Here comes a concept test to see if you like it. The goal is to present a location with overview maps, 3D views, detailed maps usable in VTT's and a write up of its history, use and some details. If this is popular I have a whole series of locations ready to be given this treatment. So lets have a look at the Plarron Keeps.
All of the text, images and maps are available in a single zip file (23.6MB): https://annabmeyer.com/Downloads/Shield%20Lands/Plarron%20Keeps.zip
A part of the series of keeps defending the Critwall peninsula and the road north from eastern incursions.
There is a line of keeps and other fortifications along a line around 10 miles east of Critwall forming a barrier against the Iuzian threat that still lingers in the region. The Plarron keeps are one part of this system.
This is a heavily modified from its origin back in the early 300’s, and very little exists of the original structure. The site was originally chosen because of a deep fissure that made it possible to use it as a shelter, well and storage. A local lord started to build it in the early 300’s. He ran out of funds to finish it, and its first iteration ended up being a half stone and timber keep on top of a hole in the ground. It sat like this unused for nearly a century during the most peaceful times in Shield Lands history.
Then came Halmadar the Cruel and used it as a storage and garrison during his siege of Critwall. The wooden parts of the first keep were burned down during the last days of Halmadar’s reign, and only parts of the foundation were left. The rest of the keep fell or was deliberately hurled down into the hole in the efforts to defeat Halmadar’s men, there are no firm sources to tell what really happened.
In 579 CY the old runed keep had been sitting forgotten for over a hundred years when the Bandits Lords and the Horned Ones decided it was time to send the Shield Lands into chaos and despair. A need to bolster the defenses of the Critwall became readily apparent, and a new much more ambitious triple keep was laid out and work begun.
The stairs down into the fissure was removed, and a drawbridge design using the pit as an internal mote was hastily chosen, but it stands to this day. The eastern interior stairs are the only part of the original keep still there, and it has been joined by a similar westerly set of stairs on the other side of the ramp. The eastern half of the keep has the original dimensions of the first keep, but the newer western half is a bit more ambitious in its girth giving the keep a slightly odd look.
The work had not yet reached the second floor when the invaders arrived, and construction stopped. It sat quietly through the years of occupation a couple of miles away from the frontlines around Critwall. It stayed an abandoned building site until 589 CY when Katarina’s reforged order surveyed the land after their initial cleansing of Iuz hordes. Again, and for the same reasons, the site was determined to be a good place to reinforce a defensive line east of Critwall.
This time a more modest twin tower design was deemed sufficient, which led to the somewhat cramped way of getting into the keep, with the ramp that ends a mere ten feet from the southern wall, and a sharp turn eastwards became the quick solution. The construction of the new twin keep was done in three years, so in 592 CY the first garrison moved in.
The keep is hastily, but firmly, built by piling tons of rocks on top of the bedrock that provides a firm anchoring in this spot. A twelve feet wide gateway facing north between the towers provide entry. The gate is guarded by a portcullis and a sturdy iron door, that are both operated from the floor above. The opened ground level is over 20 feet tall and has vaulted, thick, arched stone ceilings to take the weight of the floors above, again not an ideal solution but speed was essential and wood scarce.
The ground level is used as storage and overflow area to be used in case of major conflict, and usually sits empty. Arrow slits provide the ability to strike at an enemy trying to break in. The only way of reaching what is effectively the basement is through the two sets of stairs leading up to the second level.
This is the entry level, using a wooden ramp that can be raised to create an obstacle slowing down an attacker. Arrow slits and murder holes provide a way to harass attackers both inside and out.
This level also has two big rooms, one is used as a stable, and the other kept open to serve various needs. A set of small rooms with sturdy doors where designed to be used as holding cells. A single spiral staircase provides access to the floors above. When the third main keep was struck from the plans, the single set of spiral stairs deemed enough to serve the keep. Heavier goods can be hauled up using a lifting device on Level 4.
This is the kitchen and eating areas, two fireplaces, and a small privy provides simple luxuries for the keep’s garrison. The west side of this level provides accommodation for the service staff with easy access t kitchen and entry ways.
This is used to store provisions, which can be hauled up from outside using a block and tackle system mounted on a thing wooden beam sticking out through a door. A big floor hatch makes it easy to lower food and other items to the kitchen level below.
This is the home of the soldiers manning the keep. A large communal bedroom, a common room with a large table can be used for everyday activities as well as a feast hall for special occasions, complete with a second kitchen.
The new Order of the Shield emphasizes communal service regardless of rank, so everyone sleeps and eats together, no separation between ranks. Both to save space and to bolster better trust and camaraderie. Beds for a contingent of 12 are provided, but there is space enough to house two hundred soldiers if the situation gets dire.
The roof level is large and flat to better serve ballistae and other heavy weapons and equipment. A center building provides protection, warmth and a resting place on this level.
Heavy equipment can be hauled up using a similar block and tackle system as on level 4, which is usually stored along the inside of the wall.
The keep has both crenellations and machicolations providing both cover and firing positions in all directions.
Despite their look, they are of a recent construction, rather hastily made in the early 590’s CY as part of the effort to secure the Shield Lander's hold on Critwall. All four where made using the same design and are almost identical.
