Creating a New Regional Sandbox for B2: The Keep on the Borderlands

Over on Bluesky, I recently finished up my readthrough of Dungeon Module B2: The Keep on the Borderlands - actually, by the time this post sees the light of day it will have been over a month ago since I finished it!

One thing that struck me about B2 is the regional map, which looks like this:

Not included in the image above is the scale of the map, which is 100 yards per square. Nothing wrong with that, except:

Huh. It takes an hour to walk 300 yards. That doesn't sound right. A commenter on my thread pointed out that this is probably an error:

That certainly makes more sense, but I actually kind of like the larger scale produced by the error. If we just count squares and determine how long it takes to get from place to place using the originally printed guidelines we get the following travel times (assuming 8-hour travel days):

• ~1 hour and 40 minutes from the fork in the road to the Keep
• ~16 hours (2 days' travel) from the Keep to Area 1, the Mound of the Lizard Men
• ~32 hours (4 days) from the Keep to Area 2, the Spiders' Lair
• ~10 hours (1.25 days) from the Keep to Area 3, the Raider Camp
• ~6.5 hours (.8 days days) from the Keep to Area 4, the Mad Hermit's lair
• ~16 hours (2 days) from the Keep to the Caves of the Unknown
• ~16 hours (2 days) from the Keep to the Caves of Chaos

Maybe it was intended for the player characters to be able to walk from the Keep to the Caves of Chaos in 2 hours and 40 minutes, but I like my players to have to work just a little bit more to get to their destination. It gives them a chance at having random encounters which produce interesting and unexpected results and complications, and I want that to happen. I like the larger scale.

I don't however, like the map. I don't like counting squares. So I made a new map:

This map more or less yields the same travel times as those above, and I'll show my work.

The scale is 6 miles per hex. Plains hexes take 1 hour to enter and 2 hours to cross (same with roads if the player characters are on one, but in this case it doesn't matter because the only roads go through plains hexes). Forest hexes take 2 hours to enter and 4 hours to cross. Heavy forest hexes take 4 hours to enter and 8 hours to cross. Forested hill hexes take 3 hours to enter and 6 hours to cross. Forested mountain hexes take 4 hours to enter and 8 hours to cross. Fen hexes and wetland forest hexes take 8 hours to enter and 16 hours to cross. Rivers take 1 hour to cross.

So:

• From the crossroads to the Keep is 2 hours
• From the Keep to the Mound of the Lizard Men is 16 hours (6 hours on the road, 1 hour off road, 1 hour to cross the river, and 8 hours to enter the fen)
• From the Keep to the Giant Spiders' lair is 15 hours (2 hours on the road, 1 hour off road, 1 hour to cross the river, 4 hours across the plains, 1 hour to cross the other river, 4 hours across the plains again, and 2 hours into the forest) instead of 16
• From the Keep to the Raider Camp is 11 hours (2 hours on the road, 1 hour offroad, 1 hour to cross the river, 4 hours across the plains, and 3 hours into the forested hills) instead of 10
• From the Keep to the Mad Hermit's lair is 6 hours (3 hours across the plains and 3 hours into the forested hills) instead of 6.5
• From the Keep to the Caves of the Unknown is 13 hours (10 hours on the road, 1 hour offroad, and 2 hours into the forest) instead of 16
• From the Keep to the Caves of Chaos is 15 hours (12 hours on the road, 1 hour offroad, and 2 hours into the forest) instead of 16

I had to make some concessions due to the self-imposed restraint of using hexes as a measurement tool and placing the locations of interest perfectly in the center of the hexes, but most of these travels times are just an hour off from the numbers I originally calculated. The exception is the Caves of the Unknown, which are pretty close to the Caves of Chaos in the original module. At this scale, I can't properly recreate the intended distances (I'd probably have to include them both in the same hex, which I don't want to do).

Now, I think the Mound of the Lizard Men, the Giant Spiders' lair, and the Raider Camp are a little anemic as presented in the original module, so I want to juice them up a little to make them feel like proper AD&D monster lairs using that edition's numbers, since that's probably how I'd run this module. 

My version of the Mound of the Lizard Men contains 40 (!) lizard men (the original contains 7 males, 3 females who fight similarly to males, and 8 young who do not fight - AD&D does not make this distinction, so all 40 of mine are simply fighting lizard people). I would flesh out the lair to make it a muddy warren of burrows and dens, forcing the players to actually get in there and try to use the space to their advantage. My lizard men do not simply come parading out to be killed. I imagine this environment would play similarly to the Caves of Chaos themselves, with tight corridors and lots of united enemies which can quickly be mobilized to respond together to threats.

I'm okay with leaving the spiders basically as is, but I would change them to AD&D's giant spiders (the module uses black widow spiders, which aren't explicitly a monster type in AD&D). AD&D's giant spiders have a bit more hit dice, better AC, and do less damage. Otherwise they're basically the same.

B2's Raider Camp contains a dozen chaotic fighters - hardly enough to pose any real threat to the Keep. To make them a more proper and dangerous faction in the sandbox, I'm going to treat them as brigands (Chaotic Evil bandits). My Raider Camp has 100 brigands led by five 3rd level fighters, three 4th level fighters, two 5th level fighters, two 6th level fighters, a 7th level lieutenant, and a 9th level leader with six 2nd level guards. They have nine important prisoners and 30 camp followers and slaves.

I want to bring this region more in line with the wilderness stocking described in AD&D's Appendix B. I have 49 hexes total, and 16% of them should contain either a settlement, stronghold, or ruin - that's seven or eight hexes. I already have the Keep and the Caves of the Unknown, which I'm going to classify as a dungeon/ruin, since that's more or less how it's described in the text. I'm classifying all other locations, including the Caves of Chaos, as monster lairs. That leaves me with five or six areas of inhabitation to add.

Let's go with six. I rolled up two single dwellings, a village, two more strongholds (a deserted keep with a monster and a totally deserted tower), and another ruin (a tomb). Let's add those to the map:

I cluster the settlements around the Keep along the river. The ruined strongholds are off to the east, near the caves. These areas may have once been cleared of forest, but since the strongholds fell into ruin, the forest has reclaimed them. The ruined keep (now inhabited by a will-o-wisp) is the one farther to the east. The ruined tomb is to the northwest of the Keep on the Borderlands. Roads still lead to all three ruins, and the Keep probably charges a toll to use them.

Next I want to determine if I should add any more monster lairs. My rule of thumb is that 10% of plains hexes, 20% of forest and hill hexes, 30% of deep forest and mountain hexes, and 40% of wetland hexes should have monster lairs. As of now I have six empty plains hexes, eight empty forest hexes, five empty hill hexes, one empty deep forest hex, two empty mountain hexes, and nine empty wetland hexes. 

I roll and determine that I need one monster on the plains, one in the forest, one in the hills, and four in the wetlands. I place these and get the following:

Here is my final key:

• 01.01: Brownies
• 01.02: Tomb Ruins
• 01.05: Dwelling
• 01.07: Raider Camp
• 02.01: The Mad Hermit
• 02.03: The Keep on the Borderlands
• 02.04: Village
• 03.05: Dwelling
• 03.06: Ghouls
• 04.06: Giant Weasels
• 05.03: Deserted Tower
• 05.05: The Mound of the Lizard Men
• 05.07: Giant Spiders
• 06.02: The Caves of the Unknown
• 06.07: Tribesmen
• 07.01: Green Dragons
• 07.02: The Caves of Chaos
• 07.04: Deserted Keep (will-o-wisp)
• 07.05: Wolves
• 07.07: Beholder

01.01 Brownie Burrow: This forested hillside burrow is the lair of 11 brownies, chief among them Leongath. They are friendly towards adventurers and particularly helpful to those that are Lawful Good, offering to make or repair mundane items. They were friends of the Mad Hermit (02.01) - before he went mad - and can guide the party to his lair. 

If made aware of the settlements south of the Keep on the Borderlands (02.03), the brownies will eventually migrate there, settling in the surrounding farmlands (01.05, 02.04, and 03.05) before eventually taking up residence in various homesteads.

01.02 Tomb of the Druids: A dungeon for 1st level characters. This forested ruin is little more than a burial mound surrounded by ancient standing stones. Here the druids of the area were entombed. Many died of natural causes, but many more were slain in their conflict with the Cult of Evil Chaos. The dungeon is inhabited by undead and cursed vermin, and the sacred burial grove deep within is guarded by Balaesus, a former druid reanimated as a ghoul out of his desire for revenge. He is hostile to all intruders, suspecting them of being tomb robbers or cultists. 

If the Mad Hermit (02.01) is killed and brought here for interment, Balaesus will become friendly (he assumes that the Cult of Chaos is responsible). He is somewhat knowledgeable about the Cult and knows about their shrine within the Caves of Chaos (07.02).

01.05 Hale Homestead: A peaceful farm tended by Edrin and Mara Hale. They mind their business and are unfriendly towards adventurers, mistaking them for potential brigands. Their son, Tamsin, was captured by brigands and taken to the Raider Camp (01.07) while wandering the fields across the river (02.05).

01.07 Raider Camp: See Dungeon Module B2: The Keep on the Borderlands, but use brigands. There are 100 normal brigands with five 3rd level fighters, three 4th level fighters, two 5th level fighters, and two 6th level fighters. They are led by Sobek (lieutenant) and Geppert. Geppert is protected by six 2nd level guards. The brigands have 30 camp followers and slaves tending to their camp.

The brigands have seven light horses and three medium horses. Groups of ten mounted riders will venture forth into the plains (02.05 and 02.06) daily to snatch up villagers and homesteaders who wander across the river. They have acquired nine prisoners in this way and use them to demand a ransom from the Keep on the Borderlands (02.03).

• Geppert: 9th level fighter. He is neutral towards adventurers and is willing to entertain them on the off-chance that they will be useful in raiding the Keep and its surrounding lands, or as middle men in securing and delivering a ransom from the Keep.
• Sobek: 7th level fighter. He is unfriendly towards adventurers, suspicious that they will reveal the camp's location to the garrison at the Keep.
• Prisoners: Nine in total, includes Tamsin Hale of Hale Homestead (01.05) and several villagers from Southron Village (02.04).

