Where Did I Get These Spells From?

I had a player who said bard songs and spells should be more research-based than what im doing now. I also read Dolemnwood has priests get new spells by visiting new holy places some requiring adventures which could be nice in a sandbox if characters seek personal power. Dragonslayer has a limit you can't duplicate spells memorised in one memorisation. It also has clerics who can swap spells to cure light wounds and the wizard gets similar for some core wizard spells. A player asked if bards could be more scholarly like wizards. 

Another option is to make some lore fluff tables that have no mechanical effect.
But I guess it's world-building also and makes spells feel more like carousing.
Maybe it's what spell casters are doing while other classes boozing

Im thinking of having separate spell recovery/gain/theory separate from the type of magic which I had in my 2012 game - you can do arcane divine nature or mentalism spells but classes have different learning style theories - they might overlap a bit at times. I just ended up making non core spell classes all work like sorcery which is mostly just a variant casting style that could also just be a choice not even a separate class. Sometimes messing around ends up with pages of rules to create lots of fiddly penalties maybe consider not doing it.

Research
-learned from books and teachers and lab experiments or from a master or school
-can steal find or trade new spells
-roll prime requisite to use found spells, prime req as the total limit  
-spells are memorised and held in the mind, releasing them causes brain damage
-memorisation is rereading and rote learning the spell until it is ready to use

 
Inspirations
-learned as miracles gained by prayer to the pantheon, saints and servants of the deity 
-spells are prepared daily and not limited by books or knowledge. so possibly the tables are more used when gaining a new spell level?
-miracles are pre-prayed for magical events and casting completes the circuit to the source and releases them.

Visions
-learned from contact by a pact or bloodline, communion or ordeals with patron entities 
-limited knowledge of spells but get more power and other benefits or just easier
-spell knowledge comes with visions, physically implanted perhaps in tattoos, scars, hair or even new organs inside the body
-power for spell casting is channelled from the patron. The caster requires rituals creating altered consciousness to draw power from beyond as spell preparation. Some of these beings can only have one champion at a time who may be bonded to their caster's souls like a familiar 

Not really solid yet I might chat with my players

It's quite a bit of complex content and could be in a later magic splatbook safely in a mythical future with everything else too hard.

A later splatbook would have all spells a-z common spells to all not counted vs total spells of that type, lots of elemental stuff maybe my blood-bone-flesh-animus magic system for Xor. It would also have spell lists for various elf subclasses and a list for bards lists for specialist priests. Basically every wild idea that's too hard and I can put it off till after I'm happy with my core rules. Which I've now been revising for 12 years. 

At least these as fluff might give you some fun things for your character to do off-screen.
Could also be for level-ups.

Last table is for skill and fighting class

d12 Wizard Spell Research
1 Studied from collections of ancient manuscripts and occult books
2 Studied in a library with many famous books available to see
3 Traded spells in secret with another wizard and got a fair deal
4 Visited a master wizard who showed you new techniques
5 Visited a master and managed to pilfer some scraps of lore
6 Studied at a formal school or university
7 Copied ancient glyphs and sigils on prehistoric walls and ruins  
8 Studied geometry of the stars or weird angles in a witch's house

9 Spied on other spell casters and experimented with copying

10 Studied ancient artworks including paintings, relief sculptures and sculptures

11 Forced or bargained secrets from a supernatural being

12 Found a secret door to the shadowy library of hell and stole some secrets  

d12 Priest Spell Inspiration
1 Visited a new shrine or temple
2 Studied church secret archives
3 Ordeal of praying, fasting and meditation 
4 Went on a pilgrimage trail visiting sites
5 Went on a proselytising mission
6 Helped establish a new sanctified holy place
7 Plundered enemy cult to recover lost holy text
8 Hunted and punished a heretic or cult
9 Faced a supernatural enemy in a battle of will
10 Recoved a holy relic or place or text held by enemies
11 Horribly harmed defending faith, saved and renewed vows

12 Visited by a saint taught you new miracles

d12 Sorcerer Spell Visions
1 Visions of a past life in service of your patron
2 Visions of your secret bloodline with inhuman ancestry
3 Rituals and chants dedicated to a without food or sleep for days
4 Joined a new sect or cult and initiated in a secret rite
5 Imitated an ancient teacher from books, art or spying
6 Induced altered states with herbal medicine or grog
7 Meditated on dreams to contact beings from beyond 
8 Visualisations of other dimensions based on ancient scrolls 
9 Guided by a senior practitioner sent by the patron
10 Drank potions in a secret place and met the patron
11 Had fevers and fits with wild visions of the patron

12 Performed secret ordeal in a dangerous place where the patron spoke to you

d12 Druidic Spell Inspirations
1 Learned whispered secrets of animals
2 Drank potions under the moon in a naked ritual
3 Erected or repaired a monolith or dolmen
4 Protected wilderness from harm and received visions
5 Performed secret initiations into a new cult or sect
6 Planted a garden of food and medicine for future human or beast
7 Comuned with the spit of a plant or mushroom
8 Directed a sacrifice ceremony for nature spirits

9 Made earthworks for fishing or hunting 
10 Went on a pilgrimage visiting ancient sites 
11 Overcame a supernatural being and spirits rewarded you
12 Had visions of the world tree and visited one of its regions as a spirit 
10 Met a supernatural nature being and had a ritual ordeal with them
11 Danced with faerie beings on a long wild night 

