Creature Loot: S

Hopefully this series hasn't jumped the sahuagin

Back on track for the monster loot! And nearly finished, too - after this, only 4 more articles and we're done! If you haven't been following this crazy journey, click here for more information.

Sahuagin (1/2) – humanoid (survival)

• 1 Tattered Spear
• 1 Sahuagin Fin: No immediate use. Can be crafted (alchemist’s supplies) into a Potion of Animal Friendship that only affects creatures with a swim speed.

Sahuagin Priestess (2) – humanoid (survival)

• 1 Sahuagin Fin: No immediate use. Can be crafted (alchemist’s supplies) into a Potion of Animal Friendship that only affects creatures with a swim speed.
• 1 Sahuagin Fish Maw of Sekolah: A creature holding the fish maw can cast Hold Person (save DC 12) using the fish maw as the material component for the spell. This consumes the fish maw.

Sahuagin Baron (5) – humanoid (survival)

• 1 Tattered Breastplate
• 1 Tattered Trident
• 2 Sahuagin Fin: No immediate use. Can be crafted (alchemist’s supplies) into a Potion of Animal Friendship that only affects creatures with a swim speed.
• 1d4 Hand of a Sahuagin Baron: If placed on the ground, crawls towards the nearest place where blood was spilled within the last 24 hours. It can sense a blood spill up to 600 feet away. 3 of these can be carefully crafted (leatherworker’s tools) into a map that automatically marks the location of a murder that occurs within 1 mile of the map. The map magically draws the location and the surrounding area. The marks last for 24 hours after the murder occurs.
• 1 Sahuagin Baron Head: When held, grants advantage on Charisma (Intimidation) checks made to influence Sahuagin. Can be carefully crafted (smith’s tools) into a Sahuagin Skull Lantern. Sahuagin in the light of the lantern must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be hypnotized by the lantern, as if they had been affected by a Hypnotic Pattern spell. This also affects Malenti.
• 1 Sahuagin Baron Heart: No immediate use. Can be mastercrafted (alchemist’s supplies) into a Potion of Elven Enmity (grants advantage on attack rolls made against elves, and advantage on saving throws made against an effect originating from elves for 1 hour).

Salamander (5) – elemental (arcana)

• 1 Heated Spear: Acts as a spear that deals an additional 1d6 Fire damage on a hit.
• 1 Salamander Hide: Acts as a very warm blanket. Can be mastercrafted (leatherworker’s tools) into a cloak that requires attunement, and grants an attuned creature resistance to fire damage.
• 1d4-2 Fire Snake Eggs: A 2-foot black obsidian sphere that is very heavy and difficult to touch. A creature touching the egg takes 1d6 fire damage per round. If placed in a fire and not removed for 3 months, hatches into a Fire Snake. The Fire Snake is not hostile to the first creature it sees, and can be trained if kept away from Salamander culture. However, it retains its alignment and is very difficult to train.
• 2d2 Motes of Elemental Fire: Appears as a rock that glows dimly. If dropped into an open flame, casts Faerie Fire centered on the mote. Can be used as the material component of a Commune spell to contact a deity in the Elemental Plane of Fire. Using either of these abilities destroys the mote.

Fire Snake (1) – elemental (arcana)

• 1d2 Motes of Elemental Fire: Appears as a rock that glows dimly. If dropped into an open flame, casts Faerie Fire centered on the mote. Can be used as the material component of a Commune spell to contact a deity in the Elemental Plane of Fire. Using either of these abilities destroys the mote.

Satyr (1/2) – fey (religion)

• 1d2 Satyr’s Horn: No immediate use. Can be carefully crafted (woodcarver’s tools) into one of the following items:
1. A smoking pipe that creates pleasant smoke. Once per day, the user may cast Charm Person (save DC 13) on a target breathing the smoke.
2. A flute that plays gentle music. Once per day, the user may play the flute, and any creature within 60 feet that can hear the flute must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or fall asleep and become unconscious for 1 minute. The affect ends if the creature takes damage or is shaken awake, or if the user doesn’t use their action that round to continue to play the flute.
3. A small horn that creates a frighteningly loud sound. Once per day, the user may blow into the horn and cast Fear (save DC 13).

Not exactly, but close

Scarecrow (1) – construct (arcana)

• 1 Hag’s Soul Stone: Contains the soul of an evil creature. Destroying the stone puts the creature’s soul to rest. Can be carefully crafted by a spellcaster (Transmutation) into a Scarecrow. The Scarecrow has a 50% chance of disobeying non-evil commands.

Shadow (1/2) – undead (religion)

• 1 Wisp of Shadow: Destroyed if exposed to sunlight. 5 of these can be carefully crafted (conjuration) by a spellcaster into a Shadow Crossing, a portal that leads to the Shadowfell. The portal is permanently affixed to the location where it is crafted. 20 of these can be mastercrafted (transmutation) by a spellcaster into a Portable Hole.

Shambling Mound (5) – plant (nature)

• 1 Shambling Mound Root-Stem: When held by a creature, that creature gains resistance to lightning damage as the stem draws the energy towards it. Can be mastercrafted (abjuration) by a spellcaster into an amulet of lightning absorption, which requires attunement. An attuned creature is immune to lightning damage, and if it would take lightning damage, it instead regains hit points equal to the damage that would have been dealt.
• 4d8 Shambling Mound Vines: Acts as a whip. Can be crafted (alchemist’s supplies) into a Potion of Fire Resistance or a Potion of Cold Resistance.

Shield Guardian (7) – construct (arcana)

• 1 Shield Guardian Helm: Requires attunement. An attuned creature gains blindsight out to 10 feet.
• 1 Set of Shield Guardian Armor: Acts as splint armor. A creature wearing the armor has advantage on saving throws made to avoid the frightened condition.
• 2 Shield Guardian Gauntlets: Acts as a shield. A creature wearing the gauntlet gains the attack action of hitting an enemy with the gauntleted fist, dealing 1d6 bludgeoning damage on a hit.
• 1 Rune of Rebuilding: Etched onto a scrap of metal. A creature holding the rune can cast Mending from it at will. If the metal is used as a component in a vessel, vehicle, or mechanical creation, the item regains 10 hit points each round as long as it has at least 1 hit point.
• 1 Spell Gem: Can store one spell of 4th level or lower. To do so, the user must cast the spell on the gem. The spell has no effect but is stored within the gem. When commanded to do so by the creature holding the gem or when a situation arises that was predefined by the spellcaster, the gem casts the stored spell with any parameters set by the original caster, requiring no components. When the spell is cast or a new spell is stored, any previously stored spell is lost.
• 1 Shield Guardian Control Amulet: Usually found as loot on the creature controlling the Shield Guardian. Confers full control over the Shield Guardian.

