Spell Research: Knock and Wizard Lock

The knock spell first appears in original D&D's Book I: Men & Magic. It is a 2nd-level magic-user spell. The description is as follows:

A few things about this are immediately interesting to me. First, the spell opens secret doors, obviating the need to puzzle out how the secret door is intended to be opened. It also means that secret doors which are designed to open from only one side can be opened from the unintended side using this spell. I had always intuited that the purpose of this spell was to unlock doors, not open them, so this is a bit surprising to me on a close read.

I am also surprised to see that knock is a ranged spell. I had always assumed that the magic-user had to physically knock on the door for the magic to work. Since the spell doesn't simply unlock but instead opens such doors, that means doors can be opened at range, allowing any traps triggered by opening the door to be triggered while the magic-user is at a distance.

Interestingly, if we read the spell literally, it does not open doors that are not secret, held, locked by magic, barred, or otherwise secured, so the PCs will still have to risk opening those doors themselves.

No discussion of knock is complete without looking at its counterpart, the other 2nd-level magic-user spell, wizard lock:

Wizard lock has another counterpart alluded to here: hold portal. This post will not cover hold portal because it is not consistently represented in all editions of D&D. It is very similar to wizard lock except that its duration is shorter (think of a magic-user magically warding a dungeon door against an ogre attempting to batter it down, versus a magic-user permanently securing an important door in their inner sanctum).

Knock suppresses wizard lock only temporarily, and does not remove it. The magic-user must cast knock each time they wish to pass through the wizard lock. This makes me want to make the occasional wizard lock door trapped such that it automatically swings shut after a certain number of individuals pass through it, separating the party unless the wizard can open it again.

Interestingly, the magic-user seemingly cannot open their own wizard lock without a knock spell. That seems horribly inconvenient!

Since this is our introduction to the spell, I feel this is a good time to link to Designing Obstacles for OSR Play, which contains some interesting discussion about "Hard Locks" and "Soft Locks" and about knock and the problems posed by "skeleton key" spells like it and dispel magic. The post criticizes the use of wizard lock in published adventures and the tendency of adventure authors to take the ubiquity of knock for granted, rather than including more interesting ways of bypassing wizard lock and related obstacles. I don't see this as being an inherent problem with either spell so much as a flaw in the design culture surrounding these particular obstacles. 

As the post explains, there are much more interesting ways to integrate locked doors and their keys into adventures. The existence and implementation of knock does not offend my sensibilities. If I've designed a truly interesting magically locked door with an ingenious puzzle that needs solving to open it, but the player characters happen to have knock and can bypass it with a single spell, more power to them. It is less interesting, but I'm not always prioritizing what's interesting above all other considerations, such as rewarding players for being well-prepared.

I'm also not entirely sure whether wizard lock would be considered a Hard or Soft Lock. Is it a Hard Lock because it identifies specific means of bypassing it (the implication being that there are no other means of doing so)? Or is it a Soft Lock because there are multiple ways of bypassing it (knock, dispel magic, or the service of a higher-level magic-user)? This issue will only become muddier as we dig into different iterations of the spell.

Another common criticism of knock in particular is that it allows the magic-user to be a better thief than the thief. I will point out that at the time of original D&D's publication, the thief did not exist. The magic-user is not yet stepping on those particular toes. That is about to change.

Knock appears again in AD&D:

This being AD&D, the spell has been complicated quite a bit! It is classified as an alteration spell for the first time. Alteration (later called transmutation) is the school of magic concerned with the alteration of a thing's properties. In this case, the locked object is being magically transmuted into an unlocked object. Sure. That works I guess.

Knock now has an area of effect of 10 square feet/level of the caster. What exactly this means isn't at all made clear. Perhaps it will be clarified in the future, in some sort of updated version of the AD&D rules?

AD&D's version of knock also opens stuck doors (the original D&D version of the spell isn't explicit about this - my interpretation is that it doesn't affect stuck doors, unless a stuck door qualifies as "otherwise secured") and locked or trick-opening boxes or chests (in hindsight, it's interesting that the original spell only works on doors), and loosens shackles or chains. The description also specifies that knock does not open portcullises (the original version's "otherwise secured gates" language may or may not include portcullises). Lastly, each casting of the spell removes only two impediments to opening the door (i.e., a lock and a bar, but not a lock, a bar, and a spell like hold portal or wizard lock).

The thief is now a class. They are pretty bad at the things they're supposed to be good at. Knock, among other spells, allows the magic-user to automatically succeed at the things the thief is supposed to be good at, albeit a limited number of times per day. Similarly, the magic-user also automatically succeeds - again, just a few times a day - at opening stuck doors, which is one of the things the fighter is supposed to be good at. At least the magic-user can't bend bars/lift gates!

I personally am not really bothered by the toe-stepping. The magic-user only has so many spells per day, and if they want to cast knock multiple times they have to use multiple spell slots to prepare it. The magic-user is sacrificing a significant amount of utility just to open the occasional door. There is no on-demand magic (i.e., cantrips) in AD&D like would come in later editions, so the magic-user is making a choice to specialize their loadout for the day and then be limited to throwing their darts or whatever.

I think it's more likely that the party explores the areas of the dungeon that can easily be explored, the fighter and thief try their luck at any stuck or locked doors they come upon, take note of those they can't open, and the magic-user then prepares accordingly for the next delve into the dungeon to open any doors that continue to confound the rest of the party. 

That too comes with tradeoffs. The party may have random encounters as they retreat from the dungeon. If they make camp outside the dungeon - which they would be wise to do - they may have to fend off a dangerous wilderness encounter. While they're gone, the rooms they explored may be reoccupied. They may have more random encounters while traveling back to where the offending doors are. The party can make short excursions into the dungeon to achieve a straightforward goal such as this, but it's simply not an efficient way to explore.

In a world where any magic-user of 3rd-level (which is considered low-level in all versions of the game) can magically open almost any door, you also have to imagine that most important things are going to be behind several secured doors. Or, maybe, just one really secure one.

Each casting of knock only foils two "locks" on a given door. Imagine a huge vault door with multiple complex locking mechanisms and magic wards. The magic-user can get through two at a time. A 3rd-level magic-user can get through two locks per day. At 4th- through 6th-level, they can get through four locks per day. At 7th- through 9th-level they can get through six locks per day. And on and on. Suddenly the thief doesn't seem so superfluous (but you should probably make them more competent somehow - there are far more blog posts on the subject than I care to wrangle right now).

I also like how the spell suppresses a wizard lock for 1 turn specifically. In my world, doors with wizard locks are on a timer - after the turn is up, the door swings closed! I really like the idea of the party breaking into a magic-user's vault with their one use of knock, only to neglect to spike open the door and end up trapped inside.