12 Lost in the faerie realm which for you felt like years

d12 Bardic Spell Research
1 Battled various bards in a competition with an enthusiastic audience
2 Joined a different tradition or school to learn their songs
3 Find ancient lost music and songs in books or carved in stone
4 Spent time following a famous travelling teacher
5 Made a friend from a rival school and traded ideas in secret
6 Spied on a rival school and reworked some of their rubbish 
7 Studied with other magicians and adopted their ways into spell songs

8 Found the last old person who knew a song and convinced them you are worthy

9 Learned an important epic poem of a nation or people making you a living treasure

10 Had a musical duel with a spirit to recover long-lost songs

11 Studied an ancient lineage to prehistoric tribes only recorded as oral tradition

12 Battled a famous bard at an important feast or festival 

d12 Non-Human Spell Visions
1 Encounted sacred ancestral spirits in a ritual
2 Dreamed of your clan ancestors teaching you old ways

3 Take place in a huge singing festival of your people

4 Travelled to see the sacred relic of your clan in a secret place

5 Elders guided you through secret initiation ceremonies

6 Had to encounter a hag in a forbidden place to learn secrets

7 Uncovered an ancient relic or text of your people

8 Performed devotions in the temple of your clan

9 An elder came to teach you new mysteries

10 Visions of a past life self-guided you in your dreams

11 Battled an enemy of your clan and rewarded by ancestors

12 Distant planar kin tried to take you from your clan to get a foothold in the mortal world and you resisted and were rewarded by one of the great ancestors

d12 New Skill Source
1 Paid a famous master to show you the basics with a crash course 
2 Went to a privileged school or university
3 Guildsman teaches you in hopes you become their follower
4 Trained in the guildhall with other experienced members with a gym
5 Made friends and cross-trained together
6 Studied the works and techniques of a famous master in books and arts
7 Studied in secrets some master and their students who rejected you possibly by losing to them in competitions or duels

8 Read ancient texts and tretises in a library
9 Joined a strict weird order in a hidden place 
10 Joined a secret fraternal order which so far seems to be about drinking
11 Studied animals and nature and practised from your contemplations

12 Taught by a supernatural being in a hidden place

Alchemy Formula 1 Poison

So I need to fix my rules on this as a player doing alchemy

once you have alchemy you can test potions for a general idea with a test kit or lab

Then you open trees of specialisations like incendiary, black powder, acid, apothacary

I may do herbalist also - maybe even other skills could use this

Formula are researched like wizard spells and you can fail to comprehend them and be unable to use them. Formula can be found and swapped you can get one per leVel To a max of the relevant stat

You can find or develop others these are examples and in same cases can be combined which stacks the cost and difficulty to make a bit.

This is a skill - one of many
You get a formula per level
you can memorise a number of formulas up to the relevant attribute max
You can record formulas in books 

You can invent more - try mixing some of the effects

Each tier level needs ingredients = tier number +1
0 = Common in yard, cottage, gardens, patches of woods or in soil, find 1 per hour or 1cp
l = Uncommon, found in town or a terrain type, find 1 per day or 1sp
2 = Rare, hard to find or create or foreign, find 1 per week at 1gp
3 = Very rare, find 1 per month 10gp
4 = Very very rare, find 1 per 3 months 100gp

5 = Unique, dangerous to acquire or limited material created in past or one tree, find 1 per year 1000gp

You could find ingredients or keep ingredients as a single box and just record their cash value the user can subtract from. 1 ENC per Tier.

First Aid can help a person stay alive an extra round per skill roll
Herbalism basics include +1 on a save antidote usually a plant based paste
Apothacary basics include +1 on a save antidote usually a mineral based pill or tonic
Healers can help the patient get an additional save with a round of treatment
Healer can keep a patient alive

Mandrake, mistletoe, animal or monster venom or blood, minerals are common

Require a stove to make and some containers and utensils at least
Half skill with a camp fire
Kitchen and stove is normal
Alchemy lab will offer bonuses = to lab rating +1 to +3
- basic lab could be carried in chest less fragile x2 cost
- basic lab fits on a table top 10 ENC 100gp +1
- advanced lab fill a room 100 ENC 1000gp +2
- custom built lab fils several rooms or tower floor 1000 ENC 10000gp +3

cumulative = poison attacks of same type add
noncumulative = only one lot of poison damage in one encounter

Tier 0 = Lv Zero
1 Blade Bite - venom +1 damage or non with save, ten-minute delay, non-cumulative only one save per fight 

2 Sting Salve - antidote +1 HP heal vs poison, apply direct vs venom, eat vs ingested, non-cumulative

3 Ratbane - Ingested d3 damage or none if save, one hour delay after eating 

4 Identify - know type of poison from a sample with a test kit or lab 

Tier 1 = Lv1-4
1 Venom - venom d4 damage or 1 if saved ten-minute delay

2 Enfeeblement - venom -d3 damage to one attribute (each a separate formula) if sail a save. d4 rounds onset time, each hour one point recovers

3 Poison - Ingested d6 damage half if save one hour after eating

4 Onset - can make formulas with longer delayed effects or work instantly

Tier 2 = Lv5-8

1 Bloodbane - venom damages 1hp a round, stops when succeeds in a save

2 Sleep - make a tier 1 or better poison cause sleep, lasts 1 hour

3 Contact - damage by touch to make items dangerous to the touch, hour delay (if sped up with onset formula then the contact poison burns on touch and is obvious)