Skeleton (1/4) – undead (religion)

• 1 Tattered Shortsword
• 1 Tattered Shortbow
• 1 Desecrated Skull: Acts as an arcane focus when casting Necromancy spells.

Minotaur Skeleton (2) – undead (religion)

• 1 Tattered Greataxe
• 1d2 Minotaur Horns: No immediate use. Can be mastercrafted (alchemist’s supplies) into a Potion of Recall, which grants the drinker the ability to perfectly recall any path they have traveled for up to 8 hours. The drinker automatically succeeds on saving throws made to escape the Maze spell and similar areas.
• 1 Desecrated Minotaur Skull: Acts as an arcane focus when casting Necromancy spells.

Warhorse Skeleton (1/2) – undead (religion)

• 1 Desecrated Horse Skull: Acts as an arcane focus when casting Necromancy spells.

Slaadi



Frogs! So random

Tadpole (1/8) – aberration (arcana)

• 1 Slaad Egg: No immediate use. If ingested by a humanoid, the egg causes a disease in the host. Over three months, the egg moves to the chest cavity, gestates, and forms a slaad tadpole. In the 24-hour period before giving birth, the host starts to feel unwell, its speed is halved, and it has disadvantage on attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws. At birth, the tadpole chews its way through vital organs and out of the host's chest in 1 round, killing the host in the process. If the disease is cured before the tadpole's emergence, the unborn slaad is disintegrated.

Red Slaadi (5) – aberration (arcana)

• 2d4 Slaad Egg: No immediate use. If ingested by a humanoid, the egg causes a disease in the host. Over three months, the egg moves to the chest cavity, gestates, and forms a slaad tadpole. In the 24-hour period before giving birth, the host starts to feel unwell, its speed is halved, and it has disadvantage on attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws. At birth, the tadpole chews its way through vital organs and out of the host's chest in 1 round, killing the host in the process. If the disease is cured before the tadpole's emergence, the unborn slaad is disintegrated.
• 1d2 Slaad Eyes: If ingested, grants the user telepathy out to 60 feet for one hour. At the end of this time, the user must roll on the Wild Magic table (PHB pg. 104).
• 1d4 Red Slaad Claws: Acts as a dagger. If unused, can be mastercrafted (jeweler’s tools) into a device similar to a hypodermic needle, which can be used to inject liquids directly into a creature’s bloodstream.
• 1 Control Gem: No immediate use. Can be used to control the Slaad whose head it inhabits if removed by 9^th level magic or careful surgery, without killing the Slaad. Can be crushed as a reaction to negate one roll on the Wild Magic Table.

Blue Slaadi (7) – aberration (arcana)

• 1d4 Slaad Egg: No immediate use. If ingested by a humanoid, the egg causes a disease in the host. Over three months, the egg moves to the chest cavity, gestates, and forms a slaad tadpole. In the 24-hour period before giving birth, the host starts to feel unwell, its speed is halved, and it has disadvantage on attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws. At birth, the tadpole chews its way through vital organs and out of the host's chest in 1 round, killing the host in the process. If the disease is cured before the tadpole's emergence, the unborn slaad is disintegrated.
• 1d2 Slaad Eyes: If ingested, grants the user telepathy out to 60 feet for one hour. At the end of this time, the user must roll on the Wild Magic table (PHB pg. 104).
• 2d4 Slaad Claws: Acts as a dagger. The first time it lands a hit on a creature, that creature must roll on the Wild Magic table (PHB pg. 104).
• 2 Blue Slaadi Hooks: Acts as a sickle. When it successfully hits a creature for the first time, that creature must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be infected with a disease called chaos phage. While infected, the target can't regain hit points, and its hit point maximum is reduced by 10 (3d6) every 24 hours. If the disease reduces the target's hit point maximum to 0, the target instantly transforms into a red slaad or, if it has the ability to cast spells of 3^rd level or higher, a green slaad. Only a wish spell can reverse the transformation.
• 1 Control Gem: No immediate use. Can be used to control the Slaad whose head it inhabits if removed by 9^th level magic or careful surgery, without killing the Slaad. Can be crushed as a reaction to negate one roll on the Wild Magic Table.

Green Slaadi (8) – aberration (arcana)

• 1d4 Slaad Egg: No immediate use. If ingested by a humanoid, the egg causes a disease in the host. Over three months, the egg moves to the chest cavity, gestates, and forms a slaad tadpole. In the 24-hour period before giving birth, the host starts to feel unwell, its speed is halved, and it has disadvantage on attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws. At birth, the tadpole chews its way through vital organs and out of the host's chest in 1 round, killing the host in the process. If the disease is cured before the tadpole's emergence, the unborn slaad is disintegrated.
• 1d2 Slaad Eyes: If ingested, grants the user telepathy out to 60 feet for one hour. At the end of this time, the user must roll on the Wild Magic table (PHB pg. 104).
• 2d4 Slaad Claws: Acts as a dagger. The first time it lands a hit on a creature, that creature must roll on the Wild Magic table (PHB pg. 104).
• 1 Hunk of Slaad Brain Matter: If ingested, transforms a small or medium humanoid into a Red Slaad for 1 hour. Its statistics, other than its size, are the same in the alternate form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn't transformed. It reverts to its true form if it dies. At the end of the duration, the user must roll on the Wild Magic table (PHB pg. 104).
• 1 Slaad Chaos Staff: Acts as a Wand of the War Mage +2 in the hands of a Wild Magic Sorcerer. Any other spellcasting class can use it as an Arcane Focus. When a spell is cast from this staff, roll on the Wild Magic table (PHB pg. 104), unless a Wild Magic surge has already been triggered due to the casting of the spell.
• 1 Control Gem: Can be crushed as a reaction to negate one roll on the Wild Magic Table. Can be used to control the Slaad whose head it inhabits if removed by 9^th level magic or careful surgery, without killing the Slaad.
• 1 Green Slaad Chaos Heart: Can be crushed to cast a random spell. Roll 1d6:
1. Detect Magic (as if holder had cast)
2. Detect Thoughts (as if holder had cast)
3. Mage Hand (as if holder had cast, appears as Slaad hand)
4. Fear (targeting holder)
5. Invisibility (targeting holder)
6. Fireball (centered on holder)