They went up quickly to fill the gap between the main Plarron Keep, which is older and much bigger and miraculously survived the siege almost intact, and the now partially ruined Old Sorrick Keep to the south. Old Sorrick Keep had a sad tale during the siege that led to it still sitting half ruined. The Knight, tasked with defending it, decided to surrender early and opened the gates to prove he meant it. The last time anyone heard or saw of him was when he pleaded for his life. The Iuzian shock troops let him watch while they cleaned out the keep and then hung him up to slowly perish.
The cowardly knight’s name was deliberately forgotten and the Sorrick Keep was then abandoned by the Iuzian’s when a new force of knights led by Katarina chased them out. It was then decided to construct a series of auxiliary keeps along with renovating Plarron keep. Sad Old Sorrick keep is up next for renovation, if the situation still warrants the investment.
The four story keeps are made using a combination of left over material from ruined structures in the area, which there were plenty at the time, pebbles and rocks laying around, and a few quarried stones at key places. Their purpose is to host soldiers able to defend the area, giving them an observation post and a retreat able to defend them long enough for relief to arrive in case of major opposition. Each keep is typically home to a contingent of 5 to 10 solders but can hold ten times more than that if needed.
It is built on top of the bedrock, which means that the bottom level is submerged only a few feet below ground and is mainly used for storage. In a pinch it can offer accommodation for more soldiers, and big enough for more supplies. No openings on this level, and water-resistant mortar are used to try and avoid flooding during wet days.
The entry gate is placed on this level, roughly 10 feet above ground to make it harder to breach. A ramp is used for access, and it can be raised to lay flat against the wall, using chains which cranks are on Level 3. The entry level is open to give room for horses and livestock in case they need to be kept in the keep. Normally this level is used for food prep and storage. Note that there are three levels with a fireplace which can be used for food prep and to keep warm, and the floorplan is mostly open to be flexible.
This level doesn't have openings to the outside, besides the main door to make it safer against attacks. The main door is double with a portcullis in front of it. When the ramp is raised against the wall it provides a fair amount of protection from attacks.
This level is used as a barracks, and it has arrow slits to both observe and defend the keeps surroundings.
Very similar to Level 2 and functions as lodgings for soldiers. It also houses the machinery used to raise the entrance ramp, and a simple toilet. The keeps are simple so there are no fancy sewers, the toilet drains trait out to the outside of the keep.
A flat roof, adorned with crenellations and machicolations provides unobstructed views in all directions and a good place to use ballistae and other heavy weapons. The center chimney and the stairs are the only other features.
Heavy weapons like a ballista are usually found here along with an ample supply of rocks to hurl at intruders, and a block and tackle system to haul up more.
This week’s Legend & Lore Show will be about the Fey, so I looked at my notes and created this short primer on how the Fey came to be, their home, its history and its place in MeyerHawk.
This post is deep, I need to have my games reach into the philosophical, existential, poetic, beyond our real world. I have an urge for my games to be both fantastic but feel “real” at the same time to suspend my disbelief and let me immerse myself in it. As I’ve gotten older my need for this has increased more and more. Please bear with me as I write this look at the Feywild.
The Fey has been a footnote at best in the lore of Greyhawk, a noteworthy exception is LG Geoff that made the Fey a central theme in their campaign. D&D 4E included the Feywild in its cosmology and had it run by two courts, the Seelie and the Unseelie. My Feywild is a huge place that can house much, much more.
My history if the Multiverse is divided into seven Epochs: Opposites, Shadow, Matter, Prime Urges, Though and Power. The Feywild joins the story just after half time, in the Epoch of Urges.
Each Epoch from Shadow and onwards gave rise to a new form of Essence of Life. The Feywild reflects this and evolves along with the rest of the multiverse.
A Transitive Plane that has existed since the Epoch of Urges when the fears and passion of creature’s imagination created a new realm, the Feywild, the first metaphysical plane.
Other aspects of the multiverse have always been reflected in the Feywild, and as the multiverse evolved so did the Feywild. At first the Feywild was a truly wild place, where the fears, love and imagination of primitive creatures like fish, reptiles, mammals and even others before them. It was a bizarre realm where even time flew faster in places as a reflection of the pace creatures that only live for very short spans understands the world.
As life advanced so did their understanding of it, and the Feywild evolved along with it. The never life forms took over more and more of how the Feywild evolved. It is often best described as a giant slab of land sloping in both "north - south" and "east - west", one of these directions leads from the bright of the "Light Fey" through the Shadowfell to the utter "Dark Fey". The other axis goes from highlands of unimaginable proportions to a coastline and then out to an ocean again. This makes some scholars refer to this as three distinct planes, opinions differ, both on how to look at it, and whether it matters at all.
Since its creation the Fey has been a place that has been an accelerator of change in existing life and an incubator of new life, and often a combination of the two. Early on fish and other marine life populated the Fey and here they manage to evolve into all sorts of wonderous, large bizarre and overly powerful beings. The metaphysical nature of the Fey means that things are only partially real, which means that creatures are only partially constrained by things like physics, metabolism and even time.
Most creatures that evolve in the Feywild are too far off to be able to exist for any length of time in the Prime, and even rarer for it to be able to breed successfully. This is a great thing that keeps the normal life on the Prime safer from incursions of various forms of "monsters" from the Feywild. This isn't always true though, sometimes creatures from the Fey managed to escape to the Prime and successfully established themselves there. Sine all Fey life, and even the Feywild itself, is a product of the life on the Prime, this just life proving its resilience, ability to evolve and to conquer every niche possible.
