Today, Part 4b of the Topologia campaign completes exploration of the Ironbarb Crags and their many wonders.

The Ironbarb Crags (Volcanic Wasteland) – (continued)

The base image is colorful-grand-prismatic-spring-3864377.jpg by Mike Goad.

I replaced the trees in the original with extracts from the Bryce Canyon photo that I used in the previous post, by Pexels and extended the sky massively.

To the foreground, I added a color-shifted extract from geothermal-1230618.jpg by chenyenting1218.

The mud pools were extracted from a number of images in combination, with lots of color-shifting and editing:

• thermal-spring-63080.jpg by WikiImages;
• geyser-6707021.jpg by Siegfried Poepperl;
• grand-prismatic-spring-4356635.jpg by laserdad;
• yellowstones-opal-pool-3866233.jpg, also by Mike Goad.
• I also mixed in a little mud-85.jpg by Simon, suitably color-sihifted and perspective-shifted, of course.

I constructed the dome-shaped plants from
crystal-7428278.jpg by Fractals99.

The smaller flowers were created from
ice-crystal-1749562.jpg by none other than long-time provider of images used by Campaign Mastery, Gerd Altmann.

The crystal spires were assembled by combining original artwork with various distorted extracts from multiple images in combination, color-shifted as necessary. I knew I needed a lot of these, so I resourced accordingly:

• pure-quartz-67383.jpg by Stefan Schweihofer was the main source; plus,
• pure-quartz-67382.jpg also by Stefan Schweihofer;
• crystal-1685590.jpg by Robert Strasser;
• fluorite-2467110.jpg, by Jasmin777;
• rock-crystal-4572588.jpg by Hans;
• quartz-7224817.jpg by beauty_of_nature;
• stone-9792655.jpg by u_x2otn2b6rr; and
• rock-crystal-238075.jpg by Manfred Antranias Zimmer.

All of the above were sourced from Pixabay.

Finally, I threw in some Orcs for scale, extracted from an image by JonHodgson on Deviantart. This image was actually created for the One Ring supplement, “Rivendell” by Cubicle 7 (NB: The link on the DeviantArt page is out of date). Unfortunately, they did not renew the license in 2019 and you might have trouble finding a copy these days. The license is now held by the Free Publishing League and they haven’t republished Rivendell – but they do have an expansion that logically includes Rivendell, Realms Of The Three Rings.

Whew – by my count, that’s 19 source images, and more than 6,000 layers of composite!! No wonder it’s taken almost a week to assemble…

Plant Life in the Ironbarb

From Fire-cacti to Tumblingweed, from Honey Spores to Dagger-root, from Applebombs to Ghost Orchids, Mire-Blooms, Glass Coral and Sun-Eater Moss, it’s fair to say that for a wasteland, this area is fairly teeming with life, and all of it unusual and different and interesting – and much of it dangerous. And that’s before we even consider the animal life!

Some of these plants can be found throughout the Crags, some can be found only in isolated regions within the broader Crags. Most of it doesn’t just survive the environment, it has evolved to turn that environment to its advantage. But none of this plant life is completely ubiquitous – even the more widespread plant varieties will not be found in some of the niche habitats. In all cases, it is a matter of a plant species being “everywhere but,” or “nowhere but”.

Goldengrass

Probably the most ubiquitous plant-life in the entire Crags, found everywhere but in the mudflats. This is a short-bladed grass whose blades are darkish green on one side and golden yellow on the other. The blades turn so that the green ‘face’ perpetually faces the sun, unless the latter is hidden by dense clouds. It is able to do this because, like Lichen, it’s actually a combination of both plant and animal in symbiosis. Most of the time, it’s blades are only ten-twelve inches in length, even in a mature plant.

When it rains, the plants experience a period of rapid growth, about half-a-meter per full day of steady rainfall or per hour of more intense rain. In the process, they soak up metallic contaminates dissolved in the pooling waters with which they partially coat spores. This growth takes about 90 minutes per half-meter of additional length.

When the rain stops and things dry out – which happens very quickly due to the heat – the long blades with and dry as quickly as they grew. This releases the spores into the wind that follows the rain, a cloud of glittering dust that is potentially fatal to anyone with a susceptibility to asthma. These spores eventually fall to ground and lay dormant until the next rainfall, lodged in cracks and crevices or simply lying loose on the ground. When next it rains, the acidity from the water dissolves the metallic coating, enabling the spores to erupt as rapidly-growing new plants. Only if the water is too acidic will the plant fail to take root and thrive. An immature plant does not yet have the capacity to launch spores; it’s first 4-6 rainfalls are spent maturing and reaching the ‘basic length’ described. That might take 6 months, it might take a year, it might take longer.

The plant-element is chlorophyll-based and absorbs sunlight for energy and air for carbon dioxide and trace elements. It provides the green coloration on one side of the compound symbiote. In the process, it releases waste products including oxygen. Metallic salts carried on the wind, especially those formed with sulfur and dissolved in sulfuric acid (H2SO4) that dries into a powder with the dissolved minerals present as a contaminant, are also absorbed; the Sulfur is useful to the plant, as is the hydrogen, but more oxygen is produced than needed. Some of the oxygen is combined with some of the Hydrogen to make a small amount of pure water, which is used by the plant to sustain itself between rain periods.

However, unlike normal grass, there is not a lot of oxygen released to the atmosphere through this respiration process. The animal part of the symbiote consumes almost all of it, and some of the water produced by the plant, to keep itself alive, expelling its own waste in the process, and using the solid wastes produced by the plant – those metallic salts, returned to a metallic state – as a scaffolding exoskeleton on which to grow. The animal component gets the most nutrition when the plant component is at its most productive, which is achieved when the plant surface is exposed to the greatest amount of sunlight and air – so the natural ‘instinct’ of the animal is to achieve this by turning the stalks of its exoskeleton so that the plant face is as flat to the sun as possible.

Another way to think of this process is “Goldengrass thrives when it’s sunny and blooms when it isn’t” – not entirely true, but not entirely inaccurate, either.

More traditional animals are an excellent source of nutrition for both plant and animal components. The metallic exoskeletal layer that bonds animal to plant and vice-versa is typically very thin, like a razor-blade and quite capable of inflicting 1000 small cuts with every step of the animal if it is careless or foolish enough to sit or lie on the grass. Any corpse not consumed by a predator is quickly covered in a green carpet of Goldengrass that breaks it down. Thus, there is little need to bury the dead, which is a good thing, because the rocky ground is not amenable to such a practice.

Soft leather boots and shoes provide insufficient protection; hardened leather boots are the minimum protection needed. Fortunately, Goldengrass lies fairly flat to the ground compared to other grass varieties (except when triggered into rapid growth by rainfall), so such boots provide good protection until the plant enters it’s post-rainfall ‘bloom”, and the growth is such during such times that the plant can be more safely handled at such times. So it is safe for creatures to push through the larger plants; if it weren’t, few animals would be able to live in this ecology.

There are few permanent water-sources within the Crags, and some of these are too acidic for Goldengrass to tolerate; but when this is not the case, Goldengrass will float on the surface and extend roots to the ground beneath the water. Goldengrass in such conditions is in a state of perpetual “bloom”, but the spores that are produced are not developed enough to be fertile. But they can still impede the passage of vessels, particularly in the Everflow. It’s fair to say that the river is even more choked in plants in the wastelands even than it is in the adjacent swamps of the Shadowfen!

Goldengrass forms a critical ecological element of the Crags, supporting a variety of beetles and insects, which in turn supports birds and larger animal life. By insinuating itself into cracks in the rocks, it also facilitates the conversion of rocks into more fertile soil. In sci-fi terms, it could be said that it perpetually terraforms the hostile environment into a more viable ecological foundation.

Some creatures have been known to harvest Goldengrass and weave it into protective cloaks – a difficult and dangerous process, so these tend to belong only to the extremely wealthy or powerful, and a very thick / tough hide is needed to protect from this ‘coat of razor-blades’. Orcs can’t wear them – but Lizardfolk can, and so can Ogres. The latter are more inclined to weave them into mats, though – something that can catch less well-armored species out if they aren’t careful. Even the hospitality within the Crags can be dangerous!

Fire-cacti

Fire-cacti are relatively rare. They are red tree-like cacti with foot-long barbs, capable of inflicting lethal damage on anyone wearing a porous armor (chain-mail, ring-mail, bone-mail) if the wearer is careless. Soft leather and cloth provides no protection, either. While they can be seen everywhere but the mudflats and fields of Glass Coral, they are most common in the flatter regions where the crags are worn down, such as the Greater and Lesser wastes. They grow to heights of 1-2 meters (roughly, human height). Little is known about them.

Perhaps the most important fact is that their red coloration makes them blend into their environment, and that they feed on the fluids in any creature foolish enough to come into unprotected contact with one, sucking blood through the hollow barbs. One or two such are not life-threatening, but 50-100 such punctures can cause lethal blood loss in seconds.

As a general rule, the number of punctures for lethal effect is proportional to the cube of the height of the animal (or length if they are on all fours). So a 1/2m goat would be killed in 10 seconds by 50-100 x 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2 = 6.25-12.5 = 7-12 punctures. If they take double that number, death would be in about 5 seconds.

Striking fire-cacti inflicts about 3 punctures per square inch. So hitting one with hands or an arm at right-angles to the cactus body would not be lethal to a human but the same could not be said of a small animal or a bird (5 square inches x 3 = 15 punctures).

Striking with an arm in line with the cactus body, or a leg, or an equal area is a bigger problem. 2 inches x 2 feet x 12 inches in foot x 3 barbs per square inch = 144 punctures. That’s lethal in 144/100 to 144/50 = 1.44 to 2.88 seconds. But most people pull away from such punctures instinctively (if they can), so they would survive the direct effects. However, blood loss of this scale leaves the victim delirious, dizzy, and possibly unconscious (an immediate save is called for), and in a dangerous environment that can be lethal indirectly. For a smaller animal like a goat or dog, even a large one, they have so much less blood volume to lose that there isn’t time to pull away – 1.44/8 = 0.18 so 0.18-0.36 seconds; unconsciousness would occur in about half this time. Just brushing against a fire-cactus will stun such an animal, and have a 50% chance of causing unconsciousness (with a 50-50 chance of falling against the cactus body). That’s a superficial contact; if the barbs penetrate fully, there isn’t time to pull far enough away to get free before unconsciousness and death.

Walking into a cactus body, or being thrown into one, doubles the number of penetrations to 288, halving the time to react before dying, and achieving full penetration of the barbs. There isn’t enough time to pull away before unconsciousness results. But a larger animal – a horse or cow – could do so, though there would still need to be a save vs unconsciousness, and – at best – they would be delirious from blood loss.

Tumblingweed

Unlike most life in the Crags, Tumblingweed is not dangerous, which is a good thing as it blows out of the crags into other regions with regularity. It’s a plant that blows from place to place like tumbleweed – but it’s alive and blooms when it finds moisture.



Image by Mark Marathon, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, Resized and converted to webp by Mike (webp images are nothing but inconvenient in every way possible, but the original file was 83Mb as a gif, the resized version was 36Mb as a gif, and the webp is just 7.78Mb – so it was worth it!)

Tumblingweed looks like traditional tumbleweed until it blooms. The ends of each stalk produces a vivid tropical flower, and since the stalks are arranged in a more or less spherical structure, the visual becomes a ball of tropical flowers. The stalks behind these flowers become green and vibrant, and the central stalk that binds all of these stalks together into a single entity extrudes a taproot that begins to project through the natural floral arrangement.

But the interior is still highly dependent on sunlight, which is now blocked by the flowers. If the Tumblingweed root manages to find soft soil – Gardenia, Splinter, the Shadowfen fringe or even (less frequently) Zugarth or the Glassdust Desert – it anchors the plant, which waits to attract insects to spread its pollen. When that pollen encounters a suitable location, it forms a new plant which eventually seems to die and its central stalk to break apart, releasing a new Tumblingweed into Topologia.



Brunsvigia bosmaniae in flower near Nieuwoudtville, Cape Province, South Africa. Image by Rachel Saunders, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Curiously, the blooms are not even close to identical; the slightest difference in conditions encountered seems to trigger a different set of genes controlling appearance, so that each Tumblingweed in bloom more closely resembles an arrangement of tropical flowers than an arrangement of a single species of tropical flower. The plant’s survival is greatly enhanced by offering as many alternative forms of ‘bait’ as possible, because it is already dying from a lack of light. But if you make allowance for that difference in appearance, the plant otherwise resembles the image of Brunsvigia bosmaniae above. To help visualize the difference,, here’s a tropical flower arrangement:



Image by Linnaea Mallette, CC0 Public Domain.

They mostly start out on the fringes of the Shadowfen (plenty of water there, so they bloom constantly), and from there, spread with the winds. There’s nothing to get in their way in the Greater and lesser wastes, or in the Glass Delta, so sightings in those areas are infrequent but regular occurrences. Those in the South eventually reach the Rainbow Falls or Optica River, where a secondary population always blooms. The central regions are dominated by the Everflow, which is a tertiary population running through the heart of the Crags; it would be dominant, but for the presence of Goldengrass, which (effectively) forms a barrier between the water and the Tumblingweed. In the North, they tend to bank up on the eastern side of the Fields of Glass Coral, making it difficult to transit from that area to the East.

Winds to the North: Tumblingweed reaches the edges of the Forests of Asthar. There’s moisture there, more than in the Crags, but the other thing that Tumblingweed needs is sunlight, and a lot of it; without it, the plant quickly dies, and loses its cohesion, falling apart. So you will hardly ever find Tumblingweed in the forests, and never in the southern mountains of Zugarth.

Winds to the South: Tumblingweed are mindless plants, so they don’t get confused by the directionless void. But they do tend to get caught by the comparatively dense crags from time to time, adding to the maze-like qualities of that area. Eventually, some will make it to the northern mountains, and can often be seen in the lower hills and valleys of Northern Zugarth. However, there’s lots more water here, and that limits how far they can tumble before blooming.

Winds to the West: Tumblingweed ‘encounters’ are comparatively rare through the rest of the Crags to the west, but occasionally a lone plant will reach the Gilded Glassdust Desert – where there is little to stop them other than a chance encounter with the Everflow or the central Oasis, which only spawns more of them. Almost all the Tumblingweed that gets into that region makes it through to the farms of Gardenia, where water is more likely to be encountered (but not certain). It’s relatively rare for any to reach the streets of Splinter.

Winds to the East: propels any loose Tumblingweed into the border fringes of the Shadowfen where one of two things happens: it finds water and blooms, or it dies from a lack of light (there’s a reason they are called the SHADOWfens).

There is one significant impact from the fact that these are living plants which have detached from their root system rather than dead ones, like ‘normal’ tumbleweed. They are very resistant to fire, and cannot be easily burned away to gain passage through one. Since the largest can be two meters (6 feet) in diameter, with hundreds of blooms, it forms a semi-impenetrable barrier to passage until a day or two after it blooms – given the frequency of rainfall in the Crags, that can be days or even weeks, and in the Desert, months.

Careful pruning can open passages for sunlight to reach the green leaves at the heart of the plant, so Tumblingweed is popular throughout Topologia for gardens. If the plant is still receiving light and moisture once the flowers die off, it will bloom every few days, until the stalks wither, die, and fall off, revealing new growth from the still-living roots and central stalk. The largest blooming Tumblingweed ever recorded (and verified) was an astonishing 24 feet in diameter! Caring for it was a full-time job for 3 gardeners and a supervisor!

Honey Spores

Less benign are Honeyspores, plants that capture hot air and explosive gasses like balloons and use them to move from place to place, dropping seeds like ballast as they go. Structurally, these are shaped roughly like inverted balloon-shaped cups, which trap the gasses naturally released in some areas of the Crags. The ‘cups’ are actually overlapping flower-petals, generally blue-to-purple in color, fading to white at the petal edges. When they achieve sufficient buoyancy, these break free of the parent plant and float away on the prevailing winds. A Honey Spore can flower multiple times in a season, but it’s a fragile plant in many respects, and does particularly poorly in colder temperatures.

It takes two Honey Spores to germinate a flower; almost half of them are infertile when released as a result. Only a germinated flower, with an insect intermediary, can distribute living seeds which will grow into new plants. It is to compensate for this that the plant flowers so frequently.

Because hot air rises and cool air flows in to take its place, any open flame tends to attract any Honey Spores in the immediate vicinity; since they are held aloft, in part, by explosively-flammable gasses, this is not good news for anyone using that flame for light or heat.

Most Honey Spores are about 10 inches in diameter, and a similar length, they hold about 8.6 liters of gas or less. Given the structural strength (weak) and the opening at the base, this is not enough to form a dangerous explosive per se; but it is enough to go off with a loud bang, the equivalent of a firework. Temporary hearing loss is possible, and burns, but the greatest danger comes from setting fire to other flammable things nearby.

The name itself is also significant. “Spores” are used to name a number of similar species in fantasy, so it’s an established name, even if a misnomer. “Honey” refers to the plant in two respects: the seeds are a creamy yellow color (actually, they are translucent but contain a creamy-yellow-colored liquid nutrient to assist the seed in growing); and the petals create an internal sticky honey-like sweet liquid that assists in binding the petals together into an air-tight surface. This makes the plants valuable, because the petals, when dried, can infuse that sweetness and flavor into drinks, cakes, and so on.

Dagger-root

Goldengrass isn’t the only plant that helps break down the rock into soil. A more dangerous one that can be found in most of the Crag Regions is Dagger-root. This is a vine that grows ‘underground’ but erupts in sharp vine-like tendrils in places eroded by the acidic waters. Eventually, this causes the rock to break apart, creating gaps that fill with water when it rains; in the extremely infrequent cold snaps, this can occasionally freeze and cause additional erosion, creating more opportunities for further growth of dagger-root.

The plant comes by it’s name because of the ‘blades’ of the root, which visually resemble tiny daggers (with broader blades than a dirk) and because walking on one is like attacking yourself with a -1 dagger (0-3 points of damage). Unless you happen to be wearing soft leather or cloth footwear, in which case it’s a +0 or +1 dagger, respectively, or (worst of all) barefoot (a +2 dagger), with damage to the feet doubled for the purposes of assessing movement rates.

Why on earth would you find yourself barefoot in the Crags? The answer lies in the many environmental hazards, several of which can save your feet at the expense of your footwear. In particular, wading through pools of concentrated acid can be very bad news. In fact, the only thing worse is staying put if you aren’t in some sort of protective shelter!



Image by NoName_13 from Pixabay.

Applebombs

Applebombs look like apple trees, with a pronounced color difference. Immature fruit are traditional apple-red and have a sour flavor that some people like. As the fruit mature, the skin becomes more purple and deeper; this tint starts at the base of the fruit and spreads upwards, the darkening preceding the color shift. They never quite reach the color of plums, however. It is at this stage that they are most tasty – and most dangerous to pick and consume. Their flavor is like that of a roasted apple with a slightly nutty hint, and they are very sweet at this point. Gradually, the base of the fruit darkens still further and becomes quite bluish; it is at this point that they are ready to drop. When the fruit fall, they explode, scattering the seeds and attached nutrients within the upper half. This explosion is comparatively gentle – they are not little hand-grenades – but it blows the fruit into up to half-a-dozen chunks and distributes the 3 or 4 seeds over an area of about 20m diameter (66′), so it’s not inconsequential, either.

The danger in picking the fruit is that chemical compounds from the tree actually inhibit and delay this ripening at the top of the fruit so that the fruit doesn’t detonate prematurely; pick one, and this inhibiting is no longer in effect, and in just a day or two, they are ready to detonate.

Every now and then, some bright spark gets the idea of using these as a weapon. Individual fruit can provide a potent distraction to any creature that doesn’t recognize their nature. However, even mild jostling if carrying many of them can trigger a chain reaction in any sort of carrying container, and this is when they are the most dangerous, capable of inflicting half a d6 of explosive damage per fruit detonated.

For their weight, these explosive fruit are not worth the dangers of carrying them as a weapon. Individual trees can produce 50-100 fruit per year, and up to 1/6th of these can fall in strong winds before they are ready to detonate. They immediately begin the countdown to readiness for self-destruction, hidden beneath pools of acidic water or mud, should they land in one; they do not float on the surface. This is when they are potentially the most dangerous due to the potential secondary effects of detonation.

They are most concentrated in the lesser wastes, but have spread to the coast of the Southern Crags and into the greater wastes and the fringes of the fields of Glass Coral and the Mudflats..

Ghost Orchids

A delicate-looking but resilient flower that grows in the Directionless Void. It has translucent, iridescent petals that absorb and refract light, acting like a natural camouflage. It opens at night when the light and shadows are less confusing. Its roots extend deep into the earth to find pockets of water, and its seeds are so light they can be carried away by even the faintest breeze or a minor air disturbance created by a passing creature, helping them to scatter across the desolate void.

Mire-Blooms

Mire Blooms are found in the mud-flat. These low-lying, fungus-like organisms have a porous root system that acts as a natural filter, absorbing the toxic, mineral-rich mud and stripping away the harsh acids and heavy metals. Their surface is glassy, almost crystalline, and as a result they look like gemstones floating in the mud, content in temperatures measured in the hundreds of degrees. Minor variations in the concentrations of mineral nutrients give each a different color. Those minerals that the plant does not require as nutrients are then excreted in a hardened, crystalline form from the central stalk, floating on the surface surrounding the mire bloom. When these reach a size where they threaten the buoyancy of the central bloom, they break off and float independently around the plant. The resulting flat crystals are known as “Spectral Shards”.

The plant itself is a low-growing, hemispheric disc-shaped fungus that can survive by being partially buried in the mud.

Spectral Shards are often swept away by dust-storms or flash-floods and can be found scattered across the landscape.

There is something reminiscent of a giant snowflake to the Shards, but they are also unmistakably crystalline and organic in nature. Most of them exhibit 6-fold symmetry, but 5, 7, 8, 10, and 12-fold are not unheard of. 4-fold symmetry is comparatively rare and closer examination generally finds these to be more subtle variations on 8- and 12-fold symmetries.



Suneater Moss on a Spectral Shard. Refer to the panel on the left for image credits.

Created as a composite of:

• snowflake-1093162.png by Samuel1983,
• snow-1847359.png by Anna,
• star-6852416.png by stcr68, and
• fall-304509.png by Clker-Free-Vector-Images,

all from Pixabay. Colors by Mike.

Sun-eater Moss

Spectral Shards provide a platform for the growth of a second life-form native to the mud pools, the Sun-Eater Moss. This plant has a complex biology.

This isn’t a typical moss that clings to rocks. Instead, it’s a type of parasitic lichen that attaches itself to the Spectral Shards. The moss uses a symbiotic relationship with a microscopic organism to absorb and convert the intense solar radiation of the crags directly into energy. When acidic rain falls, the moss releases a cloud of spores that are impervious to the acid and can travel to found new colonies. As with several of the organic and inorganic structures of the Crags, trace minerals impart different colorations to the Moss, sometimes bright but usually just a pale hint.

Moss colonies float on the mud until one touches the edge of a Shard. The presence of a stable platform enables a more rapid growth phase in the direction of the shard, growth that is (in part) achieved by starving that part of the colony not in contact with the shard, As a result, over the course of a week or two, the colony appears to ‘crawl onto’ the shard.

When it has colonized the shard, the moss becomes almost translucent, in order to capture light reflected by the shard, which – because of the dark background – has an extremely mirror-like appearance.

It is critical to understanding this organism that it requires quite a lot of light energy to thrive. The fact that there is very little to create shade in the mud-flats is vital to their natures. As it grows, the moss extracts trace minerals from both the Shard and the surrounding mud, which it uses as a food source. Technically, many of the biological processes of the Moss are actually inorganic chemistry, which anyone who engages in scientific study will find fascinating – alchemists, chemists, herbologists, etc.

To bind itself to the spectral shards, the moss exudes as a waste product a powerful, virtually-transparent, resin (were it not to have this vital quality, it would block the light that the moss needs in order to survive).

It is important to note that the moss is an extremely thin, light-weight passenger on the Shard. Where the shard goes, the moss goes with it. When two shards happen to land in the same place, they can bond together, creating a larger and more complex structure. These are grown both up and down into the mud until they anchor to the bottom of the mud-pool, resembling a mound of crystals.

This foundation is substantially hollow, filled with criss-crossing inorganic crystals bound together by the moss, which grows to fill the foundation; enough light trickles down the crystal forms that some of the moss even survives as much as a foot below the surface of the mud. The moss grows to completely fill the hollow structure, creating a super-colony. This super-colony exudes waste energy as heat, even in comparison to the geothermal heat of the mud-pools; this creates updrafts above them.

As additional Shards are blown through the air, they become vertically-oriented by these updrafts, creating a crystalline spire consisting of thousands or even millions of individual shards. Over millennia, layer upon layer of Shards, purified and excreted by generations of Silt-Sifters and then bonded together by the Sun-eater Moss, have grown into the massive, monolithic Crystal Spires that tower like redwoods above the mud flats, standing as a testament to the incredible, and often grotesque, adaptability of life in the Ironbarb Crags.

When these grow so large (3-5m diameter) that sufficient light can no longer penetrate deeply enough into the interior to feed the moss, it forms a multicolored rainbow ‘spine’ through the center that is refracted by the less opaque living moss and the fragments they bind together. The moss within isn’t dead; rather, it enters a third stage of life involving a crystalline cell structure that is more efficient at harvesting what little light still reaches them. More importantly, this reinforces the structural integrity of the Spires, enabling them to ascend to heights of 100-150 meters (330-500 feet) or more. The maximum thickness that can be achieved is around 8 to 15 meters (26-50 feet) at the base.

The largest spires weigh around 23.4 Kilotonnes, or 25,800 US tons. This, of course, is far too much to float on any mud, no matter how thick, hence the need for the foundations.

The spire, as it grows, weighs the existing foundation down, forcing it deeper into the soft bottom of the geothermal mud pool. The moss super-colony in the base must continually expand the foundation upwards and outwards to compensate for this; parts of the super-colony finding themselves too far below the surface die out, and strengthen and anchor the internal ‘vine’ of third-stage Moss that results. The spires are always well-supported as a result.

Because there is an organic and random element to the growth of these towering crystal spires, it is common for them to develop complex shapes over time.



Evolution of a Crystal Spire

This graphic illustrates the process. The original spire is shown as figure 1.

In figure 2, a new Shard has attached itself to the side of the spire.

By sheer chance, in figure 3, it has been joined by another that almost lines up. This shifts the support of the internal spine.

In figure 4, that shift causes a slab of the spire to break off and become a free shard. This causes the spine to return to something close to in-line with the original once past the ‘bulge’

Figure 5 shows the growth in the new crystal side-panel from the Moss’ growth, and how this extends the distortion in the spine upwards.

Eventually, as shown in figure 6, it reaches the top of the spire and further growth upwards continues to be centered around the spine’s new alignment. The nutrients, depth of the mud-pool, and size of the foundation all limit the cross-sectional size of the spire to a range centered around an optimum, but with increasing height this gradually narrows, resulting in a complex shape.

Figure 7 depicts all of these processes continuing. By chance, a new shard has attached on the opposite side to the first two, again shifting the alignment of the spine and causing a shard to detach from the right. This again shifts the strongest point of the spine, and creates a ‘knuckle’ in the spine where the old spire-tip was located. The shard that has broken off makes the resulting imbalance worse; the resulting tip is more likely to fracture back into loose shards until a more stable shape is achieved. Any further vertical growth in the meantime only exacerbates this tendency; eventually, either the entire section of ‘new growth’ will have broken away in small pieces, or a stable configuration will have evolved.

The featured illustration at the top of this article shows some of the complexity of form that can result.

The under-mud foundations create a new micro-environment, a labyrinth of interconnected Spectral Shards and the dormant, solidified forms of Sun-eater Moss. Naturally, a life-form has evolved to occupy the resulting ecological niche. Cue the Glass Coral!

Glass Coral

Glass Coral is another variety of filter-feeder, similar to sea-coral and sponges, but adapted to the high-pressure, acidic, and nutrient-rich environment of the mud. They grow in colonies that encrust the base of the spire and the surrounding bedrock.

Their bodies are composed of a tough, acid-resistant chitin-like material, and they have a system of internal channels that filter nutrients from the mud that flows over and through them.

Glass Coral thrive on the very toxins that kill other life. They absorb the acids and heavy metals, converting them into a harmless metallic crystalline waste product that helps solidify and stabilize the mud around the spire’s base. This in turn makes the mud a more ‘hospitable’ dwelling-place for the Mire Blooms.

Thus, the coral forms a unique three-cornered symbiotic relationship with the Sun-eater Moss and the Mire-Blooms. None of them can survive very well, let alone thrive, without the other two.

From time to time, a mud pool dries out, which of course kills the Mire-Blooms, and sends the Glass Coral into hibernation. To survive, the Mire-Blooms bury seeds in the chitin of the Coral, where it waits for life to again become possible beneath the mud. The exposed Glass Coral is iridescent because of the outer surface, a plant that shares many characteristics with petrified insects.

This is far more likely to occur away from the Everflow, water being an essential ingredient in mud; hence the northern part of the mud flats is known as the Fields Of Glass Coral. The Spires that grew back when the Fields were last vital remain, solidly anchored to the now-exposed pool-bottoms, but the Moss that binds them together no longer has access to the nutrients needed for growth; they can do little more than sustain themselves from sunlight and cannibalizing the minerals within the Spire.

This both weakens the spire and damages the perfection of its appearance; if revitalization through water turning the geothermally-heated earth back into mud does not occur in time, the spires will eventually collapse back into loose shards and the construction process will have to begin all over again at some future point, when conditions are again amenable.

This causes the average height of the spires amongst the fields of exposed coral to be 1/2 to 1/3 those of the mudflats.

But the damaged spires have one extra trick up their sleeves that makes them distinctive: the cannibalization process leaves small channels through the spires, causing them to whistle in the wind. Depending on its direction and strength, the spires thus produce different harmonies and natural song. When the wind is strong, this music tends to grow discordant and shrill, almost as though the spires themselves are protesting the increased likelihood of collapse under those conditions; when the wind drops to a light breeze, the melody is at it’s most musical.

Other Life in the Ironbarb

Despite the appearance of aridity, the plentiful vegetation supports a wealth of animals, the bulk of them hidden from view.

Beneath The Surface

There are dozens of varieties of insect that live beneath the surface of what soil there is. In fact, their primary reason for existing is to break down the rock that breaks loose or dissolves in the acid rains and turn it into something resembling soil. North of the Everflow, this all drains (eventually) into the Mudflats; South of it, everything heads for the Central Crags and the Directionless Void. Significant amounts also wash downriver in the Everflow, which acquires a rather muddy brown color from this point downriver.

But the next land downriver is the Glittering Glassdust Desert. Not only does the sand there capture some of the resulting soil to keep the banks of the Everflow green and fertile throughout its length, but they strip away virtually all of the toxins, depositing them in vast sediments of tiny crystalline shards and metallic particles deep below the surface. Over the length of the Everflow’s course through the Deserts, the looser ‘soil’ is cleansed of impurities, and almost all of it is then deposited on the banks of Gardenia, where the river becomes far shallower. By the time it reaches splinter, the water is again close to pure, though still colored with minuscule deposits of trace mineral salts. Today tinted blue, tomorrow violet or golden or red or even green or white, the Everflow is an ever-changing rainbow as it heads for the great waterfall, the Everflow Plunge.

In a very real sense, life all the way downstream is dependent on what happens in the Crags and how that is utilized downstream to contribute to the other unique environments of Topologia.

Surface Insects

Those who abide below the surface are fairly ubiquitous, spread evenly everywhere in the Crags to different extents, creating the very soil underfoot or contributing to its erosion should it be geothermally-created rocks. The occasional laval flow melts the soil and covers it with new rocky deposits, like a tree’s growth into rings or the layers of an onion.

As such, they have no need to display the abiding characteristic of all surface insects in the Crags – they do not swarm.

Almost every ecological niche that you can think of, with only a few exceptions, are fulfilled by one variety of swarming insect or another.

There are insect swarms that function as grass, binding areas of soil together with waste products, that live on nothing but the noxious air and cleanse it – a little – of anything worthwhile.

There are insect swarms that live on these insect swarms, concentrating the nutrients and discarding what they do not use, much like cattle.

There are insect swarms that hunt those cattle-swarms like lesser predators, some staying low to the ground and some soaring through the air like birds.

There are even some swarms that hunt and feed off those predatory swarms, intermediate-level predators.

And there are swarms that function as scavengers, recycling the dead into raw nutrients that are used by the sub-surface swarms to make new soil.

Swarm Characteristics

I have to emphasize that what follows is intended as guideline, suggestion, and sources of inspiration, only. I have not given these mechanics as much thought and testing as usual.

If a result seems wrong, too much or too little, change it. It’s a lot easier to make such assessments when starting with someone else’s numbers than when guesstimating your own answers in isolation, have you noticed?

Swarms can be identified by a number of traits that distinguish one from another. For any ecological niche that you name, there will be several different swarms that occupy that niche. These swarms do mutate and change regularly, so it’s actually rather pointless singling out which ones are currently dominant; eventually, that swarm will die out and be replaced by another, whose members are already gathering in numbers.

Defining a system of classification of Swarms is thus more useful than identifying specific varieties of insect.

As a general rule, swarms are identified by adjectives describing three attributes – a color attribute, a physical attribute, and a member size – coupled with the dominant ecological niche within which they operate, though these can be changed in sequence to more naturally roll off the tongue. “Greater Long-tailed Red Carpet-bugs” is a typical example.

Together, these labels define the type of behavior exhibited, the threat that they pose to humans and more conventional animals, what a swarm looks like as it approaches, and it’s collective size. But the characteristics for which they are named are actually (mostly) derivatives of six primary characteristics. These are: Swarm Volume, Packing Density, Population Density, Wing Length, Dominant Body Color, and Bond To Water.

Those characteristics can then be used individually or in combination to derive six secondary characteristics: Number of Targets, Total Mass of a swarm, Individual Insect Mass, Insect Size, Thorax Length, Total Body Length, and Operational Altitude.

Some of those – notable Insect Size and Thorax Length – then define three Tertiary characteristics: Intensity Of Attack, Damage Done by a bite or sting, and Thorax Girth. These 15 characteristics, plus the ecological niche, tell the GM everything he needs to know to ‘handle” a swarm in both in-game terms and game mechanics.

There is a set sequence in which these characteristics should be set to optimize the delivery of a particular swarm. But, rather than list that, let me instead simply describe the process. I’ll box off commentary and details on each characteristic so that readers can focus on the process and only delve into the details when it is useful to do so.

Swarm Volume

How large a volume of space typically contains a swarm?

If this swarm is to be the equivalent of a more normal animal, use 8 x the approximate volume of that animal, or 16 x for larger insects.

Otherwise just define a volume in cubic feet. If you more naturally think in meters than feet, one cubic meter is 35.3147 cubic feet, and 1 cubic foot is 1728 cubic inches.

Then take the logarithm (base 10) of the result and divide by 0.30103 for the actual Swarm Volume rating.

If you’re thinking “rabbit”, then length is a foot, width is about half a foot, and height (bent to create the body shape) is about 1/3 of a foot. Multiply those together and you get 1/6 cubic foot. x8 for the swarm equivalent is 1.3333 cubic feet, x16 would be 2.6667.

Log (1.3333) / 0.30103 = 0.125 / 0.30103 = 0.41.
Log (2.6667) / 0.30103 = 0.426 / 0.30103 = 1.42.

“Divide by 0.30103” converts a base-10 logarithm in to a base-2 logarithm, so each +1 to the score doubles the volume occupied by a swarm.

Feel free to vary these results if your mental image is different.

Number of Targets

Multiply the volume rating by 4 and round up.

That’s how many human-sized targets the swarm can attack at once.

A size rating of 0.41 x 4 = 1.64, rounds to 2.
A size rating of 1.42 x 4 = 5.68, rounds to 6.

A cow is about 4 x a person, a large bull maybe 6 x, a horse maybe 8 x, a centaur 10 x. Use a quick estimate in all three directions and multiply the three together to convert as necessary.

Packing Density

This is an indicator of how much space an individual insect needs around it as a cube of space. The diagram below illustrates this using a common bee.

So a bee is 1.9 thoraxes long, and 1.75 thoraxes high and wide. The wings are also 1.75 thoraxes in length, and are attached to the body such that the tips are 2 thoraxes from the underside. That’s a volume of 5.82 cubic thoraxes.

Note that in terms of volume, the legs and antennae can be ignored, they are far smaller than the rounding errors involved.

But the wings need a little more clearance and there needs to be a gap between individuals, so the space within a swarm that each occupies is 2.75 x 2 x 2 = 11 cubic thoraxes.

Dividing one by the other, the Volume occupied by a bee in flight is 11 / 5.82 = 1.89 cubic bees. Or, to put it in a more useful way, the bee’s body including wingspan is 5.82 / 11 = 53% of the total volume occupied.

Which means that if we estimate the in-swarm dimensions in a more meaningful real-world unit, and convert it to the same unit used to estimate the total volume of the swarm, I can get a head count. It’s this overall-volume-occupied-by-insect that this characteristic describes.

Estimate the total volume of air required by one insect within the swarm, in cubic feet.

Take the log (base 10).

Divide by 0.30103 so that both index values are to the same base number.

The critical values here, based on honeybees, are 1.9 thoraxes and 1.75 thoraxes. Dragonfly proportions would have wider wings, but half-as-much vertical component – and while those wings are bigger, they are actually about the same relative to the body length. So the thing to think about is the overall shape that seems most appropriate for the function of this swarm.

Rabbits – while I was thinking ‘fat hare’ when estimating the volume of the swarm-equivalent, I think rabbits are actually fairly long and lean. I’m thinking about four inches in length, about four inches in width, and about 1.5 inches in height, which is more dragonfly than bee, but that’s okay. That’s a total volume of 4 x 4 x 1.5 = 24 cubic inches. There are 1728 cubic inches in a cubic foot, so each cubic foot can hold 72 of these insects. And the inverse: that means each insect takes up 1/72 cubic feet, or 0.01389.

log (0.01389) = -1.8573
-1.8573 / 0.30103 = -6.17.

So the packing density of the swarm is -6.17.

Total Mass

Subtract the packing density from the swarm size.

Raise 2 to the power of the result.

Multiply by 0.65.

The result is the total weight of the swarm if all the insects were in a heap, in kg.

Multiply by 2.20462 if you prefer pounds, or 35.274 if you prefer ounces.

Our ‘rabbit-swarm’:

0.41 – (-6.17) = 6.56.
2 ^ 6.56 = 94.35.
94.35 x 0.65 = 61.3275 kg = 135.2 lb = 2163.27 ounces.

Population Density

Determine the number of insects per cubic foot, if you haven’t already.

I’ve already done this calculation for you – 72 insects per cubic foot.

Individual Insect Mass

2 ^ swarm size x 72 = number of insects in a swarm.

Total Swarm weight / total number of insects = weight of 1 insect (maximum).

Divide by a number between 1.5 and 10, with the typical number being between 4-5..

The higher the final number, the smaller the insects actually are. The calculations so far tend to overestimate the density of the insects and hence their size. Without this step, your insects will be too large.

2 ^ 0.41 = 1.3287.

1.3287 x 72 = 95.6664.

61.3275 / 95.6664 = 0.641 kg.
0.641 x 2.20462 = 1.4 lb.
0.641 x 35.274 = 22.6 oz.

For the rabbit-sects, I’m going with a slightly lower-than-average divisor of 3.

0.641 / 3 = 0.214 kg = 0.472 lb = 7.55 oz.

These are not small, light-weight insects. Their weight is that of a small parrot or large lorikeet. But they lack the wingspan of such birds by about 50%. It’s entirely likely that these insects can only just fly, and only because of the thermal air currents created by the Crags.

Insect Size

We have two different ways to measure insect size – the first is using the Insect Dimensions graphic, and the second is to take the weight and divide by the average insect density of 0.65 g/cm^3 (converting units as necessary). The latter is more technically precise, but 0.65 is an estimate – anything from 0.48 to 0.78 is possible, and that’s quite a wide range. So the better method is the insect dimensions.

Besides, we’ve already decided on the insect dimensions! What we’re mostly interested in here is the overall length of the insect. These insects are 4 inches in length.

For comparison purposes, Rainbow Lorikeets can grow to about 30 cm including the tail, or 11.8 inches.

4 inches long.

Intensity Of Attack

This size is large enough that a swarm probably wouldn’t attack all at once, it would be a couple of individuals at a time.

Attack intensity takes two factors and conflates them – the likelihood of success of any one attack, and the number of such successes that are likely in a combat round. The maximum of the latter is the square of the cube root of the number of insects per cubic foot.

If there are going to be hundreds of attacks (very small insects, very aggressive behavior), then it is best to treat the entire swarm as a single ‘enemy’. If the number per target is smaller, like 2 or 3, then they can be resolved individually.

72 ^ 1/3 = 4.16
4.16 ^ 2 = 17.3.

20 x 2 individuals / 17.3 = 2.3 out of 20.

But this is one instance where our ‘rabbit-sects’ aren’t going to be helpful. So let’s look at an entirely different swarm. For the sake of argument, 1000 insects per cubic foot, 0.1% chance each.

1000 ^ 1/3 = 10.
10 ^2 = 100.
100 x 0.1% = 10%.
10% = 19 or 20 on d20.

What if the success chance had been 1/10th this value? Increase the number of opportunities, i.e. slow the rate of attack.

1000 ^ 1/3 = 10.
10 ^2 = 100.
100 x 0.01% = 1%.
5% / 1% = 5, so once the swarm attacks a target, and they need a 20 to hit, they can’t attack that target for another 5 rounds. But this success chance really is too low.

I should also point out that this attack chance does not take into account armor, reflexes, etc. It’s against an unprotected target. You could argue, on that basis, that even the 0.1% was too low.

At the same time, there can be many more attacks in a round – the square of the cube root is a reasonable method of estimating a typical number based on the exposed surface area that can be ‘occupied’ by the swarm.

A single ‘hit’ can represent one insect bite – or 100.

Damage Done by a bite or sting

Decide how much damage is done by a successful hit.

Bear in mind that this could – as I just said – represent one insect bite, or 100.

100 attacks doing 1/4 HP each is 25 HP a round! 25 attacks doing a similar amount is only about 6.

Thorax Length

Take a look back at the bee morphology. It’s thorax is 1 / 1.9th of the total body length, or 52.6% of the total.

Some insects will have shorter, rounder thorax shapes; others, longer and probably thinner.

Decide on the thorax length percentage of THIS insect variety.

Our rabbit-swarm insects are 4″ long. If half of this is thorax, that’s 2 inches. I could easily make it longer, maybe up to 3 or 3.5 inches.

Thorax Girth

The longer it is, the thinner it will be, i.e. the lower the thorax girth.

The formula for the volume of a spheroid is 4/3 pi a b^2, where the b is half the girth. If the height differs from the girth significantly, use b x c instead of b^2.

We don’t know the volume of the thorax, and don’t care.

Estimate the girth in thorax units, then multiply by the length of the thorax.

Let’s say the length of the thorax is 3.25 inches, splitting the difference between the two rough suggestions. A Lorikeet has a girth of about an inch. So that seems about right for our rabbit-swarm insects, too.

Technically, that’s a girth of 1/3.25 = 0.3077 thoraxes across.

Total Body Length

Estimate the length of the body by subtracting the thorax and head from the total length of the insect.

But we haven’t decided on the length of the head yet. So, do that in Thorax units, using the bee as a model. Then get the body length as the difference between the total and what’s already been accounted for.

I’m going to make the rabbit-insects heads be about 0.3 inches in length. So, 4 – 3.25 – 0.3 = 0.45 inches.

Wing Length

Estimate the total length of the wings.

Note unusual numbers or widths.

While my initial estimate was 4″ wingspan, the size of these insects persuades me to increase it to 6″, but not to make them proportionately broader. So this species will continue to struggle to fly, riding warm updrafts and gliding, but it seems more plausible. In compensation, because their wings don’t have to flap as much, the height can shrink, affecting the wings but not the body, so that the separation between insects stays about the same overall despite this increase. I am going to make these insects 4-winged in shape, reducing them to four legs.

Operational Altitude

Bees don’t tend to fly very high. The same is true of a lot of insects. But this variety of insect is more like a bird, and a gliding bird at that, and they can reach much higher altitudes. That’s especially true in this case, because they are thermal gliders, not active fliers.

The Andean Condor can reach heights of 15,000 feet – but it’s a much larger bird than this insect. Some ducks and swans get above 20,000 feet – but they are larger again. The current record is held by Ruppell’s Griffon Vulture, at 37,000 feet.

The height reachable is roughly proportionate to the wing surface area. The condor has the greatest wings, a mean wingspan of 9 ft 3 inches. The Duck can have 32-39 inch wingspans. The Griffon Vulture has a wingspan of up to 8 ft 6 inches.

Our insect has wings that are 6 inches long and at best, 1 inch wide. But it has four of them operating in unison, twice the number that birds have. Let’s compare the lower altitude bird – the Condor.

15000 / 9 ft 3 inches = 15000 / 111 inches = 135.135 feet per inch. The condor’s wings are about 1/3 as wide as they are long.

Our rabbit-insect has wings that are 6 inches long, giving it a wingspan of about 7 inches (with a 1 inch body in the middle). It’s wings are only 1/7th of this in length, but it has twice as many. So the total surface wing area is going to be about 7 x 1 x 2 = 14 inches.

14 x 135.135 = 1892 feet – call it 1900 for convenience. Most birds operate at 500 feet or less for daily activities, and this is well on its way to being four times that value.

But there’s one final factor to take into account: Feathered wings are more efficient than insect wings, for all sorts of reasons, not all of which are going to apply equally to any given species. I couldn’t track down even a ballpark estimate, only “significantly less efficient”. That generally means at least an order of magnitude difference, but that seems an extreme in this case – though it might be true of smaller more ‘traditional’ insect body-types. Even so, and even with a couple of the key factors not necessarily fully applicable or relevant at all, a factor of at least 5 is probably appropriate. So, 1900 / 5 = 380. That’s a reasonable number for the size and shape.

I also looked up – or tried to – the height achievable in flight by a Rainbow Lorikeet, that being our bird of direct comparison. Again, got only generalities, with the note that they tend to be high-flying. In terms of range, they can travel up to 50km (31 miles) a day in search of food, and do so in about an hour!

Again, these numbers probably won’t translate directly. The condor factor of 14/111 seems a bit extreme for this, but not by a whole lot; instead of x 0.126, double that (about x 0.25) seems about right. In terms of speed, I’ll boost that further to x 0.4.

So these insects can travel up to 12.5 km (7.75 miles) in a day, but can hit speeds of 20 km/h (12.4 mph) – which is lightning-fast for an insect, and appropriate for our ‘rabbit-sect”.

Dominant Body Color

Pick a dominant coloration, from the perspective at which the insect swarm is most commonly seen.

For a high-flying insect like this one, the coloration of the underside would be the most noticeable. From above, brownish reds, the color of the ground, would be most appropriate, but what to choose for beneath?

When I think of rabbits, I think of the pink of the ears, and a generally white or light-gray fur. Pink is also often associated with sunset, so if these insects were nocturnal or evening-hunters, that might be most appropriate and symbolic; but as thermal-riders and gliders, they are most likely to be most active in the middle of the day and early afternoon, so that doesn’t fit.

That leaves middle-gray or white. The first offers benefits of natural camouflage against a clear sky, the second against clouds. They both seem reasonable, though the natural habits of this insect would favor sunny days and that’s the gray – but I don’t consider that to be a decisive argument.

With rabbits, though, it’s the belly-fur that tends to be white, the rest can be either white or gray. And since we’re talking about the underside of the insects, white gets my final nod.

Bond to Water

Some creatures get their water needs satisfied directly. Others satisfy those needs through the bodies of their prey. Some need a lot more than others – and size is definitely a factor in that consideration; the bigger the insect, the less it can rely on prey to meet its needs, and the more it will have to do it for itself.

Purity of the water-source is also a hugely-important factor to take into consideration. The Everflow comes out of the bogs of the Shadowfen and enters an area where acidic mineral-rich runoff gets added, as noted earlier. If an insect can handle that, it will dominate to the west; if not, it will dominate to the east. The waters of Rainbow Lake and the Vertigo River are the clearest and cleanest in the crags, especially to the south; so especially sensitive types will dominate the southeast and southwest corners more than anywhere else. There’s not a lot of water flow in the north, though insect swarms can penetrate the Forests in search of clean water. Outside of these areas, insects whose needs can be met by consuming prey are going to have an advantage because of the environment.

It follows that identifying the nearest source of desirable water is critical to establishing which habitats will be most favored by a particular breed of insect.

Once you know or have decided on the characteristics, sum it all up in a description and move on.

Borer Worms – an unlikely ally

One thing is certain – spend enough time in the crags, and you will get hurt and/or burned by something. Whether it’s hot mud (ouch!), hot lava (even worse), acid rain, flensing winds, or toxic insect bites, or even something more exotic, doesn’t matter.

And if you don’t have a healer / cleric / medic with you, or if they happen to be the ones who are hurt, you can give thanks to the gods for their cruel jest in providing Borer Worms.

The term “worms” is slightly misleading; they have as much in common with snakes as with other forms of worm. While they can happily live beneath the thin carpet of soil, their all-time favorite delight to munch upon is rotting flesh. Drawn to its scent, they will seek it out if there is any to be found nearby, coming from as much as a kilometer downwind in pursuit of this delight.

They concentrate acid run-off in ‘poison’ sacs, giving them an extremely excruciating bite. The acid dissolves the target flesh, and the worms suck it up voraciously, reclaiming whatever’s left of the acid in the process.

So great is their preference for this diet that they will ignore healthy flesh and fresh meat, boring through it only if they are seeking rotten meat on the far side.

On top of that, they leave in their wake a kind of silk coated in a natural light adhesive, which helps prevent infection of the exposed healthy tissue. They use this to pull themselves free (painfully, for the host) if they detect anything they consider dangerous.

Physically, they are white worms about 1/50th of an inch across (0.51 mm) and 2-4 cm (0.8-1.6 inches) in length. Their bodies are ringed by red stretch marks.

When there is no other recourse, they have been used to save many a life – subjecting the host that they are healing to intense pain as a byproduct.

Each Borer Worm present ‘heals’ 0.2 HD of physical damage and replaces it with 0.1 HD of shock damage. To apply the ‘treatment’, one simply digs around in the earth until you find a colony of the worms, scoop them up and place them on the affected tissue. They will immediately do what comes naturally.

As the host heals, it becomes increasingly disturbing mentally to see the fat and contented Borer Worms writhing around underneath the skin, which – thanks to the lattice of silk and hormones excreted by the Borer Worms – regrows more quickly than the underlying flesh, by a factor of two.

It’s obvious to the host when the Borer Worms have completed the task for which they were inflicted; they will start to munch on living tissue, amplifying the pain factor ten-fold or more. Every worm in this state inflicts 0.2 HD of physical damage and 1 HD of shock damage each day – and if you are hosting 20 or more Worms at the time, 20 HD a day of shock on top of 4 HD of real damage is far from inconsequential! Most victims pass out from the pain, and some even become comatose.

When this happens, the worms have to be withdrawn. A shallow incision is the preferred method, and placing a piece of 3-day-old meat next to it; the worms will be irresistibly drawn to this new meal, binding the incision shut as they depart!

Even the incision is ultimately not necessary; they will burn their own exit paths through the skin of the host if they have to. Their ability to sense rotting flesh is more than acute enough to reach them even through several layers of skin.

Things take a more unpleasant turn when the host has inhaled hot gasses or swallowed caustic liquids. In the latter case, the victim either has to wait until the liquid burns a path through their throat before the Worms can be put to work, or they have to put them into their mouth and swallow them. They will immediately begin to cough uncontrollably as the worm’s silken trails cause them to lodge in the throat at the site of the damage. Some few will fail to ‘hang on’ and be swallowed; immune to stomach acid, they will then begin to bore their way through flesh and stomach lining to reach the site of the wound.

In the case of damaged lungs, there is no option – the victim has to inhale the worms.

In both cases, when the work is done, coughing and / or vomiting must then be induced to release the worms from the body, and many hosts are forever convinced that at least one has been left behind.

Note that while the worms can “seal off” healthy tissues, even in badly-scarred lungs, they cannot restore tissues that couldn’t be replaced by natural healing, were the victim to live long enough. Vocal chords, windpipes, eyes, tongue – these can be partially or wholly lost, forever (without magical intervention or surgical reconstruction). The host will have a far better chance of surviving, more is usually beyond the Worms’ abilities. But, as a last-ditch resort, a colony of 20-50 Borer Worms are better than nothing at all.

It also has to be observed that their ability to scent ‘food’ is sufficiently great that the Worms may not give them a choice. Simply placing a victim down to rest is enough; any nearby colony will in but a few minutes erupt from their ‘nest’ and wriggle over to where the feast lies waiting. Only cleansing and binding of the wound can prevent this, and not even that is enough if there is any necrosis or infection.

Lizardfolk

So much for the lesser life-forms. Now we come to those creatures at the top of the heap, starting with Lizardfolk. These are exactly what you would expect – half-alligator humanoids – who live in the Southern Crags and come together to trade and worship at Mekkaresh. I discussed the city and its inhabitants last time, so there’s not much more to add.

Orc Tribes of Zasleen

Also discussed last time was Zasleen and the Orc Tribes that surround it, all of which lay claim to the “city”. This is little more than a collection of temporary grass huts, when you get right down to it; “Civilized” races attach more meaning to it than is warranted. An Orc Tribe is quite capable of setting up a new collection of huts miles from Zasleen and considering it also to be “Zasleen”, and something they have in common with the established residents thereof. That’s because the Orcish meaning of the term is slippery and hard for outsiders to understand; they perpetually read things into it that simply aren’t there in the Orcish mind-set, and miss some of the things that are there (or are implied) as a result.

Dragons

You read that right. There’s at least one of every type of common dragon-kind abiding at the top of mesas, somewhere in the Crags. How they order their society is largely unknown – they are fairly standoffish and have little to do with “civilized” folk.

Should one observe a party in trouble due to the harsh environment or other dangers, they may choose to intervene; the more metallic they are, the more noble, the greater this likelihood. But they won’t go a great distance out of their way to do so, and will rarely put themselves at risk.

The colored dragons are less likely to offer assistance, but will render aid should there be some quid-pro-quo that they can conceive. If not, lunch is on the hoof today – unless the hapless strangers convince the dragon that they are sufficiently dangerous as to not be worth the risk.

The one exception to these statements is the absence of any Green Dragon. It is surmised that one resided in what is now the Glass Delta, but – being flightless – it was unable to escape the outpouring of lava from Mount Optica that created this feature of the modern Crags.

Others claim that the Green Dragon has actually become an Undead Necromancer hiding in the heart of the Lava Uprisings, waiting for its opportunity to… well, no-one really knows, every version of this myth ends differently. Some versions are even more outre, with the body being hag-ridden by an Ilithid who keeps the flesh animated and the will subdued – but none have ever seen it and lived to tell the tale, or so the story goes….

The Dragon most reliably findable is “Noxxia” (not its real name), who is frequently seen drifting around the top of Mount Redtop. Ancient and grouchy, the kind who yells at clouds and challenges the sun to duels, he is surprisingly approachable, and willing to do almost anything – for the right price. You want an evening of urbane conversation? That can be arranged. You want something incinerated from above? No problem, if you can afford it. You want to be taught Dragon Magic? Bring plenty with which to barter – and get the agreement in writing (and receipts) because tomorrow or the next day, he will probably forget.

To the Orcs of Zasleen, Noxxia is the best kind of God – one that leaves them alone to fend for themselves. Every year, they will raid the Forest for game, which they will then carry up Mount Redtop as tribute to The Great Noxxia. In exchange, they will usually request one favor of the Red Dragon, which is usually granted.

The Golden Dragon, who delights in inventing a new name every time he is encountered, seems to hang around Mount Vertigo more often than anywhere else, but those visiting this wonder can wait for weeks without seeing him.

Others

There are a few other types of inhabitant here and there, according to legend. In particular, the fringes with the forests and mountains are home to unlikely residents according to some stories. Quite often, these have a basis in truth; there are Trolls who are known to inhabit the Crags near the mountains, for example, though no-one knows exactly where, and Ogres who have one (metaphoric) foot in the forest and one in the Northern Crags – somewhere.

The most ‘reliable’ (for lack of a better term) sightings appear to be a nest of Fomorians somewhere in the Directionless Void, which seems to pose no handicap to them for some reason.

Mineral Wealth of the Ironbarb

Given the harshness and toxicity of the environment, why would any Humans, Elves, or Dwarves ever want to spend time in the Crags? Well, some (especially humans and elves) are natural sightseers. Dwarves find the Crystal Spires and Mount Vertigo to be awe-inspiring.

But the real reason soon surfaces. There’s an abundance of metallic crystals and salts in the Crags, and there’s huge reservoirs of heat and pressure, and that turns those crystals and salts into gemstones.

On top of that, there are some resources that can be found nowhere else. This includes Ferrovine, though no practical use has been found yet for that particular mineral.

Counting them up, there are 7 good reasons to wander around the landscape here.

Opals

Black and Blue-based opals can be found in the vicinity of the Eastern Crags and Glass Delta.

Firegems

Firegems are small pieces of Frozen Fire – yellow-edged gems with what appears to be a captive red flame dancing within.

Diamonds

The walls of Skygorge contain a number of diamond deposits, and loose diamonds are sometimes found elsewhere.

Rubies

There are lots of reasons for Mount Redtop to carry its’ name. One of them is that there are lots of rubies found there. Be prepared to give Noxxia 10-25% of your finds, though.

