Artifact

5 lb.

This magical mirror originated in the Kingdom of Manoza, where it was created in centuries past by the archmage Larus for purposes unknown. Long after his dwelling fell to ruin, the mirror was retrieved by Erdrick the Aliahanian, who carried it with him when he traveled to Torland; it subsequently became a family hierloom, and ended up in the possession of the royal family of Moonbrooke. The mirror is renowned for its ability to see through all illusions.

Due to a counterspell charm woven into its construction, the reflection in the Mirror of Larus does not reflect magical effects. Any effects directly caused by spells do not appear, objects disguised by illusions appear in their base state, and polymorphed or shapeshifted creatures appear as their true form. The mirror does not break spells in physical reality.

Flute of Echoes

Wondrous Item, Instrument, Uncommon

1 lb.

This flute is enchanted with the ability to detect treasure, no matter where or how it is hidden. When the flute is blown, any objects of 5 GP or more in value within a radius of 250 feet produce an echo, reflected off their surface and traveling back toward the flute from the direction the item is located in. The sound and its echo can travel through walls. This sound can be used to detect if valuable items are present, and in which direction they are from the user. Additionally, items that are closer echo more loudly than items that are further away. However, these sounds may alert creatures to the user's presence.

Cloak of Winds

Wondrous Item, Rare

2 lb.

A spell for harnessing and controling the power of the wind is woven into the fabric of this cloak, allowing the wearer to become as light as the wind, and to glide on the breeze. When the wearer grasps the hem of the cloak in both hands, they are capable of gliding on a gust of wind. When falling, they travel their move speed in the direction of the wind at the beginning of each of their turns, but descend by 5 feet downward at the same time, until they touch down. If a creature were to touch down on a flat surface while gliding, they take no fall damage and land on their feet as if under the effects of a feather fall spell.

Robe of Watercloth

Robe, Very Rare

3 lb.

This robe was woven from water as if it were a fabric - a process requiring magic to spin water into a thread, and then that thread into a robe, requiring the art of a master craftsman in order to do so. Though this is a long and tedious process, if one has the means to produce such a garment, it can prove quite useful indeed.

Due to enchantment, the robe is opaque and maintains its shape and volume, but its surface continually waves and ripples, and it feels wet to the touch. Otherwise, the robe has all the physical properties of water, and as such, no air can pass through it; it can thus be used to douse fires and smother creatures. The wearer receives Resistance to fire damage and cannot catch fire. Additionally, the wearer is unable to sink in water, as the robe becomes part of its surface; thus, they can walk on top of bodies of water. However, they become Vulnerable to lightning damage.

Armor of Hades

Armor, Very Rare, Cursed, Requires Attunement

Produced through foul sorceries and occult rituals, this suit of armor was made from the hide of a demon, inlaid with its horns and bones. It boasts the supernatural toughness of demon hide, but wielding such power comes at a cost. The lingering spirit of the demon persists in its hide, and it cannot so easily be contained.

When unattuned, a suit of the Armor of Hades functions as leather armor. When attuned, it instead has the stats of a suit of +2 plate armor, but does not impose Disadvantage on Stealth checks, as it is as flexible as leather. Additionally, the wearer recieves Resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks and has Advantage on any spell saving throws. The wearer registers as a fiend to Divine Sense, Smite, and similar effects while attuned to the armor.

However, at the beginning of each turn, there is a 33% chance the the spirit of the demon the armor was made from becomes active. The wearer must then succeed on a DC 15 Charisma saving throw to resist the demon's influence. On a failed save, the armor becomes stiff and rigid, preventing them from moving, as the armor actively resists any attempt they make to move. They become Paralyzed until the beginning of their next turn.

Magic Items of Alefgard

The original Dragon Quest doesn't have a lot of notable magic items, but there's definitely enough for us to work with - and what's there is iconic enough to frequently show up in later games. Here's a few magic items for The Saga of the Ortegids - they may also work in other campaigns.

