On my gaming bookshelf, I have about 14" of space dedicated to Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, most of it official WOTC stuff plus some stuff I've picked up on various Kickstarters. I've been playing various forms of D&D since 1978 or so. And I can't do it anymore. I can no longer keep making excuses for the glaring problems with class & level systems. Allow me to begin.

This is a brief summary of the jobs I've had as an adult: light weapons infantry, car wash worker (all positions), retail sales (several times), airport shuttle van driver and dispatcher, commercial truck driver, forklift operator, limousine dispatcher, and now school crossing guard.

What character class am I? Even if you just focus on my years as an infantryman, the skills involved went far beyond the core responsibilities of killing people and breaking things. I, for example, learned enough about how the company supply room worked to earn a secondary MOS as a Small Unit Supply Specialist. We are all like that, no matter what our main focus is, we've all picked up weird side skills from hobbies and old jobs.

Class systems lock you into an identity; you are a Fighter, or a Wizard, or a Rockerboy. Your options are limited by design. This means that your game options are likewise limited. D&D5e uses class options to offer more variety, but it still becomes a straightjacket. This has also led to an explosion of class options which has become almost as bad as the nightmare that Feats became in D&D3/3.5 and Pathfinder 1st. The end result is players show up at the table with an esoteric build depending on options given in some third-party book. This results in arguments and destroyed campaigns. I have seen this happen.

Next, we have Levels. As a mechanic to mark progress and increase the power levels it works, to a point. But most systems also tie new abilities to level increases, so very quickly the characters are nigh-unstoppable by any normal force. Which requires ramping up the threats in an ever-escalating arms race. The game becomes the same melee with changing faces. Enough about them, they simply are a kludge.

Finally, and strap in for this one. . . Hit Points.

I hate hit points as they are presented in most class&level games. To understand how low this has been an issue, I think the first defense and attempt to tweak hit points was when The Dragon was still in single-digit issues. Hit points date back to D&D's ancestral miniature gaming roots. When one figure represents a unit of Athenian hoplites, or Napoleonic Grenadiers, or whatever, a set number that counts down to when that unit is no longer combat capable for whatever reason makes sense. They may have died, been wounded, run off, whatever. It doesn't matter in the context of the game.

But when you are playing a single person of flesh and blood, wounds matter. Bleeding matters. Having the shoulder of your sword arm crushed by a mace, matters. This is all ignored with hit points. Joe the Fighter can start a fight with 75 hit points. Six rounds later, he's been ripped by massive claws, hit with a jet of flame, and been hit by six arrows. He's down to 3 hit points.

AND HE'S FUCKING FINE! He isn't holding his intestines in place, he isn't limping on a horrifically burned leg, and he's not coughing up blood from the arrows in his lungs. Joe will fight at absolute full capacity until he drops to 0 hp. There are no consequences to combat. Combat with hit point systems aren't combat, they're whittling contests devoid of any consideration of tactical thinking. Everyone just min/maxes their attack. The reason the joke about Warlocks always using Eldritch Blast is funny is because it is true. I've played a Hexblade Warlock, and I had no other effective combat option at my disposal.

So done with it. What are you replacing it with, you might ask if you've read this far?

Runequest - Adventuires in Glorantha

It's a skill-based system with no classes. There are professions, and some of them are combat builds, but everyone is a well-rounded character coming into the game. Honestly, playing someone who was a herder and got swept up into the wars against the Lunar Empire and is now seeking his fortune is far closer to the Hero's Journey. One of the more intriguing pre-generated characters in the Starters Kit is Narres Runepainter, an initiate of Eurmal, the Trickster. She was trained to tattoo the dead to prepare them for their journey to the Underworld. She's not a combat monster but has some useful magic and very useful skills.

Combat in Runequest is brutal. Every character has total hit points (work with me here) and hit points in seven hit locations, head, chest, abdomen, and arms and legs. Taking damage to these areas not only lowers your total but has very real consequences. For example, Narres has 14 total hit points, and location hit points:

Head: 5
Chest: 6
Abdomen: 5
R/L Arms: 4 each
R/L Legs: 5 each

Narres does not wear armor. So if a Red Earth pirate hits her right arm with a broadsword doing 8 points of damage, not only does that come off her total, having taken twice the locations total, she falls incapacitated. One hit. But it gets worse! Runequest has what are called "spacial" results if your to-hit roll is 20% of what was required. So if your weapon skill is 80%, a 16 or below is a special hit. This can get nasty, as damage is doubled and all sorts of fun can ensue. For example, if you thrust your spear at a Dark Troll, get a special success, and score enough damage to get past his armor, your spear is stuck in the troll.

