Swords everywhere!

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

The title might be an exaggeration, but since it’s #swordtember, there’s bound to be lots of swords in many places. Even here. I promised to post more often, so here’s a summary of the last week.

Cooperative Curiosity

Mentioned last week, the fruits of collaboration between Roland (Dnalor the Troll) and me are finished and published. The whole thing started when Roland felt that I discarded curiosity as a motive for entering a dungeon, and we agreed to both write about our views of curiosity in TTRPGs.

Roland’s article An Ode to Curiosity – what drives us forward in the dungeon? is a fine one, and he makes many strong points. It is indeed an ode, and Roland manages to capture and describe the curiosity that drives both players and their characters forward, onwards to new challenges, secrets, and experiences. You should definitely check out his article, in which he uses many fine examples to prove the necessity and worth of curiosity. And while you’re there, browse through the rest of his blog as well, there’s a lot of interesting stuff in there!

Mine is a bit different approach, though I appreciate curiosity in many forms and in many aspects of a TTRPG game or setting. You can read my thoughts on the matter in the Motivated by Curiosity article. To sum it up, I believe the curiosity we usually see while exploring a dungeon is not sated by simply knowing. There’s always something it’s connected to. The knowledge has to have some use. Or it’s not knowledge the party seeks, but wealth, fame, and powerful artefacts. When they’re curious, it stems from those desires.

#Swordtember

As you might have noticed, I am doing the #swordtember challenge again. As usual there’s the “official” #swordtember prompt list by Faith Shaffer (who originally came up with the challenge), and several alternatives. Last year I combined the original with one of those alternative lists, and tried to come up with swords that combine two prompts. It wasn’t always easy.

This year I’m of course doing the official one, as well as one that’s mostly been made by my four year old daughter. You can see it below, and feel free to use the prompts, if you like them.

I post my rough sketches on my Bluesky account, until I can remake them into usable item sheets for D&D. The plan is to publish all of them, maybe batched together with the last year’s swords, but first they all need have passable illustrations, and descriptions. Below is an example of an extremely rough sketch and a first description draft.

A massive two-handed sword with a broad perforated blade. The perforations lighten the blade while keeping anything sticky from adhering to the sword. Ideally suited for slicing puddings, jellies, and blancmanges. Will also cut nicely through killer tomatoes and other soft murderous berries.

D&D Feat Paths

The new Underdark-themed Unearthed Arcana offers, along with two subclasses, the option to slowly turn into a mindflayer. The Path of Ceremorphosis is a feat path, i.e. a set of feats that are chained and offer additional character development options.

This apparently isn’t a new thing, as The Kind DM kindly pointed out to me (and you can read his review of the UA Underdark Options here). WotC used the same mechanic in the Villainous Options Unearthed Arcana with their Path of the Lich and Path of the Death Knight in. I admit I haven’t been paying attention to those, but it seems this is something that’s been repeatedly done.

Why is this interesting to me? I have several such developments on my table, and so far I’ve played with creating special “technical classes” you would multiclass at the prerequisite level. This is similar to the way feats work, but sacrifices some levels of your main class. And since campaigns don’t always get you all the way to level 20, you could miss out on important stuff.

The feat paths provide a better option, in my opinion. You still get to progress in your class as usual, and you get the benefits (and other, less beneficial effects) of the feats you choose.

Anastasios, aka the Kind DM, also pointed out the feat path option is not ideal either, and I agree. But it’s better than technical classes, and better than just slapping new powers and mechanics onto a character. Things like this are better suited for classless point-buy systems, but then we would be playing a whole different game and blogging about that one, right?

Long story short, I will be working on a few of these feat paths. There are several I have in form of notes, and I’ll have to see if they’ll amount to two paths, or somewhere in the region of five.

Jack Vance & TTRPG

Jack Vance is one of my favourite authors. Even though he’s not in my Top 5, and I have read but a fragment of his body of work, I like the way he wrote. And his ideas are often worth reading even today, after decades of authors being influenced by him.

There’s an article on Jack Vance’s Influence on Dungeons & Dragons by Bill Ward on the Goodman Games site (home of the Dungeon Crawl Classics). It’s a good article summarizing all the stuff D&D owes to the visions of Jack Vance. As expected “Vancian magic” takes the spotlight, but not for the whole time. Bill Ward also focuses on the contribution Vance has (unintentionally) made to the image of the D&D thief class, later replaced by the rogue.

Ward names Cugel the Clever “the original murder hobo”, and I couldn’t agree more. Vance writes him in a way that it feels in character, even though as a DM you would probably hate your players for half of the stuff Cugel does. I bet many never heard of Cugel the Clever, yet they manage to re-enact him very well.

Even though Cugel is the archetypal murder hobo, I don’t remember him murdering that often. Characters in the Dying Earth series often choose other means of defeating their enemies. Disgrace and mockery are regularly viewed as more fitting, and perhaps even worse punishment than death.

There’s of course more to Jack Vance than Dying Earth, even though his other works probably didn’t influence D&D and by extension other TTRPGs as much. If you haven’t read anything by Vance (hard to believe, if you’re my target audience) you should definitely remedy that. The four volumes of the Dying Earth series are obligatory, of course. And I would also recommend one of his later works, the Night Lamp. It’s a bit slow at first, but then gains momentum and finishes with pretty much a Dying Earth vibe.

Last but not least, if you want to play a game in the Dying Earth setting by Jack Vance, you can check out the DCC modules presented at the end of the linked Goodman Games article. You should also check out Pelgrane Press, as they’re dedicated to publishing everything you need to bring Dying Earth to tabletop life. And if you want a really good deal, they have a bundle ending in about three days currently on Humble Bundle. The Dying Earth RPG Collection costs just short of 20 €, so I guess about $23-24.

Video Game Shorts

Every few years I have the urge to replay the Shadowrun games by Harebrained Schemes. I finished the original game a few years back for the third time, and I’ve started my second Dragonfall run recently. Of course I will have little time, so I might finish it somewhere around New Year.

I consider Dragonfall the best of the three, although they are all very good. What I want to focus on today is the way the game(s) build a sense of belonging, both inside the party and towards the broader community you become part of.

There’s a lot of characters, many minor, around your base of operations. It often take s a while until they become relevant, but you slowly become familiar with their stories. And you start to care about them. This is something that games (and to some extent other media, such as TV series) can’t quite pull off. A lot of the newer RPGs manage to do this with one or two characters, but rarely with a whole community.

My advice for DMs therefore is go play the games if you haven’t. You get tens of gameplay hours in great TTRPG video game adaptations, and can get inspired by the way the communities around the PC headquarters are written. Not to mention the rest of the very good writing. Dragonfall is really something.

I actuall never read too much into Shadowrun. There was a Humble Bundle with a complete ruleset for one of the newest editions a few years ago, but I still have to get to reading any of the books. I’m definitely looking forward to, there ought to be lots of inspiration there.

Oh, and for anybody interested, I’m making a chromed-up melee street samurai, after playing a pure mage last time. Glory will sit on the bench most of this run, I’m afraid.

Final Remarks

Once again I have to state that I’m not affiliated with any of the mentioned entities, and I receive no compensation for any promotion.

If you liked the article, please share it on your favourite social networks or directly with your friends, and don’t forget to subscribe!

Motivated by Curiosity

Estimated reading time: 14 minutes For the last month or two I’ve been exchanging messages and comments sporadically with Roland, or Dnalor the Troll. He’s writing a TTRPG blog and there’s about a decade of quality content. You should really check out his page and delve in, there’s a lot of inspirational stuff to be … Continue reading “Motivated by Curiosity”

Estimated reading time: 14 minutes

For the last month or two I’ve been exchanging messages and comments sporadically with Roland, or Dnalor the Troll. He’s writing a TTRPG blog and there’s about a decade of quality content. You should really check out his page and delve in, there’s a lot of inspirational stuff to be found there! If you have any interest in the The Dark Eye (Das Schwarze Auge) system, it’s a must! That’s the system behind the Realms of Arkania video game series (one that I hope to beat one day and write about it).

Anyway, at first we talked about dinosaurs and their TTRPG applications, because every sane person loves dinosaurs. Then Roland read some of my old articles, such as Dungeons: How to Behave, where I discussed the various motives for the party being in a dungeon, and he wrote this comment:

Another interesting article on the subject of dungeons.

“Note that I have omitted exploration from my categories. Of course one can imagine a party that just ventured down some stairs to see what’s down there. But I also think in this kind of situation there is something missing – motive.”

However, I would disagree here. I think curiosity is a very strong motive for entering a dungeon. The best real-world equivalent that comes to mind is urban explorers who enter old, forgotten bunkers, villas, or other abandoned buildings, hopefully taking nothing but photographs and leaving nothing but footprints. They, too, explore a dungeon out of pure curiosity.

— Dnalor the Troll

On one level I agree wholeheartedly, curiosity is one of the strongest motivators. You can see my whole reply below:

I understand what you mean. And certainly for urban explorers the motivation is curiosity, the thrill of exploration, perhaps thrill of trespassing. But it’s a completely different state of society we’re talking about. The urban explorers probably have their day jobs and go “dungeon crawling” for fun. In a typical TTRPG setting the characters do so either out of necessity, or feel some calling. Even if they’re just curious, the curiosity is based on what can be gained, or what has to be eliminated. The urban explorers have it in their code not to take anything, and certainly they’re not looking for potential dangers to be eliminated before they manifest.

So essentially I agree that curiosity can be a motivation. Maybe the settings I’m used to and like don’t cater to curiosity for the sake of curiosity well. My “school of thought” is based on a more realistic and less heroic take, where you don’t take risks you don’t have to, etc.

It’s however a valid point, thank you again! Perhaps we could both write articles with our takes on curiosity as a motive, what do you say?
Cheers!

— Rashundai

Roland agreed that we would both write down our views on curiosity, and we set a date. This is my part of the deal, you can see Roland’s here – An Ode to Curiosity – what drives us forward in the dungeon?

What are we talking about?

Let’s start with the basics, and clear out the terms we’ll be using. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines curiosity as a “desire to know”, either in the form of a) intellectual curiosity, or b) nosiness. There are other meanings, but this is the one I’ll be working with, and I believe it’s the one Roland meant.

A curious man. Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.

Motivation is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a motivating force, stimulus, or influence”. Again I won’t be dealing with other meanings, such as the act of motivating someone. Let’s also include motive, which is “something (such as a need or desire) that causes a person to act”, again courtesy of Merriam-Webster. For some unknown reason the Cambridge dictionary keeps giving me blank pages, so I guess I am pledged solely to Merriam-Webster from now on.

Now that we have this out of the way, let’s take a look at the different levels both curiosity and motivation are used in TTRPGs. I will also be using examples from other media, such as video games, where appropriate.

Curiosity as a Characteristic

Being curious is often a prerequisite to becoming an adventurer. Character backstory doesn’t always have to be riddled with betrayal, loss of loved ones, and suffering (really, trust me!). Sometimes all you need is the thirst for answers. What lies beyond the woods? What does the capital look like? Are the elves real?

Most commonly associated with either scholarly types, or cheerful upbeat characters. Bards, rogues, young apprentices, they often have in common their curiosity. But not only those; a fighter wishing to see the world (out of curiosity) might join the army, then leave to become an adventurer.

Curiosity is also something that is relevant in many types of settings. Your “regular fantasy”, space opera, hard sci-fi, early 20th century mystery, modern weird, whatever. What could be different is the way curiosity is regarded by the majority of the society, and whether it can be a motivation in itself.