4 Refine - double damage of another formula

Tier 3 = Lv9-12
1 Blind - make a tier 1 or better poison cause blindness instead of 2d4 rounds

2 Gas - make a tier 1 or better poison gas 1 range circle 

3 Antidote - counter one specific poison if you identify the formula or heal d6 poison damage

4 Combination - make multi-part poisons requiring all parts to be consumed to activate, parts can be different types, hour onset and save after one hour

Tier 4 = Lv13-16
1 Bane - one species per formula +2d6 damage and -2 save

2 Boiling Blood - venom damages d6 a round, stops when succeeds in a save

3 Paralasys - make a tier 1 or better poison cause paralysis 2d4 rounds 

4 Black Blood - save or unconscious in a d4 rounds with zero HP and losing 1HP per round until revived with fist aid or healing or magic neutralises poison

Tier 5 = Lv17-20
1 Petrify - save or over a d4 rounds turn to stone

2 Liquify - save or flesh turns to a liquid mess with a skeleton in it

3 Deadwalk - make a tier 1 or better poison to cause the target to arise as a zombie if they die as a side effect

4 Long Sleep - make a tier 1 or better poison put the target to sleep, and get a saving throw per day to end

d100 Strange Inheritances

Some starting background trinkets for starting players with some to get them started on the property ladder or possible adventure hooks, Perhaps could meet in a legal office instead of a pub.

d10 Quick Types
1 Purse

2 Documents

3 Arms & Armour

4 Diary

5 Transport

6 Servant

7 Land

8 House

9 Tomb

10 Magic

d100 Strange Inheritances
01 Purse with 100sp and a key

02 Purse with 3d6x5gp and a locket

03 Purse with 5d6cp and a copper ring worth 10sp

04 Purse with 5d6sp and a silver wing worth 10gp

05 Puse with 5d6gp and gold ring worth 100gp

06 A set of thief's lockpicks, a sharpened coin and a garotte

07 Purse with marked cards, two loaded dice and a two-headed coin

08 Purse with a bottle of holy water and a gold holy symbol worth 30gp

09 Purse with fools gold nuggets and a ring of delusion

10 Purse with 5d6pp and a +1 ring of protection
11 Letters revealing your secret ancestry

12 Letter wishing the recipient the best and requesting to visit a mysterious relative in a city

13 Letter telling heir they will inherit 300gp if they marry a specific person

14 Letter mentioning a family lost magic item

15  Letter warning you not to sell your soul to hell and apologies for leaving you nothing

16 Treasure map but somebody build an inn on top of the location

17 Treasure Map showing an island but no idea if at sea or a lake or where

18 Treasure Map to a church where ancestor's bones are buried with a magic item

19 Letter claiming you owe a crime guild for a dead relative's debts

20 Letters of credit from a merchant banking cartel worth 300sp

21 +1 knife d3 always points north under the moonlight

22 Silver dagger, 12 silver crossbow bolts and a cold iron horseshoe knuckleduster

23 +1 +2 vs giants & ogres family sword with an inscription naming an ancestor knight

24 +1 +2 vs undead mace left by a cleric ancestor 

25 +1 dagger can light as a lamp on command

26 +1 club +2 vs rats

27 +1 shield blocks non-magic missiles for one ten-minute period per day

28 +1 hand axe three times a day will return to your hand at the end of a round if you don't move after throwing it

29 +1 Shortsword stings the owner if any try to pick pockets or steal items from the wielder while handing on the hilt in the scabbard

30 +1 Spear once a day will add a d4 electrical damage on command for one round
31 Diary of ancestor adventurer with various feuds with monster heroes and visited several fabulous ruins

32 Diary of ancestor in millitary noting an army payroll was buried under a battlefield

33 Diary of ancestor in the slave trade who records various strange islands they visited with tales of strange treasure and inhuman monsters

34 Diary of an ancestor thief who tells of various heists. It describes several dungeons they tried and failed to enter but survived 

35 Diary of an ancestor ghost hunter describing tombs they robbed and undead they met

36 Diary of a midshipman who visited various strange islands while lost at sea for several years and some of the lands sound wonderous and rich

37 DIary of a relative who was a courtier in a famous castle and it describes several secret doors 

38 Diary of a Royal Servant possibly questions the ancestry of an important noble. Such information could make you rich or murdered

39 Diary shows safe routes through the great forest and teaches the rituals needed to placate faerie folk and basic manners. It advises you to be polite but dull and not too interesting

40 DIary showing continental slaver routes and secret prisons worth a fortune in the right hands of use it to destroy the slavers guild

41 Donkey with papers of ownership

42 Donkey with a pack load of old adventurer rubbish like rope, iron spikes, pick, hammer

43 Donkey with a small cart 

44 Letter that will get you free passage on a ship with the mariners' guild

45 Covered wagon with cart horse

46 Rowing boat and fishing rod and a d6 eel traps

47 Riding pony with a gentle nature

48 Fierce nomad pony that bites enemies

49 Pack horse with saddlebags and a tent

50 Riding horse with saddle
51 Loyal farm dog, a good guard and shepherd

52 Hunting hound, a good tracker and game dog

53 Warhound, a huge hungry vicious dog

54 Your very own serf labourer with a life contract

55 Servant aids in grooming, cooking and hospitality

56 Child servant good at fetching, delivering messages and holding a lantern 

57 Elderly porter to carry your baggage, only complains once an hour

58 Bodyguard professional thug with a club ad a knife, paid contract with the mob

59 Bodyguard professional guard with spear, shield, leather and helmet

60 Apprentice with one basic trade skill almost a journeyman rank and half a tool kit
61 A patch of land near a cursed bog with a farm shack and a raft