RQ demands tactical thinking, using ranged weapons and magic first, and always having the option to run away. There are also rules for the shield wall (something I've never seen in another TTRPG) and challenging leaders to single combat.

So there you have it. Why I'm done with class & level systems and whitling down hit points.

There's a joke that makes its way around TTRPG places every so often.

DM: "The cavern is pitch black, and you. . . "
Player 1: "Darkvision."
Player 2: "Darkvision."
Player 3: "Darkvision."
Player 4: "Darkvision."

The simple fact is that in D&D5e nearly every playable race has fucking darkvision. Dwarfs, elves, gnomes, half-elves, half-orcs, and tieflings all have darkvision. Humans, Dragonborn, and halflings are the poor critters that can't see in the dark. As a Dungeon Master, it's frustrating, and to me, sloppy design to eliminate the need for torches or lanterns.

Let's face it, of that list only dwarfs and gnomes are really good candidates for having darkvision, and I'm being generous. The justification for some of the other species having this trait makes me laugh. Elves are used to living in dim forests? I was an infantryman, I learned to use all my senses to navigate the woods at night.

What follows are a few house rules I'm considering.

Dwarfs still have darkvision, they thrive underground and even though their halls are well lit, they can operate in near-total darkness.

Elves lose darkvision but gain exceptional sight and hearing. They get an advantage on Perception checks and can see much farther than most.

Gnomes have enough advantages already, so I'm taking darkvision and giving them a +1 to any characteristic at generation.

Half-elves get the same benefit as the elves.

Half-orcs lose darkvision but gain a +2 to both STR and CON.

Tieflings keep the trait.

I'm just doing my part to make the adventuring world a bit darker.

Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything by Wizards of the Coast

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Depth, not breadth seems to be how Wizards of the Coast is approaching their D&D5e books, and I heartily approve. Tasha's Cauldron is in the same spirit as Xanathar's Guide to Everything, giving new options and advice for players and Dungeon Masters alike.

The first chapter is filled with new options for characters. New specialties, optional rules, and the official debut of the Artificer class. While I find some of the options to be a bit overpowered, some like the Bladesinger for wizards and the Rune Knight path for fighters to be very interesting. As with anything, groups need to decide what they want to use. The one real disappointment for me in this chapter was the Fathomless patron for warlocks. It could be better labeled as the Hentail patron. Tentacles everywhere!

Chapter 2 is all about patrons, Those institutions of powerful individuals who might sponsor an adventuring party. This is a very good chapter, filled with all sorts of great campaign hooks. The party could be hired by a mysterious agent of an arcane society and sent to retrieve objects, or by a scheming noble to carry out missions to weaken his enemies. The chapter is a little table-happy, but still excellent.

It would be a D&D book without magic stuff, and that's what Chapter 3 is all about. We get a good number of new spells; a long list of new magic items, including magic tattoos, and a nice little essay about customizing spells. This bit reminded me of Ars Magica's spell signature. In short, it encourages players running arcane spellcasters to add a signature to their spells. A Hexblade Warlock might have "ravens" as his signature. His Eldritch Blast would be a stream of spectral ravens shooting out at the target. It's a good idea.

Finally, Chapter 4 is the Dungeon Master's toolkit. It starts with a great section on how to run "Session Zero," the first meeting of players and GM. How to build a party, defining hard and soft limits for actions in the game, things like that. Really good advice. Following this is a short section on sidekicks, where we finally get NPC advancement blocks. A very good section on how to parley and bribe monsters is followed by sections on supernatural regions, magical phenomena, and natural hazards, all of which will make any game better.

Finally, there is a short section of puzzles, including several excellent examples of puzzles to use in games with handouts.

Tasha's Cauldron should be on every Dungeon Master's shelf.





View all my reviews

This Gothic castle wasn't near water, wasn’t strategically important, and had no one living in it. So why was it built? According to legend, the answer was the only other logical option: to trap demons.

For Ars Magica, move the construction back to the 10th century and you have a tailor-made abandoned House Tytalus Covenant. Everyone says the portal was sealed, and that the old Covenant should be revitalized. . . but are they right?

For more rational FRPGs, the portal isn't to Hell, but an unusually large and shallow entrance to the Underdark. The fort was abandoned after decades of inactivity, but now it appears that something has taken over the old keep and is growing in power.