Curiosity as an Attribute

Before we tap into the fields of motivation, let’s discuss curiosity as an attribute, something measurable that influences the way the character acts mechanically.

This is definitely Roland’s field, because one of the few things I know about the Das Schwarze Auge system is that there is curiosity in the form of a negative attribute. There are others, such as acrophobia, claustrophobia, or avarice. A character has to succeed on check, or give into the vice/phobia. So much I remember from the video games, and I apologize if I’ve got it wrong. Roland will surely correct me in his part.

Similar mechanics exists in Darkest Dungeons, where curiosity is a negative quirk that raises the chance of the character interacting with tomes and other pieces of knowledge. The video game describes the quirk as “obsessed with the acquisition of knowledge”. Needless to say, opening and reading every book found in the evil-infested biomes of the Estate often leads to unnecessary fun.

I can also imagine curiosity being beneficial, for example when researching, or learning something, even in small talk. In the Crusader Kings series it is a childhood trait, and it usually helps becoming better at learning and diplomacy. There’s also the chance the Curious child gets the Cynical trait as it grows up, which in-game essentially means you don’t like religious zeal at all. And the religions don’t like you.

Curiosity as Motivation

Now we’re getting to the part that started all of this. My premise was that exploration for exploration’s sake, just out of curiosity, is rarely the real motive for entering a dungeon. As you can see from the quotes above, and will probably see in his article, Roland disagrees. And it’s absolutely fine, because anyone can play these little pretend games anyway they like.

In this part of my article it’s my objective to explain my point of view. Why exploration simply out of curiosity is not something I would expect or support in a game or story. And what kind of game or story I would find better suited for curiosity to be motive enough in itself.

Curiosity Killed the Cat

Everybody knows the saying, though in our world it’s not always spot on. Our lives would be much poorer if not for curiosity, both our own, and of those who brought us the wonders of the modern age. We could rightfully sing odes to scientists, explorers, and great thinkers, who were led by their curiosity and made the world a better place.

TTRPG games usually take place in settings different from our world. Even if the setting is a version of the real world, usually there are some supernatural or sci-fi elements. Those are usually dangerous to some extent, and the same curiosity that could bring progress and prosperity could bring death and suffering. Opening a container and releasing a plague/demon/AI/whatever. Stepping inside a monster’s lair and becoming its victim. Reading a forbidden book, or downloading a malevolent virus. Inventing teleportation technology that unfortunately uses literal hell as a shortcut.

Those are all actions that stem from being curious, and can have negative outcomes. Or positive ones, for example the container might store vital knowledge or a cure. The monster might not actually be a monster, but a potential ally. Either way it’s perfectly reasonable for such things to happen, for the characters to act out their curiosity. But we’re talking about one action, or a set of actions. Jack opened the container out of curiosity, but he had a different motivation for being in the mansion in the first place.

Moreover there are settings where it’s common knowledge, or at least common enough for the player characters, that there’s a danger to being curious. An unmarked flagon is not something to drink. You take it to an alchemist. An amulet found in a crypt is not to be worn immediately. You seek out someone who can check it out and find any curses (“identify” in video game jargon). If you’re on a quest from a mage to recover an old tome, you’ve been briefed not to browse it and to absolutely never read from it aloud. A character might of course think otherwise, but that’s the fun part. Realistically it can be known that being too curious can be very dangerous in such a setting. You can literally die from curiosity.

Crawling out of Curiosity

One of my basic assumptions when it comes to dungeons is that they are dangerous. The source of danger might vary, there might be monsters, traps, environmental hazards, but still it’s no walk in a park. You can realistically die in a dungeon, and it’s many times more probable than bandits or goblins raiding your village. Or than a catastrophic failure of your ship’s systems. You are actively pushing your luck when entering a dungeon, and you better have a good enough reason.

The reasons for entering a dungeon can be varied, but I tried to sum them up in Dungeons: How to Behave. The table below is supposed to list some of the various “behavioral modes” for dungeon crawlers. It’s not exhaustive, but many times what the party will be doing is a variation of one of those.

Explore everythingDefeat everythingTime spanManpower needed
Transitnonoshortparty
Assassinationnonomediumparty
Exterminationyesyesmedium to longarmy
Treasure huntnonomediumparty
Reclamationyesyeslongarmy

Now the thing Roland was missing is exploration. Crawling through the dungeon out of curiosity. As I mentioned before, there are situations where I can imagine such an undertaking. Roland mentioned urban explorers, and yes, they indeed “crawl dungeons” purely out of curiosity. They also have a code that is very much the opposite of what most dungeon crawls do. There’s no “official” Urbex Codex, but the one I linked is more than enough for the purposes of this article.

Exploring a storm drain tunnel. Photo by Alejandro De Roa on Pexels.

In most TTRPG dungeon crawls, unless it’s specifically forbidden or unwanted, the party loots, damages, and destroys. Sometimes there’s nothing to destroy, but even if looting is not the main reason for being there, it occurs. And even if a character’s motivation for entering the dungeon is curiosity, they are curious about what could be found in there. Or perhaps they are curious what threats could escape if left unchecked, the next step being stopping those threats, or at least spreading the news.

The curious mind seeks knowledge and information, but in the settings I’m familiar with, these are akin to other treasures. The curious mage doesn’t crave knowledge because it brings them joy to learn something (though it might as well), but to further use it in their research. Or apply it directly. Same with information in a space opera or cyberpunk setting. Sure your boss is curious what’s with the increased activity near that moon. But they want to use that information as a bargaining chip, not just sit contently knowing something new.

I will however offer one situation in which curiosity becomes acceptable even for someone with my mindset. The betterment of the society through knowledge, experience, and sensations gained from satisfying curiosity. Something that should ideally be happening right now in the real world, or at least that’s the idea behind a lot of research being done. There’s another “however”, though.

The Luxury of Curiosity

There is one other thing that prevents me from accepting curiosity as a motive for dungeon crawling. And it’s the same thing that makes me resent most treatments of archaeology in games. I will write an article about how most works use archaeology the wrong way one day. Yes, it is my field, and most of the time archaeology in games is as annoying to me as a lot of sci-fi staples must be to engineers and physicists.

Sunlight entering a cave. Photo by Heber Vazquez on Pexels.

For curiosity to exist as the primary motivation the world, or at least the society in question, must meet some conditions. Since research and exploration just to satisfy curiosity would sit quite high in the pyramid of needs, conditions enabling at least some members of the society to engage in such activities must exist. In most settings those people would not be the player characters. More likely it’s the quest givers, and the rewards are probably something other than satisfied curiosity.

People with means to fund the satisfaction of their curiosity also often need those means to either secure their own position, or further the needs of their society. As in an archmage devoting their power to the protection of the realm, a brilliant scientist working to find a cure for an epidemic. If no such threats exist, the setting is either a utopia, or something like the real world. Down to the fact that the people with means to battle the existing threats would rather not.

We’re getting close to cyberpunk territory in those last sentences, and I’m reminded of the times I’ve seen curiosity as a motive in Shadowrun. And indeed often the runners are sent on a mission just to learn something. Whether it’s true that X, or what happened at Y. We could say the motivation is curiosity. But there’s usually a follow-up, such as revenge. I would perhaps say that it’s more of a “need for information” than curiosity. And information is just like any other treasure, so a dungeon crawl/run/mission/whatever motivated by the acquisition of certain knowledge would fall into my “treasure hunt” category.

Summary

In this article I have tried to present my views regarding curiosity as a motive for entering a dungeon. In my opinion in many settings the real motive is different. Curiosity is then something often possessed by those who make a living of crawling dungeons, perhaps the driving factor for their life choices, that might influence the outcome of certain situations.

In other words, the party came to the dungeon to gain something, or perhaps eliminate a threat. The curiosity of individual party members might help them, they might for example find hidden loot, or alternative paths. It can also harm them, for example by making them more susceptible to traps and lures.

There are settings and context where curiosity can serve as the primary motivation for dungeon crawling, or whatever the player characters do. These however might not make that much sense unless several conditions are met. I might get to describe those in detail in another article. For now let’s say that doing dangerous things only to sate one’s curiosity requires a lot of more basic needs met, and that TTRPG settings are often not built that way. If yours is, please share a link in the comments!

Curiosity is a wonderful thing, both in the context of TTRPGs and in the real world. DMs build worlds and adventures hoping to pique the players’ curiosity so that they want to see more and more. And curious characters can be both fun and rewarding to play. So definitely build your stuff around curiosity and be curious yourself!

Sword & Planet Summer

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Every now and then I have an epiphany and come to the conclusion that I should post more often. Write shorter posts, maybe be more of a blog and less of a wiki that’s updated every odd month. It has come to this again, so here’s my next shot.

Appx. N Jam 2026

I’ve decided to join the Appx. N Jam this time, and I’m glad I did. For those who are unfamiliar with the concept (and for some reason hesitant to click the link), itch.io jams are a sort of open contests/community creative enterprises, where anyone can join and submit their creation. Some are very loose, while others have stricter rules.

The Appx. N Jam is a homage to the fantasy and science fiction authors that served as inspiration for (not only) the first versions of Dungeons & Dragons. Each participant is given a fictional title in the style of these influential works. The goal is to create something TTRPG related using the title you’ve received, and a lot of the fun comes from the way people treat the titles. Some take a very literal approach, so something called Red Zombies from the North would be an adventure about killing red-tinged shambling undead coming from the north. Others only take some initial spark of inspiration from the title and build from there. You get all kinds of approaches there.

Since there’s no set system, you can make your submission for just about anything. D&D is actually a marginal minority, people seemed to gravitate more towards OSR. At a glance there’s a lot of Shadowdark and Cairn. There are also obscure systems such as Violence, and a lot of system-neutral modules.

People really did a great job. I’ve only seen a couple of the 332 entries, but so far I’ve seen some really terrific ideas, often wonderfully laid out using the format constraints. That’s the one other thing you have to keep in mind, you’re limited to 4 A5 or 8 A6 pages. What some authors managed to do with such limited space is truly wonderful!

As I was saying I decided to join. Getting out of the comfort zone again, even more because I joined some eight days before the deadline. Curiosity (stay tuned!) got the better of me and I received my title – Corpse Callers of the Sunless Sphere. Definitely one of the better ones, so I got to work!

Corpse Callers of the Sunless Sphere

Having received my title I had to come up with a module. An adventure module seemed like a fine way to join the jam. I wanted the Corpse Callers to be central to the story, with the Sunless Sphere being somewhat important, but perhaps not that much. It didn’t take long and I had the premise planned out. The Corpse Callers are taking the dead and you have to do something about it!

It seemed to me that this will not be a slow burn, but rather a fast-paced action adventure oozing urgency. And desperation against a higher power in the form of the Corpse Callers, an enigmatic and more advanced society from beyond. I decided to make it system-neutral and keep the setting fleshed-out to a degree that allowed fine-tuning. In essence I wanted to give the DM and players the option to choose the style and setting. Near future space horror? Got it. Pulpy Sword & Planet? Gotcha. Goofy cowboys vs. aliens? Go ahead. You can read the tie-in story below.

You can get the module here – Corpse Callers of the Sunless Sphere. It’s free to download, and if you’re reading this while it’s fresh, it’s probably still possible to vote.

