Beyond the overlooked polearms and famous straight, thrusting, and curved swords lies a major category of weapons that just as importantly deserves some mention—ranged projectile weapons. From the nameless men-at-arms shooting crossbows from castle crenellations to green-suited, do-gooding outlaws with their longbows to the swashbuckling musketeer, each has their unique place in the annals of […]
Historical Steel: Dialing in the Range Read More »
Refill your flagons! Jarrod Camiré continues to bring you new material to use with Northlands: Roleplaying in Winter’s Chill. The second of four parts, this week we learn a little more about Thor. [previously] __ Thor is certainly one of the most well known gods from Norse mythology. He is mostly associated with thunder, lightning,
Thor, God of Thunder and Lightning Read More »
Your breath catches as they emerge from the shadows, each a gore-splattered marionette with black hollows where their eyes should be. Only the jagged, sharpened teeth protruding from their cold porcelain smiles mar their faces. They move like nightmares, limbs held falsely and jerking from motion to motion. Tiny fingers end in wicked steel blades,
We’ve had a couple of big releases here recently! There’s Northlands: Roleplaying in Winter’s Chill, a Pathfinder-compatible sourcebook for adventures in Midgard’s temperate and subarctic north; and Kobold Quarterly #17, an issue dedicated to villainy with articles for Pathfinder RPG, 4th Edition D&D, and Dragon Age RPG. What are reviewers saying about them? Let’s start
Northlands and KQ #17 Review Roundup Read More »
Melchior huffed and puffed around the last corner. Even though he’d be dressed down for loafing, he felt a genuine affection for his employers. He skidded to a stop. The dragon, who was devouring Fargrim the Chaste, raised his head to gaze at him. Melchior pushed his helm (a well-seasoned dinner pot) higher on his
Lackeys, Hirelings, and Henchmen Read More »
How can a god be mad? Some sages claim all the gods are mad, and we are but the figments of their raving intellects. Yet madness does not just mean a disordered mind caught up in its own delusions and faux-reality. If madness is one man’s illusion, perhaps sanity is also an illusion, but one
Gibbering Oracles (Part 3 of 4) Read More »
In Norse mythology, valkyries are servants of Odin. These female figures choose the most valorous of those that die on the battlefield to bring to Valhalla to become einherjar—or the warriors who’ll fight during Ragnarök. This is far from Valkyries’ only function, however. The incomparable valkyries appear throughout the poetry of the skalds as lovers
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The creature scampers down its web toward you, far more nimble than a thing the size of a cow has any right to be. As it moves, however, it becomes clear that this isn’t a spider—spiders don’t have venom-dripping stingers on their back. Duergar bear responsibility for the creation of this ill-tempered amalgam. More specifically,
To celebrate the release of Open Design’s Northlands: Roleplaying in Winter’s Chill, Chris Harris and Dan Voyce bring you new wondrous items. Banner of Power Aura faint transmutation; CL 5th Slot —; Price 5,400 gp; Weight 15 lb. DESCRIPTION The maw on this howling standard is empowered to swallow a spell of 3rd level or lower
Wondrous Items from the Northlands Read More »
To celebrate the release of Open Design’s Northlands: Roleplaying in Winter’s Chill, Chris Harris and Dan Voyce bring you the sea wolf. __ “I saw no more terrible beast on all my journeys north than the sea wolf. The white bears had their aloof majesty, the lindwurm serpentine grace, but the monster that gnawed away the
To celebrate the release of Open Design’s Northlands: Roleplaying in Winter’s Chill, Chris Harris and Dan Voyce bring you the frostveil. __ They took the sled dogs first, one by one, and later the seal-skinner set to guard them. We’d hear a confused, muffled cry in the wind and then we’d find them—a raven harvest cold
To celebrate yesterday release of Open Design’s Northlands: Roleplaying in Winter’s Chill, Dan Voyce brings you the lindwurm. __ Coiling like a living corkscrew, moving with a scraping hiss, a serpentine form skates nimbly across the ice on long curving claws, maw agape and stinking of a hundred graves. Ensnaring snakes, glima worms, skittering tongue
Let the pillaging begin! All through the winter they’ve been sharpening their axes and readying their spells: Donneren barbarians, Skraeling rangers, Kazzakh horsemen, reaver dwarves and Hyperborean sorcerers. Impatient for battle, and a chance to win treasure and glory; to join the ranks of heroes whose deeds are sung by skalds in the mead-halls. Now
Northlands Sourcebook for Pathfinder Is Here Read More »
Parlez-vous français? Oui, mais très peu. Feats are abilities characters either have or don’t have. By contrast, skills are abilities characters build up over time, slowly adding points to improve their expertise. At least, that’s how it works for all the skills except Speak Language (or Linguistics). This particular skill has rules more like a
(Illustration by Cory Trego-Erdner) As large as it was, it hardly made a sound. We saw the great beast lumbering toward us from a distance, and if it saw us as we scampered for cover, it didn’t acknowledge it. The thing just stared right past us with dead eyes, toward the gigantic disturbed grave we’d
A Land as Haunted as Its People Read More »
The kwaiken is like a dagger. It’s a type of small tanto, historically carried by both men and women of the samurai class. As with the tetsu no bo (kanabo), I’m having a hard time finding a reliable translation. Kwaiken literally translates to “chest knife” or “bosom knife,” but whether or not the literal translation
Real Steel: The Kwaiken Read More »
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