Sun Aug 09, 2020 2:00 pm
Bandit Kingdoms
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by Casey Brown (aka audraco)
“Please remember that things are different in the Bandit Kingdoms…”
Adventures here center on the political machinations of the various warlords or powerful merchants as they send adventurers to deal with pesky monsters, guard caravans of pilfered loot, hunt down betrayers, or wreak havoc on their enemies’ interests. Bizarre monsters from the Fellreev Forest and Rift Canyon must be dealt with. Beware the dragons in the Fellreev Forest (green), Rift Canyon (red), and White Plume Mountain (dracolich)!
The Combination of Free Lords, a.k.a. the Bandit Kingdoms, is comprised of roughly a dozen fiefdoms - the inhabitants of which are almost all uniformly unpleasant to friends and foes alike. Surrounded by enemies, the local warlords band together to raid nearby nations. If your campaign is set pre-Greyhawk Wars, the local warlords often fight among themselves when not raiding. If your campaign is set after, the Bandit Kingdoms suffer Iuz’s occupation and yearn to break free of the evil demigod’s chains. In the Bandit Kingdoms, anyone powerful enough to raise a small army can rise to power…but not everyone can keep it.
Country specific resources:
BDKR1: The Unofficial Living Greyhawk Bandit Kingdoms Summary
Dragon Magazine, issue 56, “Protection circles and the like, plus news of the north central Flanaess”
Dragon Magazine, issue 63, “Where the bandits are”
Iuz the Evil
Adventures in this country include:
- Fate of Istus (details the city of Rookroost)
- Age of Worms adventure path (Dungeon Magazine, issues 124 – 135)
- White Plume Mountain
- Aquatic Adventures: The Artonsamay River, Lake Aqal, the Nyr Dyv
- Badlands Adventures: Bluff Hills, Great Effluvlial Swamp, Rift Canyon and Rift Barrens, White Plume Mountain
- City Adventures (post-wars): Alhaster (port town ruled by a Hextorite), Hallorn (overrun with undead), Riftcrag (populated by humanoids loyal to Iuz), Rookroost (largest city in the region and secretly ruled by a shapeshifting cambion), Stoink (run by thieves)
- Forest Adventures: Fellreev Forest, Tangles Forest
Adventures in nearby areas include:
- Pholtans from the Theocracy of the Pale to the east seek to break Dimre’s defenses
- The Tenha city of Redspan vies with Rookroost for control of the Artonsamay River’s northern traffic
- Nomadic barbarians of the Rovers of the Barrens dominate the wild plains to the north
- Devils stalk the Horned Society’s lands while paladins in the Holy Realm of the Shield Lands seek to curtail bandit and infernal invasions alike to the west
- County of Urnst shipping on the Nyr Dyv is often harassed by corsairs out of Alhaster
Heroic campaigns are difficult to set in the Bandit Kingdoms. Paladins are generally run out of town by the local populace for being nosy do-gooders. In addition, there are few ancient dungeons to explore (except for Nerull’s Bane in the Fellreev Forest and Wormcrawl Fissure in the Rift Canyon).
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Richard Di Ioia (aka Longetalos)
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