Sphere of Light

Wondrous Item, Artifact

12 lb.

Undoubtedly the most prized of the Kingdom of Alefgard's crown jewels, the Sphere of Light has a long and storied history. Originally forged by the hand of Gaius himself and presented to the royal family of the Kingdom of Dragons as a sign of his favor, it was given to Erdrick the Aliahanian by their Queen on her deathbed, and subsequently brought to Alefgard when he descended the Pit of Giaga. Its legendary power and its sacred significance to all dragonkind have made it the subject of multiple wars, though under most circumstances it is kept under close guard in the castle of Tantegel, for its presence there blesses Alefgard with fair weather, fine harvests, and continual sunlight - an asset of no small significance in the otherwise sunless Torland.

The Sphere of Light is a ball of solid light about the size of a bowling ball. It continually glows with a bright light (but not heat), and casts bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light for an additional 30 feet. However, because of its glow, creatures carrying the Sphere have Disadvantage on all Stealth checks if the Sphere is uncovered. Additionaly, the Sphere's light automatically dispells any Darkness spell it enters.

As an action, the Sphere can be used to project a spark into the air, which erupts into a self-contained miniature sun. The sun projects bright light over a area roughly the size of a large country, and dim light over the rest of the world. Any area within the bright light becomes especially fertile and fecund. The sun does not emit heat or alter meteorological patterns. This effect requires unrestricted access to the sky, and ends if the Sphere is moved.

Flute of the Fairies

Wondrous Item, Instrument, Rare

1 lb.

The fair folk are rare and elusive beings, known to the people of Alefgard mainly through legend and rumor. Few can say to have beheld any of them in person, but they are blamed for many strange occurences and misfortunes - and the magic they work has made its mark upon the world.

In particular, fairy flutes are known to have the power to weave and work magic. A creature can use an action to play from a fairy flute to cast the Dispel Magic, Heroism, Remove Curse, or Sleep spells, casting them with Charisma as their spellcasting ability, and the spell save DC of a bard of their current level. Additionally, a creature can attempt a DC 12 Performance check, adding any proficiency bonus for playing the flute if applicable, to cast Antimagic Field using the flute; they have Disadvantage on this check if they have taken more than 10 points of damage since their last turn. Each spell can only be used once per long rest.

Silver Harp of Galen

Wondrous Item, Instrument, Artifact

5 lb.

This harp belonged to Galen, a legendary bard who would later go on to become a thane in the service of King Lars I the Despondent and found the port of Galenholm. Galen is a figure of legend in his own right, and there are many sagas that tell of his exploits, some more truthful than others. One point that is known, however, is that he was in the possession of a silver harp, said to be given to him by the goddess Astrella herself. Galen's already skillful fingers were guided by this harp to work songs capable of commanding the attention of all who heard it.

A creature who uses an action to play the Silver Harp of Galen must roll a Performance check, adding any proficiency bonus for playing the harp if applicable. Any creature that hears this music must then make a Charisma saving throw, using the result of the Performance check as the DC. If the save is failed, the creature falls into a trance-like state, guided by the music; it must spend its next turn moving its full move speed toward the musician and cannot do anything else on its turn. This effect can only be used three times per long rest. Additionally, any spell that causes its target to be charmed on a failed save that has a somatic or verbal component may be played on the harp; if so, the target has Disadvantage on their save.

Staff of Rain

Staff, Rare, Requires Attunement

This staff is carved in the shape of a billowing raincloud. It can be used as a magic quarterstaff that grants a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it. In addition, the staff has 5 charges; as an action, a creature attuned to the staff can expend 1 charge to summon a miniature raincloud five feet across in all directions. The raincloud continually pours rain for 1d10 minutes. Any creatures beneath the raincloud must make a DC 10 Concentration check every turn they are under it if they are casting a Concentration spell. The rainwater functions identically to mundane water, and the cloud can be conjured even indoors. The staff regains 1d3 charges at dawn.