Gray Slaadi (9) – aberration (arcana)

• 2d4 Slaad Egg: No immediate use. If ingested by a humanoid, the egg causes a disease in the host. Over three months, the egg moves to the chest cavity, gestates, and forms a slaad tadpole. In the 24-hour period before giving birth, the host starts to feel unwell, its speed is halved, and it has disadvantage on attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws. At birth, the tadpole chews its way through vital organs and out of the host's chest in 1 round, killing the host in the process. If the disease is cured before the tadpole's emergence, the unborn slaad is disintegrated.
• 1d2 Slaad Eyes: If ingested, grants the user telepathy out to 60 feet for one hour. At the end of this time, the user must roll on the Wild Magic table (PHB pg. 104).
• 2d4 Slaad Claws: Acts as a dagger. The first time it lands a hit on a creature, that creature must roll on the Wild Magic table (PHB pg. 104).
• 1 Hunk of Slaad Brain Matter: If ingested, transforms a small or medium humanoid into a Red Slaad for 1 hour. Its statistics, other than its size, are the same in the alternate form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn't transformed. It reverts to its true form if it dies. At the end of the duration, the user must roll on the Wild Magic table (PHB pg. 104).
• 1 Slaad Liver: No immediate use. Can be carefully crafted (cook’s utensils) into a meal that allows 1 creature to regain 10 hit points per round, as long as they have at least 1 hit point remaining, for 1 hour.
• 1 Control Gem: Can be crushed as a reaction to negate one roll on the Wild Magic Table. Can be used to control the Slaad whose head it inhabits if removed by 9^th level magic or careful surgery, without killing the Slaad.
• 1 Grey Slaad Chaos Heart: Can be crushed to cast a random spell. Roll 1d6.
1. Detect Magic (as if holder had cast)
2. Detect Thoughts (as if holder had cast)
3. Major Image (as if holder had cast)
4. Fear (targeting holder)
5. Fireball (centered on holder)
6. Plane Shift (targeting holder, sent to the Spawning Stone on the plane of Limbo)

Death Slaadi (10) – aberration (arcana)

• 2d4 Slaad Egg: No immediate use. If ingested by a humanoid, the egg causes a disease in the host. Over three months, the egg moves to the chest cavity, gestates, and forms a slaad tadpole. In the 24-hour period before giving birth, the host starts to feel unwell, its speed is halved, and it has disadvantage on attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws. At birth, the tadpole chews its way through vital organs and out of the host's chest in 1 round, killing the host in the process. If the disease is cured before the tadpole's emergence, the unborn slaad is disintegrated.
• 1d2 Slaad Eyes: If ingested, grants the user telepathy out to 60 feet for one hour. At the end of this time, the user must roll on the Wild Magic table (PHB pg. 104).
• 2d4 Slaad Claws: Acts as a dagger. The first time it lands a hit on a creature, that creature must roll on the Wild Magic table (PHB pg. 104).
• 1 Hunk of Slaad Brain Matter: If ingested, transforms a small or medium humanoid into a Red Slaad for 1 hour. Its statistics, other than its size, are the same in the alternate form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn't transformed. It reverts to its true form if it dies. At the end of the duration, the user must roll on the Wild Magic table (PHB pg. 104).
• 1 Slaad Liver: No immediate use. Can be carefully crafted (cook’s utensils) into a meal that allows 1 creature to regain 10 hit points per round, as long as they have at least 1 hit point remaining, for 1 hour.
• 1 Control Gem: Can be crushed as a reaction to negate one roll on the Wild Magic Table. Can be used to control the Slaad whose head it inhabits if removed by 9^th level magic or careful surgery, without killing the Slaad.
• 1 Death Slaad Chaos Heart: Can be crushed to cast a random spell. Roll 1d6.
1. Detect Magic (as if holder had cast)
2. Detect Thoughts (as if holder had cast)
3. Fly (as if holder had cast)
4. Fireball (centered on holder)
5. Plane Shift (targeting holder, sent to the Plane of Negative Energy)
6. Cloudkill (centered on holder)
• 1 Death Slaad Hide: No immediate use. Can be mastercrafted (leatherworker’s tools) into a cloak that grants resistance to necrotic damage.

Specter (1) – undead (religion)

• 1 Vial of Ectoplasm: No immediate use. Can be crafted (alchemist’s supplies) into a potion of Invisibility or an Oil of Etherealness.

Sphinxes

Androsphinx (17) – monstrosity (nature)

• 6d4 Sphinx Feathers: A creature holding the feather can cast Misty Step. This destroys the feather. 10 of these can be mastercrafted (conjuration) by a spellcaster into an amulet that requires attunement. An attuned creature can cast Dimension Door from the amulet. Once this spell has been cast 2 times, it cannot be cast again until the next dawn.
• 1 Mane of the Sphinx: No immediate use. Can be mastercrafted (weaver’s tools) into a crown that requires attunement. An attuned creature can cast Plane Shift once per day. Gods or extraplanar beings who were allied with or sympathetic to the Sphinx’s mission will react negatively to the attuned creature.
• 1 Heart of the Androsphinx: No immediate use. Can be mastercrafted (conjuration) by a spellcaster into a Rod of Heroes Feast. The Rod has 2 charges and requires attunement. While attuned, a creature can expend 1 charge to cast Heroes Feast. The Rod regains 1 expended charge daily at dawn. If the Rod is reduced to 0 charges, roll a d20. On a 1, the Rod cracks and becomes useless.
• 2 Eyes of the Sphinx: Can be consumed as an action. A creature that consumes the eye is under the effects of a Detect Magic spell for 1 hour, no concentration required. Can be mastercrafted (alchemist’s supplies) into a Potion of Truesight, which confers truesight out to 120 feet for 1 hour when consumed.
• 2d4 Claws of the Androsphinx: Acts as a magic dagger. If a creature is at 0 hit points when struck by the dagger, they take no damage and are instead subject to a Spare the Dying spell. The dagger loses its magic once it successfully casts the spell upon a target.
• 1 Sphinx Tail: Acts as a magic whip. A creature struck by the whip must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or become 1d20 years older or younger (wielder’s choice), but never any younger than 1 year old. A Greater Restoration spell restores a creature’s age to normal.
• 1 Sphinx’s Raiment: Counts as a 2,500 gp art object. Requires attunement. A creature attuned to the Raiment can use their action to alter the flow of time and force each creature within 500 feet to reroll initiative. The initiative count restarts at the top of the initiative. Once this ability has been used, it can’t be used again until the next dawn.
• 1 Throat of the Sphinx: No immediate use. Can be carefully crafted (leatherworker’s tools) into a horn. A creature can use its action to blow the horn, forcing each other creature within 500 feet to make a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, a creature is frightened for 1 minute. A frightened creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. Once the horn has been used this way, it can’t be used again until the next dawn.
• 2 Sphinx Pelt: Can be carefully crafted (leatherworker’s tools) into a cloak that requires attunement. An attuned creature is immune to any effect that would sense its emotions or read its thoughts, as well as any divination spell it refuses. Wisdom (Insight) checks made to ascertain the creature’s intentions or sincerity have disadvantage.