62 An apple orchard and a cabin on a small block of land surrounded by strange yokels

63 Deed to a mine with a shack and basic tools, only a few monsters

64 Patch of woodland with a logger shack abandoned due to some horror

65 Two hides of land in a village with mean neighbours trying to grab land for themselves

66 Small patch of farmland with tenants with a for-life lease who pay two sacks of turnips a year. If they left on own accord or died you could make money from this

67 Abandoned quarry that something moved into and scared away workers 

68 Small block of land with a small cave used as a cellar for beer and root vegetables and the back section boarded up for some reason

69 Stony poor farm with shack and an ancient stone circle, dolmen and barrow mounds

70 Patch of rocky shoreline with a shack where a family of fisherfolk lived but vanished years ago
71 Filthy vermin infected shack in the beggers district

72 The old witch house abandoned since last occupants all fled screaming

73 The murder house, a city townhouse where a famous murderer lived and used this house to hack up body parts to make furniture. Locals shun the house

74 Seedy tavern is currently operated by the local thieves guild

75 Crumbling townhouse occupied by desperate squatters d4 1=orphans 2=wounded war veterans 3=elderly 4=pathetic mutants

76 Old crumbling stone house on a storm-prone hill, someone has seen smoke from some squatters d4 1=bandits 2=goblins 3=cultists 4=gargoyle family

77 Ruined old house said to be used by a cult who were all beheaded and burned. The house is vandalised with blood, occult sigils, pentacles, candles and goat skulls

78 Crumbling stone house and other buildings on a property infested with kobolds or ratlings

79 Haunted ruined castle on a bleak foggy hilltop

80 Ruined manor house property with several entrances to a dungeon complex full of monsters and the most deplorable human bandits and cultists
81 Small fenced family graveyard

82 Plot of land with family graves and a stone crypt with the door wrenched off

83 Family cave tomb unused for generations too poor looking to rob

84 Grave and coffin package deal with a letter to claim it from a famous mortician

85 Inherit a long-term rental storage shed full of family coffins

86 Place reserved in a family crypt under a church with a waiting coffin

87 Chest with 2d4+6 funeral urns of the ashes of your family, very convenient for contacting them with magic

88 Bag of old bones of your ancestors jumbled together and a map to an old family stone crypt in the hills

89 Tunnel in underground catacombs where your ancestors were buried and space for your remains

90 Stone family crypt in a city necropolis now has been opened and has bones lying about and a stinking tunnel into the earth inside
91 Box with d4+1 d4 healing potion and a map to a dungeon entrance

92 A shuttered mining lantern but inside is a rock with a permanent light spell cast on it

93 Box with six bottles of holy water, a holy symbol and a priest scroll of cure light wounds and light

94 Book of magic theory for beginners with a d4 1st level wizard spell scrolls 

95 Box with four potions of might and a salve of hair removal

96 Magic sticks d4+4 each can give you a +1 on a roll then breaks, you can stack them and use as many sticks as you need at once  

97 Magical tattoo you woke up with once gives you +1 HP and glows under moonlight or caves dimly and less than a candle

98 Got a family ring and if you wear it in your sleep one of your ancestors chats to you in your dreams

99 Magical key can cast Knock a d3+1 times 

100 Magic Flute - while playing rats will come out and dance to the music but if it stops or they are attacked they react as normal

d12 Oops I overcooked this encounter

So your players got lucky streak and did some clever things and creamed some baddies and now its the big boss and you wanna flex a bit so the heroes suffer a bit and feel some thrills. Then all the dice turn bad and it turns into a possible TPK...

Game balance is a bit silly
If you over do it there is no risk
It can waste lots of time calculating with occult formulae like xp - kick it to the curb
BX did HD +1 for major magic abilities worked fine and fast

I like older warhammer and Stoembringer with more chaos and less balance. One player would be a sorcerer who could call a god and another player would be a beggar with no legs. And that beggar would save those wizards again and again and procure the human sacrifices they needed. 

You have more options as a DM than Fudging rolls
These give you choices rather than hiding rolls 
Its a lot more powerful and convincing for players
But also dont just Deus Ex Machina too hard that players feel useless

I had several DMs hat had a formula for games and we knew the villains had no stats - we just had to be desperate and broken then we would win and every climax was the same. We also rarely got anything players sought in play. You can overdo this stuff or repeat it which ruins it. Quantum ogre villains are not much better than fudging.

Morale used to help with this because monsters showed more delf interest than fight to the death. What if every monster hurt took 2 or 3 soldiers off the battlefield to help them like real armies do. If your gonna fudge Morale is easier and better than combat rolls. Or Say a bos dies make a roll half die make a roll. It means lots of monsters will fall back rather than act like fanatics. Fanatics should be more scary, and berserks should be frightening. 

D&D battles seem to have higher fatalities than war for the bad guys at least. People shouldn't fight to the death and when they do it should be a shock.