The Arms of Erdrick

Now that I've finished documenting every major location in the original Dragon Quest trilogy for The Saga of the Ortegids, my next priority is going to be statting up a few magic items from the games. I've used them plenty of times in my campaigns, but it's high time I got something written down somewhere. I'm going to make a series of posts detailing some key items from each of the first three games, but I think it warrants a separate post for the Arms of Erdrick - the equipment used by the legendary warrior Erdrick the Aliahanian, a member of the Ortegid Dynasty and subsequently passed down through several generations of his successors. The equipment appears in each of the first three games, typically as the strongest equipment available - in the first game it's mainly just that it has the best stats, but later entries would establish additional perks and abilities of each item, which have been fairly consistently applied in later appearances, and it's these that I'm primarily basing my renditions on.

Optional Rule: I should note that in Dragon Quest I, carrying an amulet belonging to Erdrick is considered acceptable proof that you are descended from his line. Based on this, and the fact that in DQ3 the equipment is only accessible to the main character, you may wish to allow only PCs with the Ortegid Scion background to attune to these items. In a tabletop RPG with multiple players, this would limit their utility and may be unfair to players playing non-Ortegid characters, especially if they would mechanically benefit from the items. If the only Ortegid in the party is a wizard, it's not very fair if the fighter can't equip items designed for more martial characters, for instance. Thus, I've made this an optional rule for if you care about authenticity.

Cynebrand, the Sword of Kings

Artifact

The sword Cynebrand was forged by Erdrick the Aliahanian himself from orichalcum - a rare and nigh-unbreakable metal, so hard that it can only be shaped and formed using advanced techniques known only to a select few. This in and of itself makes it a weapon of considerable power.

When wielded by a character that has not attuned to it, Cynebrand behaves as a +2 longsword; additionally, due to its unique construction, it cannot be broken or bent by any nonmagical means. The latter property is a physical property of orichalcum and not an enchantment; thus, it will behave as such even if subject to anti-magical effects.

However, in the hands of a trusted wielder who understands and masters the blade, Cynebrand posseses additional magical powers. If used by a character that has attuned to it, Cynebrand instead behaves as a +3 longsword. If the wielder is also attuned to the Shield of Heroes and the Mail of Erdrick, as an action, its wielder can hold the sword in front of them to call forth a thunderclap that shakes the earth with the effects of a thunderwave spell at a spell save DC of 10. This can be used three times per long rest.

Haelescyld, the Shield of Heroes

Artifact

Originally carried by a legendary hero of ancient times, this shield was swallowed by the earth after his death in battle. Centuries later, Erdrick retrieved it from the depths of the Nailmark, the vast cavern formed when Zoma, Forbidden God of Death, dug his way into reality in the God-War. Now dubbed Haelescyld, the Shield of Heroes, it protects the user against magic.

When wielded by a character that has not attuned to it, Haelescyld behaves as a +1 shield. When attuned, it instead behaves as a +2 shield, and grants the user Resistance to fire and cold damage. If the wielder is also attuned to the Sword of Kings and the Mail of Erdrick, it also gives the user Advantage on all saving throws against magical effects.

The Mail of Erdrick

Artifact

This suit of armor was forged by Gaius, god of fire and the forge, as a favor for Rubiss, the goddess of life and creation, who in turn gave it to Erdrick as a token of thanks after he freed her from a curse of imprisonment put on her by Zoma, her twin brother and equal and opposite in power. In addition to its legendary resistance, it is wound with potent healing magics.

When worn by a character that has not attuned to it, the Mail of Erdrick behaves as a suit of +1 plate armor. It is forged from adamantine, which causes critical hits against the wearer to be treated as regular hits instead. When attuned, it instead behaves as a suit of +2 plate armor. If the wearer is also attuned to the Sword of Kings and the Shield of Heroes, it also allows the wearer to heal one additional hit die of damage, plus their Constitution modifier, when healing during a healing surge or short rest.