Emeralds

The Southern Crags are the preferred location to hunt for these. Be aware that they are considered Holy Relics by the Lizardfolk, who will react accordingly to any found on the person of a traveler. They welcome exchanging such discoveries at Mekkaresh, though – this is being ‘respectful’ in their eyes.

Dies

Several varieties of insect, when crushed and dried, permit the extraction of a number of dies of different (and quite vivid) hues – purples and reds and blues and – more unusually – deep sea greens. The Elves both come to the Crags in search of such, and happily purchase any that are found by others.

Vanadasite

This rare mineral has three general applications of note.

Containers and Tools

Since the region is prone to Acid Rain and acidic flash floods, making containers and tools from the acid-resistant alloy are invaluable for the holding and transport of corrosive materials. Furthermore, it’s natural resistance to heat means that it can be carved into molds placed into an active lava source with metal to create other objects. The Lizardfolk excel at this.

Armaments

While it is not a primary material for swords or armor due to its crystalline nature (it shatters under a heavy blow), it can be and is used for specific disposable components – Arrowheads, Dagger tips, the edges of pickaxes and mining tools. This enables these tools to resist the corrosive effects of the environment and the weapons to resist the effects of the creatures that inhabit the Crags.

In particular, a weapon designed to fight an Acid-spitter creature might have a blade sheathed in the alloy.

The Orcs of Zasleen have mastered this application of the alloy.

Pigment

The distinctive greenish hue can be ground down into a fine powder to create a rare, vibrant, and highly-sought-after green pigment for dyes, paints, or inks. All three “civilized” races place great value on this, especially since the results can be almost infinitely concentrated, from a barely-discernible green tinge to a green so dark that it can be considered black.

The Elves of Asthar have mastered the art of adulterating the green hues with other colors to create still more variations, which give some of their weaving and leatherwork almost-perfect camouflage – in one specific environment of Topologia (which one depends on the colors).

Travel To The Ironbarb

The map presented in part 4a does half the work of this section, so I won’t belabor the points presented. Clockwise from the west – Glassdust Desert, Forest of Asthar, Shadowfen, Zugarth Mountains, got it? The Everflow heads downstream to the west and upriver to the east, okay?

Good, that lets us get down to the exotic stuff.

The Pillar Of Fire

Prominent on the map is the Pillar Of Fire. Walk through it, and – if you aren’t incinerated – you will find yourself deep in the Glassdust Desert, and a long way from anything else. What’s more interesting is that the Desert end of this ‘bridge’ wanders from place to place in a predictable but unstable pattern. It stays in one location for 2-4 weeks, takes a week transiting to it’s next location, stays there for another 2-4 weeks, and so on. There are 12 destination points arranged in a roughly circular pattern around the axis of the central salt lake.



Migration Path of the Pillar Of Fire

If position 0 (where it was after it last moved), it will move 5 spaces anticlockwise to 1, then 5 more to 2, and so on, until it gets to 12, which is the same place as position 0 was.

It will then move one space anticlockwise, to 13, and then the opposite pattern will take place – 5 positions clockwise – until it ends up being back there at 25.

It then moves another space anticlockwise to 26, and from this new position, then repeats the first pattern (anti-clockwise movements) until at it ends up back in this location as 37.

Move another space anticlockwise to 38, and repeat the second pattern (clockwise movement by 5) – so position 39 will be the space originally labeled 2, and that was also visited in 16 and 30.

A predictable but very complicated pattern that seems to have had significant psychological effects on the Dromedyn – compare this to the pattern of migration of the 12 tribes that was shown in Part 2 of this series (note that a rotation of 5 steps is the ONLY pattern with 12 stop positions that encompasses all 12; every other choice only reaches a sub-set of the 12).

Rocky Arch

Described in part 2, and with the illustration repeated above, this permits bypassing the entire Desert to appear in Gardenia.

Crossing Mount Optica

It’s not easy to climb Mount Optica, but it can be done. The sides of this dormant volcano are steep, but the slope is little easier to the east and south. When you crest the rim, you start down an equally-steep incline until you reach the lake that gathers rainwater and releases it as the Rainbow Falls. Circle the mountain the long way around until you come to the falls, and then climb the rim in the same direction you originally did – North if you came from the south, and West if you came from the East. When you crest the rim, you will see below you the sides of a peak in the central Zugarth Mountains. That’s quite a lot of up-and-down that you don’t need to do the hard way!

The Cliff of Trees

Deep in the Directionless Void, the Zugarth Mountains form a cliff in front of you. In that cliff, there is a cave – well, actually, there are several, but this one is special. Why? Because that Cave runs about a mile deep before entering a crystal grotto. Natural waterfalls, light carried down from the surface by an immense crystal spire – both enough to show that you are, in fact, still in the Crags. But someone has helpfully carved steps into the side of the spire, steps which slowly spiral up. The going is steep – the steps are near vertical, and spaced about 5 meters apart, so they are more like ledges, really – but it is (barely) navigable. At the top of the spire, so close to the ceiling of the grotto that you can literally reach up and touch the underside of the mountain, there are the roots of a great tree. Climb into them and you can find a passageway to the surface; and when you arrive at ground level, you will find that you are in the Northern part of the Forests Of Asthar, and not far from the Enclave Of Shadows.

Topologically, it makes no sense – you head a mile south to end up many miles to the North – but that’s the reality of Topologia..

EDIT: Okay, so right after I hit ‘publish’ I realized that “Thorax” means “throat” and I’ve used the wrong term throughout the swarm discussion. It’s too late to change it, this post is already 2 hours late. My bad.

Can thoughts pass from one dimension or reality to another? In the real world, no, so far as we know, but the realities our games create have no such limitations – so let’s examine the concept further.

Certainly, it can seem that way when a radical concept floats into your head, seemingly from nowhere. In the old days, when everything was viewed through a religious context, this was occasionally referred to as Divine Inspiration. In modern times, subconscious cues and problem-solving would be invoked to ‘explain’ the phenomenon – with really strong evidence that either of these things actually exist, it must be said; they are just the best explanations that we have.

It’s not just that the notion is radically different from others that you might have had; it’s the way that it unfurls in your mind near-complete, with a richness of detail that you might expect if you had been thinking deeply on the subject for quite some time – when you know darned well that you haven’t.

The biggest problem that you face when this occurs is getting it all down on paper before it begins to fade, overtaken by conscious thoughts – because the inspired mind leaps forward from what is on your head, not what you’ve been able to capture on the page, and does so far faster than most people can write or type.

Background Context

So, I have been beavering away on the next part of the Topologia series, as last week’s post should have made clear. As soon as you break a post in two, you need a new feature illustration to give readers a point of visual context, a notion to hold onto and associate with the article – because you’ve already used the best you have available in the first part (unless you plan a long way ahead). Right away, I knew what that feature image should depict – the most complex ecology in Topologia, the Mud Flats and Crystal Spires. I also knew, in my mind, exactly what it should look like, so I was able to immediately go out and gather the resources needed to assemble what I saw in my mind’s eye.

Nineteen source images and more than 6,000 image layers later, and it’s still only 75% done. I had expected that it would take a day, maybe a day-and-a-half – instead, getting to that point has required 4 days plus of intensive effort. It’s been such a complex assembly process that I’ve already had to step my planned full-sized image down in scale from 2000 pixels wide to just 1280. For the first time that I can remember with my current hardware, the ‘working image’ in memory topped 1GB of RAM – the most complex image that I’ve ever created on my old desktop system exceeded this (I can remember 1.2 GB, 1.4 GB and 1.6GB) – but this was enough that the system became sluggish to respond. So I had to scale it down.

But the real problem is that it’s taken so long – it’s cut deeply into the time that I had for writing the text, so much so that by the time I went to bed last night, I was no longer confident of being able to complete both image and text in time. One of the two, yes – but not both, and I needed both to be ready before it was publishable.

No problem – “I’ll just pivot to the plan B that was always in the back of my mind, another part of the Best of 2016. I know that I’ve got enough time to make that happen” – such was my thinking. But this morning, today’s article came to me, whole, and unbidden, from completely out of the blue. And now I’m racing to get it done before the clarity of the original concept fades.

Parallel Worlds, Parallel Thoughts

So let’s examine the fundamental concept. In another reality (which may or may not be part of the same physical space), an individual encounters a situation and thinks about how best to handle it. Thinks so intently that their concentration projects that thought out into the void (completely ignoring things like Psionics that may or may not be part of the conceptual landscape in which they reside). And these are then picked up on, and resonate with, the most receptive possible recipient, another variation on that individual in a different reality – you.

Under the parallel worlds theory, there are an unknowably vast number of realities in which the differences are some quantum fluctuation in a galaxy millions of light-years away. So far as you’re concerned, there is no measurable difference, and hasn’t been since the instant of bifurcation between the timelines. The only non-infinite number that dwarfs this huge reality are the number in which some event turned out differently, for whatever reason – a sliding doors moment – because there are many such possible, and chaos theory dictates that there are even more than we realize, and each of those is bifurcating to the same extent from the moment of initial difference on.

The earlier the point of separation, the more variants there are going to be. Go back far enough, though, and we reach the instants just after the big bang (and I know that it’s not called that anymore, but it’s a convenient label). At that moment, time itself had only just begun, and the other physical laws of the universe had not yet emerged. It follows that there are infinitely more variations on your reality which operate under completely different physical laws than are those with which you are familiar. Unless there is some sort of ‘reality filter’ involved, with only a limited number of stable configurations of such laws possible. And all it takes is for one of them to be a reality in which such communications is possible for there to be a non-zero probability that it will occur.

That is how a thought could – in a theoretical abstract metaphysical possible reality – pass from one mind across the interdimensional gulf to find a new home in another thinking being who happens to be receptive by virtue of being a variation on the person thinking the original thought. To compress the narrative, let’s call such a person a ‘resonant individual’, okay?

Degrees Of Resonance

Originator thinks a thought. Resonant Individual has that thought manifest as an inspiration, complete and from nowhere, in their own heads. Clearly, the more divergent the timelines, the less resonant the individual will be, the more they will be different from the originator, even though they are similar enough that both are recognizably variations on the same person.

In this reality, my current occupation is writer / artist / editor / publisher, and I do this for a website, Campaign Mastery. In a similar but slightly-different one, I might do the same thing but for a different website, being a staff writer for Gnome Stew or something. In a slightly-different reality again, I do the same thing for a publisher of RPG games. Which one? The most probable one, which is probably Paizo. And then through variations of all the lesser-probability ones that are out there. And then we get the variations in which I write on something other than RPGs – maybe I’m a Hollywood scriptwriter or a novelist. With all the possible variations of success, I might add, according to the statistical probability of achieving that success. So in most of these realities, I have another day job on the side. Or maybe I work for a great metropolitan newspaper (if any such still exist). And so on, and so forth.

At one point, I was a MIDI-based composer, and pretty good at it. I was on the verge of transforming the music that I had created into a series of for-sale CDs – Track lists were done, and I had almost completed production of the first CD when random chance – hardware failure and a total failure of the backup software to restore from the archived backup – killed the whole thing. If I had been more successful, or more driven, I might still be a composer. With all the possible degrees of success that this entails, as sub-variants.

And so on. You can see why the number of distinct variations massively outnumber the number of almost-indistinguishable ones.

I’m a big fan of these general concepts in my games because it provides a loophole in the physics that prevents FTL travel and time travel – the act of doing either forces you out of your timeline of origination and into another one. Because they are closer and therefore more accessible, the odds are that this will be a universe of no discernible difference – so it might as well be the same one that you departed from. But there is always a low probability, rising with length / duration of voyage, that you will encounter a variant. It’s most probably a variant that doesn’t personally impact you greatly – “John C Kennedy” instead of “John F Kennedy”, and since I’m neither of them… but changes cascade and multiply, and small fluctuations even on the micro-scale can accumulate like dominoes falling until they create measurably-distinct differences in the Macro world. All Grandfather Paradoxes go away when ‘side-slips’ are involved.

The same statistical modeling would apply to the degree of resonance of a thought that’s crossing over from one reality to another.

What is a thought?

The most pragmatic answer, shorn of all metaphysics, is that a thought is a configuration of electrical energy within a matrix of chemical compounds that react to, and respond to, that electrical configuration. The electrical energy in that particular pattern triggers changes in the chemistry, and the chemistry triggers changes in the (transitory) electrical patterns that are thus created. A domino effect archives the thought in a memory buffer and may trigger associations and further thoughts, like ripples in a pond.

I’m sure this is horribly oversimplified, perhaps to the point of being completely wrong, but it’s my best understanding of the answer to the question.

So, given this working definition, how would a trans-dimensional communication manifest?

The Significance of Resonance

If we assume that in variations of the same individual, the greater the divergence, the greater the variation in personal history, and therefore the greater the variation in the personal experiences that comprise that history, then the greater the variation, the more different will be the arrangement of the chemical part of the brain’s structure. Which means that when a particular electrical signal manifests in the individual’s brain, the way that it is interpreted by that brain will vary. The message that is ‘received’ will have little or no resemblance to the original thought that is transmitted, and the greater the variation between individuals, the greater the divergence in interpretation. The other day, I thought up a recipe for a Tropical Jam (Mango, pineapple, and Passionfruit). I have no idea where that idea came from, and I didn’t write it down – but I can still remember it.

If that thought had originated with some variation of myself, it might have been perceived as something completely different – an adventure idea, or a social / political insight, or the design for a new kind of solar panel, you name it. The interpretation that results would have to have a foundation in the prior experiences of the resonant individual – so, to get the solar panel idea, they would have to be a physicist or an engineer (probably). That foundation is what they use to interpret this garbled thought.

The greater the resonance, the more common experiences there will be, and the more likely it is that the interpreted thought received will match the thought inadvertently transmitted.

Extraordinary Circumstances?

Everything that you’ve read so far was part of that initial wave of inspiration – well, actually, there were three waves following almost instantly, one after the other. Now, it starts to get a little more fuzzy, because now we’re getting into things that are the result of ruminating on the above – something I tried not to do too much of, because that dilutes the clarity of the original thought, and I wanted to focus on documenting that thought before digging into it too deeply.

There’s been little or nothing said about the circumstances that permit / force the transmission of thought from one reality to another. But, since it doesn’t happen frequently, it’s reasonable to assume that these circumstances might have to be fairly extraordinary. Random chance in which everything aligns would be a possible answer, but how often would that occur? Unknowable. I’ll pursue that further in a moment. Perhaps an unexpected end of life? That’s a more dramatic circumstance, one that relies on the concept that when fighting for survival, we’re capable of extra-ordinary things – and that’s something for which there are reams of anecdotal evidence. Maybe you have to be in a deeply meditative state, or in a religious extasy, or just thinking – very – hard. Who knows? But the circumstances have to be pretty improbable, don’t they? Or maybe not. Maybe it’s not the transmission that’s so extraordinary, but the reception and translation into something meaningful. We all have random thoughts that aren’t worth the paper it would take to document them, noticed momentarily and then abandoned. Picking up a thought despite a lack of compatible resonance would probably look very much like having such a random thought or impulse. Whatever the original thought, the interpreted content would derived from existing personality profile, habits, patterns of thought, and prior experiences, so there would be no reason not to consider it your own random thought.

The more discriminating the resonance has to be, the more ubiquitous the process of transmission can be.

But this receptivity threshold doesn’t actually have to relate directly to the degree of Resonance – there can be two different functions involved. A lower-resonance individual could, perhaps, receive such a thought in exactly the right extraordinary circumstances. The more resonant the individual, the less improbable such reception might be, but improbable doesn’t mean impossible. It’s possible (however unlikely) that every individual is transmitting almost every thought that they have across the dimensional gulfs, but only specific individuals whose circumstances happen to match up precisely in the right configuration receive the thought, and only a few of them make anything significant out of it.

Perhaps the most probable configuration of realities, assuming that all this is possible at all – a quite fantastic assumption – is that everything has to be almost-exactly right at both ends. That’s certainly the most plausible.

Robert A Heinlein once speculated on the concept of a “Ficton” as the ‘basic unit” of imagination. The term is applied most frequently to speculative fiction in implying self-consistency within a fictional universe, which becomes important when crossovers occur. One of the more interesting conclusions that can be reached from the specific many-timelines / many-worlds speculation defined earlier in this article is that any fictional reality (or some internally-consistent variation on the premise, where the originator of the fictional reality has not been able to maintain internal consistency for whatever reason) must exist as a reality, somewhere.

An example: Known Space by Larry Niven

Some of the early stories by Larry Niven were standalone science fiction short stories regarding the exploration of the solar system. These were later folded into the broader “Known Space” fictional universe as historic events, and collected into the “Tales Of Known Space” compilation with editorial notes by Niven.

In one such editorial note, he raises the question of what to do when physics makes a new discovery that contradicts what a writer has created. For example, it was assumed for a long time that Mercury was tidally locked to the Sun, always presenting the one face to it; it was on this basis that he wrote his story of exploration of that world by the first humans to visit there. Science then discovered that Mercury does, in fact, rotate, completely and catastrophically undermining that fundamental premise of the short story in question.

An author, in this circumstance, has four options:

• He can revise his story to remove the resulting error – but if he starts down this road, before too long, he will be spending all his time revising prior work, and not creating anything new.
• He can insert something into a new story to explain the discontinuity – but this is only worth doing if the problem is vastly more important than is usually the case, because it’s self-referential and often boring except to the most puritan of purists.
• He can determine that the established story over-rules subsequent discoveries by science, maintaining an existing continuity of concept and internal consistency. This elevates the purity of that consistency over consistency with the known reality of the reader, and can cause the fiction to date, but it leaves the author free to get on with writing more stories set in this universe.
• Or, fourthly, he can ignore the problem and just write something new. This is Isaac Asimov’s preferred solution, citing Emerson: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds”. Asimov was far from alone in adopting this stance, it is by far the most common approach to the problem.

An author can even prevaricate between answers 3 and 4, refusing to even acknowledge the problem until forced to decide, one way or another, by a new story that runs headlong into the contradiction. And, under the many-worlds paradigm described, there is a fifth option:

• The author’s entire fictional universe is contained within one reality until an internal contradiction assets itself, at which point his narrative shifts from one universe to a parallel version in which the old story is not what happened, and reality is consistent with the new version of events. There is no contradiction, no paradox, that results because any contradictions get exiled from the primary reality described.

Application to RPGs

All that means that somewhere, there is a universe which mirrors the events in your RPG campaign. And innumerable variations which cover the roads not taken by the PCs. Which means that whenever conditions – as defined (or not) by the GM – permit, a thought can pop into the mind of a PC or NPC, either from the player, or from some other variation of the character.

We’ve all seen players make incomprehensible decisions on behalf of their PCs, ones that the PC in question should know better than to follow, because they know the experienced reality around themselves far better than the player does. A good GM will have warned the player or at least hinted that the decision in question is not a good one, and that the player should probably rethink it, but sometimes such advice falls on deaf or paranoid ears. Suddenly, acting on such stupid ideas has some sort of explanation from the perspective of the affected character – a ficton has been communicated from the player to the character and the character has made a mistake in interpreting it that has caused him to do something stupid – and to have to ‘live’ with the consequences.

We’ve all seen NPCs who appear – rightly or wrongly – to have ‘plot armor’. This can now be explained as consequences of the GM communicating a ficton to one of the participating characters, with any dubious or otherwise inexplicable decisions put down to misinterpretation of the thoughts running unbidden through their minds.

But it can also be used as a plot device to help everyone out of a jam.

The character has a problem. The GM is aware of a solution. The player can’t find that solution. Play has ground to a halt, and this halt has gone on long enough that everyone is getting frustrated and bored. A random thought from an alternate-world version of the character then manifests in the mind of the character. Because he is focused on the problem at hand, his interpretation of that thought focuses on the solution. Either he gets a hint, seemingly from nowhere, or a whole solution suddenly manifests in his imagination – depending on how direct the GM thinks he needs to be.

Sometimes, it’s enough for the GM to point out the flaw in the assumptions of the player that are blocking the discovery of a viable solution. This premise explains how that would manifest in the game world. Sometimes, the GM needs to be more explicit in his instructions, effectively going around the player to interact directly with the character.

Opening Plot Sequences

When a character participates in an adventure for the first time within that adventure, it is generally incumbent on the GM to describe where the character is and what he is doing. This provides a baseline from which the player can roleplay and make decisions on behalf of the character than then further the adventure. There are all sorts of nuances that can be discussed about such “establishing shots”, but the bottom line is this – in order for the character to be where they are, doing what they are doing, the GM must have created circumstances in which the current situation, as described, is what would have resulted.

I have seen some discussions of such practices in which this was described as a “plot train” but I don’t think that’s the case. It’s a beginning point, not a pathway to a defined endpoint. Most GMs will incorporate any indications from the player of what the character wants to do next that were offered in prior game sessions IF such were offered – so this is not a violation of player agency, it’s a manifestation of it, or of the lack of it being applied.

It’s inevitable, though, that some decisions on the part of the character will have to have been made on the player’s behalf by the GM, in order for the character to find themselves in that situation. It’s incumbent on the GM to ensure that these decisions are reasonable ones in terms of the characterization; the better the GM knows the player and the character, the more “in character” such decisions become.

The bottom line is that this cuts out the tedium of getting the character to that point in the adventure, letting the player take over just when things start to get interesting. This keeps the game moving forward and creates dramatic situations that are of interest to the players instead of burying the game in the minutia of the characters’ daily life. Since the GM has (presumably) envisaged a pathway leading from these opening sequences into the actual adventure, this is – by definition – metagaming, but it’s another example of when that is NOT a bad thing.

All this is, of course, a fictional conceit for a mode of interaction between the observed reality around us all and the fictional world inhabited by our characters. It might not be the only such approach. But it’s one that works, and that possesses a certain level of utility for both players and GM that can be used for the betterment of the game as a form of entertainment. And that makes all this thinking about thinking anything but a wasted exercise.

When you give a character an INT check to think of something that the player is overlooking, when you give them a skill check to become aware of something that you can’t mention to the player without giving the game away on a silver platter, where does the thought in the character’s head come from? Now, there is an answer.

I was a bit perturbed when last night’s post notification got flagged as SPAM when it lobbed into my inbox. Investigation of the headers suggested that this is due to the length of the caption in the middle of the article. There was also a suggestion that I had received this notification because I’m the site administrator, and that subscribers hadn’t actually been notified.

I just wanted to reassure readers that the post, Topologia: A Strange Campaign Setting, Part 4a is NOT spam and is safe to read.

In the course of investigating this, another problem was discovered that indicates the subscription technology is broken somehow. I didn’t set this up, so I have a lot of learning to do before I can diagnose, let alone resolve, the issue. In the interim, I will disable visibility on the failed tech.

*** UPDATE *** … except that I can’t find where the code for the Feedburner subscription is located, it doesn’t seem to be amongst everything else in the RHS Nav. Maybe it’s in the header files somewhere that I’m not seeing. All I can find is some code configuring how it is displayed, not whether or not it is displayed. I tried disabling that anyway, but it didn’t help, so I’ve restored it/

Today, Part 4a of the Topologia campaign explores the wonders – and terrors – of the Ironbarb Crags (part 1 of 2).

Having bought myself an extra week to get it finished, I’ve decided that I really need to split this in two so that I’ve got the second part in my pocket. Why? Because this buys time for me to work on the next part in the Trade In Fantasy series – and I expect that not even this will be enough for the next in that collection of articles!

The Ironbarb Crags (Volcanic Wasteland)

The Ironbarb Crags are place of great natural beauty, desolation, and danger. Essentially a rocky desert but with some remarkable features including the mesas that give the region its name, crystal spires, a mud-flat, a cave where time stands still, the Skygorge which is an almost-perfect mirror, Mount Vertigo, a desolate region called the Directionless Void in which shadows, reflected light, and mirages make it impossible to discern true direction, Mount Optica (a dormant volcano with a lake of hot water that picks up minerals that color the water as it spills out a broken face into the Rainbow Falls) and the Dome Of Frozen Fire, an area where erosion has carved the red-and-gold rock into something that looks like flames but which is cool to the touch.

Environmental conditions include Noxious Fumes, Acidic Rain, Flensing Dust-storms, Acid flash-floods, Lava Geysers, and Pools of hot mud.

Surprisingly. life flourishes in this desolation, if one knows where to look for it. In fact, many of its most beautiful features would not exist without that life, and the life would not exist without the harshness of the unwelcoming environment.

The experience of exploring it has been summed up as “Mud can be beautiful too”. The beauty stems from below the hostile surface, and it’s doubly-appropriate because anyone who spends too much time here becomes visibly scarred and ugly – on the surface – but most are poetic of soul and spirit. Of course, there are always a few whose exterior is a true reflection of an inner darkness necessary to their survival and prosperity in this environment.

Geographic Features of the Ironbarb

In addition to some spot extracts showing the relationships between key features of the geography, I’ve produced an overall map.

Unfortunately, that’s incredibly hard to read when it’s made small enough to fit the Campaign Mastery page. So I’ve also split into three slices:

You can also get the whole, fullsized map (1280 x 1164) by clicking on any of the four maps above.

There’s lots of information here, but I’ll get into most of it when I discuss the specific geographic features. For now, I want to cover off a couple of general items.

The Crags are divided into 11, 12, or 14 regions (depending on how you count them), plus some specific areas like the Mudflats. Each of these regions is slightly different from the others, so I’ve also given them their own feature spots below. However, while the map gives nice near dividing lines between (for example) the Northern Crags and the Border Crags, in reality there is more of a smooth transition.

Second, you may note that there’s no scale. That’s because opinions vary widely on how wide the Crags are – some say that you can reach the Everflow in a week of overland travel from Splinter, others say that it takes months. The truth of the matter is that it’s so hard to proceed in straight lines that judging the true scale is all but impossible. There’s a popular saying that the Crags are twice the size you want them to be, plus a little more just to be spiteful.

Third, Splinter is NOT where it appears to be on the map. But somehow, it is. I’ll dig into all that in more detail in the “Shadow Of Splinter” section below, which has been included even though Splinter is not shown as being a part of the Crags. You can get a foretaste of things to come by noting that Splinter is NOT in the Forest, it is to the East of the Shadowfen – which is hard right on this map. But it’s also just north of the indicated part of the Crags. And, for that matter, from Splinter, the Everflow passes through the Farms of Gardenia and the Gilded Glassdust Desert in order to enter this map on its western side!

Finally, note the mountain ranges at the top and bottom of the map. These are the same mountain range – it’s southern parts are to the North of the Crags and the Forest (which is its own Domain within Topologia) and it’s northern parts are to the South of the Crags.

This might make sense if the world were cylindrical or round – but it isn’t. And it’s daytime at the same time (more or less) throughout Topologia – there are a few hours difference, but that’s all. As usual with this place, everything makes sense until you look too closely at it – in this case, the geometry only works if there’s some sort of discontinuity at the top and/or bottom of the map, one so subtle that no-one has ever observed it.

Got your walking boots on? Let’s explore! I’m going to start west and move slowly east until I get to the end of the map..

The Sandy Line

We start with the Sandy Line, which marks the boundary between the Glassdust Desert and the Crags. At this line, there is suddenly more rock than sand, passing west to East.

But the Desert breathes like a living thing. If the winds blow from the West, the line moves somewhat East, possibly completely encompassing Lake Bottomless. If the wind blows from the East, the desert sands retreat to the west, possibly even completely off the edge of the map.

And even at the best of times, the division is somewhat subjective anyway. It’s usually the best any two or more can do to agree that past a certain point (different on any given day), you have definitely passed the Sandy Line into the Crags.

The Crags

Geologically, the region mostly consists of three things: Earth, Lava (mostly solidified), and Ferrovine deposits.

The Earth and Lava are constantly eroded by many of the climatic events that beset the region. Some events replenish the lava, and a few non-climatic processes replenish the soil every now and then, but it’s the Ferrovine that creates the numerous sharp-edged mesas and spires of rock that are literally the ‘crags’ for which the region is named.

Ferrovine is a metallic crystal. It forms veins and spires and tree-like mineral deposits. The vines and tree-like structures protect the encrusted lava and earth to some extent, creating the mesas.

Chemically, Ferrovine is a natural alloy composed of iron and chromium with trace amounts of nickel and other elements.

Unlike the lustrous sheen of noble metals, Ferrovine has a dark, almost charcoal-gray appearance, with streaks of a deep crimson or rust color (due to the iron content). When light hits it from certain angles, it can possess a faint, purplish metallic sheen.

The compound is extremely acid-resistant, which is key to the survival of the Mesas and Spires in this harsh environment (see the section on Environmental Conditions). Ferrovine is a natural alloy that can form when the right minerals in the right quantities are exposed to tremendous heat. Because of its resistance to the constant chemical assault, it has built up over time into the structures seen today.

What’s more, Ferrovine is an excellent conductor of heat, which it transfers to the magma chambers that lie beneath the surface, occasionally tipping one over the edge into ‘activity’ – to use a polite term. The depth and shape of these magma chambers varies, but all of them are comparatively shallow – enough to make digging a very risky activity. Their temperatures also vary slightly, especially where there is some natural mechanism to draw away the excess heat – so the area occupied by the Everflow is (geologically-speaking) comparatively stable, for example.

While it is incredibly strong, Ferrovine is prone to shattering rather than bending or deforming under extreme stress, contributing to the “sharp, jagged barbs” that describe the natural geology common to most of the area. Constant heating and cooling also cause stress, leading to the jagged cracks that make the crags so dangerous.

The Crags are subdivided into a number of regions, each of which has crags of a slightly different nature, as mentioned earlier. These regions (with exceptions) are labeled in red on the map to make them stand out. (For the record, a dark blue is used for water-related features and black for everything else except where white was more legible).

The Northern Crags

The Northern Crags are located north and east of Lake Bottomless, and adjacent to the Gilded Glassdust Desert. When winds blow from the west, they are polished by the sand. The presence of any non-core ingredient provides a point of vulnerability within the Ferrovine in this region, so the Crags here look like pitted glass from a distance. When you get closer, it can be discerned that more Ferrovine is exposed here than in other parts of the Crags..

The Western Crags

South of the Everflow, the area is more volcanicly active and the magma chambers are closer to the surface and hotter. The Ferrovine is exposed here, the same way that it is in the Northern Crags, but this Ferrovine is sometimes hot enough to melt the sand that strikes it. Some of that sand is then blown away (see Flensing Sandstorms in the Environmental Conditions section), but some of it clings, forming glassy trails streaming to the east from the spires and vines of Ferrovine, a frozen glass sculpture of streaming rain. The Western Crags contains Skygorge and the Dome Of Frozen Fire.

The Distant Crags

At the extreme south of the Western Crags is a region known as the Distant Crags. These are taller and more spindly, less mesa-like – javelins of Ferrovine stabbing into the air 50m (160+ feet) into the air, and typically less than a meter in diameter. The oldest and most extreme examples are located around Mount Vertigo, which also contains the Cave Of Eternity. From that cave flows the Vertigo River, which heads northeast from the edge of the Mountains, eventually draining into the Everflow. This waterway marks a natural dividing line between Crag Regions, even though the areas just east of the river still closely resemble those to its west; but this is where the crags begin to change in nature.

The Border Crags

Running along the northern bank of the Everflow on the western side of the region are the “Border Crags”. They get their name by forming a natural wall along this bank of the river. The Ferrovines here are shorter than those to the west, more squat, and broader, with considerable ‘vines’ knotted between them. With the Everflow draining heat from them, this area forms a natural heat-sink that reduces the geologic activity of the area. North and east of the Border Crags are the Mud Flats and their Crystal Spires, and north of them are the Fields of Glass Coral.

The Central Crags

South of the Everflow and East of the Vertigo River are the central Crags. For some unknown reason – perhaps mere chance – the crags here are less regular and more twisted and maze-like. For the most part, these are just inconvenient, but there is a large area in their south where these structures are so bad that it has become known as the Directionless Void. The eastern boundary of the Central Crags is Mount Optica, the Rainbow Falls, Rainbow Lake, and the Optica River.

The Southern Crags

Beyond the Optica River can be found the Southern Crags, so named because they are South of the the Everflow which bends northeast as it passed the Central Crags. These crags are the most mesa-like, based around the ‘treelike’ structure of Ferrovine. North of Mount Optica, there is a region of the Southern Crags known as the Lava Uprisings, and north of that is the “City” of Mekkaresh. East of Mekkaresh, the Everflow turns sharply to the south, forming the Eastern boundary of the Southern Crags. A further boundary runs northwest from Mount Optica; the Eastern Crags are the only region located on both sides of the Everflow.

The Eastern Crags

East of Mount Optica and South of Mount Redtop are the Southern Crags, which contain the three Glass Deltas. While still hot, these areas are noticeably cooler than the other Crags, and from time to time the Shadowfen to the east floods and inundates these crags. When these floodwaters recede, they leave vast deposits of mud which quickly dries from the volcanic heat – the Eastern Crags may be “noticeably cooler” but this can be the difference between white hot and just short of red hot!

As a result, the ‘mesas’ of this region are the flattest of all, and surrounded by built-up gentle slopes of earth; mapped from above, they have the shape of teardrops with the tails pointing toward the Everflow or the Shadowfen, whichever is nearer.

The other characteristic shared by the Eastern Crags is that for a very long time, when Mount Optica erupted, its natural flow was to the East until it hit the Shadowfen, where the cooling effect of the waters there created natural walls of congealed lava, pushing the rest of the flow north. Who knows how long ago the last such eruption took place? But whenever it was, Mount Optica rebuilt that side of it’s cone to such an extent that the most recent eruption instead blew out the northwestern side of the volcano before it again became quiescent, creating the rainbow falls as the volcanic crater filled with water.

The Glass Delta – lower



In the middle of the Eastern Crags, the Everflow divides into two channels around what used to be an island. This terrain was once probably part of the Shadowfen, but the heat from repeated eruptions of Mount Optica dried the soil of the Shadowfen and fused it into a glassy surface now known as the Glass Delta. When the surface cooled, great cracks opened up in the surface, which now form a myriad of lesser watercourses for the Everflow to pass through.

The Glass Delta is subdivided into the Lower region, the Upper region, and the Greenish Region.

The “Lower” Glass Delta is what was once an island, as explained – it gets its name for being at a lower altitude than the rest. There are thus more water channels through here than either of the other regions.

The Glass Delta – upper

The part of the Glass Delta that lies south and west of the current course of the Everflow is known as the Upper Glass Delta, so named because it abuts the mountains to the south. This region was once rolling hills protruding above the waters of the Shadowfen, but these two were covered in lava by Mount Optica, so now they are black domes of solidified lava rising above the glassy surface of the Glass Delta. The cracks in the surface thus run to but not through or over these domes, further creating the impression of large black islands on glass.

The lava domes are slowly eroding, exposing the Ferrovines in their heart, which forms a tangled knot of razor-sharp metal vines on their crests. It is safe to say that the geology of this part of the Crags is still evolving!

The Glass Delta – greenish

The final sub-region of the crags is the Greenish Glass Delta. It comes from its name in two ways – first, the glass surfaces reflect and refract the dark greens of the Shadowfen, and secondly, the glass itself here has a natural greenish tint, the result of crystallization of a vanadium-rich alloy.

One could surmise that the heat and acidic rain acted as a catalyst, changing the oxidation state of the vanadium deposits that remained. Vanadium assumes many different colors depending on its oxidation state and the configuration of the resulting crystals. Normally, many such hues are present, but the catalyzing reaction in the presence of the Ferrovine transformed the others, leaving only the +3 oxidation state, creating a distinctive green tint in the glassy surface.

The Lesser Wastes

There are two regions labeled “wastes” because they are largely devoid of Ferrovine deposits to create Crags. The first of these lies northwest of the Everflow, between the river and both the Mudflats and Fields of Glass Coral.

What Ferrovine there is present forms spires no more than 10m in height – practically dwarfs compared to the great features of other regions – and they are comparatively far apart. There are no indications as to what caused this region to be different; it’s simply an observed fact.

This is called the “Lesser” Wastes because it’s a comparatively small area, and because it’s far more crag-like and less extreme than the “Greater”:Wastes.

The Greater Wastes

North of Mekkaresh, beyond the Everflow, and between the Fields Of Glass Coral and Mount Redtop are the Greater Wastes. Despite the presence of the dormant great super-volcano to the East, the Greater Wastes – which technically should be said to include Mount Redtop – is now the least geologically-active area within the entire Crags. But this was not always the case – long ago, Mount Redtop erupted with magma far hotter than elsewhere in the Crags, sufficient for the lava flow to melt and carry away virtually all the Ferrovine in the area. This is also why none remains in the Mudflats and Fields Of Glass Coral, which some would also consider part of the Greater Wastes.

No Ferrovine, no Crags. The result in this area is a part of the crags most like a typical Rocky Desert, something which many North Americans will find familiar.

Somewhere in the Greater Wastes – possibly of no fixed location – is the Orcish power-center of Zasleen. Exactly where to find it is not known, only surmised.

With the broader geography covered, it’s time to look at the specific features that make the Crags so breathtaking – if you know where to look. The inhabitants of Topologia mostly don’t, I should add!

Again proceeding from west to east, and (generally) north to south.

Lake Bottomless



Once, this was the mouth of an active volcano, an eruption from which created the Border Crags. But it went dormant long ago, and wind/sandblast erosion from the west and being undercut by the Everflow created this unique feature. The solidified black lava of the mouth eventually subsided as the ground beneath it was cut away, eventually dropping below the surface level of the Everflow, at which point the bowl-shaped crater filled with water to become Lake Bottomless.

The lake-bed is black scoria and Basalt and virtually invisible past depths of only a foot or two. Most people assume that this is the source of the name, but the crust of the lake-bed varies considerably in thickness – in some places it is only an inch or two thick, and the unwary can find the rock beneath their feet giving way beneath them. From time to time, an opening big enough to pass through is formed or discovered, and one or two good swimmers equipped with Light spells have ventured below, discovering that the Everflow has carved out an entire additional chamber, and the apparent Lake-bed is not the bottom, after all.

Diving to the bottom of this second chamber tests the endurance of the fittest swimmers and reveals a second lava ‘floor’ just like the first – and beneath it, a third water-filled void. Few have ventured deeper, but there are reports of a third chamber below that. To all intents and purposes, this seems to be an infinitely deep series of such watery voids, and that is the true discovery for which the Lake is named..

Irregularities in the underside of the lava ‘crowns’ have left occasional pockets of air that have been unbreathed for hundreds or thousands of years. Many explorers perished attempting to replenish their breath in one of these, but they seem filled with an air that is no longer capable of sustaining life, a trap for the overly-brave.

The Dome Of Frozen Fire

There is more iron and chromium in this area that was not quite in the right proportions to form Ferrovine. These have given the Crags here a distinct reddish hue, tinged in places with yellow sand carried by the Desert winds. Erosion has carved the 20m (66 feet) tall shapes into irregular columns that twist this way and that, looking for all the world like flames that have somehow solidified.

The Pillar Of Fire

Near the southern edge of the Dome Of Frozen Fire is a pillar of flame created by a leaking combustible gas from the ground beneath which has somehow ignited. The pillar seems to be supported by an inexhaustible supply of fuel, and is a perpetual feature of the Crags. Should you step into the flame and survive, you will find yourself to be somewhere in the Desert far to the west of where you were.



Skygorge

Once a natural valley, a rent in the ground, this filled with sand from the desert – sand that was fused into a perfect mirror of glass by an eruption from Mount Vertigo long ago. Initially covered by igneous rock, but this was less resistant to the erosive forces of the Crags and over time, this incredible feature was revealed. Running in a general north-south orientation, there is little sign now that Mount Vertigo was ever a volcano, leaving the creation of this natural wonder a mystery. But this is the only explanation that has been put forward to explain the creation of this phenomenon.

Mount Vertigo

Mount Vertigo was once a volcano whose lava tapped into a vast reservoir of molten Ferrovine stretching vertically to the mouth of the volcano in an almost perfectly-straight column. And then the volcano became dormant, and the basalt around it (mostly) eroded away, leaving nothing but this enormous spire jutting skyward more than 500m (1640 feet). The sides appear perfectly smooth. Only near the base do the sides flute outward because of the main lava chamber (also frozen into crystalline eternity).

It is possible to get within a handful of meters (10 feet) of the base of the needle-shaped pillar. Those who do so are often overcome by vertigo if they look up at the top of the spire, hence its name.

Impurities within the crystals give the mountain a vibrant multicolored appearance that instantly draws the eye.



The multi-hued vibrancy of Mount Vertigo, with two of its Guardians.

An observer once stated, “It was as though I was being ordered to follow the spire from base to tip by the Mountain itself. Of course, when I did so, I became dizzy and disoriented and almost fell onto the shards underfoot – yet I could not look away.”

The Guardians Of Mount Vertigo

Lesser only to the colossus of Mount Vertigo itself, these nine spires surround the mountain and frame it. Visually similar to Mount Vertigo itself, which makes them stand out in comparison to the normal crags.

The Shards

Once, the sides of Mount Vertigo and its Guardians had branches twisting this way and that, but these could not support their own weight and fell, shattering into uncounted millions of shards from an inch to 10 inches in length. These crunch underfoot as one walks in the vicinity, your feet sinking up to a foot deep as they compress under the load. Their points and edges are razor-sharp and can cut footwear – and feet – to ribbons. Falling onto them is a really bad idea.

The King and Queen of Dragons

It is rumored that Draconic colors represent a hierarchy within Dragon-kind: Gold, Silver, Blue, Black, Bronze, Red, White, Brass, Green, Brown. As one gets promoted through the hierarchy, one sheds its skin to emerge with a new coloration and a new mental state. But it’s just a rumor. It is also rumored that the King and Queen of dragons make their home at the top of Mount Vertigo. No-one knows whether or not it’s true.

The Cave Of Eternity

Almost as fantastic as the spires that tower above it is the Cave Of Eternity, located on the Eastern face of Mount Vertigo. Inside, time seems to stop – when you emerge, what seemed like moments turn out to be hours, what you thought were minutes were the passing of days. The tinkling of water, accompanied by the occasional deeper-noted drip, are a naturally-occurring music that can be mesmerizing, and for many years it was thought that this accounted for the effect – until someone stuffed their ears with cloth to muffle these sounds and found it to be undiminished.

Some now think that there is a monster who dwells within, feasting on the thoughts of those who enter, creating the impression of time passing you by, but this is contradicted by the facts – first, no such monster has ever been found, and second, physical processes – the need for food, water, sleep, etc – seem to be slowed as much as awareness of time. If this were purely a psychological phenomenon, that would not be the case.

So it’s just a strange and magical place with no explanation.

The Vertigo River

The Vertigo River (named for the Mountain) carries water from the mountains through underground aquifers to emerge above ground from the Cave Of Eternity. Trace minerals encountered during its passage through the crags makes it increasingly acidic as it flows toward the Everflow, becoming most concentrated at the point where it juts northward before turning more easterly once again.

The Directionless Void

Glass can bend and reflect light, and in this region, reflections, distortions, and mirages make it impossible to discern east from west, north from south. Adding to this effect are the maze-like gaps between the outcroppings of Ferrovine that are a feature of the surrounding Central Crags. Once entered, only chance can permit egress from this region of captivating and deadly beauty.

The Mudflats



A vast lake of mud, constantly heated from below – more intense in some places than others – this region contains some of the most complex biology anywhere in Topologia, completely hidden from view. The mud – or, more accurately, the liquid that makes it mud – is both acidic and toxic to humans, humanoids, and most other species, though Black Dragons have been known to bathe in it.

While these will occasionally accost those traveling on the nearby Everflow, for the most part they are too arrogant to bother interacting with lesser creatures unless provoked. Some scholars content that the acidic breath weapon of this variety of dragon-kind is a purification of the liquid within the Mudflats and not a completely natural ability inherent to the species.

Rising above the mudflats are the towering Crystal Spires. Floating, partially submerged in the mud, are Mire-Blooms surrounded by Spectral Shards. Mire-Blooms are dome-shaped fungi up to a foot in diameter. Sometimes, there is only enough room in a mud pool for one of these plants, sometimes there may be several clustered together.

Spectral shards are flat panels of crystal that float on the surface of the mud. Their size is proportionate to the size of the mud pool and the individual Mire-Blooms of that pool, and it was long recognized that this implied some connection between them; the fact that the blooms are always surrounded by a ring of these floating panels deepened the suspicion. Relatively recently, it was deduced that they are a byproduct of the Mire-Blooms. I’ll talk a lot more about all of this when I discuss the Mire-blooms in the section on Plant Life.

The Crystal Spires

Emerging from the mud-pools are quartz-like crystalline spires with a structure that reminds most of overlapping scales. For the most part, these are translucent, almost glass-like, but through their center runs a multi-hued spine that forms when the spire grows thick enough. It was obvious from the moment these were discovered that they are constructed from, and somehow related to, the Spectral Shards, one of which forms an individual “scale”, but the processes involved took a long time to be deduced. See “Sun-eater Moss” in the section on Plant Life for more on the Spires and their characteristics.

The Fields Of Glass Coral

At the base of the Crystal Spires, buried beneath the mud, are another plant species, or maybe they are an animal species – opinions vary – called Glass Coral. When the mud dries out, it recedes to beneath the surface of the Glass Coral, and any thin coating that remains is quickly eroded away, a process that can take only days or weeks (depending on the season and the conditions). This exposes the Glass Coral and destroys the Crystal Spires save for the roots of the spires that lie beneath the tops of the Glass Coral.

Picture a beautiful coral reef, resplendid in multicolored perfection, a myriad of forms and shapes. The montage below should assist:



Image #1, reef-tank-3624193.jpg, by agkaimal;
Image #2, coral-567688.jpg, by Jan Mallander;
Image #3, coral-560552.jpg, by toshiyuki tajima;
Image #4, underwater-3171445.jpg, by LO-DESIGN;
Image #5, iridigorgia-79929.jpg – no photo credit provided;
Image #6, firecracker-flower-1885699.jpg, I suspect, is not an underwater plant at all – but it looks so much like many of the (copyrighted) images OF underwater plants that I saw in assembling this montage that I had to choose it. Image by juemi.
All images from Pixabay, some contrast, color, and saturation tweaks by Mike.

Now, picture it out in the open air where anyone can see it.

Finally, picture it made of died glass. Faceted cglass, at that.

Now you’re imagining what the Fields of Glass Coral look like.



Shadow Of Splinter

As I said earlier, Splinter is not where it is shown on the map. But if you walk South from the town, you find yourself entering the Fields of Glass Coral on its northern side – and if you head North from the town, you find yourself entering the Forests of Asthar. Of course, if you walk West alongside the Everflow, you reach a cliff overlooking the Shadowfen, which lies to the East of the Ironbarb Crags, and if you head East, you reach the Farms of Gardenia – which are on the far side of the Glassdust Desert, some distance West of here.

Nobody understands this, but they shrug their shoulders and accept it. So that they can converse about it rationally, some have labeled the apparent position of Splinter as it’s “Shadow” and posited that walking into the Shadow takes you from where the physical reality is to where the Shadow lies.

Others just treat it as an objective reality that doesn’t have to make sense.



Mekkaresh

Mekkaresh is a city, trading post, and holy site to the Lizardfolk who reside in the Southern Crags. They dislike Humans, tolerate Elves, and hate Dwarves and Orcs. They worship Dragons, and consider Dromedyn to be a delicacy. Most people think that they once resided in the Shadowfen but migrated here long ago. Largely tribal in nature, different tribes congregate here at random times for worship and trade.

Each tribe has its own totem, a particular Dragon to whom they bind themselves spiritually, and a tribe’s social standing reflects that Dragon’s current place within the Hierarchy of Dragon-kind. The current attitude and mind-set of that Dragon, a function of its color (according to Lizardfolk beliefs), informs the attitudes, ambitions, personalities, and internal politics of the tribe – sometimes venal (silver), sometimes arrogant (blue), sometimes greedy (red), sometimes angry, aggressive, and prone to violence (black), sometimes shy and withdrawn (brown), sometimes defensive (brass), sometimes protective of others (bronze), and sometimes noble and with a view to benefit all Tribes (gold).

From natural deposits that they have found – and they do not share where – the Lizardfolk acquire various gemstones and trade them for food, clothing, and other items, both necessary and luxury. The price charged depends on the race with whom they are bartering and the general attitude of the tribe.

No tribe has yet been encountered that looks to a Green Dragon, but it is surmised that these are the most religious, the most spiritual, the most artistic, and the most scholarly – and that they spend all their time seeking a deeper appreciation of the natural wonders around them. But that’s all guesswork.

The Lava Uprisings

In the heart of the Southern Crags lie the Lava Uprisings. This is an area where the crust between crags is especially thin and prone to break open, since the lava beneath is under pressure because of the great heat, it breaks out through these openings and erupts into a geyser of lava – until the next rainfall, which cools it enough that the eruption cools and desists, at least for a time.

The region’s reputation is, actually, somewhat exaggerated. In reality, most of the time, a little lava oozes to the surface and traverses ten or twenty feet before congealing. That’s because pressure makes it ooze to the surface, but expansion once it’s up there induces cooling. But every now and then, when the mood takes whoever’s in charge down there, the uprisings come to life and lava geysers erupt like flowers on a spring hillside – for a little while.

Zasleen

Zasleen is a ‘city’ of tents and grass huts thought to be somewhere in the Greater Wastes, occupied by Orcs. It’s the closest thing they have to a Capital, in the eyes of the Civilized races of Topologia.

The reality is a bit more complicated – “Zasleen” is an Orcish ‘state of mind’ more than anything else, meaning ‘minded to gather or moot’. “Traveling to Zasleen” and “Coming from Zasleen” thus acquire slightly different meanings to their superficial interpretations, and – technically – Zasleen can be anywhere an Orc Tribe wants it to be.

But it’s hard to reach Zasleen as a solo act – it generally takes two like-minded groups to tango.

There is also another interpretation of Zasleen – to an Orc, it can mean “of a mind to raid” since stealing something owned by another is considered the same thing as trading for it – it’s just a better bargain that way (from the Orcish perspective). Because the Elves of Asthar are fairly strongly emplaced and protected, it takes more than one tribe to successfully raid into the forests – so Zasleen is also a prelude to doing so. This explains the relationship between the two meanings and shows how the one mind-set can be common to both.

Possession is 11/10ths of the Law to an Orc.

There is a surprising amount of food available to anyone with the constitution and sensibilities (or lack thereof) of an Orc, so they raid Asthar for what they consider luxuries like deer and timber, and across the Everflow for decorative items. Sometimes a tribe will make the difficult journey through the Lesser Wastes and Central Crags along the Optica River, passing through a narrow gap separating the Directionless Void and Mount Optica to raid the Dwarves for Gold and Silver with which to make their decorative Jewelry.

Mount Redtop

The largest mountain in the Crags, it is now thought to be a long-dormant volcano because that best explains the Greater and Lesser wastes. Some think that this is where the Gemstones traded by the Lizardfolk actually come from, but this is nothing more than speculation.

What is not speculation is that the mountain gets its name from reddish mineral deposits at it’s crown. The mountain – and the entire Crags in general – are far too hot for snow to ever fall here, even at great altitude, so this crown of fiery red is visible all year round (unless hidden by storm-clouds).

Mount Optica and the Rainbow Falls



South of The Lava Uprisings lies Mount Optica. This is the volcano that most looks like a stereotypical volcano, at least from ground level. Mostly, it erupted from it’s eastern side, but the last time it became active – and it was quite a while back – it blew a massive crack in the crater rim to the northwest instead. The volcano then became quiescent, and the crater slowly filled with rain to become Lake Optica – not that it’s ever really referred to by that or any other name. That’s because the rainwater trickles out that crack, dispersing into a fine mist as it plunges through a series of cascading waterfalls almost 600m (2000 feet). Along the way, it generates a series of rainbows, one for each descent of the cascade.

When it’s been dry for a while, these can be a little hard to see, but after a few days of rain, different drainage channels in what remains of the volcanic rim on that side are reached by the rising waters and the trickle becomes a roar. Every day of rain generates 2-4 days of spectacular waterfall rainbows before the again slowing to a trickle.

Since some seasons generate more rainy weather events than others, this is at its best (in terms of viewing) exactly when the surrounding areas are at their most inhospitable.

Rainbow Lake and the Optica River

When the waterfall cascades to the ground, it reaches a hollow that has been eroded by the water, forming another lake. This lake is either water-filled or mostly dry (depending on recent weather) but either way, it splashes, and creates one more incredible rainbow, so close to the ground that it feels like you can reach out and touch it.

You can’t, though many have been sufficiently captivated to try without thinking.

Rainbow lake then drains to the Everflow along the Optica River – which, most times, is little more than a small creek. It’s actually pretty unremarkable – and that in itself is unusual in this area.

Environmental Conditions in the Ironbarb

Some of these are broad and general, while others are localized to a specific location because of the nature of the location. Some of the latter have already been described, without much to add, but I’m going to list them all even if there’s no additional text to add to them.

But we start with something broader about which there’s a lot to discuss, the climate.

Climate

The Ironbarb Crags experience four distinct seasons – two wet ones and two dryer ones. Dominant weather patterns change from one to another, largely because of the impact of winds.

Four Seasons

The four seasons aren’t named because while each is distinguished by trends, there’s enough variability in the environment that any given day can be completely outside the trends. While 45°C (113°F) days are unusual in the fourth month, and rain of some sort can be expected almost two days in three (or so it seems), random chance and the geothermal heating of the air can elevate the temperature over 50°C (122°F), and if there is an unseasonal Eastwind, the desert air can add another 8°C (14°F) to that – or take 8° (14°) off it (which is not an improvement, for reasons that will become obvious!)



These charts show the ‘typical weather’ that trends in each of the seasons and months of the year. I’ll discuss everything in more detail as we proceed, but I’ll be referring back to this constantly.

Wet Seasons

My original draft had the dry, hot seasons in the middle of the year, bracketed by the two wet seasons, but many of the patterns that I identified were not clear in that formulation; in particular, much of what happens in what was shown as the first wet season (and is now shown as the second) was predicated on what happened in the second (which is now shown as the first).

There may be some temptation to try to map these seasons against the traditional four of Summer, Autumn, Winter, and Spring. Resist this temptation, it will lead you astray. For one thing, such a methodology would have ‘winter’ starting halfway through Month 2 and persisting through to half-way through Month 5. ‘Spring’ would be 1 1/2 months of the second wet season and 1 1/2 months of the first dry season, and so on.

It just doesn’t work well and can be highly confusing.

So the year kicks off with the first Wet Season. (Another point: this ‘year’ bears no resemblance to that used by the Civilized Races.) In this season, Northwinds and Eastwinds dominate, with the first of these increasing in potency and the second declining. The most interesting aspect of this month is the incidence of Southwinds, i.e. Winds to the South. These start low and dip to virtually zero by the end of month 2 only to rise sharply in month 3, setting up an increasing dominance in the second rainy season.

Each of these winds carries different climatic phenomena. “Which way is the wind blowing?” can be a life-or-death issue in the Crags!

Three months after the first rainy season began, the climate transitions to the second. Northwind rains initially dominate, but fall off in intensity and frequency through the season, while Southwinds rise in intensity (but not in frequency), peaking throughout month 5, before beginning to taper off.

The wet seasons have the coldest maximum temperatures, but take a close look at the Minimum temperatures – these start out off the chart! The nights at the start of the first wet season are hot, hot, hot! These fall progressively throughout both seasons, even while the maximums are beginning to rise, presaging the beginning of the dry seasons. The end of the wet season marks the point at which the typical minimum temperature begins to rise once again. Finally, note that there’s a discontinuity in the minimum temperatures experienced at the end of the dry seasons and the start of the wet seasons – the first of those hot-hot-hot nights is taken as a signal by the inhabitants that the season has turned, or is about to turn. It’s one of the clearest signals in the climate!

Dry Seasons

The term ‘dry season’ is a little misleading, though in relative terms, it’s accurate.

Throughout the first of these seasons, there is a rising frequency of Eastwinds, though these tend to be relatively mild until month 9, when they also begin increasing in intensity. Incidents of Northwinds start as infrequent and become even more-so by the season’s end, reaching virtually zero. Southwinds continue to taper off in the first half of the season and plateau at a frequency barely higher than zero – a frequency they sustain through both dry seasons once it is achieved. Rising to dominance over the climate throughout the season are the Westwinds; these start fairly low in frequency and intensity and grow more extreme throughout the first dry season.

The second ‘dry’ season is markedly different. The frequency of Westwinds declines through to the middle of the season, though the intensity continues to increase, reaching a peak near the end of Month 11. It then begins rapidly reducing in intensity even while the frequency is again increasing. The second dry season is dominated by the Eastwinds, which reach a peak in both frequency and intensity at the end of Month 10. Southwinds persist throughout at their low-but-not-unheard-of plateau, and there is a slow rise in the presence of Northwinds throughout.

The end of the first dry season and start of the second sees a peak in the ‘usual’ maximum temperatures, while minimums rise to equal but not exceed their highest levels outside of the beginning-of-year discontinuity. Throughout the second season, these are again slowly declining.

It should probably be mentioned before I dig into the significance of these winds that the areas in the direction nominated by the name of the wind are the areas most strongly affected by them in north-south terms, while the opposite is true of East/West winds. So if there is a Southwind, it will be experienced most strongly in the southern half of the map and less severely in the North, and so on. That matters a great deal and is partially responsible for the differences observed in the different regions of the Crags.

Northwinds

When the wind blows to the north, it flows over the forests (but not the town of Splinter, it should be noted) and eventually reaches the mountains, which thrust it upwards. While quite warm from the heat of the crags at first, it rapidly cools, becoming clouds, which bank up over the mountains and slowly spread south, The rain that they carry tends to be light and intermittent. In central areas, it can be somewhat acidic, but nothing like what occurs at other times. Of greater significance is the cloud cover, which reduces temperatures by day by 4-6°C (7-11°F). If the cloud cover cools the day, it will also cool the night; but if the cloud reaches an area at or after sunset, it will have no effect on the daytime temperatures, and will trap what heat is there at night, turning the decrease into an increase.

