The Fabulous World of DragonDance (TM)

The fabulous world of DragonDance(TM) will be a fabulous setting where your heroic player-characters seek dragons to dance with and win DragonDance battles. Young dragon dancers wander the perfectly safe and barley threatening world of magical adventure and dragon romance. While they wander dragon dancers meet new friends, try tasty new regional snacks and gain new adorable familiar spirit minions. The greatest thrill for every DragonDancer(TM) is to compete at temple regional Dragon Dances held once a century. As the contests are once a century at any one place, so the DragonDancers must travel to new Dragondance temples across the world.

Once a DragonDancer arrives at a Temple they must perform a solo audition to get final selection then if they pass to final selection will be shown a map of local dragons to seduce into the Forbidden Dance with dragons. Each temple has their own preferred dance style and own rules and score system with judges. Each area has different dragons who may or may not like dancing or might think you just want their treasure. Often friends who failed the audition help their audition winning pals seduce a dragon willing to dance. Once a dragon is enthused in the idea of dance it will test the DragonDancer in various ways to see if they are worth becoming one through dance. Finally, after the dragon's test you are ready for the great contest where you become one with your dragon dance partner and compete for fabulous trophies, ribbons and snack food sponsorship deals. For some unlucky dancers who foolishly chose bad dragons, they might get eaten or worse.

Sometimes a special choreographer can be recruited to improve their chances but this requires another journey and meeting another cantankerous supernatural choreographer. Choreographers are ancient immortals who can enhance DragonDancers chances of victory in a contest but are high maintenance and might cause conflict between a DragonDancer and their partner. Some case choreographers are liars or insane or hopelessly out of date or have their own pet dance theory judges don't cares for. During a DragonDance battle, a choreographer improves your chance on the Dance Battle Matrix chart. During the contest rounds, there is a festival to enjoy, friends to meet, snacks to try. There can also be intrigued as some rival dancers might try to influence judges or sometimes a judge has some agenda other than selecting the most beautiful DragonDance.

Quite a bit of DragonDance is wandering looking for a contest then finding dragons and choreographers and the tasty snacks they can be persuaded with. Sometimes distractions and strange spectacles or obstacles might delay you. Sometimes you might have to choose a faster but slightly risky path like a spooky woods or cross a bridge over lava. Sometimes mean failed DragonDancer gangs will demand you dance battle them or hand over all your tasty food items and familiars. Sometimes you meet disturbed people who want to hurt dragons and you have to help them recover from this terrible malady with love, kindness and the healing power of dance. Yes there are dark dank dungeons but the scary monsters use unconventional dance styles that could send you to hospital. Monsters will steal your treats and dance trophies too so there is very little to gain from them mostly unless you're on a quest to please a dragon or choreographer or a judge.

Players can play both kinds of exiting DragonDancer character types in DD, a wizard-dancer or a witch-dancer. There are hundreds of adorable magical spirit familiars you can gather on your journeys that give you magic spells like sheet ghosts, unicorns, mini dragons, talking animals, sprites, goblins, basilisks, manticores, Griffins and many more. To tame your familiar a wizard-dancer treat their familiars with tasty treats or offers to help them in return. A witch has strong allegiances to certain types of spirit and dragon and uses their kinship to persuade familiars to join with them. Naughty magicians might trick, bully, blackmail and otherwise be mean to their familiars and you can help them by defeating their masters and freeing them. Some might join with you in gratitude. Having a dance battle with a wild familiar can result in friendship but failure might send you to the hospital from the complicated otherworldly dance moves.

Sometimes your battles don't go so well and you might end up in hospital which takes time and accrues massive bills. If you cannot be rescued and taken to the hospital or your dragon eats you, the hospital will just clone you which of course is very expensive and sometimes creates legal problems if there are two of you. Some lucrative snack food sponsors include medical benefits and a supply of snacks and branded outfits and uniforms. 

Possibly might cross over with my Magical Octopus Princess Adventure game but the humans in that are possibly too mean but could be a crossover.

Tribal record form for Stoneage Sorcery

So made these in anticipation of my game tomorrow cos I'm on lock in and was busy on a patraeon book and my sleeping a mess and I thought it was Sunday already and cleaned my house for nothing. Phew!

A couple of POD LuLu items of note. ASE modules were gold I know them well and played for a year as planet Psychon. Planet Eris is a campaign setting familiar to some bloggers set out like a 70s Blackmoor feel but it is far future planet fantasy. It is nice and simple and a good example of a setting in an a5 booklet. Has elaborate keys and sailing rules and not maps to with them but it was an intersting booklet. I got Dysons Delves 2 in paperback and regretted not having hardback which is easier to use at the table - hardback sits open better and will survive. Has lots of caves and interesting take on the old-school vibe. I am way stingier than Dyson with treasure so I made mechanics players can get stuff they need because I'm too mean. 

Anyway, my cave party is now big enough for factions. Especially as they have rescued people from two unpopular tribes. I could also use this for rival tribes if needed. Running my Sunderhill module at moment and on the cusp of discovering the underland is pretty much like the forbidden age of darkness that broke the world and left it in ruins... Literally, the evils of that age only survived underground and even had gods drop mountains on them.

Current thoughts on this campaign direction: Stuff to do?
Have found Mythos stuff and ancient black magic ruins before
Know of evil wizard spiders and a vampire in mountains
Prehuman spirits are influencing Mammoth tribe....(actually a Cthulhu scenario)
Valley of the Red Ape from Dyson Delves 2 fits in well
Could spend a season in underland which is same in all my setting eras
New giant player could have them plundering invisible giant sky castles
A spacecraft might be a good thing to find and in a few cave genre things
Maybe just drop in Misty Island of the Eld
Could go full Yor and whole zone could be on planet Psychon....
Or time jump to the Bronze Age
Or visit other planes to kill monsters 
-hells in this era busy punishing wicked of last age to bother with mortal world

Will be some tension with other tribes
-tribe lack laws and traditions are all a bunch of mongrels without ties to land
-rivals with greatest tundra warriors - might need some big spring gathering
-snake and spider tribes want revenge over "kidnapping" their youths 
-new centaur tribe a complete menace to every tribe (i got minis)

d100 Rumours About Orks

"Have you heard what the village is saying about orcs nowadays? Heresy I say. Orcs have souls? Preposterous. Next, you will tell me about orc paladins and don't they dont all deserve to be strangled at birth"

In my game there are a bunch of wizard spells to make orcs. Oldest turns tortured elf into lots of orcs, then they did one with dead elves to orcs then all those wizards died and they made murdered humans into orcs. Nowadays wizards use pits of alchemical mud to make orcs in batches. Orc slave-coaches teach fresh born fully adult male orcs how to be cruel sadists for a month in their spawn pit before sending them to military school.

Nowadays most orcs are sick of wizards and evil overlords and breed like everybody else and have diverse cultures and individualism

Then there is spell where wizard surgically fuses a human and animal into a beast abhuman in 12 hours without anesthetic. Abhumans not so keen on wizards either. Wizards are jerks.