Background: Fated Hero

 

If you've been following my blog, I don't think it should be any surprise to you that I love backgrounds. They're one of the best ideas 5e ever had, offering customization options for characters that add flavor, and most of the features are narrative-focused, opening up new avenues for characters to explore and interact with the world rather than just giving them mathematical bonuses. That being said, I do think that there's room for background features to introduce mechanics of their own. There's some fun things that can be done there. As a bonus, they provide an avenue to mechanically represent new character concepts without having to write a completely new class - let's face it, D&D has more classes than it has archetypes for those classes to fit as it is. Here's one such example.

This started out as a post for The Saga of the Ortegids as a background to represent a PC being a member of the Ortegid Dynasty - that is, the legendary family that includes (but is not limited to) the main characters of the first three Dragon Quest games. The idea of a legendary hero is a common feature in contemporary Japanese fantasy that tends to be a direct reference to the player characters of the Dragon Quest games in the same way that the "demon king" archetype is the result of porting the video game conceit of a final boss into narrative media. Usually, the two are linked, with the hero often being prophecized to defeat the demon king. In some stories, they're the only one physically capable of doing so, and in some, the hero and the demon king are both metaphysical roles passed down cyclically every generation, with their struggle serving to keep the balance of good and evil. These aren't mutually exclusive.

Notably, however, the heroes of the Erdrick Trilogy are not prophecized chosen ones - that trope comes mainly from later games. In the first three games, they're all people who volunteered or were volunteered to deal with a pressing threat, but from what little exposition we get, it appears that this is because they feel it's the right thing to do and/or because they're following the example of their ancestors, not because of a mandate from higher powers. With this in mind, in addition to the fact this project is deliberately eschewing any artifacts of the medium of video games, you might be wondering why I'd try to represent it.

Well, heroes being elevated in some way among common people is something we see in fantasy and mythology in pretty much every culture and era, so I think it can still work. Drawing more than a little inspiration from The Saga of the Volsungs, the lore for my version of the setting is this: when Baramos, the Sorcerer-King of the Southlands, was told by an oracle that he was doomed to be slain by the line of the Aliahanian warrior Ortega, he had a curse placed upon Ortega's kin, such that all would be blessed with incredible strength, wit, and bravery, but simultaneously doomed to misfortune and tragedy, attracting powerful enemies and more often than not dying by the sword. This is why they're so often capable of great heroic deeds and faced with a need to perform them, not because the world works like it's a video game.

However, while plotting out this background, I realized that it'd also work very well for a variety of names in fantasy and folklore - the Volsungs, but also the heroes of ancient Greece, subject as they are to the whims of the gods, Samson, and even more modern examples like Elric of Melnibone. To that end, I've submitted it as a setting-agnostic background. Feel free to tweak it for your own purposes.

Fated Hero

For whatever reason - be it a curse, a prophecy, or merely attracting the eye of the gods, you are capable of great deeds, but your fate is a plaything of higher beings. You have the potential to become a figure of renown through heroism, but the same fate that guides you toward greatness could just as easily bring about your end.

Skill Proficiencies: History, Religion

Languages: Celestial

Starting Equipment: A token of your divine favor, a set of common clothes, an explorer's pack or a dungeoneer's pack, and a pouch containing 15 GP.

Feature: Gigantic Melancholies and Gigantic Mirth. Once per long rest, you can beseech the gods to grant you their favor in performing a great task. If the DM agrees that the roll at hand is a suitably heroic deed, you make the roll with Advantage. However, your fate is bound in both directions. Each time you use this feature, the DM will make a note of it, and can inflict Disadvantage on any one roll they choose in the future. Additionally, if you roll a natural one on your reroll, even if the original roll was higher, you must take it, as the gods are punishing you for your hubris in calling upon them so wantonly.