Its best players mostly attack first and make informed choices about attacking most of the time. Then it makes occasional mistakes and deceptions or ambushes against them stand out. It is ok to withdraw and ok to teach players this.

This is some stuff you can do in a battle to de-escalate

I like to reroll initiative when some chaotic event occurs changing the battlefield otherwise i keep it the same but something like a fire or wall collapse can give the party the chance to do better in initiative rather than just cheat 

d12 Oops I overdid this encounter 
1 Enemy has somewhere else more urgent than dying here so withdraw if not over already

2 Enemy demands adventurers surrender or talk terms like collect wounded

3 Third party or monster arrives and the original foe wants out of here fast or stops the attack. The third-party might be hostile to both or neutral or might be appealed to or bribed

4 One of the boss's personal guards turns on them and backstab the leader

5 An enemy goes berserk or turns into a lycanthrope or is really a shapeshifter and turns on their own kind closest to them. Perhaps enemy dead arise as zombies

6 Enemy hears an alarm or scream or a runner comes to fetch them urgently Perhaps a magical message reaches the leader 

7 Fire, flood, weather, swarms of vermin divide the field

8 Quake, sinkhole, cave-in or ceiling or floor collapses leaving holes and rubble and breaking up the field

9 Enemies fighting amongst themselves, kill the right leader and they withdraw

10 An enemy staggers and bursts open with dungeon parasites horrifying everyone, the enemy are demoralised and panic not even sure of each other, some busy killing parasites, utter chaos

11 Some invisible being kills some of the enemy freaking them out

12 Spirit of local area angered by enemies and offers some blessings, healing or carries away wounded to safety
  

d12 Oops I undercooked this encounter 
1 Reinforcements trickle in to replace fallen

2 Some creatures have poison weapons or missiles

3 Is it a Trap? monsters retreat luring the enemy into a hazard or for a new group to flank the adventurers 

4 A second group of enemies or friendly monster joins their allies

5 Some enemy goes berserk and are fearless killer maniacs

6 Some old enemies of heroes have sent assassins or a magician to aid party new enemy - both sides agree to divide adventurers after the battle

7 Enemy has a grenade or fireball charm or other damaging limited number of uses weapon

8 Some of the enemies are not what they seem -  lycanthrope or other shapeshifters takes the lead against adventurers  

9 Several have spells or magic items with one use like healing, summoning, a spell effect

10 An enemy has a spirit trapped in a bottle they throw to release possibly a poltergeist or something far worse the server who released it from the bottle. They aid the enemy vs adventurers

11 Several of the enemy are spell casters blending in to not be targeted, they stop holding back and use spells 

12 Turns out the boss of the group is some kind of hero with own back story, extra levels and a magic weapon

Chagrinspire d12 Alchemy Experts & My setting Map Update

The Alchemist Guild in Quicksilver Heights needs some more alchemists here for various reasons. Party finally found this location and I need to write out my alchemy skills asap now -basically a list of 21 recipes per alchemy skill for examples

Guild rates 10% of everything
-free money changer and low rate loans
-cheaper goods in store
-pass an exam and initiation test
-weekly feasts and all-night drinking
-accommodation in guild barracks
-right to run a pushcart in the market
-cheaper guild consultation

d12 Guild Gossip
1 Prices of alchemical materials in the wasteland are amazingly low

2 We can uncover the ancient secrets and not make their mistakes  

3 Sad how everyone mixes us up with those wicked old alchemist guilds

4 With the materials from here the alchemist guilds in all the cities will grow in power 

5 The muskets we have found are amazing if only we could make these cartridges

6 These addictive new healing potions will make us the richest international guild

7 Weird objects fallen from the stars found here are worth a fortune

8 Food of the ancients is still edible in the ruins, entropy itself has died here

9 With decent food and grog and some more slaves, this place will be bearable

10 The secrets we find here will bring us a new age of alchemical supremacy

11 We will need to eliminate some of these local factions for the sake of the big picture

12 Fascinating documents of everyday life help us learn about theancients

d12  Alchemy Experts
1 Malekar of Tulan is here to study the strange weather and auroras. Has also become interested in the basis of the ancient magic mechanisms. Happy to pay for examples of machines and will pay in potions. Hopes to make their own gargantuan golem mech to crush enemies back home

2 Tamalan from Valadran a noble alchemist from a rich family was replaced by a serpant changeling wizard using magic items and spells. He has made deals with the elves to allow cults and evil guilds like slavers, smugglers, and assassins guilds to pass through Auldwood by a secret road

3 Geldersprekt of Mordnar is here for cash and profit but also hopes for some secret like cheap synthetic philosopher stone. Willing to use assassins and hire adventurers to deal with pesky troublemakers while pretending to be everyone's friends. Likes to dose enemies with multi-stage poisons so a final dose can cause severe damage rapidly when the final dose is administered in person. USes slow delay poison to blackmail people too

4 Lady Gildmane of Lamnutainia - rumoured to be related to the immortal mad emperor and has vast wealth and estates back home. She is interested in contacting the Black Sphere and learning their secrets directly. Will pay for leads and information on the Black Sphere activity. She will use proxies like adventurers rather than risk herself being killed or captured

5 Milaxus of Dormund a religious scholar interested in making the life of commoners better through alchemy. Specialist in medicine and healing arts and astrology. Kindly and has side interests in any exciting expeditions to find knowledge. A bit overconfident about his ability to survive but always looking for guards for his ruin expeditions.Will pay for interesting books and records