02.01 The Mad Hermit: See Dungeon Module B2: The Keep on the Borderlands. The hermit is a former druid, captured, tortured, and driven mad by the Cult of Evil Chaos in their conflict. He has encountered Gungroyeth of Wyrmwood Cave (07.01) at a distance in the forest east of his lair (03.01 and 03.02) and believes the dragon is a demon conjured by the Cult to devour his soul.

02.03 The Keep on the Borderlands: See Dungeon Module B2: The Keep on the Borderlands. The Keep controls a number of settlements to the south (01.05, 02.04, and 03.05). Several villagers have been captured and taken to the Raider Camp (01.07) and are being ransomed. The Castellan would rather pay adventurers to root out the raiders than pay the ransom. 

Patrols have spotted Gungroyeth of Wyrmwood Cave (07.01) in the forest to the east (03.03) and have heard reports that he flies over the eastern road (05.04, 06.03, and 07.03). The dragon is viewed as a threat to the Keep's survival, and adventurers are encouraged to seek out its lair and slay it.

(I would also make the Castellan at least 9th level, since that's the level at which fighters in AD&D can have strongholds.)

02.04 Southron Village: A peaceful village within the domain of the Keep on the Borderlands (02.03). It has a mixed population of about 900 and is ruled by Lady Althaea, a half-elf aligned with the Keep's Castellan. The village is a gathering place where homesteaders from the surrounding lands grind wheat, bake bread, and trade for goods. The village controls the road leading north to the Keep.

Sir Garrick commands the village militia (about 90 can be mustered in times of urgency) and leads patrols across the river, clashing with brigands from the Raider Camp (01.07). Several of Southron's homesteaders have been captured by the brigands and are being held for ransom. Lady Althaea would prefer to pay the ransom to ensure the safe return of the villagers, but the Castellan will not allow it.

NPCs and their henchmen:

• Delmare: NG human fighter 1. She can be recruited as a henchman by a non-Evil character.
• Reynrielle Smugbottom: N dwarf fighter 1/thief 2. She and Hurlbert dream of getting access to the Keep's inner bailey and stealing everything that isn't nailed down.
• Hurlbert: CN human thief 1
• Vanelis Silentsmile: CE elf fighter 1/magic-user 1/thief 2. He is a secret agent sent by the Cult of Evil Chaos to spy on Southron.
• Shaeris Summerpot: LG halfling fighter 2. She is friendly and can be convinced to aid the party on a sufficiently good-intentioned quest, such as freeing prisoners from the raiders.
• Damiane: LE human fighter 3. She and Xiomara will fight as mercenaries against the raiders if the price is right.
• Xiomara: NE human fighter 1
• Lady Althaea: NG half-elf fighter 8/thief 11. Loyally serves the Castellan, but will recruit adventurers to free prisoners from the Raider Camp.
• Sir Garrick: LG human fighter 7. Wants to make a name for himself in battle with the raiders.
• Squire Padgett: NG human fighter 3
• Magus Awarnach: LN human magic-user 3

03.05 Vetch Homestead: An unassuming homestead on the edge of the swamp. Harlan, Ilyra, and Corvin Vetch live here, eking out an existence at the edge of the lands controlled by the Keep on the Borderlands (02.03). They are friendly towards adventurers, offering hospitality to those on their way northeast or into the swamp.

Corvin is a restless teenager and will want to accompany adventurers on the road as far as the fork leading to the ruined tower. It is difficult to convince his mother and father to allow this, since lizard men (05.05) and wolves (07.05) prey upon travelers on the road, and a dragon (07.01) has been spotted flying over the area.

03.06 Blackfen Hollow: The lair of three ghouls - priests of the Cult of Evil Chaos who were captured and executed by the Castellan of the Keep on the Borderlands (02.03) and dumped here without a burial. They prey upon any who wander into the fens, and have already devoured Ilyra of Vetch Homestead (03.05).

04.06 Blackfen Den: The lair of five giant weasels - two adults and three young (50% grown). The adults' pelts will fetch 2,000 gold pieces each if brought to the Trader in the Keep on the Borderlands (02.03). The young are not yet totally wild and can be trained as hunting animals or guards if taken from their parents. If gifted to the Castellan of the Keep, the Castellan will grant access to the Keep's inner bailey.

05.03 Aramis's Tower: A dungeon for 7th level characters, This ruined tower was once the stronghold of Aramis, a cruel and evil human magic-user concerned principally with strange experiments and arcane power. Aramis lived and died long before the Keep on the Borderlands (02.03) was built, and the forest has since grown to reclaim his ruin. While the tower has collapsed, the mazelike dungeon beneath, where Aramis conducted most of his experiments, is largely intact. 

A pair of umber hulks has moved in, drawn by the strange lingering magical energies. They lair in Aramis's vault in the dungeon's deepest level.

05.05 The Mound of the Lizard Men: See Dungeon Module B2: The Keep on the Borderlands. There are 40 lizard men here. The lizard men prey upon those straying from the road to the north (04.04 and 05.04), lurking in the river to snatch them and carry them back to their lair. They are aware of the ghouls of Blackfen Hollow (03.06), but avoid the place.

05.07 Giant Spiders: See Dungeon Module B2: The Keep on the Borderlands, but use giant spiders instead of black widows.

06.02 The Caves of the Unknown: See Dungeon Module B2: The Keep on the Borderlands. In the spirit of the original module, this area is left undetailed so that the DM can fill it in themselves!

Okay, fine. Let's say it's a dungeon for 1st level characters. My Caves of the Unknown were a dumping ground for Aramis's experiments. Throw in a secret passage or collapsed tunnel leading to Aramis's Tower (05.03), perhaps. The most powerful creature here is an ochre jelly which has been festering in some kind of alchemical sump. There's all sorts of other weird stuff here. Happy?

06.07 Poison Needles Tribe: This tribe are the original inhabitants of the grasslands surrounding the Keep on the Borderlands (02.03). When the Keep was being constructed, they clashed with the garrison and were ultimately forced off their land. To avoid the Keep's frequent patrols, they retreated across the southernmost river. When they came under attack from the Raider Camp (01.07), the tribe fled east into the fens, where they now live in their village.

There are 100 fighting men and women in the village, plus a mix of about 100 noncombatants and children. There is an additional 1st level druid, ten 3rd level fighters, ten 4th level druids, four 4th level subchiefs, and three 6th level druids. They are led by the head druid, Killian, and their chief, Ronan.

• Killian: N human druid 8. Suspects adventurers of being raiders or hired soldiers from the Keep. If convinced otherwise, he will be helpful. He wants the raiders to be driven out, but believes in peaceful coexistence with the Keep if the Castellan will agree to leave the tribe alone.
• Ronan: N human fighter 5. Advises Killian to be suspicious of armed adventurers and other fortune-seekers. He favors an isolationist approach to outsiders.

Giant spiders sometimes wander into the tribe's fens from 05.07. The tribe hunts them and harvests their venom, which the tribe's fighters use on their weapons (save versus poison or be killed). 

07.01 Wyrmwood Cave: This forested cave beneath the roots of a great tree is the den of a mated pair of very old dragons, Gungroyeth and Rustathultox, and their very young offspring, Zergosh. Zergosh is well fed and is in a deep sleep within the lair, while his parents are awake and active, alert to threats from the Caves of Chaos (07.02), the Lawful inhabitants of which often bring the dragons tribute to avoid their wrath.

• Gungroyeth: Large, powerful, and deceptively stealthy. He is of average intelligence and does not speak, but goes out into the forest to hunt for food to bring back to his child and mate.
• Rustathultox: Sleek and regal in appearance. She is very intelligent and capable of speech. In addition to the language of dragons, she speaks the common tongue and the languages of goblins and kobolds. She is the schemer of the pair, remaining in the lair to guard and educate Zergosh. She keeps detailed records of gifts given by the clans of the Caves of Chaos. 
• Zergosh: A disproportioned and overfed very young dragon. Due to his healthy diet, he is often asleep. When awake, he is tutored in the ways of "domain management" by his mother. He is not yet capable of speech.

When hunting, Gungroyeth ranges as far west as the forest east of the Mad Hermit (02.01) and the Keep on the Borderlands (02.03), and as far south as Fenside Cave (07.05). The dragons are largely indifferent towards adventurers, so long as the adventurers do not try to harm the dragons or steal their treasure. They desire the treasures of the Keep, Aramis's Tower (05.03), and Gerwald's Folly (07.04), and wish to drive the Chaotic creatures (who do not bring them tribute) from the Caves of Chaos.

Gungroyeth and Rustathultox each have 8 hit dice and 56 hit points. Zergosh has 7 hit dice and 7 hit points. Like all dragons, they can be subdued and sold. Zergosh, being young, small, and unintelligent, can be sold for just 1,400 gold pieces. Gungroyeth, being larger but unintelligent, is worth 28,000 gold pieces. Rustatholtox, being the only dragon capable of speech, is worth 33,600 gold pieces.

Zergosh is the most likely to remain subdued, followed by Gungroyeth, then by Rustathultox. They are unlikely to serve a Good master for long - for example, if sold to the Castellan of the Keep, they are likely to break free and unleash havoc on everyone inside. Rustathultox, being intelligent, is likely to usurp her master rather than remain subdued - for example, if sold to the Raider Camp (01.07) or the Cult of Evil Chaos, she is likely to overthrow Geppert or the Evil High Priest and rule in their stead.

07.02 The Caves of Chaos: See Dungeon Module B2: The Keep on the Borderlands. The Lawful inhabitants of the Caves (kobolds, orcs, goblins, and hobgoblins) peacefully gather once a month to contribute to a tithe which is then delivered to the dragons of Wyrmwood Cave (07.01) so as to avoid their wrath. The Chaotic inhabitants (bugbears, gnolls, and cultists) do not contribute, which has put the whole valley at risk and heightened tensions among the monster clans.

07.04 Gerwald's Folly: A dungeon for 7th level characters. This ruined keep was built by the magic-user Gerwald to rival Aramis's Tower (05.03). In his attempts to surpass Aramis, Gerwald summoned Barachiel Vex, a pit fiend which eventually slipped its bonds and slew Gerwald. Vex has remained here, studying Gerwald's research to conceive of a way to open a gate to bring his infernal legions to the mortal realm.