Variant: Ortegid Scion. This variant can only be used in a Saga of the Ortegids campaign, or one where the setting also features a family of heroes cursed to tragic fates. You are a member of some branch of the Ortegid Dynasty - possibly a prince of one of the three Ortegid kingdoms, a distant cousin, or the product of a one-night stand in foreign lands. In addition to the Gigantic Melancholies and Gigantic Mirth feature, you also have the Inheritor feature from Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft (if you bring up your heritage, you will get an idea of the local reception of your ancestors and how you can be expected to be treated in turn). You must be a human or a half-race of human parentage, and of at least partial Aliahanian ancestry, to use this background (though the Ortegids have traveled throughout Erdland and Torland and their descendants can be found in surprising places).

Saga of the Ortegids: Eras of Adventure

My default setting, as it were, for The Saga of the Ortegids would ground the action many generations after the events of Dragon Quest II - enough time for the setting to be a blank slate for the DM to run as they pleased, without needing to worry about canon characters or events impacting their plans, and for it to make sense that the Worldtree would have grown to the point where travel between Erdland and Torland would be possible in order to make full use of the material and its potential. However, there's a number of other eras in the setting's history that could make for good campaigns. Below, I've listed six - three focusing on Erdland, and three on Torland - presented in chronological order.

Art by Ted Nasmith

1. The Journeys of Ortega

Of all heroes of the Ortegid dynasty, their progenitor, Ortega, is the one we know the least about. What little overarching plot Dragon Quest III has is driven by him - he's a legendary warrior of Aliahan and the father of the protagonist, who in turn would become known as the legendary hero Erdrick. Ortega feared that the sorcerer-king Baramos would pose a threat to his family, and set out to kill him shortly after the birth of his child, but was never heard from again.

Your motivation in DQ3 mostly boils down to avenging your father and/or living up to his legacy, and he's mentioned at a few points throughout the game, even if his in-person screen time is minimal. We know a few places he went and a few characters he encountered, but much of his adventures are shrouded in mystery. The recent HD release added new cutscenes detailing more of Ortega's adventures, which I personally feel was a mistake - he had a lot more mystique when you only heard of him from NPCs' accounts and had to put the pieces together yourself. But the broad strokes we get could provide a good basis for a campaign.

In this campaign, the PCs would take the roles of companions of Ortega on his journey to the Southlands. Of all of these, this is the era that would probably have the most appeal to players already familiar with the Dragon Quest series, since it's grounded in events directly discussed in the games and would involve locations visited there. However, there's enough empty space in what we know to allow for DMs to add new quests and locations. The main drawback is that the presence of Ortega shackles things to canon events somewhat, which could lead to railroading and remove the sense of danger if players know he has to reach his canonical fate. Furthermore, you'd need to figure out how Ortega himself would be handled. While I personally don't have an issue with DMPCs, it's all too easy for them to turn into invincible plot devices that take all the glory from the actual PCs if run poorly. One way to get around this would be for Ortega to be run by a player, or for a PC to take his role in the story instead.

2. The Reign of Erdrick

Early on in DQ3, after returning his stolen crown, the King of Romaly offers to hand the throne over to you. You can accept the offer and play out a short scene of being the king and surveying your domain, but ultimately, you have to leave the position behind if you want to continue with the game. It's definitely a fun and memorable segment, though - and since a big part of Saga of the Ortegids is reframing the mechanics of the Dragon Quest games in a more realistic light, I think this could be made into a part of the setting's history.

Perhaps Erdrick did accept the crown of Romaly, but instead of abdicating right away, he sat on the throne for some years afterward before ultimately deciding to return to a life of adventure. If that's the case, we now have a few years' gap in our timeline that a campaign could take place in. Since there aren't any major changes to the world's status quo before and after this quest, we can assume that Erdrick's rule was a fairly peaceful one - but who knows what could have been happening behind the scenes?