Thanks to those who came and chatted on my FB page

d100 Rumours About Orks
01 Orcs are all male, they don't breed naturally and are made by evil wizards
02 The first orcs were made from elves and orcs say a few elder orcs still live
03 In earliest times wizards made orcs from the recent dead as taught by an evil god
04 Nowadays evil wizards just use alchemical mud pits to make adult male orcs 
05 The wizards who make orcs are careful to instruct them in brutality and cruelty
06 In distant past orc heroes quested for their own women from the goddess
07 Most of orc barbarians hate wizards and any dark lords on idiot crusades
08 Some say orc women are far away making babies and food but what about orc amazons?
09 Some cleric set up a hospice to help orcs widows and now they operate a textile workshop and make best gambesons
10 People say there are half-orcs but usually just a name people who fight with orcs on the same evil crusades and adopt orcish fahions. Barbarians really hate being called half orcs
11 Humans and orcs are the two most recent mortal races and who would win has been uncertain. Both were slaves of evil wizards until the age of darkness ended
12 They say elves hunted and killed those who knew spell to make tortured elves into orcs but some say elves invented the spell to use their own dead against their enemies when it was clear elves would never recover their losses
13 Once you kill off the wizards and evil priests directing the orcs (most always human) they tend to go feral and set up wilderness tribal kingdoms like barbarians
14 Orc and human barbarians fight all the time but have some begrudging mutual respect. Occasionally they unite to destroy some wizard warlord who tries to build a wilderness stronghold
15 Many of those who once used orcs as slaves and magical cannon fodder have abandoned the practice as orcs tend to rebel and fight each other and turn on their masters
16 Many orcs serve hell claiming they get better deals with devils than serving humans or gods
17 Most orcs people see in human lands are mercenaries but some cities have a humanoid district where orcs live and produce cheap efficient tools and weapons. Many humans are wary of cheap competition but the guilds allow it as it meets a part of the market and used to upsell other goods
18 A magistrate hired some orc bailiffs due to local corruption and the well paid orc pair worked to the letter of the law and helped clean up the village but then they returned home
19 Lots of humans don't want to think of orcs as people because they just want to kill and enslave them without guilt
20 Orcs live short and brutish lives they say but not all orcs live lives or war and will live much longer if fed well and dont work the worst jobs
21 Orc gods were beings of darkness and wrath who became more orc-like over time 
22 Orcs and goblinoids have some common physical features but are not direct kin. Orcs will often dominate goblins and consider hobgoblins dangerous rivals and fear bugbears. They have united against humans and elves before but might squabble
23 One thing you can say about orcs is most tend to kill off mutants among them early which more humans should adopt
24 Orcs of different tribes squabble sometimes near battlefields but with their own tribe they demonstrate great teamwork and ingenuity and loyalty
25 Say what you want about orcs but they sure don't shun doing things in new ways and keep up with tools of war like siege weapons and gunpowder. Humans underestimate orc imaginations tend to die
26 When you make a newborn orc the wizards starve them and torment them in pits for a month, educated by turncoat orc slave drivers before they are equipped and trained for battle. You should see what orcs do when they figure out this cruelty
27 Orcs actually feel pain but they stoically put up with it and embrace scars and suffering. Occasionally work themselves to death or ignore injuries to a fault
28 Orc medicine is effective but stings, burns and promotes scarring so plenty of humans are reluctant to use it. Orc first aid is quite good and not just burnt logs or leeches for everything like people say
29 Orcs are not the best at caring for animals but their own breeds of dogs, horses, goats and cattle look hideous to humans but are tough and hardy and more nocturnal. It is nearly always untrue their beast have diabolic features, mostly just leaders pets
30 To orcs admitting weakness or injury is an invitation to be killed or left out 
31 Wolves and orcs get along well even equally and some ride dire wolves with evil intelligence bigger than horses. Many orcs have ordinary wolves as companions
32 Orc shamans change tribe members from male to female or vice versa depending on war or peacetime and that's why you don't see orc women much in wartime. The orcs don't seem to care or think it matters or its our business
33 Orcs nowadays seem to be not just the baby eating brutes of grandpas day. I saw orc clerics in the city. Was a popular orc bard in town a while (who went home as humans too soft). Turns out they are pretty law-abiding and don't want trouble  
34 Having some orc workers is ok, they are stronger and cheaper but don't let them own land and keep them poor for the worst jobs or there will be trouble
35 Dwarves are always crying about humans and orcs stealing their technology and changing it. Dwarves fought a war of extermination on orcs over iron and during it as Dwarves deployed better weapons the orcs copied and even improved designs but cheaper and faster. The dwarves saw they were numerically losing and the orcs numbers just bounced back again and again. Orcs are pretty unimpressed by this and have not forgotten, taking relish in destroying dwarf strongholds intended to last forever
36 Orcs often fraternise with goblinoids, abhumans and beast folk rather than humans or demihumans. They get tired of humans and demihumans looking at them in fear and disgust 
37 Orcs like piercings, tattoos, branding and scarification. Many paint themselves. Prettiness is considered vain, weak, wasteful and useless. Their markings carry complex meanings humans mostly miss unless fluent in the language
38 While bright elves sneer at orcs, dark elves treat them better than most humans do. Orcs often work for them as servants and mercenaries so you see some dark elf trinkets and runes on them sometimes. Dark elves apparently aided orcs and helped them revolt in the past
39 Yea orcs don't like paladins. Too many massacres of orc civilians. Paladins say there are no orc civilians and were even caught burning bodies and encouraging the lie about there are no or orc women or children
40 The orcs that grow up from babies raised in families seem more complete and more complex. I heard of orcs with own druids working to heal their race
41 Some barbarian orcs liberate their own kind enslaved by wizards to recruit ready-made warriors who don't ask questions and quick to prefer orc to human masters
42 Ground orc tusk is an aphrodisiac but orcs go crazy if you mention it and won't just let you grate any off even for a few coins
43 Lots of orcs work in abattoirs as increasingly humans won't do it. Orcs really have a knack for butchery and tanning and have a good nose for spoiled food 
44 I thought orcs only ate rotten meat and bones and leather but I went to a wedding feast, and they had olives, nuts, dried berries, cheese, dried meat, worms, snakes, frogs, eels, larvae, pickled cabbage, eggs, mushrooms, acorn bread and fish 
45 Poorest orcs will eat anything without complaint but those with money seem to like variety and even get fussy complaining about who even touched food in the kitchen. I guess they smell food more than a human does
46 I thought from the war, orcs never bathed but actually, some have enlightened views on baths and sewerage and waste using it as fodder for certain monsters. SOme prefer dust baths to remove fleas
47 You heard stories orcs only steal food and don't have farms but a wizard told me orcs often farm monsters in their underground labyrinths which they trade with each other. Their monsters are well cared for and named so orcs get upset when humans kill their beloved beasts. On the frontier, they release their extra beasts to keep slow human civilisation
48 I knew a scared war veteran who lived with the orcs a few years and he never felt judged for his appearance and war wounds, in fact they were impressed and considered him one of them 
49 Orcs at home like to stage heroic operas about their heroes escaping servitude and betraying their dark lord. They even have contests but not many humans brave enough to try the events that last for days
50 Its perfectly legal to use orc corpses for animal food, leather or golems. But the orcs do get upset. For some reason, people find orc flesh golems less horrible than human ones
51 Orc jerky is delicious just check who they made it out of first 
52 A famous orc Longarm used to protect the forest from chaos mutants and cultist
53 An orc gladiator started a revolt and all the orc gladiators involved had to be put down. Was a shame as I had lots of bets placed
54 I noticed lots of those barbarian orcs really hate whips and slave manacles. They give really dirty looks at them. Though I did see an orc strangle a slaver with a chain and she seemed happy
55 There was a famous archer who married several orcmaids and even became one and everything in a magical orc kingdom in the deep. Eventually, he went into the deep to claim his own kingdom
56 In the wild places of the world where humans can barley survive, you can find tribal orcs
57 Cyclops orcs are pretty strange. Famed as smiths they act like they are smarter than everyone and claim to have made tools for the gods long ago. They seem pretty civilised and even make stuff which looks prettier for non-orc customers
58 One famous orc tribe road huge wild boar, some from the deep ride lizards, others ride huge dire wolves and orc heroes rode wyvern
59 In the war I saw orcs elect a new leader with a dance contest. They said wasting good orcs with violence was helping the enemy
60 Orc tooth tipped arrows can kill and elf if made by shaman of the elf-eater cult. Elves have a bounty on this cult
61 Most of the chaotic orcs you see worship demon cults, adopting their sigils. Over time they come to develop traits of their patrons and specific cult mutations. Mostly orcs tend to law and evil 
62 Orcs treat prisoners wounds and carry them for days. Only when hard-pressed did they eat a few to stop a goblin thrall riot. Orc slaves often earn freedom after years of service and get treated better than goblins. They will also random off well off prisoners keeping them for years
63 Orcs often seem confused buy luxury and they often have been seen destroying statues and masterworks. They dread the softness civilisation brings like it has to humans and elves. Metal items can be traded or recycled but works of symbolic waste disgust them. The art in their palaces and temples are mostly to generate fear and suggest leaders or tribal power
64 Orcs are very canny with money and materials using the least material for the most effective. Items being more uncomfortable to use or with sharp edges doesn't bother them.  
65 When you give an orc crafter materials for a job they will always come out with spare scraps for some other project
66 Orcs frown on waste and comfort. They had nothing for so long and they still don't feel they can afford to squander wealth in a world set on destroying them all. Lots of orcs collect string, pebbles and other scraps "just in case"
67 Orcs have been known to serve giants. Some are slaves but many choose giants over humans and their gods who keep the orc and giant down
68 Some orcs came and sacked a monument of a paladin standing on a pyramid of orc heads. Just rubble now 
69 I had to look after work prisoner labour gangs after the war, and they seemed utterly unaware humans were not made by wizards or the differences between men and women. They thought children were a slave race or sprites 
70 I met an orc shaman who explained many orc ancestral spirits are cursed and mutilated in magical and spiritual warfare in the past. The shaman led his followers to try and free these cursed souls and remove the corruptions of chaos and dark lords so the dead can rest
71 A tavern of war veterans was comparing their orc-ear-necklaces and all of them were found dead poisoned or stabbed
72 Lots of orcs kept being bastards after the war because of all those cursed evil relics the dark lord handed out like honey cakes. If you're not allied to evil many of those relics will turn bad or turn you bad. Also, why give up that magic if it kills better 
73 Orcs can survive in the worst places humans cannot and living in hellish places means humans will not encroach. This makes them harsh and unforgiving and often exposes them to evil influences in such forbidden lands. The humans in the same places are similar
74 Orcs perform secret rituals in wild places with whicker structures covered in flours and vegetation which they destroy after so outsiders never see them
75 The idea there is only one kind of orc and they are bad is a popular view. Many orcs think humans are all mass murderers
76 People say orcs and elves hate each other but they know each other quite well and sometimes share enemies. They have made no direct action on each other for centuries
77 Orc sympathisers are in league with chaos, demons, witches, devils, mutants and cthulhu
78 The real trouble will be when nobility realise orcs are cheaper to feed than humans and put up with more suffering, the common humans will be finished
79 I heard a few tales of orc wizards recently which sounds bad. Probably turn us into frogs then eat us. Some are overcoming their suspicion of wizardry  
80 Orc gods are vindictive and vengeful entities orcs worshipped just to spite humans
81 Ogres sometimes live among chaotic orcs sometimes as bullies or elites or as slaves 
82 Deep under the earth, there are orc kingdoms thousands of years old, civilised with great armies unseen on the surface this age and in eternal unseen war
83 If you know the right gestures and signs you can challenge some orc leaders to battle 
84 Orcs can be dealt with by gift of food and weapons to start a parley
85 To an orc taking a cursed thing and making it work for you is seen as great cunning
86 One of the old elf to orc dark rituals of old could make a single elf into many orcs
87 The towns that ban orc labour have more orc bandits
88 Orcs don't discuss their families or children so no enemies will learn of them and harm them. What seems callous or proof of their lack of family is an actually deliberate reaction to humans massacring orc families
89 Lots of humans are raised by orcs and live as orcs. Especially when orcs can't replace children fast enough they will adopt war orphan humans (but not demihumans)
90 Orcs don't really find humans or elves attractive but some take delight in tormenting pretty things for their evil masters and just spite from evil upbringing
91 Some wizards crossed ogres and orcs to breed sterile bodyguards, not as dumb or big as ogres but big orcs
92 Orcs forearms are slightly longer than humans and have a peculiar gait. 
93 A typical orc is a match for a common guard or regular soldier but the professional arc warriors and especially orc barbarians who were bred by evil wizards as let's troops long ago making them stronger and better in light with powerful leaps
94 Chaos orcs appearance varies more depending on their cult but also carry deformities from diseases and parasites common to chaos warbands and being intimate with demons
95 Long ago there was a tribe of dire-wolf-orc centaurs or perhaps people then had not seen anyone ride animals
96 The orcs of the deep have a pantheon of orc gods who claim other accounts of orc origins are enemy lies. These orcs claim blood from ogres and giants making them frightening but also have heavy infantry and pike formations and crossbows
97 Some orcs worship siege weapons as mobile shrines dedicated to an orc ancestor, devil or demon
98 Druidic orcs seem like many other hidden woodland races and wild forest people and they all intermingle in secret and avoid humans
99 Orcs have been seen in legions of hell and in service to demon nobility on their floating realms in the maelstrom
100 Orcs have offered some humans to come and live among them for a year or even come to a feast to help peace. So far nobody is willing to go as everyone knows orcs are just useless cannibalistic sadistic fiends with no culture or individuality