Dungeons & Dragons Removes Concept of Inherently Evil Races From the Game

Excellent news! To be honest, alignment is such a tired game mechanic I'm hoping to see it quietly sent to a farm in the country where it can play with THAC0 and all the other retired game concepts.

Because races and people don't fit into nice little boxes, and sometimes the truth is defined by the perspective of the person involved. To use an extreme example, the Nazis believed they were right. They believed they were saving Germany. They believed that they were beset by enemies who must be destroyed. They were utterly wrong, and while the world rightly judged them as evil, at the time of the Third Reich the Germans saw themselves as good.

History is filled with examples like this. Shit, American Manifest Destiny, our God-given mandate to occupy North America with good (white) Protestants was held up as the highest pinnacle of our national dream. The fact that in required slavery, genocide, and beating up on Mexico gets swept under the carpet. We are America! We are now, and always have been, the Good Guys!

Bullshit.

But what of our nice, clean fantasy worlds? Can they survive losing these black and white categorizations of morality? Of course they can. I own half a dozen games that do high fantasy just fine without it. And you don't need good and evil to explain hated, bias, or competition over resources. You just need better storytelling.

Even before I owned Volo's Guide to Monsters, which does an amazing job on Orcs, I had my own explanation for why they were so aggressive and greedy. Male orcs outnumber females 3:1. Breeding rights are earned through prowess in battle and bringing shiny treasures back to the tribe. Warbands are out to prove themselves and earn status. Orcs also reproduce fast, so every few generations, either a massive inter-tribal war breaks out, or a mass migration begins. Neither is good news for nearby communities.

Of course, orc bands can be bribed. Just like the Romans paid off migrating barbarian states, local leaders can make peace with the orcs, pay them to direct their energies elsewhere, even hire them as mercenaries. The point is, they are no longer just monsters, but a people with motivations that go beyond being adventure chow. The orc guarding a chest in a 10x10 room is there because that's his offering at the tribe moot! Of course, he's going to defend it!

There are exceptions, things tied to evil deities or creatures from afoul planes will be evil. Gnolls, as an example, are tied to the Demon Lord Yeenoughu and share his endless hunger. A Holy Avenger will only agree to be wielded by a worth champion. But those cases can be adjudicated as needed.

So here's to the end of racial alignments!

Having thoroughly read through Eberron twice now, A campaign idea is slowly gelling in my Jell-O brain.

The jungle region of Q'barra is experiencing a boom. Rich deposits of the magical dragonshards are being found, but the conditions and locals are both dangerous. Cyrian refugees, dispossessed wanders, and wanderers all gravitate to the port city of Newthrone, and then north to the dragonshard fields.

The campaign starts in Sharn, the City of Towers. A functionary from House Kundarak has a problem. A fellow member of the House was sent to oversee some promising mines but has gone silent, and what few reports are getting out are. . . disturbing.

The mission is not simple. The party will have to cross Khorvaire, find their way to Newthrone, find this rogue agent, and deal with him. This means plenty of side adventures and mini-quests.

Yes, it's Heart of Darkness (or Apocaolypse Now if you prefer) on a fantasy stage, but The long travel portion is a great way to introduce the setting and its lands, and it sets up the further campaign with House Kundarak as a patron. Who knows, it's easy enough to find a way for a "The End?" with the villain. Maybe he is swept away by a flash flood that forces everyone to scramble for survival, or triggers the collapse of his palace, seemingly dooming himself, but has the party leaves. . . was that his laughter? The wind? Having a recurring foe is a big part of the pulp feeling of the setting.

So, I'm going to need at least one dwarf with the Mark of Warding, maybe a Valenarian elf to act as a guide and go-between when they pass through the war-bands of the elves. . .

4-6 players. Probably be on roll20.net

Before I do all the finishing touches on my new character, like equipment, a fleshed out background, and of, I don't know, a freaking name, I'm going to look at the Warlock character class. Because along with all the magical goodies I detailed last time, being a Warlock has some built-in advantages. The base concept is pretty simple, you get power in return for serving an immensely powerful otherworldly patron. I think there are five canonical patrons now; the Archfey, the Fiend, the Great Old One, the Celestial, and the Hexblade. Each of these patrons offers different unique spells and powers as you advance.

One part of the 5th edition that I've come to adore is the specialization classes get at 3rd level. This allows customization without devolving into the mess of Feats that sank D&D 3rd Edition. As an example, in the base rules, a fighter can choose to be a powerful Champion, using brute strength and fury to defeat foes; a cunning Battle Master, able to use maneuvers and tricks to increase the accuracy of his blows and avoid attacks; or an Eldritch Knight, a powerful fighter with some ability at magic.