Feel free to make your sphinxes equally large

Gynosphinx (11) – monstrosity (nature)

• 3d4 Sphinx Feathers: A creature holding the feather can cast Misty Step. This destroys the feather. 10 of these can be mastercrafted (conjuration) by a spellcaster into an amulet that requires attunement. An attuned creature can cast Dimension Door from the amulet. Once this spell has been cast 2 times, it cannot be cast again until the next dawn.
• 1 Heart of the Gynosphinx: No immediate use. Can be mastercrafted (divination) by a spellcaster into a Rod of Legend Lore. The Rod has 2 charges and requires attunement. While attuned, a creature can expend 1 charge to cast Legend Lore. The Rod regains 1 expended charge daily at dawn. If the Rod is reduced to 0 charges, roll a d20. On a 1, the Rod cracks and becomes useless.
• 2 Eyes of the Sphinx: Can be consumed as an action. A creature that consumes the eye is under the effects of a Detect Magic spell for 1 hour, no concentration required. Can be mastercrafted (alchemist’s supplies) into a Potion of Truesight, which confers truesight out to 120 feet for 1 hour when consumed.
• 2d4 Claws of the Gynosphinx: Acts as a magic dagger. If the dagger is stuck into the ground, a Minor Illusion is created in the 5 foot cube above where the dagger is stuck. The creature who stuck the dagger determines the illusion, which can only be a still image. The DC of the Intelligence (Investigation) check required to discern the image is an illusion is 17. The dagger loses its magic once it successfully casts the spell.
• 1 Sphinx Tail: Acts as a magic whip. A creature struck by the whip must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or become 1d20 years older or younger (wielder’s choice), but never any younger than 1 year old. A Greater Restoration spell restores a creature’s age to normal.
• 1 Sphinx’s Raiment: Counts as a 2,500 gp art object. Requires attunement. A creature attuned to the Raiment can use their action to alter the flow of time and force each creature within 500 feet to reroll initiative. Once this ability has been used, it can’t be used again until the next dawn.
• 1 Sphinx Pelt: Can be carefully crafted (leatherworker’s tools) into a cloak that requires attunement. An attuned creature is immune to any effect that would sense its emotions or read its thoughts, as well as any divination spell it refuses. Wisdom (Insight) checks made to ascertain the creature’s intentions or sincerity have disadvantage.

Sprite (1/4) – fey (religion)

• 1 Pinch of Sprite Dust: If sprinkled over a creature, that creature gains the ability to touch another creature and magically know the touched creature’s current emotional state for 1 minute. If the target fails a DC 10 Charisma saving throw, the creature also knows the touched creature's alignment. Celestials, fiends, and undead automatically fail the saving throw.

Stirge (1/8) – beast (nature)

•  1 Stirge Stinger - acts as a piton, can be crafted into a pen (calligrapher's supplies)

Succubus/Incubus (4) – fiend (religion)

• 1 Succubus/Incubus Heart: No immediate use. Can be mastercrafted (transmutation) into one vial of Oil of Etherealness.
• 1d2 Succubus/Incubus Wings: Acts as a blanket. Can be carefully crafted (leatherworker’s tools) into a Hat of Disguise.
• 1 Head of the Succubus/Incubus: The succubus/incubus can continue to see and speak through its head. It can use its Charm and Draining Kiss actions, and seeks to protect itself and return to the plane of existence it originated from. The head dies when it is targeted by a Bless spell or sprinkled with Holy Water.
• 1d4 Succubus/Incubus Claws: Acts as a magic dagger. If two or more creatures each attune to a dagger from the same succubus/incubus, they are under the effect of a Rary’s Telepathic Bond spell.

Finally back to respectable 4000 word articles. Next week, let's kick this off with Mr. T himself.

I truly, truly pity the fool

Thanks for reading!

Common Sense and a Little Class

Though most folks are short on both

I've been thinking recently about running a game with a little more grit than your average game. However, I don't want to change the setting to a grittier world. (But how cool would it be to have adventurers be mostly commoners and the occasional 5e Character Class be on the level of a Demigod? Dang cool)

So instead of dialing up my Grimdark-o-meter, I can simply lower the power of the players! And I can do that by making a class just for commoners. You know, the unwashed masses?

But I want to accomplish two things: first, I don't want to give a Commoner a neat ability that a player wouldn't ever have. That's just begging to unbalance the game. Second, I want these commoners to eventually be able to take up adventuring if they wish to.

You see, it's not a terrible secret, but nearly every NPC in the Monster Manual is just the Commoner stat block with a bunch of levels stacked onto it. So it stands to reason that a commoner who "answers a higher calling" to adventure could just as easily "answer a higher calling" to become a Priest, Archmage, or Thug. So we don't want to give these "ascended commoners" a weird leg up.

So how do we do this? Simple - we just use the Commoner Class as a method for building a background. By the time a character reaches the end of the commoner class, they can become an adventurer - or not.

Here's how that would look.

Commoner Class

Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d8 (does not increase per Commoner Level)
Hit Points at 1st level: 4 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at higher levels: 1 per Commoner level after 1st

Proficiencies
Armor: None
Weapons: None
Tools: None
Saving Throws: None
Skills: None

Equipment

• Fine Clothes, Robes of a Faction, Common Clothes, or Rags
• A pouch of Copper and Silver pieces (your DM and your Role determine how much)
• A Set of Tools related to your Apprenticeship, or a Book in the Language you learn

Role
At 1st level, a commoner already knows their place in the world. Your ability scores must be 10 before adding racial modifiers, you do not gain the benefits of a Background, and you must select a Role to undertake in your community. This Role determines how you survive in the setting. Work with your DM to determine your Role, choose from the list below, or roll randomly.