6 Mayella of Kastria is a noble beauty who always looks wonderful and uses her alchemy for perfume and makeup and longevity potions. She will highly reward information on this topic. She likes to dance and wear the most expensive gowns in the outpost she makes with magic. Her fields are music, song lore and folklore. She likes gifts of posh food and drink or lore in her field. She is worried if any new beautiful women arrive

7 Emerton of Aeostra a noble outcast for treason to the guild is hiding from his homeland. Familiar with complex politics of home and suspicious of everyone. Is an expert in heraldry, kingdom lore and flags. Actually wants friends as assassins are coming so he drinks and plays cards all day in readiness 

8 Alphonse of Zorda a magician from the island of wizards and dragon templars who survived the great cataclysm at the end of the age of Exilon. Alphonse is a shrewd planner who remains isolated and keeps secrets. He prefers to stir the pot with a few words and sit back while others fight. Is an expert of ancient history and famous magic items

9 Kyla of Shadelport an alchemist of the pirate city of Shadelport over the sea. She is interested in war and improved guns and steel-hulled warships. Likes to blow stuff up and shoot cannons from the watch tower. Here for the Ummortal Black Baron of Shadelport the Pirate King and her field of expertise is gunnery and gunpowder

10 Kwanlan is a mysterious alchemist from the vast Lotus Empire of the mysterious west. Here due to the international narcotics trade links and the insistence of the sinister underground emperor. She slowly getting local guild members to look at various drugs and hopes to set up a network under a lotus guild organisation. She needs to work with the other guilders to build this up without revealing the real plans of the Emperor on the continent

11 Galarad Globtart is a gnome alchemist from the Underland here to observe what the Black Sphere are up to. This gnome reports to his secret order dedicated to destroying hierarchical anti life forces including religion and monarchies. They have not been very successful but they keep an eye on the surface world happenings. He runs trade with the Underland gnome city below selling gnome bread and fungus beer with mild soporific effects, which is partly why grey gnomes are miserable. Galarad collects gossip and stories from adventurers and will pay for them and offer his tips for dealing with Black Sphere forces. His room is magically screened from surveillance  

12 Mekala Jebora from the warning east is here mostly to recruit mercenaries for the wars back home and trade with alchemists. She is interested in new magical technology that could revolutionise war and make one nation supreme for money. She well funded and is wary of gnomes and demi humans. She will collect outlandish stories she writes up and has printed in her home nation for money  



Updated My Campaign Map and timeline project to include chagrinspire
Partly because this post is to show international alchemy guilds working to plunder chagrinspire and all claim to not be affiliated with the Black Sphere Alchemists


Chagrinspire could exist on planet Psychon also
Xor hints are on Psychon and the above map
My EXOCOM Australian special forces sent into the dungeon game had appeared on tungeon tables onExile Island quite early and it started my idea of a dozen dungeon zones.

I like the border on this map better with stars for war zones and crowns for cities
I have tables to hike from Chagrinspire to Shadelport

The mysterious west consists of waring kingdoms and barbarians in the shadow of the Immortal Lotus Emperor who lives in an underground city. To the south is tropical jungle and ruin filled land Yoon Suin Might fit ok.

The Frozen North has a icy coast for ice barbarians, viking kingdoms and even some great wooden cities and bulwarks. There is also a great ruined city of the outsider gods most shun but madmen come to plunder.

The Brazen South has remnant ruins of the ancient empires, vast deserts of nomads and kingdoms that survived unchanged for 4000 years. Beyond them in the southern burning desert is the great burning city of the Efreetil and boiling oceans.

The Waring East include Waeric Islands an empire of the first age with faeries and wizards and knights, Beyond them is kingdoms invaded by Second Empire colonists who found remnants of the monster empire and reptilian and bat people and worse humanoid hordes. The many colonies since then wage constant wars with each other and have advanced the art of war. Guns are more common here than anywhere else currently. They all see the central homeland continent as backwards in matters of religion and war. Frustrated by vicious invaders the origional peoples adopted strange forgotten cults to subvert civilisation.

Scarford reef was stuff I did for Tenkars Landing which is possibly in a PDF out there somewhere but basically this is where that hex fits and it has three layers deep of caves and civilisations. People fleeing the continent try and come through these caves and dungeons to get to Exile Island.

Anglerlund is the Ilsand setting in my zine surrounded by the Anglerfish god Lampgulp. Its a pretty horrible island of cultists, weird villages and fish folk.

Exile Island is most of the first six years of this blog and very detailed.

Mordnar including Sour Hill and the Threefold lands and the Noble lands are very detailed to the hex.

Quick Rivals & Faction List

As Chagrinspire gets more civilised greedy visitors you get new camps, outpost occupants or settlements. My party hit 4th Lv (using a slow advance system) so rival gangs of adventurers might have rival outposts or you might need to trade with them. 