I like how these pathways allow further definition of the character and supports that choice with increased abilities. For the Warlock, there are three Pacts available at 3rd level:

Pact of the Chain - you gain a familiar and are able to use unique invocations to increase its power.

Pact of the Blade - you can summon a pact weapon into your hand. You are proficient with this weapon, and it counts as a magic weapon.

Pact of the Tome - you receive a Book of Shadows. In it, you can add three cantrips from any spell list, not just the Warlock list. So long as your book is on your person, you can cast these cantrips at will.

I chose Pact of the Blade, mainly to continue my plan of being both competent in melee and in ranged magic. I note that if I get a powerful magic weapon, I can make that my Pact weapon. But being bound to the Valley of Shadows has other fun effects.

Once a day, assuming I get a long rest, I can cast the Hexblade's Curse on a foe. The target is cursed for one minute. During that time, I gain my proficiency bonus as an addition to damage rolls against the cursed target. My critical hit roll is 19-20, as opposed to just a natural 20. Finally, if my foe dies, I immediately regain lost hit points equal to my warlock level plus my Charisma bonus.

I'm also a trained warrior, proficient in simple and martial weapons, light and medium armor, and shields. I can also use my chosen weapon with my Charisma bonus for attack and damage rolls. Then, at 6th level, I gain the Accursed Specter ability. If I slay a humanoid target, I can curse the soul and force it to appear as a specter under my control. Which will be nice to have in big fights.

More fun with the Hexblade's Curse. If the target of my curse hits me with an attack, I can roll a d6. One a 4-6 the attack misses me. The nice thing this is explicitly a reaction roll, so if I've been hit by multiple attacks from a cursed monster, I can choose which one to try to avoid.

This is obviously a man who has wandered far and seen a great deal. I've decided that his Patron contacts him in dreams, which are rarely clear, but offer glimpses of where to go and what to do, although he has a persistent vision of a castle perched high on a ridge, mostly cloaked in twilight but with on shining tower of gold visible. Yes, I'm stealing from an old Genesis song, sue me. He knows that he has to get there, but doesn't know where the castle is or why he needs to reach it.

Alright then, I am almost ready! I've done the hard number-crunching bits, and all that's left is equipping him, which will include a few magic items, working my way around his low carry capacity, writing his back story, which will involve a long read of the Sword Coast Adventure's Guide, and coming up with a suitably unpronounceable name.

I'm really having fun sharing this with all y'all, and I hope you are enjoying it as well. Please, feel free to comment and make suggestions. For example, is there any city in Toril that would have an institution like the medieval University of Paris? Preferably one some distance from the Sword Coast?

OK, let's build my character! Last time, as you may recall, I had decided to go with a "Hexblade Warlock" as my next character class. I wanted something versatile, able to both engage in melee and use magic. There was another consideration I didn't mention. Digenis, despite being a powerful barbarian wielding a magical ax, really lagged in terms of damage inflicted per turn. So my design process has to include that as a factor as I go along.

Before getting to the meat of characteristics, I want to nail down a couple of things that will help shape who this character is. To begin with, I've decided to play as a human. Digenis was a half-elf, and I never really did anything with it. D&D5 has a nice system of backgrounds, what it is you were before you took up the life of a wandering hero. Identifying who I was helps to define my motivations. I look over all the available backgrounds. Far Wanderer from the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide seems promising. But the more I think about it, the more I see my character as someone whose quest for knowledge led him down the path to his patron. This means that Sage is the best background for me.

I'm seeing my guy as a former clerk at a university, jealous of those attending due to their family connections. He sees knowledge as the path to power, and his patron has offered him both knowledge and power to take revenge. This is also helping me define my alignment - where I stand morally - as being Lawful Evil. I care about myself first and crave power and recognition. But I understand that power is best when in a structure that I can come to dominate.