A couple of examples of this are the Aboleths that early on developed in the waters of the Fey and then to come back over to waters on the Prime again. The next example is from the reptiles when lizards gained both size, strength and other abilities in the Fey to then come back in the form of dragons. Much later when early hominids had evolved on the prime, they too migrated over to the Feywild, over time they came back as Elves, Goblinoids and others causing everything from joy to mayhem on the Prime.
Connections between the prime and the Feywild have always been present, it is how the Feywild was created in the first place. In areas where you have the highest concentrations of life the chances are the highest to have an overlap between our world and the Fey. Life includes things like plants and other primitive forms of life, even Unlife, so forests are a common place to find this overlap. It is in most cases just small areas existing on both realms simultaneously, but be very wary when entering these places. Walking too far might get you stranded in the Feywild unable to return without special means to do so.
The Shadowfell is in effect just a part of the Feywild, which means shadows are another way to enter the Fey, and these two forces work in conjunction. A forest might be a perfectly normal place during daytime but become a gate to the Fey at dawn or dusk.
As life advanced and other realms where created, like the Astral and then the outer planes, the Feywild changed to accommodate them. So now the Light Fey areas are a transitory place to the higher planes and the Dark Fey has similar affinity with the lower planes. This has turned the Feywild/Shadowfell into a way to travel the multiverse, albeit a very dangerous one. There are few (if any) places fuller of life of all sorts, which poses lots of problems, but also opportunities.
While I'm wrapping up my Gamehole Con commission and planning for tomorrow's Gabbin -where Jay and I will talk about what is going on in your campaigns, I wrote this teaser about some of the stuff going on in Meyer Hawk at our current campaign date Needfest 599 CY.
Gran March
Inns along the Watchtower Road have been witnessing a following of elves travelling from Shiboleth via Cynmor to Buxton’s Crossing. While only small in numbers, less than fifty strong and trying to keep a low profile, rumors quickly spread among innkeepers and barmaids along the route, due to handsome tips combined with modest demands and short stays. Local miscreants seemed to be deterred by the presence of the cloaked elves wearing mail and well kept armor underneath, and vigilant eyes gazing at locals to keep a distance.
Two knights wearing the tunics of the Commandant’s personal retinue over their armor have been see escorting them, so secretive but with the endorsement of the March.
Critwall
King Belvor’s is the main guest of honor at the lavish (by frontier standards) reception at the commanders residence in Critwall. He is propositioning a formal declaration of allegiance between the Furyondian Crown and the Shield Lands to be signed by both parties.
Katarina is hailed as a hero of the Kingdom, and yet again recognized as Marshal of Furyondy as well as Commander of the Order of the Shield. Long gone are the days of mistrust between Chendl and the Order. There are a few (very faint) mutterings of our new commander is too busy abroad and not even truly one of us to be the right one to lead us. She has been challenged twice and won both times, and no one (openly at least) challenge her wartime prowess openly.
More persistent and evenly openly spoken are rumors of she being prepared to be Belvor’s heir and the Shield Lands will become a province of a newly constituted Ferrond which include Veluna as well. Envoy Ubica Darmen openly flaunts the idea to the Earl of Willip, who for once seems to realize he is about to walk into a quagmire and smiles it off.
Furyondy Reconstitution – full provincial recognition and regional allied reaffirmed partnerships is to be finalized with the new pact with Critwall, and some of the now much more well titled lords seems to smile for real to this, others are muttering that titles are cheap and increase neither their land holding, subjects or coffers.
Havenhill
Has been thriving with activity this winter. Over decade of diplomatic activity (read gold and other valuables changing hands in lavish surroundings) have lead up to the Coronation. Prince Olinstaad is to be crowned a full royal sovereign on par with others sovereign realms. The prince can now enjoy his remaining years with a literary crowning achievement.
This had come about by, using the new kings on words “Letting go of ungrateful western subjects, and being paid twice for the pleasure of not having to listen to their grievances”. The reality as seen by those with their noses in the liquor, is more nuanced. The New Ulek Kingdom was bribed to hand over prime fertile lands in exchange for metals and other ores of the mountains that the Dwarven lord have too much of already, seems to be a common view among the dignitaries. No one complains about the hospitality thought, old regents tend to offer very good perks to those present to listen to their ramblings.
An unnamed representative from the Enstad under the moonlit skies admitted that a deal that gives dwarven lords earthly riches, human emperors more lands and the Faery court more friends without having to pay in blood is an event worth celebrating.
Celene
The city of Enstad was gossiping about a convoy leaving the city towards the south two weeks ago, with several wagon loads heavier than usual. Speculation of who was being bribed with Celenian gold was rife, and a congregation of “concerned” had gathered along the route to demand why so much of the realms resources was on the move.
Protests in the elven realm are both common, daring in their frankness to power, and overly polite, all at the same time. The companion guard gave their word that this whole lot of gold, gems and other valuables, belonged to not the realm, but was a gift from Lord Arvandor to please a future King of Ulek.
This sounded both entertaining and worrisome, and the concerned laughed in a way that the companion knights had a hard time judging. Trust among elves are deep, but to bribe a non-existent king sounded a bit too farfetched. The deliberations ended quickly when a huge wyrm suddenly flew over the gathering so low that everyone could swear they touched it. One firm gaze from it at the next flyby settled the matter, Lord Arvandor had the rights to transport his gold wherever he so pleased, even with companion guards.
To everyone’s surprise, a small chest full of gold was left behind and almost all present decided it was a good story. Bribing non-existent Dwarven kings an dragon gold makes for a good story, and the local taverns made good business that evening.