Eat your bone too or Drizzzt will come and murder everyone you know

Next: how all dwarfs are really bearded women

and how only 1% of elves reach puberty ever

War Against The Dark Lord 2: Dark Lords Encounters & Wonders

War Against The Dark Lord 2: Dark Lords Encounters & Wonders

So these are to be used as usual as the war is breaking out. Just used a d10 early on and higher dice for increasingly bad stuff. Encounters are the things you meet travelling or camping as war starts. Wonders are things you might witness and not get involved in. Some are just memorable sights to witness, some are opportunities to learn or fight evil. Lots of confused people don't know what is going on at first so characters could easily help out.

I would probably hit a party with a war from 4th level especially when just returning with lots of loot. During the war travel gets worse and fate nudges you into helping. The dark lord targets those who stand out in his great scrying halls where wizards spy on the world with magic. So as you stand out you get more supernatural surveillance and more encounters as enemy sent after the party.

Next will be loot and gossip. Lots of the gossip is dark lord propaganda. Lots of items are cursed or require evil people to use them.

Why does this random mook support the Dark Lord?

01 You get stability with the dark lord, he is just what we need right now  
02 Well one day one of these dark lords is gonna win and 
03 I have a lucky feeling this time, I can just feel this time he will win
04 All these pretty people will all be brought down low with fire and iron
05 Well its always been the same dark lord and he always comes back 
06 My ancestors made a pact to serve the dark lord and I got the call
07 The dark lord really looks out for the little guy, he understands us
08 All that dark lord stuff, its jus to scare the enemies into eternal subjugation
09 All those rich and pretty people stop the dark lords chosen getting what they deserve
10 The dark lord wants you to be free, to kill who you like when you like 
11 The Dark lord says remorse is for the weak while the strong take what they want
12 All this plotting and corruption is weak and slow, the dark lord simplifies everything

Why does this evil hero support the Dark Lord?

01 Was tainted by evil oaths for corrupt unholy weapons
02 Wanted to try and save family ended up killing them all
03 Was granted power in return for an immortal soul
04 Promised immortality among the dark lords chosen
05 Rivals killed by dark lord agents who occasionally show up
06 Once you get on board with the power you learn to stop caring
07 We must reduce the weak with trials of blood and fire every generation
08 Dark lords taint runs in your bloodline and they dream of the lords dark gaze
09 The dark lord represents how the universe works, the strong eat the weak
10 Nobody can defeat the darklord, sooner you join us the better
11 When did the forces of good do anything lately? Made universe then abandoned us 