A hot night in Northwind conditions also gives temperatures the next day a ‘kick-start’ and are enough to cause a measurable increase in geothermal activity, especially in the north. A cool day or night, in contrast, is enough to diminish geothermal activity, making the Crags about as safe as they get.

There is a slim chance that Northwind rain at its most extreme – the end of the first wet season and beginning of the second – will be heavy enough to cause flash-flooding in the northern parts of the Crags, revitalizing and growing the mud flats (normal rainfall levels are only enough to sustain them).

Southwinds

The southern edge of the Crags abuts directly the mountains, and that’s enough for a Southwind to melt / evaporate snow in the wet months on those peaks. This can cause serious flash-flooding in the southern third of the map, declining as one continues north – but even ‘moderate’ flash flooding is something to be concerned about in the Crags!

But the now-moist air gets pushed high up into the atmosphere where it forms storm-clouds, producing thunder and lightning – and sometimes (not always) intense rain for short periods. These storms tend to be fast-moving at first, slowing as they reach the central areas, only to speed up again as they traverse the north and the Forests.



I’ve put this diagram together fairly quickly to explain what’s happening. See below for the key that goes with it.

1. Medium winds to the south carry slightly-moist air over geothermally-heated ground.

2. Blocked my mountains, and already rising, they get pushed up.

3. Passing snow, they capture more water content.

4. Strong winds in the other direction – because the winds of (1) have to come from somewhere.

5. Storm-clouds result.

6. Cooling and heavy with water, these descend into a region where the winds to the north are not as strong.

7. Rainfall, the clouds zipping by in the medium winds, and continuing to cool.

8. A region of very light winds.

9. The more the clouds cool, and the more they cool the ground below, the lower into the light-winds region the clouds sink. Rain is at it’s heaviest.

10. As moisture leaves the cloud, it lifts, speeding up as it gets driven by the stronger winds.

11. By the time the rainfall gets past the forest, there’s not a lot left, and the clouds are likely already dissipating. But there might be a light snowfall, effectively migrating some snow cover from the mountains to the south to those in the north.

12. The ground is still hot. A lot of the rain will evaporate before striking it, siphoning off additional heat, becoming water vapor, and getting driven by (1) back to repeat the cycle.

Storms, by their nature, tend to be more intense but short-lived phenomena. They also tend to occur in middle or late afternoon. As a result, storms generally invoke the ‘late arrival trapping heat’ pattern – but they also do cool the ground significantly, and a good thing, too – humidity is often much higher afterwards, and the combination of high heat and humidity is a proven killer.

Westwinds

Westwinds carry lots of moisture from the Shadowfen from the East to the West. The major unusual characteristic of these winds is the dip in months 10 and 11, and that’s because they have often dumped most of their rainfall on the Shadowfen before they even get to the Crags in those months. Well, some of the time at least. The eastern half of the map tends to receive the bulk of what rainfall remains, but there is so much that the entire crags can be blanketed.

The quantities of rain frequently cause flash flooding. This is especially true in the first Dry season. It should be noted that while these are far more intense rain events than those from the other direction, and often persist for several days, they are less frequent at the best of times than the other rain events. But they can blanket the eastern half of the map in cloud cover, with consequences as already described, even if they no longer have any rain to give.

Eastwinds

Most terrifying of all are the Eastwinds. These are already hot and dry from passing over the Desert to the west. When they are light, they only add a few degrees to the temperature, and they tend to push the moisture of the Shadowfen further away, delaying the next Westwind event.

When they are moderate, they can carry sand-storms to the western third of the region, and add up to 8°C to the temperature, as stated earlier.

But, when they are strong, the sand-storms become Flensing – see The Wastes | Forgotten Realms Helps, the section on Sand and Wind is a little more than 1/3 of the way down the page.

“Flensing” is used to mean a scouring, flesh-stripping effect from the wind-driven sand – in effect, sand-blasting flesh away. This also cuts off much of the natural sunlight, causing temperatures to drop – but that’s of little comfort to anyone caught out in the open.

These sandstorms rarely penetrate further than 1/3 of the map to the east, but the further beyond this point they go, the worse they become – there are parts of the Crags that are hot enough to melt the sand in the air when they are ‘excited’ by the arid winds. Essentially, a horizontal rain of molten glass.

Two areas in particular should be noted – the Dome Of Frozen Fire and the Lava Uprisings. In any sandstorm, the last place you want to be is East of either of these!

Maximum Temperatures

The lowest ‘expected’ maximum temperature occurs at the start of the second wet season, and is typically about 30°C (86°F). The highest is typically at the end of the first dry season and start of the second, and is typically around 45°C (113°F). Cloud/sand cover and rain can affect these, as described earlier. There is also natural variation in the geothermal heating of the ground and hence the air, which can add or subtract another 5°C (10°F) on top of the effects already described.

There is a lot less variation in the maximum temperatures than in most places because much of it derives from Geothermal sources.

Minimum Temperatures

There is rather more variability in the night-time temperatures. Any sort of significant wind can have a significant cooling effect, while cloud cover can trap the heat of the day while increasing the humidity. Nevertheless, the proximity to the surface of geothermal sources of heat means that the climate is poised on a knife-edge and normal temperature variations from climatic events can be amplified as a result.

The lowest minimum comes at the end of the second wet season and can be as low as 20°C – which can be quite chilly when effects such as wind cooling, rain, and altitude are factored in. An early-evening thunderstorm from the South can carry rain at something close to the frigid temperatures of snow, and even though some of this will evaporate before reaching the ground, it can cause up to a 12°C drop in night-time temperatures (22°F).

The highest minimums outside of the start-of-year discontinuity are around 25°C, but cloud cover can add or subtract 8°C to this, and random variation another &plusminus;10°C. So 43°C (109°F) is not out of the question – and geothermal sources that have been excited by a hot day can compound with these effects in some areas as well.

Noxious Fumes

Some days, the wind doesn’t blow much at all, and these can be some of the most uncomfortable, because the air in the Crags is naturally noxious. It’s relatively rare for this to reach dangerous levels, but ‘uncomfortable’ is frequent.

Some areas, especially the Lava Uprisings, release additional fumes from time to time, low clouds of invisible and unbreathable air. If one of these is encountered, the only hope is to hold one’s breath and climb as high as you can as fast as you can, hoping to rise above the level of these gasses.

Acidic Rain

Any rain that has been carried over a significant portion of the Crags has some degree of acidity. The best in this respect are the Southern winds, because they discharge their water content quickly. The worst are the Northern winds unless in the extreme east or west of the map; in the East, it’s the Westwind that’s most prone to this, and in the West, it’s the Eastwind – though the latter generally brings sandstorms, not rain.

Flensing Dust-storms

Already described.

Flash Flooding (acidic waters)

Mentioned but not described – some of the minerals in the ground (a lot of it doesn’t qualify as ‘soil’) and create acidic waters. That’s bad enough when you’re talking a watercourse like the River Vertigo, but when you’re talking a flash flood, it’s a hundred times worse.

Lava Uprisings

Mentioned, not described in detail, but what’s been stated should be enough – geysers of lava! Erupting without warning!! How much more do you really need to know? No matter how short-lived the eruption – and they are typically measured in seconds, a handful of minutes at the most – it’s bad news for it to be right next to you, and worse for it to be upwind.

Hot Mud

At several places in the Crags, the source of geothermal heat is closer to the surface than might be expected, but it’s also a little cooler – enough that surface climatic conditions can tip balances one way or another.

When there is no rain on a hot day, these mud pools can reach temperatures between 70°-90°C (158°-194°F). Exposure to mud at such temperatures causes immediate 3rd degree burns, destroying the skin and some of the layers of tissue beneath, withering the affected body parts. This, of course, is extremely painful, and can cause people to collapse into the mud, increasing the exposure. Skin around the destroyed areas will form large blisters and this skin will also be lost over the course of the next few hours. At the same time, steam from the mud will attack the respiratory system including the mouth, throat, and lungs. These usually swell, and this can be enough to cut off all airflow into the body. Finally, there is a very high risk of infection from the burns.

Over the next few days, secondary effects will occur. System shock will reduce the blood flow to vital organs. Dehydration can occur from fluid loss from the burned regions of the body, which weep continuously. Affected limbs become permanently useless and may need amputation to protect the life of the burn victim.

Even without considering infection, such burns will generally be fatal if over 25% of the body is affected – that’s both legs up to the knees or one leg to the knees and an arm to the elbow. With infection taken into account, this threshold falls to as little as 9-10% – one hand and wrist are enough.

Amputation of damaged limbs and magical healing lift the threshold considerably – up to perhaps 96%. Without amputation, 70-80% would still be possible, though there would be considerable permanent scarring and the limbs would still be somewhere between weak and completely unusable. Fortunately, a Reset will eventually put things right!

Rainy days not only block the heat from the sun, they bring cooling rain. That this is a necessity for replenishing the liquid in the mud pools doesn’t diminish the impact on the temperatures. On such days, the temperature of the mud can fall to as little as 40°C (104°F), though this lower limit would only be reached on extreme days with Southwind thunderstorms. On the very coolest days, the mud is almost cool enough for bathing – though this is not something to be risked casually!

And yet, the mud pools are central to one of the most complex ecosystems imaginable, a three-way – some would say four-way – symbiosis. I’ll get into that in the “Plant Life” section, below. But one of the byproducts of this are the Crystal Towers described earlier.

Reflections Of Deception

You’re in a maze of mirrors, in which every surface is curved in extreme and unnatural ways. If the sun is not directly overhead, it reflects off these surfaces so that there might appear to be five – or twenty-five – suns, all in different directions. It’s impossible to discern east from west, north from south. The lack of straight lines confuses the eye, and forces continual twisting and turning this way and that – so no sense of direction can be trusted, either.

Adding to all of this can be extreme heat haze and a sort of ‘hot fog’ that results from rain evaporating at high temperatures, up to 120°C in the worst places, where the steam becomes superheated.

For the more technologically-literate, iron deposits within the columns make compasses useless – they simply point toward the nearest large pile of rock.

Worst of all, when a flensing sandstorm reaches this far into the interior, it gets compressed into the narrow passages, often only half a meter wide (1.5 feet), doubling or tripling the already-deadly event.

Things get even worse at night, when what meager light is naturally available gets refracted and reflected into nothingness, dissipated and dispersed. Even torchlight and magical light sources only illuminate a few feet around you, 5′ maximum.

Thankfully, there’s only one place in the Crags where these conditions obtain, though it’s a significantly large one – the Directionless Void.

Heat-haze & Mirages

Even outside the Void, there are parts of the Crags where heat haze and mirages are a significant problem, because they aren’t just the result of natural environmental heat but also heat from geothermal sources. This means that they can be a lot stronger, and a lot closer to the viewer, than most people would ever expect. On the hottest days, effective visibility can be reduced to as little as 50m (165′). That’s a problem when there are hostile life-forms around – who may not be subject to the same limitations you are.

Dragons and Lizardfolk, in particular, seem more tolerant of this effect than Humans, Dwarves, and Dromedyn. Elves seem to be even more susceptible, their normally-keen sight betraying them.

Orcs and other species with enhanced olfactory capabilities also suffer less from this problem, being able to supplement their sight with a second sense. However, any sort of tremorsense is largely worthless for it’s usual purposes in this environment, there is too much geothermal activity producing false impressions. Such senses are far from worthless, however; they can provide a vital few extra minutes or seconds of warning before a geologic event.

This isn’t the only danger posed in the Crags from this source, however. Thermal stratification of the air can arise when there are light breezes and broken cloud conditions, and these can cause horizontal mirages, either above the perceiver or below their eye-line. This is a fairly rare phenomenon but it can be deadly when you’re trying to skirt mud-pools and can no longer see the ground beneath your feet, just a blurring, shimmering, dancing shadow.

Seismic events and Volcanic Eruptions

These are rare; many of the surface phenomena of the Crags dissipate tensions that might otherwise build to pose a more extreme danger. Nevertheless, they have happened in the past, and so can happen again – without a whole lot of warning.

The hotter the day, the more likely these events become, but the pressures that cause them are also more likely to be vented away on such days. A hot day after a sustained period of relatively cold weather is when these pose the greatest risk of occurring. Early-to-mid-morning are the times of greatest hazard on any given day.

….and that takes me to about half-way through this subject. That’s right, I think there will be as much again still to come on the Ironbarb Crags – I really was on creative fire while working on it! But most of the above was already written by the time I decided to delay it and threw together last week’s ‘best of 2016, part 1’ – so I’ll get next week’s part 2 of this post done in the time I would normally spend writing a new CM post, and then have two weeks up my sleeve to focus on Trade In Fantasy Chapter 5 Part 5 – I’ve already done 552 words of that, outlining the content to follow as it’s intended to be, and it’s already clear that it’s going to be another big one – and that’s even if I don’t strike problems the way I did with the fortifications section!

But I’ve also got parts 2 and 3 of “the best of 2016” up my sleeve as fill-ins if I need even more time, so I’ll take as long as I have to in order to get it right.

Last-minute Update:
Splitting this post in two meant that I needed a new feature image to go with the second part. I knew exactly what I wanted to depict, and exactly how to do it, so I allowed a day for this. So far, it involves more than 1000 layers of composite, has taken a day-and-a-half more than scheduled, and still isn’t finished. At the current rate of progress, one more day’s effort, and a bit, should see it done. So, in the end, I’m not sure that I’ve actually gained any time by doing so. But the end result will be worth the effort, yielding a much better article.

Listing the best posts offered at Campaign Mastery in the first third of 2016.

It was my intention to offer up the next post in Topologia but it’s not quite going to be ready in time. I’ve already written about 2/3 as much as was in the most recent post in that series and I’m only about half-way through. To say that my creativity has been in overdrive on the Ironbarb Flats would be a massive understatement! But that’s for next week, all going well. In the meantime, here’s a hit parade from 2016!

The Very Best Of 2016 Pt 1: Jan-Apr

There’s some good stuff here, if I do say so myself. But, as usual, some of it hasn’t all aged as well as the rest, and there were some quite dated reviews that contributed nothing, and even one or two posts that I consider comparative duds. What there isn’t is a lot of middle ground – things are either really good or not.

Some of these received accolades at the time, while others have flown underneath the radar – I’ll signal those as I go.

As usual, production of this post has rubbed some broken s in my face, the consequence of the update to https a while back. While s on their own and images on their own survived the process, what wasn’t initially obvious was that images with s failed in conversion and were stripped away, leaving only the naked captions. I’ve been fixing these as I found them, so the site has been steadily improving – a side benefit, but extra work.

The 10/10 list

• Creating A Building: A Metaphor and Illustration – a 6-step process for conceptualizing buildings for an RPG, simple enough that it can be done on the fly if you have to.
• Pieces of Creation: Énorme Force – a villain from the Zenith-3 superhero campaign. Should be readily adaptable to everything from D&D to Cyberpunk to Horror. Some obvious questions have been deliberately left unanswered so that each GM can integrate the concepts into their campaigns.
• The Rolling Retcon: how much campaign history is fixed? – When a retcon is appropriate, how to do it, and how it integrates with the broader concepts of continuity in RPGs, with a fourth option to consider somewhere in between episodic and strict continuity and the campaign arcs that are my primary approach.
• Ask The GMs: Building on opportunity – Resource management in RPGs. One of the PCs has come into possession of a small base and wants to expand it. What are the best ways of integrating this into a campaign and using it as an opportunity / springboard?
• Pieces of Creation: Mictlan-tecuhtli – Another villain from the Zenith-3 campaign, with a supporting cult. Easily adaptable to Sci-Fi or Cyberpunk, doing so for D&D / Pathfinder would be more difficult but potentially more rewarding. With their own cult for added menace.
• Ask The GMs: Iceberg Plotlines: Massive Plot Arcs in RPGs – Slow-building storylines that develop over time and how to make them successful in an RPG is something that I’ve discussed in many posts at Campaign Mastery, but this explores some variations and pitfalls not covered elsewhere. With a comprehensive example from the Zenith-3 campaign.
• TCCT and N: Excessive Wealth in D&D – PCs having too much money is a perennial problem in RPGs. TCCT&N is my checklist of solutions. This article explores the consequences and ramifications of each.
• A Hole In Your Past: Character Connections With Yesterday – Having a minor figure from a PCs past encountered in-game by chance can be a trigger for all sorts of things beyond simply exploring the background of the character. This post offers a technique and a 9 different ways to use the encounter as more than a casual contact – some of them significantly transformative. Also useful for inserting a characterization twist into a significant NPC.
• Support Your Local Hero – Breaks “Heroism” into five tiers and examines each for the impact on plots and tone. Includes the concept of characters who do the ‘right thing’ for personal gain – read this if your PCs are murder hobos.
• Character Capabilities: An often-forgotten source of plots – How to generate adventures and encounters from what PCs can do. A simple 6-step process, most of the article is taken up by creating an example.
• Character Incapability: The distant side of the coin – The other side of the coin, basing an adventure or encounter on a having to do something he doesn’t know how to do has some pitfalls to trap the unwary. This article navigates through the problems and offers solutions to them. Along the way, there’s good material on the distribution of the spotlight and scene length. Readers might want to actually start by scrolling to the end of the article and reading the Wrap-up first to get an idea of what the article doesn’t include and why – it frames the rest of it rather well.
• Boogie to the tune of the hidden Mastermind in your ranks – I’ve never been a huge fan of the title I came up with for this article, but the advice it contains on how to create a Mastermind’s Grand Plan is rock-solid.
• Pickin’ and Choosin’: Cherry-picking RPG Elements – Cherry-picking game mechanics from other sources for house rules is a time-honored tradition, but how many have applied the technique to adventure structures? It’s a surprisingly powerful and useful approach. With a substantial example from the Adventurer’s Club campaign.
• Choosing A Name: A “Good Names” Extra (Revised & Extended) – describes the process that my co-GM and I have developed for the naming of NPCs in the Adventurer’s Club campaign, and how we use the name to tell the players something about the character, often without them even noticing.
• The Perils Of Players Knowing Too Much – When a PC is an expert in a field that the player knows well, several traps and pitfalls come out of the woodwork that few GMs expect. This not only explores these and solutions to them, it looks at the benefits that can result and how the GM can harness them.
• Small Motives and Personal Activities – Methods for bringing minor NPCs to life (with minimal effort) and how to keep their personalities consistent over multiple appearances.
• The Beginnings Of Plot – When translating a plot idea or seed into a playable adventure, a critical decision is how the adventure will start. This article offers 7 alternatives and considers the strengths and weaknesses of each.
• Who Owns Your Campaign? – The more input into the evolution of a game setting PCs have, the greater the investment in the campaign the players will have. The more input into the evolution of PCs a GM has, the greater the investment they will have in the success and prosperity of those PCs. Looking closely at the consequences results in some advice that runs strongly counter to “normal practices” in most campaigns.
• An Amazing Ancestry – I analyze 3 repeating / persistent patterns in ancestry discovered through “Who Do You Think You Are” and applies these to the concept of a character’s ancestry.

The 9/10 List

• Pieces Of Creation: Maxima and Minima – Villains from the Zenith-3 campaign, designed as an expression of the concept of a “Force Multiplier”. Only a 9 out 10 because they are not as readily adaptable to other genres, but the principles on which they are built definitely do travel well.
• Bidding For Characters (and related metagame alternatives) – I look at the process and alternatives for constructing a coherent adventuring party, adding the titular method as a new option for GMs to consider. I’ve never seen this actually tried, and that lack of real-world proof-of-concept is the handicap that relegates this article.
• Definitions and the Quest For Meaning in Structure – I often use multiple different terms for the same concept in different articles, for a number of different reasons. This confused one reader enough that she compiled a glossary. This article expands and annotates that glossary to get everyone on the same page. Understanding these concepts is critical to going from an experienced (or inexperienced) GM to being an expert. A little self-referential to be a 10/10 article.
• Use The Force, Fluke: Who’s On First This Time? – Takes an accidental house rule from Star Wars: Edge Of The Empire and discovers that it offers a way to make an adventuring party a small tactical unit instead of a collection of disparate individuals in almost any RPG. Largely overlooked by readers at the time, this is one that deserves more attention. The fact that it derives from a more obscure game system is what holds this article back a bit.
• Finding Your Way: Unlocking the secrets of Google Image Search – Google have changed their interface and some of the options, and don’t have a way to filter out AI results, but most of this article is still relevant, all these years after it was written. But the changes are enough to cost it a mark out of 10.
• The Incremental Art Of Escalation – A plotting technique / tool for planning escalation in an adventure or encounter. But these days I think it’s a little too much effort for casual use. Great if you’ve got some planning time to spare or struggle with this aspect of your planning.
• The Gilligan Tools for better characterization – Uses a fan theory about Gilligan’s Island to explore the creation of Flawed Heroes – a tool equally useful for players and GMs, PCs and NPCs. Not as fully fleshed out in process as most of my articles, but still useful.

The next post in this series will cover the middle of 2016.

A rant about Auto-updating software leads into a discussion about how updates to source material and game systems impacts RPGs at various levels.

I hate Auto-update

I hate auto-update.

There, I’ve said it. The reasons are many, and I’ll look into them individually below, but for me, it’s a colossal pain in the backside with few redeeming benefits that aren’t worth the costs.

The other day, I went to update my budget, as I do at least once a fortnight. My position is not the most financially secure you could find, and I have to keep tight control over my expenditure. I use a spreadsheet for the purpose, one that I have built up over many years with layers of complexity and a focus that rarely leaves me financially flat-footed.

And as soon as I opened the office suite that contains the spreadsheet software, it began to download and install the latest update, leaving me to twiddle my thumbs for several long minutes while it did it’s thing. That, compounded with another headache that I’ll get into a little further down the track, inspired this post.

So let’s get into the reasons for this hatred – I promise you, they are gaming-relevant, or will be by the time I’m finished!

Delay

The first reason should be obvious from what I’ve already written. I may not be a professional game designer, but I’m a publisher and work hard at meeting deadlines. If you look back over the history of Campaign Mastery, the number of times I’ve missed a deadline are few and far between, with the exception of when I had to move, a couple of years back.

Auto-updates are an unexpected interruption that impairs my ability to publish on time, on my capacity for professionalism in what I do. And that’s assuming the update doesn’t then get in the way.

Learning Curve

Updates generally do three things: they patch security holes (that’s good), they extend functionality (that can be good), and they change the way the functions you are already familiar with work (usually to integrate and accommodate the functionality enhancements) – and that can be very bad, because (without warning) that adds a learning curve to the current workflow, further impacting my efficiency and again threatening my ability to make deadlines.

Here, it’s not the update itself that’s at fault, it’s installing it when your time is already fully committed – the “auto” part of “auto-update”.

Inefficiency

Until you get through that learning curve, and adjust to the new workflows involved, you are (by definition) more inefficient. And that’s a problem when there is a deadline that’s already tight.

But, worse still, while the new functionality may be more flexible and able to do things that the old couldn’t, it can be inherently less efficient. That’s okay if you actually find the enhanced functionality to be useful – but nine times out of ten, it’s a side-show to the core functionality that’s already present. And sometimes, it’s an active hindrance.

I’ve been building a website as an in-game resource for the PCs for an Adventurer’s Club adventure. So far it consists of 84 pages of hand-coded HTML (about 9 more to go) and 461 separate images, many of which had to be generated in multiple sizes.

Here’s a small section of the front page:



And here’s what just one of those pages looks like:



You might just be able to notice that I have used a slightly different font for the body text, for the image captions (okay, that might be hard to see), the Headings, and the subheadings. I was coding this to look right in Chrome, because that was the browser that I normally use and that the intended recipient also has access to. A little over half-way through, a Chrome update took away rendering websites in anything but one of the two default fonts that you specify – a serif or a sans-serif. Oh, you can still control the weight, size, and color of the text – but the font? Noooo way!

I can understand why they did so. There have been some truly horrendous web pages constructed by people who don’t know what they are doing with fonts over the years – but at least as many have committed crimes using color (yellow on white… navy blue on black…. orange on green….) as with font crimes. Now, those of us who knew what we were doing found our designs compromised by the need to hand-hold amateurs.

It completely changed the word flow, wrecked the alignment, wrecked the column spacing… it made the site look amateur, and not a particularly skilled amateur at that.

After playing around a bit, I discovered that Edge had also made this change, but that IE, the legacy browser included in Windows, had not – but it had other subtle differences, in particular Unicode display was hit-and-miss. A lot of characters had to be re-coded, every page revised.

About 3/4 of the way through the project, Microsoft finally did away with IE. Users were not given a choice – the browser software was still on their computer, but attempting to open it, or a page using it, loaded edge instead.

Now, I don’t like Edge. I found it to be a LOT slower than either Chrome or IE, more cumbersome, and harder to work with. And, what’s more, all the work that I had just redone was seemingly thrown out the window.

Then I discovered compatibility mode in Edge, which turned on the legacy ability to display different fonts as specified by the website. So that’s what the site is now coded to use. But automatic updates at least doubled the length and difficulty of this project, because the software developers presume to know what’s best for me..

Unintended Consequences

An assumption that we, as users, are forced to make is that the changes have been adequately tested and that the automatic update won’t break something we rely on that’s more important than just font rendering.

Probably nineteen times out of twenty, this is a not unreasonable assumption. But the twentieth time can trigger a full-blown emergency.

Another Chrome update resulted in a lot of text being displayed in a corrupt manner in Tweets. I wasn’t the only one affected, but no-one could figure out what was happening, mostly because Chrome updates itself without telling you its’ doing so. Eventually, it was discovered that hardware acceleration was the culprit, and disabling that meant that you could actually read what people were saying. And the next update fixed the problem – again, without telling you.

In the cowboy days of the late 90s and early 2000s, it often felt like end users were being used as guinea pigs by software developers. So this event brought back a lot of bad memories.

But even when an update does exactly what it promises, there can be unintended consequences. We all develop our own styles of working based on our needs, our skills, and our circumstances. No-one else has exactly the same operational needs and means of satisfying them that I do – that’s a conceit, but closer to the truth than people realize. That used to manifest in a users having a million different hardware and software configurations; it used to be said that no two systems were alike unless designed deliberately to be so.

Forcing a measure of conformity onto people would have made support a lot easier to perform – but at the price of flexibility and efficiency and customization. But those days are not quite so removed from the modern reality as many people seem to think – there are still thousands of different software packages out there, a hundred different ways of approaching the same task, and each of them – of necessity, because they keep changing the operating system – only partially integrated into the whole. And sometimes, that breaks things.

At one point, my Laptop – the same one I’m using now – died. Instead of booting up, I got a Windows error message. Some piece of critical software had been broken by an update – I never found out which one. The solution: a complete reinstall of Windows. Except that this froze solid and wouldn’t complete. The reason: it ran using Windows Update and this laptop didn’t have the RAM needed to permit the function to execute. Instead, it got locked into an endless cycle of trying, failing, and trying again.

Fortunately, for Christmas, one of my friends had given me a RAM upgrade that took this machine as far (in that respect) as it could go, and that was enough to break the logjam (once it was installed).

Auto-update means that your system’s reliability is compromised without warning – and, sometimes, with no way back.

Confusion

Does anyone remember when Word introduced the Ribbon? I certainly do. I was working for CLAN, a charitable organization, at the time, and the first thing anyone knew about it was when the person in charge (not sure of their formal job title and that doesn’t particularly matter anyway) went to write a letter – and discovered that the entire user-interface was changed, she didn’t know where any of the functions were any more and several of them no longer worked the same way, anyway. All productivity in the office stopped for the day as we rallied around to try and work out how to complete what should have been a five minute task – writing and emailing a letter.

I said at the start that I hate auto-update; well, I also hate and mistrust cloud computing, because it leaves the end user hostage to the latest brain-wave of the developers. But it’s all part and parcel of the same thing, manifesting in two different ways – all auto-update does is bring all the inherent disadvantages of cloud computing right to the user’s doorstep.

Even if everything works as it’s supposed to, if you no longer know how it’s supposed to work, so far as you’re concerned, it doesn’t work any more. Productivity and confidence and acquired skill all vanish into a cloud of confusion, and you have to start learning how to use a piece of possibly-critical infrastructure all over again.

It’s bad enough when this is because of your own mistake, but at least you should be aware of the risks and able to take measures to mitigate them. It’s something that you can be forced to tolerate when it’s the result of changes to legal requirements and legislation – we all have to live in the real world, and interface with the systems put in place by outsiders within that real world. But when its being forced on you, not because of some legal requirement but because some software engineer decides something should be done differently to maximize their employers profits, tolerance wears thin.

Lack Of Control

I’ve touched on this already, but it’s worth spelling out explicitly – in the modern era, users are not in control of their own systems and infrastructure. It used to be that if what you had was good enough for you to be productive, you could choose whether or not to replace a piece of functional software.

At the very least, you could defer installation until you had time to properly assess what the update offered and what benefits it could bring, and get a little ahead of that learning curve.

Not any more. Your systems’ functionality is now under someone else’s control – in fact, several ‘someones’, most of whom aren’t even talking to each other.

When I was a systems analyst, there was a term for it – Production Environment. Changes that impacted the Production Environment were very carefully managed, with lots of options to back out of a change at the first indication of unexpected problems. This was necessary so that software could be designed to meet the operational needs of the business in a stable operating environment, where problems could generally be assumed to be a flaw in your code, something that could be controlled and tested for and corrected, if necessary.

If the Production Environment was unstable, you could never be sure if your software bugs were your code’s fault (and correctable) or if the environment itself was misinterpreting what it was being told to do – not without five to ten times as much testing and expense. It was the difference between bespoke software development being economically viable and not.

Home users are no longer in control of their Production Environment and are not even consulted on changes to it, and sometimes, not even notified that its changing.

System Interaction

One more example and I’ll end this rant and move on to why this is relevant to RPGs, which is what most readers will care about.

The art software that I use is Krita, in its 3.3.3 mode. When I had to update Windows (as described earlier), I had to reinstall all my software, and in many cases, that meant downloading fresh copies. And that meant getting Krita 5.2.6, the latest version.

I’ve explained before that one of the reasons I liked Krita 3.3 is that I find its functionality to be intuitive to my way of working. I knew immediately what 95% of its functionality did, and its limitations, and what I could do with it, and so was instantly productive with it; I’ve used any number of other art programs and found them to be not so instinctive.

Somewhere along the developmental path between 3.3 and 5.2.6, Krita lost that intuitive connection with my workflow. Not only did unexpected things happen when I tried to do something I was familiar with, but I couldn’t figure out how to get it to do the things that I needed it to do. So I backtracked. I tried the highest iteration of Krita 4 (I don’t remember what the version sub-number was) – same problem. It just didn’t make sense to me, and I soon used up what limited time I had to expend on the learning curve.

So I retreated again, back to Krita 3.3.3 – I had been using 3.3.1. And hey presto, the magic was back! The changes between 3.3.1 and 3.3.3 were small enough that I could absorb them and keep right on working.

And all was fine – until the most recent Windows Update. And now, suddenly, the workspace won’t pan left. If I’m drawing a box or a selection window, or a straight line, if I’m going from left to right, or up to down, or down to up, and I move beyond the bounds of the currently displayed area, the image being worked on pans in the required direction, permitting control and accuracy. But if I’m going from right to left – nothing. The part of the image displayed stays frozen in place, making it impossible to be accurate or controlled in that direction.

Who do I blame for this? It’s hardly Krita’s fault – the operating system is what’s changed. But how can Microsoft have anticipated this particular consequence? It doesn’t seem entirely fair to blame them, either. I can only try to work around it (being aware of the problem) and hope that the next update from Microsoft fixes the problem – which it will only do if others are encountering problems stemming from the same change, which may or may not be happening.

I could try rolling back the change – but I’m not sure that would fix anything. It’s not like I was given any choice in the update other than when it would be applied, so at best it might just be buying me time.

I could try updating to the Krita 4 branch again. It might not be affected. I could try reinstalling Krita 3.3.3 – there’s a reason why I keep all these downloads archived! That’s probably the least damaging alternative. But the bottom line is that, one way or another, I’m going to have to spend a lot of time on this, with no certainty of a successful or even positive outcome. And that’s just to get back to the position I was in before this problem manifested! In other words, it’s not time spent getting better at what I do, or being productive – it’s time that I’m being compelled to waste because of someone else’s (botched?) decision.

Why do they do it?

I guess it’s only fair to give the other side of the argument. Why are updates forced upon us?

Reason number one is security, and when it comes to Windows, that’s always been a big thing. I wouldn’t dream of going online without Antivirus and a Firewall and having other anti-nasty software up my sleeve. But those are not enough – all sorts of vulnerabilities are discovered all the time and it’s only a matter of (a very short) time before someone tries to exploit those vulnerabilities in the wild.

I’m fairly competent when it comes to my computer, and in particular, getting it to enable me to do what I want it to do. I used to be even more of a hotshot in this department back in the Windows 98 days, when I knew how to tweak all sorts of settings that vastly extended and improved its functionality and efficiency for dong what I wanted to do. I’ve even been able to recognize, block, and eliminate malware that got past the defenses that I had in place at the time before it was able to do any damage.

But that’s a last line of defense – it’s far better to fix those windows of vulnerability (pun intended) before they manifest. So I tolerate browser updates, no matter how infuriating they might be, and keep my other defenses up to date, too.

The second reason is that occasionally, there is a functionality enhancement that is worth the effort of learning to use it. On “paper,” Krita 5.2.6 sounded really promising, able to perform all sorts of tricks that I couldn’t even dream of performing with 3.3.1. If it had been as good an intuitive fit, I would not have hesitated to make the upgrade. Software creators need to enhance their products to stay competitive – if they don’t, they will be lost in the myriad of other out-of-date software that’s fallen by the wayside.

What’s more, a more cohesive user-base makes it easier to develop new functionality, because everyone is starting from a common foundation. This also enhances the speed and reliability of the software.

The third reason is that enforced conformity at least makes support a little bit easier. And that’s a big thing. In 2023, it was estimated that software support cost between USD $500 – $600 Billion dollars. It’s routinely estimated to be 15-20% of the total costs of ongoing software development, and is a constant spur to that development. The percentage only goes up if quality assurance is considered part of that budget – to 35-40%!

Auto-updates might only reduce the costs of support 1% (it’s probably more) – but that’s 50-60 BILLION dollars a year (spread amongst many companies, of course).

And the fourth reason is security, again. The more consistent the platform, the fewer ‘gaps’ there can be for malware to crawl in. The current existential environment for computers is more hostile than it has ever been. Campaign Mastery has, for example, withstood, to date, more than 124.9 Thousand attempts to breach its security, over 1068 of them in the last month alone. The time was when these were rare events, now there are more than 35 a day. Worldwide, yesterday, there were more than 356,000,000 attacks on just the websites using the same protection that I am – and the trend is upward.

And, finally, there can be regulatory requirements that have to be met. These tend to only matter in certain industries and not be a factor for home use – until home users start getting into investment and cryptocurrency and the like. Well, a lot of home users are doing so – whether or not that’s wise is a whole different subject.

So there are good reasons for software vendors to LIKE auto-update, and even – in some cases – for it to be essential to the home user. I’m not a fool, and when this is the case – browser updates for example, and anti-virus / anti-malware – you do have to bow before (and acknowledge) the necessity.

Here’s another way to look at things: Windows used to differentiate between critical updates and non-critical updates. Auto-update revokes the necessity for doing so – by making all updates “critical”. That there are advantages to all sides for doing so is just a happy accident.

The RPG Equivalents

An RPG can be subdivided, through successive layers, into Rules, Campaigns, Adventures, Encounters, Tools, and Style. I’m leaving Story off this list because it doesn’t generally change as a result of outside forces – it can and does change with moments of GM inspiration, change of setting (a sub-part of Campaigns), and in response to player choices and actions, but those are all expected and appropriate. Of course, they can go wrong, but that’s beyond the remit of this article.

1 Rules, Part 1

Arguably, the aspect of an RPG that is most analogous to everything that I’ve described are changes to the rules, so I’ll be spending quite a bit of time focusing on that. So much so that I’m dividing the subject into two, mostly to group the examples into recognizable categories and patterns.

Rules changes can shake the very foundations of an RPG campaign. They not only can alter the way established actions are interpreted within the game framework, but add or subtract from what actions are possible / permissible, and often wrap new frameworks and contexts around those actions. The very concept of what a Wizard is, or a Rogue, can change completely from one rules edition to another.

These relatively broad strokes are comparatively easy to excise and replace with established canon when applying a new game system to an established campaign, so they are not a huge issue, at the end of the day. But many of the changes are more subtle, and these can escape attention until it’s too late.

Like the software auto-update, these changes can fundamentally alter the methods to be used to achieve something or to simulate something within the rules structure. The results can be confusion and delay, unintended consequences can be crippling (especially if the systems are inadequately playtested), and a GM can find that he has just ceded large parts of the control of his campaign to the system authors. Sometimes this is beneficial, but most of the time, the changes just get in the way.

It’s arguable that the story in an RPG derives from the tug of war between the plot direction created by the GM through NPCs and the intentions, purposes and choices of the players through their characters, all shaped through the game system and the parameters that it establishes. If a key PC ability gets changed fundamentally midway through the campaign, that’s a big impact. If a GM loses the ability to steer the campaign because of changes to concept or canon, it leaves the PCs free to wish-fulfill, and that can doom a campaign just as surely.

But the most dangerous changes are even more subtle than that – social concepts and underpinnings that the GM never perceived the need to articulate can be completely upended. That’s a lot of what lies behind the game community reaction to the softening of Orcs in the most recent iteration, for example. Now, I don’t intend to buy into that argument one way or another in this article; instead I want to focus on the fact of the change, rather than the substance of that specific change. And, while there might be objections or dissonance when applying the new rules to a new campaign, these changes can be catastrophic when applied to an existing campaign.

I think that each iteration of a game system carries with it a certain stylistic expectation that is forced on those who employ that iteration for their games. If the changes from one iteration to the next support the content that the GM intends and desires for the campaign, the game system can be said to support the campaign, and all is well; if there is a dissonance or conflict, the game system is fighting the campaign, and the results will be less than satisfactory all round.

For any given campaign, then, the totality of what is specified by the game mechanics and what is left open for the GM to interpret / create means that some game systems suit that specific campaign better than others, and that a change of game system inevitably creates a ripple of change in the unspoken undercurrents and assumptions upon which the campaign is based.

It’s for this reason that I rarely run RAW in my campaigns; there are always tweaks that are designed to make the game system conform to and support the context, backstory and concept of the campaign. This is exactly the same as adapting the way you perform a task after a new software version is released, with the big difference being that the software change is forced on you by auto-update; a rules change can be refused (especially since they don’t come ‘free’ but have to be purchased, perhaps at great expense).

I have two suites of RPG game systems where multiple iterations impacted ongoing campaigns, hence the division of this part of the subject into two parts. I’ve talked about both of them before – I’ll try not to repeat myself too much – but I’m not sure that I’ve ever looked at their histories in this exact context, so there will necessarily be some repetition of things I’ve written in the past.

1.1 Fumanor – AD&D to 2nd Ed

Fumanor: The Last Deity was written over a ten year period of playing non-Fantasy games, accumulating and polishing ideas. At the time, other GMs were soaking up all the interest in Fantasy with long-running campaigns, and no-one was interested in another one that had to run at the same time as the one they were already in.

Imagine you’ve learned to use a computer on someone else’s Windows 98 machine, and you finally save up enough to buy your own – only to find, when you bring it home, that it has been ‘upgraded’ to Windows Me. Superficially, the operating system looks much like what you know, enough that you think nothing more of it and dive straight in to doing things. Every now and then, it does something a little flaky, but you put that down to your unfamiliarity with the OS and just clean up the mess. Now imagine that you’re only using the computer once or twice a month.

For anyone familiar with the history of the Windows operating system, the above says entirely too much, it’s like being trapped in a Stephen King novel until some metaphysical reader finishes reading the story – and he only reads a page or two at a time.

That’s very much akin to the situation with the Last Deity campaign, where – when I finally found some players who were interested in what ten years of effort might look like – those players wanted me to run it using D&D 2nd Ed.

Now, I’m not trying to equate 2nd Ed with Windows Me – I can’t and won’t definitively label 2e as a Lemon, which Windows Me definitely was. But, as I described recently in my article here on Michael Schumacher’s achievements, there were some behind-the-hood differences that just didn’t mesh with my expectations and planning. It took a fair while to figure this out, and by the time I did, the campaign was in drastic trouble – the PCs hit level 5 when I expected them to reach level 3, they hit level 9 when I had designed for level 5, and were at level 12 or 13 when I expected level 7 or 8. On those trends, by the time the campaign came to a close, the PCs would be level 40-50 instead of the anticipated level 20.

1.2 Fumanor: D&D 2nd Ed to 3.0

As recounted in the article linked to above, the immediate “solution” was a Frankenstein’s monster – core Rolemaster with the D&D 2e Magic system bolted on. It didn’t work, and it was almost immediately apparent that it wasn’t working. I think we played something like 3 or 4 game sessions – once a month – and half of that time was spent debating what to do next.

My preference at the time was to go back to the original intent of an AD&D campaign, but again I bowed to the wishes of my players and migrated lock, stock, and barrel, to D&D 3.0, supported by the players collectively giving me copies of the core rulebooks for Christmas that year. This was moving from Windows Me to Windows XP – more things had changed, and many more things were slightly different under the hood, but it was far more stable and cohesive.

And it – and I – ‘clicked’ immediately. I didn’t take the unexpected levels off my players, in fact (as I recall) I let the entire Rolemaster Fiasco count as a character level – but I was able to match challenges to PC capabilities while slowing their progress enough that it more-or-less matched my original intent. Those extra levels gave them an edge that meant they were usually successful in the end, but getting to that end was hard enough that everyone had fun despite one or two false starts (see The Woes Of Piety & Magic from the “My greatest mistakes” series).

1.3 Fumanor: D&D 3.0 to 3.5

In contrast, the upgrade to D&D 3.5 went through without a hitch, without even causing much of a ripple. Of far greater concern at the time was that there were mutual incompatibilities between the Epic Levels sourcebook and Deities & Demigods – both relevant because of the additional levels the PCs had earned. They still had about eleven levels of advancement planned in terms of overall plot within the campaign when it switched to 3.0, and were at about level 13-14 at the time – so I was looking at an end-point of Level 25 or thereabouts.

In actual fact, they were closer to level 30 by the end of the second phase of the Last Deity campaign – but the system, and I, were able to cope with that.

“Auto-update” doesn’t have to end in disaster, in fact it can be a positive experience. But it’s a risk – as Forest Gump phrased it, “Life” (or in this case, D&D system updates) “is like a box of chocolates, you never know just what you’re going to get”.

1.4 Refusing the 4th Ed Update

Fumanor: The Last Deity II was followed by a brief mini-campaign using the same characters as a prelude to two new sequel campaigns which are usually considered either “The Last Deity: Aftermath” or an add-on to “The Last Deity II” (and not a wholly separate campaign). The purpose of this interim was (1) to look at what became of the PCs after the Last Deity campaign, (2) to show that the game world’s problems hadn’t been magically cured by the results of the campaign, and (3) to establish the preamble for the true sequel campaign, “Fumanor: Seeds Of Empire”.

By this time, 4th Ed was out, and the Edition Wars were in full bloom. The Wikipedia Article on D&D editions soft-pedals the fury with which 4th Edition was met by many fans – and things that have been learned since, like actively ignoring feedback during development and playtesting underscore the reasons for much of that fury. If any edition of the game system deserves comparison with the Windows Me fiasco, it’s probably 4e. Personally, my ire was centered on the changes to the OGL, which (in my view) was one of the great advances that had made 3e such a success.

The absence of certain character classes from the Core Rules, classes which were going to be at the heart of the planned sequel campaign, made the decision not to upgrade to 4th Ed a no-brainer. “Fumanor Seeds Of Empire” would stay D&D 3.5.

One of my key players then threw a curve-ball into plans, accepting a job in Canberra, the national capital, 275 km (171 miles) away. While he would be able to return to Sydney every 2-3 months for the day, the 4-hour trip was not something he could do more often. He didn’t want to leave the campaign completely, though, and asked me to try to find a way to “make it work”.

What I came up with was an entirely separate spin-off sequel campaign using ideas that I had been building up for a possible sequel to “Seeds Of Empire”. This became “Fumanor: One Faith”, and it was to take place concurrently with “Seeds Of Empire” in game time – whenever this player happened to be available, we’d play “One Faith”, and whenever he wasn’t, “Seeds Of Empire” would take the spotlight. Other players would be the same (with different characters) in both, though all would have the choice of opting out of one of the campaigns if they wanted, and new players could choose to join either or both.

After only one or two sessions of both campaigns, circumstances had changed, and the player in question was fully available, so it turned out not to have been necessary – but the set-up had been revealed and the characters were hip-deep in dramatic developments, Lolth having conquered the Elves at the cost of losing the worship of the Drow, who felt abandoned and betrayed, and had reconverted to worship of Corallon. Such social upheaval doesn’t come easily, and pockets of resistance to the “new ways” of doing things were stirring up all kinds of trouble. There were also time bubbles and cybernetic Druids (with mechanized Giant Dobermen) and all sorts of other strangeness – the PCs never knew quite what to expect, only that it would all make sense in the end.

The impetus went out of both campaigns when I took a year off to write the Orcs & Elves series, which filled in key parts of the background – once one group of PCs reached a position of learning these hidden secrets. This primarily impacted the Seeds Of Empire campaign (and took a lot longer than I initially expected), but at the same time, the One Faith campaign was knocked for a loop by the death of one of the players – both campaigns entered a hiatus from which they have never resumed. They are still officially ‘ongoing’ but it’s been 12 years since either were actually played.

1.5 The ‘D&D Next’ experience

Learning from the lessons of the 4th Ed debacle, WOTC started off doing things right when it came to D&D Next. All my players and myself were part of the playtesting, myself as GM, and I created the Tree Of Life campaign as a test-bed, using the game system the way I would if it were ‘complete’ – as an ongoing campaign whose background facilitated the anticipated changes in ‘reality’ caused by ongoing revisions to the rules system.

We were all diligent in submitting our feedback, but over time, noticed a trend – every iteration was taking the game system closer to the 4th ed model and further away from suitability for an ongoing campaign. Problems to which we had offered solutions were not resolved, in fact were ignored completely. Our feedback appeared to be falling on deaf ears, and we quietly despaired and dropped out. Again, the death of Stephen Tunnicliff had a major impact, ending our participation in the playtesting, but it was already on shaky ground with us by that point. If the campaign had been explicitly designed to suit what became 5th ed, it might have worked, but as things stood, we were never tempted to start a genuine 5e campaign, and there was absolutely no question that Seeds Of Empire or One Faith were ever going to migrate to the new game system iteration..

1.6 Pathfinder, 1st Ed

By that time, of course, Pathfinder had emerged and established itself as the true spiritual successor to what is often generically referred to as “3.x”. Migrating to Pathfinder was an option seriously considered, but we had just made substantial commitments in purchasing 3.5, money was tight, and Pathfinder was a bridge too far at the time. On top of that, there was a general sense of ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ amongst all participants in the ongoing campaigns. I had other D&D campaigns at the time, and if I had copies of the rules (since acquired), I would have switched one of them over to the new system as a test before committing to what I regarded as the centerpieces of my D&D ‘universe’. But they didn’t survive the death of Stephen either, so there was never an opportunity.

1.7 Pathfinder, 2nd Ed

I also picked up copies of Pathfinder 2nd Ed through a deal done with the Game Store where we were regularly meeting to play. At one point, I tried to interest my players in a new campaign to try them out, but there was no serious interest on anyone’s part. So this was another ‘auto-update’ that didn’t happen.

But, when reading through the rules, with a view to possibly upgrading the theoretically still-ongoing Fumanor campaigns to the new system, I was overcome with a strong sense that something was subtly different in terms of the flavor that the game system carried. I couldn’t put my finger on it – still can’t, to be honest – but it felt “too different”. So, were the Fumanor campaigns to restart tomorrow, they would continue to be 3.x campaigns.

But, were I to undertake a new D&D campaign, both Pathfinder editions would be given serious consideration. And it’s that ‘underlying flavor’ that would determine which game system would ultimately be chosen.

Because in gaming, ‘auto-update’ is a voluntary thing. And that’s to its benefit, in my opinion.

2 Rules, Part 2

The other tranch of game systems that I want to look at in this context is what is now known as the Hero System. But this is already a long article, so I’ll try to be brief!

I’ve run multiple campaigns oriented around the Hero System, starting with a campaign rooted in the original “Champions” (with a superhero team that decided, with a total lack of originality, to name themselves “The Champions”).

Again, I’ve talked about these campaigns before, so I’ll try not to simply repeat myself, but some echoes of the past will be inevitable.

2.1 Champions

As a long-time reader and fan of superhero comic books, when i was given a photocopy of the Champions rules, I devoured them in one night and immediately created a campaign to try them out. This was a solo campaign in which I was both player and GM, and immediately I found that the game system wasn’t quite what I wanted. It was fine for low-level characters, but I wanted the Cosmic Scope of the Fantastic Four and Doctor Strange, the Epic Capabilities of Thor and Superman, and a game system that let characters of all points in between to come together to solve problems too big for any one of them, a-la the Avengers.

2.2 My Homebrew System ver 1

My first character was a superman-analogue, Ullar, going up against an immortal Wizard / Necromancer inspired by, and named for, Marvel’s Mandarin (not the fake-out that appeared in the Iron Man 2 movie).

The day after I started, I was invited to actually run a one-off campaign for a mixture of experienced players and novices at a private home. Since I could envisage the rules changes that I wanted to make quite clearly, I agreed . The next 6 days were spent writing and testing rules and developing background – without sleep, a measure of my excitement.

The changes that were made were fairly minor in and of themselves – more options for disadvantages and advantages and limitations, mostly, and a relative power structure that permitted multiple power-level characters to co-exist without treading on each other’s toes too much. Cumulatively, though, these had exactly the impact that I wanted.

At the end of the week, I travelled to the home of Robbie and Trish and they and their neighbor generated characters and played through an epic one-off game which brought their super-group together and pitted them against the same villain, who had again found a way to resurrect himself, a back-door escape from his defeat in the solo campaign (which formed the background of the new adventure).After GMing for 20 hours straight on the back of a week without sleep, I was dead on my feet but “The Ultras” had become an occasional ongoing campaign) – and I was invited to move in, permanently, but that’s a whole other soap opera

2.3 The Champions Campaign

A week after that, an entirely separate group of players enthusiastically signed up for what became “The Champions” campaign, which used both the Ullar and Ultras campaigns as background. It was late August, 1981 – and that campaign and its descendants continue to this day, 44 years later. In fact, the Saturday just passed would have been the ‘official’ 44th anniversary.

2.4 My Homebrew System ver 2

Twelve pages of hand-written notes are all well and good, but one of the players persuaded his sister to type them up, and this became the game system for the next year or so.

2.5 Champions II

In that time, Champions II came out, but these weren’t revisions, they were additional supplements. In some cases, they added options that I had already integrated into the system, on others they added options that I hadn’t considered, but a single page of ‘conversion notes’ were enough to integrate them into my homebrewed variation. These were painless auto-upgrades, in other words.

We were playing two 6-8 hour game sessions a fortnight – I was alternating with my original AD&D campaign at the time – and the occasional extra session at someone’s home. At the end of the first year of this, the PCs finally defeated my “Mandarin” for the third time, by discovering a world in which his rule was the lesser of two evils (the fascists had won WW2) and, essentially, handing it over to him.

At about the same time, I moved away from Sydney but every couple of months I saved up enough money to visit and for a week or so, we would play multiple game sessions a day for a week – overall, the net average stayed about 1 session a week even though I was living 540 km (336 miles) – a nine hour train trip – away. It was a bit like living in Albuquerque and traveling to Denver to play, or commuting from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

After a year or so, I returned to Sydney, and started three spin-off campaigns.

2.6 The Project Vanguard Campaign

The project Vanguard Campaign were superheros in training – the next generation, inspired by The New Mutants. It used the same homebrew rules.

2.7 The Project Vigilant Campaign

The Project Vigilant campaign was to focus on protecting the PCs, who were of primary school age, inspired by Power Pack. In theory, these characters weren’t supposed to have adventures. Hah! Tell that to the PCs…

This campaign also used the same homebrew rules.

2.8 The Team Neon Phi Campaign

This was a James Bond / super-agent campaign, and it actually prompted a small expansion of the homebrew rules. It would run for about 5 years.

So now I had four campaigns, two game sessions a week, plus my AD&D campaign (2 sessions a month), and one weekend off – a monthly cycle. When the AD&D campaign wound down, for a short time, we went to a fortnightly schedule, but people started to burn out and wanted to go back to having time to do other things. So the monthly schedule became fixed. I spread the four campaigns (with double-sessions of the core Champions campaign) over the 6 game sessions for the first three weekends of the month (with one spare, occasionally used when one of the non-core adventures needed some extra playing time) and all was well.

2.9 GURPS

I think it was around 1987 that I was first exposed to GURPS supers, and stole a few ideas that were also integrated into the homebrew.

2.10 Champions 4th Ed

In 1989, Champions 4th Edition was released. This was a comprehensive and cohesive update, and it triggered a full rewrite and expansion of the homebrew, one which referred extensively to the official rules but which fully integrated the changes that I had made, and added in still more. There were lots of extra skills, for example, and several new powers.

2.11 My Homebrew System ver 3

Five volumes of the revised Homebrew system were produced, running to an average page count of about 75 pages each. They were 80% complete at this point, but that didn’t stop their wholesale adoption through all of my Champions campaigns. I even wrote a new printer driver to enable more complex production of the rules. Ultimately, it was the printing that spelled the end of work on this iteration of the rules – printer-ribbon hardcopy was just too pale and hard to read, and the formatting into double-column justified text was a pain at the time. It was in a playable but incomplete state, and that was where it stayed.

This iteration of the rules – and only a single hardcopy was ever produced – remained in effect right up to the end of the spin-off campaigns and two years of “miniseries” – one for each PC (and fictionalized ones for some of the key NPCs). This also coincided with the Graduation Exercises for the members of Project Vanguard, forcing players to choose one of their characters to retire.

The 10th anniversary of the original campaign kicked off the early stages of something that had been brewing in the background for quite some time – Ragnarok. Unfortunately, I mishandled the early stages, and player frustration and discontent over the pacing that resulted eventually caused the campaign to shut down, at least temporarily. I set about writing up the events as a fictionalized work that encompassed the entire history of the campaign with a view to restarting it five years “post-Ragnarok”, but at the same time, got distracted by my new TORG campaign, and early attempts at getting Fumanor up and running.

2.12 The Zenith 3 Campaign

Eventually, the history was complete and new players came onboard, attracted by the richness of the History and the sprawling expansiveness of the setting. This became the Zenith-3 campaign.

2.13 My Homebrew System ver 4

Initially, it was run using the same homebrew rules, but these were now about 10 years old – I had a new computer and a new laser printer and the limitations that had impacted and curtailed the previous version were no longer in effect.

One of my players, realizing that there was only one hardcopy of the rules, then made the fatal mistake of offering to write up a new version of the core mechanics, were were still contained in about 12 typed pages from the early 1980s. He thought it would only take a week or two.

Hah! First, he had queries – some of the house rules weren’t even written down, or interpretations of them. Then he had suggestions, some of which were accepted, some debated, and some rejected after discussion about why. In the meantime, I had been collecting notes about changes to the rules, some of which he liked and some of which he found faults in.

This became version 4 of the homebrew rules – a version that never saw play. It was based on the concept of the rules being homebrewed revisions of the official 4th edition game system, and referenced it as much as possible. But copies of it were old and hard to come by, so the decision was made to commit to creating a standalone set of rules. A complete game system, in other words.

Version 5.

2.14 My Homebrew System ver 5

I have a binder with over 500 pages of 5-point type. At the time, it was legible. These days, it’s legible with a magnifying glass!

That’s because it’s been printed half-sized, with 2 pages on each physical sheet of paper. The totality – still unfinished – is over 1000 pages long.

As soon as enough of it was finished, the campaign switched to it.

This was deliberately designed to be a system upgrade, and it necessitated complete revision of the characters.

2.15 The Warcry Campaign

Also using this new set of rules was a new spin-off campaign, which resulted when that players’ PC became too powerful to be compatible with the adventures being produced for the main campaign. This was also conceived as a test-bed – proposed rules changes could be implemented and playtested before being incorporated into the “official” rules.

2.16 Champions 5th Ed

While we were working on Version 5, Hero Games released Champions 5th Ed. Initially, financial constraints meant that it wasn’t even considered for integration with Version 5, though some ideas were lifted out and some reference pointers in our notes pointed to it.

2.17 The Adventurer’s Club Campaign

Then along came the Adventurer’s Club campaign. This was originally set up using the official Champions 5e, but slowly diverged from it a little as house rules were added and accumulated.

2.18 Refusing the Champions 6th Ed Update

When the news broke of Champions 6th Edition, we were all excited. This was billed as a top-to-bottom rewrite, with the avowed goals of doing a lot of what was being done in the Version 5 homebrew, so work on Version 5 was shelved until its actual release.

I and the other GMs here with which I have discussed the issue agree that this was the most disappointing game release, like, ever. It kept bits of the system that we had discarded. It didn’t look all that different from the 5th edition, in fact – just split into two volumes – with some added inserts.

The price alone made us hesitant to upgrade any of the campaigns to use this new rules iteration. The issues with the supposed “rewrite” confirmed that hesitation. While a few of us have copies for reference, none of us would migrate an existing campaign to the new version – too much risk for too little gain at too high a price.