Greyhawk
Needfest was, as usual, initiated by a gathering of foreign and local dignitaries to the Lord Mayor’s private residence for the yearly summit, officially meant to show the with and depth of the city’s political might. It was seen as a chance for Lord Mayor, and his favored Oligarchs to receive “admiration” and “praise” by all the important guests. The guests knew it was time to determine how eager you were to have the city as a friends, and pay enough to keep your goods being sold on the cities markets. There was even a few guests unfortunate enough to come empty handed finding themselves lavishly entertained only to find themselves unceremoniously expelled from the city before they even managed to sober up. An unusually large contingent from the Barony of Axeport and a rival one from Admundfort. Even the most jaded political minds saw a conflict in the making, and opportunities paired with risks.
Nessermouth
Nyrond’s new sovereign having secret meetings in a far away city. Seems like he wants to go unnoticed. Keen port observers noticed that along with the royal presence was four ships from Hardby that didn’t carry any cargo of significance, only a handful of people that looked out of place in a port setting. Some of them looked like hardened thugs looking for trouble, but they disappeared into the city at night and no one dared to follow.
Scant
The scarlet banner have started to fray according to two “reliable” sources returning from a scouting mission to the beleaguered city. Commanders in Halmarn are starting to seriously debate if it is actually time to storm the walls, or if it is yet another ploy of the last of the occupants or the fact that most of the loyal ones have left. Very few ships have arrived, but only a few more have left the last year.
A Level based rules system that doesn't rely on classes needs another mechanic to restrict what characters can do, how good they are at and when in their career they can get access to various features of the game.
My attempt to regulate this is by using Learning, which can be implemented in various ways to suit different campaigns, from short campaigns to "forever" campaign spanning long story arch's over many sessions.
This is a first version of my Learning Mechanics:
A core mechanic of Hawk Tales is Learning, a way to integrate character development and advancement into the game and its story.
There are several aspects to Learning, let’s look at an example. Say your Character wants to become a Wizard, there are several ways to learn Arcane magic, but if you want to be able to do more than dabble in the arcane arts, there are no way around it, you need to be proficient in Arcana.
The Arcana feat has:
Prerequisite: None
XP Cost: 400
Learning Roll: Intelligence DC 15
This variant is intended for detailed long-term gameplay where character advancement is handled incrementally during gameplay.
Target DC: is the roll that must be met, and the number of days that must be cleared, meaning a Successful Learning Roll must be made each day for the DC amount of days.
This looks like grim odds for an aspiring young character eager to learn the arcane arts, but these are the odds for a cold start without any prior knowledge or help from someone who can teach.
You can make one attempt per Long or Full Rest if you do other activities besides learning and resting. Each learning session is assumed to take around 8 hours, which means you can squeeze in 2 sessions a day if you are in a suitable environment and can focus all day.
Have never experienced the topic at hand: Make the Learning Roll normally.
You have newly experienced the topic at hand: Make the Learning Roll with *Advantage*
A natural 20: means success, and a second roll that day is made at an Advantage (or Double Advantage if you already had Advantage) .
A natural 1: means you have a setback and your effort that day is waisted, and your accomplishments are reduced by 1
Gain +1 for each successful attempt: It gets easier and easier the closer you are to finishing your Learning Task.
You have someone skilled teaching you that day, is like rolling a natural 20 that session, meaning you get an almost guaranteed progress each day. If you roll 1 on your second roll for the day all your effort is wasted that day, even with a tutor.
Using Tasked Learning means that Character advancement takes time and happens gradually during gameplay. The method of improving on what your character knows will usually be made with Advantage, which makes becoming better at what you already know much easier than learning new things.
You can learn most things even while adventuring, some things might be easier to learn while out adventuring. It is up to the GM to determine if and what Learning Rolls can be attempted each day. To learn some things might require a wizard’s lab, or even a library which limits the possibilities to make progress while adventuring out in the wild, on the other hand big city offer limited possibilities to lean things like Nature Skill, while having excellent facilities to serve a deity or do spell research.
Declare what your character wants to learn and allocate the XP.
The GM and the group determine the criteria for Learning: and when that criterion is met, your character succeeds at Learning.
This variant can be formal, like new capabilities will be acquired when a new level is gained, every game session, when you are back in town for downtime, or when some other predetermined condition is met. For example, the GM can set it to be 1 week in game time per 100 XP needed to Learn, this would mean that it takes many years to become a fully capable 20th level character. Which might be reasonable in a long term game, but not suited for a short-term campaign that plays out over a few sessions.
Character advancement is a key part of roleplaying games, both mechanically and as part of the fun. This means that, regardless of the variant used, it needs to work well for the game you are running. Let’s look at the different aspects going into Learning.
Prerequisites
This is a major way to limit when characters can learn something, which means that is should not be tampered with lightly or you will have either a bunch of superheroes, or even worse, underpowered characters not able to survive. Tweak the Prerequisites when you deem it right for the setting, a divine intervention, something a character learned from its ancestors in a magical way. This can be one-off, or permanent changes, but do them carefully.
XP Cost
This is a "hard" aspect tied to game balance, so it should under all circumstances be implemented equally for all characters. It is tempting to have story interfere here, like a dutiful paladin being rewarded by its deity. You can award a new feat or trait to a character like that without the XP requirement, but it will unbalance a game. For a short-term game at a convention no problem, but for long term campaigns it can lead to serious imbalances. It is like handing out treasure, it needs to be done carefully.