In addition to the Role you choose, you must create two personality traits, an ideal, a bond, and a flaw for your character. See the Player's Handbook pg. 123 for detailed descriptions of each of these traits. Each time you gain a level in the Commoner class, you may change any one of these traits, which reflects your personal growth.

Apprenticeship
At 1st level, and again at 3rd level, you gain the benefits of prolonged study in a specific profession. Select a Tool or Language and gain proficiency in it. The Tool or Language can be related to your Role, but it can also reflect training from your past.

Education
At 2nd level, and again at 4th level, your interactions with the world and the people within it have expanded your understanding. Select a Skill and gain proficiency in it. The Skill can be related to your Role, or it can reflect something you have learned through your exploration of the world.

Connections
By 5th level, you have forged a bond with a certain type of person, place, or faction. Work with your DM to determine the benefits created by that bond. The benefit you receive cannot affect your combat capabilities in any way. However, your connections can grant you leverage in situations that require exploration or interaction with the world and the people in it.

Destiny
By 5th level, you are a capable member of society. You could easily live the rest of your life with the trades, skills, and connections you have forged. However, your character may not wish to be consigned to such a simple life. At 5th level, you may recreate your character using the Player's Handbook classes, equipment, and stats.

To properly reflect this transformation, your character may need to spend months or even years training with a member of your class or a faction that instructs members of your class, such as a Bardic College or Military Academy. Work with your DM to determine how long such training would take.

If your character would rather not become an adventurer, they can instead become an NPC. Select an NPC stat block from the Monster Manual (MM pg. 342). Your character works to learn the skills required to become that NPC, taking an amount of time equal to the NPC's CR x 3 years. Your DM may restrict or allow certain NPC stat blocks based on their availability to your character.

Why bother adventuring when you can upgrade to Noble?

Now, since we need our character to start their adventuring career with 0 XP, I'd suggest using milestone experience for the commoner class. Focus on life events, surviving, and personal growth - since that's what the class emphasizes. It's no different than writing a lot of social encounters because the party contains a Bard. You could even do multiple milestones a session, since leveling is relatively easy.

Finally, let's talk combat. These PCs are the equivalent of a CR 0 monster. Thus, I'd only use CR 0 and CR 1/8 monsters against them. I'm not kidding - more than a single encounter with a few rats could kill one of these Commoners. Kicked by a mule? Dead. Surprised by a Crawling Claw? Goodbye. Flumphs are now officially terrifying.

All in all, I wouldn't play with Commoners for more than a few sessions. D&D is about heroism, adventure, and gaining power over the world. It's hard to feel heroic when you get one-shotted by a single Kobold. But it can establish a baseline about the world and how much the people within it need saving.

Unfortunately, most commoners end up using this mini...

Thanks for reading!

Monday Recap: Spreading Chaos

If this were a dragon claw, it'd be the perfect picture for this campaign

In a shocking turn of events, my chaotic campaign actually found some time to play! Not shocking because of the players or the game, but shocking because most of us are going to be knee-deep in our gaming convention next week, and people have been crazy-busy preparing for it. I guess this weekend was the lull before the storm.

As such, next week will be some Old News, no Monday Recap. Sadly, as the end of the year approaches, I'll likely be putting out fewer recaps and more stories from my games before this blog existed. Between vacations, holidays, and events, it's hard to run a decent session. I'll be doing my best to put some one-shot adventures into place!

This story is part 2 of a series. The campaign is complete.

| Previous Campaign | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 |

Campaign of Chaos: Spreading Chaos

Cast of Characters
Jon: Dungeon Master
Shannon: Cressen Juhl, Fallen Aasimar Trickery Cleric of Ralishaz, hates their dad Pholtus
Cody: Mist, Tabaxi Rogue, likes the shiny and shoots the arrows
Quinn: Jakky, Darkling Shadow Monk, sneaks into places to do a murder
Wade: Agne, Kobold Warlock of the Great Old Ones, killed his family for creepy powers
Wes: Magic Man, Drow Transumation Wizard, kind of creepy, teaches magical life lessons
Guest NPC: Frankie, old skeleton man, temporarily taking over the body of Ilsa, a Yuan-Ti Mystic

The group had just escaped from prison with the help of their wacky new patron and leader, Mr. Lizard. They had been given strange new Chaotic power, as well as some fancy magic items, so they were feeling good about the direction of their employment. Agne also worked on taming his new pet dragon, a creature made entirely of stars and darkness named Artorius.

However, their chaos powers diminished over time, and as they rested in the forests outside Garton, the control they held over their chaos diminished. Mr. Lizard told them that they could easily keep their powers alive by playing fun pranks on each other, and since he had a mission for them, they should do some pranks to make their chaos magic a bit more stable.

(This actually translates to game mechanics pretty well. I'm using the massive chaos effects table to determine the chaos effects, which happen every time they roll a critical hit or someone crit-fails on a save vs their spells. I just replace the first number of the roll with their Chaos Score: 0-3 means the effect will hit themselves, 4-7 means the chaos will affect their target, and 8-9 is just pure AOE chaos. So having a Chaos Score of 5 is much less dangerous than having a Chaos Score of 2. Science!)

The group began their pranks. Mist snuck up on his comrades and scared the crap out of them. Cressen made himself into a duplicate of Jakky and tried to convince him he was seeing double. Jakky cut a hole in Agne's robes, Agne used Artorius's Gravitic Breath to make people fall on their butts, and Magic Man tried to make Agne believe he was dying with illusions. Their efforts met with mixed success, but they had a good time doing it.

Artorius the Abyss Dragon

The group had suitably pranked each other and were feeling good about their chaos magic again. Mr. Lizard told them they were going to be infiltrating the Garton Mage's Guild to find an artifact called the Palace of Infinite Illusion. He said it would help them on their journey, while he prepared a spell that would help another part of the quest. Then, with a clap of his hands, he unceremoniously teleported them into the city.

They appeared in a small waiting room, with an open campus beyond it. Immediately ,an alarm started blaring and a voice said there were intruders present. The magic students in the area ran to their dorms or teleported away is panic, and the group headed into the main building.

They entered a lecture hall where a professor and his assistants were ushering students out of the doors. Agne loudly announced that they weren't the bad guys, which immediately caused the professor and his assistants to draw their wands and advance on the group. Ilsa and Jakky ran down to fight them, Mist disappeared into the seats ringing the hall, and the others prepared their magic. Artorius flew down and attacked with his Gravitic Breath, increasing the force of gravity around the professor.