Now I'm getting a picture of who I am. So let's get started on this! We are using a point-build system for this campaign. The six basic characteristics; strength, dexterity, constitution, intelligence, wisdom, and charisma, all start at 8. The range for these characteristics is 1-25, with 3-18 being the most common range, and 9-11 being average. The point buys are more expensive for higher values, and cannot exceed 15. You get 27 points to play with. After allocating my points, I have:

STR 8 (0 points)
DEX 11 (3 points)
CON 13 (5 points)
INT 13 (5 points)
WIS 13 (5 points)
CHA 15 (9 points)

Charisma and Constitution are vital for Warlocks. Now, because I'm human, I get a one-point boost to each characteristic. This is where I'm going to add another concept, the Modifier. This is the bonus or penalty you get for having a characteristic value at a certain level. After adding my human bonus, we have:

STR 9 (-1)
DEX 12 (+1)
CON 14 (+2)
INT 14 (+2)
WIS 14 (+2)
CHA 16 (+3)

Knowing that I had this human bonus was why I bought everything up to odd numbers. The next Modifier lever starts at the even number. I'm beginning to see who I am now, a slight, hardy man. Physically unimposing but extremely charming.

Since we are starting at 12th level, I have three characteristic bonuses to apply at 4th, 8th, and 12th level. At each of these, I can add +2 to one characteristic, +1 to two, or take a Feat. After looking through the feats I don't see anything I really like. Keeping in mind that modifiers increase on even numbers, I add +2 to Constitution at 4th level, +2 to Charisma at 8th level, and +2 to Intelligence at 12th level.

STR 9 (-1)
DEX 12 (+1)
CON 16 (+3)
INT 16 (+3)
WIS 14 (+2)
CHA 18 (+4)

The order of those increases is important, as your constitution modifier affects your hit points, which is the next thing. Per directions, we're using the set number advancement for each level as opposed to rolling for hit points.

At 1st level, I get (8+2) 10hp. At 2nd and 3rd, I add (5+2) 7hp each. From 4th through 12th level I add (5+3) 8hp. 10+(7x2)+(8x9)= 96 hit points, a respectable total. You can see why the order of characteristic boosts was important. Boosting my constitution earlier, even though it isn't my primary characteristic, added an extra nine hit points, which can be the difference between life and really needed the bloody cleric to get off his ass start healing me now!

I'm liking this guy so far. Next up, we do the magic side of things! Cantrips, spells, those lovely Warlock invocations and special abilities. Which in turn will help write more of the persona. I'm having fun doing this.

Please feel free to check my math and/or understanding of the rules.

Work continues on my modified Earthdawn setting, which brings me to the subject of non-human races and monsters. Both of which seem to fill most fantasy settings to the brim with all sorts of demi-humans and odd beasties to fight.

We'll start with the intelligent races that are generally considered civilized. Humans, elves, dwarfs, halflings (hobbits with the serial numbers filed off), gnomes, and in more recent editions of D&D, tieflings, and Dragonborn. There are more to be found in various setting books and expansions, but these are the core, mostly derived from European mythology as seen through more modern sources like Tolkien.

The problem here is that humans can't get along with each other for more than five minutes, and have a long, long history of finding reasons to hate each other for variations in skin color, language, customs, or just for existing and being different. I'm trying to imagine how a multi-species environment could exist except as in a state of near constant warfare. Because let's face it; the elves will be looking out for their interests, as will the dwarfs, halflings, and everyone else. Sure, there will be peace treaties and trade, and in some places, you'll have things like dwarf cities with a "foreigners' district" and human cities with the "dwarvish quarter" - probably with walls and its own gate to prevent riots.

But even at that, there will still be misunderstandings, holy wars, and plenty of "we don't serve them squats here!" to be dealt with. I'm beginning to think that, at the start at least, a human-only party would be best. Maybe a dwarf. But since this city has been sealed from the outside world for centuries, odds are it is going to be pretty homogenous if it survived that long.

Then there are the monsters. One thing that has driven me nuts about most fantasy games I've been in is how ecologically out of whack everything is. Big carnivores are rare for a reason! Yet most fantasy world have slavering monstrosities every fifty feet! I understand the need to publish more books to keep the income stream flowing, but the endless books of monsters have only made things worse, as Game Masters feel compelled to add new and better monsters to the game, rather than fully develop a few choice examples and make them ongoing foes. I've often wanted to do a campaign where the push is the Mongol invasions of the 13th century, except instead of Mongols the invaders are Hobgoblins and Orcs. The pull is needing to discover who or what is behind this horde, and stop it before civilization is swamped!

That campaign would feature at most five or six monster types, and the challenge would be not just bashing foes, but out-thinking an army. You could go any of several ways with this, commando raids, raising armies yourself, questing for the magical MacGuffin that will allow you to turn the tide. In my dream campaign, all three happen over the course of the game.