Time
This is a much more flexible aspect that will not upset or unbalance the game in the long term. Having character advancement fits the pace of the story and sometime it can be directly implemented, like the warrior who reach in during battle to find his [[Rage 1|Rage]] and can that way defeat the monster.
Be flexible and have fun with this one, a bit of resistance and some unexpected gains can liven up a campaign.
Difficulty
This is another flexible aspect, if you use Tasked Learning give Advantage (or even Double Advantage) in some circumstances, like when they have had an encounter with some enemies and barely escaped, that might warrant learning a weapon, specialize in it, improving [[Combat Prowess 1|Combat Prowess]] or something similar with Advantage, even give them a give success that day on related Learning Tasks.
If your GM allow it, you can "forget" a Feat, Skill or Proficiency you have learned, and get the XP back to learn something new. When you decide your character no longer needs or wants to stay current with something it has learned, you can then free up the XP used to learn and use it to learn something new the normal way.
Note: Prerequisites still applies after you Learned something, so you can only forget things that are not prerequisites for other things your character can do.
If you for some reason want to go back and start using the Feat, Skill or Proficiency you forgot, you can "refresh your knowledge" and get it back again. It will need to take some time, depending on the circumstances, determined by the GM. After the time has passed you spend the XP again and you have your Feat, Skill or Proficiency back, no Learning Roll needed.
Thanks to all of you sharp eyed patreon members who pointed out heraldry I missed recreating in a more realistic style, here are the missing shields. A mixed bunch of fourteen shield stating with the Bakhoury Coast.
and Cryllor.
The Dreadwalkers
Viscounty of Eventide
Fort Gellner
Ikelan
Iyapo
Jolan
Kevot
Kundanol
Nume Eor
Sentinel Keep
Vaynama
Xolapequa
Special thanks to Mark Spangler for listing the missing one, and alerting me!
Grab all of them in a single zip here (165MB): https://annabmeyer.com/Downloads/Heraldry/Missing%20Heraldry.zip
When I started my Patreon 5 years ago my goal was to try and do Greyhawk content, giving it away under a Creative Commons license, to be an asset to Greyhawk fans. A huge thank you to those of you who have supported me during this time, and a warm welcome to all those who have joined recently!
This Summer Update will be a bit lengthy as I will try and go over all the things I’m currently working on and what I plan to get started soon.
Heraldry
I’ve created my take on existing Greyhawk heraldry, and created a lot of new heraldry, over 400 all in all. What started out as an experiment turned out to be a lot of fun, and very popular. I like to do heraldry, they are neat little projects to dig into for an hour or tow every other day, and they are very popular.
My latest experiment in this field is simple shields. It was an idea by Michael Mossbarger to create shields used not by the kings, lord and generals, but by the common foot soldier. I did a couple of simple wooden shields on my last livestream. It was fun and might be useful, what do you think?
A Greyhawk peasant militia soldiers’ shield.
And one from Dyvers
There will be more shields, I’m creating them as I read, and re-read Greyhawk lore, and create for my own campaign. Furyondy, Horned Society Iuz are in focus now. But I’m also going through the history and development of the Great Kingdom and its successor states for a reboot of my Rel Deven campaign. Haven’t run an elven focused campaign in decades, so now I’m also prepping ideas for one in a couple of years. A lot of very interesting possibilities, and thanks to their lifespan it will tie into a lot of history.
New Website
This is a sore thumb of mine; my web presence is not up to the job of being a place where it is easy to find my content. The problem is two-sided, there is so much stuff hidden in a myriad of posts, and the ability to effectively search and find stuff is limited. Setting up and running a website is quite an operation, which thankfully has tools to help you do that. My problem is that most tools seem to be focused on blogs and similar sites, not large content repositories.
The most promising solution I’ve seen, and used a bit is Notion, which now has launched a web publishing function. I’m going to try it out and see if it works for what I need it to do. WordPress is way to much work to change something, it takes me a week or so every time I’m doing a site update more than posting. I want to be able to add pages, change layout, add whole sections to my website without having to take a week or two off to do it. I also don’t have to money to pay someone to do it, and this is where I want control, meaning I need to understand how to do things so I’m not reliant on others.
If any of you know of a powerful and flexible tool to create and manage websites that isn’t too pricy, I’m very interested to hear about it!
As piggyback on my GIS project, I’m going to do what I should have done a long time ago, properly reference all the places and names on my map. All the renewed interest in Greyhawk has made this extra important. Help with this is very much appreciated, since it is a huge undertaking. Greyhawk wikis and similar resources have made this easier, but it is still a lot of work. Before the collection and curation of data begins, we need to define what data we need and the technical details like data formats, files etc. This can start when the GIS data entry is done this fall.
GIS
My project to create a new version of my existing Flanaess Hepmonaland map using GIS is going well. It is a huge undertaking, and after about a year of data entry a first version is in sight later this year.
A New Generation Maps
My current Flanaess Hepmonaland map is getting, while still useful, showing its age being created using tools from the 1990’s. From the Southlands and Midgard maps I did almost a decade ago for Kobold Press to my latest commission, they are created using tools that are decades more advanced. I made a facelift to my current map when I added Hepmonaland some years ago, but it is only so much you can do with a new set of superficial edits.