Even though I wanted to provide freedom in the choice of setting and style, I imagined the adventure module to be mostly Sword & Planet. A party of pretty low-tech (possibly fantasy) characters thrown into the world of high-tech science-fantasy villains. So far in the comments people are praising the Sword & Planet vibes, so I guess I managed to pull this off!

If you’ve read the module, and it’s quite short at four A5-pages, you already know there will be a sequel. Since it’s not part of any jam, and I have many unfinished projects as it is, I will not be giving a release date. But I had lots of fun designing Corpse Callers of the Sunless Sphere to just let it end, and I have ideas that I’d love to use.

Recommended Entries

Of the few submissions that I read there are some that I would like to recommend. In no particular order, I would like to mention these:

Spreading out

To join the aforementioned Appx. N Jam I had to create an itch.io account. I have since uploaded some of my works there, so I have more coverage. Itch, being a marketplace, has much better analytics regarding downloads than the hosting of this site. And I get more reach this way.

I’ve used this as an excuse to update some of my older stuff. Now there’s the Conclave of the Monkey Wrench D&D ranger subclass, as well as A Measure of Merrows containing some dark merrow goodies also for D&D. Both received a cover, so it looks better listed on itch. Especially with A Measure of Merrows I took the opportunity to practice before making stuff meant for sale. I think the cover came out quite well, what do you say?

This was also a perfect opportunity to join RPG Trader. You can now find Rashundai Games there, too. Again the tools they provide are better suited than what WordPress offers, and since I’m planning on actually selling stuff, I think this will be a viable outlet.

Combined with the Ko-Fi page I already had, Rashundai Games has pretty good coverage now. What I need now is more audience. I will do my best to do my part, that is writing and publishing. You would be really kind if you spread the word if you like what I do.

Video Game Shorts

A while ago I advertised that I will be doing video game analyses. So far I have several in progress and none finished. Until I get to finish at least something, I thought I could put short (really short) video game x TTRPG thoughts into these posts.

Today’s thought is about physical manuals. In these times when the physicality of video games is contested, finding a full box with the manual and perhaps other goodies is really cool.

I am fortunately old enough to remember brochures in the jewel cases or cardboard boxes alongside CDs or DVDs. Some of the manuals were really beautiful, and contained additional lore (or the only lore in some cases), or artwork. Some contained clues, and some even vital information, like the prehistoric version of DRM, where the game asks for a code from the manual.

To be honest, I don’t own that many physical releases, because most of the games I had came bundled with gaming magazines. I still have most of the boxes, though, and some are really great. I really like the manual to Throne of Darkness (available on GoG with at least a PDF version), and look at the cool map I got with my Borderlands GOTY!

How is this TTRPG related? A lot of campaigns I played were inspired by video games. I never ran one, but only because we couldn’t find the time, as always. I actually wanted to run a game set on Pandora from Borderlands, and the map over there is a great prop for that. As for Throne of Darkness, the game has lot of neat features, and basically you can use the manual as a setting guide. There’s still work to do, but you can find enough to get you started in there.

So check your garages, attics, or parents’ houses, for old video game boxes, and maybe you’ll find a setting for your next game, or at least some inspiration!

What’s next?

There are several things I’ve got planned for September. In about a week there will be a longer article that’s part of my collaboration with a great TTRPG blogger from Germany. I’ve already hinted at the subject, and if you visit this page regularly, you might have already got some idea.

I will not write down how many unfinished projects I have on drawing table, but there’s one that’s nearing the finishing line. I firmly believe it should be out in September, and it will finally be something playable again.

There’s of course my Lorwyn series, and I promised a How To article on Kithkin. It’s in progress and I will finish it within a month, though I prioritised the jam and other stuff in these summer months. Like melting from the heat. There’s also another series, recently re-branded as Digging Better Dungeons, that I’ve been neglecting, and I mean to do something about this as well. There are still articles that I want to get out, so bear with me.

Swordtember 2026

Last but not least, there’s the #swordtember challenge by Faith Shaffer. You get a prompt list and every day you create a sword based on the prompt. Artists draw and paint, and we TTRPG creators write the fluff and crunch, while also trying our best to make some art to go with it. I finished some days last year, though most days remained as quick sketches or unfinished Krita projects. I would love to eventually finish all of them, but until then, have one of the finished ones. The prompt was “rot”.

This year I’m in again, and I’ll try to do it the way it’s supposed to be. Finish one sword every day, at least have a sketch and short description. Last time there were alternative prompt lists by fans; I’ve seen at least three other than the original. My four year old daughter showed some interest in swords lately, probably because Merida and Raya wield them. I’ve been asking her about what sorts of crazy swords can she think of, and we’re making our own list. So I’ll be working on two entries daily, and I wonder how long I’ll be able to keep up. I’ll probably upload our list (still in progress) on September 1st, along with the first two swords, so stay tuned!

Final Remarks

Just to be sure, I’m not affiliated with any entity mentioned in the article, so if I endorse something, it’s my free will and I receive no compensation. The typeface used for title and body text in the Entropic modulator is BN Arora by the great Brandon Nickerson, go check out his site!

This was meant to be short, but it’s a ten minute read. Hope you didn’t mind. As always thanks for reading, and an even larger thanks for every share and comment. Don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss anything!

RPG Day: Going Public

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes Last Saturday there was an event at my FLGS. It gave me quite a few firsts. First TTRPG event I attended, first time DMing for a bunch of strangers, first time actually playing a game in Lorwyn, first time giving a public talk about my hobbies, not my academic research … Continue reading “RPG Day: Going Public”

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Last Saturday there was an event at my FLGS. It gave me quite a few firsts. First TTRPG event I attended, first time DMing for a bunch of strangers, first time actually playing a game in Lorwyn, first time giving a public talk about my hobbies, not my academic research or work. What a geek, right? In this article I’ll try and summarize my thoughts about all that while still riding the high.

The Event

My favourite friendly local gaming store iHrysko organized the RPG Day. It’s where I usually play MtG, and I always feel a bit out of place in there. I’m not a great MtG player. I love most of the lore, but I usually go there to lose while having fun.

This felt different. TTRPGs are a part of my life for almost a quarter of a century. I’ve spent countless hours playing either as a player or a DM, and many hours more preparing adventures and settings for my friends. On one hand it was my first experience, on the other, it’s just a change of scenery. And it’s nice not having to worry about being too much of a geek, when there are people like you everywhere!

When I first approached the main organizer I offered to give a talk about dungeons. He was very friendly and sent me the registration confirmation almost immediately. Later I offered to run a game as well, to get out of my comfort zone even more. Both my offers were well received and I’m thankful for that.

The Goodies

An event like this is a great place to let people to know that you exist and that you’re doing something. I don’t have any physical products, yet, but I had some stickers and business cards made. Though I didn’t hand out nearly as much of them as I expected, some went into circulation.

The uncut sticker sheet.

The stickers are just that. Supposedly people these days love stickers. If people put them somewhere, your brand is seen. So I hope the ones I gave out will be seen. My daughter has already put some on our living room door.

Cutting stickers to size.

I am very glad how the business cards came out. I wanted the cards to be more than just a piece of paper you put somewhere and forget. So I had comissioned my court artist @orochi.tatt to draw me a picture for a MtG token. See for yourself how that came out! And be sure to check out his page via the link above, he’s a really talented tattoo artist first and foremost.

A pile of business cards with contact details on one side and a raccoon-themed soldier MtG token on the other
My new business cards!

The Game

Having offered to run a game I knew it had to be either D&D 5e or Mörk Börg. It would be a great place to test Purk, but that one’s far from playable. And since I’m spending a lot of time and energy on Lorwyn, I decided to run a game set on the dual MtG plane.

Running a game in Lorwyn made me think through some stuff I’ve been postponing. For example how to make kithkin thoughweft work in a game of D&D. Or how to deal with the small scale of Lorwyn presented in some materials. I will describe my version of kithkin thoughtweft in the upcoming How-To article. As for the scale, I simply made it larger. The clachans we know by name would be the large cultural centres, with smaller clachans falling into their sphere of influence. Thus Craghearth was concieved, a joint effort of Burrenton kithkin, and some of the more amicable flamekin. You need those small border villages! Add some curious boggarts, and you have a good base of operations for low-level adventures.

To prevent delays and hiccups of character creation, I made some in advance. Two kithkin, three boggarts, two flamekin, one elf, and a changeling, nine total. The period for our game would be some thirty-odd years after Oona’s downfall, well before the Phyrexian invasion. Playing a Lorwyn elf might be tricky, so I made him a pariah. A bit cliché, but in Lorwyn still more plausible than all the Drizzt proxies in Faerun, right?

Anyway, the characters that got picked were a flamekin sorceress, a boggart wizard, and the elf paladin of redemption. Though most features were left unused in the one-shot, the party mostly managed to live up to their potential. The adventure itself was very simple, but I think my players made the most of it. We had a lot of stealth, some diplomacy, and some combat I probably made too easy. The game was supposed to be beginner-friendly so I didn’t want it to be too harsh.

Would I change anything on my side? A lot of things for certain. It was not one of my best DMing moments. But it was fun, and my wonderful wife, who played D&D for the first time, said she enjoyed it. A couple of friends joined later on as onlookers, and added to the flattery. Lorwyn definitely is worth playing in, and I would love to play a real campaign next time instead of a one-shot.

The Talk

The part I’ve been most eager for, my presentation. I elected to condense some of my articles on dungeons into one larger whole called Digging Better Dungeons. I’m going to use the title more in the future for sure.

Photo of a man in a funny pose shoving a dungeon matrix for a palimpsest dungeon.
Yours truly talking about Palimpsest Dungeons. Motion blur for added realism and as a demonstration that I am capable of motion.

The presentation contained my ideas about dungeon size, purpose, replayability, and dynamics, as well as some general definitions. Though the event was tiny, there was a bit of a discussion at the end, which is always nice. People even scanned the QR for my webpage that I put on the last slide.

As my wife commented, even though I no longer speak at conferences, I found a way. It was enjoyable, and I will be looking forward to another such opportunity. In the meantime I could finally put my thoughts on dungeon dynamics onto digital paper. I’ve been neglecting the dungeon series since I started with the Lorwyn series.

The Outcome

Overall I was satisfied with the whole experience. We got to meet some friends, play with a bunch of nice fellows, and I got some new people to listen to my ramblings.

But the best outcome is the message I got the next day from one of the friends who’ve been to my presentation. He went and made a dungeon, and wanted to share it with me. It was simple, coherent, and easily playable with minimal work left to do. I hoped my talk would spawn some ideas and discussion among the listeners. But it is all the more satisfying when it’s someone you’ve known for a long time, and whose approval you value.

To see your work has meaning, that it impacts someone, is priceless. When you write you want to be read, when you speak you want to be heard. And if it helps someone, makes them have fun, your job is well done.

What I’d like to do next time is maybe find more time to talk to people and get some networking going. I made some new contacts, heard interesting stuff from other peoples’ talks, but most of my time was consumed by the game I ran.

The event was well organized and from what I’ve seen, everything went smoothly. A big thanks to the organizers from iHrysko is in order!

That’s it for my report. If you made it to this point thanks for your attention, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss out on the kitkhkin guide!

D&D: Eclipsed Kithkin

Estimated reading time: 11 minutes

It’s been a while since I had a look at the tribes of Lorwyn-Shadowmoor. Last time it was an article about Eclipsed merrows, which completed the triad about merrows of the plane. I started this series off with kithkin, and therefore I wanted to finish them as well before moving on to other tribes. There are already articles on Lorwyn kithkin and Shadowmoor kithkin, if you haven’t seen them yet. This one will make more sense after you’ve read those two.