Since Gerwald's demise, the ruin has been reclaimed by the forest, and a lonely spirit (a will-o-wisp) now haunts the surface ruins. It is the soul of Gerwald, bound to this world by hatred of Vex. It is friendly towards adventurers, though still very much Chaotic Evil. It attempts to lure adventurers down into the subterranean ruins to confront the fiend, often leading adventurers directly into danger, more so out of blind determination than a desire to see the adventurers perish.

Gerwald's spirit will not aid adventurers in combat except against Vex, though it still understands the languages Gerwald knew in life and may be convinced to help.

07.05 Fenside Cave: This riverside cavern is the home of a pack of seven wolves and their eight cubs. They are desperately hungry and attack any travelers which seem weak. 

They range as far west as the outskirts of Vetch Homestead (03.05), but mainly attack travelers on the road at 05.04 and 06.03. They can be found near Aramis's Tower (05.03), the Caves of the Unknown (06.02), and Gerwald's Folly (07.04). They are occasionally preyed upon by lizard men from the Mound of the Lizard Men (05.05) when ranging into the latter's hunting grounds.

The cubs are not yet totally wild and can be trained as war dogs or hunting beasts if taken from their parents. If gifted to the Castellan of the Keep on the Borderlands (02.03), the Castellan will grant access to the Keep's inner bailey.

07.07 Bogwatcher Warrens: This mazelike marshy crater and its warrens are home to Mirexath the Bogwatcher, a beholder more ancient than any creature in the region. It is hateful and aggressive and will attack any it encounters without listening to reason, though it doesn't travel far from its lair. Despite its lengthy residence in the area, it knows little of what goes on in the region.

Here's a final updated map with some of the monster lair icons changed:

This updated and expanded sandbox definitely distorts some of the intention of the original module. The purpose of the wilderness encounters in the original is to simply provide additional points of interest for the players to investigate. None of them are larger, more complex, or more dangerous than the Caves of Chaos. By beefing up the number of raiders and lizard men in their respective lairs, I'm only reducing the number of viable low level adventure sites in the region.

On the other hand, I've codified the Caves of the Unknown as a 1st level adventure site and have added an additional dungeon for 1st level characters (the Tomb of the Druids). I've also added two 7th level dungeons (Aramis's Tower and Gerwald's Folly). Here is also a breakdown of monster lairs (and the Keep) organized by the level of the most powerful monster found therein:

• Level III: Brownie Burrow, Blackfen Hollow, Blackfen Den, Mound of the Lizard Men, Fenside Cave
• Level IV: Mad Hermit (mountain lion)
• Level V: Giant Spiders
• Level VII: Raider Camp (Geppert), Keep on the Borderlands (Castellan), Poison Needles Tribe (Killian)
• Level VIII: Wyrmwood Cave
• Level X: Bogwatcher's Warren

If we also take for granted the module's suggestion that the Caves of Chaos are fit for 1st to 3rd level characters, than the progression through adventure sites in the region would look something like this: 

Tomb of the Druids/Caves of the Unknown/Caves of Chaos > Brownie Burrow/Blackfen Hollow/Blackfen Den/Mound of the Lizard Men/Fenside Cave > Mad Hermit > Giant Spiders > Raider Camp/Keep on the Borderlands (if the players wanted to say, kill the Castellan)/Aramis's Tower/Poison Needles Tribe/Gerwald's Folly > Wyrmwood Cave > Bogwatcher's Warren.

That's a solid amount of stuff for levels 1 to 3 and level 7. Getting from level 3 to 7 might be a bit challenging, as will getting from level 7 to 10. However, that isn't to say that characters must be of a certain level to confront the corresponding monsters. Level III monsters can appear on the 1st level of the dungeon, level IV and V monsters on the 2nd or 3rd level, level VII monsters on the 5th level, level VIII monsters on the 6th level, and level X monsters on the 7th level. Thus is might be appropriate to say that this sandbox is fit for characters level 1 through 7.

I'm pretty satisfied with this. It's scope creep, but a good kind, where the play area contains a variety of play environments with different levels of challenges, allowing the player characters to grow within it. If I run Keep on the Borderlands at some point, I'll be using this - my Keep on the Borderlands.

Play Environments, Power, Complexity, and Agency in D&D

Location types exist in close proximity to one another but serve very different gameplay functions.

There are basically four main location types in D&D (and D&D-like games): settlements, strongholds, dungeons, and lairs.

You might disagree with this taxonomy. The Welsh Piper's Hex-Based Campaign Design identifies two other types of "major encounters" (or locations): religious orders and natural phenomena, as well as many more "minor encounters" (or locations): camps, beacons, construction sites, battlefields, crossings, gathering places, and more. Sachagoat's Re-Inventing the Wilderness identifies not just towns, lairs, and dungeons but also "scenes" and "utilities". Hexographer has icons for oases, geysers, windmills, wineries, and graveyards. 

You can't really boil all the locations player characters might encounter in their adventures down to just these four broad categories. But these are, I believe, the "core four" locations around which a D&D-like game tends to be structured. They are the major locations characters will be interacting with again and again. 

There might be one settlement or stronghold which serves as a home base, a single megadungeon that props up the whole campaign, and one big bad monster lair such as a dragon's den or an orc camp which threatens the entire region until it is dealt with, or there may be many settlements to familiarize oneself with, many strongholds whose rulers must be obeyed or subverted, many dungeons to haul treasure out of, and many monster lairs to clear out or otherwise deal with.

Three of the four location types are those on the AD&D DMG's Inhabitation table:

Lairs are not included because it is assumed that these will be discovered when monsters are randomly encountered in their lair based on the % in lair statistic. I prefer to stock my sandboxes with these lairs ahead of time, which makes them set locations. Thus, when I create a sandbox, I'm populating it with these four location types. First I'm checking each hex for human inhabitation (including ruins). Once all areas of inhabitation are determined, I check the remaining hexes for monster lairs.

While I'm not going to argue that Gygax was right about everything or that his approach to designing D&D should color our perception of all such games in the present and into perpetuity, I do find this distillation of location types into a manageable few to be appealing. There are certainly others, but to me these feel very much like the most important, central locations in a campaign. (I replace religious orders, as defined by the Welsh Piper, with strongholds ruled by religious character-types like clerics, druids, paladins, and monks. And how many groves, stables, windmills, and wineries are keystone locations in the average campaign? I think it's not many.)

For further reading, I recommend my post on creating minimalist sketches of these four location types for the initial stages of sandbox prep. I think that's a good primer for better understanding the four location types and what I consider to be the most important information to know about each before diving into more detail-oriented prep.

What interests me about these four location types is what gameplay utility and experience each provides - that is, what is each location type for and how does it feel to interact with each?

Since my primary focus at this time is AD&D, I will be analyzing this topic through that lens. Not every D&D-like game will have settlements filled with unhelpful NPCs and burdensome taxes, strongholds ruled by character-types of a specific level with a specific number of men-at-arms, dungeons which conform to that particular early D&D logic, or lairs containing hundreds of orcs, but AD&D has come to color my perception of D&D and its derivatives as a whole, and many of the ideas here are still broadly applicable to similar games.

Settlements

I've already written a great deal about settlements in AD&D, the purpose they serve, and the vibe they give off. In short, they are incredibly useful places where player characters can accomplish mundane tasks such as reprovisioning, recruiting henchmen, and gathering information, as well as more fantastic efforts such as acquiring spellcasting services from high-level NPCs or even auctioning off captive dragons and selling monster organs.

While being useful, settlements are also often unfriendly, oppressive, and incredibly dangerous places where player characters are strangers and viewed as threats to the powers-that-be, where relentless taxes check their rampant accumulation of wealth, NPCs are sensitive jerks, diseases flourish, powerful factions war with one another in the streets, and almost everyone you encounter is trying to trick you, call the guards on you, rob you, fight you, or even kill you for looking at them funny.

Due to their nature as densely packed social environments with labyrinthine rules, odd taboos, and resourceful individuals and groups with independent interests in the player characters and what they do, settlements are immensely complex environments where the players must carefully consider and prepare for each move they make. 

It is this element of settlements which enables them to provide their other gameplay function (aside from sheer utility): political intrigue and high-level faction play. Above all, settlements are a test of the player's mastery of the complex social fabric.

Settlements are the lifeblood of an adventurer, allowing them to turn treasure into gold, gold into experience points, experience points into levels, NPCs into contacts, contacts into information, and information into further adventure. They also don't exist solely for the player characters' pleasure and utility. While they might serve as a home base to the characters, they are also highly dangerous. A wise player of a low level character will spend as little time as possible within a large settlement like a town or city before turning their attention back to those environs in which the adventurer truly belongs.

Dungeons

Dungeons are the low level adventurer's true home. Considering that low level player characters in a town or city might stumble into a high-level NPC who has a problem with them, a demon that's escaped a cleric's or wizard's control, or a vampire that wants to suck their blood, they really shouldn't be there if they can avoid it - or at the very least, they should avoid going out for a walk at night as much as they can. 

Similarly, they have no armies with which to contend with stronghold rulers or enough renown to be welcomed into the Keep on the Borderlands's inner bailey, and they are not strong enough to venture into the unpredictable wilderness and start clearing out dragon dens and orc camps. Dungeons, on the other hand, are much more suitable environments for early career adventurers.

Dungeons are "balanced". The 1st level of the dungeon is fit for exploration by 1st level characters. The monsters therein are drawn from a handful of tables including creatures that such characters could reasonably fight or otherwise overcome or engage with. It gets more dangerous the further down they go. Unlike the town or city, the dungeon is a simple environment with rules which are fairly easy to grasp. 

Obviously, that doesn't mean the dungeon is safe - there are monsters, tricks, traps, and other nasty things. Higher level monsters can wander up from deeper levels of the dungeon. A trick stairway might turn into a slide that sends the party down more levels than they wished to descend. A falling ceiling trap may instantly kill an adventurer of any level. They might get lost within, never to escape.

The value of a dungeon to an adventure is that it is a relatively simple environment with easily understood rules and structure. It is a place to collect treasure and experience points early in the game when the player characters are most vulnerable. Dungeons do not usually contain groups of monsters which require a small army to uproot, and there is not usually a powerful ruler sticking their nose in the party's business and exerting their will upon them.