So those are my primary experiences with rules system updates, and quite a mixed bunch, they are, too. There’s everything from positive improvements to virtually no change worth noting to catastrophic failures and outright rejections. Each one is akin to an adventure in and of itself. Sometimes, you eat the monster, and sometimes, the monster eats you. And, occasionally, neither of you are hungry enough to bother.

But, seriously, as with computer technology, decisions regarding upgrades to game systems are all about risks, risk management, and rewards. If the potential reward is high enough, it’s worth taking a chance – but leave yourself a back door and a commit/reject deadline. If the are some potential rewards and the risk seems minimal, go for it. But under any other circumstance, back away, very slowly – because not all the risks are quantifiable. Some of them lurk unnoticed in the high grass.

Campaigns

This advice is doubly appropriate when it comes to auto-updating Campaigns. This is all about game settings, really – have you ever run a game setting designed for one iteration of the rules while using a different set of rules? It’s not as hard as it sounds.

When a new campaign sourcebook is released, you have to decide whether or not it’s compatible with the campaign that you are actually running. If not, then shelve it – use it as the starting point of another campaign, but don’t try and shoehorn it into your existing game world.

That requires careful reading with an eye toward the implications and consequences of bringing the content into your campaign. No-one can explicitly guarantee compatibility with any certainty.

The same goes, in fact, for any non-core game supplement. Parts of it may be compatible, and even useful or inspiring. Parts of it may not be.

It’s also always worth remembering that this form of upgrade is not an all-or-nothing; you can integrate parts of a resource while refusing or rewriting other parts.

Adventures

Few adventures stand in isolation. As soon as any customization of the game world or game system takes place, compatibility with adventures that you haven’t written yourself is placed at risk.

That doesn’t mean that you have to write every adventure yourself – you can take a published adventure module and adapt it as necessary. I used Danger At Dunwater, which I set at Loch Ness, for part of the discovery of the Atlanteans in my Champions campaign. I also used The Ghost Tower Of Inverness as part of that campaign’s pre-Ragnarok Buildup (I forget where I placed it).

It’s your job as GM to make whatever material you introduce to your campaign compatible with whatever’s already there. Sometimes, that’s easy – and sometimes, it’s not. In the Warcry campaign, I’ve gotten great mileage from some adventures written for the Star Frontiers and Space Master game systems. It all needed adaption, but the conceptual foundations of the adventure fitted the campaign at the time.

Encounters

The smaller you get, the smaller the risks. Creatures and encounters can evolve considerably from one iteration of a game system to another, or from one sourcebook to another – but if one particular version of a “Troll” happened to fit what I wanted in terms of the action, I’ll incorporate it, regardless of the game with which the source material is supposed to be compatible.

In particular, roleplay-oriented encounters dance on the edge of a blade, I’ve found – they are either more readily compatible or require a lot more adaption than straight combat encounters. That’s because a lot of sociology and in-game circumstances can be taken as read within the encounter as written, and that can be directly contradictory to their equivalents in the established campaign.

Straight Combat encounters will always need adaption because the game mechanics are going to be different, but this is usually similar in degree of effort required. Non-combat encounters are either easier or significantly more work – there isn’t a lot of in-between.

Core Tools

Heading toward the conclusion of this article brings me closer to where it began, looking at the impact of the core tools that a GM uses to prepare for a game session. These are either pen and paper (unlikely to be affected) or software, and that’s where things can get sticky.

A long time ago, I was using a particular office suite as a word processor. I wrote an adventure, saved it, and thought all was well. Auto-update was still in relative infancy, but this particular software occasionally invoked it for what the makers deemed critical updates – usually fixing things that made the software crash, so – in principle – a good thing. Again, there was a distinction made between critical updates and functionality upgrades, a distinction that is less prevalent today.

Came game day, and when I opened the file with the adventure to print it out – usually left until the last minute so that tweaks and refinements were possible right up to the 11th hour – all I got, instead of my text, was a complaint about a corrupted file. Fortunately, I remembered most of it – as adventures go, this one was pretty straightforward – and play was able to get underway.

Afterwards, I discovered that an error was inadvertently propagated through the update that meant that all text saved in that particular file format could not longer be read by the the software, and that an urgent patch was being pushed to fix the problem.

There’s all sorts of software that we rely on for all sorts of things, these days. I have one piece of software that I use for writing plain-text files – like this article. I have another that I use for formatted text and PDF production and spell-checking these articles. I have another piece of software that I use for editing images, and one that I use for displaying them in-game. I have two internet browsers (in case one lets me down or gives unexpected results), and one of those has at least 10 additional add-ons for various functions. I no longer have a separate email client, my ISP providing a cloud-based alternative. I have font display and character display software, I have two calculator apps (one of which does nothing but convert units), and – of course – there are the usual system tools, including the windows browser.

That’s a lot of things that can go wrong in unexpected ways. And, sometimes, they do. Because I save in common file formats for the most part, there’s usually a way around most of them (but occasionally, the file itself becomes corrupted by a software gremlin, and there’s not much can be done about that). But I also maintain a regular backup regime – I might lose a week or two of work, but not much more than that, and that’s a worst case scenario.

So I’m insulated against these problems as best I can be. On rare occasions it isn’t enough – especially if the whole operating system goes down a rabbit hole – but for the most part, I have defenses that protect me. And those practices and defenses are present because I’ve been bitten so many times in the past that I’ve learned to consider these necessary best practice, in fact, the only practice that makes any sense.

But it’s still inconvenient at best, and catastrophic at worst.

Style

My final category is Style. Everyone has their own, and in part, it depends on the tools that they employ to enhance their storytelling and interactions with players, with rules, and so on. Change the software and you can inadvertently impact your style.

The problem is that style can be an extremely delicate thing, far more sensitive than most people think. It can also be a far more robust attribute than most people realize. That’s a contradiction of course, but it’s also a reflection of reality.

A GM’s style impacts how he or she wants to use the tools that they have, and the way that they plan to use those tools in furtherance of the gaming experience. A GM’s style is impacted by changes to those tools, what they can and can’t do, and how efficiently they do it.

When I display a large piece of text, the editing software that I am using scrolls not in lines but in whole paragraphs. If a paragraph is too long, the end of it never becomes visible – you need to widen the screen and shorten the paragraph in order the see it all. That causes me problems from time to time with these articles, especially when there’s an image with a long caption, because the HTML code also counts as part of the paragraph.

But I know it’s an issue, and my style has adapted to accommodate it – shorter, punchier paragraphs being 90% of that adaption.

The tools you use impact your style – subtly, in the event of a small change, or massively, in the circumstance of a change of greater substance. And those changes can be thrust upon you without warning through auto-update.

Which brings me back to where I started in this article: I hate Auto-update.

But I have to live with it, and so do you.

With the economic foundations sorted, this part gets back to the distribution of fortifications, defensive networks, and Inns.

Table Of Contents

In part 1:

Chapter 5: Land Transport

5.1 Distance, Time, & Detriments

5.1.1 Time Vs Distance
5.1.2 Defining a terrain / region / locality

     5.1.2.1 Road Quality: An introductory mention

5.2 Terrain

5.2.0 Terrain Factor
5.2.1 % Distance
5.2.2 Good Roads
5.2.3 Bad Roads
5.2.4 Even Ground
5.2.5 Broken Ground
5.2.5 Marshlands
5.2.7 Swamplands
5.2.8 Woodlands
5.2.9 Forests
5.2.10 Rolling Hills
5.2.11 Mountain Slopes
5.2.12 Mountain Passes
5.2.13 Deserts
5.2.14 Exotic Terrain
5.2.15 Road Quality
     5.2.15.1 The four-tier system
     5.2.15.2 The five-tier system
     5.2.15.3 The eight-tier system
     5.2.15.4 The ten-tier system

5.2.16 Rivers & Other Waterways
     5.2.16.1 Fords
     5.2.16.2 Bridges
     5.2.16.3 Tolls
     5.2.16.4 Ferries
     5.2.16.5 Portage & Other Solutions

In Part 2:

5.3 Weather

5.3.1 Seasonal Trend
5.3.2 Broad Variations
5.3.3 Narrow Variations
     5.3.3.1 Every 2nd month?
     5.3.3.2 Transition Months
     5.3.3.3 Adding a little randomness: 1/2 length variations
     5.3.3.4 Adding a little randomness: 1 1./2-, 2-, and 2 1/2-length variations

5.3.4 Maintaining The Average
     5.3.4.1 Correction Timing
          5.3.4.1.1 Off-cycle corrections
          5.3.4.1.2 Oppositional Corrections
          5.3.4.1.3 Adjacent corrections
          5.3.4.1.4 Hangover corrections

     5.3.4.2 Correction Duration
          5.3.4.2.1 Distributed corrections: 12 months
               5.3.4.2.1.1 Even Distribution
               5.3.4.2.1.2 Random Distribution
               5.3.4.2.1.3 Weighted Random Distribution

          5.3.4.2.2 Distributed corrections: 6 months
          5.3.4.2.3 Distributed corrections: 3 months
          5.3.4.2.4 Slow Corrections (2 months)
          5.3.4.2.5 Normal corrections: 1 month
          5.3.4.2.6 Fast corrections: 1/2 month (2 weeks)
          5.3.4.2.7 Catastrophic corrections 1/4 month (1 week)

     5.4.4.3 Maintaining Synchronization
     5.4.4.4 Multiple Correction Layers

5.4 Losses & Hazards
5.5 Expenses – as Terrain Factors
5.6 Expenses – as aspects of Politics

Last time, in Part 3:

5.7 Inns, Castles, & Strongholds

5.7.1 Strongholds
     5.7.1.1 Overall Military Strength
          5.7.1.1.1 Naval Strength
          5.7.1.1.2 Exotic Strength
          5.7.1.1.3 Adjusted Military Strength

     5.7.1.2 Mobility
          5.7.1.2.1 Roads
          5.7.1.2.2 Cross-country

     5.7.1.3 Kingdom Size and Capital Location
     5.7.1.4 Borders
     5.7.1.5 Terrain
     5.7.1.6 Internal Threat
     5.7.1.7 Priority
     5.7.1.8 Threat Level
     5.7.1.9 Zones
          5.7.1.9.1 Abstract Zones
          5.7.1.9.2 Applied Considerations
               5.7.1.9.2.1 Sidebar: Why do it this way?

          5.7.1.9.3 Preliminary Zones, Zomania

     5.7.1.10 Kingdom Wealth
          5.7.1.10.1 Legacy Defenses
          5.7.1.10.2 Military Training
          5.7.1.10.3 Disaster Relief
          5.7.1.10.4 Religion
          5.7.1.10.5 Magic
          5.7.1.10.6 Tools
          5.7.1.10.7 Entertainment
          5.7.1.10.8 Resource Development
          5.7.1.10.9 A Hypothetical Disaster
          5.7.1.10.10 Housing & Funding Boosts
          5.7.1.10.11 Food
          5.7.1.10.12 Diplomacy
          5.7.1.10.13 Trade
          5.7.1.10.14 Education
          5.7.1.10.15 Transport (Road Maintenance)
          5.7.1.10.16 The Impact On Population

     5.7.1.11 Military Need: Theoretical Scenario 2

Today:

     5.7.1.12 Stronghold Density
     5.7.1.13 Zone Size
     5.7.1.14 Base Area Protected per Stronghold
          5.7.1.14.1 The Distance between defensive centers
          5.7.1.14.2 The relationship between defensive patterns
          5.7.1.14.3 The shape of the defensive pattern
          5.7.1.14.4 What is 100% coverage, anyway?          5.7.1.14.5 Calculating Area Protected
               5.7.14.5.1 Three Satellite
               5.7.14.5.2 Four-Satellite

          5.7.1.14.6 Configuration Choice(s)
          5.7.1.14.7 The Impact On Roads
          The Impact on populations

     5.7.1.15 Economic Adjustments
     5.7.1.16 Border Adjustments
     5.7.1.17 Historical vs Contemporary Structures
     5.7.1.18 Zone and Kingdom Totals
     5.7.1.19 Reserves

5.7.2 Castles, Fortresses, and the like
     5.7.2.1 Distance to a satellite fortification using 2d6
     5.7.2.2 Distance to a neighboring hub
     5.7.2.3 Combining the two: the nearest neighbor

5.7.3 Inns

In future parts of this chapter

5.8 Villages, Towns, & Cities

5.8.1 Villages
     5.8.1.1 Village Frequency
     5.8.1.2 Village Initial Size
     5.8.1.3 The Generic Village

5.8.2 Towns
     5.8.2.1 Towns Frequency
     5.8.2.2 Town Initial Size
     5.8.2.3 The Generic Town

5.8.3 Cities
     5.8.2.2 Small City Frequency
     5.8.2.3 Small City Size
     5.8.2.4 Size Of The Capital
     5.8.2.5 Large City Frequency
     5.8.2.6 Large City Size

5.8.4 Economic Factors, Simplified
     5.8.4.1 Trade Routes & Connections
     5.8.4.2 Local Industry
     5.8.4.3 Military Significance
     5.8.4.4 Scenery & History
     5.8.4.5 Other Economic Modifiers
     5.8.4.6 Up-scaled Villages
     5.8.4.7 Up-scaled Towns
     5.8.4.8 Up-scaled Small Cities
     5.8.4.9 Upscaling The Capital & Large Cities

5.8.5 Overall Population
     5.8.5.1 Realm Size
     5.8.5.2 % Wilderness
     5.8.5.3 % Fertile
     5.8.5.4 % Good
     5.8.5.5 % Mediocre
     5.8.5.6 % Poor
     5.8.5.7 % Dire
     5.8.5.8 % Wasteland
     5.8.5.9 Net Agricultural Capacity

     5.8.5.10 Misadventures, Disasters, and Calamities
     5.8.5.11 Birth Rate per year
     5.8.5.12 Mortality
          5.8.5.12.1 Infant Mortality
          5.8.5.12.2 Child Mortality
          5.8.5.12.3 Teen Mortality
          5.8.5.12.4 Youth Mortality
          5.8.5.12.5 Adult Mortality
          5.8.5.12.6 Senior Mortality
          5.8.5.12.7 Elderly Mortality
          5.8.5.12.8 Venerable Mortality
          5.8.5.12.9 Net Mortality

     5.8.5.13 Net Population

5.8.6 Population Distribution
     5.8.6.1 The Roaming Population
     5.8.6.2 The Capital
     5.8.6.3 The Cities
     5.8.6.4 Number of Towns
     5.8.6.5 Number of Villages
     5.8.6.6 Hypothetical Population
     5.8.6.7 The Realm Factor
     5.8.6.8 True Village Size
     5.8.6.9 True Town Size
     5.8.6.10 Adjusted City Size
     5.8.6.11 Adjusted Capital Size

5.8.7 Population Centers On The Fly
     5.8.7.1 Total Population Centers
     5.8.7.2 The Distribution Table
     5.8.7.3 The Cities
     5.8.7.4 Village or Town?
     5.8.7.5 Size Bias
          5.8.7.5.1 Economic Bias
          5.8.7.5.2 Fertility Bias
          5.8.7.5.3 Military Personnel
          5.8.7.5.4 The Net Bias

     5.8.7.6 The Die Roll
     5.8.7.7 Applying Net Bias
     5.8.7.8 Applying The Realm Factor
     5.8.7.9 The True Size
          5.8.7.9.1 Justifying The Size
          5.8.7.9.2 The Implications

5.9 Compiled Trade Routes

5.9.1 National Legs
5.9.2 Sub-Legs
5.9.3 Compounding Terrain Factors
5.9.4 Compounding Weather Factors
5.9.5 Compounding Expenses
5.9.6 Compounding Losses
5.9.7 Compounding Profits
5.9.8 Other Expenses
5.9.9 Net Profit

5.10 Time
5.11 Exotic Transport

And, In future chapters:

6. Waterborne Transport
7. Spoilage
8. Key Personnel
9. The Journey
10. Arrival
11. Journey’s End
12. Adventures En Route

5.7.1.12 Stronghold Density

This subsection is where everything was supposed to start coming together.

The principle, as outlined in my notes, is incredibly simple – divide the area of each zone (adjusted for terrain) by the size of a structural units, adjusted for the military financing both contemporary and historical, to determine the density of strongholds and castles. Tweak for hostile / friendly borders. Each of these defensive structures has an entirely independent reason to exist, and becomes a nexus around which a community can and will aggregate. The more hostile the surrounding territory, the stronger this effect; the more subdued and pacified, the more these structures will stand in isolated, near but not at the heart of, settlements.

The content of this entire chapter, so far, has been aimed at generating and documenting the facts upon which the above process rests. The worldbuilding that resulted from the economic considerations was entirely a bonus.

Unfortunately, while the concept is simple and direct, the implementation, it turns out, is anything but.

▪ Base Area of a zone – easily calculated.

▪ Adjustment for terrain – easily done. Terrains that provide a source of hostile forces effectively increase the area, so that there are more protective structures; terrain that is easily farmed increases the number of people needing to be protected, so this also increases the effective area, and also increases the threat posed by those hostile forces. This can be reflected by first multiplying the area by a threat levels factor and then multiplying the result by a “benign factor”. 5.7.1.13 handles all of this.

▪ Divide by the area protected by a set of defensive structures – I thought this would be simple, too, but it isn’t. The complication is in overlaps, which can’t be counted twice. And that is further complicated by variations on the basic pattern of related structures. And it’s complicated a third time by the compounding of historical and contemporary values. I had thought that the discussion of the practicalities of the projection of power had solved these issues – it hasn’t, it’s just a starting point. 5.7.1.14 is going to have to delve into this a lot deeper. I’m simplifying it a bit by separating out that last consideration and handling it in 5.7.1.17.

Actually, there is a simple solution – I just hadn’t thought of it when I encountered the difficulties described above. But I have, now!

▪ Adjusting the result for military expenditure, which can (and almost certainly will) cause unnecessary structures to be abandoned and left to fall into ruin, was more complicated than I thought it would be, but the hard work has already been done, and a lot of solid world-building resulted along the way. 5.7.1.15 handles this.

▪ Tweaking for hostile / friendly borders: This is going to be quite simple – it simply adds or subtracts from the structures emplaced along the border. If it adds, that decreases the density elsewhere; effectively increasing the area that each structure has to protect; if it subtracts, that either frees up structures for deployment along a hostile border or acts to increase the density in the region overall. 5.7.1.16 addresses this.

The end goal: to be able to state how far apart these defensive structures are and how many men and women they contain in military service. 5.7.1.18 does this for fixed infantry, 5.7.1.19 handles mobile forces (including naval and cavalry), 5.7.1.20 adds reserves, and 5.7.1.21 aggregates everything.

This is, ultimately all about demographics – how many people there are in a zone and how they are distributed. Because the military have to be there, have limits to how much and how many they can protect, and spend money (acting as a basis of local economy), this is the starting point for defining the answers to those demographic issues.

The intent for this section wasn’t to spell out how it was all supposed to come together, it was to briefly discuss the differences in defensive structures. If you’re going to supply a ‘road map’ to the content, the place to put that is normally in the top level of the relevant section – 5.7.1 in this case. But, while going through and making sure that I had all my ducks in a row, I noticed the problems.

There are two solutions: go back and expand the prior discussion, or revisit the subject, taking it further when necessary. I am choosing the latter, given the natural flow that exists in what has already been written.

Side-note: actually, the original plan was to do terrain factors for the entire Kingdom and then zoom in – so going from generalities to a sandboxed zone. But compound error magnitudes meant that it didn’t work.

5.7.1.13 Zone Size

The easiest way to determine zone size is to use the same technique that was described for Kingdom size – but there’s a small catch.

If there’s an error in the process, it gets magnified by the number of zones. You can’t rely on the unmagnified error being small enough not to cause problems. The only solution is to use smaller units. For simplicity, these should not only be whole numbers, but should also be a simple fraction of the units that you used for the Kingdom calculation.

▪ 5 miles / 5 km – divide by 5 to get 1-mile / km units.
▪ 6 miles / 6 km – divide by 2 to get 3-mile / km units.
▪ 8 miles / km – divide by 2 to get 4-mile / km units or divide by 4 to get 2-mile / km units. The latter are preferable.
▪ 10 miles / km – divide by 2 to get 5-mile / km units.
▪ 12 miles / km – divide by 4 to get 3-mile / km units
▪ 15 miles / km – divide by 3 to get 5-mile / km units.
▪ 16 miles / km – divide by 4 to get 4-mile / km units.
▪ 18 miles / km – divide by 6 to get 3-mile / km units.
▪ 20 miles / km – divide by 4 to get 5-mile / km units or by 5 to get 4-mile / km units. The first is probably good enough.
… and so on.

For this map, I’ve zoomed in on zones 1, 2, and 3 of the Zomania map. (I’ve redrawn the borders, roads, coast, etc by tracing over the existing lines because they were far too thick at this scale).

This, from memory, is about where the 20-whatever divisions were from the whole-of-Kingdom area measurement that I made earlier. I’ve divided the distance into 4, so divisions of 5-whatevers (yes, the time is coming where I’ll have to commit to miles or kilometers, but I’m going to keep things generic for as long as possible).

Drawing in the additional strips gives me this:

I started at the bottom of Zone 1, and drew in my boxes until I had it fully defined. I then changed color from blue to green and did zone 2, and then to purple and did zone 3. I also faded the horizontal divisions quite a bit so that the boxes stood out a little more strongly – and then added a drop shadow to them to make them even more obvious.

Note that this methodology supports complete sandboxing – you need only detail the zones that you actually need, and can use a broader estimate for the rest. As more zones get detailed, the rough estimate will be replaced with precise totals.

A couple of specific notes to point out before I get into the results.

★ At the bottom of Zone 1, I drew an extra line to determine how much of the 5-unit vertical division lay outside the zone, then used that to set the width of the box. Only the top part counts, in other words.

★ At the top of Zone 1, things get a little funky. I did the left-hand box first, aligned on the right to the bend in the coast. I then did the box to the right of it to contain the main part of the strip/zone overlap, and then the smallest box to deal with the remainder of the strip. That left a tiny little box for the strip above it.

★ I deliberately tried to keep these same sub-divisions for the bottom of Zone 2, on the premise that the half-way point in each strip and sub-strip would be the same – either it was part of Zone 1 or Zone 2, there was no alternative to this either-or.

★ Also at the bottom of Zone 2, note the tiny little box which introduced a new subdivision within that strip.

★ Although the scale marker shows only 5-unit division marks, I actually was able to estimate by eye down to 1/4 of a unit. I’m good at that. If you are not, indicate subdivisions or use a ruler instead of doing it by eye.

Okay, so here are the results – starting, always, from the bottom strip and working up.

Zone 1:
     ▪ 16.5 × 5 – (2/5 × 5 × 16.5) = 82.5 – 33 = 49.5
     ▪ 17 × 5 = 85
     ▪ 16.5 × 5 = 82.5
     ▪ 14.5 × 5 = 72.5
     ▪ 5.75 × 2.25 + 4 × 8 + 1 × 4 = 12.9375 + 32 + 4 = 48.9375
     ▪ 2 × 4 = 8

     ▪ Total = 346.4375, round to 346.44

Zone 2:
     ▪ 0.75 × 0.5 + 6 × 1 = 0.375 + 6 = 6.375
     ▪ 12 × 5 = 60
     ▪ 14 × 5 = 70
     ▪ 11 × 5 = 55
     ▪ 8 × 5 = 40
     ▪ 9 × 1.5 + 15.5 × 3.5 = 13.5 + 54.25 = 67.75
     ▪ 6 × 5 = 30

     ▪ Total = 329.125, round to 329.13

Zone 3:
     ▪ 4.25 × 2.75 + 19 × 2.25 = 11.6875 + 42.75 = 54.4375
     ▪ 18 × 5 = 90
     ▪ 19 × 5 = 95
     ▪ 19 × 3.5 + 17 × 1 + 14 × 1.5 = 66.5 + 17 + 21 = 104.5
     ▪ 8 × 5 = 40
     ▪ 0.75 × 1 = 0.75

     ▪ Total = 384.6875, round to 384.69

Next, we have to adjust these areas for terrain. We start with the Threat Level Factor:

▪ Mining 1.5
▪ Volcanoes: 1.4, + 0.01 for each active
▪ Mountains: 1.4, -0.1 if small or constantly snow-capped
▪ Forest 1.25, + 0.1 if especially dense
▪ Woods 1.2, + 0.05 if especially dense
▪ Hills 1.2
▪ Scrub 1.1 (includes groves & orchards)
▪ Coast 1.1
▪ Pasture 0.9 (includes savannah)
▪ Farmland 0.9 (includes plantations & vineyards)
▪ Desert 1.2
▪ Rocky 1.3
▪ Bog 1.3
▪ Swamp 1.5

If two terrain types apply, use the average.

▪ Town: -0.1 (only if no cities)
▪ City: -0.2
▪ Foreign Town within 5 miles: + 0.1
▪ Foreign City within 25 miles: + 0.2
▪ River: + 0.2
▪ Coast: + 0.25
▪ With cliffs &/or Caves: + 0.05
▪ With beaches: -0.05
▪ Ruin: + 0.4
▪ Civilized: -0.1
▪ “Wild”: + 0.1
▪ Known Hostile Forces: + 0.3

The adjustments are cumulative. You may not have decided certain factors, like towns and ruins – either commit to one being there right now, or halve the adjustment.

We’re obviously going to need the terrain breakdowns prepared earlier. Except that I didn’t actually give you any specifics for the example kingdom.

Zone 1:
Farmland 55%
     ▪ Base Value 0.9
     ▪ City -0.2
     ▪ River (assumed) + 0.2
     ▪ Coast + 0.25
     ▪ Cliffs + 0.05
     ▪ Beaches -0.05
     ▪ Civilized -0.1
     ▪ Total: 1.05
     ▪ Base Area: 346.44
     ▪ 55% × 346.44 = 190.542
     ▪ 190.542 × 1.05 = 200.0691
     ▪ Round to 200.07
Hills & Farmland: 15%
     ▪ Base Value (1.2 + 0.9)/2 = 1.05
     ▪ Modifiers as above total + 0.15
     ▪ Total: 1.2
     ▪ Base Area: 346.44
     ▪ 15% × 346.44 = 51.966
     ▪ 51.966 × 1.2 = 62.3592
     ▪ Round to 62.36
Orchards 30%
     ▪  Base Value 1.1
     ▪ City -0.2
     ▪ River (assumed) + 0.2
     ▪ Civilized -0.1
     ▪ Total: 1.0
     ▪ Base Area: 346.44
     ▪ 30% × 346.44 = 103.932
     ▪ 103.932 × 1 = 103.932
     ▪ Round to 103.93
Effective Area: 200.07 + 62.36 + 103.93 = 366.36

Zone 2:
Farmland 85%
     ▪ Base Value 0.9
     ▪ Town or City (not sure at this point) (-0.1 + -0.2)/2 = -0.15
     ▪ River (assumed) + 0.2
     ▪ Coast + 0.25
     ▪ Beaches -0.05
     ▪ Civilized -0.1
     ▪ Total: 1.05
     ▪ Base Area: 329.13
     ▪ 85% × 329.13 × 1.05 = 293.74825
     ▪ Round to 293.75
Hills (with Farms) 15%
     ▪ Base Value (1.2 + 0.9)/2 = 1.05
     ▪ Town or City (not sure at this point) (-0.1 + -0.2)/2 = -0.15
     ▪ River (assumed) + 0.2
     ▪ Coast + 0.25
     ▪ Beaches -0.05
     ▪ Civilized -0.1
     ▪ Total: 1.2
     ▪ Base Area: 329.13
     ▪ 15% × 329.13 × 1.2 = 59.2434
     ▪ Round to 59.24
Effective Area = 293.75 + 59.24 = 352.99

Zone 3:
Farms 75%
Base Value 0.9
     ▪ Town or City (not sure at this point) (-0.1 + -0.2)/2 = -0.15
     ▪ River (assumed) + 0.2
     ▪ Civilized -0.1
     ▪ Total: 0.85
     ▪ Base Area: 384.69
     ▪ 75% × 384.69 × 0.85 = 245.239875
     ▪ Round to 245.24
Hills with Farms 15%
     ▪ Base Value (1.2 + 0.9)/2 = 1.05
     ▪ Town or City (not sure at this point) (-0.1 + -0.2)/2 = -0.15
     ▪ River (assumed) + 0.2
     ▪ Civilized -0.1
     ▪ Total: 1
     ▪ Base Area: 384.69
     ▪ 15% × 384.69 × 1 = 57.7035
     ▪ Round to 57.70
Hills with Orchards 10%
     ▪ Base Value (1.2 + 1.1)/2 = 1.15
     ▪ Town or City (not sure at this point) (-0.1 + -0.2)/2 = -0.15
     ▪ River (assumed) + 0.2
     ▪ Civilized -0.1
     ▪ Total: 1.1
     ▪ 10% × 384.69 × 1.1 = 42.3159
     ▪ Round to 42.32
Effective Area = 245.24 + 57.70 + 42.32 = 345.26

Finally, we have to adjust these results for the “Benign Factor”. These use the same base values as the “Threat Load” above, but the modifiers are different:

▪ Town: + 0.1 (only if no cities)
▪ City: + 0.2
▪ Foreign Town within 5 miles: -0.1
▪ Foreign City within 25 miles: -0.3
▪ River: + 0.1
▪ Coast: + 0.15
▪ With cliffs &/or Caves: + 0.05
▪ With beaches: + 0.15
▪ Ruin: + 0.4
▪ Major Road: + 0.2
▪ Civilized: + 0.2
▪ Known Hostile Forces: -0.2
▪ “Wild”: Average the subtotal with 1
▪ Get the square root of the subtotal

Zone 1:
Farmland 55%
     ▪ Base Value 0.9
     ▪ City + 0.2
     ▪ River (assumed) + 0.1
     ▪ Coast + 0.15
     ▪ Cliffs + 0.05
     ▪ Beaches + 0.15
     ▪ Civilized + 0.2
     ▪ Subtotal: 1.75
     ▪ Sqr Root (1.75) = 1.323
     ▪ Adjusted Base Area: 200.07 (includes %)
     ▪ 200.07 × 1.323 = 264.69261
     ▪ Round to 264.69
Hills & Farmland: 15%
     ▪ Base Value (1.2 + 0.9)/2 = 1.05
     ▪ Modifiers as above subtotal + 0.85
     ▪ Subtotal: 1.9
     ▪ Sqr Root (1.9) = 1.378
     ▪ Adjusted Base Area (includes %): 62.32
     ▪ 62.36 × 1.378 = 85.93208
     ▪ Round to 85.93
Orchards 30%
     ▪  Base Value 1.1
     ▪ City + 0.2
     ▪ River (assumed) + 0.1
     ▪ Civilized + 0.2
     ▪ Subtotal: 1.6
     ▪ Sqr Root (1.6) = 1.265
     ▪ Adjusted Base Area (includes %): 103.93
     ▪ 103.93 × 1.265 = 131.47145
     ▪ Round to 131.47
Effective Area: 264.69 + 85.93 + 131.47 = 482.09

Zone 2:
Farmland 85%
     ▪ Base Value 0.9
     ▪ Town or City (not sure at this point) + (0.1 + 0.2)/2 = + 0.15
     ▪ River (assumed) + 0.1
     ▪ Coast + 0.15
     ▪ Beaches + 0.15
     ▪ Civilized + 0.2
     ▪ Subtotal: 1.65
     ▪ Sqr Root (1.65) = 1.2845
     ▪ Adjusted Base Area (includes %): 293.75
     ▪ 293.75 × 1.2845 = 377.321875
     ▪ Round to 377.32
Hills (with Farms) 15%
     ▪ Base Value (1.2 + 0.9)/2 = 1.05
     ▪ Town or City (not sure at this point) + (0.1 + 0.2)/2 = + 0.15
     ▪ River (assumed) + 0.1
     ▪ Coast + 0.15
     ▪ Beaches + 0.15
     ▪ Civilized + 0.2
     ▪ Subtotal: 1.8
     ▪ Sqr Root (1.8) = 1.3416
     ▪ Adjusted Base Area (includes %): 59.24
     ▪ 59.24 × 1.3416 = 79.476384
     ▪ Round to 79.48
Effective Area = 377.32 + 79.48 = 456.8

Zone 3:
Farms 75%
     ▪ Base Value 0.9
     ▪ Town or City (not sure at this point) + (0.1 + 0.2)/2 = + 0.15
     ▪ River (assumed) + 0.1
     ▪ Civilized + 0.2
     ▪ Subtotal: 1.35
     ▪ Sqr Root (1.35) = 1.1619
     ▪ Adjusted Base Area (includes %): 245.24
     ▪ 245.24 × 1.1619 = 284.944356
     ▪ Round to 284.94
Hills with Farms 15%
     ▪ Base Value (1.2 + 0.9)/2 = 1.05
     ▪ Town or City (not sure at this point) + (0.1 + 0.2)/2 = + 0.15
     ▪ River (assumed) + 0.1
     ▪ Civilized + 0.2
     ▪ Subtotal: 1.5
     ▪ Sqr Root (1.5) = 1.225
     ▪ Adjusted Base Area (includes %): 57.70
     ▪ 57.70 × 1.225 = 70.6825
     ▪ Round to 70.68
Hills with Orchards 10%
     ▪ Base Value (1.2 + 1.1)/2 = 1.15
     ▪ Town or City (not sure at this point) + (0.1 + 0.2)/2 = + 0.15
     ▪ River (assumed) + 0.1
     ▪ Civilized + 0.2
     ▪ Subtotal: 1.5
     ▪ Sqr Root (1.5) = 1.225
     ▪ Adjusted Base Area (includes %): 42.32      ▪ 42.32 × 1.225 = 51.842
     ▪ Round to 51.84
Effective Area = 284.94 + 70.68 + 51.84 = 407.46

I thought about applying a separate factor for any tactical considerations but realized that these two already encompassed just about everything I could think of. I’m mentioning it here so that no-one thinks that there’s been something left out – as I initially would have done.

It’s also useful for the future to calculate the ratio between these adjusted sizes and the actual size, called the “Net Population Density Factor” because that tells us how much closer together Strongholds have to be.

     ▪ Zone 1: 482.09 / 346.44 = 1.391554, round to 1.39
     ▪ Zone 2: 456.8 / 329.13 = 1.38790, round to 1.39
     ▪ Zone 3: 407.46 / 384.69 = 1.0591905, round to 1.06

5.7.1.14 Base Area Protected per Stronghold

This sounds like such a simple factor; it’s anything but.

The problem starts with circular areas partially overlapping; you can’t count any area twice.

There’s a way to calculate that but it’s nowhere near as simple as I’d like:

But the complications don’t stop there. If that was all there was to it, I would probably have lived with it, breaking the calculation down into stages.

There are three-and-a-half factors that define the problem.

▪ The distance between defensive centers, which defines the size of the overlap within a structural defensive pattern;
▪ The shape of the overall defensive pattern;
▪ The distance and spacial relationship between structural defensive pattern (that’s the half-factor);
▪ The overlap between defensive pattern that results – again, each pattern can only count once.

Oh, and one more, that might not seem like such a big issue:

▪ Exactly how do we define 100% coverage, anyway?

I need to look at each of these separately, because the GM has decisions to make. I thought that I had already given some of them adequate coverage in earlier sections, but the reality has proven different, so I have to go back to ground zero.

5.7.1.14.1 The Distance between defensive centers

The image to the side of this text is a slightly more detailed analysis of a simple four-pointed structure. As before, there is a central Stronghold which houses both infantry and cavalry units, and a ‘ring’ of lesser strongholds that house infantry only (including archers).

Each diagram increases the separation between the central Stronghold and its satellites, measured in half time-period marches by the infantry. So for the first diagram, they are half a time unit away, in the second they are 1 time unit away, and so on. To avoid cluttering the diagram, the notations of these distances are the only labels.

Each stronghold is surrounded by a pair of rings showing how far the infantry project power full-strength (the darker colors) and the distance one strength-level down (pale colors). The exception is the central Stronghold – while the infantry here would be expected to defend the central stronghold and project power in the immediate area, they would not go further. That, and reinforcing the satellite strongholds, is the responsibility of the cavalry.

Cavalry was defined as being able to travel 3 1/2 times the distance in a day as infantry could march, but on the presumption that this would exhaust their mounts, I have drawn the zone of projected power that they provide as only 2 1/2 times that distance, which leaves them fit to engage in combat (which is potentially necessary, given that they are reinforcing the fixed infantry). The presumption made earlier, that infantry had to be able to reinforce infantry, doesn’t actually have to apply.

Okay, so that’s what you’re looking at: Let’s analyze the results.

▪ The 1/2 time unit overlap at the top is so centralized that it’s almost perfectly circular, and Cavalry would have so much range in hand that you may as well consider it to be that shape. These really are too close together to be practical – but this option definitely presents the strongest defensive structure.

▪ The 1 time-unit diagram is the ‘refined’ version of the diagram originally presented. There are more pronounced lobes surrounding the satellite strongholds, the infantry-protected area is definitely NOT a pure circle or even close to it.

▪ The 1 1/2 time-unit diagram is where things start to get interesting. There is now a separation between the satellites and the central stronghold, so they could only reinforce it (at need) with a forced march, or by more than a day of standard marching. But they project power further away from the central stronghold.

▪ The 2 time-unit diagram shows that the reach of the infantry in the satellite strongholds extends as far as the effective range of the cavalry from the central stronghold if they force-march or take two days to reach the combat front. That means that they can reinforce the quick-response cavalry in the event of trouble. At the same time, Infantry from the central stronghold can reinforce the satellites by proceeding at the same pace – either one time-unit’s forced march or two days’ regular march. This is arguably the optimum configuration from the point of view of strength – if you only have four satellite strongholds. But that’s getting ahead of myself.

▪ Finally, at 2 1/2 time units march, the forced march / 2-day’s march range of the satellites now projects beyond the optimum distance for the Cavalry, and the satellites are beyond the reach of central Infantry even at a forced march. But this, quite obviously, projects power over the greatest area of the five options presented.

▪ Not shown is a 3 time-unit distance. Requiring units to march for an extra time unit before they can reinforce one of the satellites or vice-versa doesn’t just increase the difficulty of doing so by the proportionate amount, it doubles it or worse. It really isn’t practical. That means that you are relying on cavalry for your reinforcement. The part of the satellite power projection that extends beyond the practical range of that cavalry is effectively wasted, and this would be a significant loss. Every effect and consequence that is visible in the 2 1/2 unit version is amplified, both positive, and especially, negative. It really is too far – for this particular structure.

The GM has to decide what the configuration is, within the Kingdom being constructed. But it’s too soon to make that decision.

.5.7.1.14.2 The relationship between defensive patterns

The relationship between defensive patterns can be expressed as the distance between the central points of those patterns.

Which brings me to the above set of diagrams. Once again, let me start by explaining what you are looking at, and then I can get down to analyzing the results.

To start with, notice the nomenclature used to label each diagram. The first number, before the comma, is the separation between satellites and central point, the same as in the previous diagram. The second number, after the comma, is the distance between these central points vertically and horizontally (the actual separation will be 1.4142 times the number shown, obviously).

I learned when doing the first examples of this sort of analysis that the use of color complicated everything to the point of near-incomprehensibility. So for these diagrams, I have reduced the base pattern to black, and then replicated it in white to show how they overlap at different separations. Hopefully, that eliminates clutter and makes them more comprehensible.

First observation: If you use a pattern of 4 satellites to a hub, then you also need to use a structure of 4 overlapping patterns. I tried alternatives (fearing another complicating factor) and nothing else actually works.

I have also removed the Cavalry circle; it wasn’t really adding anything to the understanding of what was being shown.

Finally, although the assumption is that there are four patterns overlapping the central, black pattern, I’ve only shown the upper two. Without that, you couldn’t really see the shape of the main pattern. I needed to show two overlaps so that you could also see the interactions between them.

What do these show?

▪ 1/2, 2 1/2: the edges of the overlapping lobes are in contact, and meet at the edge of the primary pattern. There is nowhere that can’t be reached by Infantry within 2 days. This is as strong a configuration as you get; in fact, it’s arguably overkill. 2.5 × 1.4142 = 3.5355 – close enough to 3.5 – so the central commands are just within 1 day’s reinforcement range of each other using Cavalry. But their horses would be exhausted by the time they got there.

▪ 1/2, 3: moving the structures further apart makes it explicit that cavalry cannot travel from one hub to another in a single day. That means that whatever fixed units are in place have to hold out for that much longer before help cam arrive. There’s now a visible gap between the two overlapping structures, so there will be a small zone reachable only by Cavalry. So the difference in configuration may be small but the implications are significant.

▪ 1/2, 3 1/2: separating the overlapping patterns just half-a-day’s march more means that there are no longer any infantry overlaps. Every pattern has to stand alone save for cavalry reinforcements. The area that can only be protected by Cavalry is also significantly greater – roughly nine times what it was in the previous configuration. So far as infantry strength is concerned, we have gone from vastly more than 100% coverage to considerably less.

▪ 1, 2: Larger patterns brought closer together. At this distance, the central point of each pattern is reinforced by each other pattern, and – if all four of the overlaps where shown – there would be virtually nothing of the reference pattern visible. 2 × 1.4142 = 2.8, which is less than 3.5, so each of the central points of each pattern are reinforcable by cavalry from its neighboring patterns. Again, this is far more than 100% force projection.

▪ 1,3: the increase in the size of each pattern means that this is the equivalent of the initial 1/2, 2 1/2 structure. There are some areas where the power projected is only 100% (50% each from 2 patterns), but for the most part, it’s higher than that.

▪ 1, 4: Gaps in infantry protection have started to appear, in which defense will rely on Cavalry. These are 4-6 times the size of the gaps in the 1/2, 3 structure (I’m assuming that the gaps between the primary pattern and each of the reinforcing patterns add up to 1x that size, each, in making that estimate). What’s more, at a minimum distance of 4 day’s march, not even Cavalry can reach those gaps in a day. 4 × 1.4142 = 5.6558 so reinforcement of one pattern by another also takes more than 1 day for Cavalry units.

▪ 1 1/2, 2 1/2: The 1-day circles of the overlapping satellites are in contact. Those satellites are reinforcable by Infantry in two days. Force Projection is substantially more than 100%. This is an effective all-infantry structure with no need for Cavalry reinforcements.

▪ 1 1/2, 3 1/2: moving the overlapping patterns a day’s march further apart still yields 100% infantry projection over a 2-day period. The area being protected is visibly larger, but there’s nowhere reliant on Cavalry.

▪ 1 1/2, 4: A small gap has now opened up in between the protected areas, so Cavalry is necessary. There isn’t as visible an increase in the area protected, but that’s not surprising given that the separation increase is half the size.

▪ 2, 3: The 1-day lobes of adjacent patterns are touching, and overlap the 1-day lobe of the primary pattern. Once again, there is a visible increase in the area protected 100%, with no cavalry necessary.

▪ 2, 4: Now it’s the 2-day lobes that are touching, and there is the slightest of overlaps with the 1-day lobes of the primary pattern’s satellites. Still 100% or better over 99% of the area protected – and that’s without Cavalry.

▪ 2, 4 1/2: Tiny cavalry-only gaps appear at the vertices of the primary pattern. Since they are 4 1/2 day’s march from the reinforcing point, they are also more than 1 day’s distance for Cavalry. While some of the area is 100% protected or better, there are areas that are not. But the area protected has visibly increased even over the 2,4 structure.

▪ 2 1/2, 4: Two day’s march from an overlapping satellite gets you to the edge of a neighboring pattern’s 1-day area. So infantry reinforcement is no longer possible. There are no areas that are not protected 100% within the two-day march, and only very small areas that are not 100% protected at the 1-day level (usually from overlaps from other defensive structures or patterns). Okay, there might be the tiniest areas at the 45-degree angles relative to the primary structure that need cavalry – but those are on the fringes of four two-day infantry marches, so even that is doubtful, and well within the margin of error of these quickly-constructed diagrams. And the area protected is absolutely enormous.

▪ 2 1/2, 5: Gaps have now opened clearly at the vertices and at the 45-degree angles. 5 units distance or less puts them well within the 2-day range for cavalry. There is obviously going to be a great deal more autonomy in the defensive patterns, with such small overlaps. Rapid reinforcement is not really possible from outside a pattern, again emphasizing self-reliance. I would describe this structure as ‘porous’. But the area covered is enormous.

And it’s the area covered per defensive structure that lets us turn an (adjusted) area into a number of strongholds within that area.

But we still aren’t ready for a GM to decide on the patterns and structures of the Kingdom he’s creating. These have all been created using the four-satellite (simplest) patterns – those are not the only options.

5.7.1.14.3 The shape of the defensive pattern

You could have three, or five, or six, or eight satellites to a pattern. And each of these options interacts slightly differently with the differences in separation.

As a general rule, the more satellites you have, the greater the projection of power and the more overlap there will be between defensive patterns. There is less reliance on the central stronghold and more on your neighboring satellite strongholds. The military strength is more dispersed and more uniformly present at the same time.

Okay, I got ambitious in generating the diagram above – perhaps a little too ambitious, as I needed to drop in another diagram to explain what the one above was showing. I’ll get to that in a moment.

The nomenclature has been extended, as you can see – there are now “#x” before the first number, and occasionally, ” + #” after the second. “#x” refers to the number of satellites. So technically, all the diagrams presented earlier should have “4x” in front of them – but I’ve considered them to be the default, because they are the easiest to grasp. When you place overlapping patterns, sometimes there are gaps that are the exact size to hold another satellite; the count of those gaps are the # in ” + #”.

There’s also a “/#” – specifically, a “/4” – that I’ll explain when I come to it.

All that should become clearer as I go through the individual results.

The diagram above contains both kinds of diagram from earlier – there is one or more showing the structure of a pattern, and then two or more showing how those patterns combine. For the structure-of-a-pattern, the cavalry 1-day radius and 2-day radius is also shown.

Let’s step through these, one by one:

▪ 3 × 1 1/2, 4: These little bundles of three represent a very strong infantry configuration within each structure, and overlaps in the reinforcement capabilities of Cavalry based in the central hubs. Unfortunately, those hubs didn’t show up very clearly – you can see them in some of the diagrams but not others, and this is one of those cases where they are almost invisible. The first thing that you notice are the huge gaps that appear when you overlap these structures by the indicated difference. They may appear alarming, but they aren’t, and here’s why:

As you can see in the explanatory excerpt beside of this text, the projected overlapping structure, if offset correctly, plugs perfectly into the gap, completely filling it. So this is actually a solid greater-than-100% infantry Force Projection configuration.

▪ 3 × 1 1/2, 4 1/2: Even increasing the separation between patterns by a half-day’s march doesn’t change this. The coverage is solid, and the combined total is so close to a perfectly round circle that you may as well use that as the shape – just make the radius a little smaller than the outer limits of the merged pattern. Notice, too, that the Cavalry Zone is completely overwhelmed by the infantry zone. So this is all standing army with no need for Cavalry.

▪ 3 × 1 1/2, 6: Pushing things a LOT further, and gaps will start to emerge. You could conceivable plug those gaps with an extra satellite, producing a 3 × 1 1/2, 6 + 6 structure, but that became visually confusing when I tried diagramming it. Or you could upgrade those extras to full Central status, providing additional cavalry reinforcement of the satellites above and below it.

Neither should actually be necessary – if you consider the Cavalry radius shown in the first diagram, you will see that these gaps are completely covered by them.

It’s also worth noting that I worked hard to preserve the scale between these non-four configurations and the 4-satellite configurations shown earlier – so you can visually see that this protects a LOT more area, but it contains a lot more defensive structures, as well, and a higher proportion of them are the more expensive central structures.

▪ 5 × 2 and 5 × 3 and 5 × 4: These three diagrams illustrate three different 5-satellite configurations. The first shows massive infantry overlap and hence reinforcement. The second puts such reinforcement 3 days away, but there is still 100% within the two-day infantry march. At 5 × 4, there are no overlaps and gaps have started to appear; those gaps, as shown by the overlaid texture, are within 1/2 a day’s ride by the Cavalry, or just a little beyond; they would be very well covered by cavalry.

▪ 5 × 2, 6: My initial thought was to position the overlaps such that two of the satellites were the same installations, adding a ring of 15 satellites and 5 additional hubs to the larger configuration, but it became immediately apparent that there was nothing gained from doing so. So, instead, I offer this configuration for consideration.

This shows 5 hubs and satellites overlapping a 6th pattern. The area covered is larger again, visually so, but gaps have seemingly started to appear. But take a look at the satellites around the gap at the bottom of the diagram – notice anything?

To the side, there’s an excerpt of the space of talking about. But maybe you still can’t see it – so let me draw lines connecting them, quick-and-dirty, as shown to the side. It’s a mirror image of the satellite pattern of the primary structure. And that means that having the correct amount of overlap between this structure and an identical one below it would completely cover the gap.

▪ 5 × 3, 8: It’s only when you push things out to this level that you start getting genuine gaps that need to be covered by Cavalry. But, as the base 5 × 3 pattern shows, they have ample capability to do so. While this structure no longer has 100% infantry cover, it still achieves 100% Force Projection as a result. And, for the same reason described above, those ‘gaps’ are actually covered by the next group of structures.

▪ 6 × 2 and 6 × 3 and 6 × 4: Gamers tend to think in hexagons (though perhaps not so much as they used to), so the 6 × patterns look elegant and practical to us. As usual, the 6 × 2 is all about maximum defensive strength for a limited area of protection. Everything is within a 2-day march of everything else, and there are massive overlaps within the structure.

Things become a bit looser at the × 3 – and reinforcement is now 3 days away, except by horseback. The 6 × 4 pattern is the clearest, with no infantry overlap and gaps that have to be covered by Cavalry.

▪ 6 × 5 / 4: Everything that I’ve shown you so far has been a pretty solid defensive infrastructure. It’s been about rapid responses to imminent threats – appropriate for places with wild monsters running around that could crop up at any time, but most of the time, things aren’t like that. This diagram shows a 6 × 5 pattern, which means infantry isolation and gaps. But it also shows where each fortification’s infantry can get to in four day’s march.

Imagine the sequence of events – an Orc army shows up within the responsibility of one of the satellites. They immediately send alerts to their neighbors and call for reinforcements. Assuming the messages are sent by rider (and they probably would be), it’s a day-and-a-half before word reaches anyone. Even a rapid response would take a little time to organize – count that as another half-day. So, two days after the enemy were spotted, reinforcements march. Cavalry will get to the trouble spot less than 2 days later – so the defenders have to hold out for about 3 1/2 days on their own. Those reinforcements will do little but replace some of the lost men; they can only stave off the inevitable – and they will have to fight their way through enemy ranks to even do that much. But there should be enough aid that they can hold out another day-and-a-half – and that’s when the infantry reinforcements show up. Assume it takes a day for these to fight their way through to the protection of the fortification – that means that effective reinforcement is a full week away.

You might be able to say the same about a 6 × 5 1/2 / 4 configuration, which allows less organizational time and gives the reinforcements only half-a-day to get through the enemy army, but that’s getting chancy. It’s certainly not true of a 6 × 6 / 4 structure; help for that structure is an extra day away.

Eight days to respond effectively to a military threat. Is that quick enough? The answer – conditionally – is yes; the condition is that the fortification has scouts around that give some advance warning of the oncoming horde. Every day of advance warning is one day sooner that reinforcements arrive. So that would be the most porous state of military preparedness that would be considered acceptable.

Beyond this limit, it becomes necessary to delay the enemy, giving up territory for time, before a counteroffensive can begin. And that’s an entirely reasonable military paradigm in an area that’s not under constant military threat.

We’re still groping our way toward determining how many fortified positions a Kingdom has, backed by how many men. So this configuration demonstrates exactly how to appraise the key question of what the Kingdom expects those fortifications to be able to accomplish.

▪ The final configuration I have diagrammed is the 6 × 4, 12 + 12 pattern. Every fortification is 4 days infantry march away from another, so rapid response is not on the menu – but response in force very much is. There’s a very uniform density to the result. But, critically, there are gaps – six of them around the central pattern, and six more along the periphery of the greater structure. These gaps, as you can see, are exactly the right size to be filled by ‘extra’ satellite fortifications. And seamless military distribution can be achieved if the 5 satellites along one side of the resulting larger structure are also the five emplacements on the opposite side of the next such grouping.

The area protected is immense. It’s a hex whose sides are 5 × 2 × 2 = 20 day’s march to a side. The area of a hex is 3 × (sqr root 3) / 2 × side length squared – or about 2.6 × side length squared. In this case, 1039.23 × d^2, where d is the distance your troops can march in a day on ideal terrain.

     If d=10 miles (low), that’s 103,923 square miles.
     If d=20 miles (still low), that’s 415,692 square miles.
     If d=25 miles (reasonable), that’s 649, 519 square miles.
     If d=30 miles (doable), 935,307 square miles.
     If d=40 miles (close to max), 1.66 million square miles.
     If d=50 miles (max), 2.6 million square miles.

Remember, you need time each day to camp, set out defenses, cook food and feed your army, rest, and unpack your camp – and that has to happen in daylight because the alternative replaces one task with another (foraging for additional firewood). With anything the size of an army, 4-8 hours of daylight get burned in this fashion. If you have 10 hours of light a day, that eats significantly into it. In summer, you might be blessed with 14 hours of effective light; in winter, it might be 8 or even only 6, depending on how far north (or south) you are!

The smaller the number of men, the smaller the time that has to be sacrificed in this way – when you get down to the squad level (or an adventuring band), it might only take an hour to set up camp. So they will travel a lot faster.

But there’s one more, much simpler, configuration that I want to throw out there for consideration. It is based on the statement, “just because you can do something it is not necessary that you be required to do that thing.”

This cuts the edges off the projection of power circles to create neat rectangular shapes that can stack in brick-like fashion, tiling an area with protection. The example above again uses a four-satellite structure to form it’s pattern, with the satellites at a distance just over 1 day’s march from the hub (1.414 day’s march if you want to get technical).

Increasing the separation to two day’s march gives this:

At three day’s march, a new phenomena emerges: the corners of the satellite zones are no longer reinforcable by Cavalry with 2 days hard riding. As with the earlier examples, this means that the satellites will need to hold out for longer on their own if they come under attack, and that means increasing the military presence in them – and there’s only one place for them to come from, the central stronghold. In effect, pre-reinforcing all of them. It doesn’t take too much of that before you defeat the purpose of the configuration, i.e. having the satellites as weakly manned as possible to permit a large mobile reinforcement force to be deployed as needed.

I have one more “brick” configuration to offer. It is based on three day’s march from the satellites, and increases the distance between satellites and central hub to a full 4 day’s infantry march. Because of the trends described above, I think this is just about the limit of viability for this configuration.

Each pattern of this configuration is 10 days’ march across, and square. Let’s apply the values given earlier to interpret that:

     If d=10 miles (low), that’s 100 × 100 = 10,000 square miles.
     If d=20 miles (still low), that’s 200 × 200 = 40,000 square miles.
     If d=25 miles (reasonable), that’s 250 × 250 = 62,500 square miles.
     If d=30 miles (doable), 300 × 300 = 90,000 square miles.
     If d=40 miles (close to max), 400 × 400 = 160,000 square miles.
     If d=50 miles (max), 500 × 500 = 250,000 square miles.

But the illustration shows 7 of these patterns in a brick-like relationship.

     If d=10 miles (low), that’s 7 × 10,000 = 70,000 square miles.
     If d=20 miles (still low), that’s 7 × 40,000 = 280,000 square miles.
     If d=25 miles (reasonable), that’s 7 × 62,500 = 437,500 square miles.
     If d=30 miles (doable), 7 × 90,000 = 560,000 square miles.
     If d=40 miles (close to max), 7 × 160,000 = 1,120,000 square miles.
     If d=50 miles (max), 7 × 250,000 = 1,750,000 square miles.

1.75 million square miles is admittedly less than the 2.6 million square miles of the more complex configurations – a little over 2/3 of it – but it’s still plenty big enough.

With the possible configurations all described and analyzed, only one factor remains before it’s time to make some important decisions.

5.7.1.14.4 What is 100% strength, anyway?

The final factor to be taken into account is a more philosophical one. It’s pure form is as stated in the sub-section title, but the practical one is this: How do we count the area protected? Anything with a force projection at maximum (1 day’s infantry march) is obviously 100% – but what about the area beyond that?

Earlier in this chapter, I laid out guidelines for how much force could be projected at a distance by a body of men:

An infantry unit projects it’s full power for 1 day’s travel outwards, then 1/2 at 2 days, 1/3 at 3 days, 1/4 at 4 days, and so on.

It’s maximum ‘range’ is set to 7 days, giving total effectiveness of 2.593 when you add up the fractions.

A cavalry unit projects it’s full power for 3 day’s travel outwards, then 1/2 at 5 days, 1/4 at 7 days, and 1/8 at 10 days. At 14 days travel, the strength is 1/16th.

It’s maximum practical effectiveness is also capped at 7 days, giving a total force projection of 4.5.

Let’s simplify a bit. Ignore cavalry for a moment; in terms of infantry, there are two ways of interpreting 100% projection of force:

▪ The area protected is defined as the area of possible force projection within which 100% strength or more can be brought to bear by the pattern;

▪ Each sub-zone is calculated as area × force projection and the total protected then determined. This total must equal 100%.

Clearly, the second is a LOT more complicated. It only gets worse when we factor in Cavalry.

▪ Under model 1, any shortfall in 100% force projection is to be made up using cavalry. Divide the infantry shortfall by the cavalry force projection at the outermost limit of the protected area to determine the strength in cavalry required for this function. The infantry strength of the central hub can then be reduced by the cavalry strength.

▪ Under model 2, infantry sub-areas are further subdivided by cavalry force projection and the two are subtotaled to determine the total projection of power within the protected zone. This sounds like it makes a complicated situation a lot worse, but because cavalry project 100% power at a radius of three days’ ride and cavalry move 3 1/2 times faster than infantry, that’s 3.5 × 3 = 10.5 days infantry march – and NONE of the patterns shown have infantry-based areas of protection anywhere near that large. So cavalry contribute 1:1, which effectively eradicates this added complication.