Since I started this series a few things happened. Of course, the Lorwyn Eclipsed MtG set came out, otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this piece. There’s a great resource available on the official Magic website, the Planeswalker’s Guide to Lorwyn Eclipsed. Be sure to check that one out. Another thing that happened was the release of the official D&D supplement, Lorwyn: First Light. My thoughts on the supplement are summed in this review, if you’re interested. These articles of mine were supposed to predict and anticipate how the supplement could look. Naturally, this one is “late”, but I will offer my thoughts on the changes that happened between the old blocks and Eclipsed, and the things that could be relevant to a tabletop RPG game.

I wanted this to be the last tribe to write about in this format, instead having only two for each tribe and incorporating Eclipsed into the respective aspects. After some consideration I’ve decided to keep the Lorwyn – Shadowmoor -Eclipsed structure. It could be confusing to discuss for example the elves from Lorwyn block together with post-Oona Lorwyn-aspected elves. What a mouthful, right? The article would be the same.

This introduction is already longer than I wanted, but just to make sure we’re on the same wavelength. Lorwyn Eclipsed is set after the events of the Lorwyn and Shadowmoor blocks, after the Phyrexian Invasion, and about a year before the events that take place in the Secrets of Strixhaven. The Lorwyn-Shadowmoor plane no longer has one aspect at a time. Lorwyn is the dominant aspect, but pockets of Shadowmoor still remain. The areas still can shift, but these changes are no longer planewide. Let’s see how the kithkin handle these new times!

Many Kinds of Kin

After Shadowmoor block, with queen Oona defeated, changes came to the plane. No longer being either-or, both the Lorwyn and Shadowmoor aspects coexist, as do their inhabitants. Power balance on the plane has been shaken, and new challenges await every tribe. The cycle of day and night is restored, and kithkin of both aspects could theoretically meet. Though they wouldn’t like it at all.

Things changed after Oona’s fall, but the Phyrexian Invasion prompted the most radical changes. The horrors experienced were shared through the thoughtweft, and for many it proved too much to endure. They severed themselves from the thoughtweft and their communities, and became nomads. Thus another variety of kithkin emerged, or more precisely two, if we’re to count Lorwyn and Shadowmoor nomads separately. I imagine separating yourself from the thoughtweft must be hard, but cutting yourself off as a Shadowmoor kithkin must be devastating.

Society

Kithkin of post-Oona times live in their clachans and douns as before. The six known clachans/douns return, and are distributed between Lorwyn and Shadowmoor regions. Burrenton, Goldmeadow, Kinsbaile, and Dundoolin are Lorwyn clachans, with a new addition of “Longlake clachan”. Shadowmoor hosts Ballynock and Bristlebane, which I presume is supposed to be retconned Thistledown. Cloverdell, the Lorwyn pair to Thistledown is omitted entirely, which is unfortunate, because the Cloverdell/Thistledown was the best named pair of them all. Dundoolin’s Shadowmoor pair was however revealed to be named Dundaeron. Either way, it’s seven now, with five on the Lorwyn side, and two in Shadowmoor.

The Lorwyn clachans are becoming hubs of social interaction in Eclipsed, many hosting residents from other tribes, and various fairs. On the other hand, the already reclusive Shadowmoor kithkin stay holed up in their douns after the Invasion. While clachans will function as regular towns in most games, the douns can perhaps be something to get into, or out of. Knowledge, items, or prisoners may need to be traded or taken from the wary kithkin of Shadowmoor.

The third kind of kithkin that emerged after the Phyrexian Invasion are the nomads. They are perfectly suited for many roles in a campaign. Whether as player characters, saving everyone the trouble of handling thoughweft, or as NPCs. Roving tradesmen, merchants, bards, or scouts, these are the roles that are often needed in a game. In this sense they can be the land equivalent of merrows.

Characters

Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile, makes her return in Eclipsed as the single kithkin legendary character. Since four decades have passed, Brigid is no longer the young heroine of Lorwyn block. A wise leader to her kinfolk in Kinsbaile, we see her with the epithets Clachan’s Heart, and Doun’s Mind. As a master archer she retained her bow, but she’s usually depicted carrying also a sword, shield, and spear.

According to the Magic story for Lorwyn Eclipsed, Brigid’s connection to the thoughtweft has been damaged. As a result, the kithkin are a bit wary of her. She retains her cheerful outlook, though, at least in Lorwyn. In Shadomoor she is as others of her tribe, fearful and untrusting.

Equipment

As always in this series of articles I will be discussing the equipment at kithkin disposal. In most TTRPGs the weapons and armour play a large role, as well as various tools, magic items, or even animals. I am of course using the card art as a reference, as this is the only real source we have. The Planeswalker’s Guide puts emphasis on different stuff, and First Light is what it is.

Compared to some of the other tribes of Lorwyn-Shadowmoor, kithkin use a pretty “standard” set of weapons and armour. We’ve got swords, mainly on the shorter side, spears, and shields, with some occasional axe. Bristlebane Battler, a champion of the Bristlebane doun, can be seen either with an axe or a warhammer. There’s also a ball mace in the hand of the Champion of the Clachan. As for armour, we see all kinds of leather and metal combinations, usually with helmets.

Ranged weapons remain in kithkin arsenal, for obvious reasons. We see bows – Brigid famously uses one, and also the nomads on the Protective Response card. Shadowmoor kithkin seem to have crossbows at their disposal. Slings are nowhere to be seen, but there’s no reason their use should stop. Falconry might also play a role, if the ranger with the winged weasel can be accused of falconry.

Kithkin have always been famous for their knights, and cavalry plays a large role in their martial culture. Their prized springjacks carry them faithfully into battle, though there are a few additional mounts at their disposal.

Firstly there’s the already mentioned Champion of the Clachan. The champion is riding a bear and wielding a rather short mace for mounted use. Somehow the kithkin seem to favour very short weapons while mounted. We see this in both previous blocks, as well as on the Bristlebane Outrider pictured above. I am not entirely convinced by the idea of kithkin riding bears, though.

What I do like is the giant chicken. There is the precedent of kithkin riding giant plovers in the Lorwyn set, so presumably avians of unusual size are a thing in Lorwyn. This is reinforced by the Surly Farrier taking care of a large bird’s claws. It’s neither a plover nor a chicken, so perhaps there’s a third avian mount for the kithkin?

Riding giant chicken mounts was fantasized thousands of years ago by the Ancient Greeks. That is unsurprising, considering that a large amount of cool things in fantasy come from the Ancient Greek myths. If you want to use giant riding chicken in your game, why don’t you pick up this one? Repaint the lore to fit Lorwyn and you’re all set!

Last but not least, while never mentioned anywhere else, there’s the boar on the kithkin token. Obviously it’s not a Shadowmoor kithkin, and the scene is very cosy and wholesome. Outside of kithkin knights and outriders, other mounts such as this one could exist.

Scarecrows

Those of you who read my article on Shadowmoor kithkin might remember how highly praised the scarecrows of the Shadowmoor block. They didn’t get much space in Eclipsed, unfortunately. There are three scarecrow creatures in standard and commander sets combined, two reprints of older Shadowmoor scarecrows, and one token.

Foraging Wickermaw is nice, and I can see potential in it. A construct gathering leftover magic or mana, or whatever, in the form of crystals can be used in multiple ways. Then there’s the scarecrow token. It’s very birdlike, though unlike some other original scarecrows, this one doesn’t seem to be able to fly. Due to the lack of wings, which actually makes it a bit more scarier.

Dread Tiller resembles Wicker Warcrawler from the original Shadowmoor set. Both are a huge spider-like construct made of wood and metal. Dread Tiller seems more ominous, with the two plumes of black smoke. It would make a neat boss in an adventure.

The Reaper King returns in Eclipsed, supposedly no longer a king. Not much is known about this particular character, only that it used to be a scarecrow like others once. And that it’s supposed to be able to make more scarecrows! Another fine antagonist for your adventure.

In Shadowmoor block we learned from various flavour texts that the kithkin responsible for the scarecrows’ creation are called cobblesmiths. For some reason this has been retconned into wickersmiths. My first thought was that wickersmiths are a Lorwyn version of the Shadowmoor cobblesmiths, but no. On the card above we can clearly see the eclipsed moon, hinting at the aspect. So the relation between cobblesmiths and wickersmiths remains a mystery. Unless someone from Wizards pops by someday and leaves a comment!

Magic

Lorwyn Eclipsed is a small set compared to the previous blocks, and it lacks their depth. It shows when it comes to spell that could be connected to the kithkin. Kithkin are not ones for direct magical damage, instead relying on enchantments, divination, and abjuration, with some healing thrown in. They often use alchemical concoctions and various powders as mediums for their magic.

The few cards that offer an insight into kithkin magic all have to do with thoughtweft. Kithkin can channel their powers into an individual and make them into a champion. Perhaps this could be used in your game as a power up for a kithkin character. Background even. Or you could make an antagonist from a champion of a rival doun.

Remember also, that kithkin are very superstitious and ritualistic, regardless of their aspect. Normal acts might be wrapped in superstitious covers, and magic might have “unnecessary” ritualistic elements. A caster character might use material components even when the spell requires none, or a character might say a rhyme before using a skill.

Summary

With that I conclude this excursion into the world of Lorwyn Eclipsed kithkin. Although Lorwyn certainly changed with the events of Eventide and then the Phyrexian Invasion, the kithkin are essentially the same. Small, stocky humanoids, who are either cheerful and hospitable in Lorwyn, or scared and isolationist in Shadowmoor. A third kithkin subspecies is now available, the nomads, comprising individuals who severed their connection to the thoughtweft.

Since we’re dealing with MtG, the issue of mana colour should at least be mentioned. In Lorwyn block the kithkin were predominately white with some green. In Shadowmoor they were white with blue (and an odd white/red card!). Eclipsed took away one secondary colour and the kithkin are, regardless of their aspect, white and green. It does not have any direct impact on D&D, but you could work with it when preparing your game.

What do you think of kithkin in Lorwyn Eclipsed? Would you play a kithkin character? Let me know in the comments, and subscribe so you don’t miss further Lorwyn-Shadowmoor articles! Next up is a guide to playing kithkin!

Final remarks

While there is lore available on Lorwyn-Shadowmoor and its denizens, a large part of my analysis is based on card art and flavour text. Therefore a lot might be a matter of artist license rather than conscious worldbuilding decisions. Sometimes that is preferable. The official supplement, Lorwyn: First Light has already been published, and this is my attempt to bring more life and inspiration to those who want to use the setting.

The cards used as illustrations were obtained on Scryfall and all rights to them are reserved to Wizards of the Coast and/or other respective owners.

The author is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast or any other party mentioned in the text.

How To Play: D&D Lorwyn-Shadowmoor

Estimated reading time: 15 minutes

This article is a part of a How-To series aimed at both players and DMs (or whatever equivalent works for you). You will find role-playing, worldbuilding, and storytelling tips for you to make the most of the kind of game you’d like to play.

We’ll start with my favourite MtG plane Lorwyn-Shadowmoor. There’s an official D&D supplement called Lorwyn: First Light that came out November 2025. You should therefore be able to use it as a setting for your game of D&D. This guide will obviously be mostly aimed at those playing D&D, but the ruleset will not be rigidly enforced. You should be able to easily adapt the advice written herein to other systems.