The GIS conversion will be the last major version of my Flanaess map that will be based on the old stuff. Future maps will be made using tools like GAEA, world Machine and others put together using GIS, Game Engines and of course still rely on editing tools like Photoshop.
For my Shield Lands campaign, I ambitiously set out to map it in “Porta Potty Scale” at 5ft pixel. Due to World Machine 4 no longer supporting tiled imports that I relied on for this I had to rethink my approach. Now a year later I’m having a new approach that can circumvent the issue and still deliver the detail and quality I crave. The result will be the same and, in some ways, even better, but the process is kind of the opposite. Before I work from the bottom up, now it will be more top down – start with the big and then zoom in for details. I thought you would lose quality and that it would be more difficult going top down, that is why I started with bottom up. Now that I’ve tested both methods, I found out I was partially wrong. Thankfully top down can deliver really good quality even faster, and my drainage issues are less common this way.
The new set of maps I’m working on will have a resolution of 150 ft per pixel and cover an area of 450 x 450 miles whit proper waterflow with lakes and rivers in this area. This is with my current tool World Machine 3, which is now old and but still my go to. With WM3 I can do 16K terrains in a single render without tiling. This is the worst-case scenario, WM3 will be the tool to rely on for remapping the Flanaess. It can be done in a few years, and with areas of special interest like cities at 5ft. per pixel special maps as well.
Thankfully there is a new tool coming in Gaea 2, that has been in alpha for a few months and is very promising. If it can deliver what is on its roadmap for later this year, I will be able to go from 16K maps to 256K, over 2 million pixels per side renders. And Gaea is not the only tool on the horizon, terrain creation is going from an obscure thing to a major feature. What is driving this is the new generation game engines, and GIS tools that made it possible to work with whole planets in glorious, detailed 3D. This is driving a demand for better tools to create them, and now we have the hardware to handle them, so the future is looking bright in this field and we as gamers can cash in and make good use of it.
Maps and heraldry have been a great inroad to local and more detailed worldbuilding, which has made me go back and re-read a lot of the old material and have a new look at it. It has given me a lot of new ideas and different takes on things. To better separate my own version from the “standard” Greyhawk map and other stuff I do, I hope it can be useful to label it MeyerHawk so those that are not that into my stuff can avoid it, and the other way around.
Now with over 20 years of experience creating maps, and 40 years gaming in Greyhawk, I feel I’m skilled enough to not only map the setting, but also contribute to it in other ways as well. My goal with the MeyerHawk label is to is to signal that this is my take on the setting, and to provide a rich a deep set of lore for Greyhawk gamers, and others to use. It will be Creative Commons as well, so it can be used, tweaked and shared by Greyhawk fans everywhere.
House Rules
The fluff is taken care of under the MeyerHawk label, how about the crunch!? I’ve been working on a house rule project since before the pandemic, when I started to regularly run games virtually and realized that I needed a firmer grounding rule wise. Somehow when you are forced to interact using computers and video calls written rules and structure becomes more apparent and need to be clearer.
Having started out with AD&D1E/2E, then moved to D&D3E and 3.5. Even 4E for a few months before switching to PF1 and then PF2 to ending up with a sort of 5E-A5E mishmash, just making a few house rules was not going to cut it. I needed a proper set of rules that suited my playstyle, so I looked at almost every fantasy TTRPG rule set, that was at least vaguely related to D&D (and a few others as well). Found a lot of things I liked, but not in the same system. It dawned on me that when I didn’t find the map I needed, I set out to create it. Now I’m in the same situation when it comes to the rules I need for my games, so under the name of a house rule project a whole new TTRPG rule set is taking shape.
This is my working title; we will see if it survives. The goal for this project is to create a rules system that support and facilitate heavy sandbox-style games. It should do its job and then get out of the way, medium crunch and lots of possibilities and support flavor. I’m making a rule set I need, and then we will see what happens, but I want to offer it free for everyone to use. I’m trying to make it easy to learn and hard to impossible master, making long term campaigns viable.
A few holy cows must go to slaughter for Hawk Tales, and that might upset some, but I did it on the altar of my sandbox gaming temple. For example, Armor and AC are overlapping but not the same thing anymore, and Armor softens the blows. Even the mightiest warrior who can face a dragon has a reason to be a little bit wary every time he faces a crowd of commoners.
Another feature is that weapons get deadlier the better you are at using them. A master of daggers can do more damage than a newbie using a greatsword. Big heavy weapons like mauls and greatswords have their advantages but are not the only way to bring down your opponent.
Tactics and crunch are a side of a rules systems that can become too dominant, and you can have lots of cool ideas and the urge is to implement them all. I’m now in the very important phase of trying to streamline and bring better order to things. The goal is to have a system that is easy to understand, but still, it should be able to deliver lots if flavorful outcomes.
The main way Hawk Tales FRP will be different from D&D (and most other fantasy RPG’s) is the main approach in its design. They seem to be based on gameplay, with the rules and its concepts being at the center of the game. Class being such a key concept, it’s a core function of the game and most of the rules are built around it.
My approach is to see the rules as a supporting role in the overall experience. The rules should provide a supportive framework for worldbuilding, gameplay and character progression. I want a world full of people, creatures, magic, epic worlds and exiting adventures, so I want to create a rules structure that support that. A “thief” is a job description, not a set of mechanics. Some thieves would be stealthy and act in the shadows, others would be brutes using intimidation and violence for their illicit activities, or a combination of the two.