12 The dark lord draws on unstoppable powers from the void before the universe

War Against The Dark Lord 2: Encounters

01 Goblin bat riders scouting area possibly skirmish but mostly seek food and info
02 Wolf riders scouting area possibly skirmish but mostly seek food and info
03 Area cloaked in webbing  and giant spiders wait in ambush
04 Pack of savage wild dogs menacing area for food
05 Goblin foot scouts with bows mostly want food and targets for other troops
06 Gang of bandits bear the dark lords mark having joined him
07 Gang of thieves in service of dark one ambushing and killing travellers
08 Swarm of rats - breeding and feeding from dead 5% chance carry plague
09 Swarm of bats 5% of them has rabies
10 Swarm of ravens - will mutter about dark lord and say his name "darklord!"
11 Shifty looking robed man watching area from afar, is really an orc scout
12 Squad of hobgoblins out to massacre commoners to spread terror
13 Evil priest raising some people they murdered as zombies to block the area
14 Robed cultists dedicated to the dark lord in robes, led by a wizard many apprentices
15 Dark robed weasly man convincing people to surrender and prepare for the master 
16 An evil bard is spreading gossip and propaganda supporting the evil one in war
17 Wandering mob of zombie peasants on a killing spree
18 A lycanthrope in human form seeks company on the road
19 Doppelganger spy of the evil master friendly to travellers seeks information
20 An ogre with clever sitting on path preparing a serf stuffed with rats for a meal
21 A shadow coalesces as an evil shadow hungry for the strength of the living
22 A group of ghouls bold enough to hide in shadows and overcast hungry for flesh
23 Wight warrior with an ancient black blade of the evil lords forge seeks something
24 A frightful wight knight on a bone golem horse harrases travellers and messengers
25 A dozen goblin archers with a d4 wolf riders an army scout group seeking intelligence
26 Six wolf riding goblins chasing common travellers with a wagon
27 Swarms of evil bats roam the land spawned by the dark lords blood
28 Hobgoblin squad crucifying some caravan guards who resisted led by cruel officer
29 Orc barbarian mob of dozen warriors and d4 berserkers have run ahead of plan to loot
30 Wild hairy naked gang of abhumans from the woods have been duped to unrest
31 Band of feral goatmen from the dark mountain want to harry the ruination of humankind
32 A lone ogre was ditched by his orc handlers and is lost and hungry 
33 Four orc warg riders scouting for local orc commander, will flee and get help
34 A ferocious insane troll from the deep has come to see the sun fall from the sky
35 A lone wounded orc sees trouble coming and with last gasp blows hor for aid roll again
36 Six giant bats each with a goblin archer harry travellers who can't fight back
37 A young 4th level necromancer and his dozen skeletonised serf with farm tools, seeks corpses can carry back to master to make undead, carry a d6 bodies
38 A dozed dark templars led by a 4th level priest of darkness stirring up terror
39 Four orcs commanding a dozen cowardly ill-equipped goblins
40 Hood wearing cultists with burning torches and swords killing anyone not in a hood
41 Hooded cultists mugging a country priest or friar while a d4 scared commoners watch
42 Galloping frightened horse with unconscious cavalry trooper hanging from the saddle
43 The child cries for help, tells of a dozen orc archers attacking homestead near
44 An invisible imp has a mission to molest travellers and keep eye out for heroes 
45 An invisible dark elf follows travellers intending to murder them by night when helpless
46 A robed hidden hobgoblin will fire a single poison arrow then flee to report to command
47 A goblin bat rider flies by if not stopped a turn later hear goblins coming. A d4 wolf riding goblins archers will track party first and retreat if hurt to join dozen goblin skirmishers who hunt the party
48 Hill giant sitting by road with a dead cow and a d4 probably dead farmers busy eating
49 A band of armoured dwarves 3d4 fled underland tunnels to avoid two squads of orcs chasing them each led by rival commander, dwarves seek travelling companions
50 A young elf is being chased by a squad of orcs, has spent spells already and unarmed. Carries a message warning of orcs siege on hidden elf stronghold to elf king
51 Dead man caries a d3 cursed items left here by a giant bat as a trap
52 Halfling in hiding warns of upcoming encounter up road (roll again)
53 Unburied bodies lay by the road and a d4+1 shadows arise to attack
54 A dozen rambling zombies travel in line to nearest settlement and attack everyone they meet on way
55 Wagon of refugees with belongings and wagon struggling to move cart, two squads of orcs are on the way here in ten minutes
56 Lone ranger on horse chased by dozen goblin wolf riders
57 Squad of orc pikemen burning a house while family trapped inside
58 Cult leader priest with a dozen hooded fanatics a chaos flagellant and six 1st level templar priests have captured a local leaders family and taking them to the dark lord 
59 A dozen chaos berserker mutant flagelant monks with war flails on killing frenzy
60 A dozen orc riding giant lizards gallop down road raiding the area
61 four wight warriors leading a dozen skeletons have awoken at the masters bidding
62 Six wight knights riding bone golem horses hunt adventurers the master wants
63 Pack of wolves d8+8 have chased a local person up a tree 
64 Orc barbarians on horseback, six with mounts here to kill minions of the dark lord who does nothing but fail them and lie, tribe dedicated to killing dark lord and his wizards and cults. Stop to ask directions where enemy orcs might be
65 Gang of youths with clubs eager to meet the invaders sure that being human alone will make them win, friendly to strangers and boast of future heroic deeds
66 Bard rider on horseback (dark lord cultist) telling all to flee coming evil armies
67 A dozen bandits of the area unconvinced the Dark Lord offer more justice or prosperity than current regime is helping refugees and wounded soldiers by holding off some goblin archers
68 A dozen barbarian riders here to kill minions of evil, normally they're kind unwelcome 
69 Elves helping some humans on the road with food and blankets (1in6 are dark elves in disguise and blankets carry plague and food is poison)
70 Distant horns and shaking earth as hundreds of orc heavy infantry and a dozen armoured war ogres. A dozen warg riders scout ahead and skirmish with enemies
71 An old knight leading 3 dozen militia hunting monsters, no idea how bad things are yet
72 Nuns with a wagon have heard needy folk need help. Not really helpless as they all carry maces, wear chain under robes and leader is 4th level priestess
73 Knight with his squire and several extra pack horses travelling and no idea of what's happening
74 A dozen knights led by a paladin and her priestess follower on a horse on a mission against a weapon of the enemy
75 A bandit gang of two dozen have been court off guard and escaping area with all their goods and a d6 harmless followers. Could be convinced to fight and earn a pardon but they plant to hide in a distant cave they have heard of
76 A merchant wagon train of fleeing rich with four dozen men at arms. A d3 merchant families and servants are fleeing to a ship to leave the continent
77 Local lord with seventy-five spearmen and six knights and forty archers on the hunt for evil
78 Amazons on horseback, dozen from beyond the frontier here to kill orcs or goblins, possibly meet some women to take home
79 Goblins mostly archers, two dozen killing a wounded d4 1=treeant 2=giant 3=hippogriff 4=cave bear
80 Wyvern is ridden by d4 1=orc hero 2=evil 5th level wizard 3=evil 4th level priest 5th=evil cultist knight
81 A dozen hill giants drunkenly lumbering about commanded by an orc hero and an orc squad of pikemen
82 A dozen orc heavy troops with composite bows, poison arrows, scimitars in chainmail, led by a hero with cursed evil blade and pet warg
83 A dozen lizardfolk warriors serving the dark lord against humans, these use obsidian war clubs and javelins and blowpipes with poison, led by a hero on riding giant lizard 
84 A dozen trolls marching to an orc drummer with a dozen orc pikemen and an orc hero behind them 
85 Goblin skirmishers are busy setting fire to forest or houses or something unwelcome
86 Dozen orcs riding giant boars from distant land led by a hero and druid companion here to kill those serving the dark lord, mostly avoid locals but enemy orcs fear them
87 Evil wizard with succubus or incubus lover trying to get back to dark lords side with espionage documents, if cant avoid others will pretend to be agents of the kind on a mission and if that work might try and lead the party to a command outpost to kill. Outpost will have at least four dozen words, a d4 wards and a 4th level evil orc priest
88 A wraith roaming the woods spies for the dark lord and reports adventurers location to the dark lord who sends six wyverns ridden by 4th level evil priests 
89 A wraith riding a zombie wyvern attacks non-allied adventurers
90 Chaos warband of thirty mongrel monster maniacs not affiliated with dark lord but up for raiding and looting and fighting. Goatman hero leader has harem of d6 chaos shoggoth lovers
91 Drums indicate hundreds of goblins running through area eating everything, most animals hide or flee
92 A dragon flies overhead and will ignore most travellers unless it is tempted by treasure, then it will breathe from the air than land to mell
93 A hundred orc heavy infantry marching and charting war chants led by an orc hero and evil priest adviser
94 A hundred skeletons marching with necromancer lord 9th Lv wizard, some of them play jaunty marching tunes on bone flutes and human skin drums 
95 A hundred corrupted human cultists 
96 A great demon of shadow and fire, flies overhead unseen for an age, a fallen demon angel serving the dark lord and thought all on earth killed by gods long ago
97 A great gaggle of over a hundred chaos tainted mutants shunned by the good and pretty relish the dark lord coming and have started murdering up to demonstrate their support
98 A spectral army of damned souls sworn to serve the dark lord long ago, now a hundred of these spirit warriors march as if they still lived
99 Army of 100 orc pikemen 100 orc heavy infantry 100 goblin archers 40 orc warg riders, 6 Hill giants, 4 megaceratops with cannon platforms on their backs and 80 goblin baggage handlers carry supplies in read and strip land of anything useful or of value. Each group is led by own hero and force is led by a demon who rides a shadow dragon
100 A colossal vessel of the dark lord has arisen, a terrible burning giant that lays waste to all in path with a hundred cultists following all chanting and sacrificing victims to him