The AD&D version of wizard lock similarly adds a number of specifications:

Like knock, wizard lock is an alteration spell, has the same unexplained area of effect, and specifies the types of objects it affects. The wizard lock can now be bypassed by breaking the affected object (the Lock is becoming Softer). However, magic-users now need to be one additional level higher than the original caster (i.e., 4 or more levels higher compared to the original spell's 3 or more levels higher).

The bit at the end is referring to the fact that hold portal can be shattered at will by any extra-dimensional creature (demons, devils, elementals, etc.). In other words, wizard lock is a permanent version of hold portal that also effectively keeps out such creatures.

AD&D 2e's version of knock cleans up the 1e version:

First, I love that the spell is now reversible. OD&D and 1e both had reversible spells, but knock wasn't one of them. We don't need a knock spell and a lock spell. They're the same spell. You just flip 'em! 

...Is what I would say, if it weren't for the fact that 2e still has a wizard lock spell! We'll get to that in a moment.

This version of knock makes the odd specification that the spell does not affect "ropes, vines, and the like." Okay. Why would it? It also specifies that the location of a secret door must be known in order for knock to open it. This sounds like common sense to me, but in hindsight one could read the original D&D and 1e descriptions as allowing the spell to open undiscovered secret doors (the 1e version in particular "causes secret doors to open", which is vague wording).

The 2e version also elaborates on the area of effect - delightfully, in my opinion. The intention is, apparently, for more powerful wizards to be able to open larger doors! A 20th-level wizard can knock a 200-square-foot door. How big are a giant's doors? If a standard human-sized door is 4' x 7', a 26-foot-tall storm giant (assuming similar proportions) would use a door that is roughly 15' x 26' (though probably even bigger than this). That would require a 39th-level wizard to open! Does the spell assume the caster is human-sized? Can giant wizards easily knock open their own doors? Much to think about!

2e's version of wizard lock is much the same as 1e's, albeit with an important quality of life change:

The caster can now open their own wizard lock! This feels like it should have always been the case. It also introduces an interesting possibility: If the wizard who originally cast wizard lock is at hand, the party could take the wizard hostage and force them to open all of their locks! I could imagine this happening if the party is raiding the wizard's stronghold and is able to neutralize the wizard, but still needs to gain entry into the vault. The Lock gets Softer yet again!

The description does not clarify the area of effect, but we can intuit that it is similar to knock. Interestingly, a 20th-level wizard can knock a 200-square-foot door, but wizard lock a 600-square-foot door. Such a door would require a 60th-level wizard to knock it open!

So what is the point of the reverse of knock, lock? Well, it only affects doors that have a physical locking mechanism. Because of knock's smaller area of effect, is also affects smaller doors than wizard lock. I have no idea why one would prepare lock rather than wizard lock. Making knock a reversible spell was a good idea, but it ultimately feels like a missed opportunity.

Surprisingly, the 3e version of knock is largely unchanged:

This version specifies that the spell only loosens welds, shackles, or chains which "serve to hold closures shut." I think what it means is that it loosens, for example, chains that block a door or bind a chest, but not shackles restraining an individual. There's a very minor change to its range (most likely accounted for by D&D switching from yards to feet as the standard measurement at the time). Very powerful wizards (and sorcerers) can now unlock very large doors from very far away!

Annoyingly, the description for arcane lock is split onto two pages:

First, the name change. Locking doors with magic isn't just for wizards anymore! Second, it's an abjuration now. This makes sense, as abjuration is the school of warding, protection, and negation. I like it better than magically altering the properties of a door from unlocked to locked. The spell also now requires a material component in the form of gold dust worth 25 gp. 

I like how the spell is integrated into 3e's skill system by specifying that it adds 10 to the normal DC to break open the door or portal. In AD&D, a mundane lock and a wizard lock are equally difficult to force. In 3e, each type of door has its own DC, mundane locks add to the DC, and arcane lock adds onto that, making it possible to create a door that is particularly hard to muscle open.

Importantly, this version no longer allows a higher-level caster to open the arcane lock at will. The Lock has become Harder. 

4e, unsurprisingly, changes knock more than any edition yet:

I don't care for the glowing blue key that floats into the door causing it to glow amber. It's weirdly specific and feels like a video game (a comparison no one has ever made with 4e). Otherwise this is interesting. 

In past editions, knock was a 2nd-level spell, which could be cast by a character of 3rd-level or higher. In 4e, knock is a 4th-level ritual, which means the character must be at least 4th-level to cast it (i.e., it is not comparable in power to a 4th-level spell in other editions). Knock is unlocked (haha) for player characters slightly later in 4e than in other editions.

Since knock is now a ritual, it's not tied to spell slots or to 4e's system of at will/encounter/daily powers. If the party has a knock scroll, they can cast the ritual once. If they have the ritual in a book, they can cast it as much as they want, if they have the necessary components.

This is the first time knock has a component cost. I think this is just because all rituals in 4e have a component cost (have to limit them somehow I suppose - 5e would change this, IMO for the worse). It also makes sense considering that 3e introduced a component cost for arcane lock.

I like the idea of the spell requiring a key carved from bone and etched with arcane symbols (a literal skeleton key) which crumbles into dust after the spell is cast. I suppose the ritual requires a healing surge because it's draining for the caster or their assistants (either can provide the necessary healing surge). I really like 4e's use of healing surges as meta currency and wish 5e did more with its hit dice.

I also like how opening a lock is now a skill check, with multiple locks or closures requiring multiple checks. If the rogue has to do it, the ritual caster should too! The description points to the Thievery skill for its DCs, which are 20 (Heroic tier), 30 (Paragon tier), and 35 (Epic tier). It doesn't seem fair that the ritual caster then gets a bonus to the check, presumably preserving their better-than-the-rogue abilities, but maybe there's something about the math that I'm not accounting for due to my unfamiliarity with 4e.

Knock no longer automatically opens the door, chest, gate, etc.! You still have to physically open the thing. It also destroys an arcane lock, which is too bad. No more automatic door traps.

It's important not to miss what the description is omitting! The range isn't specified (I assume it's roughly equivalent to every other version of the spell). Knock doesn't affect secret or stuck doors or chains anymore. The chains thing always seemed weird to me. The secret doors change is a good one. Players should have to figure out how to open those! Unfortunately, the days of more powerful spellcasters being able to open bigger doors are also at an end.

4e's version of arcane lock is similarly interesting:

Now, the Arcana check of the caster sets the DC to open the lock. This is an elegant solution to the "a wizard X or more levels higher than the the one casting the spell" mechanic. Now, the arcane lock caster sets the DC, and the creature trying to beat the lock has to beat the DC. Simple.