That's not to say that dungeons are without intrigue. Just as settlements offer complex political faction play, dungeons have factions too - they're just (usually) smaller. The factions in dungeons aren't guilds of thieves and assassins with high-level cutthroats at their disposal or merchant consortiums that control the levers of power - they're groups of 2d4 hobgoblins, 4d4+2 kobolds, and d6+6 orcs (at least initially).

While factions and social play are important in dungeons, this is not the primary challenge of these locations. Rather, dungeons are a test of the player's mastery of a space. The primary mode of play in these environments is exploration. 

Play in dungeons is concerned with figuring out and dealing with whatever's in the next room. If there are monsters, how do the player characters overcome them, circumvent them, or collaborate with them? If there's a trick, what does it do? If there's a trap, how does the party disarm it or get around it? If there's treasure, how do they identify it and get it out? 

More advanced is not just confronting the dungeon room by room, but understanding the broader picture and how the room fits into the greater space. How does the room connect to others? Can the party use that information to plan an ambush or a tactical retreat? Where is it safe to rest? Where are the secret doors? The stairways? The hidden dungeon entrances and exits? What is the fastest route to the party's goal which allows them to minimize encounters with wandering monsters?

Exploration is key to settlement play as well, but like much of settlement play, the medium through which information is acquired is social. Players learn where to find an inn, where to buy equipment, and where to go to recruit henchmen by asking around. They learn how to buy and sell smuggled goods, where the assassins' guildhall is, and how to infiltrate the palace by leveraging their connections. They don't (usually) do it by mapping all the buildings on graph paper, looking for spatial discrepancies, and knocking on the right 10' section of wall (although they could, I suppose). Navigating the physical space of the settlement is less important than navigating its social dynamics.

Strongholds and Lairs

I feel compelled to address both strongholds and lairs together, since the two are difficult to parse. Is not a stronghold the lair of its ruler? Is not a monster's lair a place where it fortifies itself against intrusion by adventurers? A group of bandits, berserkers, brigands, or dervishes might rule a stronghold as their lair. A group of demihumans or humanoids or even a dragon might lair in a deserted stronghold.

It is worth pointing out that there are different kinds of monster lairs. What exactly a lair looks like is determined by the type of monster that lives there. It could be a cave, a camp, a village, a castle, or something else entirely. The most important distinction is not so much the type of place but the quality of creature therein - namely, is the monster intelligent or not, and does it appear in numbers or with minions?

The lair of an owlbear is a relatively simple - though still dangerous - environment, while a lair of orcs is more complex because of their greater numbers, ability to organize to repel invaders, and respond intelligently to repeated attempts to infiltrate their home. Whether they live in a cave, fortified village, or ruin will make a difference, but not a huge one. A dragon's lair might be comparable to an owlbear's if it's a dimwitted variety of dragon. It will be more complex if the dragon is intelligent or cunning, and even more so if the dragon has enlisted a small humanoid army as worshipers or mercenaries.

The idea for this post initially came to me after reading dungeon modules B1: In Search of the Unknown and B2: The Keep on the Borderlands. I felt that B1 is a good example of a prototypical dungeon (itself a deserted stronghold) and that B2's titular Keep and Caves of Chaos are good examples of a stronghold and a lair (or series of lairs), respectively. 

But reading through the Caves of Chaos, with their large homogenous populations of allied monsters who can all be mobilized to ward off intrusion together, along with their tightly-packed corridors where control of strategic chokepoints would prove essential, I wondered, "Is this really that different from a stronghold?" Whether the players choose to clear out the Caves or ally with their inhabitants to instead lay siege to the Keep, does the actual gameplay experience of doing either of those two things differ all that much?

Gus L. writes about this element of Gygaxian design better than I ever could in his post on All Dead Generations, Gygax's Fortress. In it, he writes about how many of Gygax's iconic adventurers like The Keep on the Borderlands, the Against the Giants series, and the Vault of the Drow (all of which detail what I would classify as "lairs") put siege-style gameplay front and center. Siege, you say...like the thing you do to a stronghold?

This is not to say that there is otherwise no overlap between all of these location types. The ruler of a settlement might dwell in a fortified tower. The Keep on the Borderlands is a place to provision and gather information as much as the Village of Hommlet. A settlement might contain a ruined manor which is essentially a dungeon, and a dungeon might house a large group of squatters or other inhabitants which form a de facto settlement within. Monsters might lair in settlements just as they do in the wilderness, and a wilderness elf enclave is a settlement of a kind. A ruin could have once been a stronghold. Monsters lair in ruins.

But the relationship between strongholds and lairs strikes me as different because they feel so similar when you consider how the players interact with them. If the players wish to roust an evil ruler from their castle, it's going to look very similar to clearing out the Caves of Chaos - a protracted series of forays into a defensible position held by an organized, (mostly) united enemy.

Much of this can be chalked up to aesthetics. A stronghold is a stronghold because it is a tower, keep, or castle. It has a gatehouse, battlements, oil cauldrons, ballistae, catapults, or whatever. A lair is a lair because it's a cave, an informal camp, or a hut in the woods. But it isn't always that - hobgoblins and orcs sometimes lair in above ground villages with ditches, ramparts, palisades, gates, and guard towers. Many giants and aquatic creatures like locathah and tritons live in castles.

You could also attribute the difference to ideology. A stronghold is a stronghold because the creature who rules it is viewed as a person or as part of the established order, regardless of their alignment or relationship to their neighbors. A lair is a lair because it is inhabited by crude monsters who are outsiders, without rights or the privilege of simply living. It's essentially Law versus Chaos.

That's all well and good (or bad, I guess), but it's unsatisfying to me because I'm primarily concerned with the gameplay function of these locations - what use do they present to the players, and how do the players engage with them? From that perspective, how are strongholds and lairs different?

One way to think of it is how the locations project power. Strongholds control a certain area around them and collect revenue from the settlements within their domain. They send out patrols of men-at-arms led by high level fighters. The stronghold's ruler might emerge to challenge the party to a joust, demand a tithe of treasure or magic items, or ensorcel the party to send them on some quest. Monsters in their lairs, on the other hand, just wait around for the party to come kill them and take their stuff.

But this is a disservice to monsters, and not entirely true. Monsters with a lair in the area should be included on wilderness encounter tables. Orcs can go out on patrol too, mounted bandits will surely raid any inhabited areas within their sphere of influence, and flying monsters like dragons can control and have influence over the entirety of a small region, even demanding tithes of treasure from settlements within their domain much the same way a stronghold's ruler might.

You could also make a distinction between the two on the basis of their relative locations. Strongholds are generally found in inhabited areas, whereas monster lairs are found in the wilderness. Strongholds are known locations and readily accessible to the players should they have the means to take them, whereas monster lairs are hidden and remote, requiring scouting to find and wilderness travel to reach.

This too does not hold up to scrutiny. More dangerous monsters are generally found in the wilderness, yes, but monsters lair in inhabited areas as well. Humans, demihumans, humanoids, giants, and even vampires can establish their lairs in close proximity to settlements, strongholds, roads, and cultivated farmland. If one of these creatures lairs in a fortified camp or stronghold, its location is likely known, and it is probably well within reach of player characters launching forays from inhabited lands.

You could attribute the difference to logistics. Taking a stronghold requires a small army and siege weapons - but clearing some monster lairs will require these as well. According to the AD&D DMG's Appendix C, a stronghold will have its ruler, up to five henchmen, and as many as 64 men-at-arms led by four low-to-medium level fighters. On the other hand, a gnoll lair can have up to 200 gnolls, 10 leaders, a chieftain, 20 guards, and either three trolls, 16 hyenas, or 12 hyaenodons. Humans, demihumans, and other humanoids also appear in numbers up to the hundreds with leader-types and (often) other monsters in their service. 

These will need to be faced with armies as well - and in many cases, armies which are larger than those needed to deal with strongholds. Facing a monster lair in the form of the aforementioned hobgoblins' fortified village or giants' castle will likewise require the use of siege weapons, just as strongholds do.

The distinction might also be a matter of politics. Strongholds are part of the established order - they are fortified positions in which armies can be mustered, which control a surrounding area and collect revenue from its inhabitants. Powerful people within the social fabric of the campaign will generally care one way or another about what happens to a stronghold, and they will be sticking their noses in the player characters' business if they get wind of a plot to usurp a local ruler.

But that's not to say that people won't care what happens to a monster lair. Goodly folk will likely be appalled if they hear that the party led an army to massacre a village of elves, and a powerful Evil magic-user who rules the local town will be none too pleased to find that the party has slain a manticore with which the magic-user was secretly aligned. Similarly, people's feelings about the fate of a stronghold can go both ways - fury if the party burns down a monastery inhabited by peaceable monks, or jubilation if they overthrow a tyrannical warlord.

The difference is utility. A stronghold is real estate which the player characters may now control. They are probably not going to take up residence in a cave cleared of goblins (and would not be able to raise an army there or collect revenue from it in any case), and might not be able to make much use of a castle proportioned for inhabitation by giants, but a conquered stronghold is a readymade base of operations for the player characters going forward, which will come with both perks as well as obligations.

All of these locations exist on a gradient which is perhaps best viewed through the lens of power, complexity, and player agency. Dungeons are relatively simple environments where players have a high level of agency despite their characters not having much power. There are factions within, but they are small. A local ruler might have opinions about what goes on in the dungeon and may lay claim to what is hauled out of it, but their ability to exert control over it is limited. Players of low level characters by comparison have much less agency in highly complex settlements, where powerful factions and high level NPCs rule, influence, and exert themselves upon those weaker than them.

Strongholds are somewhere in the middle. They are fortified, ruled by high level NPCs, and involved in regional politics, but they are not so formidable that they cannot be overcome by medium level characters, and their position (often) on the borderlands of civilization means that the more powerful rulers of settlements' influence over them will be somewhere between that of nearby dungeons and that of the settlements themselves. However the players address them will require some consideration and planning because they are of medium complexity.