My party fought the cult of the Hungering Worm and the Cult of Orcus. They have beef with slavers but not met them yet. They had a fight with kobolds and then made terms. I think its time to set up more camps and strongholds and possible personal rivals to egg them onto the Gatehouse. I will be generating some no-mans land and dugouts for crossing the wasteland. 

d20 Quick Factions
1 Flatspur Guild - a band of rival scavengers using Flatspur as a base. They also have secret camps in the wasteland ruins for their weirder members. Some of these bandage-covered scrappers hide mutations. They dislike newcomers getting attention from their guild. Some follow the thief god some have taken up the religion of Flatspur farming folk from the west who worship the light. Competitive but not into starting fights outside a pub. Not into conquest or idealism mostly survival
 
2 Shankheim Guild - a thieves guild took over an adventurer's camp and set up this guild. They have yet to generate enough food to survive and keep up with growth. Gangs from here are aggressive and abusive and claim land wherever it suits them to justify violence. Might be tempted to rob anyone with less numbers. Also can be bribed and negotiated with if they feel they have an advantage in any contract. Even though they fued with Flatspur they prefer them to the other weirdoes out here. A party from Shankheim wants to establish own base in another hex and gather scavenger clans to it. Taking over a small community of locals would work too and they often ally themselves with slavers.

3 Alchemists Guild - an international expedition funded by Alchemists guilds of coastal cities. They want alchemy supplies of the wastes, ancient formulas and secret lore. They distance themselves from evil alchemists of the Apocalypse war but do deal with slavers and questionable magic. The outpost Quicksilver Heights is the main base and new expeditions from the kingdoms cand form anytime to compete with adventurers. Their interactions with the party in public will influence what they do in the wilderness. Adventurers from here will be rivals but will aid those they can and charge them for it

4 Mercenaries Guild - an international mercenary company is looking to expand operations into the area offering soldiers for hire. The most advanced and brutal professional killers on the continent are only rivalled by other companies. May ask fighting types to join them offering work, medicine, training, gladiator fights, accommodation and crafters. Want a base like an outpost or fort, competitive but friendly unless paid to fight and will repay debts if aided. d4 1=Black Dragon Company (Seige Specialists) 2=Wolf Brotherhood (marines) 3=Iron Gauntlet Company (Heavy infantry and cavalry) 4=Velvet Panthers (land knights with guns)

5 Slavers Guild - uses the wasteland here for secret intercontinental slave trade. Slaves are relocated vast distances for sale for exotic appeal and it becomes harder to dream of freedom. They are a harsh and mean organisation that have bands transporting slaves in the wasteland in chains. Some will have horses or camels or have two archers on one camel. Truly nomads they have several secret outposts, some islands and even ship people to other lands over the sea. The slaver's leaders are high-level adventurers and they will send minions or hire evil adventurers to hunt the party. They can call in help from the assassins guild. These are

 easiest to show as bad guys really even without meeting them.

6 Mutant Gangs - live like scavengers but the more obvious mutants live in the worst places on land other people don't want. Some live in nomans land and are hostile to strangers. A bold party of mutants might get competitive for looting opportunities and claim to own various sites. They tease soft scavengers in the new villages. Mutants can be good or evil but often desperate enough to be flexible. The chaotic mutant warbands who worship demons are more dangerous and vindictive and will assemble their own weird heroes to hunt adventurers 

7 Barbarian Bands - here to kill spell users and destroy books. Wage war on the Black Sphere and they include any literate and civilised peoples. They save the most brutal torments for wizards who they blame on the last two apocalypses and all the various dark lords who ever took the title. Some mellow out and assimilate with civilised people or scavengers. Most just die and are replaced from the greater wastelands. They crave to compete with famous warriors for glory

8 Orcs Bands - Orcs come in several subtypes. An orc war band leader will have various sub-bosses, bodyguards and pets they might send after adventurers.  d4 1=Barbarians from the wastes much like humans but bigger edge lords with more spikes and severed heads of wizards on their giant wolf mounts 2=Troops of the Black Sphere deserters made by magic in vats now violently rebelling against wizards and have muskets and uniforms 3=Hell orcs here to fight from hell against the Black Sphere with devils heroes and ok with magicians 4=New Dark Lord orcs made by magic, all male and force matured to be violent maniacs with a strict hierarchy. Often led by an orc champion, a wizard or a priest. May march with undead made from the fallen and enemies

9 Bandits - criminals driven from the coast and into the wasteland find the borders of Chagrinspire a good place for robbery and no crown armies to stop them. All are fleeing rewards, bounty hunters and wanted posters. More likely to want to rob adventurers than show off.  d4 1=awful nasty bandits including a few cannibals and famous maniacs 2=former rebels against a crown led by noble freedom fighters prefer to rob wicked or rich 3=desperate refugees or army deserters turned to crime for food and desperation enough to accept better jobs 4=Robber Knight a failed knight or bastard with a band of scoundrels made into a fighting force who live in a cave or ruined fort and have pretensions of nobility 

10 Murder Hobos - deranged old adventurers, mad with grog and untreated trauma. Boss anyone around and anyone with treasure in a lawless land might be worth robbing or demanding a toll fee to be left alone. Will establish a camp that in weeks will be full of tents, a sly grogshop, ditches of filty water, drunks, vermin and disease. Will abuse and bully modern adventurers especially idealistic ones for their stuff or try to recruit adventurers as "followers" (meatshields caugh caugh). If wiped out some might turn up later as drunks in other settlements. Some are especially insane and driven mad by evil even tainted by lycanthropes or undead. Maybe you meet them and they get worse over time

11 Druid Cult - here to cure the land and restore life. Some are here for blood or to inflict death on the Black Sphere. Aid plants and animals and common folk trying to live in the wastes. May seem sinister in their robes chanting around monoliths in storm.  A druidic party will also include warriors and usually some bards too. They will look for an underground preferably natural cave to work on starting some forest. May build a settlement of a hill fort with trees. They dislike automatons and war machines of the ancient and oppose the adoption of ancient technology like guns 