Let's not miss perhaps the most important change: You can now open an arcane lock with Thievery! Rogues and the like are not rendered useless by an arcane lock. The way that I read it is that arcane lock can magically reinforce an existing physical locking mechanism on the door, making it more challenging for a Thievery-using character to open. If the door has no physical locking mechanism and arcane lock is instead simply magically holding the door shut, I don't think Thievery would apply.

In addition, the caster can now designate specific individuals or categories of creatures who can open the door at will. The caster can also set a password, which introduces yet another way to bypass the lock.

In addition to now being destroyed by knock, arcane lock is now also destroyed by a successful Thievery check. The caster also knows instantly when the arcane lock is defeated, meaning it doubles as an alarm spell. That makes it a lot more difficult to break into the wizard's vault.

5e rolls back many of 4e's changes and adds a new spin to the spell:

No longer is knock a ritual. Its range is shorter than ever (unless I'm missing something about the 4e version) - 5e took the 60 yard range from pre-Wizards of the Coast D&D but kept feet as the standard unit of measure from 3e, resulting in a range of 60 feet. The spell once again does not require costly components. It affects any "object that contains a mundane or magical means that prevents access". It affects stuck doors again. It only unlocks one lock at a time. It once more only temporarily suppresses an arcane lock.

The author of the spell saved my favorite change for last. A real juicy sucker punch of a sentence: "When you cast the spell, a loud knock, audible from as far away as 300 feet, emanates from the target object." 

Aside from more powerful spellcasters being able to open bigger doors (no I won't let that one go), this is my favorite change yet. This is the best disincentive to using knock. How badly does the party need to open this thing? Are they willing to alert potentially all of the dungeon's inhabitants? What if those inhabitants come looking for them? They'll have to loot the vault quickly and then make a run for it. Can they use the spell as a diversion? Can they use it to set a trap? Should they cast a silence spell first?

It's fantastic.

The 2024 version of the spell is identical, albeit written more tersely and with Game Terms capitalized according to that style. 

5e's arcane lock preserves some of 4e's changes and blends in a bit of 3e:

You can still designate creatures that can bypass the lock, and you can still set a password. Knock only temporarily suppresses the lock. Instead of setting the DC with a spellcasting check like in 4e, you simply add 10 to the existing DC like in 3e. 5e still allows for the possibility of picking a magically augmented lock. 

The 2024 version doesn't seem to change much:

Unfortunately, you can no longer pick a lock affected by arcane lock. It reads as if you can still destroy the door or force it open, but no guidelines are given for modifying the DC. As seems to often be the case with the 2024 rules, this version offers only (often detrimental) simplification without clarity or innovation.

What's your favorite version of knock? How about wizard/arcane lock? The original versions are short and simple, AD&D's are more complex, 3e doesn't change much, 4e totally reworks both spells, and 5e brings them back to their roots with at least one brand new twist. 

Personally, I like some combination of AD&D's weird specificity, 4e's skill contests with a cost, and 5e's clever complications. There's just one problem that no version of knock has ever solved. The caster should have to physically knock on the door! That really grinds my gears. 

Here's my own version of knock, combining some of my favorite elements from several iterations:

Knock

2nd-level transmutation (ritual)

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: Touch

Target: A stuck door or a door, box, chest, set of manacles, or other closed object secured with a lock, bar, arcane lock, or other means preventing access, with a surface area no larger than 10 square feet x your spellcaster level

Components: V, S, M (a key carved from bone and etched with silver-inlaid arcane symbols worth at least 25 gp, which the spell consumes)

Duration: Instantaneous

Classes: Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard 

 

Make a spellcasting ability check with proficiency against the lock, stuck, or barred door's DC. On a success, a target that is held shut by a mundane lock or that is stuck or barred becomes unlocked, unstuck, or unbarred. If the object has multiple locks, you may continue to make spellcasting ability checks until all locks are unlocked or until you fail.

 

If you choose a target that is held shut with arcane lock, make a spellcasting ability check against the DC set by the caster of arcane lock. On a success, that spell is suppressed for 10 minutes, during which time the target can be opened and shut normally.

 

If you know the mage hand spell, you can use your mage hand to deliver the knock. 

When you cast the spell, a loud knock, audible from as far away as 300 feet, emanates from the target object.

(Written for 5e, but you could easily use it with almost any edition by just changing or omitting certain details.)

The spell is now a ritual, which increases its utility, for better or worse. It has a component cost however, so it isn't necessarily spam-able (not that the 25 gp will be much to player characters for long). The caster has to physically knock on the object (unless they have mage hand, which I thought was a fun twist). We're also bringing back the limitation on the size of the target object, because of course we are. 

Because expert characters like rogues are likely to have expertise with thieves' tools, and the knock spell only grants proficiency on the spellcasting check, rogues are still likely to be better lockpickers than their spellcasting counterparts, but a spellcaster remains a viable substitution if a rogue isn't around. If the target is affected by an arcane lock, it triggers a skill contest, which I feel better represents the different capabilities of more or less powerful spellcasters accounted for in arcane lock's early iterations.

And here is my version of arcane lock:

Arcane Lock

2nd-level abjuration (ritual)

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: Touch

Target: A closed door, window, gate, chest, or other entryway, with a surface area no larger than 10 square feet x your spellcaster level

Components: V, S, M (gold dust worth at least 25 gp, which you use to etch arcane glyphs on the object's surface, and which the spell consumes)

Duration: Until dispelled

Classes: Artificer, Wizard 

The target becomes locked and held fast for the duration. You and the creatures you designate when you cast this spell can open the object normally. You can also set a password that, when spoken within 5 feet of the object, suppresses this spell for 1 minute. Otherwise, it is impassable until it is broken or the spell is dispelled or suppressed. 

When you cast this spell, make a spellcasting ability check with proficiency. The result of your check determines the DC required for a knock spell to suppress your arcane lock.

While affected by this spell, the object is more difficult to break or force open, and any physical locks on it are more difficult to pick. The object's AC increased by 2, and it is treated as one size larger for the purposes of determining its hit points. The DC to force the object open or pick any locks on it increases by 10. If the object's locks are successfully picked, the spell continues to hold the object shut.

As with knock, I made arcane lock a ritual and added the limit on the area of effect (couldn't help myself). I made the arcane lock tougher to physically destroy and clarified that picking the locks still requires the door to be forced. 

In my mind, the spell is both making the lock tougher and physically reinforcing the door. Picking the lock doesn't remove the spell, but it makes forcing the door easier than if you were to try forcing the door with multiple locks in place. Hopefully that makes sense.