Character progression in Hawk Tales FRP will be guided by the desires of the player, which can vary over the career of the character, and what happens during gameplay. What your character does will to a large degree determine what it will get good at, but there is still room for going on a quest to learn magic even if there is no wizard at hand to teach you. It will just be somewhat more difficult and take more time. Character development, combat and what happens during encounters are a side of the gaming experience that most rule sets focus on and handle well. I intend to make my rules able to keep up with the others, but it is hard to improve on what has already been perfected over decades by way more accomplished game designers that amateur me. The side where I think I can provide the biggest incentive for considering adopting Hawk Tales will be on the Game Mastering side of things.
Like with cartography where I used skills learned in other areas and used them to make setting maps, then it was my understanding navigation and what the world looks like that I relied on. This time I am relying on my understanding of things from physics, electronics, politics and how the world works. How could a medieval-like world with magic, dragons, undead and worse function and still make it fun and interesting to delve into and interact with.
For me it is equally important to have a system for high level magic and a way to play out high stakes power struggles as well as the daggers, swords and magic fights. How do you bring down an evil ruler, or even a god. What can necromancers really do with their power, and what would someone get from serving a demon lord. These are questions I want a set of rules to help answer, not by providing all the exact details, that is up to you and your campaign. The key for me is to provide the imaginary arena and guidelines for how to conduct the play.
Things like how are divine beings created and how they gain and wield their power. In this I’ve even managed to revive the concept of alignment languages, and how does Vecna’s gathering of secrets work, and where is Tharizdun imprisoned. These are all campaign plots that Hawk Tales can help you run campaign around and provides rules and guidelines for fighting cults, liches and more, way beyond the simple statblock.
I will run games using an early form of Hawk Tales at Virtual Gary Con 5, GameHole Con and PAGE 2025 and Gary Con XVII, as well as run online short skirmish play tests starting this fall. I hope you might be interested in joining.
A “Skirmish Alpha” Release will be available this fall, that will cover basic rules, encounters, combat and spellcasting. Come with a sample of characters, some opponents to fight and a list of spells and equipment. Hopefully enough for you to see if it is something for you to even consider.
Hawk Tales FRP will be published using Creative Common 4.0 -by license in PDF and Markdown formats and will be available to be downloaded and referenced for free on my website.
The CC -by license makes it possible foe anyone to use, alter and share Hawk Tales as they like. In the day of gatekeeping and corporatization of I want to do what I can to help and inspire gamers to have fun, create and share.
Again, thank you Everyone for making it possible for me to work on this, it is your support that pay for my computers, software and covers the bills so I can spend time work on this!!!
I hope you all feel welcome and are exited to join me in exploring and mapping our favorite fantasy world!
Can't resists this! Awesome creators and a very interesting approach, and for a gamer like me an irresistible aura of attractiveness... 
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/darkageoftheer/progcore-fantasy-the-dark-age-of-theer
This last batch is a small mixed lot of shields and symbols.
Let’s start with Uskedge that comes from a reference in the Saga of Old City Gord novel, a General Lomor, the Margrave of Uskedge leads a Great Kingdom force into the battle at Woodford in the Adri. I created the March of Uskedge on the North Province/Kingdoms western edge where Woodford is located, and here comes my take on lord Lomor’s shield.
The background of the shield tops with the overkings colors and markings, showing the Margrave is an overking loyal and appointee. The green lower bit is the Edgefield Green, showing Lomor’s family ties and origins. The boar is a symbol Lomor choose to underline his abilities as a hunter, the frontier status and danger of his posting and a way to look cool.
This is the version that was used by Lomor until the fall of Ivid’s line. Above it is shown in an aged version that could be found in the 590’s.
The fall of Ivid forced Lomor to change his allegiance and update hi heraldry accordingly. Gone are the colors of the Overking replaced with the Naelax Red and an Aerdy small star have been added as a way to show allegiance.
The overking himself kept a retinue of Fiend-Knights, both infantry and cavalry. Their heraldry is described in Ivid the undying as a fierce tan horse and a baboon respectively. I used AI to create the concepts and then used my Photoshop editing chops to create the shields. I placed the symbols on the Naelax red, and due to simulated wear and tare the colors faded a bit differently.
Next up is a variant of the Hardby heraldry from OJ #10 and a design by James A. S. Muldowney.
This can be the Hardby shield is you prefer, or it can be one sed by an earlier Gynarch, one competing for power. The moon suggests elven connections…
There is one place in the Empire of Iuz that have managed to retain a “decent” civilized form of heraldry and that is Delaquenn, the town on the eastern shores of the Whyestil.
The town was founded by Oeridian explorers with ambitions to become part of the expanding Great Kingdom and the heraldry was made to prove it. The standard Aerdy symbol of city with the black of the then ruling Cranden overking’s house over blue water. The city gate and its windows are gleaming golden to indicate wealth and prosperity. The flags on tops of the towers are probably a later edition showing the colors of Molag.
The Keep of Trystenn is a hideous keep along the road between Molag and Dorakaa, ruling the Long March. Its crest is an equally gloomy addition to the annals of heraldry. Based on an Aerdy heater shield to mock the enemy, and with a symbol that is both a homage to the caltrops surrounding the keep, the helmets worn by its guards and their long shafted axes.
While up in the north let’s look at a shield that never was, but could have been, the Northern MarchesThe Great Kingdom’s reach never really got to Blackmoor but it was in their sights. If they had properly conquered it they would probably have made it into the Northern Marches. The name is also an homage to the Northern Marches that was Dave Arneson’s realm in the Great Kingdom campaign.