War Against The Dark Lord 2: Wonders

01 The day grows shorter as twilight and sunset become several hours shorter
02 A great distant forest fire rains ash and sparks and smoke over a huge area for days. Chokes the air and reduces visibility and local spot fires startup
03 An eclipse long prophecized strikes panicking many peoples and paralysing both sides for a day
04 A great and terrible storm with gale-force winds sweeps over land destroying crops, damaging buildings and terrifying everyone. No forces move a d4 days
05 A volcano erupts surprising many, mostly darkens sky with smoke and makes sunsets more red and orange, but locals report damage and fire creatures spewing from the crater
06 A quake strikes the kingdom seemingly targeting many fortifications 
07 Heavy rain causes flash floods in lowlands and some people lose everything and even lives. Spreads chaos and hardship till giant beavers arrive to save the day
08 Bats swarm over the whole sky, millions upon millions like dark clouds
09 Coastal tsunami damages ports and fishing villages and many ships are lost
10 A plague breaks out in some cities as they prepare defences for war
11  A priest leading hundreds of singing peasants with flowers who are going to prey the evil one away with their love. The priest is mad as his secretly a doppelganger assistant has been poisoning him with madness drugs and mercury. The doppelganger really wants this scam to work and get promoted by the dark lord
12 An evil priest promises listeners life if they serve the dark lord and offers to take those willing to service and life behind enemy lines. Many desperate people are convinced by the promise of food and freedom. "Don't believe the lies, serving the dark lord is great!"
13 Baggage train of supplies in oxcarts heading to troops and needy is held up. An evil bard is trying to convince the quartermaster to take it all to the dark lord for gold and a title
14 A hundred orc spearmen and 40 goblin archers are leading the whole population of a village and several wagons of goods to the dark lord
15 A force of 100 barbarian horsemen from the frontier and a force of 100 knights have met on the road and the leaders are busy fighting about who should command and follow who and where the enemy is, this will continue for hours 
16 A sprawling force of a few dozen militia and several hundred irregular commoners with slings, bows and farm tools has united under the command of a naive young priest who marches to the enemy
17 Thousands of refugees swarm, abandoning heavy goods and broken wagons, some lost children and injured elderly crying for help
18 A wounded demoralised army retreating without any leadership fleeing and abandoning equipment, hundreds of men mostly wounded. Howls of wolves, drums and trumpets are behind them 
19 A priest driven mad by dark lord agents with drugs has assembled a children's crusade of three hundred city urchins with sticks and stones to fight the dark lord. All are hungry and cold
20 A recruitment station ahead has received two hundreds of recruits of all walks of life. Another hundred camp followers and refugees gather here also. Bard criers inform regularly new war and mobilisation news, people seem optimistic
21 A massive orc and goblin force is attacked by a third force of foreign orcs who set the orcs and goblins of the dark lord fighting while they flee. The force breaks up and scatters 
22 A marching army of undead is attacked by a fighting force of priests who route the undead scattering thousands of skeletons over the land all confused without orders
23 A halfling ventriloquist causes a dozen ettins to fight each other leaving several dead and most hurt. Then he starts taunting them again. 
24 Treants and tree spirit folk pour from the woods and route a goblin army 
25 A marching army of orcs halts. A wizard leader receives a message from the master and the whole force change direction to some distant cause
26 A marching army of orcs are repelled by halfling militia in trees throwing rocks
27 A great mighty wizard appears and routes an army of orcs and goblins
28 A hoarde of wildwood folk all hairy and naked and serving the dark lord are met by druids who convince them to change sides
29 An army of works is routed by mostly spells from elvish force who move in to finish off survivors 
30 A barbarian horde on horseback rout an army of orc infantry unprepared 
31 Forests are being infested with webs of giant spiders, some whole woodlands have been consumed
32 A migrating clan of ogres have set up a camp, more than  anyone in this land have ever seen
33 Thick black thorn bushes have sprung up in many places, blocking roads and forming huge hedge mazes meters wide sometimes, small races like goblins find it easier going than humans to cross
34 Millions of black rats swarm over the country spreading plague, eating stored grain and flowing into cities
35 A dark taint has overtaken local nature, evil squirrels and forest animals are hostile and tree spirits are evil unless someone can purify the heart of the forest in a secret druid cave
36 Hundreds of petrified fleeing human statues caught by a basilisk sent by the evil one. The beast still lurks awaiting orders
37 Squadrons of giant bats with goblin archers are attacked by giant eagles, clouds of ordinary bats and tiny birds fight around them darkening the sky, blood and feathers and bodies rain down
38 An abandoned army encampment with a few men hiding some wounded. The camp has been destroyed by werewolves spreading in the barracks now finally they have shed uniforms and destroyed most witnesses they have fled 
39 A wizard of the dark lord with hundred orc pikemen meets a cyclops leader to negotiate unity. Any interference now might ruin the meeting and possibility of the cyclops tribe joining. A dozen fighting cyclops are ready. It might be possible to get cyclops to help humans but this is harder
40 A colossal giant black undead wolf Carnix walks the land with a two dozen zombie wolves. The beast was released from the underworld by the dark lord and it longs to feast on humans
41 An army of orcs moving siege equipment, one of the weapons is worshipped as a minor god with a priesthood who care for it and it is pulled by a team of six megatheriums. The orc army includes 100 siege engineers 100 pikemen and 100 crossbowmen. The cult weapon is d4 1=Ullzauel the god cannon 2=Luran the violet ray apparatus 3=Gorizol a machine with lense to amplify a basilisk gaze 4=Hellspitter a machine that shoots a 20d6 fireball using gems as ammo 
42 Orc sappers have been digging and using black powder to divert a river that could flood all the lowlands. The massive earthworks are visible for miles. Once close see they are using human slave labour and have built a camp where the river diverging will destroy
43 Wizards have made vast black stone walls blocking roads and waterways causing chaos
44 A great string dust cloud is moving among it thousands of zombies moving in a herd to the dark lord's design. This control is based on a relic that might be damaged
45 A vast lake of mud has been created by wizards to block certain road routes and supply lines of the king's army. King's wizards hope to make a path through it by turning mud back to stone but mostly the land is ruined
46 A dark lord wizard unleashed a wind of death causing every 1HD or less humanoid to save or die as spectral death spirits slay those who fail with scythes and carry souls away. Survivors are horrifies 
47 Water is tainted with chaos in the area, strange plants, animals and mutant locals turn evil until taint is stopped
48 A great tribe of forest orcs unwilling to get involved in this age of strife using their druidic relics to all turn into trees for a few hundred years to the dark lord has gone or someone can find a way to revive them or convince them humans would cooperate against other orcs
49 A great barbarian prince with his burning spear Bloodbrand leads his army to attack an orc camp and personally slays a death knight hero of the dark lord
50 A great gathering of naked orcs standing about aimlessly. In the middle in a great muddy pit wizards make new orcs from the mud. Apprentices try to encourage orcs to try weapons and learn evil language commands. In a few days, they will be ready to fight 
51 A comet passes overnight, next day plague has broken out across the world
52 A shooting star crashes actually a greater demon entering the world released by the dark one 
53 A great burning light of the dark lord is seen blazing over the horizon shooting bolts of power into a great dark hole in the clouds above
54 A great spectral projection of the dark lord appears in the sky a supposed portent of his divinity according to the cult
55 A river turns red with blood, choked with corpses and body parts
56 Sixty orcs are digging up a graveyard and assembling skeletons on tables for a necromancer to make into skeletons. Have about 70 so far make a dozen a day, plan to be here a week
57 A giant cyclops orc hero leading a horde of a hundred irregular wild orcs with his great spear Grimsplinter a poison evil weapon used in the dawn age to kill an elf king. Has a personal guard of ogrillion orc-ogre hybrids
58 Great colossal drake Gloomfang unseen for an age plunges from the sky and destroys a town with fire and rages in the flames screaming
59 A vast dark shadow covers the land as armies of darkness advance allowing them more freedom in daylight for many cave born orcs and undead. As the armies advance dark priests plant monoliths that expand the effect, A temple in the dark lord's realm controls this effect with an artefact called the Cradle of Darkness
60 An ice lich riding an undead woolly rhino leads an army of a thousand frost covered zombies, spreading winter like conditions as they advance. The lich carries an artefact brings winter with it and has six living dark elf luitwnants riding winterwolves

61 Evil dwarves explode a cliff face revealing their great garage magical war juggernauts and a few iron golems to roll out over the land and crush humanity for the evil one
62 Dark elves call the great gnawing underworld dragon Nidhog to kill all the crops and fruit with blight overnight. Each night the dark elves affect a new district riding on wolves