So what then is the role of monster lairs? Because they can vary so much, they fluctuate along the gradient. They are stepping stones from one level of power, complexity, and agency to the next - the owlbear den is probably more dangerous than the dungeon levels the player characters have explored up to that point, but it is not any more complex (it might even be simpler), and the players have considerable agency in addressing it because it is unlikely that anyone will retaliate against them for clearing it out. These lairs give the players the experience (both in terms of experience points as well as accumulated knowledge) to later tackle more challenging locations like strongholds.

The lair of hundreds of organized men, demihumans, or humanoids may in some cases be an even tougher nut to crack than a stronghold ruled by a character-type, but past experience with such a stronghold (and the accumulation of revenue and mustering of an army in such a place, should the characters be able to hold it) will prepare them for the challenge. It is a more complex environment than the owlbear den because the monsters there will be true factions of their own - meaning powerful individuals will have opinions about them, which in turn will limit the players' agency. Like the owlbear den before it which provided the bridge to engaging with stronghold play, this type of lair will be the launchpad into high level play in towns and cities, with the player characters now powerful enough to assert their agency there.

We can summarize the complexity/agency gradient as a semi-linear progression as follows, from low complexity/high agency environments which require only a low level of player character power to engage with to high complexity/low agency ones which require greater player character power: dungeons > simple monster lairs > strongholds > complex monster lairs > settlements. 

There are of course more complex and challenging dungeons (or simply deeper, more dangerous levels of the same dungeons in which play begins), as well as simpler settlements (a thorp and a city are very different environments). We could complicate the progression like so: dungeons/simple settlements (thorps, hamlets, and villages) > simple monster lairs > moderate complexity settlements (towns)/moderate complexity monster lairs (where monsters are intelligent/faction-like but not huge in number (a clan of ogres, for example)/strongholds > complex monster lairs (a clan of 100 orcs, for example) > complex settlements (cities).

This is reflected nicely in my sandbox for B1: In Search of the Unknown. In that post, I anticipate that the players will begin by tackling Quasqueton, then venture into the wilderness to deal with the less complex monster lairs (the leprechaun, the giant eagles, and the owlbears), then graduate to the brigand stronghold and the slightly more complex/challenging ogre lair and adventurer camp, before finally being able to confront the evil illusionist who rules the local town.

None of this is prescriptive - the illusionists' stronghold is right in the middle of town, and the adventurer camp, brigands' castle, and ogre den are nearby. There's nothing stopping the player characters from checking those places out in the very first session, but they will face considerable challenge should they choose to try confronting them. This challenge might be readily apparent to the players, but if I'm conscious of it as well, I can be sure to signpost the danger in rumor tables and interactions with NPCs.

Regardless of how exactly we define it, understanding this progression is key because it informs how campaign play is structured. Player characters begin with a relatively small amount of power and a limited ability to affect the world. They begin play in less complex environments, which they can affect without entangling themselves in overwhelming complications. As they accumulate power, their ability to affect the world grows, allowing them to tackle more challenging environments while being equipped to deal with the complications which arise.

Each of these locations is essential to a standard D&D-like game not only because they provide different gameplay experiences to the players and utilities to the characters, but because each is a stepping stone to the next type of adventure environment, allowing the campaign to evolve in scale alongside the player characters' growing ability to affect the setting.

The AD&D Series, 2026 Collector's Edition

The 2026 Bloggies are upon us, and I plan on submitting a handful of mine - and, of course, others'. If you've enjoyed reading this blog in 2025, I would greatly appreciate you submitting and voting for your favorite of my posts. Blogging has been a big part of my year, and it would mean a lot to me to at least make it into one or more brackets. Maybe one of my posts will go on a little run or hey, even win something. That would be neat.

First and foremost, I'd like to submit to the Best Series category my posts analyzing the AD&D DMG. The thing is, those posts were never intended to be a series, and weren't labeled as such. The series evolved naturally over time as interesting things to talk about continued to pop out at me. This makes it difficult to figure out what post exactly to submit.

So, here is one post with the whole series collected in one place:

• Stocking a Sandbox with the AD&D DMG (Part 1)
• Stocking a Sandbox with the AD&D DMG (Part 2)
• d66 Reasons Why the Castle is Totally Deserted
• Stocking a Sandbox with the AD&D DMG (Part 3)
• Dead Gods Waiting to be Reborn: Ruined Shrines and the Syncretist Cleric in AD&D
• Your High-Level NPCs Should Ride Dragons
• d100 Woefully Encysted Creatures
• Gangs of Teenage Dragons Roam the Wilderness: The Implied Lifecycle of Dragons in AD&D
• Death, Taxes, and Indentured Servitude in AD&D Cities
• There's a Road to the Dungeon, and It's Paid for by Adventurers
• Non-Descript Danger: Vagueness and Similarity in AD&D City and Town Encounters
• Dealing with NPCs Should Be Expensive and Irritating
• Good Henchmen are Hard to Find
• Adventurers Are a Threat to the Established Order
• It Did Not End with a Mere Slaying of Ogres: Treasure as a Source of Challenge in D&D
• Advanced Diseases and Diagnoses
• Warring Guilds and Rogue Assassins Plague the Streets of AD&D
• The Monster Economy of AD&D
• Speak with Monsters: The Languages of AD&D and the Adventurous Linguist
• Alignment Languages are Socially Repulsive
• Strangers in a Strange Land
• Where are AD&D's High-Level NPCs?
• The Implied Setting of AD&D Towns & Cities: Four Themes
• Who Can Rule a Stronghold in AD&D?

And yes, I did include this same list in my year-in-review post, which went up...yesterday. But submitting a year-in-review post didn't really make sense.

If you've enjoyed this series and what to submit it for consideration, please use this post. That is all the campaigning I'll be doing on the blog. Thank you!

2025 Year-in-Review

If the theme of my 2024 Year-in-Review was despondence, lack of direction, loneliness, and uncertainty, then the theme this year is one of hope, renewed purpose, community...and a bit of uncertainty still!

In 2024, I was discouraged because my blogging had slowed down, I wasn't sure how much I really had to say, if anyone cared, or if I was a "real" blogger, whatever that means. I wasn't getting the dopamine rush I wanted from posting. I wasn't sure how to promote my work. I felt embarrassed even trying to promote it. What was I doing?

In 2025, I bit the bullet and got on Bluesky, where the TTRPG scene seems much more robust and supportive than over on Twitter. I joined the Prismatic Wasteland Discord to stay in the loop on upcoming Blog Bandwagons. I put myself out there and shared my stuff, and people didn't just repost it and like it - they talked about it too. My thoughts were generating discussion. That's new!

I found my community. I got to engage with bloggers whose work I admire and respect. They shared my stuff. They talked about it. At PAX Unplugged, I got to actually meet some of these people, and play in their games. They asked me what was my blog and when I told them they knew what it was. I can say that this or that TTRPG on my bookshelf was made by so and so who I know and have played with. That's pretty neat!

My posts ended up all over the place this year, from Prismatic Wasteland's roundups to Carouse, Carouse!, the Explorateur, Shiny TTRPG Links, and even the Glatisant. I was so excited about the latter that I had to explain to multiple people who Ben Milton/Questing Beast was. According to Elmcat's ongoing Mapping the Blogosphere project, this blog is tied for 9th place on the list of "rising stars" in 2025, with 21 other blogs linking to mine this year. Maybe that sounds like small potatoes, but it's a big deal to me.

I authored 48 posts this year (49, counting this one), which is almost one per week, and 10 more than last year (many of which were play reports - not to suggest they are of lesser quality, but it does feel different).

The AD&D DMG has been a bolt from the heavens for this blog. It started with Stocking a Sandbox with the AD&D DMG, back in February. I love making little sandboxes in my downtime and coming up with new ways to populate them. I thought the AD&D DMG's Inhabitation table was pretty interesting, so I decided to give it a spin and write about my process. Little did I know that it would lead me down the rabbit hole wherein I'd be dissecting, analyzing, and often rationalizing One Weird Guy's specific, often controversial - but no less interesting - vision of this game.

For convenience, here is a great big collection of all of my AD&D posts from this year:

• Stocking a Sandbox with the AD&D DMG (Part 1)
• Stocking a Sandbox with the AD&D DMG (Part 2)
• d66 Reasons Why the Castle is Totally Deserted
• Stocking a Sandbox with the AD&D DMG (Part 3)
• Dead Gods Waiting to be Reborn: Ruined Shrines and the Syncretist Cleric in AD&D
• Your High-Level NPCs Should Ride Dragons
• d100 Woefully Encysted Creatures
• Gangs of Teenage Dragons Roam the Wilderness: The Implied Lifecycle of Dragons in AD&D
• Death, Taxes, and Indentured Servitude in AD&D Cities
• There's a Road to the Dungeon, and It's Paid for by Adventurers
• Non-Descript Danger: Vagueness and Similarity in AD&D City and Town Encounters
• Dealing with NPCs Should Be Expensive and Irritating
• Good Henchmen are Hard to Find
• Adventurers Are a Threat to the Established Order
• It Did Not End with a Mere Slaying of Ogres: Treasure as a Source of Challenge in D&D
• Advanced Diseases and Diagnoses
• Warring Guilds and Rogue Assassins Plague the Streets of AD&D
• The Monster Economy of AD&D
• Speak with Monsters: The Languages of AD&D and the Adventurous Linguist
• Alignment Languages are Socially Repulsive
• Strangers in a Strange Land
• Where are AD&D's High-Level NPCs?
• The Implied Setting of AD&D Towns & Cities: Four Themes
• Who Can Rule a Stronghold in AD&D?

Of those posts, six are among my top 10 most-viewed posts of this year, and 14 are in the top 20. The other entries in the top 10 are The 100-Hex Sandbox (which uses the AD&D DMG, but which I don't quite consider part of the same series), The Village of Hommlet is Too Much: Minimalist Location Sketches for Sandbox Prep (more sandbox posting), Clerics Need Spellbooks Too, which was my entry in Prismatic Wasteland's Blog Bandwagon on clerics and religion in D&D (motivated by the pope's passing), and On Settlements (a post from the end of 2024 which benefited from renewed discussion about cities).

Other entries in this year's top 20 include On Initiative (a post from 2024 which has endured, likely because of its inclusion in Dwiz's master post) as well as Using Reaction Rolls to Determine Faction Relationships in the Sandbox (even more sandbox posting).

