By Kobold Staff Dec 17, 2018 | Articles, Midgard |
Of the smaller races, the kobolds have adapted best to the changing world. Enslaved long ago by reaver dwarves, kobolds quickly carved a niche for themselves as miners, scouts, and tinkerers: small enough to be useful, and also small enough to be dismissed as a threat. At first they were tolerated, then largely ignored. As a result, the shadows of dwarven society are rife with kobold rogues and entrepreneurs (many of them secret worshippers of...
By Jacob Huebsch Dec 14, 2018 | Articles, The Far Side of the Table |
Val clumsily brought his eighth glass of whiskey to his lips, wondering if, finally, this would be the shot that would do him in. The shouts of combat and explosions rang in his ears, and through his swimming vision and equally muddled thoughts, the image of Tyrash, his grim smile and the explosive barrel at his feet, came uninvited. “You’ve got the look of someone running,” the tavern owner was a solemn person of middling...
By Lou Anders Dec 12, 2018 | Articles |
When I was a kid, and 1st Edition wasn’t called 1st Edition because we didn’t know there would ever be another, we played sitting on the rug with a set of very battered core books, dice you had to rub with a crayon to see the numbers, #2 pencils, and paper, some of it graphed. These days, we’re sitting around a dedicated game table, everyone with laptops and iPads plugged into D&D Beyond, and the table is filled with either 3D printed...
By Kobold Staff Dec 10, 2018 | Articles, Midgard |
South of the Reaching Mountains and east of cyclopean Jotunheim, a fertile forest teeming with vibrant flora and fauna is sheltered from the worst excesses of cold and wind. Trollheim’s inhabitants are cunning hunters, fearless explorers, and fearsome raiders. Whether human, dwarf, or troll, few embrace the culture of the North as fiercely. They farm, brawl, raid each other, toast the gods, and consider themselves the best of all peoples. Most...
By Kobold Staff Dec 7, 2018 | Articles |
It’s December! So here’s a set of wallpapers for your computer, your smartphone, or whatever electronic device you’ve got. This month we tease the upcoming 12 Peculiar Towers, by artist Miguel Regodón Harkness. Bring on the magic! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Please, click on the image you want to download to expand it into a downloadable...
By GM Lent Dec 5, 2018 | Articles, Cult Activity |
In societies where magic is commonplace or at least recognized and understood, rulers often seek to leverage eldritch power to supplement the armed forces. A soldier with even a moderate amount of magical training is a living terror to common conscripts on the battlefield, both in terms of raw power and simple intimidation. The Magic Initiate feat presents an interesting means of implementing this modicum of magical power on a broad scale and...
By Kobold Staff Dec 3, 2018 | Articles, Midgard |
Five reptilian heads upon long necks rise from the murky surface of the water. Sizzling venom drips from each gaping maw. The venom maw hydra lurks in sulfurous swamps and near areas of high geothermal activity, poisoning the hot springs and lakes where it dwells. Voracious Appetite. The venom maw hydra takes advantage of the sanctuary its warm water home promises to nearby fauna, devouring any creature that comes for warmth or a drink and...
By Wolfgang Baur Nov 30, 2018 | Articles, Warlock's Apprentice |
Most branches of the great World Tree are noisy and full of powerful spirits: the battle cries of Valhalla, the shrieking of various hells and planes of torment, the fulsome chorus of celestial planes devoted to the harmonious celebration of the divine. The Dry Lands: The Plane of Mot, Dark God of the Undead By comparison, Evermaw, the plane of the dark god Mot (and the equally notorious Vardesain and Anu-Akma, fellow gods of the dead), is...
By Kobold Staff Nov 28, 2018 | Articles |
Time for an Actual Play photo set from Robert Ringrose for Halls of the Mountain King! (Potential spoilers ahead.) “I’m running Hall of the Mountain King,” says Robert. “The group is at the point where they go down into the depths to repair the Shank. You probably remember that at this point, the spirit of the mountain animates a sixty-foot-tall colossus. It took some doing to figure out how to impress the scale upon the...
By Kobold Staff Nov 26, 2018 | Articles, Midgard |
All seek some form of justice when they have been wronged, and many live under the promise of its protection, whether or not the promise is kept, but few take on the holy burden of delivering the justice of the gods. The mercy of the gods, when in evidence at all, is not the mercy of mortals, and meting it out makes for a lonely life. Yet most agree on the urgent need for justice in the world, with all of its dark places and rulers who give it...
By Kobold Staff Nov 21, 2018 | Articles |
Midgard Sagas presents six 5th Edition adventures for characters from levels 3 to 8. All six adventures were originally designed to be playable in a convention time slot of four to six hours, so they’re packed with fast action. Mystery & Death Stalk Midgard! MURDER ON THE CROSSROADS (LEVEL 3) An unnatural blizzard has characters trapped inside a famous general’s mansion, and a murderer is loose among them! MADMAN AT THE BRIDGE (LEVEL 4)...
By Kobold Staff Nov 19, 2018 | Articles, Midgard |
Dwarves think of their canton first, their race or clan second. The canton is home and hearth, family and wealth, and safety from an uncaring world. These traits do not guarantee greater harmony or joy among cantonal dwarves than among other races. Indeed, cantonal dwarves are notoriously dour, fractious, and opinionated about everything. Cantonal dwarves unify only in the presence of some external threat, which gives their elders and the...
By Richard Pett Nov 16, 2018 | Articles, Your Whispering Homunculus |
“Close and bolt the door, master! I’ve just seen something terrible staggering up the street outside…” Crooked Characters are detailed NPCs to slip into your adventures however you wish. Free from class and statistics, they can be used in any fantasy gaming system. Each comes with a detailed description and character motivation for you to use in your campaign, perhaps as a mere passer-by, a rumor, a confidante, or maybe as the motivation...
By Troy E. Taylor Nov 14, 2018 | Articles, Midgard Maps |
Adventure for Level 6 characters. In the underground depths—roughly below the region around Smoltenberg—deeper even than the mines dug out by dwarves, there is abandoned trading outpost beside an underground river, a far-reaching tributary of the Blackjet River. Once, not so long ago, this place served as the home for a prosperous community of dark elves. They called it Cornnaith. The walls of the main thoroughfare feature carvings and statuary...
By Kobold Staff Nov 12, 2018 | Articles, Midgard |
The creature resembles a great blackened asp with smoldering skin and white-hot serpentine eyes. It slithers as confidently through the air as across the ground. Serpent of Suffering. Alnaar demons appear most commonly when a people, race, or species is experiencing suffering. There to hasten the process, the alnaar erupts from the Abyss, leaving massive holes in the firmament of the afflicted cities and towns. The alnaar’s only wish is to...