63 Goblins call on their great worm god to spawn a plague of maggots that eat any food or crops on the plant then gnaw on wood or animals. Takes a few years to die off
64 Spiders have woven great cables over vast distances they can use like a telegraph system to send messages. The cables can be followed to spider operated stations and a hub connected to the dark lords command
65 A colossal spider monster bursts from the earth with her army of giant spiders
66 Tarrasque has been awoken by the dark lord and is being directed by a gold torc that hurts the beast. If freed it goes for the local dark lord HQ to destroy it
67 A great insect hive of evil tainted termite folk grows towering over area as trees stripped and earth scoured for construction. If the evil tainted queen is killed the colony die
68 Orcs are razing all the trees in a valley to build a gargantuan construct to house the essence of the dark lord if his current body fails
69 Goblinoids are digging a vast pit with slave human labour digging up a giant armoured corpse of a past form of the dark lord they hope to revive (you cant have 2 dark lords right?)
70 A local leader has camp with four hundred refugees, 100 spearmen, 100 archers and 100 horsemen. The king has been confused by his evil bard and is paralysed with indecision and has locked up their heir who dared disagree in a bout of paranoia. Orc scouts know of their plight and dark forces gather
71 Hundreds of forest animals and faerie folk and tree spirits pour from the woods and send a army of monsters fleeing
72 An orc force is under siege by a larger horde of beastfolk united against the dark lord and his wizard scum who tortured and enslaved beast folk in the past
73 A river or stream is polluted and banks fouled. Following upstream is a basilisk lair where the dark lord left an egg to hatch under a toad to poison the area. Stone statues of adventurers and goblins are scattered in the area
74 A sinkhole collapses getting bigger and bigger changing area with a rubble-filled flooded depression. Strange creatures of the deep scuttle out like giant bugs and worms later weird giant fungus sprouts everywhere around the area
75 The giant fungus is growing everywhere rapidly and spore spots develop on trees and plants. This fungus attracts giant bugs and worms and flies to the area and goblins love to forage here
76 An orc hero druid priestess riding a giant stag leads orc barbarians and hopes to liberate deluded orcs from evil and reconnect them with their spirit ancestors. The orc army will grow and the dark lord will send assassins and monsters to destroy her. Eventually leading orcs against the dark lords HQ
77 A black strange castle fades into reality like some phantom, undead winged apes in service of the dark lord swarm out to kidnap victims for the castle. The alien tentacle faced ultraterestrial  wizards from beyond inside drain victims souls to power the castle jumps and the bodies are encased in armour as undead troops. The dark lord only called them out of desperation as they will always betray him eventually
78 A great web structure over hundreds of yards part of a huge cable goes into the sky out of sight. Spiders guard the base and keep a look out for fire they will try to smother out with fresh webbing. The dpiders have tethered a star to the earth and agents of the darklord have invaded a celestial palace of a star spirit and her elf courtiers. The dark lord caught one of her spies and struck first fearing she might gather the stars themselves against him. An evil wizard advises the orc hero with a famous scimitar Moonrazor. The star eas sitting on the fence as stars do but now if freed will reward rescuers and send owls to the other stars and the celestial bureaucracy to get the gods acting. Her influence sheers decades off process. She offers advice on the dark lords artifact locations and weapons that could be used against him 
79 A great tree has been felled and partly burned. Aparently some faerie folk lived inside and in the roots blow. Various local talking animals, spirit folk and faries have gathered to bury friends. Nice cottage decor has been smashed and charred. A good opportunity to recruit a unusual follower. The critters might be motivated to fight or help
80 A winking star has appeared revealing the evil one has released a new great demon to the world and his cause. By day the demon appears in various battles where needed by the dark lord
81 The pole star shine bright larger than ever, a sign evil fears. Polestar sends spirits to the mortal world returning lost hero weapons from thousands of years ago that the dark lord fears. Across world heroes who have heard of the polestar myth look up and wonder if they will receive a gift
82 A great gateway opens in the mountain releasing shadows and zombies and skeletons. Distant chanting of cultists can be heard keeping the gate open. If slain the gate closes. The cult have a relic, special books and magical ingredients required to open this. The head priest of darkness is a famous evil hero and wanted criminal for killing royalty
83 Strange green and violet glows flicker and dance about in the northern sky. Some say this is god battling the darkness to weaken the dark one 
84 A strange luminous cloud passes over area inflicting many with mutations. Some locals are quick to shun or even kill mutants so many are forced to flee unless someone stops theses troublemakers. The condition might be cured with a rare lawful herb
85 An ancient wizard tower is under attack by a hundred orcs who have improvised siege weapons and await some black powder kegs or a cannon. The wizard guards a relic feared by the dark lord that could greatly aid the good forces. A spirit might inform the party of this but the wizard will be reluctant to use the weapon
86 A great crack in the earth opens releasing a d6 dragons and 3d6 wyverns who proceed to cause trouble. Twisting tunnels to the deep may release more monsters
87 A vast area covered in mold where people die from choking spores and the dead arise as fungal bloated undead. A fungus demon noble trapped in a apparatus at the centre held by the dark lords wizards. If freed the demon offers to send minions to aid when released it
88 An army of the darklord has human slaves digging up what seems to be a silver tower that fell and was buried long ago. Strange weapons of law are inside the wizard leader of the expedition hopes to claim
89 A great gathering of wild hairy naked wild folk with burning whicker man idols meeting at sacred stones. They are debating in their rare language which side to join. One who has served the dark lord as a dark hero offers death to the clothed folk and their stupid gods. An older king priest disagrees but is being burned tonight. Various candidates fight to be the next 7 year ruler including the dark lord agent who cheats with his priest and wizard followers. Humans mostly unwelcome but demihumans, beastfolk or halflings might get a say or chance to stop evil plots. Most humans don't know these wild folk exist or ever meet and would fear them
90 A serpant man wizard leading a lizard folk army with veloceraptor cavalry and a war trex. The wizard rides chariot pulled by a triceratops and has a dark elf chariot driver. He is doing a favor for the dark lord just this once an unpopular decision. If he dies the rest will likely return to their hibernation dungeon till the next apocalypse if given the chance
91 The moon changes colour to a strange eerie red and the whole night sky is filled with dim red light, a preview of what will happen if evil wins. Moon cultists determine a certain moon ziggarutt run by amazons in secret is under siege and is key to saving the moon. Inside is a gate to the moons celestial palace where evil has infiltrated
92 An evil star falls actually part of world left from creation demons have inhabited for aeons. The dark lord has brought them here to spread chaos but the demon prince of what is now a huge flaming crater seeks dominion over area. Demon cultists and chaos fanatics begin a pilgrimage here
93 Great burning evil eyes in the evening sky make everyone in world have lower saves by -2 each night until dark lord distracted or the aparatus used is broken. Experts know of the relic from previous use 
94 On the highest point in the land orcs are erecting an ancient design of a wizard defence tower that will be able to shoot burning rays to anything in its line of sight. A great crystal to power it is being moved to the gem in wagons with an escort
95 Ankheg giant burrowing bugs fill the area with hundreds of trenches, tunnels and pits intending it to be a future fortress. Once bugs hold strategic points as guards goblinoids from the deep pour out and man the bizarre fortification choking the area and expanding. Fungus thrives in tunnels with gobbo care and other giant bugs move in. Area will be prone to bugs and giant fungi for a long time
96 Magma pours from volcanic vent with lava forming a great basalt wall blocking a natural chokepoint blocking armies. If stopped quickly by killing salamanders chanting in the rift can be stopped 
97 One of the great dragons of evil is attacking a crumbling fortress with it's orc troops where an important future hero lives. Elves riding griffins appear and drive the beast away with lightning wands. Will anoint the chosen youth with gifts (and for family) and insist child goes to faerie land for training till right moment when needed (child returns as adult knight hero anytime)
98 Somewhere in the world a halfling messes up one of the dark lords infernal apparatus. Flickering lights in the sky alarm experst world wide and various evil relics and communications of the dark lord are crap for a d4 days till fixed. Perhaps the effect can be repeated at right time by good allies  
99 A gigantic dwarf golem the size of a small fort has a defensive force of 40 dwarf inside to shoot crossbows or guns from battlements in the titan. The giant lumbers to the nearest dark lord base to start smashing until eventually a greater demon or dragonfire destroys it. Once war over will march into a door in a mountain to be sealed till next time
100 A major force of the dark lord is camped ready to march. Someone somewhere lures away the wyverns patrollingthe sky away. Grey gnomish airships from a great door in a mountain come out and from extreme altitude drop poison gas, burning oil and black powder bombs on the army horribly burning and melting and blasting the army. Wyverns return confused and think they will get the blame. The next day survivor orcs come out in the plague and the area is diseased for a long time and taints the flesh of local animals for decades

note i am infamous in my crew as not liking flying ships or balloons in anything but my deep gnomes are near victorian tech level scientific murder hobos. Princess ark was probably the best thing in Dragon mag for years but at the time i wanted spells and rules and was getting grittier history gaming. When Known world was Mystara it became unusable to me. 

Higher Level Alighnment Oaths & Boons

So I went to cut and paste something from this post and new Blogger settings said i had changed it, changed an old post to a draft and won't restore unless I change publishing date. I had to cut and delete a post I was working on because it accidentally published something to an older date which i can't do now even if I wanted. Buttons seem different hour to hour. Anyway, I'm thinking of putting this in my new rulebook and checking I have not judged other alignments by my LG privleges. 

Characters making oaths at name level and above use the more extreme loathe tables here.
Plus I revised the benefits table at the end.

As I have said before I like to make alignment to before of a feature but a bit different. I'm all for party meltdowns and TPK from alignment feuds. It's a system to shortcut who you fight or perhaps don't. Its very existence is contentious. Most people and animals in my game are neutral perhaps with a preference for some alignment. Higher up levels folk and monsters and clerics are fanatics who become increasingly incongruent with the world or society and even each other.  Any fighter or wizard could become a holy champion and would probably be unfun at a party.

Neutrals
-concerned with the protection of own kind and prosperity mostly
-many not really into change
-good and evil have their places
Balanced
-attempt to manage forces of law and chaos to live a good life

So as of 2nd Lv you put a point in an alignment box and pick a gift pls roll an oath. If you want to use any luck points in a session or roll the same one a second time choose one or invent one agreeable to the referee. The more points you have in a box the better rewards and now at name level plus you get new more severe oaths that make people think more from a boss experience and are more extreme. Neutrals start caring about larger groups, evil people become increasingly blatantly awful, most get more interested in recruitment.

Oaths For Characters Level 11-20
Made for kings, heroes, champions
Law
1 Punish unlawful spellcasters  
2 Support a rigid social hierarchy
3 Help spread literacy and schools
4 Record every detail possible
5 Abstain from love and relations
6 Obey your ruler in all matters
7 Preserve arts of your civilisation
8 Always remain calm and civilised
9 Prepare your people for future prosperity
10 Hunt and destroy chaos cults
11 Help spread public hygiene and cleanliness
12 Help spread the teachings of the law
Chaos
1 Start fires for fun 
2 Reproduce as much as possible
3 Vandalise property and culture
4 Only eat stolen or free food 
5 Give away what you cant use
6 Constantly speak in puns & riddles
7 Slander persons in power 
8 Keep no secrets
9 Spend all wealth on pleasure
10 Aid outlaws and heretics
11 Encourage revolution against order
12 Give aid to the plight of mutants
Good 
1 Eat only the humblest of food
2 Avoid harm to all living creatures
3 Fight for the cause of peace 
4 Build homes & hospices for the poor
5 Only fight in self-defence
6 Always help destroy the undead
7 Protect the good from harm
8 Call out evil in public to shame them
9 Hinder progress of evil when you can
10 Provide meaningful work for poor
11 Donate wealth to a church or charity
12 Help spread the cause of good
Evil
1 Consume flesh & blood of person daily
2 Torture victims whenever possible
3 Make public displays of cruelty and sadism
4 Murder often so servants fear you
5 Kill the weak and stragglers for fun
6 Always seek to seize leadership
7 All family are just deadly rivals
8 Spend your plunder on making more war
9 Murder is the best means to all ends
10 Encourage corruption and vice
11 Promote the institution of slavery
12 Trick others to serve evil ends
Balance
1 Follow the local laws of the land
2 Be gracious to those you defeat
3 Call for votes on any issue
4 Listen to both sides before choosing 
5 Defend wilderness from harm
6 Make offers of parley and negotiate
7 Hinder the eternal war of chaos vs law  
8 No longer feel bodily pleasures, mostly meditate
9 Fight any tyrant using force against ordinary people 
10 Help bring peace between conflicted parties
11 Support the wellbeing of the common people
12 Convince others to adopt balanced lives
Nuetral
1 Fight for your people against all outsiders
2 Buy your way out of conflict if possible
3 Leave a legacy for your clan for the future 
4 Employ as many of your clan or people as you can
5 Wealth and land are all that matter
6 Build an impressive monument glorifying yourself
7 Help your community prosper and thrive
8 Get revenge against those who wrong your kind
9 Don't respond to being provoked into violence
10 Maintain public commons and squares
11 Hunt shapeshifters & lycanthropes among us
12 Help neutral people first, rest are dangerous