The assistants turned invisible as the professor blasted Artorius with a Fireball. Thanks to Jakky's blindsight and Agne's Detect Thoughts, the group was able to locate the invisible assistants and make attacks against them. Cressen hit them with Sacred Flame and Magic Man busted out Ray of Frost, slowing down their movements.

Between Mist's arrows, Artorius' bite, and Ilsa's blades, the professor finally went down. The assistants decided to turn tail and run, but Jakky's speed and Mist's arrows caught up to them and put them down. Jakky determined that the professor's most valuable treasures were beyond the lower exit of the lecture hall, so the group headed through the door.

They discovered a study, where Jakky found a treasure chest containing a few healing potions and spell scrolls. Mist found a shelf of wizard liquor, and grabbed as much as he could. After spending (at least 10 minutes of real time) a moment discussing what direction they should go, they decided to (spend another 10 minutes figuring out a staircase) quickly go upstairs and check out the upper floor of the study.

The deadliest riddle of them all

They found a Divination Chamber and an Observatory. A book in the Divination Chamber proposed to tell them their fates, and allowed most of them to read about the next time a certain type of spell would affect them. Cressen refused to read his entry, since Ralishaz was a God of Chaos, and decided to burn the book instead. The others were slightly miffed at him.

In the observatory, they found two maps - one of Garlancia and one of the whole world, Ahneria. The Garlancian map had a circle near the coast and "Anesta destroyed - GIANTS???" was written on it. Meanwhile, the Ahnerian map had an outline of areas that had a known presence of the Black Hand, a secret smuggling and crime network. Agne found a magic telescope, but didn't know what sort of magic it held.

The group pressed forward, entering a long hall with a door at the far end reading "Library". However, they were accosted by a group of City Watch guards! The guards attacked, bolstered by a bard in the back of their group.

Jakky, Ilsa, and Agne ran forward, Agne trying to distract the guards with some false pleading. Mist leapt up onto a decorative gargoyle while Cressen cast Calm Emotions, taking the enemy barbarian out of the fight. Magic Man blasted away at the enemy, and Artorius breathed his Gravitic breath on the bard and rogue in the back.

The guards fell one by one, and when they were all down the group finally noticed a halfling fighter that had been stabbing them this whole time. She went down quickly, and the group immediately forgot about her again.

The party made their way into the library, and searched around for some books. Magic Man found a book that had a spell listed in it, and he grabbed it to copy into his own spellbook later. Mist decided to use his portable hole to take a small bookshelf. Otherwise, they didn't find anything too interesting, so they pressed onward to the next exit, which was labeled "to museum".

The museum turned out to be filled with strange artifacts and magic items, all of which did slightly different things. However, Mist was drawn to the shiniest thing in the room, a miniature model of a Palace in a glass case. Agne studied it with his Detect Magic spell, and the Palace gave off illusion magic while the case gave off evocation magic, meaning it was likely trapped. Remembering that the item they were supposed to find was called the Palace of Infinite Illusion, they proceeded to figure out how to steal the object from within the glass case.



It's only a model

After a few minutes (another 10 minutes of real time...) of discussion, Magic Man turned the base of the case into balsa wood, allowing them to easily break it off without breaking the glass case. However, at that moment, the door behind them froze into a solid sheet of ice, and a skinny Tiefling man with nerdy-looking glasses strode into the room - Mage Guild Headmaster Re'lar! He admonished the group and began to attack them with his powerful magic.

Mist leapt up onto a pillar and rushed along the walls to get a better shot, while Artorius flew forward and bit at Re'lar. Jakky, Ilsa, and Agne rushed forward again, while Cressen and Magic Man hung back and grabbed the Palace.

Re'lar let loose a mighty Lightning Bolt, which dropped Artorius to the ground. Magic Man's Scorching Ray spell did little against Re'lar's natural fire resistance, but Mist got a lucky arrow shot in. Jakky grabbed a magic-looking gauntlet as he ran forward and punched Re'lar with it, unleashing a powerful blast of wind that threw the wizard backwards.

Suddenly, a voice appeared in the group's heads: it was Mr. Lizard, telling them that they would be teleported out in a short moment. Each of them had only seconds to react, and Re'lar had just cast a powerful Ice Storm spell, bringing Magic Man down and making it difficult to move around.

Ilsa used her Rope of Entanglement to tie up Re'lar, and Mist threw his Portable Hole like a frisbee under the Tiefling's feet. Re'lar was halfway in the hole! Cressen healed Artorius, Agne grabbed the Palace and Magic Man, and Jakky did a flying kick to put Re'lar completely in the Portable Hole.

At that moment, they were teleported back to Mr. Lizard's forest hideout. Panting and exhausted, they handed over the Palace, still in its glass case. Mr. Lizard cracked open the case, simply ignoring the trap damage, and grabbed the Palace. He explained that with this, he could create an infinite series of training-gauntlet rooms that would allow the group to gain power quickly and maintain their Chaos control from mission to mission.

Mist also told Mr. Lizard they had captured Re'lar, and brought him out. Re'lar tried to use his magic to send a quick message, but Mr. Lizard stopped it. Re'lar told the group that the King's forces had already been notified of the attack on the Guild, and they didn't have any chance at survival.

Mr. Lizard asked Re'lar if they used to adventure together. Re'lar said yes but seemed confused, as only a few weeks ago, the two of them had saved Garton from destruction. Mr Lizard smiled and said "oh!", and using a finger-gun, blew Re'lar's head off.

The group was pretty shocked by this action. They had expected Re'lar to be a valuable source of information, not to be instantly killed by their boss. However, they didn't have much time to talk about it before Mr. Lizard teleported them again: this time, into the miniature Palace itself. He said to get training, since their next mission would take them to Auraglow, and they needed to be ready.

Finally, he let them draw from the Deck of Many Things again. This time, they drew Comet, which meant they could gain great power from their next victory. As Cressen healed Magic Man, the door to the palace shut, and they prepared for their next mission.

I guess he's not the Headmaster any longer...

That's where we stopped for the night! The players were a blast, as usual they did a bunch of stuff I wasn't expecting.

Particularly, I didn't at all expect them to capture Re'lar and bring him to Mr. Lizard. I was hoping Mr. Lizard's evil side would be more of a slow-burn reveal, but hopefully I can foster some dramatic tension about that scene with these characters, who although evil are certainly not interested in working for someone who would kill them on a whim.

We'll see how it goes!

Thanks for reading!