And that's knock and wizard/arcane lock! They're two classic spells that have gone through a variety of iterations. I am surprised by both the similarities and differences from one version to another, and delighted by the little intricacies and the ways in which each edition's quirks manifest in the spells' descriptions. They are interesting and iconic spells which are often written off for causing problems, but which I personally feel are just additional magical tools - one most likely to be used by the players to solve problems, and another to be used by the DM to cause them (in a good way).

Review: The Goblin Grinder (Mörk Borg)

The Goblin Grinder is a scenario for Mörk Borg. It is written by Ripley Caldwell, with graphic design and art by Johan Nohr, and editing by the Moonrat Conspiracy (Fiona Maeve Geist and Jarrett Crader).

Johan's cover art is a delightful collage of weapons and body parts splattered with neon pink gore and viscera:

This segues nicely into the scenario's introduction, where we're told that the streets of Galgenbeck (Mörk Borg's "greatest city that ever was") are littered with the "twisted, inhuman" corpses of goblins: "Their mottled, ropy flesh rots but never decomposes; even the oldest skins in the darkest alleys hold their shape to warn passersby of their swiftly approaching end."

Why are there so many goblin corpses in the streets? Well, there is also an infestation of live goblins. It sounds less like they are killing people and more like they are causing Gremlins-esque mischief. They are also afflicting the Galgenbeckians with the dreaded Goblin Curse.

What's the Goblin Curse? To find out, we'll have to check out the selection of creatures in Mörk Borg's core rulebook:

Maybe that's too hard to read (I just love the way monsters are presented in the Mörk Borg rulebook). Try the barebones edition:

When Mörk Borg's goblins attack you, you become cursed. Doesn't matter if the attack hits. The curse turns you into a goblin unless you kill the goblin that attacked you. I love this, because it makes Mörk Borg's goblins unique. I also hate it once I think about it for more than a second.

If a goblin is standing atop a 600-foot cliff and shoots at you with an arrow and runs away, you're cursed now. There is no way you're ever finding that goblin. In one to six days you become a goblin, and nothing can save you. Tear up that character sheet.

I would probably never use this in my game. At most, I'd say the curse is transmitted by a successful bite attack or something. If the goblin gets close enough to bite you and then slips away, at least you have a reasonable chance of chasing it down before you turn.

Anyway, all that is just to say that this scenario, in which Mörk Borg's "greatest city that ever was" is infested with comically-easily-transmitted curse-carrying goblins seems more like an outright apocalyptic event rather than anything the PCs can actually hope to resolve. I've seen Gremlins. I know how hard it was to deal with the gremlins - and the gremlins weren't turning everyone else into gremlins simply by looking at them. The scenario strains credibility immediately. If I'm a player, knowing what there is to know about goblins, I'm not going near that place.

But wait, there's hope! The local alchemist, Nagel Krat, is selling a cure for 40 silver. He's increasing the price each day as demand grows...

SPOILERS for the Goblin Grinder!

The next page after the hook describes "What's Really Going On?" and gives a list of reasons "Why Do the PCs Care About Any of This?"

It turns out that the alchemist Nagel Krat recently inherited both a Medickal Shoppe and a Derelict Mill from his father, Urvan Krat, who recently died of poison from an unidentified assassin. In the mill, Nagel found alchemical supplies and a machine called The Goblin Grinder. 

Nagel came up with a scheme to make goblins out of human corpses using the Goblin Grinder (it is implied but not explicitly stated that the Goblin Grinder turns human corpses into goblins - there is no indication as to what the machine actually is, how it achieves this, or why Urvan had it to begin with). To procure corpses, Nagel hired a gravedigger named Qarg. The corpses are fed into the Goblin Grinder to create corpses. The goblins infest Galgenbeck and curse people. Meanwhile, Nagel uses his alchemical supplies to produce a "cure" which does not actually cure the curse, but delays the transformation. He sells it to everyone and raises the prices every day. Infinite profit!

To rub it in my face a bit, this page has a reminder: "Anyone attacked by a goblin irrevocably transforms into one in d6 days, unless the attacking goblin is killed before then. Any attack is sufficient - it doesn't even need to be a successful hit. Goblins suck."

Yes, they do. 

So, why do the PCs care? There are four options: they're afflicted with the curse and can't keep up with rising prices, Nagel hires them as Medickal Shoppe guards, they're hired by a noble to investigate, or they're hired by a worried peasant. 

If you run goblins by the book, the PCs are certain to be cursed (not to beat a dead horse, but it's trivially easy to become cursed, and the city is infested with goblins), but there's no cure for the curse except to kill the offending goblin. What if a goblin jumps out at them first thing, then runs off into the city streets and eludes them? What are the chances that they find that goblin again? There is no conclusion to this scenario that ends with all the goblins dropping dead at once. It simply doesn't seem fair to me!

If Nagel hires the PCs as guards...what do they do? They just guard the shop against rowdy Galgenbeckians until what exactly happens? There's no actual hook to get the PCs into the meat of the scenario.

If a random peasant who "isn't able to pay, per se" tries to hire the PCs, they're probably going to tell him to buzz off. He does offer to trade a family heirloom in exchange for the PCs' service - it's a "magic" pearl which is hilariously and uselessly cursed. Even if all the PCs know is that it's a pearl, I hardly see this as sufficient motivation.

Mörk Borg is a bleak world inhabited by nasty people. It's not heroic fantasy! If you use the optional tables in the rulebook for generating character traits, you end up with a bunch of PCs who are aggravated, cruel, egocentric, nihilistic, vindictive, cowardly, lazy, bitter, deceitful, and arrogant (to name a few). The world is ending. Why do anything? For money! Even that is a tenuous motivation, considering there isn't that much to buy, but you can at least justify it as flawed people wanting to indulge themselves before the end of the world comes to pass. 

For that reason, I'm using the noble patron every time, and I don't see any reason why this scenario needs a d4 table of mostly useless hooks.

The next page introduces the notable characters:

The Bastard is the goblin leader, and somewhat explains why the goblins don't just attack Nagel Krat. He seems pretty nasty, as he makes the goblins fighting around him tougher and harder to shake. (For context, defense in Mörk Borg is normally DR 12, but is DR 14 against goblins specifically. The Bastard raises it again to DR 16. PCs can get up to +6 to their abilities, but the average character will have +0 unless they've survived a few scenarios already.)

Nagel Krat's description makes explicit the obvious: he killed his father. I'm not sure why the scenario tries to conceal that fact in the "What's Really Going On?" section, which reveals all of Nagel's other secrets. The fact that Nagel runs back to the mill at any sign of trouble suggests a path forward for the "PCs are hired guards" scenario - perhaps some Galgenbeckians attempt to loot the Medickal Shoppe, Nagel flees to the mill, and the PCs have to follow him there. If that is the intention, it'd be great if the hook on the previous page made that apparent.