Six of my top 10 posts from this year are now also among the top 10 posts of all time on this blog, and one has even claimed the #1 spot.

I'm not quite sure why the AD&D stuff has resonated with people so much. Is it because AD&D is inherently of interest to people who read D&D blogs? Is it because people are interested in Gygax's odd design idiosyncrasies? Is it because AD&D is something of an impenetrable text and I do a good job distilling it? 

I'm not quite sure, but I've enjoyed the hell out of my time with it. I'm sure there will be more to write about AD&D in 2026, but I'm not sure how much more there is. I have a feeling that my time with it is coming to an end, but I'm not sure when, which brings me to the uncertainty.

What is the future of this blog? Lately, I've taken to Bluesky to share my thoughts while reading TSR-era modules. These are modules I've always wanted to experience myself, and discussing them in detail with others has been a lot of fun. They've also inspired some of my more recent posts (one of which even made it into the most recent issue of the Glatisant). These are not "reviews" so much as they are just my reactions to reading this stuff for the first time. I'm enjoying it and will probably continue making my way through classic modules.

I also started the year by reviewing modules I planned to play - Mörk Borg and Mothership stuff. These reviews didn't get much traction and were a fair amount of work, so I haven't done them since. 

One of my resolutions for this year was to play different games with different people, and to do less work when preparing for them - that means fewer wholly original D&D sandboxes with my regular group and more short prewritten modules with people I haven't played with before. I didn't really succeed at this goal. I played a lot of Mörk Borg (which was very fun!), but not much else. I played with more people than in 2025, but I wasn't gaming with everyone all the time like I had hoped to do.

I'm excited to take another crack at it this year. I can definitely get my Mörk Borg group to try some other games, and we've nearly exhausted what Mörk Borg content I have. I am also toying with the idea of running my B1 sandbox, whether it be in AD&D, OSE, or some other system entirely. I imagine I might want to do something similar with B2 and whatever other classic modules I read.

Overall, while I'm left with uncertainty about the future of the blog once again, that uncertainty is not an anxious one but an excited one. This has been my best year of blogging yet, and I'm eager to see where it goes from here.

One thing I've continuously learned this year is that the more you put into something (usually), the more you get out of it. I started playing rec league softball back in 2023. I had never played baseball in my life, so I was terrible. In the second half of 2024 we really clicked as a team, started practicing in the field, going to the batting cages, scrimmaging other teams, and the like. 

I put the time in and showed up. I got better. I started captaining my own team. I volunteered at youth clinics. The other regulars in the league started to get to know me. I made the All-Star team twice. I won an award for congeniality - not for being good at softball, but I'll take it! We won more games than ever this season and made it to the championship game before falling just short. Those people are my real-life friends now. I'm a lot better at softball now and I'm part of a community.

I share that story because blogging is much the same. If you show up, put yourself out there, engage with others, and generally make a consistent effort, people will notice. Before you know it, you'll go from feeling like you might give up on something to wondering what your life would be without it.

It's been a tough year for me personally, but I've gotten through it, and this blog and the greater community of bloggers has honestly been a big part of the reason why, along with my other hobbies and communities. I'm excited to see what 2026 has in store.

'Tis the Season (for a Sandbox): Into the Jinglebell Barrens

This post is a part of Prismatic Wasteland's Hexmas Blog Bandwagon. The intention was for participants to make a single holiday-themed hex with connections to other participants' holiday-themed hexes, but I'm a sandbox sicko, and I really wanted to make a whole miniature sandbox of my own. In keeping with the format, let's say the whole sandbox is contained within one hex (0601). 

Here is state of the sandbox on the date of this post's publishing:

Connections:

• North: ???
• Northeast: The Peppermint Wood (0701)
• Southeast: Talking Wishing Well (0702)
• South: Sadtown (0602)
• Southwest: Snomes (0502)
• Northwest: Rankin/Bass Pro Shop (0501)

Presenting the Jinglebell Barrens:

Key:

• 01.01: Yuletide's End
• 02.03: Frostyford
• 02.04: Rednose Rest
• 03.01: Silver Sleigh Caravan Camp
• 03.04: Tower of Noel
• 05.03: Solstice Doomhall
• 05.05: Carolcrag Cave

The Jinglebell Barrens are a vast expanse of icy sand desert which gleams bright in the sun and glitters under the light of the moon. When the wind blows across the flats, the grains of sand tinkle like tiny bells. On stormy nights, great gusts from the cliffs to the east and southeast whip the sand into a frenzy, rattling the land with a deafening metallic clatter. Unless traveling on a road, it takes 2 hours on foot to enter a barrens hex, and it takes 4 hours to cross one.

The Barrens are bordered to the east and southeast by the Carolcliffs, a towering escarpment of jagged blue-white ice which encase the bleak gray mountain peaks known as the Carolcrags. Wind howls through the ice like organ pipes, creating eerie music known to locals as Cliff-Carols. Hidden paths and passes snake through the cliffs, leading to ancient ruins captured in ice, and into the mountains where monsters dwell. Unless traveling on a road, it takes 3 hours on foot to enter a cliffs hex, and it takes 6 hours to cross one. It takes 4 hours to enter a mountain hex, and it takes 8 hours to cross one.

To the southwest lies the Tinselgrass Steppe, a land of long, thin grasses that glitter gold and red at sunrise and sunset. Silvery elk graze and winter wolves hide among the tallest, wildest grasses. It takes 1 hour on foot to enter a steppe hex, and it takes 2 hours to cross one.

01.01 Yuletide's End: Once a thriving city of artisans and traders, Yuletide is remembered as the Merriest City that Ever Was. It was a festival city, and learned scholars of the region say that every day was a "Holly Day". The city was full of looming towers which housed great silver bells, rung at dawn and dusk each day.

But Yuletide was not as merry as it seemed. It was ruled by the Bellwrights, a theocracy which worshipped the mysterious Saint Nikodemus - a merry god of festivals to the faithful and a capricious demon of revelry to others. The Bellwrights worked enchantments upon the city's bells, closely monitored Yuletide's citizens, and spoke to Nikodemus directly. 

Through the Bellwrights, Nikodemus passed down a pair of lists - one Naughty and one Nice. Those on the Nice list were invited to live on Hearth Hill among the belltowers, enriched with gifts from the city's greatest artisans and kept warm by the glow of roaring fires, while those on the Naughty list were consigned to the Coal Warrens, where fire was forbidden, forced to mine and haul the fuel-stones which powered Yuletide's industry.

Yuletide is said to have met its end when the Bellwrights conspired to assign to the Naughty list - and thus confiscate the material wealth of - Magister Skruj, master of the city's most powerful mercantile enterprise. Skruj was alerted to the plot by Thoralf, High Priest of Revels and Skruj's agent within the clergy. On the eve of Demus Mass, Yuletide's most sacred Holly Day, Skruj consorted with the Defrocked - former Bellwrights themselves condemned to the Naughty list and the Coal Warrens - to slaughter the high priests in their White Chapel on Hearth Hill.

The chapel was stained red with the blood of Nikodemus's favored. Yuletide was cursed to never know joy again. The following dawn, the Great Bell rang out from the White Chapel - and shattered. The hearths died, no matter how much fuel they were fed. The city froze. The bells did not ring out at dusk on Demus Mass, and never did again. 

Until recently. The bells have mysteriously begun to ring out again across the Barrens. The usual treasure hunters - a superstitious lot - have begun to avoid the place, but a different breed of adventurers has replaced them, venturing to the region to investigate the strange phenomenon.

Yuletide's End contains five neighborhoods, each with its own dungeon:

• Peddler's Village: The road into Yuletide's End leads here. It was once a middle class neighborhood where artisans and traders gathered to sell their wares. Many of the city's inns for travelers were found here. Now the markets stalls are empty and the inns cold. Some snomes have come here to explore and cause trouble.
• Skruj's Manor: A dungeon for 5th-level characters. Magister Skruj lives here. For his greed, he was turned into a humbug - an insectoid creature cursed to hoard all the wealth it can acquire while deriving no joy from it (use xorn). He has accumulated all the wealth of Peddler's Village and jealously guards it here. He is always hungry for more, and craves treasure from the other districts - graves goods from festival square, religious artifacts from Hearth Hill, diamonds from the Coal Warrens, and silver from the Foundry. He is friendly towards those who bring him gifts.
• Connections: Festival Square (N), Hearth Hill (NW)
• Festival Square: Once a middle class neighborhood where residents and visitors gathered to celebrate Yuletide's Holly Days. It is now filled with frozen fountains, crumbling statues, empty halls, stinking breweries, and other remnants of revels past.
• Revel's End: A dungeon for 3rd-level characters. It is a tomb for the Bellwrights. Many revels were held within the tomb itself so that the spirits of the dead could join in the festivities. Thoralf, being the Master of Revels, was charged with maintaining the place. For the crime of betraying his fellow Bellwrights, he was turned into a garland snake - a giant serpent covered in braids of leaves and flowers - and charged with guarding the tomb against predations. The serpent has a bite which injects the victim with powerful alcohol, causing severe intoxication and even death (use giant poisonous snake). Thoralf wants to atone for his sins and believes that the wealth of Skruj, if delivered to the White Chapel in Hearth Hill, will restore the city to its former glory. He is friendly towards those who offer to help.
• Connections: Peddler's Village (S), Hearth Hill (SW)
• Hearth Hill: Once an upper class neighborhood, home to Yuletide's belltowers, Nice-listers, and the Bellwrights themselves. The bells ring out from their towers at dawn and dusk each day, though the tops of the towers remain encased in ice. It is especially cold due to its elevation and winds blowing between the ancient towers and tightly-packed buildings.
• The White Chapel: A dungeon for 6th-level characters. Once the seat of power for the Bellwrights, the temple was shuttered for good when the clergy was murdered on Demus Mass Eve. It is now haunted by corporeal and incorporeal undead alike. Chief among them is a trio of spirits calling themselves the Ghosts of Yuletide Past, Present, and Future (three will-o-wisps). They have been awakened by a vision of Yuletide's future in which its streets are filled with revelry again. They have begun the ringing of the bells to summon revelers to Festival Square. They are friendly to those who bring gifts of treasure, food, or alcohol.
• Connections: Festival Square (NE), Peddler's Village (SE), The Foundry (SW), Coal Warrens (NW)
• Coal Warrens: Once a lower class neighborhood designated for Naughty-listers. It is filled with crumbling tenement buildings, dark alleys covered in soot, and disease-carrying filth and vermin.
• The Coal Mines: A dungeon for 1st-level characters. This is where Naughty-listers were put to work as slaves, mining coal to fuel Hearth Hill and the Foundry's great fires. The mines are now controlled by a gang of five coal rats - the cursed Defrocked who once employed their swords in the killing of the Bellwrights (use wererats). They are led by the Rat King. They are harmed only by silver, and slain instantly by silver weapons forged in Yuletide's Foundry and blessed by the Bellwrights (only the Ghosts of Yuletide Past, Present, and Future, or Thoralf, can bless such weapons now, unless a cleric learns the appropriate 1st level spell in the White Chapel). They are driven mad by the ringing of the bells and are friendly to those who offer to help.
• Connections: Hearth Hill (SE), the Foundry (S)
• The Foundry: Once a middle class neighborhood where Yuletide's best artisans crafted its silver bells and weapons with the aid of the Bellwrights' enchantments. The forges have all gone cold and quiet.
• The Forge: A dungeon for 2nd-level characters. It is a mazelike collection of storerooms, workshops, and smelting chambers, connected by a labyrinth of access tunnels and catwalks. The Krampus, a monstrous silvered automaton of fearsome demonic aspect, has perfect knowledge of the structure and prowls its passages for intruders (use minotaur). It captures those it deems naughty (Chaotic or Evil creatures, or those who have earned the enmity of the Ghosts of Yuletide Past, Present, and Future), stuffs them in its sack, and delivers them to the White Chapel. It ignores those bearing the holy symbol of Nikodemus (a sprig of mistletoe worn around the wrist).
• Connections: Coal Warrens (N), Hearth Hill (NE)