Lorwyn-Shadowmoor

Since you want to use this setting, you probably have an idea what’s it about. I won’t be going into long-winded general descriptions here, as I already wrote those elsewhere. In case you’re not familiar with Lorwyn-Shadowmoor and need this before a game you’re about to join, follow the links below. All the links will be also at the end of the article.

Whether you knew what you’re here for or only got a quick idea from the links above, here’s a short outline of what awaits you in Lorwyn-Shadowmoor. The plane, part of the MtG multiverse, is a fairy-tale realm heavy on duality. Depending on the period you’re going to set your game in this duality might be more or less pronounced. Superstition, forces of nature, and various virtues also play a large role on what makes the plane unique. Let’s break up the different options you have when preparing a game set in Lorwyn-Shadowmoor. But first,

What do you need to play?

Other than the basic stuff needed to play your game system of choice, do you need additional materials? That depends on your playstyle and your ability to improvise.

Since we’re talking MtG, you potentially have loads of cards to use as physical props. If you have a collection, you’re set. If you don’t, you can get most of the cards for a few cents online. You probably won’t be buying Painter’s Servant or Bitterblossom just to use it as a D&D prop, but don’t let anyone stop you if you feel the need.

A random selection of cards from the Lorwyn set. You could build an adventure just by elaborating on this sample.

You can also use the cards to get ideas for your game. Actually it would be wise to at least do a quick flyby of the sets, if you’re not familiar with them. Use Scryfall to look up the cards. Filter out what you seek, for example a monster to put into your game. More advanced DMs can use it to make something in the same vein instead of using the stuff as is, but that’s up to your preference. Many will want to use the exact assets for their games and that’s fine.

Do you need Lorwyn: First Light, the official D&D supplement? That’s a tricky question. If you want to get hold of every possible resource, by all means buy First Light. You might want to check my Lorwyn: First Light review first, so you know what you’re paying for. Have a look and decide for yourself.

A truly valuable resource would be the Planeswalker’s Guide to Lorwyn Eclipsed available for free on the MtG website. While dealing mainly with the most recent events concerning the Lorwyn-Shadowmoor plane, there’s a lot of information, and I would require my players to read through that at the very least.

What else? There’s an unofficial supplement out there, modeled after the semi-official Planeshift resources. You might want to check it out as well. You could definitely read the original tie-in novels, though they are hard to come by. The Lorwyn Eclipsed tie-in stories are much easier to find, and players new to the plane should at least read those.

Choosing an Era

When you think about Lorwyn-Shadowmoor, one of two periods probably comes to your mind immediately. Unless you’re really involved in the lore, it’s either one of the old blocks, or the recent Eclipsed era. If you want to go the “official” route, using Lorwyn: First Light, the choice is made for you. You’re at the end of the timeline, synced with the MtG multiverse (and the various D&D multiverses, I guess). There are other options however, so let’s have a look at all of them.

Pre-Lorwyn Block

This is the period from the conception of the plane until the events described by the Lorwyn and Morningtide MtG sets (the Lorwyn block). At some point, maybe even at the very beginning, the fairy queen Oona started meddling with things and the cycle of Great Auroras began. A lot of characters known from the blocks might not be present, while some probably could. Events described in the flavour texts often happened in this era.

Playing before the Lorwyn block essentially provides you with an almost blank slate for a Lorwyn or Shadowmoor experience. There might have been stories and dramas forgotten to time, that you and your friends could write together. As long as you manage to keep the status quo of Oona’s rule, you shouldn’t have any difficulties. And even then, you could rewrite the story and let it go a different route.

The Old Blocks

Not that different from the previous era, save for the fact that the status quo gets broken, and Shadowmoor lasts a lot shorter than usual. Due to being the focus of the blocks, this era offers the most in terms of existing content. It’s almost 900 cards, not counting the various special editions (that might or might not be considered canon for the plane). There’s plenty of notable characters, a storyline, and therefore a frame upon which you can weave your game.

This comes with pros and cons. It’s great that you can keep up with a story that’s already been written. You can build your own story using the existing one as a scaffolding. It should feel familiar to those who are not entirely new to Lorwyn-Shadowmoor, and perhaps lead to better immersion. On the other hand, your players might be too familiar with the plane, up to a point where it becomes hard to prepare something they won’t see as derivative.

Post-Oona/Pre-Invasion

This was the period that used to be “the present” since Lorwyn-Shadowmoor was forgotten, until the time of the Phyrexian Invasion of the Multiverse. It’s the aftermath of the struggle against the rule of Queen Oona. The Great Auroras effectively stopped, and the plane regained a more or less normal day-night cycle. Lorwyn became the dominant aspect, while pockets of Shadowmoor remained. The transitional period was rough, with towns divided in half between Lorwyn and Shadowmoor, etc., but eventually things stabilized. The aspects still shift, but the changes are local rather than planewide. Eirdu and Isilu, the twin elemental deities from Lorwyn Eclipsed, appeared sometime in this period. Cults revering either of them sprang across the plane. The power balance of Lorwyn got scrambled. Smaller players get to try and carve their portions of the pie. Unfortunately that means Lorwyn elves get to terrorize everyone else.

As with the pre-Lorwyn era, anything that is not covered in detail by any work gives you creative freedom. You know where and when you start, and you know the general direction. Eventually the Phyrexians come, and that’s another interesting era to play in. But unless you want to get there as soon as possible, you have a nice couple of years (about forty, actually) for your campaigns, even if you start right after Oona’s downfall.

The Phyrexian Invasion

One of the most significant events in the MtG Multiverse, the New Phyrexian Invasion didn’t spare Lorwyn-Shadowmoor either. The general mood of this period in the plane’s history will be radically different from what we usually expect from the fairy tale plane. From the view of someone preparing a campaign it is certainly an interesting option. End times are always interesting, and the Phyrexian Invasion surely must have felt like end times all over the planes.

The Phyrexian modus operandi usually consisted of recon and infiltration first, followed by full-scale invasion bolstered by activated sleeper agents from the first phase. The time when Phyrexian spies and emissaries creep into Lorwyn, slowly gaining power, while a select few Lorwyn natives do what they can to prevent them gaining ground seems like a perfect setting for a campaign. It could have covert missions, diplomacy, open clashes with either Phyrexians themselves, or their newly found lackeys.

The Invasion would of course commence when ready, and that’s when what the players managed to do would matter. Every alliance forged, sleeper cell eliminated, artefact obtained, and resource secured, would count towards the successful defense of the plane against the Phyrexian forces. Now would be the time for glorious battles, desperate retreats, and showing off the powers amassed by the PCs. Ideal for a combat-oriented group, but even this period could take a different direction. Also, the early stages could work for a horror campaign, the mostly idyllic backdrop of Lorwyn providing great contrast to the abominations of New Phyrexia.

Post-Invasion

In short the time of Lorwyn Eclipsed (and First Light). The threat of New Phyrexia has been neutralized, although at great costs, and the Multiverse is rebuilding. All the while the planes are dealing with new threats, most of which evade Lorwyn-Shadowmoor. The Multiverse is now riddled with Omenpaths, providing means of interplanar travel for a much wider audience than before. Now anyone can enter one of these portals and get to a different plane. Including Lorwyn.

This period is ideal if your game is to be about outsiders visiting the plane. I didn’t mention it explicitly, but the previous eras work better for natives. With the Omenpaths open however, you can grab your party from Neverwinter and have them stranded on Lorwyn. That was the idea of Lorwyn: First Light, at least in the marketing pitch.

Party Composition

Touched already in previous paragraphs, there is the matter of party composition. The types of characters influence the game every time, but there are a few specifics to Lorwyn-Shadowmoor. Let’s break them down.

Lorwyn-Shadowmoor Natives

The option that might compel MtG veterans the most is an all-native party. Every member was born and raised on the plane, and therefore has extensive knowledge of its workings, at least compared to outsiders. It means that both the DM and the players need to know a lot about Lorwyn-Shadowmoor. That can be daunting for some, but ideally it provides the best immersion. It also saves everyone the trouble of actually making the plane fit together with any established setting. Beware though, that a native party is fully susceptible to aspect changes.

Outsider Visitors

The opposite of this is an all-outsider party. These characters have somehow gotten to the plane, and everything is new and alien to them. Good for introducing players not that invested in MtG lore, you have a lot to offer in this regard. On the other hand, it might be harder to weave complex campaigns with a party that doesn’t have ties to the world. Aspect changes don’t have that much of an effect, at least not on the player characters.

Mixed Origin Party

The middle ground if you want to play the setting, but there’s the one player that insists on playing a dragonborn in every game. Or if you have an established party in a different setting and want to port them to Lorwyn-Shadowmoor. Perhaps one member dies and you offer the player to make a local character as a replacement.

You see the potential, but there are a few caveats. First, if the party leans heavily to either natives or outsiders, the minority might stand out. If one out of five characters is a Lorwyn elf or boggart, there’s the risk of the game focusing too much on this exotic member who’s at home ground. Alternatively the minority might feel overwhelmed by the majority. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do mixed parties, but best keep this in mind.

Situations such as these can of course happen in other settings, for example when there’s a dwarf in an all-human party. Lorwyn-Shadowmoor has one specific, however, unless you set the era to be in the middle of one of the old blocks. And that’s the aspect change.

Aspect of the Plane

When your game is set during the rule of Queen Oona, you don’t have to worry about this much. Unless it comes to either one of the Great Auroras, or Oona’s demise. Both are prime material for a TTRPG campaign and I wouldn’t leave them out unless I wanted only a single short adventure.

In the post-Oona period, when the plane behaves slightly more normally, the standard state is Lorwyn, with pockets of Shadowmoor remaining. The areas change over time, usually not dramatically, but they do anyway. Even more when Eirdu and Isilu, the two cosmic deities are active. An event that might (and probably should) happen in your game is crossing from one aspect to another.

Denizens of Lorwyn-Shadowmoor undergo transformation into their other aspect when crossing between areas of Lorwyn and Shadowmoor. The official supplement offers means to resist this transformation in form of magical talismans, but let’s say these are not so easily obtained. Crossing between aspects of the plane should have this “added value”. This is a thing to consider when planning party composition, because native party members would suddenly change. How big of a deal that is depends on the exact composition. Some combinations might not work at all, so give it some thought beforehand.

Dual Characters

The changing aspects of the plane and its inhabitants mean you should have two different characters ready. One might be your “main” character, but in the event you cross into the other aspect, you should have another personality and possibly a set of stats prepared. I believe for most players this will be something to look forward to, otherwise why play a native, right?

Regardless of party composition the change of aspect would be an interesting twist. Especially when the “new” characters actually have different goals and values now, but you’re in the middle of a quest. There’s lots of space for acting, diplomacy, and fun. Maybe the adventure gets derailed completely due to half of the party changing their minds. Maybe it is the only way the adventure *can* be completed. There are all kinds of possibilities that aren’t present in a game where your bubbly heart of the party can become a paranoid sadist by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Concluding Remarks

Lorwyn-Shadowmoor is a great setting with lots of potential. Its peculiarities make you play differently than you would otherwise. Everything is heavily aspected by both the duality of the plane, and the five-sided cosmology of the multiverse it belongs to. This perhaps makes the setting better suited to longer campaigns, rather than one-shots, unless you play outsiders. Playing natives requires more preparation from both the DM and the players, but the extra effort will be paid off by the uniqueness of the dual characters and environments.