Let’s go back to the simple 4-lobe configuration and look at the combinations. I’ve added a third & 4th day’s march to the central hub, a 3rd day’s march to the satellites, and numbered each of the resulting sub-zones in the diagram.

Insanely complicated, isn’t it? So, let’s simplify with the concept of zones of responsibility, the divisions for which run at 45 degree angles outward from the central hub. Reinforcement of the satellites is only the responsibility of the central hub except for areas that are less than 2 day’s march from a satellite. No satellite has any actions greater than 2 day’s march except for reinforcing the central hub, which has sole jurisdiction within 1 day’s march. When I apply all of those restrictions, I get this much simpler diagram:

While it’s still more complicated than I would like with 37 sub-zones, it is a lot more manageable than the previous version’s 121!

So let’s look at a couple of these (I’m not going to do them all):

▪ Sub-zone 1: 2 days infantry from satellite b, >1 day cavalry from hub A, so 60% B Infantry and Cavalry A to make up the difference to 100%.
▪ Sub-zones 18, 28, 37 – the same with respect to satellites c, d, and e

▪ Sub-zone 2: >2 days march from satellite b so it’s not responsible. Cavalry from A – and possibly from the next pattern’s hub, F or G – have responsibility. 4 Day’s march for infantry from A and F/G.
▪ Sub-zone 5, 9, 29: The same with respect to satellites c, d, and e and pattern hubs H and I. 4 Day’s march for infantry from A and H/I.

▪ Sub-zone 3: Infantry: 2 days from b, so 50%B infantry strength. 4 days from A, so 25% A Infantry. Cavalry from A to make up the difference to 100% – but this requirement is going to be less than the difference from sub-zone 1.
▪ Sub-zones 10, 17, 35: The same with respect to satellites c, d, and e.

▪ Sub-zone 7: Infantry 2 days from b, so 50%B infantry strength. 3 days from A, so 33% A Infantry. Cavalry from A to make up the difference to 100% – but this requirement is going to be less than the difference from sub-zone 3.
▪ Sub-zones 11, 15, 32: The same with respect to satellites c, d, and e.

▪ Sub-zone 14: Infantry 2 days from b, so 50%B infantry strength. 2 days from A, so 50% A Infantry. Cavalry from A to make up any difference.
▪ Sub-zones 22, 24, 31: The same with respect to satellites c, d, and e.

▪ Sub-zone 8: 100% B Infantry, 33% A infantry, A cavalry to make up the difference, but as usual this will be less than the sub-zone 1 cavalry requirement.

….and so on. Regularity of the pattern makes for regularity of the sub-zone strengths.

So the penultimate consideration is this: just how much is A expected to be able to do at once? This needs to be considered separately with respect to infantry and cavalry.

In a peaceful area, the capacity to do one is probably enough – i.e. enough cavalry to reinforce 1 or 18 or 28 or 37, and enough infantry to hold A.

In a more troubled area, you might need twice as many Cavalry (2 things at once) and maybe enough infantry for 14 or 22 or 24 or 31 in addition to the standing force for A. Which means that by compromising A slightly, you could also do 2 infantry reinforcements at the same time.

In a frontline area facing a hostile force, you might want 3 Cavalry and weakening A is no longer acceptable, so A needs double or even triple the infantry (1 or 2) tasks in addition to protecting the area around A).

One more complication remains, and it’s one that’s already been highlighted:

This has, in fact, already been touched on in looking at the zones – it’s our old ‘friend’, the degree of overlap between patterns and consideration of what force projection adjustments are needed when contributions from neighboring patterns are taken into account.

The 2 1/2, 4 structure is the simplest, because it means that sub-zones 2, 5, 9, and 29 form part of the responsibility of another pattern. The 2 1/2, 5 structure has genuine gaps that has to be protected with Cavalry – half from A and half from the neighboring pattern.

So the more complex approach – with a little simplification – is more doable than it first appears. But I’m going to take the simpler approach, and assume that the military force present under ideal circumstances is exactly what’s needed to achieve 100% force projection at the weakest point in a pattern.

5.7.1.14.5 Calculating Area Protected

Having completed the overview of the many different considerations that lead to a defined configuration, it’s worth reminding ourselves of what we’re trying to get out of all this.

▪ Total Zone Area / Protected Area of 1 pattern = number of patterns for 100% force projection

▪ Number of satellites in a pattern × number of patterns = total number of satellites

▪ Number of hubs in a pattern × number of patterns = total number of hubs

Once this is known, we can determine how many men of each type are present in satellites and hubs, but that’s further down the track.

Key to all of this is determining the area protected by a single pattern of satellites and hubs, and that depends on (1) the number of satellites to a hub, (2) the distance between satellites and hubs, (3) the distance between hubs which determines overlaps, and (4) how we have defined the level of protection i.e. the Force Projection of a pattern.

At this point, my original intention was to present a table listing the various configurations and the ‘area protected’. I intended to use a spreadsheet to perform the calculations necessary to give precise values, and then move on to how a GM decided on which configuration was present in a particular zone.

The complications and complexities revealed have pretty much forced the abandonment of that approach to some extent. Instead, I’m going to give the simple solution to how to get the area protected by a pattern and then cherry-pick selected examples; leaving the actual values of chosen patterns to the GM to determine.

One simple principle makes all this work, and it comes from (4) – if a pattern is providing 50% of the force projection in an area, it counts as protecting 1/2 of that area. If it’s providing 1/3 of the force projection, it counts as protecting 1/3 of that area.

5.7.1.14.5.1 Three-Satellite

This shows me measuring the area protected by a 3-pattern. The first thing to notice is that the need to project infantry power to the 100% level in the range 2 day’s march from a satellite is definitive of the infantry strength needed; because of this, the overlaps with adjacent patterns don’t matter in this configuration. This also means that the same area gets protected even if the satellites are moved another half-day apart, or even another full day. This won’t always be the case.

Second, notice that there is symmetry along one axis – this permits one side of the boxes to (mostly) share a common alignment, making measurement that much simpler. I just have to remember to double the end result – or, better yet, since my vertical divisions are 1/2 day’s marches, I can double as I go and simplify the math.

With those notes out of the way, what’s the area protected per pattern in the 3 × 1 1/2, 4 and, 5 structures? Bottom to top (because that’s the order that I did the boxes in):

     2 × 1/2 × 1/2 × 1.25 = 0.625
     2 × 1/2 × 2.5 = 2.5
     2 × 1/2 × 2.9 = 2.9
     2 × 1/2 × 3.1 = 3.1
     2 × 1/2 × 3.25 = 3.25
     2 × 1/2 × 3.1 = 3.1
     2 × 1/2 × 2.95 = 2.95
     2 × 1/2 × 2.5 = 2.5
     2 × 1/2 × 2.1 = 2.1
     2 × 1/2 × 1.9 = 1.9
     2 × 1/2 × 1.8 = 1.8
     2 × 1/2 × 1.5 = 1.5
     2 × 1/2 × 1 = 1
     Total: 29.225 d^2

     If d=10 miles (low), that’s 29.225 × 100 = 2922.5 square miles.
     If d=20 miles (still low), that’s 29.225 × 400 = 11,690 square miles.
     If d=25 miles (reasonable), that’s 29.225 × 625 = 18,265.625 square miles.
     If d=30 miles (doable), 29.225 × 900 = 26,302.5 square miles.
     If d=40 miles (close to max), 29.225 × 1600 = 46,760 square miles.
     If d=50 miles (max), 29.225 × 2500 = 73,062.5 square miles.

If I were applying this to Zomania Zone 1, we got an area earlier of 482.09 square ‘units’ – but I carefully avoided defining the units concerned, anticipating this moment.

If the units are miles, then 482.09 × 5^2 = 12052.25 square miles; if they are km, then I have to convert 12052.25 sqr miles into sqr km = 4653.38 square miles; but if they are in day’s marching, not only do I not need to convert, I can actually throw away the entire indented second paragraph above, and the answer is 482.09 d^2.

And 482.09 / 29.225 = 16.4958 patterns. Call it 16 1/2.

Lose 1 1/2 and consider that to be the location of the capital – something that can’t be done in other zones, but I’ll take advantage of it while I can – which leaves 15 patterns. So that’s 1 palace, 15 hubs, and 16 × 3 = 48 satellites.

5.7.1.14.5.2 Four-Satellite

This shows our familiar 4-satellite hub. The simplification offered by the 3-satellite structure is no longer valid, because of the amount of overlap – technically, this is a 4 × 4, 6 structure.

The first thing you should notice when examining the above image is that there is, again, symmetry, this time around 2 axes – I’ve again used the vertical one, but you don’t have to if it doesn’t work for you. I again have vertical divisions of 1/2 a day’s march (except for one spot in the middle where I had to use quarters). That’s the easy stuff.

Overlaps here do matter, and there are two ways of handling them – which is why there are two different area measurements shown. The first is based on the principle of not counting the overlap area closest to the capital. But that actually bites into the 1-day’s march areas at the top and sides. So, option 2 relieves the overlapping pattern of responsibility for those (but not for the 2-day’s march).

Let’s do the math, as usual, from the bottom up:

Method 1:
     2 × 1/2 × 1 = 1
     2 × 1/2 × 1.6 = 1.6
     2 × 1/2 × 1.9 = 1.9
     2 × 1/2 × 2 = 2
     2 × 1/2 × 2.95 = 2.95
     2 × 1/2 × 3.6 = 3.6
     2 × 1/4 × 3.45 = 1.725
     2 × 1/4 × 2.9 = 1.45
     2 × 1/2 × 2.5 = 2.5
     2 × 1/2 × 2.2 = 2.2
     2 × 1/2 × 2.05 = 2.05
     2 × 1/2 × 1.1 = 1.1
     2 × 1/2 × 0.4 = 0.4
     2 × 1/2 × 0.15 = 0.15
     2 × 1/2 × 0 = 0
     2 × 1/2 × 0 = 0
     2 × 1/2 × 0.15 = 0.15
     Total: 24.775

     Zomania Zone 1: 482.09 / 24.775 = 19.458 – call it 19.5;
     lose the 1.5 again = 1 capital;
     18 patterns = 18 hubs and 18 × 4 = 72 satellites.

Notice that this is less than the three-satellite area!

Method 2:
     (2 × 1/2 × 1 = 1)
     (2 × 1/2 × 1.6 = 1.6)
     (2 × 1/2 × 1.9 = 1.9)
     (2 × 1/2 × 2 = 2)
     (2 × 1/2 × 2.95 = 2.95)
     (2 × 1/2 × 3.6 = 3.6)
     2 × 1/4 × 3.5 = 1.75
     (2 × 1/4 × 2.9 = 1.45)
     2 × 1/2 × 2.8 = 2.8
     2 × 1/2 × 2.85 = 2.85
     2 × 1/2 × 2.5 = 2.5
     2 × 1/2 × 1 = 1
     2 × 1/2 × 0.8 = 0.8
     2 × 1/2 × 0.8 = 0.8
     2 × 1/2 × 0.45 = 0.45
     (2 × 1/2 × 0 = 0)
     (2 × 1/2 × 0.15 = 0.15)
     Total: 27.6

     Zomania Zone 1: 482.09 / 27.6 = 17.467 – call it 17.5;
     lose the 1.5 again = 1 capital;
     16 patterns = 16 hubs and 16 × 4 = 64 satellites.

The calculations in brackets are the same for both methods. The 7th measurement should also be the same but it looked slightly closer to 3.5 across on the right and not close enough to 3.5 (but more than 3.4) on the left – an actual example of the margin of error coming into play!

This calculation, too, is smaller than the area protected by the 3-satellite version, and it’s worth taking a moment to see what that means.

The three-lobe pattern is protecting a larger area with fewer fortifications; the balance has to be made up with more men, so the fortifications themselves have to be larger (and probably stronger). The four-lobed pattern has a lot of overlap with its neighboring patterns, and this reduces the area of responsibility of any one fortification, so these are smaller but more numerous. The first is manpower- and money-critical; the second is a little less so. The first is closer to putting all of your eggs in one basket (but making it a good one), the second leaves things a little looser.

The large degree of overlap also means that should something happen to one of the fortifications, it can be reinforced from several sources fairly quickly. That’s not quite as true of the 3–lobed pattern.

5.7.1.14.5.3 Six (Twelve)r-Satellite

One more example, because it’s illustrative, and I’ll move on.

The question is, how to cover those gaps. There are multiple options and this really is where things can get complicated.

Option 1 is to rely purely on Cavalry. The problem here is that even at 2 day’s ride – with the mounts exhausted at the end of it – there are still tiny little gaps. That permits engagement at the start of the third day, giving the mounts time to rest. Or you could bow to the inevitable and slow your pace to get there in, say, 2 1/2 days, without exhausting the mounts at all. Either way, cavalry can support a solution, but they are not the solution – not if a timely response is called for.

Option 2 is to have the infantry march an extra day – but this is not enough to completely cover the gaps.

Option 3, four day’s march, does completely fill the gaps. But it’s hardly a timely response. Still, if cavalry engage the enemy after 2-and-a-bit days and can pin them down for a day-and-a-half fighting defensively, this is a viable solution. If that seems a bit much for the cavalry to handle, they can simply delay responding for a half-day or whatever, narrowing the demands placed upon them until the tactical situation becomes practical. Under this scenario, the cavalry are no longer a support mechanism, they are a tactical resource that simply have to hold until the infantry get there; you don’t care if none of them survive longer than that.

The big problem with this solution is that infantry projection of power is severely diminished at this distance. The formula is 1, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, and so on. There are six satellites equidistant from the most vulnerable point, in the center of the gaps; and 6 × 1/4 = 1.5. Stripping those satellites of infantry gives a 50% reserve over the 100% force projection standard – or you could leave the satellites with 1/3 their infantry. 2/3 × 1.5 = 1, so that achieves 100% force projection – but at the very least, it leaves those satellites vulnerable. The reality is, then, that this involves boosting the infantry manpower in each satellite to 166%, leaving them fully defended while being able to project power all the way into the gap.

6 satellites × 1.6667 = 10 × the infantry, spread amongst the 6 satellites – to protect 1 gap.

Protecting a second gap at the same time isn’t quite as bad, because two of the satellites is already at boosted infantry levels – unless you want them able to do both at the same time, which you probably do. So that increases that satellite’s infantry by another 2/3, so 2 1/3 normal levels. It also adds another 4 satellites at boosted infantry to the 1.66 level.

By now, you should be able to observe that what this all means is that the central hub is, in fact, the most weakly-held of all the positions in the pattern, because it doesn’t have to plug any gaps.

But there is a fourth way, as explained earlier.

It only takes two additional satellites per hub to perfectly plug the holes. The diagram above shows, in dark purple, the two that are part of this hub. I have ghosted the matching additions for two of the adjacent patterns – a pair in yellow and a par in red. If the same thing had been done for the adjacent patterns below this pair, the gaps in the top half of the area shown would be fully protected. Add in another pair for the adjacent pattern at the bottom and it’s almost complete – there are still two gaps at the bottom, that will be filled by the extras from the next set of patterns.

The weakest points in this structure are 2 days march from 3 satellites. 2 days’ march is 50% force projection. To get that back up to 100%, we need to increase the force stationed in those satellites by 2/3 – sound familiar?

6+2=8 satellites, 8 × 2/3 = 5 1/3. That’s the additional manpower required, minimum. Compare that with the 4-day-march solution, where we had 12 satellites at + 1 1/3 and 12 at + 2/3 out of 7 × 6=42. 12 × 1 1/3 + 12 × 2/3 = 16 + 8 = 24; to compare like with like, × 8/42 = 4.5714. So the 4-day-march requires slightly less manpower overall – but does so by throwing the lives of cavalry away and sacrificing timely responsiveness to threats. In the long run, the extra satellites are likely to be both cheaper and more cost-effective.

All this matters because it changes the area under the protection of the pattern, and that’s what we’re trying to calculate.

Under the 4-day march situation, the gaps are ‘shared’ by two adjacent patterns and the main pattern. There are 6 gaps, so the main pattern is responsible for 1/3 × 6 = 2 ‘gaps’. Either way, then, we end up with an area measurement like this:

So, to measure it up, I add boxes like this (note that we again have symmetry around the vertical axis, making it easy to use 1/2 day units for most of it – there are a couple of spots where I had to go to 1/4 units and even 1/8 units, though):

     2 × 1/2 × 1.08 = 1.08
     2 × 1/2 × 1.95 = 1.95
     2 × 1/2 × 2.4 = 2.4
     2 × 1/2 × 2.675 = 2.675
     2 × 1/4 × 4.26 = 2.13
     2 × 1/4 × 4.35 = 2.175
     2 × 1/2 × 5.3 = 5.3
     2 × 1/2 × 5.7 = 5.7
     2 × 1/2 × 6.025 = 6.025
     2 × 1/2 × 6.2 = 6.2
     2 × 1/2 × 6.3 = 6.3
     2 × 1/2 × 6.3 = 6.3
     2 × 1/2 × 6.225 = 6.225
     2 × 1/2 × 6.025 = 6.025
     2 × 1/2 × 5.875 = 5.875
     2 × 1/2 × 5.95 = 5.95
     2 × 1/2 × 6.225 = 6.225
     2 × 1/2 × 6.385 = 6.385
     2 × 1/2 × 6.5 = 6.5
     2 × 1/2 × 6.5 = 6.5
     2 × 1/2 × 6.35 = 6.35
     2 × 1/2 × 6.2 = 6.2
     2 × 1/2 × 5.86 = 5.86
     2 × 1/4 × 5.575 = 2.7875
     2 × 1/4 × 5.225 = 2.6125
     2 × 1/2 × 5.2 = 5.2
     2 × 1/2 × 5.55 = 5.55
     2 × 1/4 × 5.9 = 2.95
     2 × 1/4 × 6.5 = 3.25
     2 × 1/2 × 5.8 = 5.8
     2 × 1/2 × 5.3
          – 2 × 1/4 × 1.1
          – 2 × 1/8 × 0.2
          = 5.3 – 0.55 – 0.05 = 4.7
     2 × 1/2 × 3.225 = 3.225
     2 × 1/2 × 2.975 = 2.975
     2 × 1/2 × 0.55
          + 2 × 1/2 × 0.8
          + 2 × 1/8 × 1.725
          = 0.55 + 0.8 + 0.43125 = 1.78125
     2 × 1/2 × 0.325
          + 2 × 1/4 × 0.2
          = 0.325 + 0.1 = 0.425
     0.8 × 2 × 1/4 × 0.1 = 0.04
     Total = 157.62655

     Zomania Zone 1: 482.09 / 157.62655 = 3.058. Call it 3, dead on.
     So that’s 3 hubs and 3 × 8=24 satellites.
     Lose one hub and call it a capital.
     Total: 1 capital, 2 hubs, 24 satellites.

5.7.1.14.6 Configuration Choice(s)

You now have everything I can give you to assist in choosing a configuration for your defensive patterns, except for some advice.

Look at the zones that you have specified, and in particular, the threat levels. The higher these are, the more satellites and tighter the pattern configuration should be. The more secure, the fewer satellites are needed, and the looser the configuration needs to be. The capital, by virtue of its importance, should always count for more than a single pattern’s worth. Anything from 1.5 – 2.5 is reasonable – the latter possibly drawing down the strength in other patterns by a small amount that cumulatively makes a significant whole.

I encourage you to have two, three, or even four different choices based on the Zone’s threat level and proximity to the capital. You don’t just want it able to resist whatever gets thrown at it (to whatever extent that is possible), you want to defeat threats before they even get close to threatening it.

But a Kingdom is also more than the capital – if all your fields are captured and the livestock slaughtered, a besieged capital can get very hungry very quickly.

Things are not as bad in that respect in most fantasy environments because they are more medieval in social and economic infrastructure. In modern times, transportation efficiency and cost minimization means that food is warehoused for as little time as possible. That means that food reserves within a large, modern, urban environment are measured (generally) in days. In times past, this was months, with a peak just before Winter – because there was little or no food coming into the city during that season, with the possible exception of seafood.

The modern expectation is that supermarket shelves will begin to empty in 24-48 hours, but people can get by through choosing alternatives. Disaster planners estimate that this would permit the city to continue for 5-8 days. More extremist planners use a ‘worst case’ scenario of 3 days.

In the 1930s, this would have been 1-3 weeks. In the 1830s, 1-3 months. In medieval times, 6-12 months – because being besieged was always a possible threat.

The number has actually been stable at the 3 or 5 – to 8 days mark for quite some time – I remember that number being mentioned when there was a transport strike a few years back, and again last year when there was a similar event.

Basically, it won’t change until one of two things changes: the efficiency with which produce can be processed through the wholesale / retail system, for example with pre-purchasing produce (bypassing the supermarket shelves entirely), or the speed with which produce can be gathered and distributed (better roads, or some faster alternative). Larger transports can convey produce more efficiently, but take longer to load and unload and induce more wear-and-tear on the road system – natural evolution of process has more or less optimized what we’ve got in terms of efficiency.

If there is a 100% gain in efficiency, that will more or less halve the reserves – but 100% gains in efficiency are hard to come by. 10% or 25% is far more likely.

The implication is that the worse the infrastructure, the greater the reserves that will be kept on hand, and the local society would adapt accordingly. There are areas in the US, for example, where it would not be surprising for regional cities to have an extra day or two in reserve, and for towns to have three or four days in reserve.

Two other considerations that were raised earlier: (1) A good road network enables greater mobility which increases the separation possible between both satellites and patterns. In fact, it can double both values, and therefore, the area protected per pattern. (2) Difficult terrain works in the other direction, reducing mobility, though it may offset some of this loss by providing natural defenses. Even so, in difficult terrain the number of satellites and proximity of patterns should increase.

Also, remember the history – most of these fortifications would not have been constructed with ‘modern’ considerations in mind; they would have been built in accordance with the conditions extant at the time. There was a time when Zone 1 was presumably the totality of Zomania; then it expanded this way and that, creating a ring of Zones around Zone 1. And then a further ring of Zones around those, following another series of expansions. And then a few more expansions in the areas not blocked by mountains or other nations followed, notably to the north and southwest.

It’s for reasons of reflecting this sort of thing that I actually favor the hexagonal configurations – because you can shut down every second satellite to revert to a 3-lobe structure when the infrastructure is in place.

Finally, don’t fall into the trap of excessive homogeneity. There will be areas where fortifications are closer together than average and areas where they are further apart. This is actually – in part – addressed by the principle of taking internal fortifications away to raise capacity along hostile borders, as discussed earlier.

5.7.1.14.7 The Impact On Roads

The best roads possible will almost always be found connecting hubs to satellites, and to neighboring satellites. Again, mobility is a force amplifier and a massive tactical advantage, and one that no military would ignore.

Perhaps paradoxically, this ultimately means that the best roads lead from the central hub of the entire Kingdom (usually the capital) to the locations under greatest threat.

5.7.1.14.8 The impact on populations / societies

People like to be protected from harm. Villages and towns will almost always spring up around a fortification, in part to service the men stationed there, and in part because of the protection those men provide. These aren’t the only considerations, but they are significant inducements. I’ll get into this side of things more strongly in a future part of this chapter.

5.7.1.15 Economic Adjustments

Take a quick look back at 5.7.1 and 5.7.1.1 – 5.7.1.2, because it’s been a while.

In those sections, we calculated in tenths of a percent of the population, the force needed to protect an area to the military effectiveness that we set for the Kingdom. This is only the standing army, mind.

     AMS3I (I for infantry) = 2.9 / 2.593 = 1.1184
     AMS3C (C for cavalry) = 2.9 / 4.5 = 0.6444
     AMS3T (T for total) = 1.1184 + 0.6444 = 1.7628.

This protects an area to a net strength of 2.9, which was the Adjusted Military Strength 2 calculated in 5.7.1.1.3.

The configuration of the fortifications may alter these numbers. Infantry are only 50% effective more than a day’s march from their stronghold / base – cavalry can take up some of the slack, but as a general rule, half as strong means twice as many men, which means increasing the AMSI.

1.7628 × 2 = 3.5256; subtract the cavalry contribution 0.6444 = 2.8812; divide by the original 1.7628 to get the adjustment needed = 1.623444; and multiply the AMSI by the result = 1.8157.

So 100% force projection requires 0.18157% of the population to be infantry, and 3 cavalry for every 7 × 1.623444 = 11.364108 infantry. In addition, we need 1 wizard and 1 cleric for that many infantry.

We might not be able to pay for all that. I was able to balance Zomania’s budget without cutting into the military strength, but not all Kingdoms are going to be so lucky, which was the point of 5.7.1.11.

In that hypothetical scenario, the budget for Zone 1 was reduced from 6 to 3, i.e. cut in half. So the military strength in Zone 1 strongholds will also therefore be cut in half – from a strength of 1.8157 to just 0.90785.

Using the budget – and any cuts made – you can now determine exactly what the percentage of the population in each zone is who are in the Infantry – and from that, how many cavalry, wizards, and clerics are also in the military. And how big the navy is, as well.

5.7.1.16 Border Adjustments

This simply means subtracting from the number of satellites in most of a zone to get extras to emplace along the border. Even if the border is now purely internal, if at any point it was the barrier between the Kingdom and a hostile world out there, it should get this treatment.

This would not have been done after the fact – you can’t generally move a Fort or a Tower or whatever. It would have been done in the planning stages. This is the real limitation of the 3-lobe configuration – you can’t really drop it any lower. But anything else? Sure,.

4-satellites: reduce to 3. Gives + 1 satellite each along the border.
5-satellites: reduce to 4. Gives + 1 satellite each along the border.
     Or, reduce to 3, giving + 2 satellites each along the border.
6-satellites: reduce to 5. Gives + 1 satellites each.
     Or, reduce to 4, giving + 2 satellites each.
     Or, reduce to 3, giving + 3 satellites each.
8-satellites: reduce to 6, giving + 2 satellites each.
     Or reduce to 4, giving + 4 satellites each.

Remember to look at how convenient or otherwise it is going to be to configure patterns with the extras as well.

4-satellites: + 1 = 5. No problem. + 2 = 6: No problem.
5-satellites: + 1 = 6: No problem. + 2 = 7 – awkward.
6-satellites: + 1 = 7: awkward. + 2 = 8 – No problem.
8-satellites: + 1 = 9. No problem, actually. + 2 = 10, no problem.

I haven’t shown them before, so here’s an 8, a 9, and a 10, just to round out the family.:

Observation #1: Note the apparent pattern of increase in the distance between hubs and satellites needed to fit that many satellites around the hub. I suspect that’s just a coincidence but didn’t take the time to study it further. DON’T rely on it.

Observation #2: With the 8 pattern, 2 day’s ride from the hub is the same as 3 day’s march from a satellite.

Observation #3: I’ve indicated the relationship between adjacent hubs as simply as possible. With the 8 pattern, this is VERY simple, with the two hubs sharing two satellites. Assuming that pattern persists, each pattern only effectively contains 4 hubs! So this is a quite dense defensive pattern, suitable for danger-zone deployment.

Observation 4: I used math to calculate the distance between hubs:

This is for the 8, but the same basic technique was used for all four: construct a parallelogram, divide along long axis, divide across short axis, h is known, so distance is calculated as 2 × h × cos (1/2 × acute angle).

Observation 5: The relationship between 9-patterns and 10-patterns is more complicated, with 9-patterns being the worse of the two. Hopefully, these simplified diagrams made it clear.

Observation 6: Note that the Cavalry distance shown does not change from one diagram to another – so it should give an instinctive awareness of scale.

Observation 7: In the 9-pattern, there us a gap between the 2-day march limits of hub and satellite. Those gaps either have to be protected by Cavalry alone, or by Cavalry plus third-day-march infantry (1/3 force projection). A third option would be a lesser standard of fortification \expected only to project force within 1 day’s march; 9 of these would be required, positioned at angles midway between the major satellites. I haven’t calculated it, but I suspect this is the less efficient solution in this case.

Observation 8: The gaps are about the same size in the 10-pattern as in the nine. However, 5 additional fortifications at a 2-day force-projection is a further option to consider. I suspect this would be a more efficient solution than 10 lesser fortifications.

5.7.1.17 Historical vs Contemporary Structures

Growth in a Kingdom is, generally speaking, a good thing, but it can create some military headaches. Fortifications meant to protect a border are a lot more expensive and substantial and frequent than those needed to protect an interior – and manning them takes a lot of manpower, which is therefore not where the Kingdom really needs them to be.

As if that weren’t bad enough, they can be quite expensive to maintain, and there’s almost always something better to do with the money.

But it’s not as expensive to maintain these older structures as it is to build new ones in the new optimum places – so there is often a need for a defensive compromise. Troops being out of optimum position only matters if they are insufficiently mobile to make up for the shortcoming.

There are three ways of doing this: Roads, Rivers, and Cavalry.

▪ Improving the roads automatically makes everything more mobile. There are limits to how much you can gain, though.

▪ Using rivers can be a great supplement to roads – but the river has to go where you want it to in order for this to work. Fortunately, communities have other reasons to settle along riverbanks, so at least some of the burden can be met in this way.

Both of these have a drawback – the enemy can use them, too. But there’s an advantage to compensate – the economy is stimulated; mobility of goods is just as powerful as mobility of troops, and troops move only when they have to – goods are transported and trafficked all the time. So the downside is a short-term problem, but the upside is a continuous benefit – more than making up for it.

▪ Cavalry offers neither the drawbacks nor the advantages of either of the earlier solutions. What the offer instead is flexibility. Once a road is situated, it’s permanent and not easily changed – it only goes where it goes. Rivers are automatically permanent, requiring even more resources and effort to divert – and it’s not something that can be done in response to a dynamic military emergency.

Your optimum choice in strategic terms is to combine Roads and Cavalry. But that’s also the most expensive, and kingdoms have to be selective about what roadworks they spend up on.

So the theoretical pretty picture developed in previous sections is all well and good but the reality is likely to look quite a bit different. While it might be theoretically possible for infantry to reach a historical fortification that has fallen into disuse, in practice the distance traveled might be too great due to the unevenness of distribution.

If a road or river happens to connect a contemporary fortification with the historical one, then infantry might still be the answer. While both roads and old fortifications are probably connected, whether or not it passes close to current fortifications is the unknown factor. When there’s no convenient way to extend your reach, additional cavalry are called for.

5.7.1.18 Zone and Kingdom Totals

Once you have the Zone or zones that you need most urgently detailed, it’s worth the effort to do a whole-of-kingdom approximation. Each time you detail a new zone, subtract it’s area from the overall Kingdom and recalculate; then add the specifics of the newly-detailed zone. Keep this up long enough, and eventually, you will have completely eliminated the approximation and replaced it with a contemporary total.

In particular, the size of the infantry (fixed forces) and cavalry (mobile forces) in each stronghold is critically important, because that determines how much they can protect and how much of an impact they have on the local economy..

It can be even more useful, when the PCs do something unexpected, to have divided the approximation by the number of undetailed Zones, because that at least gives you something to work with when improvising.

5.7.1.19 Reserves

Basing the number of men and women answering to the military on the mission they are expected to be able to carry out has an additional benefit – it automatically includes reserves to the minimum number required.

To increase security, all you have to do is increase the military budget and wait. As you add additional reserves, the ratio of new budget to old will tell you how to adjust the military strength, and that will in turn describe the optimum distribution of these additional forces.

But a lot of Kingdoms won’t leave their reserves on stand-by-for-rapid-deployment status – they will train them, then pay them an additional pittance to keep the military command advised of where they are located and let them return to the general workforce. That mitigates the expense by boosting the economy, but still leaves you able to call up any men in a given vicinity at need – it will only take a little while.

What none of these calculations provide for, however, is a standing army for offensive activities. It’s all been about defense so far. When a ruler starts beating his chest and issuing Declarations, he generally has to gather his army from his reserves, for the most part. Anything else is betting the farm on a long-shot (often literally).

So having some notion of the number of reserves in a given zone or sub-zone is a useful fact to have up your sleeve.

5.7.2 Castles, Fortresses, and the like

So far, I’ve been able to dance around the need for definitions by using generic terms like “hub”, “satellite”, and “fortification”, while similarly generic terms like “pattern” and “structure” were used to describe their relationship with each other, but that has carried me about as far as it can go. Time to actually define what these things are,

Satellites are fortifications based around infantry forces only. The following would qualify:

• Village Wall – A wall around the perimeter of a settlement. If erected in haste, they are typically made of wood, earth, or a combination of both. Areas under slightly greater threat may add a second palisade or a moat. Those areas under greatest threat may commit to a stone wall, but this is rare. Walls are constructed to protect a settlement from small-scale raids or wildlife. Their primary purpose is to provide a basic deterrent and a first line of defense rather than to withstand a sustained siege. See Defensive Wall | Wikipedia and Walled Village | Wikipedia.
• Lookout / Observation Post – A small, elevated structure – which could be a simple platform in a tree, a small stone hut on a hill, or a temporary wooden structure – used to watch for approaching enemies. It is not designed for defense but for early warning, often manned by a small number of sentries. However, when coupled with a small fort, the lookout can trigger a defensive action. Often coupled with signal towers (essentially more of the same, some distance apart, each with line of sight to the next) which can notify distant fortifications of impending attack. See Watchtower | Wikipedia.
• Guardpost – A small building or fortified position, usually along a road or river. Its purpose is to control access, check travelers, and serve as a base for a small group of guards. It is generally a point of control, not a self-sufficient fortification. Most larger fortifications have one or more guard posts to control access to the fortification. See Guardhouse | Wikipedia.
• Tower – A tall, slender structure. In real life, usually attached to a wall or part of a larger complex; in Fantasy gaming, however, they are also commonly found in isolation, and are sufficiently popular as Wizardly domiciles that it’s pretty much a cliche. The problem with that is that the isolation possible in a tower is tailor-made for wizards, so the cliche isn’t going away any time soon. A tower can be a lookout, a point from which to fire projectiles at attackers, a key part of a wall’s defensive network, or a self-contained defensive stronghold. However, towers tend to have very limited capacity for manpower – so they are suitable as a small satellite, but not (in isolation) as a hub. See: Tower | Wikipedia and
  Fortified Tower | Wikipedia

• Camp – A camp is a temporary or semi-permanent settlement, often for a military force on the move – but in this context, it’s a semi-permanent installation that has been upgraded and made permanent while retaining the title originally bequeathed to it. While a camp may have defensive features like a palisade or a ditch, its primary purpose is to provide a place for soldiers to rest and organize, not to be a long-term defensive structure. That makes it suitable as a satellite but not as a hub. See Military Camp | Wikipedia and Training Camp | Wikipedia.
• Fort (small) – A fortified military installation (from which the name derives, obviously). Small forts are outposts, typically designed to house a garrison and serve as a base of operations. A fort is built specifically for military purposes and often lacks the residential comforts of a castle. They are typically positioned strategically to control a key location like a river crossing, bridge, mountain pass, or trade route. See Fortification | Wikipedia.
• Keep – Outside of Fantasy games and fiction, a keep is the most fortified and often central tower within a castle, the last line of defense, a fortified residence for the lord and his family, and often a secure storage location. It forms a core part of a castle, but is not a standalone structure in its own right in most cases. In Fantasy games, all that goes out the window – a keep can be the surviving remnant of an overrun castle, surrounded by ruins, or it can exist completely independently of any larger structure. It is often not a tower when used in that sense, but a reinforced building (usually of stone) and the base of operations of a garrison. The shift comes about because the term is a romantic one to attach to a location of significance, and has been ever since D&D’s “Keep On The Borderlands”. See Keep | Wikipedia.
• Castle (tiny) – A number of defensive structures nested in series, usually with a fortified outer wall and a dwelling with stone walls several feet thick. Towers attached to one or both are common, as are moats. Positioned on the highest ground available, which can be artificially increased in height if necessary, castles usually serve as a residence for the ruling Local Noble and their family. The differences between a small castle and a typical one are simple but profound; a small castle might have a single curtain wall and a simple keep, only a small bailey (the courtyard inside the walls), and a garrison of limited size. It might house a minor noble or none at all. One of the military functions of a castle is to withstand sieges for long periods of time; the smaller the castle, the shorter this expectation. The smallest might only be able to hold out for a month or three – but that’s still enough to pin an enemy down, whittling away at its numbers. Defeating one castle only to find another a little deeper into the territory being attacked is generally enough to hold off an army until the season turns – and Winter always favors the defenders. A large castle dials all this up to 11, as you’ll see below. See Castle | Wikipedia.
• Fortress (small) – A significant and permanent military fort, and designed to be just that from day one – no compromises. The very term implies a significance of scale and fortification, designed to withstand a long and determined siege – six months to a year, minimum. Fortresses are often a key part of a kingdom’s strategic defense, controlling a large region and serving as a hub – but if a threat is now or ever has been dire enough, fortresses may well be constructed as forward satellites, although reduced in scale compared to their larger namesakes. Again, compare with the “hub” entry below.

There aren’t as many choices for hubs, which are fortifications housing a mixture of unit types.

• Stronghold – A general term for a heavily fortified place, which can be a castle, a fort, or a natural feature like a mountain pass that has been fortified. The term emphasizes its strength and the difficulty of capturing it rather than a specific architectural style. The name implies that it’s a stronger-than-usual exemplar of it’s actual structure type. Instead of walls three feet thick, maybe they are ten feet thick – but note that there aren’t more of them than would be usual. If a castle, a stronghold often foregoes many of the outbuildings associated with a relatively comfortable lifestyle for the inhabitants, and rarely has a resident noble other than as military commander.
• Fort – Large forts are designed for a specific military purpose, be it training of new recruits or garrisoning a wide area. A large fort will often have 5-10 times the manpower as a small one.
• Fortress – A fortress is a step up from Fort again; the term implies implies a significant scale and a high level of fortification, designed to withstand a long and determined siege. It is often a key part of a kingdom’s strategic defense, controlling a large region. As with the smaller variety, the term implies significance of both scale and defenses. A fortress can probably hold out for 1-2 years if under siege – and even then, it’s a shortage of supplies, not a shortage of manpower, that would be the limiting factor.
• Castle – A proper castle has several layers of defense. There might be a stone or wooden wall around the entire community; there is another around the castle and bailey, possible with a couple of towers thrown in; there may well be a moat; there are then the castle walls, with more towers. There may even be a second wall around the inner core of the community, designed to be a place to which the defenders can fall back when the outer wall is breached. Ideally, the gap between walls is greater than the range of siege engines, so that they can’t hang around outside one wall, lobbing missiles at the one inside. They can be hard to find, but aerial views of reconstructed castles can be extremely enlightening – it’s one of the side-benefits I get from watching the Tour De France every year! In general, if you think a castle and its surrounds are adequately defended – add another layer of defense! It might be elevation, or an outer wall, or an outer moat (not a good idea because it limits growth within the protected area), or adding additional towers to the outer wall. Castles almost always serve as the residence of a noble family, and that also adds their bodyguards to the manpower. A castle’s first job is defense (2-5 years of siege, more of there’s a way of replenishing supplies even partially); it’s second job is protecting the residents; it’s third is projecting power (ie threats and intimidation) with its very presence; and it’s fourth job is attacking any enemy foolish enough to stick their head in the lion’s maw. Side-note: One mistake that is often made when designing complex defensive structures is placing the entrances that lead from one protected area to another in line. You want them substantially offset so that if one is forced, the attacker has to turn and travel a fair distance under heavy bow-fire to reach the next. If inner walls are shorter than outer ones, then they can be closer to them, making the passage between narrow – perhaps too narrow for siege engines. If they are elevated, so that the enemy have to climb uphill to reach the next entrance, that only slows them down and makes your archers more effective. Always ask yourself, ‘what else can I do to make this place a death trap for an attacker’. A large castle will have multiple concentric walls, multiple towers, a more extensive series of baileys and outbuildings, and would typically house a larger garrison and a more elaborate household.
• Citadel – A citadel is the strongest of the lot, a fortress or fortified area within a city, whose primary purpose is to defend the city – and, if the walls are breached, to serve as a last refuge for the defenders. Think of it as a stronghold within a stronghold. A citadel may be attached to a castle, but it’s more likely that it will be a separate structure – think of a rough oval with castle at one focus and citadel at the other. One of the major differences is that a citadel is not designed to resist a siege, it’s designed to enable the force within to break up a siege. A castle is a political and administrative venue as much as it is a defensive fortification; a citadel is all military purpose and no niceties or compromises.

Of course, if there are naval forces based somewhere, there are some additional choices like “Port”.

Four other terms could use some definition while I’m about it:

• Palisade – A fence of sharpened wooden stakes, typically used as a quick and simple defensive perimeter for a camp or a small settlement. It is an older, simpler form of a defensive wall.
• Bailey – The open area or courtyard within the walls of a castle. It is the enclosed living and working space, often containing stables, barracks, and other structures. The bailey is a key part of the castle complex but not a defensive structure itself. A castle often has an inner and an outer bailey.
• Donjon – An alternative name for the keep, especially in Norman castles. The term is French in origin and describes the central, most fortified part of the castle.
• Moat – A flooded channel which can only easily be crossed via a drawbridge. Traditionally filled with water, and sometimes with sharpened spikes – though these won’t survive being immersed for very long, so either there’s a regular program of replacements or they are only put in place at the last minute – and not at all in the event of a surprise attack. RPGs open up new possibilities, though few GMs seem to take advantage of them – a moat filled with lava, kept boiling hot by fire elementals, or a moat filled with Green Slime or Gelatinous Cubes – perhaps with a thin covering of water to disguise the fact. Another fun option is to breed a variety of rust monsters that can breathe underwater – then fill the moat only to a depth of about three feet, just deep enough to hide them.

So, at this point, you know more or less where the fortifications are located, and have selected a fortification type appropriate to the locations and defensive functions that they play. Now it’s time to compromise the pretty ideal picture with a dash of realism.

Decide – and document – why that particular location is preferable for that type of defensive structure. That often defines the terrain in which the fortification is situated, and that in turn should influence at the very least the area immediately around it.

If a structure is supposed to be one day’s march, it’s not likely to be less than half of that away, and not likely to be more than half more – which calls for a dumbbell curve.

If you map a 2d6 roll’s probability, you get a pyramid shape with the apex at the average result. It takes three dice before you get an actual curve to the probability. For the distance between satellite fortifications, 2d6 is probably good enough; for the distance between hubs, use 3 or even 4d6.

Here’s how:

5.7.2.1 Distance to a satellite fortification using 2d6

(2d6-2) × F + X –
– sets the minimum result to X
– sets the maximum result to X+10F
– sets the average result to X+5F

To get X, divide the theoretical separation by 2:
▪ if 1 day apart, X = 1/2 × 1 = 1/2.
▪ if 2 days apart, X = 1/2 × 2 = 1.
▪ if 3 days apart, X = 1/2 × 3 = 1 1/2.
… and so on.

If the theoretical average is going to be 2X (which it is, by definition), then having one X already accounted for leaves one to come from F × die roll. In other words, 5F=X and 10F=2X – so simply divide the theoretical separation by 10 to get F.

Which means that our rolls are:

▪ if 1 day apart, 0.1 × (2d6-2) + 0.5
▪ if 2 days apart, 0.2 × (2d6-2) + 1
▪ if 3 days apart, 0.3 × (2d6-2) + 1.5
▪ if 4 days apart, 0.4 × (2d6-2) + 2
…. and you can take it from there.

5.7.2.2 Distance to a neighboring hub

Things get a little more complicated with 3d6. Once again, the basic form is (3d6-3) × F + X.
– sets the minimum result to X
– sets the maximum result to X+15F
– sets the average result to X+7.5F or X + 15F/2.

To get X, divide the theoretical separation by 2, as before:
▪ if 2 days apart, X = 1/2 × 2 = 1.
▪ if 3 days apart, X = 1/2 × 3 = 1.5.
▪ if 4 days apart, X = 1/2 × 4 = 2
… and so on.

And, as before, to get the other end of the scale right, we need to calculate a range of 2X. But this time, we’re breaking it into divisions of 15/2 to get F.
▪ if 2 days apart, F = 2 × 2/15 = 4/15 = 0.26666666666666666666666666666667
▪ if 3 days apart, F = 3 × 2/15 = 6/15 = 0.4
▪ if 4 days apart, F = 4 × 2/15 = 8/15 = 0.53333333333333333333333333333333

… I don’t know about you, but this annoys the heck out of me. So I would round F off, and then recalculate X.
▪ if 2 days apart, F = 4/15 = 0.267 = 0.3
▪ if 2.5 days apart, F = 5/15 = 0.333333 = 0.3 again.
▪ if 3 days apart, F = 6/15 = 0.4
▪ if 3.5 days apart, F = 7/15 = 0.46666666666666666666666666667 = 0.5
▪ if 4 days apart, F = 8/15 = 0.5 again, legitimately this time.
▪ if 5 days apart, F = 10/15 = 0.666666666666666666666666666667 = 0.7
▪ if 6 days apart, F = 12/15 = 0.8
… and so on.

Adjusting X: X= D – 5F, where D is the total theoretical distance (which used to be 2X but isn’t any more):
▪ if 2 days apart, X= 2 – (5 × 0.3) = 2 – 1.5 = 0.5.
▪ if 2.5 days apart, X = 2.5 – (5 × 0.3) = 2.5 – 1.5 = 1.
▪ if 3 days apart, X = 3 – (5 × 0.4) = 3 – 2 = 1.
▪ if 3.5 days apart, X = 3.5 – (5 × 0.5) = 3.5 – 2.5 = 1.
▪ if 4 days apart, X = 4 – (5 × 0.5) = 4 – 2.5 = 1.5.
▪ if 5 days apart, X = 5 – (5 × 0.7) = 5 – 3.5 = 1.5.
▪ if 6 days apart, X = 6 – (5 × 0.8) = 6 – 4 = 2.
… and so on.

The results are (relatively) simple die rolls.
▪ if 2 days apart, d = 0.3 × (3d6-3) + 0.5
▪ if 2.5 days apart, d = 0.3 × (3d6-3) + 1
▪ if 3 days apart, d = 0.4 × (3d6-3) + 1
▪ if 3.5 days apart, d = 0.5 × (3f6-3) + 1
▪ if 4 days apart, d = 0.5 × (3d6-3) + 1.5
▪ if 5 days apart, d = 0.7 × (3d6-3) + 1.5
▪ if 6 days apart, d = 0.8 × (3d6-3) + 2
…. etc.

What these changes do is occasionally shorten or lengthen the variability to a convenient unit and lengthen or shorten the base value so that the average is always dead-on-target. The minimum and maximum may not be right, but with 3d6, that won’t matter very often – in fact, the error will occur just 0.46% of the time. I can live with that.

Things get a bit easier with 4d6, because the average is a whole number – but not a whole lot easier because that number is 14. But 4d8, with an average of 16, or 4d10, with an average of 20, would be acceptable choices. I’ve shown all the working so that if you want to choose one of those simpler alternatives, you have all the tools you need to do so.

5.7.2.3 Combining the two: the nearest neighbor

Consider the diagram above. d1 is the distance from hub 1 to its satellite; d2 is the distance from hub 2 to it’s satellite; and d3 is the distance between the two hubs. The top measure and positions shown are as rolled – the bottom are the theoretical. Note that there can be a completely different configuration of satellites, so theoretical d1 may not equal theoretical d2. Where this occurs, theoretical d3 should be the smaller of the two values from between the two chosen configurations.

So you’ve rolled d1 on 2d6, and d2 on 2d6, and d3 on 3d6 or whatever. The only distance you don’t know is the gap between the satellites You get this – if everything lines up in a straight line – with d3-d1-d2, using the rolled values for all three.

But things get a bit more complicated when they don’t line up.

Two diagrams for the price of one! The top shows the mess that frequently results from patterns of hubs and satellites, a mess that only grows worse if Hub/satellite 2 has a different geometry to Hub/satellite 1.

You can see – in dashed green – the straight-line distance rolled for the distance between hubs. The distances between hubs and their respective satellites – d1 and d2 – have also been rolled. The geometry of the situation makes the distance we want to know, c (as opposed to C) a difficult problem in geometry to calculate.

Fortunately, there’s an easier way – we can break the distance between hubs into A and B, do the same for d1 and d2 given their respective geometries, simply subtract A-ad1-ad2 and B-bd1-bd2 to get a and b – then it’s a^2+b^2=c^2.

Or, we could employ our old friend, vector sums. We already know the vector sum of d1 – it’s where satellite 1 is positioned. We still need to break d2 into ad2 and bd2, or the distance and the angle, which comes from the geometry of hub2 and its satellites, but which is harder to measure without a protractor. The result is a line from Hub 2 to the vector sum of d1 and d2 that is exactly parallel to c and of exactly the same length – so we can simply measure it.

But there’s a fourth way, and it’s the easiest of the lot. If we (theoretically) rotate the line between hub 1 and satellite 1 so that it aligns with the direct line between the hubs, and then do the same for hub 2 and satellite 2, you will find that c – the distance between the hubs – is exactly equal to the difference between d1+d2 and the actual hub separation, or close enough to it..

This only works if the lines are more or less pointed toward each other. If Hub 2 was higher up (further north) of satellite 2, so that the line between them was oriented into a different quadrant of relative position, it won’t work. I mean, you only have to look at the diagram above and intuitively, you know that d1+d2+c is going to be more than the straight-line distance between the two hubs; the more they separate from that straight line, the greater the extra distance to be travelled. But if the direction of travel is such that the hubs more or less line up, it’s a shortcut worth using. The rest of the time: draw a map and measure it – forget all the math and complication.

5.7.3 Inns

If there’s a road, there will be Inns stationed along it. How far apart is the interesting question.

In general, there will be an inn every day’s travel at typical speed. That’s NOT the same as an army’s marching speed, and loads and conveyances will have a big bearing on the question – but, as a rule of thumb, each day of walking brings you to an inn where – for a fee – you can spend the night in relative safety.

As a general rule, Soldiers march faster than people walk, but people walk for a longer period in a day – armies generally have to set up camp, while travelers can encamp far more quickly or stay in a cozy little inn.

And, of course, for travelers going the other way, every day’s walk also leads to an inn – so there may be more inns along the way.

At least, that’s the story in relatively civilized parts of the world.

On flat, even terrain, on a good road, in good weather, a walker who is not heavily loaded or slowed by a carriage or other conveyance can generally walk 3-5 km an hour – so in 9 hours, they can cover 27-45 km. That’s 16.8-28 miles.

Every condition that is not in favor of good traveling speed is either bad or very bad.

I know I’ve offered detailed mechanics for walking speed already, but here’s a quick-and-dirty alternative:

For every factor (amongst those listed) strongly in favor of speed, count a 2. For every factor that slows progress a bit, count a 1. For every factor that slows progress a lot, count a 1/2, and for anything that’s even worse, score a 0. Include:
▪ road condition
▪ terrain impact
▪ good, indifferent or bad weather (hot or cold makes no difference)
▪ load
▪ potential danger
▪ terrain suitable for an ambush or attack
▪ walking speed
▪ physical health

Add all these up and divide by 16, then multiply by 5 for kilometers an hour or 3.1 for mph.

It’s a lot less robust and accurate than earlier systems, but for a quick and easy estimate, it’s not bad.

So, what assumptions are built into the “one day’s travel” metric for inn separation? Generally, ‘typical weather” in the worst season, road condition at that time of year, no significant load, terrain impact, danger and dangerous terrain, medium walking speed, and good physical health.

That’s 0.5 + 1 + 2 + T + D + DT + 1 + 1 = T + D + DT + 5.5

No possibility of ambush, possibility of monster encounters? That’s 2 and 1 respectively, leaving terrain + 8.5 as the total.

▪ Terrain 2: 10.5 / 16 = 0.65625 = 3.28125 km/h = 2.034375 mph.
▪ Terrain 1: 9.5 / 16 = 0.59375 = 2.96875 km/h = 1.840625 mph
▪ Terrain 0.5: 9 / 16 = 0.5625 = 2.8125 km/h = 1.74375 mph
▪ Terrain 0: 8.5 / 16 = 0.53125 = 2.65625 km/h = 1.646875 mph.

All of these are slightly faster than the average pace, and over 9 or so hours in a day, the differences can add up.

Okay, with the assumptions out of the way, let’s talk Inns.

There’s a lot going on in this diagram, so take your time and look at it carefully. It outlines four different situations ranging from the simple to the complex.

Case 1 is the simplest. Hub, satellite at 1 day’s march (high danger levels indicated) – these are shown on the top of the illustration. Hub 2 is 5 days march away, and travelers pass through its satellite a little over 2 days march before reaching it – the theoretical distance was probably 2 days, but the roll indicates that just a little further took the army to an especially favorable location for a fortification. The increased distance indicates that you are heading into safer territory. Walking from one hub to the other takes a little more than 7 days, as shown on the bottom – the difference being an hour or two spent navigating Satellite 2. If I were to continue green inns past that point, they would be so close to the red inns that the pair would not be financially viable – so the green inns stop and the red inns take over.

Case 2 expands on all of the above. Satellite 2 is now 2 1/2 days march from Hub 2, and the distance between hubs has been extended to 6 1/2 days march or a smidgen more. Here, the red inns are about half-a-day different to the green, so the indication is that there are twice as many. In reality, this probably depends on road conditions; if the roads are good or very good, I would expect half of these inns to close. If the roads are bad, or the dangers high, there would be enough customers seeking lodgings that both are probably viable operations – at least for the segment between the two satellites. Security is always better in the area between Hubs and satellites.

Most roads are not dead straight lines, and most people don’t go in straight lines when they go cross-country, either; terrain, danger avoidance, and other factors can have a big influence. So Case 3 is a more realistic example. The Hubs are now 7 day’s march apart, and satellite 1 is just short of 1 1/2 days distance from Hub 1. Satellite 2 is a little short of 3 days march from its hub. As it happens, both are exactly situated at inn-distances – 2 and 4 days, respectively – with another 4 days walk in between the satellites. If this is a major trade route, the number of inns shown are likely; but from about half-way from Hub Yellow to Hub Red, if that’s not the case, then it might well be every second one, because camping by the roadside is not as dangerous.

Case 4 is the most realistic and the most complicated. The first thing to notice is that there is difficult terrain indicated when the road turns north-east, and that only the very first and very last legs are at full speed. The same factors influence marching distances, of course. Satellite 1 is back to being just 1 day’s march from Hub 1 and Satellite 2 is a little more than 3 days’ march from Hub 2 – you could probably make it in three days because you wouldn’t have to set up camp on the third day, and so could march for an extra hour or two. It’s the travel time between the two satellites that has ballooned out – almost 8 days’ march or 11 1/2 day’s walk. The straight-line distance without terrain factors is about 5 3/4 day’s walk, so the complications almost double the traveling time.

Everything is consistent with having to cross a mountain pass, steeper on its western slopes than to the East. The terrain is so difficult that this is unlikely to be a major trading route, and the weather is likely to have a deleterious effect on road conditions as well. That means that outside this trouble spot, and especially to the East of it, only one in every two inns is likely to actually exist. As soon as the road bends North (in either direction), that’s likely to change, a change that will persist until the road again bends north! In particular, there is a strong case for the southernmost inn on the Hub 1 side and the one inn north of the equivalent position on the Hub 2 side – both would probably also have a general store, but the big attraction would be getting updates on the weather expected and the road/danger conditions. Everyone would stop and check in for that information!

Even there, the lack of trade route would probably eliminate one in two or even one in three inns in favor of known campsites. Maybe the two specifically mentioned and the one at the very top of the ascent, where the road turns south would be real.

All that changes if you are in a more secure part of the Kingdom. While there is less danger and so less demand for an inn as protection, there would be greater economic activity and a greater expectation of a little “luxury” (a very relative term) which would encourage every potential inn site to be developed.

Whew! What an epic journey this post has been. Next week, it’s the regularly scheduled time out. Not quite sure what the topic will be at this point!

A quick post today about GMs seeking validation plus one or more bonus topics, number depending on time.

1. Keep Your Ace Up Your Sleeve

What’s the biggest metagaming mistake you’ve ever made outside of anything approaching a plot train? Let me tell you mine.

The scenario was over, and it hadn’t gone according to plan for the PCs. They had missed vital clues and had to scramble to pull off something approaching a victory.

As the players packed up, one commented that it had seemed a lot harder than it had any right to be. I answered, “Small wonder. You missed the vital clues, ignored the opportunity to gather intelligence, let the enemy keep and use against you his greatest asset, and failed to exploit his vulnerabilities. So he escaped, but you still managed to scupper his plot, so you shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. It could have been a lot worse.”

So far, no problem. But then I expounded, “You should have done X, which would have revealed Y, which would have permitted you to do Z – and that would have given you a chance to exploit those weaknesses…” and continued along those lines for several minutes.

Basically, I was showing off how clever I had been, but also how fair, giving the players every opportunity to even the odds, mostly because I didn’t think the criticism justified.

And that was the big mistake. As I said, the villain in question had escaped – and the next time he showed up, it had all the impact of wet spaghetti. If I had kept back a few things, the players would have had ample opportunity to discover them after the fact in play or during the interval between his appearances. But they may have missed things, or misinterpreted them, and still found him a challenge the second time around. Instead, in search of a pat on the back, I spilled the beans.

I was reminded of this by a recent article that I read on the power of implication in writing, of not spelling out anything that the reader didn’t need to know in order to appreciate the plot. I’m not sure that the things that I revealed after the session were quite what the author of the article had in mind, but it came close enough to it to recall the incident.

I tend to be a fairly ‘user-friendly’ GM. I never kill PCs capriciously, and often go out of my way to give them a get-out-of-jail-free card when circumstances tie them down on the tracks in front of an oncoming (metaphoric) train – unless the players make a bone-headed decision in getting into that situation. When that happens, I’ll generally sound a couple of polite warnings – “Are you sure you want to do that?”, that kind of thing – but if they persist, all bets are off.