Qarg is something of a nonentity. The PCs can bribe her to leave her post at the shop (I can imagine a few reasons the PCs might think to do so) or miss a delivery (why? Nagel doesn't really need to keep making goblins, since the nature of the curse perpetuates them anyway). I would simply say the PCs can bribe her to cooperate more generally.

Next, the Medickal Shoppe is detailed. Here Nagel sells the goblin cure (we're told that the price increases by 5 silver each day - props for making that explicit rather than leaving it to GM fiat), flash powder, "healing" tincture, invigorating elixir (basically speed), and apple juice. 

Nagel also keeps a crate of goblins behind the counter, which he releases in case of emergency. If the PCs aren't already suspicious of Nagel, his keeping a crate of goblins in his shop might lead them to consider him a suspect. 

But, I honestly don't see why they would be investigating the shop unless explicitly pointed in this direction by their patron - as far as anyone knows the goblin cure is real, and it wouldn't be surprising to see some ruthless capitalist taking advantage of the situation to their benefit. That doesn't clearly signpost that Nagel is responsible for everything. Maybe the PCs are there for another reason - the "guarding the shop" hook, or to steal as much cure as they can carry - and the goblins are revealed somehow and the adventure propels itself from there.

Still, I'm concerned over how tenuous the whole thing is. Nagel is obviously an unsavory character, but as I mentioned, so is everyone in the Mörk Borg world. Unsavoriness does not warrant suspicion in this setting. The only reason to be suspicious of Nagel in the first place is because he's like, the only character in the scenario. Isn't Galgenbeck "the greatest city that ever was"? Couldn't there be like, an investigation with different characters and locations?

The description of the goblin cure on this page also states: "Not actually a cure, but nobody knows that yet." Oh? So if the PCs only goal is to get a cure (as with one of the four suggested scenario hooks), they could just go and buy the cure, drink it, assume it worked, then turn into goblins in d6 days anyway? So their characters are essentially dead through no fault of their own?

It feels like the only reliable way to run this scenario is to say, "There's a goblin infestation in Galgenbeck. A noble has hired you to investigate and eliminate the source of the goblins. A local alchemist has been selling phony goblin cures, so she recommends you start there." And that's honestly fine with me. It just isn't how the scenario is presented.

Lastly, the scenario describes the Derelict Mill where Nagel keeps the Goblin Grinder. This is a neat little linear dungeon with a bit of time pressure - whenever the PCs linger, Nagel makes a goblin. I would qualify that statement with "If Nagel is here", since he spends a lot of time at the shop as well - although as written there's not much to point the PCs in this direction unless they're chasing Nagel.

The tower's ground floor features an encounter with three goblins and a cannon. They shoot the cannon at anyone walking in. Cool! (Kind of weird considering that Nagel and Qarg both also come through this door, but the goblins are "Given a chance to fire a cannon and are going to take it no matter what.") The cannon kills anyone it hits.

The cannon firing also alerts all of the other goblins in the mill. In the room above are three goblin arches on top of bookshelves. One of them douses the PCs in oil as they climb the stairs. The others shoot flaming arrows at them. Cool!

The next room is a laboratory filled with unstable reagents. Every round, there's a 2-in-6 chance of something bubbling over and causing a reaction. There's also an ooze monster lying in wait. Weapons stick to it and eventually melt. Cool!

Finally, at the top of the tower is Nagel Krat (again, assuming he's here), the Bastard, two goblins plus however many Nagel had time to create while the PCs climbed the tower, and the Goblin Grinder. This has the potential to be a pretty nasty fight, and Nagel can use his smoke bombs to escape at any time.

We still learn nothing about what the Goblin Grinder is or how it came to be here. We learn that it requires a key, fuel, and a human corpse to work. We don't know how it works or how to destroy it. It's also worth noting that even if Nagel and the Bastard are killed and the Goblin Grinder destroyed somehow, none of this solves the goblin infestation in Galgenbeck. The curse is self-perpetuating. There is no cure. The scenario has no resolution.

Ultimately, I was pretty disappointed by this one. The Goblin Grinder is one of the most frequently recommended Mörk Borg scenarios. I'm sure there's fun to be had, but it also feels like there's work to do. Here's what I'd change/make more explicit:

• Goblins transmit their curse via bite. This reduces the infestation to a smaller scale which feels more believable.
• The PCs are hired by a noble to investigate. I would point them towards a specific district in the city which has been quarantined to contain the outbreak.
• The PCs can ask around and learn about Nagel's shop and the mill. The mill makes a lot of noise at night (the Goblin Grinder is loud), but people assume that's just Nagel making cures late into the night, struggling to meet demand. Some people claim to have seen goblins in and around the mill. Others claim that Nagel's cures are phony.
• The PCs can investigate the shop or mill in whatever order. Nagel is at the shop during the day and the mill at night. If the PCs go to the mill during the day, maybe the Bastard is there making goblins? He doesn't do anything else, so I don't see why not.
• If confronted at the store, Nagel releases his goblins and flees to the mill. The PCs can chase him or question Qarg to find out what's going on.
• The PCs can stake out the mill and see Qarg delivering bodies in the dead of night, and see goblins emerging from within.
• The Bastard is keeping all the goblins together. If he's killed, they all run off into Galgenbeck's surrounding lands and eventually into the wilderness.

I feel like those are some pretty big changes from the material as written, but this set up gives PCs a clear motivation and suggests a direction in which to start their investigation, while allowing them freedom to explore and conduct the investigation in the order they like. It doesn't rely on the PCs having a specific encounter at a specific location to point them towards the next location. It has a resolution.

All that being said, I would be remiss not to conclude by praising the art and layout of this one. Johan Nohr's art is, as usual, evocative, stylish, whimsical, and hideous all at once. The layout is as easy to use as many of Mörk Borg's other official scenarios (which is to say, very useable). There are some pieces of information I'd move around or signpost earlier in the text, but it's not a big problem. 

I love a scenario that sticks to one striking color, and the neon pink here looks fantastic. I can't help but compare it to Mothership's A Pound of Flesh, which for some reason uses like, 8 point white font on a similar neon pink background, which is totally unreadable to me in most environments (I sincerely don't understand why Mörk Borg gets so much backlash for its stylistic choices while Mothership is constantly praised for the same, but this is neither the time nor place).

Anyway, that's the Goblin Grinder. I don't love it, but I'll try running it anyway. It's salvageable. It looks fantastic.

You can download the Goblin Grinder for free on the Mörk Borg website (direct link here). 