12 Cults - many demonic cults are here for loot and power but are also keen to attack the Black Sphere who want to stop the fun of demons forever. Some cults are secretive and hide within villages and operate a secret temple. Others are brazen and explicit in their servitude to dark powers and live in robes with cult banners, masks and evil pets. Its easy for them to conflict with adventurers and they will send a cult hero with assassins and fanatics against adventurers who cross them

13 Church - various orders and groups from the church come to proselytise and watch the wastemalnd for evidence the Black Sphere is awakening. They claim to be good and are often more lawful and various factions are competitive. These can come from a few sources and could be allies or friends or competitors or might even need help. Many seek to set up a camp or shrine and might just compete for trade or land d4 1=Crusaders of Lamnutainia sent by the Mad Immortal Emperor 2=Bright Templars from the South agents of the Church lands of Dormund 3=Child crusaders hungry and disappointed by the visions that brought them here from all over the continent, they already hate slavers 4=monks from a secretive order searching for lost knowledge 5=heretical peasant flagellant sect 6=farming refugees escaping despotism with a hermit or friar priest 

14 Demihumans - various demihumans come here for secret projects or spy missions to see the state of Chagrinspire and its minions. These could all be allies or friendly rivals and possible enemies. Some misunderstandings might cause offence, some are of the more evil kind. Some might be outcastes or refugees. May have a secret outpost and is often led by a hero with personal guards, magicians and pets. d4 1=Dwarves from the great mountains or Underland  2=elves from Auldwood or some of the rarer weirder kinds 3=haflings here to loot and scrounge treasure and act like a guild 4=gnomes some helping the elves and druids others from underland might be confused with the Black Sphere gnomes but they have other weird tyrannies in the deep that know nothing about the surface world

15 Abhumans - Many types of beast folk have a steak in Chagrinspire some are here to fight it with the barbarians others were made as soldiers long ago by the ancients for the war. They prise individual heroism and valour and many seek worthy enemies or rivals. d12 1=reptilian lizard folk from hidden kingdoms to the north scouting for their nations 2=snake folk wizards and necromancers trying to revive ancient dead to resurrect their fallen species and to enslave others 3=rat folk made as sappers thrive in the wastes 4=mole folk mad as sappers live under the waste on worms and salvage 4=dog folk soldiers 5=bat folk who dwell in darkness and serve a vampire goddess 6=ape folk soldiers 7=lamprey or leech folk want blood 8=frog folk commandos 9=wolf folk soldiers 10=cat folk commissars with guns and whips 11=fish folk marines 12=raven folk monks up to something  

16 Goblinoids - Goblins are common all over the wastes. From the west many coming from the vast faerie forest realm of Auldwood (plant herders). Others from the Underland (mushroom herders). They are notorious for their domestic animals and crops. Goblins change and adapt and interbreed with beastlings and so come in a variety of goblin tribes. Some are peaceful or nuetral. Some are thralls to other powers like demons or faeries. There are many goblin hero leaders with various guard and magicians and pets that may be rival or enemy parties.

17 Kobolds - Kobolds were brought in by the black spare as builders with bricks, miners and crafters. They became servants working on train lines, carrying baggage and delivering parcels and were taken for granted. Now is the age of the Kobold and they are the inheritors of Chagrinspire - "it belongs to us!" the chant by night. There are many kobold tribes but since the seven sons and daughters of their god have been incarnated among the kobolds they are increasingly getting bold. One of these chosen might become a rival or enemy and will lead a band of exotic kobold wattiors from many tribes. They have allied communities everywhere but famously the gatehouse of Chagrinspire

18  Dragon Templars - Long ago dragons gathered human subjects and build might cities and even aided humans in the war against Necromancers (who keep trying to make undead dragons). Dragon riders may be seen in the sky and might even drop some templars or draconian troops for some purpose. Will protect and help dragons and even speak crude version of draconic humans can speak that dragons find funny and annoying. Dragon Templars may set up a base somewhere high and well protected for dragons to land and bring supplies. They are secretive and not interested in rivalries just in finding dragon relics and finding draconic beings. Modern dragons are more hidden and many of their remaining kingdoms are to the north and south and east and west. There are many loner dragons on the continent but few would be interested in the treasures of Chagrinspire but they did help burn Black Sphere towns to ash long ago. The templars, warriors and wizards get their orders from these overseas dragon nations who have own rivalries

19 Necromancers - here for all the dead bodies, arcane secrets plus they dislike the Black Sphere. Willing to use undead troops with other factions who will tolerate them against common enemies. Wary of good priests objections to undead they end up mixing with priests of night and death and templars of the void. Many parties led by necromancers explore the wastes and highly likley to not get along with adventurers but might work vs common enemies if you can tolerate the smell of corpses and vermin

20 Black Sphere. A specific squad or unit comes to hate the adventurers and will continue to monitor them and cause trouble if adventurers do anything interesting d4 1=gnome sapper assassins in a mole machine 2=automaton soldiers 3=clone human or orc soldiers 4=Deathguard flesh golem assassin. Will operate from rail lines and secret bunkers. Once a target and have a Black Sphere secret police agent surveiling them, agents will trick other factions into conflict rather than resort to force