The ringing of the bells is an illusion fabricated by the Ghosts of Yuletide Past, Present, and Future. Lifting the curse on Yuletide's End is difficult:

• The Forge must be reignited. This can be done via a spell cast by the Ghosts or by a cleric capable of casting 3rd level spells who learns the proper spell in the White Chapel. The spell consumes a 5,000 g.p. diamond from the Coal Mines, which must be obtained by convincing the Rat King to surrender it willingly. Once the diamond is gifted, the curse on the Defrocked can be lifted by a remove curse spell if they are willing.
• The Forge must be used to craft a new Great Bell. This must be brought to the White Chapel to be enchanted by the Ghosts, then hung in the Great Belltower to replace the old one. 
• The curse on Thoralf must be lifted. This can be done by a remove curse spell only after a new Great Bell is hung, and only if Thoralf is willing.
• Skruj must learn the true meaning of Demus Mass. He must be brought a truly thoughtful gift (something with little to no monetary value). He will only listen if Thoralf is present. If he is willing, the curse on him can then be lifted by a remove curse.
• Skruj himself must use a flame from the Forge to reignite the Great Hearth in the White Chapel. This will magically light the other hearths throughout the city, which melts the ice encasing the city's many belltowers.
• A party must be held in Festival Square. The party must convince enough people to attend such that the Ghosts are satisfied that Holly Day cheer has returned to the city. They, Skruj, Thoralf, and the Defrocked are able to pass peacefully on to the next life. The hearths go cold again, the bells stop ringing, and Yuletide's End is still once again, ready to be repurposed or to fade into memory according to the wishes of those in the region.

Of course, there is no requirement that the players lift the curse on Yuletide's End. They might simply slay all the monsters and take their treasure, or align with one faction or another and establish them as the de facto "rulers" of the ruin, but it seemed worthwhile to define exactly how the "good" ending might be achieved.

If the curse is lifted over Yuletide's End, the Krampus will wander the city streets, eventually heading to the Rankin/Bass Pro Shop. It longs to become real and punish the naughty creatures of the world.

02.03 Frostyford: A thorp of about 30 people within the domain of the Tower of Noel (03.04). The thorp gets its name from its river crossing, a bridge of solid ice created by the ice witch named Rimehilda. 

Noel's agent in the thorp is his henchman Ridley, a human fighter. Ridley has been tasked with overseeing the construction of a stronghold here to control the crossing into the Barrens. Ridley commands a retinue of eight men-at-arms. Usually, four guard Ridley and await his commands while four others man the toll booth at the southern end of the river crossing. They charge 5 gold pieces per head, hoof, or wheel to those traveling north or entering the thorp from that direction.

Since the bells began ringing in Yuletide's End (01.01), the workers have become superstitious, and progress on Ridley's hold has crawled to almost a halt. Ridley recruits adventurers to travel to Yuletide's End to silence the bells.

Rimehilda traveled to Solstice Doomhall (05.03) to learn the magic of the frost giants, but never returned. Ridley will recruit adventurers to go in search of her, believing that her return could bolster his own position.

• Ridley: LE human fighter 8. A forceful, imposing, serious man of middle age. His taciturn nature has earned him few friends. He knows that he is not Noel's favored henchman and that he will likely be replaced once the stronghold is finished. He enjoys ice fishing and can sometimes be found at the river's edge with only two men-at-arms as guards.

02.04 Rednose Rest: A hamlet of about 300 people within the domain of the Tower of Noel (03.04). The hamlet gets its name from Noel's slaying of the Red-nosed Beast, a particularly ornery and intelligent reindeer which once rallied its kind against the hamlet's people. The Beast's nose is housed in a beacon tower in the hamlet's square. It still glows with unearthly red light, which guides travelers towards the hamlet when snowstorms kick up.  

The cleric Lothar is Noel's agent here, but he has gone rogue and is collecting tithes to send to Yuletide's End (01.01) - instead of the Tower - to appease the spirits there. He will attempt to recruit adventurers to travel to the ancient city to deliver the hamlet's tribute (2,100 silver pieces) to the White Chapel.

• Idina: CG human fighter 1. A strong young woman dressed in a dirty tabard. She is looking for work as a henchman and will join non-Lawful non-Evil characters, but they must pay for her food, lodging, and equipment, and offer her a proportionate share of treasure.
• Karlotta: LG human magic-user 1. A highly intelligent and agile young woman dressed foppishly. She is gullible and frail, her analytical nature is often off putting, and her unyielding curiosity sometimes gives the impression of mental instability. She is compelled by her curiosity to investigate the tower of the snomes.
• Elphira: CN half-elf fighter 2/magic-user 2. An intelligent young half-elf woman with a rustic, unkempt unkempt appearance. She is trusting and diplomatic, but due to her elvish blood she can sometimes come across as haughty and insensitive, which rubs some people the wrong way. She has learned from refugees of the plight of Sadtown and wishes to liberate the people there.
• Lothar: LE human cleric 2. A discerning, somewhat intelligent young man dressed in immaculate priestly vestments. His religious fervor, neurotic doomsaying, and contrarian nature is unpleasant to some. While he does not identify as a Bellwright or follow their religious practices (he worships some non-descript unforgiving God of Winter - perhaps some vestige of Saint Nikodemus passed down through the generations), he recognizes their influence on the region, and believes strongly that the ghosts of Yuletide's End must be appeased with gifts, and does not fear that he might be punished by Noel for usurping his authority.

03.01 Silver Sleigh Caravan Camp: A large encampment atop a tall plateau of packed snow and gravel. The camp houses 15 merchants - led by Miloslav - 15 drovers, and the Painted Battalion - 120 mercenaries in brightly colored military dress (think nutcracker dolls). A magic-user, Blazenka, also camps here.

The caravan has stopped here to provision adventurers heading to Yuletide's End (01.01) - and to buy any treasure they might pull out. Here they are conveniently out of reach of the Tower of Noel (03.04) and Noel's underlings in Frostyford (02.03) and Rednose Rest (02.04).

The total value of merchandise in the camp is 10,000 gold pieces. The merchants have 20 oxen and two sled wagons, their runners shod with bright silvery steel.

• Blazenka: NG human magic-user 6. A very intelligent middle aged woman. She lives in a richly appointed tent, wears fine jewelry, is well spoken and cheerful, and genuinely well-liked by the entire camp. She will lend her aid in spellcasting services to adventurers (for a price), but won't accompany them in their travels. She is interested in information about the ice witch Rimehilda, whom she hopes to stop, should she ever resurface.
• Miloslav: NG human merchant. He is a loquacious young man and a scrupulous trader. He sharply questions all adventurers who come to his camp, suspicious that Noel might send agents to infiltrate and rob them.
• Pay chest: Hidden in Miloslav's tent. It contains 3,000 gold pieces, 300 platinum pieces, and ten 100 gold piece gems.
• The Painted Battalion: Brightly-dressed mercenary soldiers in tall hats. They are led by Yosefine and her lieutenant, Freya. Yosefine and Freya share a retinue of 12 2nd level guards (all in addition to the 120 regular soldiers). They employ a mix of arms and have 60 war elk: 12 light, 36 medium, and 12 heavy. Each heavy war elk belongs to a 1st level fighter who rides it into battle.
• Yosefine: N human fighter 10. An imposing, strong young woman. She is arrogant but honorable. A few of the Battalion chafe under her command.
• Freya: LG human fighter 8. A somewhat gullible middle aged woman. She is very righteous and does not drink. While she can be a bit overbearing, she is better regarded than Yosefine, and some in the Battalion wouldn't mind her taking charge.

The camp houses 15 swift riding elk for use by the merchants. If the caravan is attacked or robbed, the merchants will mount up and ride swiftly to the north to acquire more mercenaries, then return to hunt down the thieves or murderers.

03.04 The Tower of Noel: A six-story tower ruled by Noel, a cruel human fighter who controls Frostyford (02.03) and Rednose Rest (02.04). Noel is cautious of new adventurers arriving in his realm. If adventurers encounter a patrol from the tower, it will be led by Clotilde (see below). She is unfriendly, and will attempt to round up any trespassers to bring to Noel for judgement.

