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.