This option would probably work best for a campaign taking place entirely or predominately in Romaly, with PCs being Romalian citizens during the reign of King Erdrick the Aliahanian. There are a number of directions it could be taken - it could simply be a backdrop for whatever adventures the PCs concern themselves with, but there are opportunities for storytelling if the DM does want to involve the royal court, too. After all, this would see a weak but familiar (and no doubt easily controlled) King cede the throne to a foreign barbarian, with no ties to the existing power players and no way of predicting his actions - and there would surely be factions with different opinions on the matter that PCs could get tied up in, if noble intrigue is on the menu.

Art by John Howe

3. After Baramos

After Erdrick's party departs for the Pit of Giaga and enters Torland, we don't hear from Erdland again. But it's a pretty expansive setting with many interesting areas and cultures, as I've blogged about extensively, and it would be a shame to let it go to waste. What was going on on the surface while Erdrick was saving Alefgard? This campaign would address that question.

This campaign would deal with the repercussions of a few major shakeups in the setting. Baramos has just been slain, and that leaves Gondo - a pretty major kingdom, and a strategically important one - without a ruler. This could lead to a power vacuum with multiple factions seeking to take control. Consider how it's implied that Baramos himself overthrew the previous rulership. There could be loyal subjects of the sorcerer-king hoping to continue his legacy going up against the downtrodden natives looking to finally liberate themselves from tyrannical rule, mixed in with other kingdoms hoping to swoop in and take some of the land for themselves, or install a ruler they can trust to serve their interests. At the center of all this is a pit known for spawning monsters, from which an ascendant dark god has just issued a threat to take over. Some factions would likely want to make sure this threat is controlled as soon as possible, and see themselves as the best ones to do it, while to others, it would be an obstacle to their ambitions that they would need dealt with before they enact their plans.

There are other potential plot hooks here, too. For one, Gondo wouldn't be the only nation in crisis - consider also that Zipangu has had its own draconic ruler killed, and that she was able to keep the populace controlled through fear and fanatic devotion. What happens when that centralizing force is taken away? Additionally, upon hearing Zoma's challenge, the King of Aliahan falls into a deep sense of malaise and hopelessness. This could itself provide issues to the kingdom if the ruler is no longer interested in ruling, and some factions both abroad and from within might well see their chance to strike when he is at his weakest.

4. The Rise of Lorasia

When we leave the protagonist of Dragon Quest I, he has set off to establish a new kingdom of his own in a distant land - and when we pick up in the sequel, the continent-spanning empire he founded has been split into three kingdoms ruled by his heirs. That gives us a lot of ground to cover, and it's one that would be a perfect fit for certain campaign models.

In this campaign, PCs would be Alefgarder settlers who followed Aleph Wyrmbeorn to Lorasia, then an unsettled and disjointed wilderness, in the early days of his kingdom, and would play a role in shaping its fate. This would be an exploration-focused campaign - PCs might be tasked with surveying the land, establishing new trade routes, and dealing with locals, who may or may not be friendly. In other words, it'd work very well for a sandbox campaign, perhaps something like West Marches.

There would also be room for domain-level play - an empire of the size of Aleph's would surely need regional power centers in order to project power effectively, and PCs could take the roles of dukes, counts, and barons carving out their own feudal demesne in the new kingdom. This in turn provides a good prospect for PCs to advance their place in society - they might start as peasants dreaming of a better life or landless second sons of nobles back home, but through service to the new King could be rewarded with domains of their own.

Art by Chris Achilleos

5. The First Kinslayer War

However, as great of an empire as Aleph's was, we know that it didn't last long after his death. The three Ortegid kingdoms of DQ2 are all descended from those that the empire was split into after the land was divided among Aleph's three sons. We have little in the way of details as to what happened between then and the present day of 2, but any student of history can tell you it probably wasn't a time of peace. The division of a great empire has often led to civil war, with disparate factions competing to reunify the bygone kingdom and take back territory from their neighbors. Alliances would constantly be made and broken, and the map could drastically change even from month to month.