The tower is garrisoned by 10 heavy elk cavalry, 9 light elk cavalry, and 24 men-at-arms, led by two 3rd level fighters and two 4th level fighters.

Noel cares little for Yuletide's End (01.01) though he is interested in its treasures and religious artifacts, and in obtaining one of the city's famous silver swords. He covets the wealth of the Silver Sleigh Caravan Camp (03.01), but doesn't possess the means to take it himself. He would be willing to deal with enterprising individuals who might help him obtain it. His scouts have encountered the Silent Knights of Carolcrag Cave (05.05) in the cliffs to the southeast, much to their dismay.

• Noel: NE human fighter 12. A well spoken, haughty young man with an immaculate appearance. His mood swings, paranoia, unforgiving nature, dishonesty, and penny-pinching have earned him no favor from his subjects, or even his followers. He has a keen interested in the ancient religion of the region, and it is for this reason only that he entertains Lothar's insubordination. His chambers are decorated with a robust collection of swords. He favors Clotilde, tolerates Mistique, and is suspicious of Nasjenka's loyalties. He trusts Ridley (see 02.03), but only to the extent that he might use him to further his own ends.
• Clotilde: CN human fighter 8. A very strong, intelligent, hardy young woman dressed in ragged furs and leather. She is violent, antagonistic, and harsh. She is Noel's lover, and is a zealot for whatever his current religious fixation or curiosity is. She enjoys hunting, and often leads the patrols out of the tower. Her patrols have encountered the Silent Knights, and she is particularly invested in rooting them out of their cave. She does not get along well with Mistique or Nasjenka.
• Mistique: LN human cleric 8. A highly observant but feeble young woman in modest religious garb. She is saintly in her collection of holy books and scrolls, and always driven to acquire more, which she maintains in the tower's chapel. She is pessimistic, cold, and craven, which has caused Noel to distance himself somewhat. She is jealous of Clotilde's relationship with Noel. She is helpful towards adventurers, and will attempt to recruit them to travel to Yuletide's End to retrieve religious artifacts, which she hopes to gift to Noel in exchange for his favor.
• Nasjenka: LN human fighter 8. A strong, intelligent, hardy middle aged woman in ragged armor. In battle she is brave and energetic, but also hot-tempered, which occasionally leads to careless mistakes. She has charge of the tower's garrison due to her greater battle experience, but is otherwise solitary and secretive, interacting with the tower's inhabitants rarely, and lying to them about her activities when questioned. She is greedy and easily bribed, and has a large collection of daggers secreted away in her chambers. She does her best to steer clear of visitors to the tower.

05.03 Solstice Doomhall: An ancient, crumbling, enormous castle, frozen by icy winds. It was once the forward outpost for an empire of giants who embodied winter itself, before festival and ritual took hold in the minds of men. Long ago, the Bellwrights of Yuletide's End (01.01) would travel here at the solstice and again at the equinox, bearing gifts for the giants. A feast was held and, if the gifts pleased the giants, they would permit a mild winter and an early arrival of spring. To the Bellwrights, the giants were known as the Arbiters of Winter.

Before they were slain, the Bellwrights met with the Arbiters at the solstice to ensure a mild winter. They never met again - spring never came, the winter became harsher with each passing solstice, and Solstice Doomhall was abandoned and fell into ruin. The road from Yuletide to the Doomhall was buried in icy sand. With the ringing of the bells, the giants have returned and prepared a solstice feast for the Bellrights, who never arrived. 

Instead, they hosted Rimehilda of Frostyford (02.03). Rather than a mild winter, Rimehilda negotiated for something else - a child, to be fathered not by the giants but by the spirits of winter itself. The giants agreed, and the child was immaculately conceived in a profane ritual in the fortress's temple. Now, Rimehilda feasts with the giants until the solstice passes and the child is born (21 days).

The "child" Rimehilda carries is in fact Cryonax, Prince of Evil Cold Creatures. If born, he will summon white dragons, frost giants, and yetis to plague the region, laying waste to strongholds and settlements before eventually taking his seat as Lord of Winter in the White Chapel in Yuletide's End, with Rimehilda as his regent mother and true power behind the throne. 

If the curse is lifted over Yuletide before then, the city will be warded against Cryonax's intrusion, and he will wander off into the northern wastes to claim some other seat. Winters will continue to be harsh in the region unless the Arbiters are appeased each year, bought off with a considerable one-time sum of treasure, or slain.

• The Arbiters of Winter: A clan of frost giants consisting of four males, two females (use stone giant), and a young child (4 hit points, 1-2 damage/attack).
• Hrothvar: The Arbiters' chieftain. He is a young giant, dressed in fine furs and hides. He is of average intellect, and Rimehilda has his ear so that he will be suspicious of adventurers, though he is even tempered when assessing threats. He is not one to back down from a challenge to his authority, and he is extremely vengeful should anyone harm Rimehilda or his clan. He is smitten with Rimehilda and chafes under his mother's chastisement.
• Hailveig: Hrothvar's mother. She is old, but imposing, well-spoken, and intelligent. She wears a cloak of white dragon skin from a dragon she claims to have slain herself. She is harsh on her own son for his boyish infatuation with Rimehilda. She is a devotee of Cryonax and puts up with Rimehilda's cruelty out of mutual purpose. Like Hrothvar and Rimehilda, she is suspicious of adventurers' intentions.
• Kolvi: Hrothvar's only son. He is the frost giant equivalent of a toddler - as large as an ogre, but doughy and badly proportioned. He is always accompanied and protected by his pet winter wolf, Hoarfang. He is lazy and cowardly, has a child's temper and petulance, and wants nothing more than to see adventurers slain, roasted, and served up at a feast. He hates both his father and grandmother, but adores Rimehilda. He will run to her and make up any lie about adventurers which might get them into trouble. One adventurer, before being killed and eaten, spoke of a talking wishing well. Kolvi begs Rimehilda to take him there so that he might wish for all adventurers to be killed and eaten by him.
• Rimehilda: CE human magic-user 10. A highly intelligent, maniacal, and malevolent old woman dressed in silver-stitched robes lined with winter wolf fur. She is cold, hard, and utterly without moral scruples. She eats ravenously - all to feed the "child" gestating within her. She is obsequious towards Hrothvar but cruel to Hailveig. She is unfriendly towards adventurers, suspecting that they have come to murder her and her child.

If a fight breaks out here, the giants will defend Rimehilda with their lives (or until their morale breaks). Hrothvar and Hailveig will both fight to the death for her. If all of her protectors are slain, flee, or surrender, Rimehilda will teleport herself to the Doomhall Dragonpit's treasure vault (with which she is very familiar due to her insistence that Hrothvar show her it multiple times). The vault is well-provisioned with ample food and drink so that Rimehilda can bring her child to term there if needed.

• Doomhall Dragonpit: A dungeon for 7th level characters. The dungeons of Solstice Doomhall were excavated long ago by the giants to expand the interior area of the castle above, hold prisoners, and guard treasure accumulated from the Bellwrights' biannual gifts. The dungeons are also home to a subdued ancient white dragon, Hrímkaldr, charged with guarding the entrance to the dungeons' vault. The dungeon has a secret entrance from the Peppermint Wood. The dragon has managed to survive and grow to incredible size by venturing out into the wood to feed on licorice eels, reindeer, elves, and syrup. It is currently in a state of deep sleep and is dimwitted if awakened, so it is possible to sneak past it if intruders are silent or clever.

05.05: Carolcrag Cave: This icy mountain cavern is home to the Silent Knights - or what's left of them. Originally an order of 25 knights charged with protecting the Bellwrights of Yuletide's End (01.01), they were cursed when they failed to do so on that fateful Demus Mass Eve. Their commander, Lady Walburga, broke her vow of silence to express concerns about the Bellwrights' plans to Thoralf, who then warned Magister Skruj. The Knights accepted gifts from Skruj and agreed to partake in the evening's festivities, rather than protect their charges.

For breaking the vow of silence, the Knights were cursed to never utter a sound again. For allowing their masters to be slain, and for the hearths of Yuletide to go forever cold, they were cursed to experience only pain from the warmth of fire. After the slayings, they exiled themselves to the Carolcrags, dwelling forever in this cave. 

With time, they became beastly monsters - 300 pounds, covered in white fur, with pale blue eyes and ivory white claws and teeth (use yeti). Only two of them remain - Lady Walburga herself and Sir Inglebert, her second-in-command. They have outgrown their armor and have entirely forgotten their knightly ways - namely chivalry and swordsmanship. Only snarling beasts remain. They don't call themselves anything, but locals refer to them as Mr. and Mrs. Claws.

Carolcrag Cave is deathly silent - not even the sound of Cliff-Carols can penetrate its icy depths. Any noise inside will alert the beasts to the presence of intruders. The beasts are hostile towards intrusion and use their ability to blend into their surroundings to lie in wait for the moment to strike. 

While unable to speak, they can be reasoned with, but only briefly, and they only half remember the common tongue. If they can be convinced to return to the White Chapel in Yuletide's End, the Ghosts of Yuletide Past, Present, and Future will release them from their oaths, allowing the curse to be lifted via remove curse.

And that is the Jinglebell Barrens! This was a lot more work than I thought I'd be doing on this, and its much more detailed than sandboxes I've drawn up for this blog in the past, but once I got started I just couldn't stop. It was too fun tying things together and giving everything a kind of grimdark Christmas vibe. 

I think you could have a pretty wild seasonal adventure here. We've got a couple of very manageable settlements with some political intrigue (all contained within one faction), a stronghold that exerts control over a large chunk of the region, a ruined city with five (!) dungeons and almost as many factions, a friendly merchant camp to trade with (or plunder for its riches), a frost giant lair in a ruined castle with an ice witch brewing up an Elemental Prince of Evil, another dungeon beneath complete with a dragon, and the lair of a pair of fearsome yetis. Curses abound, and they all have thematic means of being lifted.

Hopefully, this is a welcome gift to you, dear reader. If you're feeling generous yourself, you can give me the gift of sharing this post wherever you want, or commenting down below with your favorite parts, constructive criticisms, or whatever. 

As you celebrate the season in whichever way you're inclined to do, remember that there are always d100 creatures encysted beneath the surface of the earth, wishing you glad tidings this year and next!