My ideal campaign would start in the Lorwyn block, continue through the Shadowmoor block, then the post-Oona power rearrangement, maybe with some fast forwards. Slowly building up for the Phyrexian Invasion, with a grand finale during the invasion, with a heroic sacrifice against the Etched Host. Then if maybe some characters survived, make them legendary NPCs for the next game, set in the Eclipsed period, with a new party.

With that I will end this first part of several on how to play a TTRPG in Lorwyn-Shadowmoor. If you read all the way down here, you hopefully spent a good quarter of an hour with my thoughts. Best you could do is subscribe so you don’t miss out on what comes next!
Also please share your thoughts in the comments. Have you played a game set in Lorwyn-Shadowmoor? Are you planning to? Is there something you would like to see in a guide like this? Let me know and see you next time!

Links

The cards used as illustrations were obtained on Scryfall and all rights to them are reserved to Wizards of the Coast and/or other respective owners.

The author is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast or any other party mentioned in the text.

MtG: Secrets of Strixhaven

Only a few hours are left until the Secrets of Strixhaven pre-release, and I am really looking forward to this set. And as you probably expect, it’s not only the Magic: The Gathering angle that excites me. The original Strixhaven: School of Mages set is one of the few MtG sets that has an official D&D supplement!

This will not be an in-depth review of either of the MtG Strixhaven sets, or the D&D supplement. Just a short blog post before the Secrets of Strixhaven pre-release. I might share some more thoughts and comments after getting beaten by people who actually spend their time playing with the cards, instead of ogling the art and speculating about the worldbuilding.

Biblioplex, the heart of Strixhaven. All rights reserved to Constantin Marin and Wizards of the Coast.

School of Mages

The basic premise of Strixhaven is that of a magnificent magical university, where gifted students study the magic arts under the supervision of powerful, ofthen quirky tutors. It’s often being compared with a certain young adult book series, and it’s fine if your have to quickly explain the new set to your MtG-free friends. That’s where your should stop, however, because further enforcing this shortcut explanation would be wrong. Yes, the themes are similar. Star Trek and Star Wars also both take place in space, and you don’t want to tell their fanbases that they’re the same.

Strixhaven, and the plane it is located on, Arcavios, were made by a competent team of writers and designers. The worldbuilding is probably the result of conscious planning and combined effort, and not an amalgamation of afterthoughts and ad hoc explanations made canon. It is also the product of a modern society, and I mean this in the best possible sense. From what I’ve seen so far Strixhaven is a vibrant, well designed setting. Built with multiple storylines in mind, so for example there’s no emphasis on a single college, with others being merely second-rate scenery. Each college has its merits, and I would be hard pressed to choose as a wide-eyed student from another plane. Witherbloom or Quandrix? That’s the question. The colleges are of course tied to the five-colour MtG cosmology, but I can easily see Strixhaven make sense ported to other settings as well. You can try it out yourself thanks to the official D&D supplement Strixhave: A Curriculum of Chaos.

D&D supplement worth its price tag?

First a disclaimer – I do not own the supplement and can only comment the list of contents and store descriptions. Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos is over 200 pages long, available both in print and as a digital resource. After Lorwyn: First Light I would definitely pick the print. A PDF would be preferable, but Wizards apparently don’t do those. Either way it’s a lot of content. Most of the page count is supposedly taken by the four adventures present. There should also be over 40 bestiary entries, some general Arcavios and Strixhaven lore, and of course some player options. The owlin species, some feats, backgrounds, and spells. I firmly believe there’s more in this book than what we got in Lorwyn: First Light.

Seeing all the attention Strixhaven is getting it seems to me that Lorwyn has gotten the short end of the stick. The brief summary of the Strixhaven D&D supplement, as well as other stuff (more magic story entries, even a novel!), lead me to the assumption that Lorwyn-Shadowmoor isn’t as beloved as Wizards presented. They probably have it backed by market research data, but for us fans it is a sad realization. It’s ok, though. The Lorwyn and Shadowmoor blocks were great, and they will continue to be regardless of how much love Wizards put into their revival.

Let the lessons begin

As I said before, I’m really looking forward to Secrets of Strixhaven. There’s a lot of nice cards that I can’t wait to play on Saturday. I still have to finish reading all the story entries, but I’ll get to it soon. The story’s good, I might even get the novel. I’m also thinking of actually getting Curriculum of Chaos someday. That’s a lot of stuff I might be doing, when I should be working on the things I have on my desk. I will probably post some playable D&D content soon, but for now please excuse this really bloggish post. Between my paying work and personal life there’s been little time for this lately. Leaving a comment or sharing an article you like would be the perfect feedback, so don’t hold back and go for it!

D&D: Eclipsed Merrows

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

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This is the first article that I’m writing on the new Magic: The Gathering set Lorwyn Eclipsed. Since my last article was on the Shadowmoor merrows I decided I would finish the merrows first and then move on to other tribes. I might do Eclipsed kithkin first to complete that tribe as well.

I believe this is not the first article you read that I’ve dedicated to the wonderful plane of Lorwyn-Shadowmoor. The two blocks were released in 2007 and 2008, and last year a D&D supplement was announced. I started writing these articles in anticipation, predicting how the various aspects of the plane, its lore and denizens, would be handled. We have seen how, and yes, I will keep referencing this review, so I don’t have to repeat myself. I’ve decided to keep writing these articles as a guide for those who find the official supplement lacking.

There is one “but”, however, and it’s the existence of the Planeswalker’s Guide to Lorwyn Eclipsed. It’s full of useful information that seems to be given more thought than just a hasty deadline-meeting afterthought. It follows a structure similar to my articles, when dealing with the tribes of the plane. My articles on Eclipsed will therefore be a bit different from those about the old blocks. They will be less descriptive and more commenting. Probably shorter as well.

In the new set, Lorwyn Eclipsed, time has moved forward since the old blocks. The plane experienced the horrors of the Phyrexian invasion and is recovering. Furthermore, the defeat of Oona, queen of fairies, spelled the end of the Great Auroras. Lorwyn-Shadowmoor no longer flips its aspect. Instead the Lorwyn and Shadowmoor aspects coexist and intermingle in their own rhythm. This brings new opportunities and challenges to a potential D&D game set on the plane. We’re going to tackle them one after another, as they come into light in these tribal articles. The merrows of Lorwyn Eclipsed await!

Waters of Dawn and Dusk

The dual plane Lorwyn-Shadowmoor is now in what we would call “normal”. That means there is a day-night cycle instead of the plane being locked on one or another. There are areas of Lorwyn aspect, and areas of Shadowmoor aspect, with the Lorwyn being dominant.

This means we get merrows of both flavours side by side after the Shadowmoor block. You can read my thoughts about the Lorwyn merrows here and their Shadowmoor counterpart here, so I won’t describe them in detail. It actually takes out some uniqueness out of the plane, because this is the way it normally is with fantasy species everywhere. You have good elves and evil elves, they are kin, but different. Sure, once someone crosses from a Lorwyn region into Shadowmoor, they change into the corresponding variant. So the two different aspects never meet under normal circumstances. But they still recognize the existence of the other kind in the opposite regions.

Lorwyn Eclipsed lore fortunately takes the Phyrexian invasion into account. Both the Lorwyn and the Shadowmoor merrows planned on waiting out the invasion in hiding, but neither came out unharmed. Both have been pushed into the depths with losses. Lorwyn merrows dwindled in numbers and are struggling to retake their position as merchants and scholars of the plane. Meanwhile the Shadowmoor merrows fled deep into the Dark Meanders, where they became even more monstrous compared to their Lorwyn brethren.

Society

The post-invasion merrows still gather in their schools, as we were used to in the blocks of old. Loosely led by a reejerey, these schools specialize in certain aspects of the merrow lifestyle. The Silvergill school for example returns with their penchant for trade, while their counterpart Gravelgill seems more rogueish than before the invasion. In Oona’s time they seemed to be focused more on direct combat.

Traders, messengers, and sages in Lorwyn, scammers, bandits, and thieves in Shadowmoor, these things are more or less the same as before. The Shadowmoor merrows are said to sell fake magic items, which is something that can be nicely implemented in a D&D game. I will repeat myself, but the merrows are ideal as NPCs for your game – they can pop-up from a well or a stream and offer their wares and services. Or send the group on an errand. Orchestrate something that serves as the foundation of your adventure. Or, if you need, they can be a formidable enemy near water.

Characters

In Eclipsed we see the return of the one legendary merrow from the original blocks. Of course the one is Sygg, the River Guide, or more recently the River Cutthroat. Now he goes by the epithets Wanderwine Wisdom in Lorwyn, and Wanderbrine Shield in Shadowmoor. According to the lore he now leads a school (presumably his old one, Paperfin/Razorfin?), and has put his adventuring/pirating ways behind himself.

We can see him depicted with a scale bishop’s mantle covering his shoulders, a shell-staff, and lots of talismans. On some cards the art gives him a really funny babyface, especially since we remember how he looked in Shadowmoor.

Equipment

As usual I describe the weapons, armor, and other equipment used by the tribe. Not important for MTG, but interesting for any potential TTRPG applications. I already covered a lot of merrow equipment in the previous two articles so in this one I will comment on what’s new mainly. It would be interesting to know whether the changes are deliberate or just the artistic input of the artists and art directors.

The main merrow weapons from the old blocks, spear and knife/dagger, are still present, and so are swords. We see a rapier-like sword, as well as a two-hander being wielded by the different iterations of the Deepchannel Duelist. The Silvergill Mentor holds something vaguely reminiscent of the bidents seen in Shadowmoor. Or maybe it’s an entirely new thing, some kind of pincer-like scepter.

There are also shell-spears and shell-staves. Originally seen only on one card, Razorfin Abolisher from Eventide, it seems the shell-staves have caught the eye of the new team. It’s a cool design, so there’s no wonder why they decided to use it more frequently. Apart from these, there are still “regular” staves, and one card shows a merrow holding a coral staff. The Riverguard below uses some kind of chitinous scythe-like weapon, but maybe it’s only a staff as well.

Regarding armour there is again the understandable scarcity among the merrows. Even the more combat-oriented individuals usually wear little to no armour pieces. There are exceptions, and these (other than Sygg’s bishop’s mantle) usually consist of shell breasplates with pauldrons. It’s another new design, one that works well with the merrows’ aquatic aesthetic. In my opinion the design is a bit too evocative of renaissance cuirasses, but maybe that was intended. Let’s also not forget the horseshoe crab cuirass the Deepway Navigator is wearing! That is really cool!

All things considered the merrows are pretty consistent with their attire and weapons. We see a clear emphasis on shell-based weapons, mainly shell-staves, but also shell-rapiers and shell-spears. Along with coral and chitin it nicely complements the aquatic theme of the merrows. There’s a lot of potential for interesting trade items or loot in a D&D game.

Magic

The merrows are potent magic users and they continue to be in Lorwyn Eclipsed. Due to the size of the set (as opposed to two blocks) we get a lot less of the merrow magic. The few spells there are correspond with the usual merrow package. There is water manipulation (transmutation/conjuration) and protective spells (abjuration).

We also know from the Planeswalker’s Guide that the merrows continue to use their glamers, i.e. all sorts of illusions. In a D&D game the merrows should therefore also be very adept at the illusion school of magic. Water, illusions, and occasional offense or defense, that’s what merrow magic is about. And if we take the old blocks into account, divination also should be present.