Gifts Choosable Per Point in Alignment

Lv 1-4 in alignment box
One from +1 armour, shield, weapon, ring of protection or another basic item
4 common potions: protection, 2d4 healing, d4 Might or water breathing
One Lv 0 Spell cantrip once per day (choose list type and spell)
One extra zero Lv 0 follower
One Minor Mutation (Apotheosis warning)
One Language

Lv 5-8 in alignment box
One from +2 armour, shield, weapon, a ring of protection or another basic item
4 potions from cure disease, cure poison, 2d8 healing or heroism
One Lv 1 Spell
One extra d3 Lv or HD follower
One Major Mutation (Apotheosis warning!)
One arms or arts skill
One luck point

Lv 9-12 in alignment box
One from +3 armour, shield, weapon, ring of protection or another basic item
One Lv 2 Spell
One extra d4+1 Lv or HD follower

Lv 13-16 in alignment box
One from +4 armour, shield, weapon, ring of protection or another basic item
One Lv 3 Spell
One extra d6+3 Lv or HD follower 

Lv 17-20 in alignment box
One from +5 armour, shield, weapon, ring of protection or another basic item
One Lv 4 Spell
One attribute point

War Against The Dark Lord 1: Dark Lords Forces

Every few generations some new dark lord comes. Some new demon noble finds a handful of cultists and then helps them finds a relic of the past. Then next thing they are forming an army and everyone on the borderlands becomes edgy as disorganised enemies of humanity unite. Where did all these monsters get so irate all of a sudden? It is like they don't want to be annexed and they keep increasingly making more desperate pacts with demons who just want to be set free on earth. Anyway here are some tables for the warzone that I never wanted to do from my old series.....Links to old ones at the bottom.
 
Obviously, I'm all for Dark Ladies or Evil Obelisks or any form of evil intelligence. 
But I'm sure will do some more evil lady wars or an Amazon war.

War Against The Dark Lord 1: Dark Lords Forces
War Against The Dark Lord 2: Dark Lords Encounters & Wonders
War Against The Dark Lord 3: Dark Lords Rumours & Treasure

I could see my Southern continent of a shattered 3rd empire of knightly kingdoms in a decades-long civil war having recursive dark lords. Might even be why empire exists. Oops, exile Island and Shadelport to be fair probably would work for the dark lord strictly for cash. It is ruled by a devil-worshipping immortal masked Barron after all but might betray the dark lord for cash again. Every 3-6 generations you get a dark lord and some bit of the world gets whittled away.

d10 What Started war?
1 The events were set in motion thousands of years ago and predestined

2 Somebody awoke a great evil by accident allowing the lord to arise

3 A cult worked in secret spreading corruption and gathering evil relics

4 A great defender against evil stumbled in madness and has fallen

5 Famine among humanoids is uniting them in the thousands and the lord took power

6 Ancient oaths made to the commanders of a former great evil have been claimed

7 The evil one has escaped imprisonment due to some foolish mortals sin and vanity

8 A great ruler made a deal under duress long ago and this gives the dark lord power

9 Human adventurers raided numerous tabu holy sites outraging humanoids

10 The elves have instigated this to cull humans and other oafish uncouth races

d10 Objectives of invaders?

1 Destroy everything pretty or artful that is not functional or for war

2 Eat and enslave everything, send slaves home as cattle

3 Destroy a kingdom or civilisation and damage the world forever

4 Revenge against human mistreatment for ages and take the frontier back

5 Utter extermination of all humans not in thralldom forever to the dark lord 

6 Utter extermination of demihumans and magical beings and forests

7 Destroy walls, wells, burn forests, poison wells, ruin land supporting humans

8 Destroy civilisation especially literacy, records, libraries, monuments

9 Destroy the holy places of good religions with fire and blasphemous rites

10 Bring about the apocalypse and force a final war to bring all the gods to earth

d10 What ends war?
1 Dark lord overreaches in zealousness to beat a prophecy

2 Dark lord minions keep being overcome by local heroes resisting tenaciously

3 The threat of a worse invasions makes humanoids head for their dungeons for cover

4 Somebody destroys the dark lords legacy for a while and hopefully does not replace them

5 Dark lord triggers the apocalypse, gods battle of the earth for supremacy in an age of horror

6 Some band of adventurers obtained secret knowledge to destroy the lords great relic

7 Crusade! allies come from far off lands to destroy the evil one, hopefully they go home after

8 Humanity managed to gain other great hidden allies in an important battle 

9 Heroes uncovered an artefact to destroy the dark lord but it was so terrible destruction

10 The dark lord on the edge of victory starts their true plan turning everyone against them

d10 Factions of the Dark Lord (every good dark lord has a d3 sub-bosses)
1 Goblinoids, mad at humans for losing territory, exploitation and slavery

2 Orcs enraged by humanity who they see as rivals to rule this age at any cost

3 Necromancers have provided undead troops since humans first learned black magic

4 Black wizards schooled in the low tuition fee diabolic school serve for knowledge & power

5 Beast folk army, type created by the dark lord elder magic & secret breeding programs

6 Beast folk horde, wild tribal beastfolk tribe willingly serve for a chance to kill humans

7 Ogres unusually have united to eat and destroy humanity who they hate so much

8 Hill giants have come from the mountains to eat humans and the dark lords lies

9 Chaos horde, mutated warband of maniacs serving priesthood of chaos and demons 

10 Dark elves are sworn to a former darklord reluctantly are made to fight this useless war

d10 Factions Against The Dark Lord
1 A local flawed ruler who earnestly does not want people to all be eaten by orcs

2 Mad lord sure can make a deal with the dark lord or they can reason with them

3 Cowards hoping to pay off or negociate peace or even talk terms of surrender

4 Crusader order formed uniting various churches and kingdoms richest fanatics

5 Crafty old ruler believes just delaying the dark lord will cause him to crumble again

6 Knowing the history of the former dark lord in the region a local ruler ready to swear to evil

7 A peasant army run by bandits living like wild men and fighting the carrying the evil army

8 Local ruler believes can easily defeat the dark lord and is destined to be a legendary hero

9 King wants to unite all lands and is targeted by the dark lord with corruption

10 An idealistic young ruler wants allegiance with demihumans against the dark lord. Trouble is the dwarves think humans are technology thieving bastards who eye off dwarf treasure (true) and the elves think humans are vermin gnawing away at the wilderness. Possibly wilderness protection might help get elves and guilds acknowledging dwarf as owning certain patents

d10 Quests of the war
1 Find the dark lords secret weakness, what is the great relic he requires for power

2 Make allies from one of the hidden peoples of the world like demihumans

3 Make allies from dragons or some other enemy of the dark lord (though a few did)

4 Who was the dark lord? where did they come from? Do they have any family?

5 Disrupt a meeting of the dark lord's minions so they fight each other

6 Destroy something essential to a faction so it drops out of the war to recover

7 Expose the dark lord's real plans and convince some minions they are on wrong side 

8 Slay a great hero of the dark lord reducing stability and morale of the dark forces

10 Save a temple from attack that might hold secret to the dark lords power source

d10 What does the dark lord do to prisoners
1 Butcher for monster food

2 Sent into secret labour camps  

3 Sent back to the homeland to be slave thralls

4 Sent back to the homeland as cattle to be eaten

5 Sent to evil priests to sacrifice to please evil gods and demons

6 Offer them freedom if they sell souls to powers of hell

7 Have them killed and turned into undead

8 Have them killed and reborn as savage fanatic orcs

9 Have them made into eunuchs and sold as slaves

10 Bewitch them into mutants or some kind of abhuman

d10 Which former dark lord is this one in debt to
1 Served Tiamat in the dragon war versus the gods before the creation

2 Joined Jotun, giants, Titans and trolls versus gods in the dawn of time

3 Ally of the gods of darkness who struck down the sun thus spawning the age of night

4 A succession of squabbling dark lords fighting other dark lords in the age of monster kings

5 Early in the time of humans, necromancers revived a new dark lord from a servant of the old

6 Dark lord tried to work with evil elementals which proved a terrible way to make unity against the first empire and lost, now called the elemental heresy 

7 A dark lord found corrupted dragon eggs hidden from the dawning age and used them against the second empire even convincing other draconic and reptilians to join

8 The dark lord who waged war on the far western secret emperor and the orcs returned drug addicts and in debt bankrupting, the dark lord who was killed and eaten by own minions for drug money
9 The dark lord who evoked the elder powers of the outer void allowing things from beyond into the universe until a god sent a hero to slay them. Others copying this lord are likely satisfied with awakening powers from the void already lurking in this world but hidden imprisoned or sleeping

10 The dark lord who used a great relic engine of destruction that heroes turned on the dark lord to drain his life. The right use of the relic might revive some of the old master's life force

d10 Strange Schemes of the Dark Lord
1 Prisoners are taken into the gates of an ancient fallen mountain fortress and never seen again some say fed to some monstrous beast or soul-eating engine

2 Crack necromancers teams and dark elves are sneaking into settlements awakening the dead in local graveyards as part of a campaign of terror 

3 Several villages have broken out in the taint of the evil one making more mutants

4 A species of monster unseen for an age returns amazing many

5 Strange foreign troops arrived having reached from the ends of the earth with strange customs, equipment, language and dedication to the dark lord

6 The dark lord has made a deal with seven demon nobles for supernatural support

7 The dark lord has become tight with hell and is recruiting an army of hell on earth

8 A long-dormant god or primordial monster has a fragment of life remaining and the dark lord plans to revive this god who will, of course, reward them because sometimes elder evil gods do that....