Creature Loot: R

It's the backwards hand of the tiiiiiiiger

Yeah, it's Friday, you know the drill. I tell you some cool items, you say "what?", I say "pay attention! Go here for more info!", and then you say "please sir, my family is trying to eat dinner."

Rakshasa (13) – fiend (religion)

• 1d4 Vials of Hellish Ichor: No immediate use. Forms into a Lemure after 1d10 days, unless the devil was killed by a good-aligned creature with Bless cast upon it, or if the ichor is splashed with holy water.
• 2d4 Rakshasa Fangs: 20 acts as a bag of caltrops. Can be carefully crafted (jeweler’s tools) into dice that are immune to any magical effect that could change their outcome.
• 2 Rakshasa Eyes: If consumed as an action, grants Darkvision out to 60 feet for 10 minutes. This darkvision is not impeded by magical darkness. Can be mastercrafted (Jeweler’s Tools) into an amulet or circlet that requires attunement, and can be used to cast True Seeing once per day.
• 1 Rakshasa Pelt: Acts as a blanket. Can be mastercrafted (leatherworker’s tools) into Leather Armor of Invulnerability. This functions as Armor of Invulnerability, except that when it is activated it does not grant immunity to piercing damage from magic weapons wielded by good creatures.
• 2 Rakshasa Hands: A creature holding the hand can use an action to cast Globe of Invulnerability, which lasts for the full duration without requiring concentration. This destroys the hand. Can be mastercrafted (divination) by a spellcaster into a stand that holds a Crystal Ball. Any Crystal Ball placed in the stand can cast Dominate Person through its sensor. This property can be used once per day.
• 2d4 Rakshasa Claws: Acts as a dagger. On a hit, the target is cursed if it is a creature. The magical curse takes effect whenever the target takes a short or long rest, filling the target's thoughts with horrible images and dreams. The cursed target gains no benefit from finishing a short or long rest. The curse lasts until it is lifted by a remove curse spell or similar magic. Once the claw has passed on the curse, it loses this property.
• 1 Rakshasa Tongue: No immediate use. Can be mastercrafted (transmutation) into an amulet that requires attunement. An attuned creature has advantage on saving throws against spells and magical effects, and can cast Disguise Self from the amulet at will.
• 1 Tome of Vengeance: Contains extensive details of the last person to slay this Rakshasa, including information about relatives and close friends. Obsessive and massive in scope.
• 1 Set of Fine Clothing: made of infernal cloth that is immune to fire damage and worth 100 GP.

Remorhaz (11) – monstrosity (nature)

• 6d10 Remorhaz Legs: Delicious, like pre-cooked crab legs. Can be carefully crafted (cook’s utensils) into a meal that grants resistance to cold and fire damage for 8 hours. One leg feeds one medium creature.
• 1 Adult Remorhaz Heat Gland: Difficult to handle, deals 10 (3d6) fire damage per round to any organic or metal material in contact with it. Can be mastercrafted (alchemist’s supplies) into a potion that grants immunity to cold damage for 1 hour.
• 1 Adult Remorhaz Carapace: Acts as a shield. Can be carefully crafted (smith’s tools) into plate armor that grants its wearer resistance to fire damage.
• 2d2 Remorhaz Antennae: No immediate use. Can be carefully crafted (alchemist’s supplies) into a Potion of Tremorsense (grants Tremorsense to 60 feet for 1 hour).
• 1 Remorhaz Stomach: No immediate use. Can be carefully crafted (leatherworker’s tools) into a set of leather armor that grants acid resistance when worn. Can be crafted (leatherworker’s tools) into a large tent that is immune to acid damage.

Young Remorhaz (5) – monstrosity (nature)

• 2d10 Remorhaz Legs: Delicious, like pre-cooked crab legs. Can be carefully crafted (cook’s utensils) into a meal that grants resistance to cold and fire damage for 8 hours. One leg feeds one medium creature.
• 1 Young Remorhaz Heat Gland: Difficult to handle, deals 7 (2d6) fire damage per round to any organic or metal material in contact with it. Can be mastercrafted (alchemist’s supplies) into a potion of cold resistance.
• 1 Young Remorhaz Carapace: Acts as a shield. Can be carefully crafted (smith’s tools) into half plate armor that grants its wearer resistance to fire damage.
• 1d2 Remorhaz Antennae: No immediate use. Can be carefully crafted (alchemist’s supplies) into a Potion of Tremorsense (grants Tremorsense to 60 feet for 1 hour).

"You find a small golden trophy on the now-still corpse"

Revenant (5) – undead (religion)

• 1 Tattered Leather Armor
• 1 Revenant Heart: Beats whenever the revenant is within 60 feet, no matter what body the revenant inhabits. Can be carefully crafted (necromancy) into an amulet that requires attunement by an undead creature. An attuned creature is immune to effects that turn undead.
• 1 Revenant Eye of Vengeance: A creature holding the eye can use an action to target one creature within 30 feet that it can see and that was the subject of the revenant’s vengeance. The target must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, the target is paralyzed until it takes damage, or until the end of the user’s next turn. When the paralysis ends, the target is frightened of the eye for 1 minute. The frightened target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, with disadvantage if it can see the eye, ending the frightened condition on itself on a success. Once the target is paralyzed in this way, the eye loses this property.
• 1 Revenant Eye of Hunting: Requires attunement. An attuned creature holding the eye knows the distance to and direction of any creature against which the revenant sought revenge, even if the creature and the revenant are on different planes of existence. If the eye is allowed to see one of its targets, it loses this property.
• 2d4 Hunks of Revenant Flesh: Slowly grows back over time. A creature can use this flesh as a source of food, one hunk will grow enough to feed one medium creature per day. However, each day at dawn, a creature who has eaten the food must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw vs poison. If the saving throw fails, the creature takes 14 (4d6) poison damage and gains one level of exhaustion. If a creature who the revenant has sworn vengeance against makes the saving throw, they take 14 poison damage and gain one level of exhaustion on a success. On a failure, they drop to 0 hit points and are dying.