But since an important factor in this game is that the general power-level of the world's magic has fallen from the peak that allowed the Horrors to invade in the first place; I'm going to make most monsters a mystery. Other than a few scraps of rumors from just before the cities sealed themselves into their Kaers, everything is going to be new to the characters. Which means that I can play with abilities and powers a bit, just in case someone has memorized the Monster Manual.

Yes, I'm an evil Game Master. I revel in it. While I don't go for Total Party Kills as a rule, I like to make players work for their experience points and treasure. Besides, fear of the unknown is one of the great fears, and being an old Call of Cthulhu player, I like a little fear in my games. The best part is there is an entire category of monsters, Aberrations, which are defined as totally alien to the Prime Material Plane. What better for leftover Horrors and minions? Along with legions of undead, twisted descendants of fallen Kaers, awoken dragonkind, and a few others. But all in moderation and all fully developed.

So there are my thoughts - some of them, anyway - on non-human intelligent species and monsters, both in general and as they relate to my Earthdawn setting. I'm not throwing shade on how anyone else runs their games, but this is how I prefer to do mine. Tomorrow, I'll write about treasure and magic items.

OK, this is it. I swear. I've found the setting and push for a D&D 5th Edition game. Honestly. It's this good. You'll love it.

I've been reading a great history of Istanbul, one of my Winter Gifts. While mainly a story of the city, by necessity it covers the events in the wider world as well. In this case, the Vandalic War (June 533 – March 534 AD) which is considered the first of Justinian's wars in his attempt to retake what had once been the Western Roman Empire. The highlight of this short, victorious war (yes, he managed that elusive goal) was the taking of Carthage and the final defeat of Geilamir, King of the Vandals and Alans.

After this, money and Romans poured into the city to rebuild, reconsecrate churches, dig new canals, all the things that made a Roman city really Roman. This all lasted until 698 AD, when Muslims took the city, and left it to rot, preferring the better harbors of Tunis.

But anyway, instead of an army of Vandals and Alans (who really get the short end of the stick in most histories) have it been an army of gnolls that had overrun the city. A great mystery is that these gnolls were more organized and controlled. For gnolls to take a city the size of Carthage is unheard of! Midway through the final battle to take the walls, the gnolls suddenly reverted to their usual ways, fighting in small packs, stopping to feed on fallen enemies instead of focusing on the next threat. Rumor is the Emperor's wizards detected a strong magic that suddenly vanished.

But here the characters are. Veterans of the war, they could have come from all corners of the known world. Stout fighters from Thessaly, barbarians from the far north, clerics and paladins of the Great Church, wizards from Damascus and Babylon, and the others who follow in an army's wake . . . thieves, bards, even monks from the Great Library on the island of Prinkipos.

Carthage itself could function like Sanctuary in the Thieves' World books. A place still not quite controlled, and place for strange travelers to meet. Carthage is a centuries-old city. Who knows how far the sewers and cisterns reach? This would be a great place for a character running from their past to wash up, and a great place to find a fortune.

Outside the city? Bands of gnolls and other threats still prowl the hills. Much was looted from the city, where did it go? Rumors are racing that a scouting patrol saw a dragon far to the west. To the south is the endless desert of the Sahara. But nomads live there, so there must be water. Maybe a character has come into possession of a map that shows watering holes and a way to the legendary city of Timbuktu! It is whispered that this is where Alexander's mages fled after his death and established a library that might rival the empire's.

Further south is the dense jungles of the Congo, filled with lizardmen, dinosaurs, and lost cursed temples. Beyond that, under strange stars, the characters might hear rumors of a state lead by a great priest of the gods, Pebstyr Ionnes. The party may find some of his coins. They are of the purest gold. Of course, Ionnes has been on his throne so long because he's turned into a lich without noticing it. Fun times!

This is just going south. I have some fun surprises along the Atlas mountains, and some very intriguing things are happening in the Horn of Africa. But even staying Carthage can bring great reward, or leave you dead in an alleyway buried in trash.

So, there you go. A campaign of mystery, exploration, and danger at every turn. I'm not going to bother with adjusting weapons and equipment except to say that plate mail isn't available yet. I'm using the Players Handbook, Xanathar's Guide to Everything, and the Book of the Righteous for character generation. Anything from the Unearthed Arcana files is subject to DM approval. I give generous bonuses for good character histories.

Arise, you brave soldiers of Byzantum! Arise and seize your sword and the moment! Mysteries await, untold fortunes are there if you have the heart and cunning to take them!

This will all start next fall after I've returned from Burning Man. I will start doing the world building this week. Ideally, I'd like 4-5 local players. Otherwise, I'll play online using one of the platforms.