9 Certain key relics and holy places keep the nightmare worlds, the negeverse and overspace separate from our world. The dark lord wants to free all from the veil of illusionary sanity so we can all see the maddening void by smashing these places

10 The dark lord has recruited a force from the Underland nobody saw coming and doesn't give a crap about and surface factions really. Because he has vast rivers of albino hunchbacked goblins able to pour from cracks in the earth like cockroaches

Dark Lord Forces
The dark lord is a unifying force preying on the monsters who mostly lose at history because of their desire to have a dark lord save them from responsibility.

Humans & Orcs
Humans and orcs bread to monstrous proportions into abhumans have stood solid in dark lord armies for thousands of years until they became the majority and revolted. Common orcs freshly made or angry enough or hungry will join yet another dark crusade for a dark lord but they might also feel betrayed by esoteric plans that risk their chance at orc dominance. Human armies of bandits and pirates might join the dark lord especially at sea where his reach is weakest. Kingdoms might join the dark lord in some pact but service does not guarantee a dark lords appreciation.

Goblinoids & Dark Elves & Dwarves & Changelings
Some goblins are still thralls of elves especially dark elves who happily send goblins to die for them or fight first.  Of course, some people can't tell bright from dark elves sometimes. But everyone knows goblins. Those that are not serving elves might still provide them with a buffer zone and be manipulated by elves. Other goblins are bitterly rebellious and over elves forever. Faerie stuff feel free to amp up cruelty - several tables of nasty pranks out there. Some dwarves joined the dark lord who promised them gold and revenge on humans who had stolen iron and gun powder and so many dwarven secrets. Some bad dwarves served evil monsters and wizards in the past but mostly they hide in secret places. Some changelings of evil planar bloodlines have serves the fark lord as agents and heroes.

Goblin 1 Goblin Forces
Goblin 2 Encounters Wonders
Goblin 3 Rumours Treasure
Faerie 1 Faerie Forces
Faerie 2 Encounters Wonders
Faerie 3 Rumours Treasure
Faerie Maidens
Faerie Land Encounters

Evil Wizards & Necromancers
From ancient necromancer cults or those schooled by minions of hell with the lowest tuition and wildest parties. Other wizards outcast for ethics happily joins the dark lord who encourages experimentation and crazy race theories. Necromancers command vast undead armies recycling the dead which the dark lord proves of. Wizards, of course, make and command own orc armies but they did make those Abhuman orcs and abhuman barbarians that ended up killing a dark lord once which they have to make up for. The dark lord trusts undead wizards the most only they understand the long term picture.

Wizard Wars 1 Causes and forces
Wizard Wars 2 Encounters and links
Wizard Wars 3 Rumours and treasure
Necromancer 1 Causes and forces
Necromancer 2 Encounters and links
Necromancer 3 Rumours and treasure

Mutants 
These make up the bulk of mutants corrupted and tainted recently or perhaps crawled from foul places in the earth from pacts made long ago seeking to smash the perfect pretty face of the world and make it broken for mutants and chaos.
Mutant Wars 1 Causes and forces
Mutant Wars 2 Encounters and links
Mutant Wars 3 Rumours and treasure
Necromancer 1 Causes and forces
Necromancer 2 Encounters and links
Necromancer 3 Rumours and treasure

Giants
Many served the dark lords of the past to failure but some especially the most degenerate mutant formari or the moronic hill giants tempted by food and beer and blood.
Giant 1 Causes and forces
Giant 2 Encounters and links
Giant 3 Rumours and treasure

Monster King Mercenaries
Any strange troops from the age of monster kings could be an exotic troop type and making elves all gasp since they last saw such ugly things. Some of these were paid aeons ago by former dark lords with more money.

1 Goblinoids, mad at humans for losing territory, exploitation and slavery

2 Orcs enraged by humanity who they see as rivals to rule this age at any cost

3 Necromancers have provided undead troops since humans first learned black magic

4 Black wizards schooled in the low tuition fee diabolic school serve for knowledge & power

5 Beast folk army, type created by the dark lord elder magic & secret breeding programs

6 Beast folk horde, wild tribal beastfolk tribe willingly serve for a chance to kill humans

7 Ogres unusually have united to eat and destroy humanity who they hate so much

8 Hill giants have come from the mountains to eat humans and the dark lords lies

9 Chaos horde, mutated warband of maniacs serving priesthood of chaos and demons 

10 Dark elves are sworn to a former darklord reluctantly are made to fight this useless war

United Against The Dark Lord Forces
Many orc abhuman tribes will join humanity as they are sick of dark lord suckering everyone into stupid wars and betraying everyone with an evil wizard and god stuff. They expect land deals and possibly paid military work to stick around.

Human Forces 
The official military of the land are foremost in defence but in overrun areas peasants revolt and make bandit armies against the dark lord. People wonder if they will return to peasantdom after the war. Possibly inquisitors and other maniacs might be needed to hunt agents of the dark lord within civilisation est hiss influence spread. Secret police would be after the agents of evil too. 
Peasant Revolt 1 Forces and Encounters
Peasant Revolt 2 Gossip

Good Wizards
Good wizards know the dark lord comes for them to be his thralls and don't like it

Crusaders 
Human knights form other lands unite under one banner of many faiths against evil

Dwarves
Dwarves grumble about humans and elves but they doo like fighting the dark lord and some dwarves might even have served him.

Elves
Some elves feel bad about potent old magic still trashing the world and they know the dark lord wants them dead or slaves or monsters or corrupted so they are pleased to fight him. Dark elves complicate matters and elves avoid direct fights preferring to fight through goblin proxies and pawns

Halflings & Gnomes
Normally these guys don't make history but they sure dislike dark lords and get dirty work done smuggling evil relics, shanking villains, resisting evil curses and murdering the odd wizard can help. Good and evil gnomes dislike the dark lord thinkin' he is a trainwreck of stupidity and waste. Good gnomes will help in secret evil ones will wait it out and maybe shank some dying soldiers for coins and wine
 
Abhumans & Changelings
Lots of beast folk hate the dark lord as do barbarians and the spirit peoples who mostly hide among humanity dislike the dark lord.

Possible Future Wars (Which Next?)
1 Lizard Wars! aztech dino folk, serpentfolk for wizards, etc 
2 Witch Wars! which hunt mania! it's like the more you repress people the more rebel
3 Amazon Wars! several great amazon powers wage war in the world against the world of men --and they have surprising allies such as barbarian tribes and elven and orc amazons
4 Barbarian invasion with temples getting trashed and wizards burned
5 Crusade! knights and templar orders and religious maniacs declare holy war on you
-ready to burn the shit out of stuff and kill thousands in name of holiness!
6 Foreign Power - not especially strange just a "civilised" business-like invasion or civil war
7 Modern era annexes your fantasy world with 10000 military advisors and mining partners
8 Elemental Wars - wizards and cults wrecking the place, squabbling, summoning monsters 

9 Dwarf War - it had to happen with artillery, clockwork mines, juggernauts, golems, bombs, guns, gas, all the stuff dwarves have kept hidden in alchemy and mechanics labs

10 Return of the Trolls - not those big dumb chaos cancer brutes, the weird mystical races of trolls castes that you don't hear much about since a big war long ago
11 Druid wars - enough of your shit, druids have had enough, time for a new covenant in blood with nature, cull the herd of humans and help nature fight back, lots of beast folk
12 Xor War - Xor has come to eat your world do not resist join us in eternity with the god flesh
13 Halfling Wars - they stole our children with sweets and cakes, made us fat with cheap greasy sausage and white bread, made us addicts to their pipeweed and ergonomic kitchen design, enough and no more! purge the under five foot tall!*

Secretly halflings dirty burrows are actually cosy and like lovely cottages much nicer than even shopkeepers houses full of food and nice things. Who would have thought they were holding out like that. Bastards.

*excluding elderly people or children. Any child can be detained and questioned in case they are in fact halfling terrorists