Summary

Having already discussed both the merrows of Lorwyn and Shadowmoor in previous articles, I didn’t waste too many words repeating myself in this article. In fact I think further tribal articles will be made with Eclipsed already included.

The merrows are a good representation of what their main MTG colour stands for. They prefer magic and knowledge over brute force, and lean either to order (white) or decay (black). In Eclipsed the tribes lost one of their colours, the merrows for example are never black, not even the Shadowmoor ones. This has no direct effect on any potential D&D game, but you can bear those things in mind when preparing an adventure containing merrows.

Last time I made a small package of playable 5E content to use should you play D&D on Lorwyn-Shadowmoor. This time I won’t offer anything new, just link to the package again. You can get it for free either here, or on my Ko-fi page, that I’m sure you’ll be able to get to.

[FREE] A Measure of Merrows

How did you like the merrows in Eclipsed? I actually played them at the pre-release, and it was fun, probably the best pre-release games I had. Their design is true to the old blocks (mostly), and has a charm that would be nice to have in a game of D&D. Let me know what you think in the comments, and subscribe so you don’t miss further Lorwyn-Shadowmoor articles!

Final remarks

While there is lore available on Lorwyn-Shadowmoor and its denizens, a large part of my analysis is based on card art and flavour text. Therefore a lot might be a matter of artist license rather than conscious worldbuilding decisions. Sometimes that is preferable. The official supplement, Lorwyn: First Light has already been published, and this is my attempt to bring more life and inspiration to those who want to use the setting.

The cards used as illustrations were obtained on Scryfall and all rights to them are reserved to Wizards of the Coast and/or other respective owners.

The author is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast or any other party mentioned in the text.

D&D: Shadowmoor Merrows

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

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I’ve had this article sitting in my WIPs for quite long, and in the meantime Wizards announced Lorwyn: First Light. My first though was to let this series slide and just wait for the official stuff. Write further articles only on what’s been released. Then the supplement came out, and… you can read my thoughts in this review. I pulled no punches.

My first thought was to put out my own “supplement” to the supplement as soon as possible. But another month or two came and went, while I’ve been working on other things. Suddenly Lorwyn Eclipsed got released! The set is very nice, and I enjoyed the pre-release! Now there’s a whole new Lorwyn-Shadowmoor to take into account!

I’ve been pondering how to continue with my series. Whether to write further articles with Eclipsed era included, or to move on the way I started. That is to write a separate article for each tribe in each aspect, Lorwyn and Shadowmoor. Eclipsed era stuff would have their own articles, and everything would be cross-linked. I believe this is the way, as it is consistent and keeps things separated. However interesting the Eclipsed era might be, some people might want to play earlier parts of the timeline. For example the span between the events of Eventide and the Phyrexian invasion. Or ancient history before the Lorwyn block, that would give quite a lot of freedom to everyone, the DM and PCs alike.

This one’s a bit of a legacy article. It was already partially finished and I’m picking up where I left it. Months before First Light and even longer before Eclipsed. Let’s plunge into the Dark Meanders with the merrows, then!

The rivers darken

Last time we had a look at the merrows of Lorwyn, a tribe of scholars and keepers of knowledge. In their Lorwyn aspect they are more or less part of the “good guys” – they do have some trickery and manipulation under their belts, but the merrows do more help than harm. In Shadowmoor of course everything is flipped, and the once noble and wise intellectuals of the plane turned into malicious aquatic predators.

The great river Wanderwine has changed into Wanderbrine, and the merrows who once tended the waterways have abandoned their stations as the rivers’ wardens. No longer do they protect and promote trade and travel along the waterways. They have become the very threat they sought to mitigate. The rivers either flooded the land due to negligence or maliciousness of the merrows, or disappeared. The cards below illustrate this.

This certainly opens various plot possibilities. A settlement (or a magical site) might be in danger of being flooded. Another might already lie under water, hiding knowledge, a powerful artifact, or a heirloom that could prevent a war. Whatever the party goal is, the Shadowmoor merrows won’t cooperate.

Society

I’ve already written that after the Great Aurora the merrows become a wicked caricature of their Lorwyn counterparts. They still covet knowledge, but instead of sharing it they steal and hoard everything. When making any kind of deals they are as ruthless in commerce and diplomacy as on the battlefield. If by battlefield we mean the murky depths of the Wanderbrine, from which they strike upon their neighbours.

Where Lorwyn merrows posed themselves as teachers, guides, and “older siblings” to the other tribes, Shadowmoor merrows are the opposite. They would make great antagonists. Either as an ever present threat, or the masterminds behind whatever malicious happening the party has to set right.

We can still discern merrow schools in Shadowmoor. Their place in the society is questionable with all the changes they underwent because of the Great Aurora. The merrows seem more selfish and even less organized than in Lorwyn. We see Inkfathom merrows with unchanged name, and they can be supposed to favour the Dark Meanders. Gravelgill (flipped from Silvergill) seems to be the heavies. Razorfin used to be Paperfin, but their specialty is elusive as before. Stonybrook might have been translated into Deepchannel, but maybe that’s a bit of a stretch based on one card that might fit the bill. Lorwyn Weirwinder has no known Shadowmoor equivalent. The merrow schools didn’t get as much attention as kithkin clachans and douns.

As you can see on the card art, Shadowmoor merrows are also more monstrous. Lorwyn merrows went the “fish-tailed elves” way. They were colourful and uncannily beautiful. Shadowmoor merrows are all spines, sharp teeth, and claws. As with many things on Lorwyn-Shadowmoor, their outward appearance reflects their inner selves. No deconstruction until we get to the elves, I’m afraid!

Characters

One thing I omitted in the articles before are the named characters. They are the heroes and villains of the story. While not vital for a sealed draft MTG game among friends, they nevertheless help build the overall picture.

Shadowmoor block came out in an era when there weren’t dozens of named legendary creatures per set. There are eight of them altogether in the Shadowmoor block, and only one of them is a merrow. Sygg, formerly called River Guide, changed into Sygg the River Cutthroat. No longer a benevolent wizard capable of taking you where you need. Now he’s a rogue bent on taking whatever he desires. Supposedly he still travels the lanes, but only so he can rob, steal, and otherwise behave badly. He still doesn’t deserve the babyface retcon he received in Eclipsed, though. But in the time of the Shadowmoor, he’s one nasty individual, a good candidate for an antagonist in your game.

Equipment

In each of these articles I describe the weapons, armor, and other equipment used by the tribe. It doesn’t matter for MTG, where the art is only there to illustrate the mechanics. In a TTRPG game the equipment of various characters is one of the main elements of the game.

Shadowmoor merrows prefer a more hands-on approach than their Lorwyn selves. The art shows mainly wicked looking daggers and shivs, or polearms. Spears, but also some sort of short bident, as you can see above. There’s also a single sword, held by the Wake Thrasher in both hands. And he seems to have a battle axe on his belt. Another curious looking long-shafted axe or halberd can also be seen. Held by the Gravelgill Axeshark, the design is wicked and full of “evil spikiness”. It’s also wielded in a very curious way, with a secondary handle similar to a scythe handle.

As you probably noticed, Shadowmoor merrows are more armoured than they used to be in Lorwyn. About a third of the creature cards depicts merrows with at least partial armour. Most often the armour takes the form of pauldrons or vambraces. Gravelgill heavies also wear breastplates, tassets, and helmets. A lot of the merrows wear nothing at all, or a belt or harness with trinkets at best.

The magic users usually have no weapons, or just a bladed implement, but some wield staves. Some are plain, just a length of wood (?) with some kind of ribbons woven around them. Others are ornate, such as the ones on the cards below. One is an intricately twisted rod of unknown, seemingly organic, material. The second staff is based on a conch shell. It is a design that’s been extensively adopted by the Lorwyn Eclipsed merrows (or at least their artists). We’ll get to Eclipsed merrows later, in a separate article right after this one.

The next thing is not really equipment but something the Shadowmoor merrows have at their disposal – leeches. Specialized leech bonders probably control these slimy bloodsuckers and use them to assault their foes. Not only to damage, but even magically affect. There’s quite a lot of space for creativity here, should one pursue this wiggly way.

Magic

Even in Shadowmoor the merrows are supposed to be magic oriented. We can see a decline in their culture, society, and even magic prowess, though. There’s only a handful of spells that can be attributed to the merrow in particular. Of these there are several areas in which the merrows stand out. Once they were the lorekeepers of Lorwyn, acting as the plane’s memory. In Shadowmoor they tamper with the memories of other tribes to suit their wicked ways. Maybe some spell or feature that temporarily disables, or even spends spell slots could work for them? Of interest is also the sorcerous scarification shown below. Knowledge or even spells could be inscribed upon chosen merrows.

Hints of hampering enchantments and abjuration can also be seen. The effect described on the Wilderness Hypnotist card has a nice flavour. The Cursecatcher shows us that Shadowmoor merrows don’t fret at using their lives to power their magic. This opens possibilities for sacrificial casting, using HPs or whole victims to cast certain spells.

Last but not least, there are spells that manipulate the physical world. Mostly the water, such as the two pictured below, or the Inundate spell at the beginning of the article. Those are indeed transmutation or conjuration spells. Perhaps they could be recreated as variations on Control Water.

Summary

No more the “good guys”, Shadowmoor merrows lean into black rather than blue. Their society seems wretched, the loose structure of Lorwyn merrows now even looser. They are covetous, treacherous, and ruthless. Because of their water dependency they are not very suited for most D&D campaigns as playable species. They can however pose as NPCs, making great villains of various levels.

This is one of the things Lorwyn: First Light got right. They could however be more than two stat blocks with a few words to them. On lower levels they could be the the random (or not so random) brigands the party encounters while riverside. Or the culprits in the poisoning of a water source for a doun. On higher levels one of the merrows could become a mastermind behind a more complex scheme. Or they could be the henchmen/cultists of a malevolent elemental incarnation. There’s a lot that can be done with the Shadowmoor merrows, even though they are now more single-minded than their Lorwyn counterparts.

In the previous articles I held back in anticipation of meaningful content in the upcoming D&D supplement. We already know how Lorwyn: First Light went. I will be doing my part by giving you something you can actually use in a campaign set in the plane of Lorwyn-Shadowmoor. Click the link below for a few bestiary entries, a couple of spells, and some items.

[FREE] A Measure of Merrows

Do you agree with my conclusions? Did you find this article helpful or inspiring? Or were you satisfied with the treatment they got in the official supplement? Let me know in the comments and share the article with your MTG and D&D friends! Next stop – the merrows of Lorwyn Eclipsed!

Final remarks

While there is lore available on Lorwyn-Shadowmoor and its denizens, a large part of my analysis is based on card art and flavour text. Therefore a lot might be a matter of artist license rather than conscious worldbuilding decisions. Sometimes that is preferable. The official supplement, Lorwyn: First Light has already been published, and this is my attempt to bring more life and inspiration to those who want to use the setting.

The cards used as illustrations were obtained on Scryfall and all rights to them are reserved to Wizards of the Coast and/or other respective owners.

The author is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast or any other party mentioned in the text.

Dungeons: Only you can prevent broken environmental puzzles

Estimated reading time: 14 minutes

This post is part of a series analyzing several aspects of one of the recognizable parts of the TTRPGs we all love – the dungeons. The articles can be read in any order and they will be cross-linked when necessary. Throughout the series (and elsewhere) I use “dungeon” as a technical term and it can be used to describe any clearly defined environment containing multiple non-random encounters. These include natural caves, mines, keeps and castles, crypts, temples, ships and other vehicles, and many others.