I make sure that there is always a way for the PCs to win, if they are clever enough to find it, and that there is a path open before them that leads them to the information necessary for them to do so. At the same time, villains will go to all kinds of lengths to camouflage their weaknesses; that path is certainly not guaranteed to be easy. But it’s there – and it’s my experience that where there’s one path to victory, there are usually several.

I work hard to remind the players of anything vital that they may have forgotten that their characters had learned, on the assumption that it was even more important to the PCs and would not have been forgotten. That’s part of the compromise necessary when you only get to run a campaign once a month, something I’ve discussed in the past.

And I never make the mistake of equating a players intelligence or experience with that of their character, and vice-versa – if there’s something the character should reasonably know, I make sure to tell the player about it – and remind them of it if / when it becomes important.

If the players make reasonable and responsible choices, if they come up with some clever plan to exploit something I had overlooked or assumed, that’s fair game – as demonstrated in my discussing another of my big mistakes My Biggest Mistakes: Magneto?s Maze ? My B.A. Felton Moment.

(I should add – at the same time, I plan months or years in advance, deliberately salting the campaign with clues to things that will become important later on, and my players tend to learn this fairly quickly – so taking notes is something someone usually takes fairly seriously).

So if I had stuck to my opening statement in response, all would have been well. The PCs, stung by their near-defeat, would have earned most of the intelligence that I gave away for free, and would therefore have valued it more – and would gleefully have used it to be far better-prepared when next the villain was confronted. They would have earned the satisfaction of taking him down a peg, even though he would be far better prepared for them the second time around. It would have been great, if not necessarily epic – but I robbed my players of that, and turned his return into a ho-hum occurrence.

I want to make it clear that (in general), I trust my players to compartmentalize player-knowledge from character knowledge, and they rarely let me down. But some bleed-over is inevitable – the player knowing what to look for makes it a lot easier to suggest ways and places to look for the right answers, for example, and even separating the two can’t wall off the emotional consequences of being handed priceless intelligence on a silver platter by as big-mouthed GM.

I still have to work hard at not falling victim to this mistake at regular intervals, but I have gotten better at keeping my Ace up my sleeve for future use. Every time I feel tempted to show off how clever I’ve been, I remind myself of how much fun the players will have discovering it for themselves (or at least I try to). Only if the villain is to be consigned to the dust heap, if the players achieved something close to a total victory despite their mistakes along the way, do I occasionally indulge myself – dotting I?s and crossing T?s to complete resolution of the adventure in the minds of the players, when it’s important to draw a line in the campaign so that they can move on.

It’s a lesson worth learning.

2. Keep the cards your NPCs can’t see face-down

Something I’ve always been fairly good at – swings and roundabouts, we all have our individual strengths and weaknesses – is being able to keep what an NPC knows separate from the bigger picture that I have as GM.

If it’s reasonable that an NPC is able to deduce something, they have a fair chance of at least suspecting it. If it’s reasonable that they know something, then they know it.

If it’s reasonable that they lack some foundation for such a deduction, and they know it, it’s reasonable that they would identify that shortcoming and do something about it – and more than one villain has tipped his hand in the process.

But, if there is no reasonable way for them to know something, they don’t know it. And that leads them to make mistakes – exploitable mistakes.

If they are the arrogant type, they can then get taken by surprise and have to scramble for a solution to the problem, a solution rooted in their preparations and resources. Desperate moves often fail to work, though occasionally one will get lucky – especially if they are fairly intelligent (see also my advice on running a Mastermind Villain).

If they are not so arrogant, but are instead the cautious and stealthy type, they may be paranoid enough to have made some general preparations that can be utilized to counter the surprise moves.

My villains are also always capable of making a mistake, or of making an incorrect assumption that leads to a mistake, or of misinterpreting something even if they have the basic facts right. Again, this is largely a function of intelligence, but they all have blind spots.

The difference between the smart ones and the not-so-smart-ones is often that the smart ones will know, or assume, that they have blind spots or have made mistakes, and will have plans to compensate.

It’s also very important to me that the villains have a defined personality, and that this personality expresses itself in their ambitions and the plans that make to accomplish those ambitions. Their way is often not the most effective or efficient road to success, it may even throw up insurmountable roadblocks, but they are who they are.

BUT, unless they have a flaw that gets in the way, they will always learn from their failures and from their successes. They will always filter their perceptions of these through that personality – and that has led some of them to “improve the wrong things” or fix things that weren’t broken – but even the most arrogant will learn something. Whether or not that something is actually helpful is a whole different question, of course!

As I said at the start, this is something that’s always come fairly naturally and easily to me; it’s not something I’ve had to work at especially hard. For a long time, I thought that being able to do this casually was a serious prerequisite for being a GM – so it surprised the heck out of me when I observed that some GMs really struggle with it.

Here’s the funny thing – if something comes naturally to you, it’s really hard to analyze and communicate what it is that you do for the benefit of someone else. Often, the best that you can do is make sure those “someone else’s” know that this is something they do have to master if it doesn’t come naturally to them.

I very much find myself in that position with this subject. I can describe it’s importance, and what the limitations are that I put on my NPCs, and how that can manifest in poor decisions, or in good ones – but beyond that, I can’t explain to someone else how to do it.

That’s not really all that satisfactory, I know, and that’s why I haven’t talked much about this in articles here – but it dovetails with the first piece of advice so strongly that it’s time to lay my cards on the table (to extend the metaphor).

So, if it’s not one of your strengths, learn how to do it. And then offer up a guest post on your solution to the problem, I’ll happily publish it!

3. Debunking Red Shift / Blue Shift

Last night, I watched a short video on what you would see at the speed of light, or approaching the speed of light, and they repeated the hoary old chestnut of everything behind you appearing red because of Red Shift and everything before you appearing bluer because of Blue Shift.

No, I’m not denying doppler shift – but I am stating outright that physicists and science fiction authors have been getting this wrong, basically forever. It’s annoying to me when it happens because the error seems so obvious to me – but I’ve never been both annoyed enough and writing a broader article at the same time, before.

Well, this time I am, so let’s dig into it.

The error lies in treating visible light as visible light – okay, maybe not quite so obvious.

As you accelerate, light from in front of you gets shortened in wavelength – blue shift – and light from behind you gets lengthened in wavelength – red shift. You can hear this happen with sound waves when a car or train passes you.

But that doesn’t mean that you stop seeing reds from in front of you, or stop seeing blues behind you. The visual spectrum remains just as wide as it ever was.

Red shift: let’s say you’re traveling fast enough that everything that was red shifts into the infrared, where we cannot see it. That doesn’t mean you stop seeing red – what was orange becomes red, what was yellow becomes orange, and so on. And, what was low ultraviolet becomes visible as blue.

Blue shift: traveling at the same speed, everything that was blue gets shifted into the ultraviolet, and can no longer be seen. Everything that was Aqua shifts into the blue, everything that was green becomes aqua, everything yellow becomes green, everything orange becomes yellow, everything red becomes orange – and the near-infrared becomes visible as Red.

We still see the full spectrum of color, regardless of whether we look before us or behind us.

What’s more, the shifts described are small enough that I doubt there’s going to be very much difference in WHAT can be seen – not yet, anyway.

If we travel fast enough, these shifts become so pronounced that the entire visible spectrum at rest gets shifted out of our visual range – but those wavelengths will get replaced by other waves that have shifted into our visible spectrum.

Here’s the electromagnetic spectrum:

And here’s the same, strongly red-shifted:

This is a 1000-fold frequency shift, And, if I blue-shift by what I think is the same ratio, I get:

Eventually, these shifts will be so pronounced that what we see will in fact be visibly different from what we’re used to. At these extremes, I would expect to see visible differences, so I went looking. Besides, extra eye-candy never hurts!

First, the Pillars Of Creation, part of the Eagle Nebula, in visible light, as captured by Hubble in 1995

And now the Infrared image, also captured by Hubble. Infrared is very useful to astronomers because these frequencies are not blocked by the gas cloud.

So, if you were heading away from the Eagle Nebula fast enough, that’s what you would see behind you.

Now, for the Blue-shift: this is the image of the Crab Nebula with which most of us will be most familiar (because it’s such a spectacular image).

The image combines 24 separate Hubble images, but the colors aren’t real, they are encoding spectrographic data identifying the different elements that were expelled during the explosion. Blue in the filaments in the outer part of the nebula represents neutral oxygen, green is singly-ionized sulfur, and red indicates doubly-ionized oxygen.

But it still looks gorgeous.

Without the false coloring, it looks like this:

(I’ve also seen it colored red). X-rays reveal the high-energy processes occurring, and also pass through any dust that might be in the way, rendering it effectively invisible:

And, just for the sake of completeness, here’s the same location in Infrared:

Note that I suspect these images are of the bright ‘core’ of the original image, not of the whole thing!

EVENTUALLY, the view in front would go dark simply because there’s nothing putting out gamma rays of sufficient frequency to be shifted into the visible spectrum.

But, if you”re ever running a sci-fi game that takes the PCs close to the speed of light, understand what they would see and get the details right!

4. Other (Possible) Cosmic Errors

This isn’t the first such thing I’ve written about. A while back, I boiled three others down into infographics.

Well, I recently saw another video in which 10 paradoxes were described, and this was one of them – but they reported that the second one had been solved, because the spacecraft was the one experiencing the G-forces associated with acceleration. Now, I’m not quite sure why that would make the difference, but it is a point of differentiation between the two. “Problem” 1 remains, so far as I know. Not that the perceptions of the pilot contradict the laws of physics, but it’s an interesting point that I haven’t seen raised anywhere else.

If you’re making the 4 light-year trip to Alpha Centauri and time dilation means that it appears to take 6 months, the pilot would perceive themselves as traveling at around 8x the speed of light.

Actually, because it would take time to accelerate to that speed, that might be a really bad example, involving G-forces sufficient to smear our pilot all over the bulkhead, but let that go; instead, realize that the need to accelerate and decelerate means that at peak, he has to be going even faster to get the total travel time down to a perceived 1/2 year, so his perceived speed would have to be even higher than 8c. A lot higher.

Moving on:

I spent a whole article on this at one point, and copped quite a bit of flack for it from someone who insisted that we would be totally ignorant of anything located outside our observable universe. But this infographic simplifies the point that I was making a great deal, hopefully making it clearer.

Finally, we have this:

The point of this infographic is that the speed of expansion measured by Edwin Hubble has been used to determine that the universe is expanding, a statement repeated so often that it is more or less taken for granted these days. And it might be – but it might not. The problem is that the closer we get to the big bang, the faster objects appear to be receding from us, and a lot of people who should know better have misstated that as “the closer we get to to the big bang, the faster objects are receding from us”.

Now, I admit that I might be totally wrong about this, and Hubble et. al. have in fact taken this into account and still get the same results – but I’ve never seen or heard anyone saying so.

Now, assuming that the visible universe is just about all there is (an assumption I know to be incorrect, and which I’ll cover in a moment), then there must be a center of gravity to the universe that is attracting everything toward it and slowing the motion down – which is why closer objects are not receding as quickly at the more recent point in time at which we are observing them. In fact, if we look only at the Local Group, space doesn’t seem to be expanding at all, so far as I can tell. Which could mean that the expansion has stopped and contraction is about to begin.

I don’t think that’s the case – it beggars my belief in the power of coincidence that we should happen to develop telescopes powerful enough to see the edge of the universe at the precise instant where expansion has stopped. All I think I can say for certain is that the question that has been considered closed by a lot of learned people might not be as definitively answered as they think.

Oh, before I move on – the reason these are 768 pixels wide is because they were originally done as just one graphic – but they were too hard to read if made any smaller. I tried, but couldn’t shrink them any more – and didn’t have the time to redo them. In fact, they’ve been sitting around on my hard drive since the fifth, of may waiting to be used!

5. A Kickstarter For Consideration: The NPC Chronicles Soundboard

I’m going to quote directly from the email that I received about this because I don’t think I can explain it any more succinctly:

The NPC Chronicles soundboard brings characters to life with hundreds of recorded dialogue segments, voiced by pro voice actors.

The software comes with eight different NPC archetypes (and counting), each of whom has sixty unique lines of dialogue that can be used individually or strung together for more complex conversations. Each and every line in the software has been written by professional scriptwriters and performed by professional voice actors to create a coherent NPC archetype that’s engaging, nuanced, and memorable! Its easy to use, and fully customizable so you can add your own sounds and dialogue into it as well!

It’s great for DMs who want to add more flavor or depth to their NPCs. It is also hugely helpful for players with disabilities – anyone with a speech impediment, physical limitations, or social anxiety, can use the soundboard to help bring their voice to the table.

Link: NPC Chronicles

As I write this, there are 53 days to go and they have only reached AU$1888 of the AU$8926 goal (I suspect both numbers have been converted by Kickstarter from some other currency, probably Euros to judge from the prices quoted to back it).’

The basic level is €16, which is about AUD$29, about USD 18.65, and about 13.85 Pounds Sterling. That gets you the soundboard, a lifetime license and all future updates, and of course, any stretch goals.

That’s described as being 50% of what they intend to charge retail if the project succeeds in getting funded.

The next backer tier up costs €33, gets your name in the credits section (not that important) but also gets you the right to vote on stretch goals for additional NPCs.

Higher tiers offer 50% if Tabletopy soundboard immediately – this was the result of a similar Kickstarter run three years ago, with, they say, thousands of satisfied users – and a custom dialogue of up to 30 seconds recorded by the Voice actor (that last one is a little pricey, though).

The final thing to note about this campaign is the expected delivery date – October 2025. Fifty-three days from now is October 1 – so they expect to be able to deliver almost immediately if the campaign succeeds.

There is a lot more that could be said about it, but at this point, I think you should head to the link above if you’re interested and check it out for yourselves.

And, that’s a wrap! Next week, I hope to bring you the next part of the Trade In Fantasy series – it’s almost finished, but I have taken advantage of this extra week to add another quartet of diagrams and the text that goes with them…

While working on the subject of population and its distribution, I stumbled onto a method of using a Realm’s economics for worldbuilding and history generation. Originally subordinated to the main thread, I’ve decided to break it out into it’s own post. Note that the unfinished part that’s been set aside for the next post is already slightly larger in wordcount than this one (but it is almost finished)!

Table Of Contents

In part 1:

Chapter 5: Land Transport

5.1 Distance, Time, & Detriments

5.1.1 Time Vs Distance
5.1.2 Defining a terrain / region / locality

     5.1.2.1 Road Quality: An introductory mention

5.2 Terrain

5.2.0 Terrain Factor
5.2.1 % Distance
5.2.2 Good Roads
5.2.3 Bad Roads
5.2.4 Even Ground
5.2.5 Broken Ground
5.2.5 Marshlands
5.2.7 Swamplands
5.2.8 Woodlands
5.2.9 Forests
5.2.10 Rolling Hills
5.2.11 Mountain Slopes
5.2.12 Mountain Passes
5.2.13 Deserts
5.2.14 Exotic Terrain
5.2.15 Road Quality
     5.2.15.1 The four-tier system
     5.2.15.2 The five-tier system
     5.2.15.3 The eight-tier system
     5.2.15.4 The ten-tier system

5.2.16 Rivers & Other Waterways
     5.2.16.1 Fords
     5.2.16.2 Bridges
     5.2.16.3 Tolls
     5.2.16.4 Ferries
     5.2.16.5 Portage & Other Solutions

In Part 2:

5.3 Weather

5.3.1 Seasonal Trend
5.3.2 Broad Variations
5.3.3 Narrow Variations
     5.3.3.1 Every 2nd month?
     5.3.3.2 Transition Months
     5.3.3.3 Adding a little randomness: 1/2 length variations
     5.3.3.4 Adding a little randomness: 1 1./2-, 2-, and 2 1/2-length variations

5.3.4 Maintaining The Average
     5.3.4.1 Correction Timing
          5.3.4.1.1 Off-cycle corrections
          5.3.4.1.2 Oppositional Corrections
          5.3.4.1.3 Adjacent corrections
          5.3.4.1.4 Hangover corrections

     5.3.4.2 Correction Duration
          5.3.4.2.1 Distributed corrections: 12 months
               5.3.4.2.1.1 Even Distribution
               5.3.4.2.1.2 Random Distribution
               5.3.4.2.1.3 Weighted Random Distribution

          5.3.4.2.2 Distributed corrections: 6 months
          5.3.4.2.3 Distributed corrections: 3 months
          5.3.4.2.4 Slow Corrections (2 months)
          5.3.4.2.5 Normal corrections: 1 month
          5.3.4.2.6 Fast corrections: 1/2 month (2 weeks)
          5.3.4.2.7 Catastrophic corrections 1/4 month (1 week)

     5.4.4.3 Maintaining Synchronization
     5.4.4.4 Multiple Correction Layers

5.4 Losses & Hazards
5.5 Expenses – as Terrain Factors
5.6 Expenses – as aspects of Politics

Today

5.7 Inns, Castles, & Strongholds

5.7.1 Strongholds
     5.7.1.1 Overall Military Strength
          5.7.1.1.1 Naval Strength
          5.7.1.1.2 Exotic Strength
          5.7.1.1.3 Adjusted Military Strength

     5.7.1.2 Mobility
          5.7.1.2.1 Roads
          5.7.1.2.2 Cross-country

     5.7.1.3 Kingdom Size and Capital Location
     5.7.1.4 Borders
     5.7.1.5 Terrain
     5.7.1.6 Internal Threat
     5.7.1.7 Priority
     5.7.1.8 Threat Level
     5.7.1.9 Zones
          5.7.1.9.1 Abstract Zones
          5.7.1.9.2 Applied Considerations
               5.7.1.9.2.1 Sidebar: Why do it this way?

          5.7.1.9.3 Preliminary Zones, Zomania

     5.7.1.10 Kingdom Wealth
          5.7.1.10.1 Legacy Defenses
          5.7.1.10.2 Military Training
          5.7.1.10.3 Disaster Relief
          5.7.1.10.4 Religion
          5.7.1.10.5 Magic
          5.7.1.10.6 Tools
          5.7.1.10.7 Entertainment
          5.7.1.10.8 Resource Development
          5.7.1.10.9 A Hypothetical Disaster
          5.7.1.10.10 Housing & Funding Boosts
          5.7.1.10.11 Food
          5.7.1.10.12 Diplomacy
          5.7.1.10.13 Trade
          5.7.1.10.14 Education
          5.7.1.10.15 Transport (Road Maintenance)
          5.7.1.10.16 The Impact On Population

     5.7.1.11 Military Need: Theoretical Scenario 2

Next Time (work in progress):

     5.7.1.12 Stronghold Density
     5.7.1.13 Zone Size
     5.7.1.14 Base Area Protected per Stronghold
          5.7.1.14.1 The Distance between defensive centers
          5.7.1.14.2 The relationship between defensive patterns
          5.7.1.14.3 The shape of the defensive pattern
          5.7.1.14.4 What is 100% coverage, anyway?
          5.7.1.14.5 Calculating Area Protected
               5.7.14.5.1 Three Satellite
               5.7.14.5.2 Four-Satellite

          5.7.1.14.6 Configuration Choice(s)
          5.7.1.14.7 The Impact On Roads
          5.7.1.14.8 The Impact on populations

     5.7.1.15 Economic Adjustments
     5.7.1.16 Border Adjustments
     5.7.1.17 Historical vs Contemporary Structures
     5.7.1.18 Fixed Forces
     5.7.1.19 Mobile Forces
     5.7.1.20 Reserves
     5.7.1.21 Zone and Kingdom Totals

5.7.2 Castles
5.7.3 Inns

5.8 Villages, Towns, & Cities

5.8.1 Villages
     5.8.1.1 Village Frequency
     5.8.1.2 Village Initial Size
     5.8.1.3 The Generic Village

5.8.2 Towns
     5.8.2.1 Towns Frequency
     5.8.2.2 Town Initial Size
     5.8.2.3 The Generic Town

5.8.3 Cities
     5.8.2.2 Small City Frequency
     5.8.2.3 Small City Size
     5.8.2.4 Size Of The Capital
     5.8.2.5 Large City Frequency
     5.8.2.6 Large City Size

5.8.4 Economic Factors, Simplified
     5.8.4.1 Trade Routes & Connections
     5.8.4.2 Local Industry
     5.8.4.3 Military Significance
     5.8.4.4 Scenery & History
     5.8.4.5 Other Economic Modifiers
     5.8.4.6 Up-scaled Villages
     5.8.4.7 Up-scaled Towns
     5.8.4.8 Up-scaled Small Cities
     5.8.4.9 Upscaling The Capital & Large Cities

In future parts of this chapter

5.8.5 Overall Population
     5.8.5.1 Realm Size
     5.8.5.2 % Wilderness
     5.8.5.3 % Fertile
     5.8.5.4 % Good
     5.8.5.5 % Mediocre
     5.8.5.6 % Poor
     5.8.5.7 % Dire
     5.8.5.8 % Wasteland
     5.8.5.9 Net Agricultural Capacity

     5.8.5.10 Misadventures, Disasters, and Calamities
     5.8.5.11 Birth Rate per year
     5.8.5.12 Mortality
          5.8.5.12.1 Infant Mortality
          5.8.5.12.2 Child Mortality
          5.8.5.12.3 Teen Mortality
          5.8.5.12.4 Youth Mortality
          5.8.5.12.5 Adult Mortality
          5.8.5.12.6 Senior Mortality
          5.8.5.12.7 Elderly Mortality
          5.8.5.12.8 Venerable Mortality
          5.8.5.12.9 Net Mortality

     5.8.5.13 Net Population

5.8.6 Population Distribution
     5.8.6.1 The Roaming Population
     5.8.6.2 The Capital
     5.8.6.3 The Cities
     5.8.6.4 Number of Towns
     5.8.6.5 Number of Villages
     5.8.6.6 Hypothetical Population
     5.8.6.7 The Realm Factor
     5.8.6.8 True Village Size
     5.8.6.9 True Town Size
     5.8.6.10 Adjusted City Size
     5.8.6.11 Adjusted Capital Size

5.8.7 Population Centers On The Fly
     5.8.7.1 Total Population Centers
     5.8.7.2 The Distribution Table
     5.8.7.3 The Cities
     5.8.7.4 Village or Town?
     5.8.7.5 Size Bias
          5.8.7.5.1 Economic Bias
          5.8.7.5.2 Fertility Bias
          5.8.7.5.3 Military Personnel
          5.8.7.5.4 The Net Bias

     5.8.7.6 The Die Roll
     5.8.7.7 Applying Net Bias
     5.8.7.8 Applying The Realm Factor
     5.8.7.9 The True Size
          5.8.7.9.1 Justifying The Size
          5.8.7.9.2 The Implications

5.9 Compiled Trade Routes

5.9.1 National Legs
5.9.2 Sub-Legs
5.9.3 Compounding Terrain Factors
5.9.4 Compounding Weather Factors
5.9.5 Compounding Expenses
5.9.6 Compounding Losses
5.9.7 Compounding Profits
5.9.8 Other Expenses
5.9.9 Net Profit

5.10 Time
5.11 Exotic Transport

And, In future chapters:

6. Waterborne Transport
7. Spoilage
8. Key Personnel
9. The Journey
10. Arrival
11. Journey’s End
12. Adventures En Route

5.7 Inns, Castles, & Strongholds

I’ve drawn a lot of inspiration from a game supplement that I downloaded many years ago, but it suffered from some profound flaws, not least of which being that you had to determine the total population of a kingdom or realm with little or no support from their system. Once you had done so, everything else fell out of the system in a fairly straightforward manner – so many villages of this size, so many towns of that, so many cities, and so on. Everything but where to put them, and what size the town over the next hill was going to be.

The intention is to do things a little better. No, a lot better. I want GMs to be able to work out what the population should be, taking everything possible into account. I then want to use a simplified version of the process from that game supplement that works to determine the distribution of that population. And then, a system that doesn’t require you to have placed all of these on a map, that lets the GM determine exactly what size the community over the next hill is going to be, taking into account all the relevant factors, so that the whole process is sandboxed, and a map can be built up over time and travels from A to B by the PCs.

A lot of systems that I have seen take the village size and work out what the reasons are. That can be a stimulus to the imagination, but this system will let the GM decide the relevant facts and from them, the consequences, assigning meaning to the size of a community – and telling him exactly what goods and services the PCs are likely to find.

Because of this layered approach, if your game world is different in some way, you can build in any variations that you need and see what the consequences and implications are, instead of making ad-hoc assumptions, plucking critical numbers out of thin air, and getting hamstrung when those numbers turn out to be wrong, requiring you to go back to square one repeatedly.

My method may seem like a lot more work – but it’s actually a shortcut direct to meaningful results.

And it starts here, by looking at three types of infrastructure component that are so dependent on factors outside basic population that they will tie you in knots if you try to make them dependent on settlement size. Instead, we’ll allocate them and use them as factors contributing to settlement size.

5.7.1 Strongholds

What is a stronghold? It’s a fortified point, basically. That fortification extends beyond local defenses; it’s all about the ability to project military power over an area. It could be a tower, a fort, an outpost, or anything else short of a full-blown castle.

These are expensive to build – the crown has to pay for them, and has to pay the soldiers to man them, and has to equip those soldiers and make sure that they are fed and their needs met.

Two things decide how many of them there are: economics and need. Economics, because – as I said – they have to be paid for, and need, because you don’t want to pay for any that aren’t needed. Things get interesting when one or both factors have changed over time, because in a Fantasy Game, these things tend to last until forcibly removed from the landscape.

So we’re looking at answering the question of how militarily secure a kingdom or other fantasy realm is – I’ll just use Kingdom for short. The answer is defined in terms of time – how long it will take a military force to leave the stronghold and travel to the trouble spot.

So Mobility is going to be a key factor. And Terrain. And History. And Priority, because no Kingdom can ever afford to be as secure as they would ideally like to be. And Military Capability, and how much of that capability is held in Reserves.

Why keep any of it in Reserves? Because the one reserve force can be dispatched to many possible locations at need, in whole or in part. The Military effectiveness of the reserves is therefore multiplied by the number of strongholds they can reinforce, and that permits the on-station personnel to be reduced in number – and therefore to cut expense, which frees money up to be spent elsewhere.

What’s more, it’s not going to be uniform throughout the Kingdom. There’s an inner core that’s going to be relatively strongly held, there’s a Zone around that which will be only weakly held, and a zone around that which is a little more variable – in some places it will be even weaker, in others it can be as strong as the central core or stronger.

And these zones are going to be subdivided according to threat level. If the Kingdom has been at peace with a neighbor for a long time, with a relatively stable border, there will be a downgrading of military need in the nearby parts of the kingdom; and if there’s a history of invasion, or uncivilized wilds abut the Kingdom, all sorts of things can come out of the undergrowth without warning, which will increase the military need.

It also has to be remembered that most armies are conscripted from the locals at hand. Standing armies are kept as small as possible, because everyone serving in a standing army is not being productive in any other area – they aren’t growing food or functioning economically except as a source of income, redistributing wealth from the crown (acquired in the form of taxes) to the professionals in the middle class, and from them to the people providing the fundamental resources – the lowest tier of society, the farmers, loggers, and miners.

If the Kingdom has expanded, historically, there may be several such rings. If the Kingdom is a significant naval power, the central core might be on the coast or it might be in a heartland a long way removed from it; if they aren’t, then the heartland is the only answer. If the Kingdom has contracted, then one or more of these zones may have been shed, in whole or in part, and now lie outside its boundaries, held by someone else.

Are you starting to get a handle on just how complicated all this can get?

Fortunately, we can keep it all fairly abstract at the moment – the key outcome that we want is the percentage of the population who serve in the military in each of these zones.

5.7.1.1 Overall Military Strength

Give the Kingdom a rating out of 5. Use a single decimal place if you feel the need to nuance it just a little. Higher is stronger. After various things are done to this value, it will get divided by ten to become a percentage.

5.7.1.1.1 Naval Strength

Give the naval strength of the Kingdom a rating out of five, higher is stronger. Don’t fret if the rating you assign is higher than the overall, but bear in mind that the higher this value is, the more of the overall value will be deemed to derive from it.

5.7.1.1.2 Exotic Strength

In a fantasy world, there are other sources of military strength. In essence, though, this comes down to Mages, Clerics, and Magical equipment within the military. Give the Kingdom a rating out of 5 for these factors in combination.

5.7.1.1.3 Adjusted Military Strength

As a general rule, 30% of the overall military rating will come from the naval power and 70% from ground troops. In some cases, that may vary.

However, the Naval strength gets boosted by 30% of the exotic strength rating – they don’t get the full amount because there’s limits to how useful they are at a naval level. And the overall military strength gets multiplied by the other half.

     AMS1 = [OMS × ES / 2] – [NS + (ES/2)] × 0.3

but we also need to take the Exotic strength back out of the result so that we are left with a measure directly related to manpower.

     AMS2 = AMS1 × 2 / ES

Let’s plug in some numbers as examples:

     OMS = 3.5 ES = 2 NS = 2
     AMS1 = [OMS × ES / 2] – [NS + (ES/2)] × 0.3
     = [3.5 × 2 / 2] – [2 + (2/2)] × 0.3
     = 3.5 – 3 × 0.3
     = 3.5 – 0.9 = 2.6
     AMS2 = AMS1 × 2 / ES
     = 2.6 × 2 / 2 = 2.6

     OMS = 3.5 ES = 3 NS = 4
     AMS1 = [OMS × ES / 2] – [NS + (ES/2)] × 0.3
     = [3.5 × 3 / 2] – [4 + (3/2)] × 0.3
     = [3.5 × 1.5] – [4 + 1.5] × 0.3
     = 5.25 – 5.5 × 0.3
     = 5.25 – 1.65 = 3.6
     AMS2 = AMS1 × 2 / ES
     = 3.6 × 2 / 3
     = 7.2 / 3 = 2.4

     OMS = 3.5 ES = 4 NS = 2
     AMS1 = [OMS × ES / 2] – [NS + (ES/2)] × 0.3
     = [3.5 × 4/2] – [2 + (4/2)] × 0.3
     = [3.5 × 2] – [2 + 2] × 0.3
     = 7 – 4 × 0.3
     = 7 – 1.2 = 5.8
     AMS2 = AMS1 × 2 / ES
     = 5.8 × 2 / 4
     = 5.8 / 2
     = 2.9

AMS1 is the overall effective strength of the army, cavalry, etc – the land forces – and AMS2 is how much of that comes from the number of men in service.

It’s important also to note that the use of magic is a force multiplier, just the same as the use of advanced technology. Other Force Multipliers will arise in the course of this examination, and they have to be treated the same way – they mean that individual soldiers have a disproportionate impact on the battlefield.

5.7.1.2 Mobility

Mobility is a key factor identified in the subsection introduction. It, too, is a force multiplier – but because it can be <1, under some circumstances, it actually reduces combat effectiveness.

At this point, because they have different mobilities, we also need to distinguish branches of the military – cavalry etc vs infantry. Every military installation will have a mixture – both branches can range from 0% to 100%, but ratios of 1 cavalry unit to every 5, 10, or 20 infantry are quite common at the low end for mobile forces and 5, 6, 7, or 8 to every 4 infantry units at the high end.

The exact mix in any given installation is going to vary. A military unit’s strength gets divided by the ‘Distance in days of travel’ to get their ability to project power; the larger the area that a given installation has to protect, the more they will lean on cavalry because they are inherently more mobile.

An infantry unit projects it’s full power for 1 day’s travel outwards, then 1/2 at 2 days, 1/3 at 3 days, 1/4 at 4 days, and so on. If you add up that series, you get an ultimate total of infinity, which is of no use to us, but there’s a practical consideration here – just how far are the military units required to be able to project power? That sets an upper limit to the number of terms, and hence the overall effectiveness.

A cavalry unit projects it’s full power for 3 day’s travel outwards, then 1/2 at 5 days, 1/4 at 7 days, and 1/8 at 10 days. At 14 days travel, the strength is 1/16th. But, again, there’s a practical limit – in this case, because cavalry units are expensive in every way, 7 days from the place where they are based is an absolute practical limit; beyond that, it gets cheaper to set up a new defensive installation and divide the cavalry units between the two.

Cavalry moves at about 3 times the speed of infantry, so if we assume the same limit to projection of power, we get 21 days travel as an absolute limit – but again, that’s massively inefficient. At 1/21 power, the benefit that they can bring to bear on a problem is essentially nil. It’s far more reasonable to look at the 1/4 of cavalry and use that as the basis of reasonable estimates of infantry expectations. 1/5 isn’t that much smaller than 1/4 – it’s 0.05 – but 1/6 is more significant at 0.08333333. So I would, on that basis, use the 7 days number, where the difference tops 0.1 for the first time.

     Infantry: 1 + 1/2 + 1/3 + 1/4 + 1/5 + 1/6 + 1/7 = 2.593.
(Probably more precision than necessary).

     Cavalry: 1 + 1 + 1 + 1/2 + 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/4 = 4.5.

Mobility is a force multiplier.

If a given installation is 70% infantry and 30% cavalry – not at all unreasonable – and it starts at the average military strength (AMS2) of 2.9, as per the third example earlier, then:

     2.9 × 70% × 2.593 = infantry strength = 5.26379
     2.9 × 30% × 4.5 = cavalry strength = 3.915

     Total strength of installation: (5.26379 + 3.915) × ES/2
     = 9.17879 × 4 / 2 = 18.35758

What does this mean? That for the given mixture of forces, 7:3 infantry-to-cavalry, their effectiveness is that of a force 18.36 times the size. Does that seem reasonable?

Well, let’s see. ES =4, which means that there’s a lot of use of magic on the battlefield, and low-level magic weapons are likely to be standard issue. So, 3 cavalry, 7 infantry, 1 mage and 1 cleric, all with + 1 weapons ( + 2 in some cases maybe) and + 1 armor. Would that be the equivalent of 18 ordinary people with ordinary swords and armor and no magic – with a little bit left over? As a GM, I would expect the military group to win easily, given any level of military training and/or experience. But they would take injuries, maybe even losses, in the process. Take away that training / experience, and they would probably still win – but losses would be higher, and it wouldn’t be quite as certain. Give the 18 a defensive position, and the balance of probabilities shifts in the other direction – probably enough to make it a 50-50 battle. So yes, given what we’ve taken into account thus far, this seems reasonable.

But here’s the thing: We aren’t looking for the military effectiveness; we want to make the force as small as possible in order to achieve the defined overall effectiveness of – in this example – 2.9.

So we want to scale the 2.9 back, not project it forward.

     AMS3I (I for infantry) = 2.9 / 2.593 = 1.1184
     AMS3C (C for cavalry) = 2.9 / 4.5 = 0.6444
     AMS3T (T for total) = 1.1184 + 0.6444 = 1.7628.

That means that for the territory it protects to be protected to a strength of 2.9, we only need a strength of.1.7628. As implied earlier, these values are in tenths of a percentage point, so 0.17628% of the population within the protected area serve in this hypothetical installation.

So far.

5.7.1.2.1 Roads

Good roads benefit both infantry and cavalry, doubling the area they can protect at the same strength. Which means that in areas where the roads are good, you only need 1/2 as many fortifications.

5.7.1.2.2 Cross-country

Cross-country doesn’t bother cavalry too much but distresses infantry slightly – depending on the nature of the terrain. Other terrains have the opposite effect. Since we haven’t dealt with terrain yet, this might seem a complicating factor – but it’s not so. By definition, there are only the two, and if roads are adding a modifier, then cross-country must be what we’ve already defined. So, no problem at all – unless the terrain itself is a factor, something that I’ll get to in due course.

5.7.1.3 Kingdom Size and Capital Location

Draw a simple freehand map of the Kingdom on a piece of paper. Do it fast, but be reasonably accurate; there’s a lot of leeway, here. Which sides are flatter – the top & bottom or the left & right? Whichever one it is, that’s your baseline.

Draw boxes parallel to the baseline to a height or width such that as much of the kingdom on the line of that box is inside the box as it is outside.

How many boxes you do is up to you, but repeat until you’ve done the entire Kingdom.

Use the map scale to estimate the area of each box. Add those up to get an approximate total area for the kingdom – we’ll need it later.

Finally, make a critical decision: where do you want the Historical Capital to be? This may not be the capital any more, another city may have usurped it’s primacy, but everything we’re doing in this section is based on the historical, so we use the old capital.

Let me show you some examples:



Here are two examples. The first one shows more of the working. I set the height of the boxes by eye to be roughly one scale division since the scale is 10 miles. This map used 6 rows – the more rows you use, the more accurate your estimate of area, but 6 is enough for a reasonable estimate. The blue boxes are positioned and given widths so that the area inside the borders but outside the boxes is roughly equal to the area outside the borders but inside the boxes. It’s not quite perfect – rows 2, 3, and 4 don’t have quite enough red, and neither does row 6. Blue is extra area, so if there’s too much of it, it means the estimate will be a little high. The total I came up with for this example was 2857 square miles. The correct number is probably closer to 2845 or 2840. Still, that’s an error of 0.42% – I’m not fussed.

The second example has only 1 box that doesn’t look quite right, box 3 doesn’t have enough red. So I’d round the area calculated down to 4000 square miles (even though the true area is likely to be more like 3980 sq m) and live with the error of 0.5%.

Of course, if I were doing this in real life, I’d draw two vertical lines, use a ruler to measure the division lengths and mark them on the ruled lines, then draw my box top and bottoms by using the marks. That would also give me the conversion to go from a width measured with the ruler to an accurate box size, so the results would be a lot more accurate – and probably a lot faster..That means that you wouldn’t have the horizontal division marks that the examples show, leaving the map suitable for the next steps.

So, to capital placement. You have to presume that there’s going to be a reason for it – usually a combination of security from the terrain, fresh water supply, and good food capacity close at hand. Just look at where the ancient civilizations had their capitals, and this pattern recurs time and time again.

In the case of Zomania, the example kingdom I offered up in part 1, place I was thinking for the capital is midway between distance markers 100 and 120, where the northeastern road connects with the southeastern road. That’s a short distance from the coast, 10-15 miles or so.

Zomania works out at 14460 sqr miles for the mainland and 1540 sqr miles for the island, a grand total of 16000 square miles. And no, despite that being such a nice, round, number, I did not aim for that result!!

5.7.1.4 Borders

When I say borders in the heading, I don’t mean what the borders are for the Kingdom under discussion; I mean where the borders with each specific other nation end. The average number of borders is with 2.7-2.8 nations. The median is 2 or 3 – disputed territories and other complications make it hard to be precise – but I’m going to go with 3. That means that there are as many countries that have fewer than 3 neighbors as have more. The upper limit is for BIG countries like China and Russia, both of whom have 14 neighbors.

So small countries are likely to have 1-3 neighbors, medium countries 2-4 neighbors, large countries 3-6 neighbors, and very large countries, 4-15 neighbors.

Small = up to Cyprus or Lebanon – around 10,000 square km or smaller (3861 sqr miles).
Medium = 10K – 100K square km (3861-38610 sqr miles) – typical examples would be South Korea and Portugal.
Large = 100K – 1M square km (38610 – 386K sqr miles) – typical examples would be Japan and Germany.
Very Large is anything bigger than 1M square km in size. There’s a long list of these, including Mauritania, Colombia, Bolivia, Ethiopia, South Africa, and Peru, to name just a few.

These would, arguably, be far less common in a Fantasy environment than they are in ours. They are probably Empires, not individual kingdoms, if there is anything that size.

Below, I’ve marked the map of Zomania with the capital and borders with 4 neighbors.



Side-note: Color selection for the borders was a pain, because I had used so many colors in the textured map. I would have had more choices if I had used the outline map shown for the size illustration. It will be useful in the long run, but this is something that you really need to think about from pixel one of making a map, and I didn’t.

So border #1 is at the top in purple. border #2 is hard to see, it’s in yellow, and lies on top of the south-easterly road and the terrain around it. Border #3 is more of a burgundy color, deeper than the red used in the roads, and it goes to the south-eastern corner of the Kingdom and a little beyond. I was strongly tempted to extend it to include the road to the southeast, but – thinking ahead – decided that not doing so would permit me to illustrate a more ‘international’ trade pattern. Then, the last border runs along the eastern edge of the kingdom and encompasses two major roads across the border. The other thing that I thought about was actually splitting this in two, so that I didn’t have two roads into the same neighboring kingdom, but there was nothing to be gained from doing so in this case – because one road into a kingdom was already well served with the purple and yellow borders; two roads into the same kingdom raises questions about efficiency and routing, and I again thought that might be useful later on. If I were generating this Kingdom for actual use in an RPG, I would almost certainly have split the border in two half-way up that eastern edge.

The other thing to discuss before I move on is, where is the tricorner? Where does one border end and the next begin? I’ve always been fascinated by borders and stories of how states and countries got their shapes, and that was heavily on my mind. Let’s briefly run through the options:

▪ Natural Borders – a lot of borders follow rivers and other geographic features.
▪ Climatic differences – because these demand different land use and human habitats, it’s convenient to make them different administrations and cultures.
▪ Parallel to or in line with, existing borders.
▪ Connecting to, or containing, landmarks.
▪ Laziness & Convenience – you see this a lot if you look at what my Pulp Co-GM refers to as “the Ruler States” in the US. These follow lines of latitude or longitude and are entirely artificial – and usually reference one of the other border influences.
▪ Past history – the final ingredient. Kingdoms don’t grow outwards uniformly; it’s a bit here and then a bit there and then a bit somewhere else, meaning that growth tends to create tendrils and blobby protrusions. When the time comes to clean things up and formalize them, if you control the territory on both sides of a geographic feature, it’s easy to draw a line between the outer edges and lay claim to everything in between.

That list, of course, barely scratches the surface. It makes no mention of surveying error – but that’s a key thing in real life. If you look at a map of Australia, the border with Western Australia looks like a straight line:



Map by Richard Russell & Dominic Dwyer, CC0 v 1.0 public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

But when you zoom in on Google Maps to the tricorner, you find this:



Map derived from Google Maps, edited by Mike; derivative work, copyright remains with Google.

Two teams set off from opposite sides of the continent, one headed north and one south, both on the exact latitude line – or so they thought. The plan was to meet in the middle. When they actually did so, they found that the northern team’s starting point had been about 110m west of where the southern team though it should be. When the Northern Territory was created, about a decade later, the border was run east-west along the same line as the ‘correction point’ where the two teams ‘met’.

This sort of thing goes on all the time in establishing borders, and sometimes leads to conflict and disputed territorial claims. Some compromise is usually reached in the end, but it was not at all uncommon for a grant of land to contain inherent contradictions because of false assumptions. See, for example, Border Irregularities of the United States.

5.7.1.5 Terrain

Draw rough outlines of the different terrains on the map. Be fairly discriminating; the concept is that different land use will result from different terrains and that each will have its own challenges, resources, and priorities, which are better handled by making each separate subdomains within the Kingdom. And it helps when doing a breakdown of the different terrains within the Kingdom, something that we’ll do later. Pay particular attention to anywhere that the boundaries between three types of terrain grow close to each other; this is a natural line of division between the two, usually on a north-south or east-west line, but sometimes at 45° from a natural feature.

5.7.1.6 Internal Threat

It’s also time to start thinking about the internal politics, and in particular anywhere that is going to be a natural ground for bandits to hole up because the terrain makes it difficult to police.

On top of that, you don’t want any resource to be the exclusive domain of one administrative sub-region within the Kingdom, because doing so means that any dispute with that administration denies that resource to the Kingdom. Split it two ways and you gain a lot more security from internal threats.

And, on top of that again, and under this heading, cultural, social, and religious clustering – which can lead to other sources of internal conflict in the Kingdom – can demand different administration and sub-domains. When you dig into the early history of the US, this shows up as a strong factor – lots of Germans settle in one part of the country, lots of Greeks in another, Quakers here and Protestants there and what have you. These people want to be administered by someone who accepts their point of view in any conflict that arises, demanding different sub-regional authority.

Past cases of insurrection and rebellion are also a historical factor that applies under this heading.

5.7.1.7 Priority

As with the terrain, is there anywhere where the natural resources are going to demand different priorities of the administration that runs the local area? For example, where there is a coast, there will be a long coastal fringe separating communities that are maritime / fishing in priority from inland, where crop cultivation is the priority.

But this consideration also deals with the historical growth of the Kingdom, as described earlier. While ego and ambition can lead Kingdoms to claim territory that they don’t actually control yet, administrative efficiency is highest when each sub-domain has rough economic parity. That means that surrounding the historic Capital (which, as noted earlier, might not be the contemporary capital). sub-domains will be smaller, older, and wealthier, while those at the fringes will be larger, younger, and (generally), poorer.

5.7.1.8 Threat Level

I’ve talked about internal threats – this factor deals with external threats, even those posed by supposedly friendly countries. This factor deals with the potential for outside threats. The need for a timely response to any external threats demands separate political sub-domains so that the (hopefully temporary) fall of one does not imperial the entire Kingdom.

Where there are natural barriers to external threat, sub-domains tend to be larger; where there is an open pathway – where roads cross international borders, for example, or a river flows from one country into another, it makes them smaller.

5.7.1.9 Zones

With all this in mind as the forces that shape them, it’s time to carve the Kingdom up into the highest level of sub-domains. The first major decision is how many of them there should be; but I prefer not to look at that; just count them at the end. Instead, thinking about the different factors listed, drawing lines of separation – internal boundaries and borders – defines these areas.

Overall kingdom size is also clearly a factor. A sub-domain is all about the projection of power from the central position to a number of smaller sub-sub-domains, which in turn exert authority and project power over the actual lands.



5.7.1.9.1 Abstract Zones

In pure theory, at the limits of power projection for the central zone around C1, this illustrates the way things generally look. This has four lobes of sub-sub-districts, each with a fortification at a range that C1 can reinforce it – and they can all reinforce C1. What’s more, a problem at certain points can be resolved by one lobe with a second proving assistance – there is an overlap.



If you think about multiple such zones, you find that there are either gaps that are not well administered – generally, a no-no – or there is a projection of power overlap between C1 and its neighbor. Probably oriented 45° relative to this zone, part of one of its zones would then overlap with both Lobes 1 and 2.

This creates a network in which each interior division of the Kingdom can be reinforced in the event of trouble by its neighbors, who can then be reinforced by their neighbors, and so on – greatly reducing the need for a standing army for defense. If you happen to have such an army, it is therefore freed up for military adventures abroad, conquering new realms for you.

5.7.1.9.2 Applied Considerations


Taking terrain and other such factors into consideration distorts the shape, as can be seen by the second illustration. We now have 5 lobes and not 4, for a start.

Lobe 1 is essentially unchanged.

Lobe 5 is similar in shape but projects further because there’s a road through friendly territory.

Lobe 2 is flattened toward C1 by the presence of swamp; it’s hard to project power through that terrain, you have to go around it.

Lobe 3 projects out into the gap between swamp and forest, but angled along the edge of the forest, indicating that the forest is more economically important than the swamp. It’s also a lot smaller than Lobe 2, indicating that the forest is largely untamed, and so poses a greater threat to C1 than the swamp does.

Lobe 4 is both extended outward and bent by the presence of a road that crosses a border into friendly but potentially hostile territory. Because all the threats are to the South, East, or Southeast, C1 itself has moved a little in those directions to enable it to respond to trouble more expeditiously.

But this is still abstract theory. In reality, lobes are less likely to be round; they could be square, triangular, hexagonal, and all manner of strange and complicated shape, because of all these distortions.

It should also be noted that zones are frequently tugged in both directions at the same time by different influences. The stronger factor will always win out in the end, but be diminished somewhat by the contradictions.

5.7.1.9.2.1 Sidebar: Why do it this way?

I’m sure someone is asking that very question at this point. There are lots of answers that will become evident as I use the Zones concept through the course of this chapter, but I thought a higher-level discussion would clarify matters in the meantime.

In response to that question, I invite the reader to contemplate the geography of Egypt. You’ve got the Nile River (densely populated), especially the delta, you’ve got the coast (slightly less densely populated), and you’ve got the desert. Before you can contemplate the total population, let alone the distribution of that population, you need to consider the carrying capacity of the land, i.e. how many people it will support.

Now contemplate a fantasy realm with mountain chains to the east and south. Are these like the alps? Or the Himalayas? What is the carrying capacity? In the regions adjacent to the mountains? “Aha”, you cry, “it depends on the climate!” And so it does – but the overall climate is the same there as in the fertile lowlands. Medieval France, Britain and Germany all had very different carrying capacities – which one does this fantasy Kingdom more closely resemble? Or is it a bit of all three, in different parts – at least in this respect?

You need to subdivide so that you can apply local factors and considerations, locally.

5.7.1.9.3 Preliminary Zones, Zomania

Keeping all that in the back of my mind, as well as the influences mentioned earlier but not taken into account It’s also worth pointing out that, as said, borders often follow natural features, but most of these have not yet been placed on the map; what usually happens is that you place them and then take them into account. What I’m doing here is interpreting that relationship the other way around, using borders to indicate where some of those terrain features are going to be.



I’ve numbered them in sequence of their capture / conquest – there turned out to be rather more than I was expecting, but that’s okay. If you follow the numbers in sequence, you start to get a feel for the history of the Kingdom, but I won’t go into that yet, it’s not relevant. Analyzing the groupings, sizing, and numbering, it’s clear that the Kingdom is mostly at peace with their Eastern neighbors, somewhat less so to the southwest, and very much less so to the Northwest.

Why would I prefer fewer zones? Because each one has to be appraised and assessed individually. Fewer zones means less work – and faster preparation of these posts.

So, for that reason, I’ve gone back in and merged a number of the zones.



You’ll notice that this consolidation could have gone a LOT further than I have taken it, and that the numbering seems to skip around a bit more in this latest iteration of the map. That’s because of the emerging history of the place.

▪ Initially, it would have been zones 1, 3-6, and half of present-day 2 and 7, all as one domain.
▪ These are then subdivided into the first 7 zones.
▪ Expansion along the coasts leads 2 and 7 to assume their current size and shape.
▪ 8 &9 are added.
▪ 10 & 11 are added.
▪ 12 is added. 12a is initially excluded but is at some point incorporated. The swamp of 12a blocked further expansion from 9 or 10, at least initially.
▪ 13 & 14 are added. This brings Zomania into contact with the Realm to the East.
▪ 15, 16, and 17 are added.
▪ 18 is added.
▪ 19, 20, and then 21 are added, something not possible until new technology in sailing ships becomes available.
▪ 22, 23, 24, and 25 are added. Initially, there would have been another neighbor to the Southeast, but it was half-conquered by the neighbor to the east; the road marks the division between the conquered lands and the residue of that kingdom, now more Southern than Southeasterly.
▪ 26, 27, and 28 are added. Contact with a third neighbor, to the Southwest.
▪ 29, 30, 31, and 32 are claimed. Contact with a fourth neighbor to the West, and a mutual neighbor to that neighbor’s North.
▪ 33 and maybe 34 are added.
▪ the last territorial expansion is into 35, connecting to that neighbor to the Northwest.

Also, if you look closely at 16-18-33, you’ll see that the road makes a sharp diversion around 16. It seems very likely that 16 originally encompassed all three of these zones, but that they were lost in a war with one of the neighbors and later regained.

Once you have your list of zones, go through and for each one, rank the current threat to which it is exposed out of 5. If there was a historical threat that has since been resolved, rank that and divide by 2 before adding that to the current threat level. The capital city always adds 1; a former capital (if there is one) adds 1/2. In addition, for each past war, add 1/2 to whichever capital then held sway.

To get these, I’ve assigned threat levels to each of the neighboring Kingdoms and also to the Swamp. Forests are a little more dangerous than plains, mountains are more dangerous again.

▪ Zone 1: Current 2 + capital 1 + past wars 5/2 = 3 + 2.5 = 5.5
▪ Zones 2 & 7: Current 2
▪ Zones 3, 5, & 6: Current 1
▪ Zone 4: Current 2 + past 4/2 = 2 + 2 = 4

▪ Zone 8: Current 1
▪ Zone 9: Current 1 + past 3 /2 = 2.5
▪ Zone 10: Current 2 + past 4/2 = 2 + 2 = 4
▪ Zone 11: Current 1 + past 2/2 = 1 + 1 = 2
▪ Zone 12: Current 2 + past 5/2 = 2 + 2.5 = 4.5

▪ Zones 13 & 14: Current 1 + Past 2/2 = 1 + 1 = 2
▪ Zones 15 & 16: Current 1 + Past 1/2 = 1 + 0.5 = 1.5
▪ Zone 17: Current 1 + Past 2/2 = 1 + 1 = 2
▪ Zone 18: Current 1 + Past 3/2 = 1 + 1.5 = 2.5
▪ Zone 19: Current 1 + Past 3/2 = 1 + 1.5 = 2.5
▪ Zone 20: Current 1 + Past 4/2 = 1 + 2 = 3
▪ Zone 21: Current 2 + Past 4/2 = 2 + 2 = 4

▪ Zones 22 & 23: Current 2 + Past 2/2 = 2 + 1 = 3
▪ Zone 24: Current 3 + Past 2/2 = 3 + 1 = 4
▪ Zone 25: Current 2 + Past 1/2 = 2 + 0.5 = 2.5
▪ Zone 26: Current 3 + Past 4/2 = 3 + 2 = 5
▪ Zone 27: Current 4 + Past 4/2 = 4 + 2 = 6

▪ Zone 28: Current 3 + Past 4/2 = 3 + 2 = 5
▪ Zone 30: Current 2 + Past 5/2 = 2 + 2.5 = 4.5
▪ Zone 29: Current 2.5 + Past 4/2 = 2.5 + 2 = 4.5
▪ Zone 31: Current 2 + Past 4/2 = 2 + 2 = 4
▪ Zone 32: Current 3 + Past 3/2 = 3 + 1.5 = 4.5
▪ Zone 33: Current 3 + Past 4/2 = 3 + 2=5
▪ Zone 34: Current 3 + Past 4/2 = 3 + 2=5
▪ Zone 35: Current 3 + Past 5/2 = 3 + 2.5 = 5.5

The final step is to total the Current and Overall threat ratings:
▪ Current: Zones 1-7: 3 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 2 = 12
▪ Current: Zones 8-12: 1 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 7
▪ Current: Zones 13-21: 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 2 = 10
▪ Current: Zones 22-27: 2 + 2 + 3 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 16
▪ Current: Zones 28-35: 3 + 2 + 2.5 + 2 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 21.5
▪ Grand Total, Current: 12 + 7 + 10 + 16 + 21.5 = 66.5

▪ Overall: Zones 1-7: 5.5 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 4 = 16.5
▪ Overall: Zones 8-12: 1 + 2.5 + 4 + 2 + 4.5 = 14
▪ Overall: Zones 13-21: 2 + 2 + 1.5 + 1.5 + 2 + 2.5 + 2.5 + 3 + 4 = 21
▪ Overall: Zones 22-27: 3 + 3 + 4 + 2.5 + 5 + 6 = 23.5
▪ Overall: Zones 28-35: 5 + 4.5 + 4.5 + 4 + 4.5 + 5 + 5 + 5.5 = 38
▪ Grand Total, Overall: 16.5 + 14 + 21 + 23.5 + 38 = 113

I’ll be using these values a little further down the track.

But we need to adjust the totals for size – I could have broken Zomania into 3 or 5 zones instead of 35, and the total of the ratings would be completely different.

16000 square miles / 35 zones = 457.143 square miles to a Zone, on average. But look back to the initial diagram showing the four lobes: if I give each of the circles a radius of one, then we have a square of 2 × 2 and four semicircles of radius 1, a total area of 23.74 units – where each unit is defined as the distance an army can project power from a fixed position. And that was calculated as 2.593 days for infantry and 4.5 days for cavalry back in 5.7.1.2.

Cavalry are so much more expensive in every respect that you would never use them as your primary military resource. So a unit area is going to be [3×6 (for 3 miles per hour) / 24]^2 × 2.593 = 1.46 square miles. We have 23.74 of these in a basic control zone, so 34.66 square miles. Multiply by the normal rating maximum of 5 and we get 173.3 square miles in a standard Zone.

Our totals have to be adjusted by a factor of Average Zone Size / 173.3.

▪ Adjusted Grand Total, Current: 66.5 × 457.143 / 173.3 = 175.4
▪ Adjusted Grand Total, Overall: 113 × 457.143 / 173.3 = 298

But not so fast: We also have to adjust for the overall military strength, relative to an average of 2.5. I’m going to select the third example from 5.7.1.1.3 as indicative of Zomania – that was an overall military strength of 3.5, and an adjusted strength of 5.8.

▪ Adjusted Grand Total, Current: 175.4 × 5.8 / 2.5 = 407
▪ Adjusted Grand Total, Overall: 298 × 5.8 / 2.5 = 691

5.7.1.10 Kingdom Wealth

Wealth isn’t just about what resources a Kingdom produces, it’s about what it can hold onto. The more wealth it has, the better the defenses that it can build, and the more wealth it will gradually accrue – so wealth can be be viewed as an investment in military strength.

You can actually think of a Kingdom’s economy in terms of a self-employed person’s household. You have so much income coming in, and have to expend that on various things to keep the household productive, safe, and happy – in that order.

▪ Productive covers administration, tools, transportation, resource development, trade, and education.
▪ Safe covers military, justice, food, housing, and diplomacy. In a fantasy campaign, it can also cover magic and religion.
▪ Happy covers entertainment, luxuries, and social mobility, as well as savings for rainy days and other disaster relief.

That’s 16 subcategories, but they aren’t necessarily equal in terms of the demands placed upon the public purse. Administration is generally cheap so long as enough is spent on ‘Happy’. Tools include things like fishing fleets. Transportation is mostly roads but also includes food & resource distribution. Resource Development not only includes opening up new sources of wealth like mines, but also obtaining the grain for next year’s crops and tax collection. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could afford everything?