Roc (11) – monstrosity (nature)

• 1 Roc Beak: No immediate use. Can be carefully crafted (smith’s tools) into a greataxe or helmet, both of which require attunement. An attuned creature gains proficiency in Wisdom (perception) checks, as well as on Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws, if they don’t have proficiency already. A creature without proficiency with greataxes or heavy armor cannot attune to the item. The bearer of this item (crafted or plain) has advantage on Charisma checks made to influence giants.
• 2d4 Roc Talons: Acts as a war pick. The bearer of this item has advantage on Charisma checks made to influence giants.
• 2 Roc Eye: No immediate use. Can be carefully crafted (transmutation) by a spellcaster into Eyes of the Eagle. The bearer of this item (crafted or plain) has advantage on Charisma checks made to influence giants.
• 1 Roc Heart: No immediate use. Can be carefully crafted (divination) by a spellcaster into an amulet. The amulet glows when a Huge or larger creature comes within 120 feet. The bearer of this item (crafted or plain) has advantage on Charisma checks made to influence giants.
• 5d10 Roc Feathers: Acts as a dagger. 20 of these can be mastercrafted (leatherworker’s tools) into Wings of Flying. The bearer of this item (crafted or plain) has advantage on Charisma checks made to influence giants.

Roper (5) – monstrosity (nature)

• 1 Roper Hide: No immediate use. Can be carefully crafted (leatherworker’s tools) into hide armor that grants advantage on stealth checks made to hide in rocky terrain.
• 3d2 Roper Tendril: Acts as 50ft of rope with AC 20 and 10 hit points.
• 1d10 Roper Teeth: 20 teeth act as a bag of caltrops. Can be carefully crafted (jeweler’s tools) into dice.
• 1 Roper Eye: No immediate use. Can be crafted (alchemist’s supplies) into a Potion of Darkvision (grants darkvision out to 60ft for one hour) or carefully crafted (alchemist’s supplies) into a Potion of Spider Climb (grants the ability to climb difficult surfaces, including ceilings, without needing to make an ability check).

Rust Monster (1/2) – monstrosity (nature)

• 1d2 Rust Monster Antennae: Can be used as an improvised weapon. On a hit, if the target is wearing nonmagical metal armor or a nonmagical metal shield, its AC is permanently lowered by 1. If the antennae is touched to a nonmagical weapon, the weapon receives a permanent -1 to damage rolls. If the target is not a weapon or armor, the antennae destroys up to a 1-foot cube of nonmagical metal. The Antennae can be used to rust an object once before it loses this property.

Next week, I'll be back to my old self, pumping out several thousand words for your amusement! This time: frogs?

Close enough for chaos.

Thanks for reading!

Instant Settlement: Countries

Let's go exploring, buddy! (art courtesy of one of my players! Check her out!)

Bigger! Better! More! How far can we go in generating random areas? The answer, as you might guess, is pretty far.

We're moving a bit beyond the original scope of these generators, but I want to keep going into the country level. Why? Well, it's not like your players are going to stumble upon a country. (In fantasy, anyway. In Sci-Fi, happens all the time.) But using these generators for inspiration when building a continent or country can help you set up what kind of world you have, and can lead to some good exploration-based worldbuilding.

As you might imagine, this generator will be using a slightly different process than the last few.

Instant Settlement: Country

We once again start with a dice pool. However, this time it isn't set at the beginning. The type of dice you use determines the type of country you'll get.


Our first example roll

The pool should consist of anywhere from 10 to 30 dice. Use d4s, d6s, d8s, and d10s. If you want a country with diverse terrain or lots of coastlines and water, make the amount of dice per type about equal. If you want to focus on a particular kind of terrain, use primarily those dice.

That may not have made too much sense, but here's a list that will help you understand better:

• d4s correlate to flatlands (deserts, grasslands, tundras)
• d6s correlate to lowlands (swamps, brushland, ice sheets)
• d8s correlate to forested areas (jungles, forests, taigas)
• d10s correlate to highlands (mesas, mountains, glaciers)

The specific type of terrain is determined by latitude. If a country is closer to the equator, flatlands become deserts and highlands become mesas. If the country is closer to the poles, lowlands become ice sheets and forests become taigas. A country might be large enough to span multiple types of terrain.

When you roll your dice, connect each die to form triangles. These are regions within the country.

• A region with 2-3 d4s becomes a flatland
• A region with 2-3 d6s becomes a lowland
• A region with 2-3 d8s becomes a forest
• A region with 2-3 d10s becomes a highland
• A region with three different dice becomes a coastline or inland lake.

Determining the terrain types

If you want an inland country, I'd recommend sticking to 2 or 3 types of dice, eliminating the kind of die that seems least plausible for your country. This will reduce the amount of water in the country.

Making it look prettier

Once you've established what regions are what, look at the numbers on the dice faces. Each triangle should be added up and compared to the list below.


Picking out the numbers

• 3-7: Civilization Hub
• Contains a city, several towns, and dozens of villages
• Trade routes extend into every adjacent region
• Low-level monsters and wild animals roam the area
• Natural resources are common, such as farms, ranching, logging, mining, or hunting
• 8-13: Frontier
• Contains a town and several villages
• Trade routes extend to adjacent hubs and frontiers
• Mid-level monsters make their lairs in these areas, in addition to weaker creatures
• Natural resources are less common
• 14 or more: Untamed Wilds
• Contains a couple hardy villages
• A single trade route extends towards the nearest frontier or hub
• High-level monsters make their lairs here, in addition to weaker creatures
• Natural resources are very difficult to come by

Finally, let's talk about scale. The size of the triangles can vary based on the size of the country, but generally a region is about 100 miles on a side. Pick on of the lines on your map and set that to be 100 miles.

Obviously, for a larger country, you can pick a smaller line. But it's better to increase the size o the country by adding more dice, so that the regions aren't ridiculously large. They will be plenty big even without artificially boosting the size of your map.

The finished country!

This example so far was fairly populated, which makes sense since a country is usually ruled over and therefore "claimed". Don't be afraid to make areas of unclaimed wilderness between your established countries. We tend to think of maps as being completely covered in countries, but the history was not that straightforward. A map that has some space between countries becomes an evolving map: which kingdom will claim the mountains first? There's a cool plot hook.

In order to demonstrate the creation method. I've created a couple more examples below.

Rolling with more d4s and d6s

Determining Terrain

Topographical map

political regions

Finished map

I like the fact that a single die that rolls a high number can create an expanse of dangerous territory. Perhaps that 17 area is home to a terrible Black Dragon.


Rolling with more d8s and d10s

Determining Terrain

Topography

Political regions

Finished Map

This became a very mountainous country with lots of passes in the mountains. I'd say that's just perfect for a dwarven country. I also took advantage of rolling a 4 in the water area to make an island with a large offshore city.

I hope this has been interesting and inspiring! If any geologists or earth historians want to tell me how this generator could be improved, I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks for reading!