If you want a physical copy, you have to purchase Mörk Borg Cult: Feretory. I highly recommend it! In addition to the Goblin Grinder, you get rules for traveling between the locations of the Mörk Borg world and hunting its creatures (including a bunch of new monsters), the Death Ziggurat scenario (which I previously reviewed and liked a lot), a d66 table of magic items, four new classes, Dark Fort (the solo game upon which Mörk Borg developed), and more. Get it!

d66 Reasons Why the Castle is Totally Deserted

My most recent foray into using the AD&D DMG to stock a hex map sparked some discussion about the frequency of "totally deserted" castles.

According to the DMG's inhabitation table, each "space" in the wilderness (1 mile according to Gygax, 6 miles according to conventional wisdom - or not) has a 3% chance of containing a "castle" (more accurately described as a fortress or stronghold):

Of those castles, 35% are small, 45% are medium, and 20% are large. In turn, 45% of small castles, 30% of medium castles, and 15% of large castles are "totally deserted":

If my math is right, that means that 32.25% of castles are totally deserted.

What does that mean? Well:

How could this be? We had a discussion about it over on the Prismatic Wasteland Discord. A variety of possibilities were proposed (some of my commentary in parentheses):

• The castle was just invaded and the invaders haven't yet brought their full force over. (But surely the invaders would have left some sort of garrison there to hold the location while they moved their full forces in. Castle Table II already accounts for the possibility of human inhabitation. The notes for that table are clear that the castle "appears empty", so this is an unlikely explanation.)
• The castle is so ruined/old so as to be functionally worthless as a castle unless its completely rebuilt. It's so bad, even monsters won't live there. Now that's saying something!
• The castle is logistically difficult to occupy or supply.
• The castle is no longer strategically significant. 
• The castle is/contains a dungeon. (But again, the notes on Castle Table II state that the castle appears empty upon close inspection. Dungeons contain monsters, tricks, traps, and treasure, so I would not say a castle which contains a dungeon is empty unless the dungeon is empty as well, which brings us back to: why?)
• The castle is inhabited/contains a dungeon, but the inhabitants/dungeon are hidden. (The notes on Castle Table II say only that the castle appears empty.)
• The castle is cursed/plagued.
• The castle is protected by some regional taboo against entering it.
• The castle is intended, from a metagame perspective, to be reoccupied and rebuilt by enterprising player characters.
• Gygax simply liked the idea (perhaps inspired by Middle Earth) of a troubled land where even grand castles lie in ruin due to the insidious influence of Chaos/Evil/Shadow.

Those last two points are key, and I agree with both. The implied setting of Gygax's D&D is post-collapse. This may have simply been Gygax's aesthetic preference, make of it what you will. But that aesthetic preference is then awfully convenient for player characters, most of whom are expected to eventually command a castle - usually by clearing an area of monsters and then building one there. Wouldn't it be convenient if there was some totally deserted castle already built for them (albeit "in disrepair")?

If this was the intention, it also makes sense that deserted castles are mostly small constructions - the player character can capitalize on the convenience of an existing castle, but if they want a big castle, they'll (probably) have to build it themselves (there is only a .09% chance per hex of finding a deserted large castle - meaning there is one roughly every thousand hexes - compared to a .4725% chance of deserted small castle and a .405% chance of a deserted medium castle). 

It's also important not to shut out what the procedure is trying to say. There are castles all over the place (approximately one every 33 miles, if the suggested 1 mile scale is used - meaning you usually can't walk a day and a half without coming upon one). One-third of them are totally deserted. Every castle is constantly under threat of ruination so great that even monsters won't inhabit them. The fact that larger castles are less likely to meet this fate suggests that only the greatest fortifications are likely to withstand this threat, whatever its nature may be.

Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but when I look at those numbers I think, "Damn, if I'm going to survive in this world, I have to build a castle. And it better be a big one!"

But what exactly am I trying to endure? What happened in this world? What is currently happening to its castles that causes them to become deserted?

WHY IS THE CASTLE TOTALLY DESERTED? (d66)

(11) Ambient Magic. Whatever powerful magic brought the castle to ruin lingers to this day.

(12) Antipathy. The castle is enchanted so as to psychically repel all who would occupy it.

(13) Barren Lands. The land around the castle is not suitable for sustaining crops.

(14) Barrier. The castle is ensconced within a field of force that is yet to be dispelled. 

(15) Conjured Garrison. The castle appears empty, but is defended by magically conjured creatures should anyone attempt to occupy it.

(16) Cursed. Anyone who tries to live there suffers calamity.

(21) Displaced. The castle is out of sync with time or the known dimension, appearing and disappearing at random intervals. It just showed up again. The people who once ruled it didn't come with it.  

(22) Divine Mandate. The castle is forbidden by a deity, who punishes those who disobey it.

(23) Dry. The castle's wells have dried up, and it's too difficult to bring it water.

(24) Forsaken. An atrocity was committed in the castle's past. None inhabit it due to its reputation.

(25) Gateway. All who enter the castle are transported to another world or time.

(26) Haunted. The spirits of the dead haunt the castle, driving out occupants or else driving them mad.

(31) Hidden Dungeon. The castle contains a dungeon, but it is hidden away so that the castle appears empty.

(32) Illusion. The castle only appears empty. A powerful illusion hides its true nature and inhabitants.

(33) Inaccessible. The castle is built in a place which is difficult to reach, and recent circumstances (snow, overgrowth, flooding, etc.) have eliminated the most well-known paths.

(34) Invisible Foe. The castle is occupied, but its inhabitants are invisible or otherwise difficult to find.

(35) Irradiated. Ancient civilizations dropped weapons of mass magical destruction on the castle. Those who attempt to occupy it suffer sickness and mutations.

(36) Irrelevant. The political landscape has rendered the castle's original purpose insignificant, and none wish to occupy or maintain it.

(41) Lost to Time. The castle's original inhabitants perished so long ago that all record of its location has been lost.

(42) Mimic. The castle is no castle - it eats anyone who occupies it!

(43) No fortifications remain. The masonry has crumbled or been melted by dragon fire. It has no defensive value, and to rebuild it would cost almost as much as to build a brand new castle.

(44) Non-Euclidean. The castle's geometry is incomprehensible to human minds, causing those who inhabit it to go mad or become lost forever in its halls.

(45) Omens. The local ruler is awaiting an auspicious omen before reoccupying the stronghold.

(46) Petrification. The castle is populated with lifelike statues. Any who inhabit it are turned to stone at sunrise.

(51) Plague. The inhabitants died of a fast-spreading illness which threatens to infect any who occupy it.

(52) Prophecy. The local ruler is awaiting a Chosen One to come of age before bestowing the castle upon them.

(53) Remote. The castle is too far from civilization to be sustained.

(54) Ruler's Mandate. A local power has forbade anyone from occupying the castle, and frequently sends out patrols to ensure it is so.