The design is the norm for Aerdy marchlands, the Aerdy seal with the sun and the crown, on a black Cranden background due to the ruling dynasty of Rauxes. At the bottom are the Blackmoor blue and white.
In the Griff Mountains south of Stonehold lies Garel Enkdal, a nest of Orcs (and maybe other humanoids as well). Here is my take on their shield, a portrait of what they are very proud of, their defenses that have held the pesky Fists away for a long time.
Last of the proper shields are a design I found in the D&D gazetteer, published in 2000. It is in a picture of Belissica and Karll in front of their heraldry, but the Duch one with the bear has black diagonal stripes instead of a uniform background color. I took this design and made it into Duke Karll’s crest and the symbol of his capital Leukish.
Next up are some other symbols. First out is the Cranden conclave, mentioned in Ivid the Undying. It is usually found as a pin that can be worn on clothes to identify the wearer as a Cranden noble.
Iuz distributes holy symbols to his clergy in two variants, black and white.
They both work as holy symbols, the reason for having two colors is the same as tyrants throughout history have figured out. Never trust your underlings, so make sure you divide them into competing teams. In case there is a rebellion, Iuz can cancel the power of whatever offending color the hapless instigator was issued with. Might also be only a rumor used to scare lowly henchmen into submission. There are rumors of a red version distributed to the truly powerful among his followings.
https://annabmeyer.com/Downloads/Heraldry/heraldry%2012.zip
all of this is Creative Commons 4.0 -by -nc -sa content!
Maps of the Flanaess over the years
The new Dungeon Masters guide is going to include a poster map with a map of the Flanaess on one side and a map of he City of Greyhawk on the other. A teaser for the new map was just revealed, and it’s made by Mike Schley, this is but the latest of a number of maps of the Flanaess by TSR, WotC, and of course fans. Let’s have a brief look at the different maps, and what they tell us about the setting itself.
Due to copyright I’m only going to post low resolution versions of the maps as a guide, for full versions, I refer you to the products or creator.
The Great Kingdom
The roots of the Greyhawk setting ca be found in the Great Kingdom map from 1971 published in the Doomsday Book Fanzine #9
This map is already familiar to Greyhawk fans, Dry Steppes, Sea of Dust and the Lake of Unknown Depths (called Nir Dyv at this time) are present. The Layout of the mountains separating the western parts from the eastern Great Kingdom is somewhat already resembling the ranges we see much later on the published maps.
As the Castles & Crusades Society was established a more detailed version of the Great Kingdom map evolved.
The geography hasn’t changed much but lots of new names have appeared, most of them very familiar to Greyhawk players. Gary Gygax created and claimed the Principality of Walworth north of Nir Dyv, what would later become the Shield Lands with a Walworth province still part of it.
The Setting Takes Shape
As part of the work getting the Greyhawk setting ready for publication was to create a proper setting map. A sketch map was made and circulated among TSR staff and friends of Gary Gygax, and I have scanned Len Lakofka’s old copy of the map.
Now for the first time we have a map that every Greyhawk fan recognizes and are familiar with. Some of the names and places have been slightly altered or moved, like Rinton which became Rinloru on the published map, and Loreltarma which was moved from the northern coast of Lendore Isle to the southern.
The Darlene Map
In 1980 the Greyhawk Folio was published and with it came the 2-part poster map made by Darlene, which have rightly become fantasy cartography legend. It was one of the first fantasy setting maps and a great piece of art, with beautiful calligraphy and striking colors.
The style of the Darlene map was probably inspired by the Outdoor Survival board game by Avalon Hill published in 1972.
The Darlene map was reprinted again both for the 1983 boxes set, and From the Ashes in 1992, but tis time with blue borders instead of white.
The Saga of Old City and Artifact of Evil by Gary Gygax has a Flanaess map probably made by Clyde Caldwell depicting Gords journey across the Flanaess.
WotC Takes Over
After WotC acquires TSR in 1997 a new series of Greyhawk content was published and with it came new maps. A series of maps including a Flanaess map made by Sam Wood was included.
Third Edition D&D was launched in 2000 and with Greyhawk as the standard setting, and we got a new look at the setting in the D&D Gazetteer with a map by Dennis Kauth and Rob Lazzaretti.
This map was the first Flanaess map published that is based on a post war Flanaess without the Great Kingdom.
PaizoHawk
In the mid 90’s TSR announced an Atlas of the Flanaess that was never published, probably due to TSR’s failing finances. A decade later Paizo was the publisher of Dragon and Dungeon magazines. In 2005 a 4-part poster map was published in Dungeon #118-#121, it was made by Rob Lazzaretti and was hailed as the most detailed Greyhawk map ever published. That is still true, if you don’t count fan made maps.
It was a great new take on the setting and would be the last published Flanaess map, until the new DMG comes out.
D&D 2024
In the new DMG coming out later this year Greyhawk will be given a chapter and a new poster map, made by Mike Schley. It seems to be a reboot of the setting with some changes, but the cartography is solid, despite a bit overdone labeling. The labels might be for the low-resolution preview only, its too early to tell.
This was a quick overview of publication history of Flanaess maps. Jay Scott and me will discuss this topic on the Legends & Lore Show on the LordGosumba Twitch tomorrow Wednesday the 26th @7pm EDT. twitch.tv/lordgosumba
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