Well, you can’t. Because if you could, then you would be seen as a glittering prize worth capturing, which ramps up the threat level, and demands additional military spending, and before you know it, you’re back in break-even territory. Military infrastructure in particular is expensive to maintain and incredibly expensive to construct. Military units drain available manpower for other essentials.

Trying to represent all of this into something workable can be a nightmare, and is generally so full of ad-hoc assumptions that it’s not worth a whole lot, anyway. The solution is to generalize and abstract, and then leave specific interpretations up to the needs of the moment.

Below, I’ve ranked each of the categories on a scale of 1-4, representing how much of the public purse they generally represent, and then multiplied the square of those ratings by 10 for reasons that will become clear in a little bit.

▪ Administration 10
▪ Tools 90
▪ Transportation 90
▪ Resource development 90
▪ Trade 40
▪ Education 40
▪ Military X
▪ Justice 90
▪ Food 160
▪ Housing 160
▪ Diplomacy 10
▪ Magic 90
▪ Religion 160
▪ Entertainment 40
▪ Luxuries 10
▪ Social mobility 40
▪ Savings & Disaster Relief 90

You may have noticed Military = “X” – simply drop in the Overall rating from the previous section. In the case of Zomania, that would be 691. And then add whatever you think appropriate in terms of military expansion and training – because that only pays for what you’ve already got. That might be +10%, +20%, +25%, +30%, +40%, or even +50% – but it’s most likely going to be one of the middle values, +25% or +30%. I’ll choose + 25% and set the military budget to a relative value of 864 points.

If you add all of these up, you get a total of 2074 points – out of a budget of how much?

That’s up to you. Below, I have provided a deliberately biased, asymmetric, and non-linear random table, but I would discourage it’s use. Instead, you should be thinking about the consequences and ramifications of cutting or increasing different elements of the budget and the impacts on national character and government style and making a deliberate choice that describes the Kingdom that you see in your head.

The one thing that a single glance at the table should tell you is that there is NEVER enough money to do everything you want in the most idealized and perfect way possible. Trimming ‘the fat” from any of the line items listed above has real impacts on the culture and society, sending ripples and shockwaves up and down the connective tissues that hold it all together.



     d%
     01-02 = 500 + 10 × d20
     03-05 = 600 + 10 × 2d6
     06-10 = 700 + 10 × d12
     11-12 = 725 + 10 × d10
     13-17 = 750 + 10 × d8
     18-20 = 775 + 10 × d6
     21-25 = 800 + 8 × d20
     26-29 = 825 + 8 × 2d6
     26-34 = 850 + 8 × d12
     35-39 = 875 + 8 × d10
     40-44 = 900 + 6 × d20
     45-48 = 930 + 6 × 2d6
     49-52 = 970 + 6 × d12
     53-56 = 1000 + 5 × d20
     57-71 = 1020 + 5 × 2d6
     72-76 = 1050 + 5 × d12
     77-81 = 1080 + 5 × d10
     82-85 = 1100 + 5 × d8
     86-89 = 1150 + 5 × d6
     90-92 = 1200 + 4 × d12
     93-95 = 1250 + 4 × d10
     96-97 = 1300 + 2 × d20
     98-99 = 1400 + 2 × d10
     00 = 1500 + d20 + 2d6 – d12

Cutting the budget in any area by 40% still permits that area to operate at 80% effectiveness. Repeat as necessary:

     60% budget = 80% effectiveness
     60% × 60% = 36% budget = 80% × 80% = 64% effectiveness
     60% × 36% = 22% budget = 80% × 64% = 51% effectiveness
     60% × 22% = 13% budget = 80% × 51% = 40% effectiveness
     60% × 13% = 8% budget = 80% × 40% = 32% effectiveness
     60% × 8% = 5% budget = 80% × 32% = 26% effectiveness
     60% × 5% = 3% budget = 80% × 26% = 21% effectiveness

But the reality is that you’re going to have to trim the military budget and then use these cost-cutting measures to tidy up in the corners as it were.

Let’s say that Zomania is doing fairly well, and has a budget of 1050 + 5 × d12, which – when rolled – comes out to 1100 budgetary points.

5.7.1.10.1 Legacy Defenses

1. Eliminate the upkeep of legacy defensive structures that are no longer needed. Right away, that cuts the budget by the amplified difference between current and overall:

864 – (407 + 25%) = 864 – 509 = 355. Our budget of 2074 shrinks to 1719.

Consequences: old infrastructure falls into decay and ruin. Some of it can be protected from this by basing other administrative functions from the existing structures, and some of it will naturally survive because a subordinate local can call it ‘home’ and cover the upkeep out of his own household budget. Some of what’s left can be recouped by selling it to wealthy individuals – binding them to the crown with the addition of noble titles and a few minor privileges and the potential to increase that rank through service. And one or two can be turned into Museums, letting part of the education budget do double-duty.

This repurposes 20% of the administration (10), Justice (90), Education (40) and Social Mobility (40) budgets – salvaging 36 points of the 355, and probably boosting income by a like amount so 72 out of 355. That still leaves 80% of them becoming abandoned ruins and “dungeons” in the D&D meaning of the term.

Spending = 1719, Income = 1136. Deficit = 583.

5.7.1.10.2 Military Training

Let’s cut the military training in half – instead of fully-funding it, Officers being promoted now have to pay half the costs themselves. Again, 20% of the social mobility budget can be dedicated to scholarships to take the edge off those cuts.

Fully-funded, that was 509-407=102; so that saves us 61, cutting spending to 1658, and increasing income by 80% of this cut = 49 + 1136 = 1185.

Spending = 1658. Income = 1185, deficit = 473.

5.7.1.10.3 Disaster Relief

But now it gets more difficult. The Savings & Disaster Relief funds are dead money – instead of the state funding this, let’s simply have the state deal with the immediate problems and promote citizens-helping-citizens in time of need. 3% of the existing allocation of 90 points still gets us 21% effectiveness, and saves 87 points, cutting spending to 1571.

Spending = 1571. Income = 1185. Deficit = 386.

5.7.1.10.4 Religion

Religion doesn’t need to be fully state-funded. It can earn money through donations and fees for services. The state only really needs to fund certain events like coronations, state funerals, and royal births. So let’s carve out 92% of that budget, taking it from 160 down to 13, a savings of 147, reducing spending to 1424. This has the effect of making the church an independent force within society – we could tax the donations that we expect them to take in to make up for this deficit, but that would put them off-side.

Maybe simply taxing income earned for services, which would be about 60% of the savings, and at a relatively low 10% rate, under the guise of ‘social equality’. That’s additional income of 10% × 60% × 147 = 9, a total now of 1194.

Spending = 1424. Income = 1194. Deficit = 230.

5.7.1.10.5 Magic

Magic, again, doesn’t need to be fully state-funded. Let’s cut 64% out of that budget of 90, reducing our spending by 58. We can replace some of this from the Social Mobility budget in the form of subsidized apprenticeships – another 20% of that budget can be turned to the task – in return for the occasional service to the crown. So spending is reduced to 1366, but the actual effectiveness is going to be closer to the 80% mark than the base 64%.

Spending = 1366, Income = 1194. Deficit = 172.

5.7.1.10.6 Tools

The biggest untouched cost areas are Housing and Food, but most rulers will be loathe to cut that budget, say by instituting some sort of annual property tax. That’s the sort of thing that stirs resentments and fosters rebellions.

Instead, let’s look at Tools. Cut the funding to a mere 22% of the current 90, but make the savings available as loans to be repaid as an additional tax. Sure, one in ten won’t be able to make the repayments, but they can sell their tools to someone who thinks they can do better, starting the cycle over again.

Savings of 70, and income goes up by 63.

Spending = 1296, Income = 1257. Deficit = 39.

5.7.1.10.7 Entertainment

Entertainment for the masses doesn’t have to be fully subsidized, but we don’t want to cut the spending by much lest we put this social safety valve out of reach of the public. Let’s cut 20% of the budget and recoup the losses by charging admission – distributed over vast numbers, that’s likely to be a trivial expense, and we can even enhance the perception of a fair deal by sloughing any excess into subsidized foot and drink at the venues. So that’s a reduction in spending of 8 and an increase in income of 8.

Spending = 1288, Income = 1265. Deficit = 23.

5.7.1.10.8 Resource Development

Let’s slow resource development just a touch – 20% of 90 saved. Let’s further stipulate that if a private party is willing to pony up the full value of a resource, they can buy it from the government after a set period of time – ten or twenty years. In the short term, that will put the squeeze on the budget, but in the long run, it will move this expense off government hands by generating additional income to cover 80% of the costs. If this scheme was enacted a long time ago, that would cut the government’s contribution to just 20% or so, with income rising by the difference.

So that’s 18 saved, and additional income of 72 – eventually.

Spending = 1270, Income = 1265 (eventually, 1337). Deficit: currently 5, rising to a surplus in 10-20 years of 67.

A deficit of 5? That’s easily made up – borrow from someone, even at 100% interest, and in a couple of years all is well.

You’ll notice that Zomania is a fairly wealthy kingdom; it didn’t have to make deep cuts on any of the services that it really didn’t want to touch. Housing, and road maintenance (Transport), and so on. Nor did it really have to do much to Education, or Justice, or Diplomacy, or Social Mobility. And they did nothing to monkey with Food or Trade. And – most of all – the didn’t have to impose excessive taxes.

5.7.1.10.9 A Hypothetical Disaster

Housing: 160 Transport 90 Education 40 Justice 90 Diplomacy 10 Social Mobility 40 Food 160 Trade 40. Add those up and you have 630 points more-or-less untouched.

So, just so that I get to talk about those items, let’s impose a natural disaster that wipes, say, 400 points out of the budget, at least for a while. A War would do that, or a famine, or a pestilence – the usual things. Or even a milder combination of all of them coming at once.

Spending = 1270. Income = 1337-400=937. Deficit = 333.

5.7.1.10.10 Housing & Funding Boosts

Housing. The government institutes a property tax or starts charging rents roughly equal to 60% its costs, and starts turning paupers out into the streets. To soften the blow, it ploughs 10% of the savings into increased Social Mobility. We don’t have a metric for 40% of budget, the closest we have is 36%, so we’ll use that.

36% of 160 is 35, a savings of 125. Increased social mobility spending is 10% of that, or 12 points – which is a more than 25% increase on the allocated budget in that area. To get the effectiveness of increased spending:

      + 67% of budget = + 25% (i.e. 125%) effectiveness.
      + 111% of budget (i.e. 278%)= + 31% (i.e. 156%) effectiveness
      + 185% of budget (i.e. 463%)= + 39% (i.e. 195%) effectiveness
      + 309% of budget (i.e. 772%) = + 49% (i.e. 244%) effectiveness

Fractions are proportional within the band. So raising the social mobility budget from 40 to 52 = 130% budget; 130/167 = 0.78; so that produces 78% of + 25% or + 20% effectiveness. So this would also raise income by + 20% of the 12, or 2.

Spending 1270-125 + 12 = 1157. Income 937 + 125 + 2=1064. Deficit = 93.

5.7.1.10.11 Food

Cutting into the food budget creates a new category of spending – health – which until now has been subsumed by the Religious budget because Clerics can do healing. So there isn’t a lot that can be done here. Whatever you save on the food budget gets eaten up by the health budget – if both are to operate at 100% efficiency.

But if there’s a gap? There are some small savings possible.

60% of the food budget is 96, a savings of 64. Results: food is only 80% of what’s needed for health.

New budget item with a base value of 64: Health. 60% of 64 is 80% effective at bridging that 20% health gap so 96% healthy populace for a savings of 26. But income will also fall to 96% of what it was, a loss of 43. So this is actually cutting off your nose to spite your face. To be effective at saving money, the cuts would have to go a lot deeper.

So let’s leave food alone.

Spending 1157, Income 1064, Deficit still 93.

5.7.1.10.12 Diplomacy

If the big loss of income was due to war, increasing the diplomacy budget might not be a bad idea. It’s a relatively small increase in costs for a potentially big dividend in security. Instead of a paltry 10, let’s whack it up to 40. That’s 400% of budget.

278% of that gets us to 156% effectiveness, and leaves 122% further increase. 122%/185% = 0.66, so that gets us 2/3 of the additional + 39, or + 26% effectiveness. So for 30 additional spending, our diplomats become 156 + 26=182% effective.

Spending rises of course. But there is an upside: Increased diplomatic success increases trade deals, which in turn increases income. Right now, Trade is a 40-unit item; 182% of 40 is 74; so that’s + 34 in direct income.

Spending 1157 + 30 = 1187; Income 1064 + 34=1098; Deficit = 89.

5.7.1.10.13 Trade

Buoyed by the success of this measure, the Kingdom decides to further boost the Trade budget, from it’s current 40-for-74-worth to 200. That’s a BIG investment – but it leverages the diplomatic gains for a win-win, economically. 200-40 = 160; 160/40=4; so this is a + 400% increase in the budget for this area, to a total of 500%.

463% of this gets us to 195% effectiveness, and leaves 37. 37/309 = 0.12; 0.12 × 49 = 6; so the total is 201%. But then we apply the diplomacy bonus, × 1.82, and get 365.82% effectiveness over the 40-unit base. 365.82% × 40 = 146, an increase of 106.

So we’re spending 160 more and getting an income increase of 106. Whoops.

The principle that the decision-makers in this hypothetical situation have failed to take into account is that of diminishing returns. Small increases – or decreases – give you more bang for your buck, as it were.

So, instead of this great splurge on trade, let’s drop it back to a more sedate + 67% of budget. That gets + 25% effectiveness. 1.67 × 40 = 67, a + 27 spend. It nets us 1.25 × 40 × 1.82 = 91 income, an increase of 51 – of which, we were already getting 34 from the diplomacy alone.

Nevertheless, that’s far more effective, in budgetary terms.

And it’s buoyed further by a second principle which has not yet been taken into account: residual benefits. A big splurge on trade ONCE doesn’t just increase income for the year in which it happens (or the following year, depending on the timing and economic mechanics within the Kingdom) – it generates it for × years and then tapers off at a rate of Y% per year.

As a general rule, × is going to be 3, 5, or 10 years; and Y is going to be somewhere between 20 and 50%.

To get the net impact overall, you have to add up the increases over the entire period and divide by the period to get an average annual impact.

The more that you initially invest, the higher × should be, and the lower Y.

So let’s examine the two choices offered and see where we end up.

The big spend: 10 years, 30% decay, base 91.
91 × 10 + 0.7 × 91 + 0.7^2 × 91 + 0.7^3 × 91 and so on.

0.7 ^ n × 91 = 1 tells us how long the residual benefits last.
n × log 0.7 = log 1/91
-0.155 n = -1.96
0.155 n = 1.96
n = 1.96 / 0.155 = 12-point-something years.

91 × 10=910
(1) 0.7 × 91 = 64
(2) 0.7 × 64 = 45
(3) 0.7 × 45 = 32
(4) 0.7 × 32 = 22
(5) 0.7 × 22 = 15
(6) 0.7 × 15 = 11
(7) 0.7 × 11 = 8
(8) 0.7 × 8 = 6
(9) 0.7 × 6 = 4
(10) 0.7 × 4 = 3
(11) 0.7 × 3 = 2
(12) 0.7 × 2 = 1

Total over 22 years = 1123. Overall yield = 51 per year.

Similarly, the increase in costs are spread over the same period: 160 / 22 = 7-point something, so it will sometimes be 8 and sometimes 7. That’s a net increase in income overall of 43 a year.

The small spend: 3 years, 50% decay, base 51.

0.5 ^ n × 51 = 1
0.5 ^ n = 1 /51
n × log 0.5 = log (1/51)
-0.30103 n = -1.7076
n = 5.6 so 5 years.

51 × 3=153
(1) 0.5 × 51 = 26
(2) 0.5 × 26 = 13
(3) 0.5 × 13 = 6
(4) 0.5 × 6 = 3
(5) 0.5 × 3 = 1

Total over 8 years = 202. Overall yield = 25.25, so 25 most years, occasionally 26.

Cost: 27 / 8 = 3.375, so usually 3, occasionally 4 (but 4 more often than the 26 occurs).

Net effect: 3 spent for 25 return.

Both choices are thus shown to be viable. But we’re currently running a deficit of 89, and the bigger outlay yields a number better than that, so that’s the better choice under these circumstances.

Spending: 1187 + 7=1194; Income 1098 + 51 = 1149. Deficit = 45.

5.7.1.10.14 Education

Cuts to Education will yield reduced income in a generation and other negative consequences. We really don’t want to mess with it too severely. But a brief, small, cut in the budget may be something that can be coped with. If the underlying economy is good (which it is for Zomania), this becomes less disastrous.

The severity of the impact depends on the number of years of formal education being provided by the government. If it’s 10 (unlikely) then a 1-year cut will impact 10% of current students, a 3-year cut, 30%, and so on. Balancing this in terms of economic impact are the students who are not affected, being educated either before or after the cuts. The average productive lifespan outside of education is the base for measuring the economic impact – 30 years is a reasonable average number. A 1-year cut affects 10% of current students who are 10 in 40 of the economy – so that’s 10% × 10 / 40 = 2.5% economic cost.

If the average schooling is only 5 years (still high for a medieval period), that adds another 5 years to the productive life (assuming unchanged average lifespans) so a 1-year cut would be 20% × 5 / 40 = 0.025% economic loss.

We could cut Education completely out of the budget, and let the citizens learn from other citizens – but the social consequences would be horrendous. Literacy and the upward mobility of skills and talent would be decimated. Churches would be only too happy to step into the breach – with indoctrination in their wake.

Education is only a 40-point item. Even this extreme action would not balance the books.

Rather than general cuts, mandating a series of milestones at which a certain level of ability must be demonstrated before further education is permitted / required would permit selective cuts – in effect, putting the most poorly-performing students out on the street to earn a living as best they can. But this adds a requirement for some sort of standardized testing, if it is to be fair, which is an additional expense. The more checkpoints you have, the greater this expense.

Savings come from the number of students who aren’t being educated, as a result, and there is some offset from them being economically productive for a longer period.

The maths can get quite convoluted, but precision isn’t all that necessary; we can use the general effectiveness model and just interpret the consequences.

Forget being fair – it costs too much. Instead, let’s cut the budget for education by 40% and set a base scholastic level of 3 years, with an additional 2 for the best, and higher education only for the best of the best, provided through the Social Mobility budget as scholarships.

That saves us 16, offset by 20% × 16 = 3, and an economic cost of 20% × 40 / 5 of 0.025% – a loss of income of 1149 × 0.025% = 0.2875 units – more than covered by rounding errors.

Spending: 1194-16=1178; Income 1149 + 3 = 1152. Deficit = 26.

5.7.1.10.15 Transport (Road Maintenance)

Roads don’t decay overnight. We can accept a temporary decrease in road maintenance if we later boost it so that we end up more or less at 100%.

How long is a better question – earthen roads deteriorate more quickly but are cheaper to repair, and aren’t used for vital transport. Better roads deteriorate more slowly but are more expensive to repair and are used for vital transport.

If the fundamentals of the economy are good – as is the case with Zomania – the better answer is the backroads and cart-trails. If the fundamentals are more shaky, the better roads give you more leeway to recover.

The Transportation budget is currently 90. As a general rule, expense × quality = 1 – so the roads better than the median quality cost as much as roads that are worse.

We need 26 to balance the budget, and are running out of places to find it. 26 is 29% of 90. So we could cut the budget for maintaining the 29% least-used roads in the Kingdom completely and balance the budget. Or we could cut it to 60% (keeping 80% effectiveness) and cut the next-most-used 29% of roads by however much more we need.

60% × 29% × 90 = 16, and we would normally spend 26 on those roads of our 90 budget, so that’s 10 saved. We need another 16.

We can save another 10 on the next 29%.

We could save another 10 on the third-tier roads, but we don’t need that much – saving 6 is enough.

6 / 26 = 21%. So we’re talking 89% of budget for this third tier of roads. If 40% reduction in budget yields 20% loss in effectiveness, then 21% reduction yields 11% loss in effectiveness. So these roads will be permitted to deteriorate to 89% condition.

Now, we want to schedule the counter-balancing increase. 10 saved on the bottom 29% means 16/26 spent, or 0.615. The reciprocal of that is 1.625, and 1.625 × 26 = 42, so saving 10 now means spending 42-26=16 later.

The same for the second tier. While these will be better-quality roads, making them more expensive to repair, they will deteriorate less, so it all evens out.

The third tier we aren’t affecting as badly – 89% condition. 1 / 0.89 = 1.1236, and 1.1236 × 26 = 29.2, so 3 extra needed.

Total: we will have to spend 16 + 16 + 3=35 extra on roads, eventually.

Those are values per year. So if we stint on the maintenance for 3 years, that’s 35 × 3=105 that we have to spend, eventually.

We also have to think about how quickly roads decay.

▪ Earthen tracks and trails will last about 5 years without maintenance, maybe 10 if they are used regularly.
▪ Add some gravel or cobbles and you double the lifespan to 10-20 years.
▪ Add a binding agent of some kind, like tar, and you double that again, to 20-40 years.
▪ Clay-fired bricks are roughly the same.
▪ Concrete and high-quality asphalt increase that by about 25%, to 25-50 years.
▪ Pneumatic Tires (yes, I know Americans spell it Tires) add another 25% to the Clay-fired brick value (30-60 years).

That doesn’t mean that the road is completely gone. It means that there are damaged sections. This decay doesn’t start until the minimum period has passed – so 3 years of non-maintenance of even a dirt track doesn’t have a serious impact.

▪ Earthen tracks 50-100% + 10%/year.
▪ Add some gravel or cobbles 25-50% + 8%/year.
▪ Add a binding agent of some kind, like tar: 10-20% + 5% / year.
▪ Clay-fired bricks: 7-15% + 3% / year.
▪ Concrete and high-quality asphalt: 5-10% + 2% / year.
▪ Pneumatic Tires: halve decay for everything better than gravel roads.

The significance of the road, multiplied by the decay level, gives the economic impact.

An earthen track – the bottom 10% of roads, and therefore the least significant roads – isn’t maintained for 5 years. Roll d6 and add 4 to get a range of 5-10: I get 8. So there is no measurable impact for 8 years. At the end of that time, roll 10 × d6 + 4 to get 50-100 – I get 60%. So if there’s an economy of 1150, 10% of that is 115, and that’s reduced by 60% to 46, so the economic impact is 115-46=64 points.

If there’s an alternative route that is less than twice as long, this impact can be halved. 23 points.

If your road maintenance is 80% effective, divide or multiply everything by 0.8 – so 8 years becomes 10 years, 60% × 0.8 = 48% damage, 115 economic significance drops by 48% × 115 = 55, so the economic cost is 115-55 = 60 points.

There are Roman-built roads that you can drive on to this day, 2000-odd years later. Presumably, they’ve had some maintenance over the years, but still…

5.7.1.10.16 The Impact On Population

Both increased spending and an increased budget act to increase the level of viable population. There is a delay while you wait for the children to mature (and survive) but that’s too complicated.

Divide each of these results by 1000 and multiply them together. Jot the results down as the Economic Population Factor.

In the case of Zomania, ignoring the hypothetical disaster, we had 1270 / 1000 and 1337 / 1000, or 1.69799. Call it 1.7 for convenience. That’s the proportionate increase in population density that the economy supports.

5.7.1.11 Military Need: Theoretical Scenario 2

I was able to balance the Zomania budget, even under the hypothetical scenario offered, without encroaching on the military strength of the Kingdom. That’s because the cut was calculated to give scope to demonstrate various elements of the budget and how it assists worldbuilding.

That means that I need a new theoretical scenario in order to demonstrate the cutting of the military budget – always one of the last resorts of the ruling class, but sometimes you have no choice.

Let’s say that the war, costing 400 treasury units, was actually a foreign venture – the equivalent of England invading France – and that, as military ventures go, it was a total disaster. Half the attacking force was wiped out, and the rest limped home.

Instead of 691 points, the military strength of Zomania has been (temporarily) cut to 345 points.

The first thing to do is to compare the losses with the budget for military expansion, because that indicates how quickly the military can be rebuilt. We were budgeting to take the military from 691 to 864, an increase of 173 points. Following a disastrous campaign, we can expect 25% of the survivors to retire as soon as they can, so we not only need to replace 345 points, we need to also replace another 1/4 of that, another 88 points, or a total of 433 points.

433 / 173 = 2.503. So that’s 2 1/2 years.

There are three ways of distributing the losses.

▪ You can distribute them evenly throughout.
▪ You can keep the most important units mostly intact and deepen the losses in the areas under less threat.
▪ Or, you can cut the central command and training centers to the bone, on the basis that these losses will be easiest to replace, and trim any additional losses as per the second option.

Ultimately, these are just guidelines. Budgets will be adjusted in each zone individually. The total of the current values was 66.5; so multiplying (4 – each current zone’s rating) by 433 / 66.5 = 6.5 would distribute the losses with a weighting for military need. From there, we can tweak further – probably halving the losses in rating 3 zones, and then working out the shortfall by further cutting from zone 1.

▪ Zone 1: Current 2 + capital 1 = 3; 4-3=1; 1 × 6.5 = 6.5, round to 6. Halve to 3.
▪ Zones 2 & 7: Current 2; 4-2=2; 2 × 6.5 = 13.
▪ Zones 3, 5, & 6: Current 1; 4-1=3; 3 × 6.5=19.5, round to 20.
▪ Zone 4: Current 2; 13, as above.

▪ Zone 8: Current 1; 20 as above.
▪ Zone 9: Current 1; 20 as above.
▪ Zone 10: Current 2; 13 as above.
▪ Zone 11: Current 1; 20 as above.
▪ Zone 12: Current 2; 13 as above.

▪ Zones 13 & 14: Current 1; 20 as above.
▪ Zones 15 & 16: Current 1; 20 as above.
▪ Zone 17: Current 1; 20 as above.
▪ Zone 18: Current 1; 20 as above.
▪ Zone 19: Current 1; 20 as above.
▪ Zone 20: Current 1; 20 as above.
▪ Zone 21: Current 2; 13 as above.

▪ Zones 22 & 23: Current 2; 13 as above.
▪ Zone 24: Current 3; 3 as above.
▪ Zone 25: Current 2; 13 as above.
▪ Zone 26: Current 3; 3 as above.
▪ Zone 27: Current 4; 4-4=0; no reduction.

▪ Zone 28: Current 3; 3 as above.
▪ Zone 30: Current 2; 13 as above.
▪ Zone 29: Current 2.5; 4-2.5=1.5; 1.5 × 6.5 = 9.75; round to 10.
▪ Zone 31: Current 2; 13 as above.
▪ Zone 32: Current 3; 3 as above.
▪ Zone 33: Current 3; 3 as above.
▪ Zone 34: Current 3; 3 as above.
▪ Zone 35: Current 3; 3 as above.

Adding those reductions up:
▪ 3 + 13 × 3 + 20 × 3 = 102;
▪ 20 × 3 + 13 × 2 = 86;
▪ 20 × 6 + 13 = 133;
▪ 3 × 2 + 13 × 3 + 0 = 45;
▪ 3 × 5 + 13 × 2 + 10 = 51.
▪ 102 + 86 + 133 + 45 + 51 = 417. Required: 433. Difference: another 16 needed.

There are 12 zones currently rated 1, losing 20 each; increasing those losses to 21 leaves 4 more to find. In this case, having limited the losses, I would increase the 10 to a 12-point loss and the 0 to a 2, so that no zones were completely untouched.

Note that this would not be the result of combat alone; the 4-rated zone would have borne it’s fair share of the losses. This outcome also reflects a redistribution of men from the secure 1-rated zones to where they are more urgently needed. If it was only for a few months, they might leave their families in place; but for 2 + years, probably not.

Fortunately for the citizens of Zomania, this is a theoretical exercise, and we can now return to a situation in which they are strongly defended and relatively wealthy.

But that will have to wait until next time. This post has grown so large that I’ve made the decision to cut it in two, letting the economic technique of world building feature, and getting into the purpose of it and what it’s used for in the next one.

You can look at this in either of two ways; Either I’m giving you 17,800-odd words less than I’ve already written (the negative perspective) or I’m already 17,800-odd words ahead when it comes to getting the next one done.

Add to that the 39 50 diagrams that are hopefully worth at least 500 words apiece and you can see that the next part of this chapter is well on its way!

Today, Part 3 of the Topologia campaign setting details the Shadowfen and horrors that abide there, lots of creatures exportable to similar environments!.

The Shadowfen

Strictly speaking, the place should be called the Shadowfens,, plural, because the multiple similar environments under the one umbrella title. This is a terrible place where nothing much is really fixed in place and it seems like everything you can see (and several things you can’t) are trying to kill you. No-one likes to live there, but some have little choice in the matter – criminals and bandit groups tend to congregate there because it is so hard to recapture them.

The roots of the vegetation hold what little land there is together, forming buoyant little islands that float.

Some of them are thick enough to support the weight of a person but many of them are not. Plunging through the thin ‘topsoil’ can leave your leg trapped in the roots, some of which have barbs pointing downward to protect the roots from vegetable-eating fish – these cause no trouble going down but create severe lacerations when you try and lift the trapped leg. This can force the careless to choose between hacking off a leg or hanging around long enough to be something else’s lunch. Whatever remains after the feast becomes mulch to nourish the vegetation, so everybody (except the victim) wins from this strategy.

Movement In The Shadowfen

The water between these islands is rank but not quite stagnant – the Everflow passes through the middle, flowing from East to West, and even though it meanders a lot, it still generates tidal flows in and out.

The waters, for the most part, are shallow, only a foot or two deep, but there are hidden hollows and depressions that run deeper. Some of these are quite gentle depressions filled with sticky, cloying, mud; others are sharp-edged cracks which can trap a foot or cut an unprotected leg. Blood in the water, of course, is an open invitation to all sorts of nasty, hungry, critters.

These dangers lead all who come here to contemplate alternatives.

Swimming in the Shadowfen waters

Some fools try swimming in the water instead of slogging their way through the mud and leeches, and this seems to work – for a while. Under the silt and mud, however, there is a great deal of rotting vegetation, and every now and then, bubbles of explosive byproduct erupt to the surface. When this happens, the natural buoyancy of the water diminishes catastrophically, anyone without solid footing will be sucked under, at least temporarily. This often causes panic, which is the last thing that you should do in an emergency. The popular sentiment is, “You swim, you die”.

Boats in the Shadowfen

The obvious solution is to use small boats or rafts, but these are no less susceptible to being sucked under. Rafts have a big advantage over boats in that they have some buoyancy even plunged underwater; they will return to the surface, eventually. Small boats and canoes that fill with water usually will not (there are exceptions which I’ll cover a little later).

Walking, although slow, difficult, and tedious, is the only (relatively) safe solution.

Every step is tortuous; you are effectively lifting 3x your limb’s weight with every step and then putting it down, only to start over. Those with business to conduct within the Shadowfen quickly learn or re-invent the Rotating Point-Man Technique.

The Rotating Point-Man Technique

The group proceeds single file. This obviously puts one member in front; he uses a pole or stick to test the surface underfoot, and everyone else does their best to walk in his footsteps.

The point man walks through the mud and muck for a set period of time, leading the group from one ‘island’ to another, probing for a solid surface strong enough to walk on. If it is, they scramble up onto it as best they can, and for as long as the island lasts, progress is quick and easy.

When their time on point is up, they let themselves get overtaken by the person behind them, who then becomes the new point person, taking the pole or stick from the former pathfinder as they pass them. Once relieved of this tool, the former point person lets the rest of the group pass him or her until they are last in line, to ‘rest up’ for their next stint in front.

CON in minutes is a good quick-estimate of how long someone can take point. They then need to rest for 3-4 times the number of minutes they were on point to recover.

Each minute that they were on point adds 1 to the difficulty of any physical activity (including attacking in combat) and 1/2 to the difficulty of intellectual tasks and judgment calls. It’s extremely fatiguing to be on point!

The penalty applies to attack and damage rolls, and half of it applies to armor class – but weapons always do at least 1 point of damage even with this penalty.

It follows that even weak creatures who are adapted to the environment can pose a significant threat; unfortunately, many creatures to be found in the Shadowfen are NOT accurately described as ‘weak’.

Insects

Swarms of insects fill the air. Some are harmless; some have a painful bite which can persist for up to 72 hours depending on the species; some carry diseases like malaria or Yellow Fever, that can prove fatal; and some burrow into the skin to lay eggs that will do 1 point each when they hatch. One or two such bites are relatively trivial, but 1 or 2 hundred are a very different matter.

Green Alligators

One of the milder threats that can be encountered are Green Alligators. Unlike most such creatures, they operate in packs with a level of social cohesion.

One or two will feign attacks from either side, forcing an unwary party into a trap where the rest of the pack, another 5-10 strong, are waiting.

Green alligators only grow to 2-3 feet in length, and their bites are rarely directly lethal, but the cuts they do inflict can attract many more dangerous predators. They like to inflict 2-3 moderate wounds and wait for blood loss to weaken a target. That’s when they close in for the kill.

They will often attack and wound 2-3 different targets at the same time just in case one or two fall prey to other dangers – that way, they are more likely to feast.

The best tactics against Green Alligators is not to fall for their bluff; the whole target group should attack one of the flanking alligators that are trying to steer them into the trap; kill it as quickly as possible to open up a route around the trap that has been set.

Black Gators

Black gators work alone, and can grow to 15-30′ in length – with corresponding increase in their strength, resilience, and natural armor. They have no need to employ the patient tactics of their smaller green kin.

Typically, they will wrap their massively powerful tails around their target’s legs and then roll over, sweeping the target off it’s feet and under the water, While the target is struggling, the gator then bites out the victim’s throat, causing massive blood-loss and death within seconds. They are also notoriously bad-tempered.

Thunderbeasts

In modern times and in a modern-day place, we would call these dinosaurs – but they are smaller (a bit), warm-blooded, and herbivores. Like deer, they can be skittish and a herd can stampede at the slightest provocation.

Their hides are well armored; some species have external bony structures for defense, some simply have inch-thick leathery skin like elephant hide, and some have hardened layers of scales.

The smaller species have brightly-colored plumage which they can display as warnings when threatened, like 2-ton peacocks.

The biggest dangers that these pose are (1) crushing people underfoot who can’t get out of the way of a charge or stampede quickly enough; and (2) attracting more dangerous predators that hunt them, for these will often turn to the weaker humanoid targets for an easier meal.

Some species of Thunderbeast are large, with horns and spikes for attacks; some have spikes or clubs on the end of their long and powerful tails; a few can spit venom or acid. Some are simply so strongly armored as to be able to ignore just about anything. Amongst the middle-sized species, several have bony protuberances from their spines. One species has chameleon-like camouflage abilities, and this can make them the most dangerous of all.

Most are extremely territorial, but they migrate regularly, giving up their old territory (now devoid of food) in favor of another. It happens regularly that two different bands of Thunderbeast target the same “island”; if there diets are sufficiently different, or the island is large enough, then this is no problem, but if there is a dietary overlap and a more intense competition for limited resources, the result can be a bloody war between the two groups, until one of them is finally driven off.

Thunderbeasts come by weight, usually an even number of tons to a group. Divide this by the average weight of that variety of Thunderbeast to determine numbers.

One in four will be a youngster with only 10% or 20% of the typical resilience and armor of an adult. There will be a patriarch or leader who (effectively) gets the additional strength, size, and resilience given up by the youngsters. If there are more than 9 in the group, there will also be a younger challenger to the leader; divide the extras into whole units and round up for the leader, then allocate the difference to the challenger. If there are more than about 24 in the herd, there will be two challengers – round the lesser one’s 1/3 down, the larger one’s 1/3 up, and assign the difference to the middle challenger.

EG: 16 tons of Thunderbeast, weighing about 2/3 of a ton each on average.

16 / (2/3) = 16 × 3/2 = 8 × 3 = 24 Thunderbeasts.

24 / 4 = 6 youngsters. Half have 10% normal stats, half have 20%, so use 15% overall as the average. This leaves 85% or 0.85 per youth to be ‘redistributed’.

0.85 × 6 = 5.1.

Given the size of the herd, there will be one leader and one challenger. Divide the 5.1 by two and round up to get the share for the leader, plus the normal 1 he already has:

5.1 / 2 = 2.55, round up to 3 and add 1, so the leader has 4x the stats of a typical member of this species of Thunderbeast.

5.1-3 = 2.1, plus the natural 1 that all adults have makes 3.1, so the challenger has 3.1x the stats of a typical member of the herd. Not enough to defeat the leader, but enough to take over should the leader be killed.

Eight of the 24 are thus defined, leaving 16 to be ‘normal’. 60-70% of these will be females, the balance will be males.

16 × 0.6 = 9.6; 16 × 0.7 = 11.2; 10 is nicely in the middle. So 10 females and 6 males. Unless threatened, the females will not attack (but they will stampede), so in terms of combativeness, the herd is a leader, a challenger, and 6 subordinate males. 2/3 of these will follow the leader outright, 1/3 the challenger, who – for the moment – will also follow the leader.

Bat Swarms

The Shadowfen is home t multiple species of bat. The most common are the Duskwings, which actually comprise more than 30 species, all minor variations. Rarer and much more feared are Whisperwings, and even rarer (but less fearsome) are Razortooth Bats.

Duskwings

Duskwings are dark brown and red in color, each species under this collective title slightly different. This species have driven out or out-competed just about everything else with wings in the Shadowfen.

Every island hosts a colony of bats, and 97% of them are Duskwings. Some have shorter wings, some larger; in some species, the ears are smaller, some larger, some flatter, some more erect, and so on.

On smaller islands, there may be only a dozen or two in the colony; on larger ones, a colony may number in the hundreds or even thousands.

Duskwings are essentially harmless (but annoying); they eat insects, and consider a humanoid nothing more than a convenient-but-strange tree.

Razortooth Bats

Razorteeth are the largest and rarest species of bat within the Shadowfen, and in most lists, that would see them listed last of the three major species as the deadliest variety.

Roughly 1% of the colonies Razorteeth. If the colony is small, they will be twice as large as normal but only 1/2 in number, and the equivalent of a Hawk or Eagle. These are sometimes called Gryphonwings. While their preferred prey are mice and other small mammals, they will occasionally attack something larger; collectively doing 1/2d6 each every round, all in a multitude of small bites and lacerations. The bats will then eat their fill and leave whatever’s left for something else to consume.

But, if the colony is large, they will be 1/2 normal size and four times in number, and they will attack in waves of swarms, doing 1HP per swarm member per round. Think of them as piranhas of the air. Only metal armor has any real hope of defeating their intent, but wearing heavy metal armor in this kind of environment is probably going to be even more lethal than the bats. These smaller Razortooth bats are commonly called Swarmfangs.

Whisperwings

One in fifty colonies, or 2%, are Whisperwings. Smaller than Duskwings, these bats navigate by sonar that is too high-pitched to be heard by human ears, and while they can fly, they are prone to glide silently until they strike – hence the name.

Whisperwings are blood-suckers. Their saliva contains a saliva that prevents clotting. They dig into the flesh and clothing with their claws and drink greedily for just 5-10 minutes, extracting perhaps 5-10mL (10-20 teaspoons). This is enough to sustain the Whisperwing for a day or so. It then releases it’s grip and flies away.

Obviously, victims aren’t inclined to wait for the Whisperwing to eat its fill; they usually do everything they can to dislodge the attacker. If the target of the attack is still active, a second Whisperwing will attempt to take the place of the first. One of them is bad enough, but 2 or 3 might be able to feast at the same time, and the blood loss can quickly add up.

Whisperwing bites in and of themselves can be quite dangerous, but the true danger posed lies in the persistent effects of their saliva, causing a slow, cumulative bleeding.

Once they think they have done enough damage, the Whisperwings will simply follow their prey and wait for blood loss to take effect; when the prey falters, they will strike again and again.

The Insidious Threat (Effective Blood Loss):

The true danger begins after the bats depart. The powerful anticoagulant agents in its saliva will prevent the bite wound from clotting for several hours (usually 4-6 hours, sometimes more). From each bite, a victim will experience an effective blood loss of approximately 200 mL (6.75 fluid oz) over that period. It happens as a slow, steady trickle that might go unnoticed or be easily dismissed, especially if the victim is asleep or inattentive.

Cumulative Impact on a Human Victim (Approx. 5 Liters Total Blood):

1. 1st Bite (Effective Loss: ~200 mL cumulative) –

   Symptoms: Very subtle – a slight lightheadedness when standing up too quickly, a feeling of being “off” or unusually tired. The small wound might ooze subtly for hours, perhaps staining clothing or bedding, but easily mistaken for a minor injury.

   Victim Awareness: Likely none (of the true danger). The victim might not even realize they’ve been bitten by anything significant.

2. 2nd Bite (Effective Loss: ~400 mL cumulative) –

   Symptoms: Noticeable pallor and coolness of the skin. Persistent fatigue. Heart rate might be slightly elevated even at rest. More pronounced dizziness or faintness upon exertion or standing. Increased thirst.

   Victim Awareness: The victim might feel consistently unwell, attributing it to a lingering cold, stress, or general malaise. The recurring small, oozing wounds might be puzzling but still dismissed as minor.

3. 3rd Bite (Effective Loss: ~600 mL cumulative)

   Symptoms: Definite signs of mild shock. Skin is clammy, pale, and cool. Heart rate is noticeably elevated (to 100-110 bpm). Breathing becomes slightly faster and shallower. Mental fog, difficulty concentrating, and/or increased anxiety. Significant thirst.

   Victim Awareness: The victim is now clearly unwell, probably wanting to stop and rest. For the first time, there might be a sense that the “minor” wounds are bleeding for an unusually long time, leading to concern, but the cumulative effect might still not be fully understood.

4. 4th Bite (Effective Loss: ~800 mL cumulative):

   Symptoms: The victim enters the more serious stages of shock. Blood pressure may begin to drop, and the pulse becomes weaker. There is a sense of profound fatigue and weakness; even simple tasks become exhausting. There are significant mental alterations, which – being mental – might not be recognized: confusion, irritability, disorientation, and/or even brief periods of semi-consciousness. There is a marked increase in breathing rate, but the breaths are shallow and feel ineffective. There is muscle weakness and potentially cramping.

   Victim Awareness: The victim is gravely ill, likely struggling to function, and may be unable to recognize the cause or seek help effectively.

5. 5th Bite (Effective Loss: ~1000 mL cumulative – 1 liter)

Symptoms: Symptoms are now reaching critical levels. Severe shock. Blood pressure is noticeably low. Heart rate is very rapid and weak (>120 bpm). Breathing is rapid, shallow, and distressed. Extreme weakness, barely able to move. Mental status severely impaired, potentially lapsing into unconsciousness, disorientation, or delirium. Skin is ashen, cold, and the victim would experience profusely sweating. There is barely enough blood to carry oxygen to vital organs; the body tends to shut off blood supply to the limbs, which lose significant power and strength as a result. It’s possible that a victim can no longer stand.

Outcome: At this point, most human prey are incapacitated, unable to flee or fight effectively, and will potentially collapse into unconsciousness. Saving throws are needed to avoid this from the most minor of tasks. If the initial bites were to the limbs, this is as bad as things are likely to get; over the next 48 hours, symptoms will progressively improve if the victim remains protected. But if the bites were to the torso or neck, as seems more likely, things get worse.

6. 6th Bite (Effective Loss: ~1200 mL cumulative – 1.2 liters)

   Symptoms: Life-threatening levels of hemorrhagic shock. Profoundly low blood pressure, barely noticeable pulse, gasping or irregular breathing. The victim is either deeply unconscious or comatose. Chest and/or abdominal pain as organ dysfunction begins. There is a high risk of irreversible brain, heart, or kidney damage, without immediate medical intervention of a very effective nature. There is a serious risk of death without such support.

7. >6th bite (Effective loss ~1400 mL cumulative – 1.4 liters)

   Symptoms: Without critical medical intervention, the victim is comatose and dying. Even with such intervention, serious organ damage can result. Extreme pain in the limbs, chest, and abdomen. Skin is ashen and gray, and may have a blue color. Muscles in the limbs are also dying and affected limbs will almost certainly need to be amputated before sepsis causes another fatal blow to the system.

Magical healing can restore the immediate damage and deny the blood loss, causing the victim to feel fine. However, at lower levels of healing magic, the victim will continue to bleed internally, and nothing short of Heal will restore the lost blood. This causes a sudden resurgence of symptoms a couple of hours later and an unusually rapid progression towards the level of greatest impact.

Close observation under these conditions may reveal areas of unexpected bruising in the abdominal area 30 minutes to an hour after the healing took place. This is the only visible warning until 30 minutes later when the symptoms begin to recur.

The bloodletting

As soon as the victim slows enough that it seems likely to succeed, another Whisperwing attack will take place, with the sole intent of inflicting 2-3 additional bites. This causes the symptoms to dramatically worsen over the ensuing hour or two.

When the victim can no longer resist, the entire colony will swarm the victim, each consuming additional blood until they have taken on board as much as 50 mL each, or the victim is sucked dry. This makes them sluggish and barely able to fly, but it will sustain a Whisperwing for a full week or more. This swarming behavior is known as the Bloodletting.

Though seriously drained of blood, the flesh remains palatable to most carnivores. Little survives the Bloodletting.

Other treatments

Once the danger is appreciated, there is a strong inclination to wash the wounds in an attempt to wash away the anticoagulant, but most of it is absorbed rapidly into the blood supply of the victim, so this is actually of very little benefit, and risks trading one problem for an even more serious one, infection.

If the bites are to a limb, a tornique is a treatment far more likely to be efficacious. Failing that, padding the wound and keeping it under pressure can halve or even quarter the blood loss, permitting the victim to survive until the anticoagulant begins to wear off.

Symptom Tracking

It’s extremely important for the GM to track the actual blood loss per wound each hour and use that, multiplied by the number of wounds, to describe the onset of symptoms as the problem progresses. If necessary, use smaller time intervals. Subtracting 11 and adding a d20 to the number of minutes creates additional realism and tension.

EG: 3 bites = 600mL loss over 4-6 hours = 100-125 mL loss per hour. ‘Bite 1’ level of effects require 200 mL loss, so 200/125 × 60 = 96, so 96-120 minutes after the attack the first symptoms appear. 192-240 minutes after the attack, the symptoms will worsen to “bite 2” levels, and 288-360 minutes later, “bite 3” level symptoms will manifest.

EG2: 4 bites = 800mL loss over 4-6 hours = 133.33-200 mL loss per hour = 2.22-3.33 mL per minute. 200mL (bite 1) effects in 60-90 minutes, bite 2 in 120-180 minutes, bite 3 in 180-270 minutes, and bite 4 in 240-360 minutes ie 4-6 hours. This is when there will be another attack by the Whisperwings seeking to add a fifth, sixth, and possibly 7th bites.

Secondary Attacks

Of course, bleeding into the water attracts the attention of all sorts of other predators. Nothing more need be said about that, really!

Spiders

There are five common varieties of spider of note: Weaverbugs, Kola Spiders, Moss Hunters, Shadowsails, and Lightfoot Terrors.

Weaverbugs

The Weaverbug ‘spider family’ – representing 93% of spider encounters in the Shadowfen – are harmless and are actually insects. Small, the largest specimen is only a cm across (about 4/10ths of an inch) and most species are half this size or less. There are dozens of species in this family and in general, only an expert can tell them apart. They have antenna that are shaped like legs and move in a similar way to legs, and which can even be used to support the ‘spider’, but detailed examination (under a magnifying glass or using a shrinking spell on the examiner) confirms that they actually only have 6 legs, not 8. These come in a wide variety of colors and are almost completely hairless, but so small that it’s hard to notice either characteristic. Unlike most insects, and blurring the line a little, these do use webbing for various purposes.

Kola Spiders

Kola Spiders are venomous but their bite isn’t strong enough to pierce most human flesh; they are only dangerous to infants, small children, and those already wounded. Which puts the bites of Whisperwing Bats into a wholly different context! They are comparatively rare, comprising 3% of all spider encounters in the Shadowfen.

They are uniformly black over the majority of their bodies with reddish or bluish sheens. There is little visible hair, they have very smooth abdomens and thoraxes. There are multiple species, distinguishable by textural patterns – brown or white spots – on the bodies. The typical size is 1-2 inches across.

Each species has a different venom with slightly different effects. Assign each a lethality rating from 0-19 and then distribute those points as follows:

• Organ Impact: Heart 4, Brain 4, Lungs 3, Nervous System / Muscle Control 3, Blood 2, Kidney 2, Liver 1, Skin 1
• Hours Of Impairment: score 1 for each hour or part thereof
• Quarter hours before impairment is noticeable: 0=5, 1=4, 2=3, 3=2, 4=1
• Degree of Impairment: Lethal 6, Critical 5, Serious 4, Rotting / Necrosis 3, Minor 2, Painful 1
• Recurrence of Symptoms (fresh save each time): 2-4 times a day for 1-6 days = 8, daily for 1-2 weeks = 7, every 2-5 days for 1-4 weeks = 6, weekly for 1-3 months = 5, every 2-4 weeks = 4, every 4-8 weeks = 3, Four or more times over the next 6 months = 2, Two or three times over the next 1-6 months = 1, Once or twice over the next week or fortnight = 0, At Bite Site only = -1, Never = -2
• Recurrence of symptoms, initial save result persists: As above but additional +1
• Save vs Symptoms: +1 for each penalty to the save, -1 for each bonus, maximum &PlusMinus;6

EG: Holy Cross Spider Venom, Rating 13 – affects Heart (4) and Muscle Control (3), Duration 1 hour and 2 hours respectively (1+2=3), Delay 1/4 hr and 2/4 hrs respectively (4+3=7), Impairment Minor x2 (4), Recurrence Never (-2), subtotal 4+3+3+7+4-2 = 19, so +6 to the saving throw to resist the poison. Causes heart palpitations and nervous twitching, sometimes accompanied by profuse sweating. Some people experience similar symptoms after consuming a strong curry.

Note that giving the bite two symptoms seriously weakens the lethality. Compare with:

EG2: Blood Rose Spider Venom, Rating 13 – affects heart (4), Duration 1 hr (1), Delay 15 minutes (4), Impairment: Lethal (6), Recurrence Never (-2), subtotal 4+1+4+6-2=13, so +0 to save. Causes cardiac arrest.

Kola spiders are rarely aggressive unless cornered or threatened. Their targets are small mammals and bats, and a single kill can provide food for a weeks or two.

Moss Hunters

Moss Hunters are venomous enough to be dangerous, though the bites of most will only make you sick for a couple of days. Unlike Kola Spiders, Moss Hunters tend to be furry and often black and/or green of various shades. They are generally anywhere from 1-6 inches across. Their bite can pierce skin, and for -2 lethality, even soft leather (-6 Lethality for hardened leather and chain mail!)

Determine Lethality as 3d6+2, and immediately adjust the total for the ‘piercing’ ability.

Moss hunters can be very hard to detect; they typically don’t string webs between trees, instead lurking on trunks and branches, under or in fallen logs, and under leafy cover.

Most are not overly aggressive.

Shadowsails

Shadowsails use webbing between their pairs of mid-legs legs to enable them to glide long distances, can be significant in size (about 10cm across) and are highly venomous.

These are actual hunter-killers, and are more likely to be aggressive when encountered. Fortunately, only 1% of spider encounters are of this kind.

They will rarely attack anything larger than a typical human, and their preferred targets are more on the scale of a typical lamb or medium dog.

Venom is 2d8+8 lethality, but they routinely give up 4 or 6 points of that to be able to pierce protections. Their appearance is black, gray, and/or white, and there are about a dozen species within the family.

Lightfoot Terrors

The largest spiders to be encountered in the Shadowfen, these come by their name honestly. They grow up to 3 feet across, and they hunt in packs of 6-20 adults. They camouflage both themselves and their webbing using leaves bitten off trees and held in place by webbing..

Their venom tends not to be highly lethal, but still scores very high on the lethality index because their bites are fully capable of penetrating any solid armor of less than +2 magical enchantment, and any non-solid armor (including hardened leather) regardless of magical bonuses.

Only one species of Lightfoot Terror are known at this time, and they comprise about 1% of spider encounters in the Shadowfen.

They have the intelligence of a dog or cat, and are fully capable of bringing down a steer. When hungry, they are extremely aggressive, and are also territorial.

Venom Lethality 2d10+10, minus 12 for their piercing abilities.

Ghostnacknids, Ghost Spiders, Spirit Spiders, and Phase Spiders

There are unconfirmed reports of a sixth family of dangerous spiders somewhere in the Shadowfen. These have the power of invisibility and/or insubstantiality, according to reports. The most common description is “pale and translucent white-green, ghost-like”. They are reported to be almost silent in their movements, a slight rustling of leaves, nothing more.

Some believe these to be the evolved ghosts of a former spider species; others think them still living. No-one knows for certain that they exist. Like Lightfoot Terrors, they can be multiple feet in diameter (including legs). They do not climb, if they exist at all – they are a ground-level threat. They are reportedly able to walk on water, and some describe a opalescent glow suggestive of a will-o-the-wisp.

One report suggests that they are intelligent enough to be tool-users and have language; this claims to have encountered a temple built by Ghost Spiders to a spider deity who elevated them from an animal state.

Everything about them is myth and legend – at least for now..

Snakes

It’s fair to say that travelers never notice 99.99% of the life around them in the Shadowfen. Most of it is tiny insects, worms, and the like, much of it hidden beneath the carpet of fallen leaves.

Not everything is so inattentive. There are multiple varieties of snake that call the Shadowfen home, and most of those won’t get noticed by casual travelers, either.

Snake venom is generally nastier than spider venom simply because the snake delivers more of whatever the compound is with a single bite. In fact, up to 100 times more. This means that even venoms that are relatively non-toxic can be delivered in sufficient quantities to pose a deadly threat. Per cc, snake venom is generally weaker; but per bite, it is often worse. This is reflected in comparatively high Venom Lethality Scores.

Leafsnakes

By far the most common variety are the most infrequently noticed. Leafsnakes consume the bugs and insects that live on the fallen vegetation, under which they glide almost completely unnoticed. Completely harmless to humans, they grow no more than a foot in length, and most species average around 20cm (8″) at most. Some, also known as Pygmy Snakes, don’t grow more than 1/4 this length. They tend to be only a few millimeters (2 tenths of an inch) in thickness, too. 73% of snake encounters will be with harmless Leafsnakes.

Nirvana Constrictors

Like all pythons, Nirvana Constrictors wrap themselves around prey and squeeze it to death. Strong enough to break bones, anything that is no taller than half the snake’s length is vulnerable. For most humans, normal pythons have to be around 10′ long to pose a threat.

But the Nirvana Constrictor has a hidden ace up its metaphoric sleeve – it’s skin exudes a contact poison that causes diminished intellect and induces a state of euphoria with hallucinations. None of this lasts, but even if the constrictor is unable to crush the human (who will do just about anything they can to cooperate), this leaves the victim easy prey for the many other threats of the Shadowfen – with the python on hand to consume it’s fair share of the spoils.

Strange as it may seem, there are some people who actually seek out young nirvana pythons, ones that are too small to threaten them, and take them as pets for these mind-altering experiences. This is a story that never ends well; the ‘pet owners’ are normally too out of it too often to notice when their pet has grown too large, with predictable results. But this then exposes others to the threat posed by the constrictor, and for this reason, keeping them as pets is illegal.

As a general rule, Nirvana Constructors are shy and avoid confrontation with humans. Only if desperately hungry will they attack anything human-sized, no matter how large they have grown, so if not taken as pets, they are generally harmless.

Nirvana Constructors will be around 2% of the snake encounters in the Shadowfen.

Green Mambas

From one of the more harmless varieties to one of the most lethal – Green Mambas are fairly small, only 2 or 3 feet in length at most, and only about an inch in diameter, but their venom is highly toxic, While bad-tempered, and prone to attack without warning or display if disturbed, they do not seek out humans. Their venom is a defensive weapon, from the snake’s point of view.

In color, these snakes are black with a vivid green underbelly. They like to climb trees and hang with their heads down from tree-limbs, going to ground only to hunt.

They are surprisingly common to encounter, constituting around 3% of the snakes found in the Shadowfen, but only one time in three will this generally lead to a confrontation – unless there is something more menacing in the vicinity, the Mamba will prefer to slither away peacefully. The big problem is that what they consider a threat and what humans consider a threat can vary widely, and lead to hostile responses for no apparent reason.

Black Mambas have a Venom Lethality of 30, and they don’t waste as much of it on penetrating bites – hardened leather is enough to turn one aside. They don’t need the penetration because they are also adept at leaping – if coiled to spring, they can cover a distance three times their own body-length. This is more than enough to target necks, faces, and other unprotected parts of the anatomy of their targets.

Riversnakes

Riversnakes have mastered a trick few other serpents can manage (or rediscovered it) – they actually have gills and breathe underwater. As such, there are usually many more of them around than people are ever aware of.

While their bite is potentially toxic (Venom lethality d6+6), it tends to be survivable, and they hardly ever attack humans. Fish and small amphibians are their primary diet. When encountering a swimming snake, if it dives under, it can usually be ignored; Riversnakes don’t linger at the surface for very long. If it stays visible, it’s probably something more serious.

3% of snake encounters will consist of a Riversnake brushing up against a traveler in the water.

In general, they move too quickly to ever step on one accidentally, so you have to really work at it to get one mad enough to attack you.

Brown, Black, Red, Blue-belly, & Indigo Crown Snakes (and half-a-dozen other snake species)

These common snake varieties account for a massive 15% of snake encounters. Lengths are generally around 2-4′, bodies are about 1-1.5 inches in diameter, and they are all toxic to some degree.

They have been listed as a group because collectively they are very similar in nature. The sequence shown is in decreasing order of aggression and lethality. The likelihood of encounter shown takes the relative level of aggression into account.