A campaign set in the heat of such a period could have many opportunities. PCs might be in the service of one of the three kingdoms, taking part in battles against its rivals or conducting more clandestine operations in service of their goals. Alternatively, the chaos of the war could serve as a backdrop for their adventures - and there's plenty of ways a party could take advantage of the instability of the situation and the diverted attention of the authorities to their own benefit. Battles between the warring states could form obstacles the party would have to navigate around, so as to get from one point to the other without being caught up in the crossfire.

One way to really make this campaign fun would be to run it as a direct sequel to a campaign set in the previous era, with the same group. First, players would be involved in the establishment of the Ortegid Empire, carving out their own sphere of influence within it. Then, you jump forward a few decades to take a look at those domains ravaged by civil war! The PCs from the previous campaigns could become NPCs, while the strongholds they built could be revisited. This would be a great way to build more attachment to the setting if the players had a role in shaping it, as well as making for a living, dynamic game world where the choices players made in one setting impact the next.

6. The Second Kinslayer War

So here's a bit of trivia for you.

The ending for Dragon Quest II is a pretty conventional one. The evil is defeated, and everyone goes home and celebrates, roll credits. This was a time before storytelling was really a priority in video games. But in an interview, Yuji Horii described the ending we were going to get, had his original plan been implemented.

In it, there's a key difference to the final game - in order to defeat Malroth, the Prince of Samartoria (or Cannock - I'm aware that he's never actually been called that in English, and I'm stretching the rules I set for myself a bit in using the Japanese name for the country rather than the city, but I want to be consistent) must sacrifice his life. This has some interesting parallels with how Malroth was summoned through a willing human sacrifice, and it fits in pretty well if you are to interpret this as the Spell of Embodiment being dispelled through the same process. Anyway, in this version, the Prince's sister is told of his fate when the Prince of Lorasia travels to Cannock to celebrate their victory. Mad with grief, she blames the Prince of Lorasia for her brother's fate, and stabs him to death when he retires to his room.

This was scrapped because they didn't have enough disk space for such a cutscene, and they decided in retrospect it would make for a really unsatisfying ending. And I suppose, from the perspective of a video game, it would. Plenty of gamers would be frustrated to sink many hours into a game only for their character to be assassinated just before the credits. However, it's also something straight out of a Greek myth or a Norse saga. And, me being me, that alone is enough to make me prefer it over the ending we got - especially when this project draws heavily on myths and oral tradition for inspiration.

A potential campaign could be set immediately after the events of DQ2 - but using this ending instead. Such an act would have plenty of interesting consequences. Lorasia would surely want to take action if their crown prince was murdered at the neighboring kingdom's capital, and if we presume that Lorasia and Samartoria fought a war in the past, this could ignite old tensions between them. At the same time, both kingdoms just days ago were fighting a war against Rhone, and they might be in a precarious position, their forces exhausted and morale strained. Furthermore, you have Moonbrooke in the middle - surely they were hoping to rebuild their destroyed capital and get things back to normal following the defeat of Rhone, only for things to get even worse. And Rhone itself would be dealing with the immediate fallout of the death of Hargon, leaving them with a succession crisis of their own.

The PCs would be caught in the middle of all of this, as the celebrations that one war is over quickly turn to dread over the new war just beginning. They could ally themselves with any number of factions springing up in the aftermath, or try to get by in the middle of a rapidly combusting powder keg. In addition to the many potential leads to pursue, this is a campaign that would offer fanservice for players familiar with the series, taking place in the direct fallout of one of the games and with opportunities for recognizable characters, locations, and items to make an appearance, but there's still room for the PCs to be important. Any campaign set in an existing universe risks having the PCs be overshadowed by canon characters, but if two of the three heroes of DQ2 are dead and the Princess of Moonbrooke is busy trying to hold the remnants of her people together, they aren't going to get in the way.