When the party skips your puzzle

You prepared a situation where the party has to get across a chasm, or out of a deep pit. There are several solutions using the environment, character abilities and skills, or the items they found earlier. A classic environmental puzzle.

You forgot the party gained a level, and the wizard now has the Fly spell. They’re handed a coil of rope and sent upwards, where they tie it to a conveniently protruding protrusion. The rest of the party climbs up and you’ve just lost a chunk of content.

Of course they did nothing wrong, they used a tool at their disposal the correct way. That should be rewarded, if anything. Though perhaps next time you can anticipate the use of magic and create the puzzle or situation in a way that prevents such easy solutions.

An environmental puzzle from Silo, season 2. The kind most parties above level 1 would clear in a second. All rights reserved to Apple TV and/or other respective owners.

“Bypass” spells

Magic is a staple in fantasy, and we usually wouldn’t want it any other way. It opens up a myriad of possibilities, from wielding terrifying destructive powers, to reshaping the environment. There are however times when magic narrows down the course of a narrative. Depending on the workings of magic in the setting there might be codified spells, or more “freeform” casting, and both have their distinct effects.

The type of magic used in D&D, often called Vancian, uses spells with a defined set of parameters. When you cast an offensive spell, you know the range, area of effect, damage amount and type. You usually can’t use it for much else. Perhaps set something on fire with a fire spell. This kind of magic has firm rules, so you can account for its use and plan accordingly.

The other way of using magic is what we can call “freeform” magic. There are no codified spells wit set parameters. Instead you describe what you want to achieve, and use the corresponding school, circle, or whatever your powers are classified by. The DM (or in this case anything other than a DM) decides whether it’s within the character’s power, and after your roll announces the result. It’s not as easy to plan the encounters and puzzles with this in mind. Player creativity is sometimes boundless, and this is the case where it definitely should be rewarded.

Since we’re mainly dealing with systems using Vancian magic on this site, I will continue in this way. So, spells it is. Which spells cause the most trouble? Well of course the ones that enable you to move in unnatural ways. Some are available quite early and don’t do that much of a difference. You even want them used. Others, while received at higher levels, make quite a mess of your environmental puzzles. Let’s have a breakdown of the culprits.

Jump

The 1st level transmutation spell Jump is a great utility spell. It is available early and the effect can be used multiple times for a minute. A character with a strength score of 10 could do a 30 feet running jump, or 15 feet standing jump. That’s a lot. A ranger with above average strength could clear a lot of chasms quite easily.

Spider Climb

Channel your friend’s inner Spider Man with this handy 2nd level spell. Or a spider horror, as they might look to onlookers while they somehow climb walls without using their hands. Presumably they sprout some spider limbs that do the climbing. Whatever the case, the spell lets a character get to a lot of otherwise inaccessible places, and it lasts up to an hour. Plenty of time to do what needs to be done, and you can cast it on someone other than yourself.

Levitate

Another 2nd level spell, Levitate has loads of uses. You can float a creature or an object up to 60 feet from yourself. That should cover a lot of gaps and height differences. The levitated creature is rather helpless and depends on the caster for movement, unless it can pull or push itself against something. For a 2nd level spell it offers a lot, though.

Misty Step

The first available teleportation spell, Misty Step enables the caster to move 30 feet to a place they can see. You can get much more out of Spider Climb, Jump, or Levitate, if the conditions are favourable and you have time. But if time is running out, a Misty Step across a hazard might save your neck.

Rope Trick

Another 2nd level spell that could help in certain situations. As long as you have a rope up to 60 feet long, you can hang it upright in thin air. It’s held by an extradimensional pocket that you can hide in. You can also just use it to climb where needed and jump off the rope.

Fly

One of the 3rd level spells casters are waiting for, Fly opens many doors. A real game changer when it comes to mobility, this spell can wreck your environmental puzzles in numerous ways. At higher levels you can affect additional creatures, possibly making it better than Dimension Door (see below).

Gaseous Form

Not only Fly becomes available when you get to 3rd level spells. Gaseous Form gives you wings as well, but also makes you, well, gaseous. Good for escaping and squeezing through small openings. To interact with the world you have to end the spell, however. Unlike others in this list that you can benefit from multiple times.

Water Walk

Water Walk is more specific in its utility than Fly or Spider Climb. The name suggests water, but you can cross any liquid while under the effects of this spell. And it can target up to ten creatures. That large pool of acid? The party can get across with safe feet. Quicksand? Lava? Deep snow? They can walk over all of it, though each poses its own hazards other than drowning.

Dimension Door

We’re getting to the big league spells with this 4th level conjuration spell. A proper teleport with a range of 500 feet. The range isn’t that great outdoors, but should be enough for your indoor needs. You can take one other creature with you and both of you can carry your full capacity. An excellent utility spell, though you have to be a 7th level full caster to get it.

Far Step

In Xanathar’s Guide to Everything we can find what’s essentially a continuous Misty Step. You can blink 60 feet each turn for up to 1 minute or while you retain concentration. The blink is a bonus action, so you can cover a lot of ground while also performing another action on each stop. The total distance is shorter than Dimension Door and your friends have to wait while you’re blinking around, but it’s still a neat spell.

Passwall

Passwall is a 5th level wizard exclusive spell that creates a tunnel up to 20 feet long in a wall. The description specifies wood, plaster, or stone, but one could argue the possibility of its use on other materials. With this your don’t have to worry about locked doors, or any doors when you think about it. Any wall with thickness under 20 feet can be bypassed by this spell. At 9th caster level you would expect this kind of stuff, though.

Arcane Gate

We’re arriving into high magic territory. Arcane Gate essentially creates two portals similar to those from the Portal game. They should conserve the direction and velocity of a creature or object entering them. The difference is that you can’t stick the portals to a surface. They float in the air above aground, and you can rotate them as a bonus action. With this many environmental puzzles cease to be puzzles, but since it’s a 6th level spell, it is to be expected.

Wind Walk

Another spell that already has a toned down version in Gaseous Form, this 6th level transformation is the ultimate escape and traveling aid for parties. The caster can affect up to ten other creatures. All of them benefit from the effects of the Gaseous Form with a flying speed of 300 feet. Anyone affected can revert to normal state and back for the whole duration of the spell, 8 hours. The transformation takes one minute, but it’s a very small price to pay for the utility it brings.

Countermeasures

Your goal as a DM is for everyone to have fun (including you). You manage this by creating and running an engaging adventure. The outcomes of various actions are not guaranteed, and failure should always be an option, though not necessarily fatal. Each character has a set of tools at their disposal, guided by their player’s skill and creativity.

This creativity should be supported and rewarded. Sometimes the tools at disposal block creativity, leading to situations and encounters being solved too easily. That’s where you have to be creative, and use the tools *you* as the DM have at your disposal. Some are better, some are worse. The order in which you find them below is roughly worst to best.

DM Fiat

By far the worst possible option. I’m mentioning it here as a warning, as this will not lead to fun or positive feedback from your players. In short, when a player finds a bypass you didn’t account for, you deny its use. The player wants to cast a spell and you flatly state they can’t use it now. Never do this, and instead try anything other from this list.

Environmental restraints

By environmental restraints I mean conditions that prevent the use of a bypass that are not DM fiat and might make sense. Still they are rather cheap and obviously are there only to block a particular tool. A good example is some sort of magical field, or technological device, that disables magic. You could cast Fly, but that crystal on the other side of the pit cancels your spells. In some settings too much technological devices could do the same to a caster. Or there’s a small turret that zaps everyone trying to cast a spell, not doing much damage, but interrupting the spell.

It is fine when this is foreshadowed. If the party is trying to rob a vault secured against all magic, it makes sense they should only rely on their non-magical prowess. In a regular dungeon where magic is okay everywhere *but* the one place it would be really handy? I’d say it’s badly designed.

Spell caveats

The bypass spells offer great utility in what they’re intended for. They are not complex solutions, and sometimes need other arrangements. These might be as simple as a piece of equipment (rope, pitons, bucket, sled), or another spell. That brings us to resource management, when casters have to think twice before wasting a spell when another solution was possible (see below).

Water Walk enables to walk on the surface of the liquid, but does not protect from other effects it might possess. The PHB mentions heat from lava, but acid vapours are also bad for your health. There might be things living in the liquid you’re trying to walk over, and some might be hungry.

Spider Climb needs walls. What if there are none that can be reached? Or the walls might also be dangerous. Covered in toxic mushrooms or territorial vermin, or crumbling when crawled over, sending the unlucky adventurers to the pits below.

Resource management

Probably in any game, not only those with Vancian magic, there are limits to magic use. Whether it’s daily uses, spell points, stamina, or blood, you can’t have your every action be spellcasting. Most casters probably have to think how they spend their magic, same as any other resource. Depending on other factors, such as party composition, the caster might have to split their magic uses between offensive, defensive, and utility.

You can work with this knowledge to create dilemmas, decisions that have to be made either beforehand (memorizing spells), or at the moment (other forms). At higher levels many foes can have resistances and immunities to normal attacks. Spells might be needed to defeat them. Enemies or the environment might on the other hand present dangers that have to be countered by magic. Or there are simply multiple environmental puzzles, so at least some need to be solved without magic.

Puzzle design

This is what I believe to be the grail you should strive to reach when designing environmental puzzles. Or anything, really. Let’s say there’s an obstacle the party has to overcome. Don’t set it up that simply getting through with one character is enough, not even the whole party. It needs to be *solved*, and that might mean a lot of different things. Perhaps you need to move some NPCs or animals across as well. They won’t climb 60 feet of dangling rope, or agree to be changed into mist. You need to make a safe path.

Or perhaps there’s a large object that’s needed somewhere across the pit, maybe two rooms further. It’s too large and heavy to carry on back, fit inside a portal, and it can’t be changed into mist or given spider legs. You need to make way for the huge boulder, or portable generator. You might be able to bypass the next puzzle with a spell again, but now that’s two spell slots that could have been used differently. It is all connected, and each solution might affect the next puzzle.

This can be taken a bit further making multiple environmental puzzles part of one large puzzle. The diverted flow of an underground river fills a pool that raises a platform, upon which the fallen column for another puzzle can be rolled. The new flow also powers an elevator that goes not only up, where you could fly or climb, but also down. The way down was concealed by the elevator platform. Descending the elevator shaft might prove to be a shortcut, or a bonus area with clues, lore, a helpful NPC, or just extra loot.

It is a lot more work, creating a complex environmental puzzle where the pieces are interconnected. And the players might find yet another way to bypass the situations you so meticulously prepared. Keep in mind that even if it doesn’t work out the way you intended you still have your notes. It was probably a good exercise, and you can publish it! Or take some parts out, mix and match with other stuff, and use in a different campaign.

Conclusion

Magic is an essential part of fantasy, yet it can make your prepared content “skippable” too easily. There are several ways to keep environmental puzzles relevant and interesting even on mid party levels. Try designing your puzzles with magic and its limitations in mind. That way you can offer puzzles that have to be solved with brains instead of spellcasting rolls.

The guidelines presented in the article are by no means exhaustive, and I would love to read your thoughts in the comments! It’s also up to you as the DM to know your players and arrange things accordingly. Some players will never appreciate environmental puzzles, and would prefer to skip them with a spell. That’s fine, but since you’re reading this, either you, your players, or both parties like to solve an environmental puzzle at least from time to time.