• Brown Snakes (2%) – highly aggressive, likely to take a bite just to see if it can. Lethality d6+16.
• Black Snakes (2%) – aggressive if you move towards them once they notice you – and they are more likely to do so than you are to spot them. Lethality d8+13.
• Red Snakes (1%) – aggressive if cornered or extremely hungry. The name is a slight misnomer, they are actually black snakes with a red belly. They will generally respond to a threat with a show of force – if that results in the threat backing off, that’s generally an end to the confrontation. If, however, they feel they have actually been attacked (not necessarily by whoever they consider a threat), they will not back down. Lethality d6+12.
• Blue-belly Snakes (2%) – a mottled green on top, and a vivid blue underneath, like Red snakes they use their bellies as a warning to potential threats. Those bodies are less round than those of other snakes in the Shadowfen, which sometimes leads to these being described as “Ribbon Snakes”. Some (but not all) can also puff out their necks to make themselves look bigger and more threatening. They are slightly more dangerous than Red Snakes because they can spit their venom. If they hit a target in the eyes – and they are very accurate at distances of less than 5′ – their venom causes temporary blindness in addition to any other effects (this has been taken into account with their Venom Lethality rating of d12+4).
• Indigo Crown Snakes (1%) – identifiable by a snout that is a vivid purple except on top of the head, which is somewhat flatter and blunter than most, and almost twice the size that would normally be expected of their body size. Indigo Crown snakes are very close to harmless – their bites can be troublesome, but they are incredibly placid by nature. Comparatively rare, but highly prized by farmers because they prefer to live on mice and other animals humans consider pests. Venom Lethality rating of d6+6.
• Other Snakes (7%) – roll d4+1 to determine which of the above they most resemble in behavior. Re-roll half of the results that come up 4 or 5. Lethality of d8+8.

Frost Serpents

Frost Serpents are white with scales outlined in a pale blue, grow up to 12′ in length and up to 3 inches in diameter, and have two unique tricks to their names: They are warm-blooded, and they exude cold as might a Cold Elemental.

This gives them a significant advantage over other creatures, because most slow down when extremely cold. Blood is shunted away from the limbs and extremities and used to keep the torso and it’s vital organs warm, resulting in a loss of strength, dexterity, and coordination.

The fiery hot blood of Frost Serpents permits them to be unaffected by this, making them extremely dangerous, but it comes at a cost: they need to consume ten times as much food as a typical snake, making them perpetually hungry and hostile.

Their breath is especially icy and constitutes a breath weapon akin to that of a small white dragon. Lethality (not counting cold attacks and environmental effects) is only 4+d6, but they hardly need venom to be deadly. Fortunately, only 1% of snake encounters are with a Frost Serpent.

Bloodfangs

While Red Snakes and Blue-belly Snakes try to scare threats away, they do at least have some level of threat with which to back up those intimidations. Bloodfangs are charlatans in comparison. When confronted, it puffs up it’s head and neck to almost three times normal size and begins to drip blood from its fangs, looking for all the world like a vampire in snake form. But it’s all show.

A Bloodfang’s teeth are hollow, which is where they store the blood supply used for this grizzly display. And that means that there’s no opportunity for the Bloodfang to store venom; it’s teeth are connected to the blood supply.

Since they aren’t used for attacks, and because they are hollow, the Bloodfang?s teeth are also fairly weak. They serve just fine for killing amphibians and small mammals, but that’s about it. You might think that this would make the Bloodfangs an effective substitute for Indigo Crown Snakes, but Bloodfangs are wanderers and won’t stay local, making them unreliable as pest controllers.

Venom lethality d6+6.

Again, only 1% of snake encounters.

Trumpet Snakes

The loudest snake ever!! Trumpet Snakes have conical snouts with multiple nostrils that they can open and close – just like the musical instrument for which they are named. Instinctively, they rise up and sway back and forth while ‘playing’ a melody on their ‘trumpet’. Those who encounter them often stop and relax, enjoying the ‘performance’ – and leaving themselves vulnerable.

Trumpet snakes have no fangs. They swallow prey either whole or in large chunks that their mouths can tear off a corpse, after it’s decomposed for a day or two.

They kill with their music – those ‘nostrils’ get closed by dart-shaped venomous ‘barbs’ that the powerful lungs of this snake can fire a distance of up to 10 feet.

Venom lethality 2d6+8.

Like the other most dangerous snakes, only 1% of snake encounters are with Trumpet Snakes – but they are amongst the most memorable.

Goldentailed Diamondheads

The last significant variety of snake are Goldentailed Diamondheads (1% chance per snake encounter). These are the most colorful of snakes with golden feathers on the rear half. Their bodies are a reddish brown with black patterning everywhere save the top of their heads, which sport a distinctive white diamond-shaped pattern on the top.

They have no venom to speak of, like several other snake varieties; instead, they can spit a stream of acid, akin to a small black dragon.

The name is actually a misnomer; these are actually lizards, but they withdraw their limbs into their bodies to move from place to place. The legs, specifically the claws, are only used to dismember a victim after it has been killed by an acid attack.

Other threats in the Shadowfen

There are four other significant encounters that might take place in the Shadowfen. This excludes a whole host of encounters that are probably not going to be of great significance, such as with Frogs, Toadstools, Mice, and so on.

Daydreamer

The daydreamer is a nocturnal feline with great leaping powers. They tend so spend their days sleeping in the nooks of trees, hence the name. Think of them as a Puma and you won’t be too far off the mark.

Fenwolves

Fenwolves most closely resemble wolves crossed with chimpanzees. They perambulate from tree-limb to tree-limb, dropping to the ‘ground’ only when it is considered safe. They walk on all fours, their forelimbs being longer and stronger than their hind legs.

They are quite intelligent as a species and have been flirting with tool use for as long as they have been known about while never quite grasping the concept. If there is a task that needs doing and am implement nearby that improves the process involved, they will start doing the task manually, notice the tool, figure out how to use it after trying various alternatives, complete the task – and then discard the tool.

They appear to have a 2000 word vocabulary of hoots, hollers, shrieks, and shouts – but fill most of their dialogue with random noise that means nothing. The current theory is that this practice stems from a time when there were two related and competing species, and that the Fenwolves began to suspect their rivals of attempting to decipher their words; to confound this, they began introducing nonsense in between actual communications.

In combat, they attack as a pack under the command of a pack leader who seeks a position above the combat and directs his ‘troops’ with specific instructions. Their snouts are those of a rottweiler, but it’s their arms that are their greatest natural weapons. They not only give the creatures a reach as great as their body-length, they make them dexterous, nimble, and lightning-fast. They clearly have a stratified society with rewards and social mobility.

The uninformed may think that the chimpanzee-aspects of their personalities will leaven and improve their canine instincts. To educate them, I present the following paraphrased anecdote to describe the personality of the Fenwolf:

A new keeper at a zoo was thrown into the deep end when placed in charge of the ape enclosure. Part of her job was to retrieve the food bowls at the end of each meal. For the first week or two all went well, and the apes soon learned that placing the bowl within reach of a slot in the solid door meant that they were fed more quickly, and even got the occasional treat as an extra. At the end of this period, one of the apes placed the bowl just out of reach; the keeper was naively about to reach through the slot for it when a more senior keeper who had been keeping an eye on her hollered at her to stop. Taking the new keeper to the edge of the slot, she discovered that the chimp was waiting behind the door to rip her arm off when she extended it, giving the chimp access to the enclosure keys.

Fenwolves are carnivores, making them that much worse. They are fully capable of feigning friendship until in a position to take advantage of those they encounter. They have no morality or ethics, being concerned first with the welfare of the pack and second with their personal gratification. Anything more is a distant third and to be exploited in order to achieve the first two goals.

They are much stronger than they appear on the surface, and capable of inflicting significant harm – a capability exacerbated by their ability to lull intruders into a false sense of security. It must be remembered that in a hostile environment like the Shadowfen, they not only hold their own but are probably best considered the apex predator. Clever and problem-solvers, they are extremely dangerous – when they want to be.

The best approach to dealing with them is to mirror their apparent mood – if they are calm, you be even more calm. If placid, offer them food to make them even more placid. If aroused, sit back on your haunches and crouch submissively; once they feel in a position of dominance, they will be less threatened and will calm down. For a while. And, at the first opportunity, get as far away as possible, distracting from possible pursuit by leaving another gift of food.

Don’t be surprised is the same pack show up the next day, and the one after, and the one after that, however; they will exploit fully any benefit they can gain. They will establish a pattern of seeming to leave after being satisfied – until one day when, having lured you into closer proximity with their ‘placid ways’, they attack. A key warning behavior comes from sitting on armor and weapons with childlike innocence – they recognize tool use in others and are covertly denying access to those tools. They may even make a game of it, carrying one of their members aloft on a shoulder-height shield carried by two or three more, with the rider pointing and giving directions to its bearers. All the better to lull those they encounter into a false sense of security.

They do not seem to have a sense of humiliation the way that others do; their egos are such that they are completely happy to play the fool or the child – if it gets them what they want in the end.

Swamp Tuskers

There’s a legend from the Australian Outback of the Razorback, which in turn has been conflated with a similar legend from the southern US – which one came up with the concept and associated it with the term first is completely unclear. A razorback is a feral pig of unusual size, strength, ferocity, and meanness. In modern times, feral pigs are pigs released or that have escaped from domestic captivity,as distinguished from those who were always wild.

Swamp Tuskers are to Razorbacks as Wild Pigs are to Feral. The size of a hippo and just as strong, armored, and bad-tempered; the only saving grace is that most of them are not as intelligent as pigs are, generally.

Porcine intelligence is commonly underrated; farmers often conflate innate laziness for a lack of understanding. They are slower thinkers than most species but more methodological, and quite capable of making associations within their environments. Swamp Tuskers are generally less adept at this, as is often the case with bullies of unusual size and strength, especially when coupled with a sour and hot-headed disposition.

About one in fifty is a true menace, however, retaining more of the normal porcine intellect and coupling it with their capacity for violence and destruction. They are quite capable of raiding from the ‘security’ of the Shadowfen into surrounding territories in search of better food supplies.

In the swamps, they translate their intelligence into a natural affinity for the environment, seeming to instinctively know which ground is strong enough to stand on and which is dangerous, where hostile forces are located, where to avoid and where food is available for the taking. It is thought that they maintain and continuously update a mental map of their surroundings which manifests as this ‘instinct’.

If it were not for the Fenwolves, sheer size and ferocity would probably make Swamp Tuskers the dominant hunters of the Shadowfen.

Bandits & Criminals

There are lots of environments easily reachable from Splinter or Gardenia to which criminals and bandits can flee and establish themselves, but most of them come with drawbacks. The Desert is short of food save in the oases of the Dramedyn. You could live on fish for a while, but as a long-term refuge, it’s a bust. Ditto the wastelands of the Ironbarb Crags. The forests are full of elves and elvish creatures, and the mountains, of Dwarves – either of whom would take great delight in trading a captured human criminal for rewards and considerations. The one place where the only threats are natural and environmental and where food is ample (if you know where to look) is the Shadowfen.

Inevitably, then, this is where they run to, that the same dangers that pose a risk for them will also work to shield them from the law.

At any given time, there are not going to be many such – one bandit camp and perhaps half a dozen living solitary lives in the wilderness – but they are not the trusting kind and don’t make good neighbors. They are more likely to kill you first and ask questions later.

From time to time, when an especially nasty specimen has fled into the Shadowfen, the Crown will sponsor an expedition into the fens to hunt for them. If bandits learn something of the sort is under consideration, they will often hunt down the perpetrator themselves and leave him or her trussed-up somewhere where an authority will (eventually) find them – in effect, trading a limited policing function for their own continued liberty.

Anyone who knows where in the fens they are based poses a threat to that liberty, and they respond to such exactly as you would expect: they hide if they can, but prepare for violence without mercy.

Resources from the Shadowfen

Aside from those fleeing legal repercussions, you would have to wonder why anyone would enter the Shadowfen. Dangers abound there, after all, and very little of what has been described as resident would qualify as especially tasty. Fishing along the river is as close as you get, and that can be done without going deeply into the fens at all.

There are four major resources and one minor one to attract brave outsiders, and they succeed in doing so with great regularity.

1. Oil
   From deep beneath the ground, sometimes what flows to the surface is more substantial than just bubbles of marsh gas. Dark black or blue slicks form little rainbows on the surface, killing many creatures – but when collected and purified (and, usually, perfumed), this supplies lighting for the village of Splinter and some of the larger hamlets of Gardenia.

2. Lumber
   Elves could supply all the lumber that is needed from their forests, but they manage this resource very sharply and occasionally, what they are willing to sell is not enough. The lumber of the trees that grow in the Shadowfen is quite different to the hard- and soft-woods provided by the Forests; it’s ideal for boats and light purposes because it contains little pockets of air, making in naturally light and buoyant. It’s also better, for the same reasons, for the construction of any tool handle that doesn’t need the resilience of a hardwood, being that much lighter than the alternatives – so rakes and brooms and the like. You would prefer not to use it for an ax or pick, but within it’s limitations, it can be the most desirable option.

3. Herbs
   There are a number of herbs that grow in the Shadowfen that simply will not prosper outside of it – mints, lemondrops, snowdew, and so on. Farmers have been trying and failing to domesticate these wild herbs for as long as anyone can remember. The dangers of the Shadowfen are such that supply of them can be irregular, but that only reinforces their popularity as an occasional treat.

4. Fungus
   There are also varieties of Mushroom that grow in the Shadowfen and nowhere else. Fanshrooms over one foot across; Thunderhead Mushrooms that stand 3′ tall and 1′ across, enough to feed a large family several meals on their own, let alone when married to meats and other vegetables; and Purple Glories, with their ‘thin’ six-inch stalks and broad purple crowns, up to four feet in diameter, large enough (but not strong enough) to seat an adult, and quite strong enough to bear the weight of a child of 5 summers. Each part of a Purple Glory carries a different flavor, ranging from creamy to nutty, and has many different recipes deriving from them. It is not uncommon in Splinter for them to be halved or quartered for sale. But first, they have to be found and gathered.

5. Fish
   I spoke dismissively of the fishing outside of the river with good reason; while there are many varieties of aquatic life that can’t be found outside of the Shadowfen, they are generally considered tasteless or bland or even unpalatable. That said, they can be cheap and abundant, and there are times when that outweighs other considerations.

   In fact, it is quite normal for a family to build a meal around a Flatfish, Pufferfish, Slime Eel, or Gray Catfish in order to save enough money to be able to eat better for a day or two afterwards.

   It is the height of cuisine in Splinter and Gardenia to make these fish palatable or even tasty. Sauces, herbs, and spices are the usual technique but the best answers use such expensive ingredients that they defeat the purpose of the cheaper meal. “Any fool who can burn water can make Slime Eel tasty by throwing enough wealth away,” it is said. The art comes from devising a new recipe that achieves the same ends without great expense, and doing so without employing overly-strong flavors is even more widely revered.

   Some examples:

        Flatfish:
             Pan-roasted Flatfish in Cress and Nut Soup;
             Fillet of Stuffed Flatfish Turine with Mushroom;
             Flatfish cured in Spiced Wine with Tubers.

        Pufferfish:
             Pork Stew in Pufferfish;
             Flambe of Puffer;
             Ground Puffer with barley and Herb Sauce.

        Slime Eel:
             Comfy of Eel in White sauce with radishes;
             Eel cooked in Mushroom Stalk;
             Dried Eel stewed in Lemondrops.

        Gray Catfish:
             Herbed Catfish with Wintermelon;
             Roast Apple and Catfish;
             Spiced Catfish.

Adventuring in the Shadowfen

No-one enters the Shadowfen casually; it is always done with a specific purpose in mind, and few remain once that purpose has been achieved. Threats will be encountered daily (if not more often) before that purpose is complete. Adventuring in the Shadowfen is clearly mission-oriented and episodic, and that means that it has never been systematically explored.

It follows that no-one knows what might be hidden away in there, waiting to be discovered. Surprises will only get uncovered by accidental discovery, an unexpected complication to an unrelated mission.

Regions Of The Shadowfen

All this means that little is known in terms of regions of the Shadowfen, and the tendency of smaller ‘islands’ to wander unpredictably only adds to this confusion. Still, there are a few observations that can be made.

North vs South

The Zugarth Mountains lie to the east – but a spur of them runs to both the North and South. From three sides, then, there are water-sources feeding into the Everflow – small wonder that the place is waterlogged, to put it very mildly.

The fourth direction, to the west, is no more welcoming. In this direction lies the Ironbarb Crags.

The Shadowfen is divided into two unequal parts by the Everflow, which enters from the Northwest and flows to the west before finding a gap in the mountain spur and turning to the North through it.

Unless, of course, you’re actually traveling on the river (see ‘Faster Ways Out Of The Shadowfen, below).

About 1/4 of the Shadowfen lies to the north of the Everflow, and 3/4 of it, to the south.

Largest Island

The largest island found within the Shadowfen to date is named Giselle – no-one remembers why. It’s a solid landmass about 18 miles across, roughly circular in shape, with a teardrop tail to the north that ‘droops’ to the west. Well, actually, ‘solid’ is a bit of a misnomer; it’s a bog with veins of dryer land running across it from the south to the north. As such, it’s one of the very few permanent features of the environment, and the center of economic activity. Located just south of the Everflow on it’s eastern side, it’s relatively easy to find and often acts as a staging point for deeper explorations.

Blackwater

Due south (more or less) of Giselle is “Blackwater”, a region of the Shadowfen in which the waters are unusually dark in tone. Sometimes Blackwater has a very dark reddish shine, but most of the time it’s an even darker blue. No-one knows what causes it. Islands that ‘float’ into the area and linger tend to die off (see the image above); whether this is related to cause or effect is not known.

Blackwater causes more deaths than any other single phenomenon in the Shadowfen, because – from time to time – travelers who cut across it (instead of circling around it) report seeing something glinting in the riverbed, like gold. Growing excited, they bend their efforts to attempting to retrieve whatever they have seen – finding nothing, but staying too long in the vicinity of a lot of hungry creatures on the dying ‘island’ landmass.

No matter how many times people get warned about Blackwater, though, people still get taken in by whatever causes the glinting, even though nothing of value has ever been retrieved from the riverbeds there.

Green Lake

Another strange and inexplicable phenomenon lies in the approximate center of the Shadowfen on the western side – a region about 12 miles across that is never occupied by landmass, only a vast lake of greenish algae floating on the water. It is speculated that ridges in the riverbeds shape the currents to produce this phenomenon, steering ‘land’ islands away from the ‘lake’, but no-one knows for sure.

From time to time there are reports of amphibious humanoids that live in underwater caves in the center of Green Lake. These reports are completely unverified – not even the existence of the caves is certain – but, if true, this is undoubtedly related to the causes of the Lake.

Faster Ways Out If The Shadowfen

There are, fortunately, more quick ways in and out of the Shadowfen than most places in Topologia. It can, in some ways, be considered the hub around which the entire setting revolves (though the same can be said of Splinter, or of the Zugarth Mountains).

• Splinter Sewer / Moss Curtain
  It’s almost impossible to find the other end of it, but wading through the sewers in Splinter sometimes leads you to an area where moss forms a curtain over a sewer pipe. Brush it aside and you emerge into one of the thousands of creeks and streams that separate floating islands in the Shadowfen. Turn around, and the curtain of moss is hanging from a tree limb – brush it aside, and there is just more creek beyond it. Unlike most of the topological worms that connect place A to point B, this is almost always just one way.

  But, at the same time, there can be times when you can be rushing up one of those streams and the sky will suddenly dim and grow dark, and you will find yourself back in that same sewer. And if you then reverse course, you end up back in the Shadowfen – but nowhere near wherever you were.

  Because the islands float around and rearrange themselves continuously, you can never predict either arrival point or where that ‘return passage’ might be – both are best taken as questions of sheer luck, good or bad.

• Rainbow Bridge
  I talked about this one under the heading of Gardenia. While this is a true two-way crossing, the location of the Shadowfen end of the bridge is largely unpredictable – but it is always somewhere close to the Everflow, and that makes it one of the more convenient choices – especially if you bring a boat that is suited to the environment.

• Stagnant Green Pool
  Not to be confused with Green Lake, this is a pool about three feet across, thick with algae and slime. Water currents heading toward it seem to mysteriously always turn aside, sometimes at the last possible moment, leaving the waters with a stagnant stench that is literally eye-watering. It is also comparatively deep, as waterways in the Shadowfen go, more than enough that the carpet of green is above your head if you stand on the bottom.

  When you do so, and look up, and dare to open your eyes, two sources of green light can be dimly seen through the foul water – one above you and one not. Swim for the second of these, and you will emerge in a completely different stagnant green pool deep in the Forest of Asthar.

• Hollow Tree
  I described this as a feature of the Glassdust Desert. This end of it works exactly the same way as the other. Where in the Shadowfen you arrive is once again unpredictable – this time, you might be close to the Northern mountain spur, next time in the central eastern regions, and the time after that, in the southwestern fens. The only certainty seems to be that it will be an inconvenient distance from there to wherever you want to go.

• The Everflow
  As usual, the path of the Everflow is critically important to the topological confusion that is Topologia. Downriver of the Shadowfen, you find the Ironbarb Crags, then the Glassdust Desert, Gardenia, and the town of splinter – beyond which lies the Everflow Plunge and the Shadowfen again.

  Unless, that is, you entered the Shadowfen directly from the Zugarth Mountains, in which case the Everflow – without ever dividing or joining with another watercourse of similar size – will flow from the Shadowfen into the Ironbarb Crags, the Glassdust Desert, the Forest of Asthar, Gardenia, and then Splinter.

  Upriver is far simpler – at least so far. The Everflow appears to head up into the mountains but enters a thickly wooded area that turns into the Forest of Asthar on the lower slopes, ultimately winding its way into those mountains – which have to therefore be 60 miles or more further away than they appear to be from the Shadowfen. Which, in turn, means that parts of the Shadowfen are up to 60 miles further away than you think.

  Such are the paradoxes of Topologia.

Wow, I hadn’t really intended to write anything of anywhere near this length for any of the Topologia posts, let alone one describing a single land within the campaign setting – but inspiration kept striking, I guess. Enjoy!

The good news is that at least 90% of this content can be isolated from the rest of Topologia and used as a standalone bog somewhere….

Today, Part 2 of the Topologia campaign setting details the Glassdust Desert, the Fields and Farms of Gardenia. But first, a section that got inadvertently left out of last week:

Walking Out Of Splinter

There are four compass directions, and walking in one of them leads to the edge of a different territory.

The river runs from East to West, ending at the Everflow Plunge. If you walk alongside it, you get to the Cliffs, and at their base, you find the Shadowfen, as explained previously.

If you walk in the opposite direction, you come to the edge of the Fields of Gardenia, exactly as you would expect from what’s been described already. But that still leaves north and south.

Heading North takes you into the Forests of Asthar, and more specifically, into the Brambles, a part of the forest where stinging nettles and other noxious undergrowth makes passage all but impossible. However, it’s possible to walk west to the cliff from the far side of the river and then north, skirting the Brambles. This carries you into the Scarletwold, an area in which the leaves always display the reds and golds of autumn, no matter what the time of year. These trees were always objects of fascination for the Elves, who long ago awoke them and decreed their independence of the Elvish people. They are unremittingly hostile toward non-elven travelers and harbor many creatures who make passage still more difficult; Spirit Wolves and Ghostkin and more.

For many years, it has been an unofficial rite of passage for youths seeking to prove their courage to spend a night under the outermost trees of the Scarletwold; so close to the town, they rarely encounter anything terribly dangerous but a lot that is scary. Anyone penetrating deeper is taking their life in their hands, however.

Heading south leads you into the Ironbarb Crags, a rocky and volcanic wasteland where the earth melts and from time to time erupts into great geysers of lava, where water placed on the ground quickly boils, and where the wind carves rock into great chasms and strange flowing shapes. The Crags are the domain of lizardfolk, dragons, and many fell things that are quite comfortable breathing the noxious fumes that fill the air. The part of the Crags closest to the town are the Crystal Spires, and they are actually the safest part of the Crags, except when it rains. When water falls from the skies it awakens venomous vines and other plants that animate and crawl this way and that, and the passages through the beautiful crystal towers are subject to flash flooding with water that itself burns and dissolves metal and flesh. Such events do not last long, but can quickly kill any who dare set foot in the area, save for those few who are naturally resistant.

It is the dangers poised at the edges that make the ‘alternative travel means’ so popular.

The Glassdust Desert

This desert is vast area of shifting dunes. When first you enter, and around an oasis, these are only 10-20′ in height, but as you travel deeper, they grow taller until the achieve almost 200m in height (650′).

The taller the dune, the finer the grains of sand, ultimately becoming akin to ground glass. Any creature without large soft pads for feet can sink a foot into this fine sand with every step, and the entire weight of the dune then resists the lifting of that foot.

The Great Salt Lake

Struggle through, and in the very center of the desert you will find a vast dry salt lake, from which salt is mined and purified for trade to the townspeople by the Dramedyn.

It rains five or six times a year, mostly in winter, and when it does, the salt lake comes back to life for a week or two, erupting in a riot of color as flowering plants spring forth from beneath the salt surface. As the lake again dries out, these brown and wither and seeds drop from the dying plants, 30-50 of them from each flower; most will not survive the conditions, but always there are enough to spawn a new generation the next time conditions are right.

The water-sources

Scattered throughout the sands are wells and oases but the sand moves around so much that these seem to wander the desert in their own right; every attempt to map their locations has failed, they never seem to be in the same place the next time you look for one.

Possibly this is because a reset has left memories that no longer accord with the current position – but perhaps not.

The Dramedyn

Inhabiting the desert are the Dramedyn. These are centaur-like camel-men who carry entire tents on their backs when they migrate.

They form 12 loose tribes who follow complicated paths from oasis to oasis; they have the natural ability to ‘small’ water from twenty miles away; unless guided by a Dramedyn, you need to be extremely lucky to find water.

Dramedyn are generally placid and peaceful, with a sly sense of humor, but they are proud and can be quick to anger. They are also known to hold grudges.

…until the next reset, at least.

Within their tents, they kneel on large cushions using their hind legs. When awake, they remain standing on their front legs; should they kneel on those, so that their bodies are angled toward the flooring, they are able to lock their arms to provide additional support while they sleep.

At need, Dramedyn can traverse the desert for about four weeks without water. This is more than enough time to get anywhere in this region, so if they undertake hostile action, they can literally come from anywhere.

The Dance Of The Dramedyn

The 12 tribes migrate roughly every 4 weeks to the next in a series of 12 major oases. Somehow, they time and coordinate these movements so that the tribes do not accidentally cross paths during a migration, averting possible conflicts.

The migration pattern between the 12 oases, if they were arranged in a circle (and including amongst their number two favorable spots on the River Everflow), would look like this:

It is the responsibility of the tribe who is about to migrate to the more upriver of the river landings to pause at the Salt Lake and mine as much salt as they can in about a week. If there has been a recent rainy day, they need to migrate a week later than they normally would, and this can result in conflict if the Tribe heading for the current campsite has not also delayed their migration.

Sometimes tribes have no choice; diets at any given oasis tend to be constricted, with all other supplies needing to be brought with the tribe. Only by regularly visiting all 12 micro-climates can a satisfactory level of nutrition be maintained. “Dramedyn cannot live by dates alone,” as they themselves say.

Unfortunately, the reality is more complicated. The oases are not evenly distributed around the edges of the desert in this way; some are close, and some are further away.

Because 12 sets weeks of 7 days each only totals 336 days, wherever a tribe is located at the start of a year, they will return to before the end of that year, and in fact be close to leaving it at the end of that calendar year (measured by the turning of the seasons). Over time, this means that each tribe will experience each location in all four seasons, a 12-year cycle referred to as “The Great Circle”.

Variations between Tribes

Every tribe is a little bit different. Much of this derives from the personality and leadership style of the tribe’s chieftain.

If you draw up a list of characteristics – “Relationship with humans”, “Greed”, “Generosity”, “Friendly Demeanor”, “Hard Bargainer”, and anything else you want, as a general rule, on a scale of 1-12, all 12 possible values will be represented – though they will be distributed randomly.

A table with the tribes numbered 1-12 along the top and the characteristics down the side permits using a d12 roll to select which tribe has the next value. So you roll once for the “1” and then a second time for the “2” and so on – ignoring any that have already been allocated numbers.

It should be noted that these are relative values that do not override the basic nature of the Dramedyn – even a tribe with a “1” for “Relationship with humans” will still be polite and willing to receive any that visit his tent. He’s just less likely to give them anything more than the minimum courtesy and hospitality. And likely to get angry of they insist or complain.

Relationship Between Tribes

Dramedyn practice a strict formality with their own kind based in traditions, many of them millennia old. Or so they think, anyway. These are designed to use customs as social lubricants – fulfill your obligations as demanded by tradition, to the letter, and there is less chance of conflict arising between tribes.

This leads to some practices that even the Dramedyn consider archaic, but that they will not change.

The Exchange Of Daughters

When female Dramedyn reach an appropriate age, they are left at the Salt Lake the next time the tribe passes near it, with a suitable dowry. The size of the dowry indicates the authority within the source tribe of the female’s father.

When another tribe passes the salt lake a few days later, they will pause to permit their unwed males to interact with the females and, if they seem compatible, to marry one. The tribe’s chief gets half the dowry and the bachelor’s father, the other half. Both are expected to match it in value relative to their own social standing in a gift to be delivered by the couple to the tribe of the newly-wedded daughter. They are then expected to return to the tribe of the former bachelor, with the daughter being formally adopted into that tribe.

The Exchange Of Sons

Bachelors get only 8 opportunities to look for a bride; after that, they are exchanged by the father of the bachelor for one of the daughters, who joins his harem. The father then has the obligation to deliver the compensatory ‘gift’ to the former tribe of the new concubine.

The bachelor, who has been effectively expelled from his tribe, is given the responsibility (along with others in the same position) of defending and protecting the unwed females at the Salt Lake. In so doing, he earns kudos and appreciation from those protected, and when next a tribe stops to look for brides, the prospective brides regale the chieftain. with tales of the battle prowess of the sons.

If he is sufficiently impressed, he may adopt the bachelor into his family and tribe, and must then marry the bachelor to one of his concubines – at his own pace; he can wait years for a suitable match.

If the bachelor has a bad personality, the reports are likely to be less than glowing, and the chieftain. less likely to adopt the bachelor – leaving him at the salt lake for another tribe to swing past.

Exchange Of Sweethearts

Should a couple form within a single tribe, Dramedyn custom permits them to wed, but at a price: they must leave that tribe and find another to join.

Nor are they permitted to accept the first offer given to them; they must wait for three offers to be received from different tribes, and are then allowed to choose the one they want. Variations between the tribes are strongly reflective of the offers that are made and the compatibility of the tribe with the couple.

Until the day they receive the third offer, they are honored visitors amongst any tribe they may encounter, and are expected to offer whatever skills they possess in return for that hospitality. This gives them a chance to demonstrate what they have to offer the tribe, and for the tribe to demonstrate what they have to offer the couple.

It is not uncommon for the most generous offer to be rejected in favor of a smaller one from a tribe that is a better ‘fit’.

The couple are considered envoys and representatives of their old tribe, so the refusal of offers must be done very carefully so as not to give offense and create a state of war between those tribes.

Trade Goods

In addition to salt, Dramedyn sell preserved game, fruits, etc (if they have any spare). They also sell the finest sand from the tops of the tallest dunes, which in turn makes the best glass.

In exchange, they will buy flour, preserved meats and fish, made goods like lanterns, fabric for clothing, and so on.

Unlike Elves and Dwarves, Dramedyn do not visit the town; the cobbled roads hurt their feet. Instead, they expect traders to come to them.

The Lost Tomb Of Ezrarch

Somewhere in the desert, a long way from anything else of note, travelers will sometimes come across a strange construction of stone. This is the Lost Tomb of Ezrarch. Who Ezrarch was is not remembered, only the name is known.

It is rumored that the tomb contains uncountable wealth in valuables, but there is a terrible curse that comes from disturbing them – at some random time in the next 30 days, any item taken AND all other wealth belonging to the trespasser will magically transport itself into the tomb. No ifs, buts, or maybes, no plea bargains – it’s all gone, including anything magical that they possess, even if they were miles away and wearing it at the time. The owner will fall asleep, or into a deep reverie if they don’t sleep, and when they come to, their goods are just gone.

Phistil, the Guardian of the Lost Tomb

Why, then, would anyone seek out the Lost Tomb? The answer is, the guardian. A cryosphynx of unprecedented size and age, she has three roles to play.

• If you come to her with a question, and answer her riddle, she will give you a clue as to the answer or a direction in which to find the answer. Sometimes, this is so profound that it gives the asker +1 INT – until the next reset.
• If you come to her with a problem, and answer her riddle, she will impart a single piece of relevant wisdom. Sometimes, this is so profound that it gives the asker +1 WIS – until the next reset.
• If you come to her with neither, but present her with a gift that she likes, she may reward you with one of the above with no riddle to overcome. Or she will give you the gift of entry to the tomb (see below).

The Dangers Of The Desert

All manner of creatures who like the heat abide in the desert besides the Dramedyn. Snakes, and scorpions and who knows what. It’s even rumored that there are Salamanders and Fire Elementals. But the desert itself is the biggest danger; near the taller dunes, even a strong breeze can act as a flensing wind, flaying flesh from bones. Lack of food or water can kill almost as quickly. It’s a good thing there are a lot of tribes of Dramedyn out there…

Leaving The Desert

There are 5 ways out of the Glassdust Desert.

• The Lost Tomb Of Ezrarch has an exit into the Mountains of Zugarth. If you do not earn passage with a suitable gift to the Guardian, you must answer a riddle to earn passage AND tell her a riddle she has never heard before. The first hard, the second is even more so. But it’s an option.
• Somewhere in the desert, not close to anything else of note, is an archway of rock with a hole in its underside. There is usually a rope ladder hanging down from the hole. Climb up the rocks to the arch, climb up the ladder into the hole, climb up the hole, and you will emerge from a hole in the ground near to the central square of the town of Splinter.


I’ve modified this image from the Arches National Park in Utah to include the passage to and from Splinter (with a rope ladder for the townspeople’s convenience and to remove a photographer that was visible on one of the rocks). Original image by Rosy / Bad Homburg / Germany from Pixabay.

• Somewhere in the desert, not close to anything else of note, there is a pillar of fire concealed by the sand dunes and the heat-haze of the desert. Walk through it, and (if you aren’t incinerated), you will find yourself in the Ironbarb Crags.
• Somewhere in the desert, not close to anything else of note, there is a dead tree almost 40′ in height and with a base almost six feet across. The interior of the tree is hollow. If you walk to the far side, and grope around, you will find a second hollow space within; squeeze into it (about 1′ across by 4′, so it’s difficult but not impossible) and you will find yourself in a completely different dead tree hollow, one located in the Shadowfen.
• Lastly, there is the Everflow. Going Upriverleads directly to the Ironbarb Crags, then Shadowfen, the Forest of Asthar, and finally, the Zugarth Mountains. Going Downriver leads to the Fields of Gardenia and then to the town of Splinter. Beyond splinter lies the Everflow Plunge – which (in theory) drops you back into the Shadowfen from a height of more than 1,000 feet.

The Fields & Farms of Gardenia

Gardenia is a vast plain and valley that is just big enough and fertile enough to feed the population of Splinter as well as the rest of Topologia. Should that population falter, a share of the losses will be amongst the farmers who abide here, meaning that fewer crops are planted/sewed and hence there is no vast amount of waste. If necessary, farmers who are no longer needed in that role will relocate to Splinter and take up a new social role / profession.

What astonishes the locals and the inhabitants of Splinter is that – to them – the converse is also true – if there is a vast upswelling of population, somehow Gardenia will grow by the precise amount necessary to feed the greater population.

The reality is, of course, twofold: that the entire ‘world’ of Topologia is an artificial ‘pet enclosure’ designed and constructed to provide adequate food for the current level of occupation, and that it keeps resetting to this baseline position.

Geography of Gardenia

The river runs from East to West in long, lazy, bends through the middle of Gardenia. The northern region is very different to the southern, however, though both are full of fertile lands appropriate to the name.

Beyond Gardenia to the south are the Zugarth Mountains, preceded by foothills that are also considered part of Gardenia. Numerous small, shallow, streams. .emerge from the mountains and run down to join the river. These often come together or split en route, effectively creating a network of lozenge-shaped islands, but these waterways are easily crossed. The soil in this direction is fairly heavily clay, becoming more balanced as the river is approached.

Beyond Gardenia to the north are the sands of the Glassdust Desert, and – as you would expect – the soil is comparatively sandy in these regions. The border falls where the land ceases to be agriculturally productive, even though it is supported by viaducts and waterways used to irrigate the land. These tend to be deeper and wider than the streams to the south, but there are abundant bridges, ferries, and fords enabling passage by foot.

The vast forest to the east also provides vegetable matter in the form of leaves and occasionally trees to fertilize the soil, so it is somewhat richer to the east and slightly less productive as you approach the town.

Agriculture in Gardenia

This geology impacts the agricultural practices, suiting some crops better than others. Closest to the desert is a belt of Barley, but this soon gives way to wheat-fields. Windmills and Waterwheels are used to transform the wheat into flour for easier transport.

The wheat-fields. give way to lands used for the growing of vegetables from about 2/3 of the distance to the river, though crop rotation is practiced routinely. Pockets of slightly less-fertile soil support vineyards. There are also pockets of corn and tomato plantations, strawberry fields, blackberry bushes, and so on.

South of the river are bands of more of the same, but not all of this land is cultivated; much of it is left fallow and used for the growth of grasses for the support of cattle, pigs, and horses. Much of the farming in these parts supports root vegetables like pumpkins, potatoes, and turnips.

Past the 2/3 distance to the mountains from the river, these strips of farmland give way to orchards, while the natural strips become increasingly used to support sheep and – eventually – goats, as the mountains draw near.

Farm Ownership

This is operated on a variation of a more 19th century model than the feudal / medieval. Farmers own both the land and produce that they produce, but they have to buy these from the King every year; come January 1, title reverts to the crown. Unless there’s a war that has to be paid for, these expenses are generally amortized over the entire year, and amount to between 1/3 and 1/2 of the production value. Some small quantity is paid in kind to feed the royal household and the army that they command. A further 10% is taken in tax (usually after sale and conversion to hard currency).

Every farm strikes hard times now and then and fails to clear these debts in the course of the year. Some debt can be rolled over and added to the debt owed in the next year; but after 2-3 bad years in a row, this begins to exceed sufficient production to support both the debt and the residents. A fourth year in which the debts remain unpaid results in foreclosure and the farmland being available for purchase by another family, who will hopefully be more prosperous.

The former owners then have to work for someone else for a living until their debts are cleared, plus a penalty period of 2 years; the family are then free to purchase any new farmland that becomes available, with their past debt record expunged. It is generally hoped and expected that this period of ‘apprenticeship’ will show the family what it was doing wrong, enabling them to be successful the second time around – but there are occasions when the problem is laziness or sloppiness and those personality traits are often harder to shift. As a result, there are always some who are found working other people’s farms.

Farmhouses

These start out quite rustic, but get improved year after year as the farms prove successful and well-managed. Looking at them gives a quick indication of the level of success of the family – those who are productive year after year grow country mansions as well as crops!

Most are not successful to that extent, and live in comfortable and sometimes extensive cottages.

Families, Neighbors and Reputation

Farming is hard work, and it’s not uncommon for farmers to have large families. This encourages a ‘clan’ mentality in which the family owns the farm and shares in the labor of running it, even though the title may vest in the head of the household. Daughters who are not the eldest child usually have to marry and move away from the family farm, but there is a bride-price paid by the farm that acquires a new worker in this way, usually equivalent to five years’ worth of labor by the ‘lost’ daughter. Sons normally remain on the farm when they marry.

There are times when there is more work than their are hands to perform it; this often happens when a daughter with many years experience marries and the bride-price used to hire a less-skilled replacement. When this happens, the first resource available for assistance are the nearest neighbors. It is commonly expected that farmers will trade in favors and helping hands when necessary, fostering a local community spirit; come need for a barn-raising, for example, it’s quite common for the neighbors to gather workers from the rest of their neighbors and simply show up one morning – once the farmer has the necessary construction materials. It is expected that the beneficiary will feed these workers.

Of course, if one has a bad reputation for whatever reason, people are less likely to volunteer their time and efforts to help out. Being stiff-necked or cantankerous earns you few friends, and sooner or later, that comes back to bite you. Being niggardly, unwilling to pay debts promptly, or not giving your share to such group activities, is generally noted and means that you are more likely to be on your own when trouble strikes.

The result is a reputation, especially amongst townsfolk from Splinter, of generosity of both purse and spirit, an earned goodwill that makes life a lot easier in troubled times.

Itinerant Specialists

There are some annual tasks that are manpower-intensive, such as shearing time, when more labor is needed than is available. Many farmers whose crops are quite able to be managed without a lot of activity in such times supplement their incomes by learning a specialist secondary trade and making themselves available for such tasks. A few with large families can even devote themselves full-time to a series of such endeavors and become Itinerant Specialists who spend their entire year working a ‘circuit’ of support activities – picking crops here, shearing sheep or goats there, and so on, and then moving on to the next task.

Hamlets in Gardenia

Especially where two or more agricultural activities meet, the largest employer in the region may erect additional buildings and form a hamlet, a small village where there is sufficient economic activity to support secondary industries and services. There are dozens of these small communities scattered through Gardenia, none with populations of more than one or two hundred people.

The residents of these communities use the proceeds of their activities to buy the land of their dwelling and business from the farmer who establishes the hamlet, paying rent to them in the meantime. They are thus a source of considerable wealth for those landowners.

Should a hamlet be established where there is insufficient economic support for it, because another one is too close for example, however, and this can become a road to quick ruin. They are not cheap to create, and if there isn’t enough demand, the businesses will fail, rents will not be paid, and the landowner can find themselves out of pocket by significant amounts.

It follows that being host to a prosperous hamlet is a significant feather in one’s cap.

Note that the landowner is also expected to give up more than just the land and buildings occupied by hamlet residents and businesses – they have to provide suitable means of accessing the broader community through roads and the like, and these rights-of-way are purchased from the original landowner by the community, funded by local taxes.

Dangers and Adventuring In Gardenia

There are always those who find it easier to take from others rather than perform hard work for themselves. Bandits, they are commonly called. There are also perpetual threats from the mountains, in the form of creatures who hunt the meat-on-the-hoof of the farms, and the occasional monster from the Desert. And the forest is home to many dangerous beasts that sometimes venture forth. Throw in politics and the way some landowners seem to go off the deep end from time to time, and there’s plenty of adventure growing alongside the fruit and veg.

But adventurers can’t be expected to do all the work on their own. There are two forces emplaced whose primary responsibility is dealing with these threats.

Each hamlet has a sheriff and a couple of deputies who are charged with investigating banditry and putting the perpetrators in prison. Typically, 10 days for a first offense, 30 for a second, 60 for a third, and then up through years – 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, life. Other offenses count as well – including murder and the like – and may catapult the offender up the chain with breakneck speed.

Sheriffs generally know their limitations and those of their manpower, and will often deputize adventurers for specific tasks – capture this bandit leader or whatever – when those resources are inadequate. Once the task is complete, the deputization lapses.

To counter the more significant threats from outside Gardenia, small elements of the army are often deployed along the borders. Sometimes in hamlets (which can supply the needs of the force) but equally-frequently in forts and strongholds. But their task is to protect the farmers and their lands; they will not pursue a ravaging monster back to whence it came. For tasks beyond the purely defensive, they turn to adventurers, recognizing that there are things a small band of specialists can do that a large group of fighting men cannot.

It is also worth paying attention to the dichotomy of the farming footprint and the implications for encounters. North of the river, carnivores will find little of interest; the biggest threats come from herbivores and omnivores and those that attack for reasons other than a square meal. South of the river, there is a lot less of interest to herbivores but – as noted – plenty for hungry carnivores to hunt. There are exceptions to these patterns of course – northern carnivores can hunt farmers – but, these are the broad general patterns.

GMs are encouraged to find ways of keeping the threat levels posed comparable. There is a strong tendency in most game supplements that provide encounters to reserve the higher threat levels for carnivores; but, in nature, herbivores can pose almost as great a threat, and the scales are more evenly balanced.

Noblemen and Royal Offspring

These defensive establishments are usually commanded by a Nobleman or a junior member of the royal household, and both can be a source of unwanted problems. These usually come from a sense of entitlement, one way or another. There are offenses that are exclusively the province of the nobility within the criminal code; these require the direct command of the King to prosecute. But even when such permission is given, the army is duty-bound to obey the commands of the offending Noble, and the local constabulary are in no way adequate to the task of capturing the offender. This task, too, falls to adventurers.

Leaving Gardenia

There are five quick ways out of Gardenia.

• Barn
  Near the center of Gardenia, and about half-a-mile from the river to the south, there is a large Barn used for the slaughter and dressing of animals. From the outside, it has only one entrance or exit; once inside, however, light reveals a second exit on the far side. Opening these doors leads directly to the town of Splinter.

• Rocky Arch
  Somewhere in the northwest corner of Gardenia is an archway of rock. If you circle around it, there is nothing strange until you are within 40 degrees of directly face on from the southern side, when the area under the arch abruptly fills with a mysterious mist that momentarily obscures the view through the arch completely and then clears to reveal a rocky wasteland beyond. Similarly, from in front of the arch in the wasteland, the fields of Gardenia become visible. One can simply step from one place to another.

• At the eastern end of Gardenia, there is a bridge of multicolored stone, crafted to resemble a rainbow, named the Rainbow Bridge, which crosses the river. No matter from which side of it you approach, as you get to the middle a curtain of blinding green light momentarily descends, and when you vision clears, you are able to descend the bridge into the Shadowfen.
• Valley Rope Bridge
  At the extreme south of Gardenia, about 1/3 of the way along it’s length, you will find Utopia and Nirvana, the tallest peaks in Gardenia. About 2/3 of the way up them is a perpetual band of cloud. Climb up to this part of Utopia peak and you will find a tunnel through the mountain leading to a rope bridge, whose far end vanishes into the fog towards Nirvana. Crossing the bridge is not for the fainthearted; it is poorly made and very loose, swaying alarmingly up to 30 degrees with each step – the direct depending on your center of gravity at the time. Some can only bring themselves to cross it on all fours. Mounts panic and many have fallen through the ropes to either side to their doom. The bodies show that the bridge is entirely within Gardenia. At the far side, there is a second tunnel through Nirvana to a set of stone steps carved in the rock that descends into the forests of Asthar. Most animals will refuse to enter the tunnels unless forced, so mounted individuals tend to avoid this shortcut.

• Mine-shaft
  Somewhere in the northeast of Gardenia, an erection of steel lowers a basket into a hole deep in the ground using a clever pulley system. Take the trip down, and you will discover a seam of pure coal being worked by Dwarves. Ascend back up the shaft, and you will emerge into a cavern, whose mouth lies in distant Zugarth.

• The Everflow River
  Much of the traffic to and from Gardenia utilizes the Everflow. Heading Downriver takes you directly to the town of Splinter without passing through the Ironbarb Crags or the Glassdust Desert first, even though going upriver from Splinter carries you through both of these lands before reaching Gardenia.

And that’s a wrap for part 2 in this series! In the next part: The Shadowfen and the Ironbarb Crags!

Part 1 of a campaign setting with some unique features – like limited immortality, topological insanity, a touch of the Wild West, and the Church of the Holy Octopod…

40,000 words done for the next post in the Trade In Fantasy series and it’s still not ready to post. So it will be a monster when it does appear… This series isn’t a time-out, it’s a fill-in – inspired, believe it or not, by an phone company advert!

The Town Of Splinter

Picture a town from the Wild West named Splinter – saloon, bank, general store, sheriff, jail, blacksmith, the whole nine yards – in a lushly fertile valley (the image above may help). A river runs along one side of the town, down which farm produce is delivered by barge every Saturday. On Sundays, the residents of the farms that produce this food and the town congregate in the church for prayers to the octopoidal god Cthelchek. Farmers and townspeople then attend a feast laid on by the local monarch, King Jeremy, and then a huge open-air market where produce and supplies for the week to come are purchased and where clerical and arcane services can be obtained.

On Sundays when the moon will be full in the coming week, Elves from the Forest Of Asthar make the journey to the town to join in these celebrations and trade the leathergoods, soft fabrics, and magical trinkets that they produce.

Two Sundays after the Elves come the Dwarves of the Zugarth Mountains, miners who wrestle iron, copper, tin, lead, silver, gold, and the occasional gemstone from the earth and rock, trading those commodities for the supplies that they will need over the month to come.

On the nights of the dark of the moon, the town transforms completely. Strange shadows emerge from the walls to reveal gargoyles who are invisible and inanimate the rest of the time. The buildings twist and transform into gothic nightmares, or so it seems to anyone seeing them from the outside. In the graveyard, the hungry spirits of the long-dead rise and stalk the streets, usually accompanied by swarms of bats. Roving packs of giant rats emerge from the sewers to steal away anything that is not firmly attached to building or ground. Locals and visitors bar their doors and windows and do not open them for any reason until the break of Dawn.

At such times, the dark God Kechleth holds sway, rousing the populations of fell creatures and evil folk that surround the town’s environs and sewing mayhem wherever possible. Twisted, evil, and malignant, he plots and schemes the downfall of Cthelchek and the civilization that worships and empowers him. A thousand times has he sought its destruction by a thousand different means, and a thousand times, he has failed or been thwarted, most frequently by the bravery and self-sacrifice of noble Adventurers. Kechleth is the sworn enemy of all that is wholesome and civilized.

Heroes In Splinter

Most people in Splinter and its surrounds are ordinary people leading ordinary lives. But every now and then, chance or fate steps in and touches someone facing this ordinary existence and elevates them to the extraordinary. The populace believe them to be ‘touched by Cthelchek’ and devote every effort to training and preparing them to confront and combat the evils of Kechleth.

It goes without saying that every PC is automatically one of these extraordinary heroes, though most of the ‘extraordinary’ is only potential when they begin their adventuring.

Cthelchek and Kechleth

What the population, and especially any PCs, don’t know is that Cthelchek and Kechleth are one and the same being. When the dark of the moon falls, all the instincts and thoughts and hate that are normally suppressed in the benevolent Deity worshiped by the populace come to the fore and take over their shared body. His great advantage over Cthelchek is that he remembers everything that the Deity has done since Kechleth was last extant, every preparation made against his rule – but his actions are secret, unknown to his better self.

Splinter and it’s surrounding environs are a fantasy town unlike any other; a wholly artificial creation of the Ilithid Cthelchek for his experiments in torture and mortal psychology. As his experiments progressed, Cthelchek began to think of the subjects as his pets, and developed a soft spot for them and for the ‘reality’ that he had created to house them. This drove him quite insane, causing the suppression of his natural instincts and nature, which only re-emerge when the moon is dark. Make no mistake, by his own standards, Cthelchek is irrational, even mad, most of the time. If any aspects of Splinter or the world of Topologia don’t make sense, that’s why.

Time In Splinter

Splinter, as a reality, is extremely episodic – far more so than is usually even possible even in ‘episodic’ campaigns. One weekday feels like the last; every week feels much the same as the one that came before and the one that will follow. What differences there are form part of a monthly cycle, and a few – like the seasons – a very mild yearly cycle that repeats endlessly. It’s always the year 143 of the reign of the Tredor family, currently headed by the 45-year-old King Jeremy Tredor.

King Jeremy and The Population Of Splinter

The surname is evocative; every inhabitant not born within Splinter was stolen from their natural reality by Cthelchek and programmed to occupy a place within the unnatural reality he had created. King Jeremy, or one of his ancestors, may well have been an ordinary Merchant in their first life – but this memory and identity was erased and replaced. If Jeremy ever seems out of his depth, this is the reason.

Death In Splinter

Named individuals do not die in Splinter – not for good, anyway. A few days, a week, or even a few weeks later, they will be back in town AT FIRST LEVEL – and no-one who’s not a PC or Kechleth is even aware they were ever “gone”. If they died some distance from the town, it might be remembered that they were “away” for a while, and have now returned – nothing more. Nor do the reincarnated remember being killed or dead.

Undeath In Splinter

Cthelchek is the agency responsible for the resurrections; the “Moon” is actually a visible manifestation of the arcane device he created to perform the task of ‘restoring’ his ‘testing ground’, though he does not remember doing so. Cthelchek is himself as subject to the “Resets” as any member of the populace; after each, he vaguely remembers having created the world, and simply ‘discovers’ it as it now is.

However, changes that he makes to the town or its surrounds – material improvements, the ‘seeding’ of new mines, whatever – do accumulate over time. Remember that Cthelchek is completely unaware that he is also Kechleth, though the reverse is not true – Kechleth knows and hates that he has to spend most of his time in that form, and actively schemes to undermine and sabotage his creation; he just doesn’t get to act for very long at a time or very often. This means that he has to plant ‘seeds’ and leave them to mature on their own.

Change In Splinter

The only source of change in Splinter therefore derives either directly or indirectly from the actions of the Dark God, Kechleth. Much of what Cthelchek does each cycle is to overcome whatever “damage” Kechleth has done to his ‘domain’; the more overt and obvious, the more quickly this can be done, leaving more time for ‘improvements’ to the Domain. The more subtle and subversive it is, the longer it can persist before Cthelchek even notices it and takes remedial action. This remedial action may not be rational. As a result, despite the repetitive nature of the cycles, the setting does slowly evolve over time.

PCs In Splinter

This raises the question for the GM – are PCs the creations of Cthelchek as weapons against Kechleth, or are they some devious scheme by Kechleth intended to force Cthelchek into awareness of his true nature, making Kechleth dominant all the time? Either are equally possible, despite what the PCs, Cthelchek himself, and the Church of Splinter believe to be the case.

When a PC dies, they get reset and resurrected the same as any other named character. If the player chooses to continue with the same PC, it retains it’s memories of past experiences, including death, though it doesn’t know how it remembers certain things. If the player chooses to create a new PC, one that can follow a different developmental path, then their former character never gets touched by the event that made them something special and becomes an NPC like any other, while a new person gets ‘touched’ and becomes special in their place. The former PC no longer receives the gift of reset-spanning memories, and the new PC has no memory of the past adventures – though other surviving PCs can spin wondrous tales of those who came before them.

Danger & Adventures In and Around Splinter

Splinter is a town under constant threat from hostile forces, or sometimes by the forces of “nature”, or some combination of the two. These enemies are manipulated or controlled by Kechleth, many worship him as their God (though they may perceive his nature to be different than it is – as a God Of War, or a God Of Death, for example).

Adventures are basically “menace of the week” against a backdrop of the PCs figuring out the world around them and finding a way to take action about it.

Note that these menaces are ‘reset’ periodically in exactly the same way as the town – PCs can broker a peace treaty between the town and the Orc tribe of Zasleen to resolve one adventure only for both townspeople and tribe to forget that a truce ever existed.

This week, Kechleth recruits a vain shopkeeper into creating a dark Cult to attack the town from within; next week, a Trio of Beholders assault the town from without; the week after, the Elven Village is Razed by what appear to be Dwarves, sparking war between the two with the Village (which depends on both) caught in the middle; the week after, a strange tomb appears in the wasteland…

Threat Levels in Splinter

Especially early in any campaign set in this environment, threat levels should be much higher than GMs would normally inflict. You WANT one or more PCs to die fairly quickly so that they can discover the unique ‘reset’ attributes of the setting.

Alternatively, you could begin the campaign immediately after a reset in which one or more of the PCs were killed in backstory. Whichever character has the lowest hit points might be a good choice.

I’ll cover the ‘reset’ and what it means for PCs more extensively in the final part of the series.

Leaving Splinter

There are 5 ways out of town. Each leads to a different environment. Everyone knows of them, and most are two-way bridges between these environments. Attempting any sort of geographic or topological analysis of the town and its environs is an exercise in futility; there is, at best, a thin veneer of logic. But everyone ignores the irrationality because “that’s just the way it is”.

• A Hole In The Ground near the central town square, where the markets and feast are held, leads to a split in an underground rock; climb down it to emerge from a hole in the underside of a rocky arch in the desert. Or climb up it from the desert to emerge from that hole in the ground in the center of town.

• Next to the stables is a large barn. When you enter it, you find that it has doorways at both ends – one leading to and from Splinter, and the other located in the Fields of Gardenia.
• Opposite the Saloon is the Sheriff?s Office; an alleyway alongside it leads to the Wood Store. Like the barn, entry reveals a second doorway, into the Forests of Asthar (which is where the wood comes from, obviously).
• There’s a rocky mini-mountain on one side of town, not far from the Butchery, Blacksmith, and a distillery. An Arched Brick-lined tunnel through the heart of this hillock emerges in the mountains, near to the Dwarven Village of Zugarth for which they are named. Building stone is extracted from a quarry nearby, and wagons from the Dwarven Village convey ores that they have mined and smelted when they come to trade.
• There is a River, as mentioned previously. It is named the Everflow. Going Downriver leads to the top of an impossible cliff with a huge waterfall, named the Everflow Plunge. Chalk is mined near the head. Anything thrown down the watercoarse can be found (after a diligent search) somewhere in the Swamps of The Shadowfen.

• Going Upriver leads to the Fields of Gardenia, the Gilded Glassdust Desert, The Ironbarb Crags, The Shadowfen, The Forest of Asthar, and finally the Zugarth Mountains.

That’ll do it for part 1. There are six other environments and their contents to describe, so I’ll do them one or two or three at a time (I’ve already done 2700 words for the next part), then wrap it up with other elements – like where Cthelchek and Kechleth are and how the PCs can (eventually) get there.