(55) Sacred Site. The castle is a location of importance to a powerful religion. It is left unoccupied out of respect.

(56) Storm-Wracked. A change in climate has caused the castle to be constantly assailed by storms, freezing winds, crashing waves, or the like.

(61) Too Cold. It's just too cold there!

(62) Too Hot. It's just too hot there!

(63) Treaty. Two or more competing powers have agreed that none should occupy the castle, lest they risk starting a war.

(64) Unsound. The masonry is unstable and threatening to collapse, and no one has the means to fix it.

(65) Unstable. The castle is built on shifting earth, a sinkhole, an eroding cliffside, or some other dangerous type of terrain.

(66) Vampiric. The castle drains the life of those who occupy it, binding their souls to its halls.

Not all of these entries explain why monsters wouldn't inhabit these castles, but I thought it was more important to answer the question of human desire - after all, these are (mostly) human constructions and represent significant investment on the part of humans. The map as presented at the beginning of a D&D game is only a snapshot of the region at that time. Just because no one occupies a castle now doesn't mean they won't do so later.

There's definitely some overlap here, and not every entry is inspired (I added "too cold"/"too hot" at the end just to get it over with - shoutout Goldilocks fans). The more mundane entries probably fit whatever Gygax's original intention was, while the more fantastic may not. My goal was not to make a perfect table, but merely to demonstrate that there are many factors - both realistic and fantastic - that could result in these locations being abandoned. 

On Discord, we also discussed how having over 30% of castles be deserted is not fun. Hopefully I demonstrated how one can avoid making many of these locations dull. Even if a castle is unoccupied for a totally mundane reason - like a territorial dispute, an inaccessible location, or its sacred status - it shouldn't take much thought to turn that into a compelling scenario filled with intrigue and adventure.

Stocking a Sandbox with the AD&D 1e DMG (Part 2)

I am back to do more sandbox stocking with the AD&D 1e DMG! I'm continuing from Part 1, here.

I start by filling in the terrain in the next ring of atlas hexes using Welsh Piper's Hex-Based Campaign Design:

I ended up with three more plains hexes, a forest hex, and two water hexes, which was unexpected (water is a "wildcard" terrain for plains). To keep things varied, I'll stock the hexes in this order: plains (SW) > water (NW) > plains (S) > forest (SE) > plains (NE) > water (N).

I start by rolling for inhabitation in the southwest plains hex:

I ended up with two hamlets, a thorp, and another totally deserted fortress complex. 

I determined that the fortress is the former stronghold of a master thief, conquered by invaders. I'm thinking that the bandits to the northeast might have rolled through here, killed the fortress's defenders, and looted the place. Probably a bunch of them died to traps. But I think there are also secret areas the bandits did not find, which contain even greater treasures protected by even deadlier traps. I imagine this dungeon has very few if any monsters, and is primarily a deadly maze of traps and secrets.

I don't like the two hamlets right next to each other, so I'm going to combine them into a single settlement of 500 people. It's too big to be a hamlet, and too small to be a village, so it must be a secret third thing. A villet. A hamlage.

In any case, it has five character-type NPCs: a 2nd-level fighter, a 2nd-level halfling fighter/thief, a 3rd-level fighter, a 3rd-level magic-user, and a 6th-level magic-user. No doubt many of them are here to plunder the fortress to the north. The player characters can seek out lower mid-level spellcasting services here, which is nice.

The thorp is totally mundane, with no character-types. The people there are at risk of being eaten by the lions to the northeast. I'm also pretty sure that the peoples of the hamlage and thorp are within range of predation by the bandits to the northeast (who have something like 100 horses, mind you). The thorp is likely "ruled" by the bandit leader in all but name, with one of the bandit lieutenants stationed here to keep the thorpers under the bandits' heel and collect "taxes".

Next, I determine monster lairs:

I've got a troll hole north of the fortress and an orc den in the forested wetland southwest of the thorp.

There are five trolls in the troll hole. They're definitely capable of getting out to the fortress. If the bandits left any sort of garrison behind after invading the fort, there's a good chance the trolls showed up to carry them off to their lair, and might show up to investigate any adventurer activity in the area. The hamletfolk have probably encountered them as well.

The orc den contains 149 orcs, which includes four leaders, a subchief, a chief, and all their assistants and bodyguards. It probably seems strange that the orc den is right next to the tiny thorp, but keep in mind that it takes an entire day for a humanoid creature to travel from the edge of the forest wetland hex to its center and vice versa The orcs are actually fairly isolated, though they likely carry off the occasional fisherman intruding in their territory.

Overall, this hex gives me another big dungeon for early adventures, a larger settlement with higher-level henchmen/spellcasting NPCs, and two more interesting monster lairs for mid-to-high-level play. All welcome additions to the sandbox.

Moving on to the northwest water hex:

Again, I don't like two settlements right next to each other, so I'll have the village absorb the thorp, giving it a population of 950. It's too big to be a village but too small to be a town. It's a villown. A tillage.

The big village contains a 1st-level fighter, a 1st-level magic-user, a 1st-level illusionist, a 2nd-level ranger, a 3rd-level cleric, two 3rd-level fighters, a 3rd-level magic-user, a 5th-level ranger, and a 5th-level gnome thief. A nice mix of henchman options.

One complication that becomes apparent is that settlements can wind up in strange places, like in the middle of this large body of water. I try to see this as a feature, rather than a bug. Perhaps this village is a conglomerate of boats docked together, or it's situated on an island too small to be represented on the map. The village might be built around an important bridge which spans from one shore to the other.

Continuing along with the monster lairs:

This is a strange one! Two huge koalinth (marine hobgoblin) lairs right next to each other, and one within range of the village. One contains 117 koalinth, and the other contains 101. When I rolled the first one, I thought surely the village was doomed. But, I usually give settlements a militia of 10% their population. I figured a militia of 95 plus the settlement's myriad character-types would be sufficient to hold off 117 hobgoblins.

When I rolled the second koalinth lair, I considered combining them, the way I would two adjacent settlements. However, the Monster Manual description says that tribes of hobgoblins will fight each other unless some strong leader is able to bring them together. I decided the two tribes (the Rippers and the Breakers) are at war over who will reign supreme in the region (fortunately for the village). Perhaps some sort of mercenary third party outsider could unite the tribes or provoke them into all-out war with one another...

To the southeast is a nest for a single giant water spider. It's close enough to prey on villagers who stray too far from their home waters.

Moving on to the south plains hex:

I rolled a lonely single dwelling as well as my biggest settlement yet, a town of 4,500 people. 

The single dwelling doesn't have any character-types, so there isn't much to do with it. Just some isolated homesteaders.

The town has 45 character-types, at which point it's worth asking if it's necessary to determine who all these people are. The town will have about 29 characters levels 1 to 3, nine characters levels 4 to 7, four from levels 7 to 12, and two from levels 9 to 20. I will only detail the ones the players are likely to interact with - the 1st-level ones that will be the first to become henchmen, and the highest-level ones that are most likely to have a great deal of influence in the settlement and that can provide high-level spellcasting services.

There would be around nine 1st-level character-types, which are: two clerics (one half-orc), four fighters (one dwarf), a half-elf fighter/magic-user, and two thieves. There's also an 8th-level cleric, a 9th-level thief, a 10th-level magic-user, a 12th-level fighter, a half-elf fighter 8/magic-user 8, and a 17th-level cleric. Wow!

Next, I roll for monster lairs:

Uh oh. There's a castle full of brigands in the forest. Brigands are just particularly nasty (Chaotic Evil) bandits who are more likely to live in cave complexes and castles rather than impromptu camps. In this case, they live in a castle.

One thing I find weird about this is that when you randomly generate a castle, there's already a chance that it's inhabited by non-character-type humans, one of which can be brigands. So there are multiple ways to end up with a castle full of brigands.

The castle contains 104 brigands. They have a 9th-level leader, an 8th-level magic-user, plus guards, lieutenants, and other 3rd- to 6th-level fighters.

Otherwise, they're not too different from the bandits in the first atlas hex I stocked. They're not in open terrain, so they don't have as many horses. They're more entrenched in their position and they're more aggressive.

They can't bully the town, which has a militia of 450 plus very high-level character-types, but they can easily destroy the single dwelling if they want to. I'm tempted to just turn it into a ruin, but it's probably more interesting if there's just a small group of brigands there forcing the inhabitants to feed and house them. The players could liberate the homesteaders from the small detachment of tyrannical brigands only to get themselves mixed up with the larger faction in the castle.

There's a also a den of fifteen wolves (with just two cubs) right outside of town, which is a bit odd. The den must be very new to be there at all, and they are likely just a nuisance to lone travelers. They are much more likely to prey on the isolated homesteaders than on the townsfolk.

Moving on to the southeast forest hex:

Two single dwellings, a village, and a thorp. I'll combine the single dwellings into one but leave the others, who are far enough apart for me.

Neither the single dwelling nor the thorp have a character-type. Like the last single dwelling, this one is in brigand range and has probably been taken over. They're also potentially lion food, so I guess they picked a bad place to settle.

The village has eight character-types: a 1st-level ranger, a 2nd-level fighter, a 2nd-level thief, a 3rd-level fighter, two 3rd-level magic-users, a half-orc fighter 3/thief 3, and a 6th-level cleric.

Now, I add the monster lairs:

This is great! I have a halfling shire, a leprechaun burrow, and a bugbear cave. 

There are 169 male halflings, which includes eight 2nd-level fighters, three 3rd-level fighters, a 4th-level fighter, plus another 169 female halflings and 101 halfling children. They also have 1d4 dogs per halfling! It's unclear if this is referring to the 169 halflings I initially rolled (the halfling men) or if every halfling man, woman, and child has 1d4 dogs all to themselves. I went with just the initial roll and got a whopping 422 dogs! Safe to say that they are well protected from the nearby brigands.

Leprechauns are either solitary or found in groups of 1 to 20. I rolled d2 and got 1, so I decided that a solitary leprechaun lives here. Leprechauns love to play pranks and steal things, so I'm sure this one causes headaches for the nearby homesteaders. That should be a whimsical little adventure for a party of low-level characters.

Lastly, there's a bugbear lair near the thorp. There are 17 bugbears along with a chief and sub-chief, eight female bugbears and eight bugbear children. The bugbears could likely overwhelm the thorp if they wanted to. In this case I would say that the bugbears are snatching the occasional thorper wandering the forest but haven't launched an attack against the thorp just yet.

Next is my final plains hex:

This hex has a village, a hamlet, and a small, totally deserted "castle" (a friary, in this case).

The village has a 1st-level magic-user, a 2nd-level half-elf magic-user, a 3rd-level fighter, a 3rd-level magic-user, a 6th-level druid, and a 7th-level fighter. The hamlet has a 3rd-level cleric and a 3rd-level thief.

I assume the friary was used by an order of friars, because that's what a friary is. I rolled that it was shunned after being curse by the gods. That's interesting. The PHB has this to say about monks:

I roll to determine the monks' alignment and get Lawful Good. Perhaps these monks lost their Lawful alignment for some reason, and this is why their friary was cursed? Much to think about.

There's another den of wolves, which is nothing to write home about, but there's also a lair of three criosphinxes (a non-spellcasting, goat-headed species of sphinx) and a nest of nine griffons with three fledglings (which sell for 5,000 gold each).

The griffons, of course, fly all over the place looking for horses to eat. There's plenty of settlements in the area for them to prey upon. The criosphinx "lusts after gynosphinxes" and "extorts passersby" for treasure. There are no gynosphinxes nearby yet, so I suppose the criosphinxes are here to collect treasure from the region's inhabitants.

Finally, the north water hex:

Just a hamlet with 100 people. There's a single 2nd-level fighter there.

Onto monster lairs:

Hell yes. I have a lair for the infamous AD&D giant beavers as well as a kopoacinth (aquatic gargoyle) lair. 

There are just 10 giant beavers living at the dam with a like amount of young beavers. No doubt the nearby hamlet has some nefarious trappers who hunt the beavers for their hides (500 to 2,000 gold each) and to sell their children into beaver slavery (100 to 200 gold per hit point, up to 700). The players could get in on the action or stand up for the beavers' rights.

The kopoacinth lair (I prefer 2e's term - margoyle) contains 14 of them. They attack anything they find 90% of the time and love to torture their prey. The poor beavers likely have to contend with them as well as the villagers.

Here is the map now that I've stocked another ring of hexes:

Honestly, this is probably all I would need to run a full campaign. There are four dungeons (all of which could be restored and turned into proper strongholds for the player characters) and a multitude of monster lairs (five of which could sustain proper late game mass combat scenarios - the two koalinth lairs, the orc lair, the bandit camp, and the brigands' castle).

A few things to note. I still do not have a city (every hex has a 1% chance of containing one, so it is statistically likely that I would have one by now). I have just two non-ruined strongholds (only one of which is a proper castle). All of my ruins are former strongholds (I did not roll any ruined villages, cities, or shrines). I have four humanoid lairs (two koalinth lairs, an orc lair, and a bugbear lair), but only one demihuman settlement (the shire). Perhaps most importantly, I don't have a dragon lair yet!

Perhaps I will simply have to continue some other time!