05-21-2018, 06:01 PM
Pretty much with every campaign setting I use, I attempt to place some of the classic TSR modules into the setting. Partly because I enjoy these modules; partly because I am lazy, and the more materials I can use that will make my work easier, I will use...
And so...
Locations of Classic Adventures in Blackmoor
A Series: Scourge of the Slave Lords
The Slave Lords Series takes place on the Chimera Peninsula, west of the Egg of Coot. The ruins of Highport (A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity) are found on the end of the peninsula between the Realm of the Egg and the Firefrost Channel. The old fort (A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade) is in the hills to the north, a quarter of the way between ruined Highport and Suderham. Suderham, the hidden city of the slavers (A3: Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords and A4: In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords), is located in a volcano in the mountains in the Chimera Hills. These Slave Lords serve both the Egg of Coot and the Lords of the Peaks, as both factions have an insatiable desire for slaves that cannot be fulfilled by their own resources.
B Series: Basic Adventures
B1: In Search of the Unknown is set in the Northern Downs, just north of the Wizard Wood. Rogahn and Zelligar purportedly met their ends at the hands of the foul forces of the Egg of Coot; it was the peoples of Blackmoor and the Western Eaves of the Redwood who gave them their great treasure, in gratitude for their assistance against the forces of the Egg of Coot at the Battle of Wolf Pass in 1056 AC, which spared the Blackmoorian lands (if not the town) and the hamlets of the Western Eaves from the raids that befell lands elsewhere in the Northlands. Rogahn and Zelligar went on their great raid against the Egg of Coot in 1063 AC. It is known that the and their forces landed in Bartertown, then moved north and west, seeking to attack the Egg by land. Only now have the stories of their disastrous battle at Trollgate arrived in the Northlands…
B2: The Keep on the Borderlands is set in the Stormkiller Mountains, on the Skinner’s Road, right where the mountains and the hills meet between Bramwald and Erak. The tribes and clans of the Caves of Chaos are independent from the Orcs of the Black Bolt (the great horde of the Stormkillers). The clerics of the hidden temple and the Chaotic cleric in the keep are followers of Ahriman, the nemesis of Mitra, the god of the Holy Thonian Empire; deception and lies are their trademark.
B3: Palace of the Silver Princess isn’t set on the Blackmoor map; it fits in nicely in the Vales to the northwest, amongst the petty Kelltic kingdoms and tribes. Ellis the Strong is a paladin of the Gudtro faith of the Northern Lords. Arik is just a manifestation of Yog-Sothoth.
B4: The Lost City is found in the Wastes of Salik to the south, in a sandy section of the Valley of the Ancients.
B5: Horror on the Hill takes place on the Rat River; Guido’s Fort is the furthest push west from Blackmoor along the southern shores of the lake and river system. The fort was founded by a consortium of Thonian merchants seeking to connect up with the Gold Road. The hill is in the Forest of Fear across the river. In addition to raids from the local Beastmen, one must also be on the lookout for Picts from the north and Salikar from the south.
BSolo: Ghost of Lion Castle is found on the western plains of the Golden Horde, just west of the Barrens of Karsh.
C Series: Competition
C1: The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan is on the Isle of the Bat, one of the innumerable small islands in the Great Dismal Swamp, no more than a day’s hard march from a major river or waterway of Loch Gloomen.
C2: The Ghost Tower of Inverness stands at the tip of the peninsula between Robinsport and Port Dacoit. Galap-Dreidel was a Cirkoshian expatriate who built his tower in the days between the retreat of the Mirakosian Empire and the rise of King Uther, more than 500 years ago. He left his towner to challenge the growing might of the Witch-Queen of the North and never returned. The castle and tower were cast down by the Kells in the days of King Uther, and the Ghost Tower has been a frightful legend among the Tenha and Kells ever since, told by bards as far east as Maus and as far south as Dragonia.
D and G Series: The Drow and the Giants
The Drow series — D1-2: Descent into the Depths of the Earth and D3: The Vault of the Drow — and the Giants series — G1-2-3: Against the Giants — suffer from the same factor: no extensively large mountain range inhabited by giants that is also near at hand to civilized nations. Thus, the action is far off the Blackmoor map, in the Jotunheim Mountains, to the north of the lands of the Witch-Folk, that separate the Vikings and Varangians.
N Series: Novice Adventures
N1: Against the Cult of the Reptile God is set along the Hell Road connecting Ramshead and Boggy Bottom; Orlane stands along this road just west of where the road branches off to Kenville, between the forests and swamps. Orlane is a village a mere generation old, with a temple to Freyja. The cult lair is in the Blood Marshes, the marshes between Lake Brandon and Blood Lake and south of Trog Lake. Note that the cult members include Picts, found among the warriors at the cult lair.
S Series: Special (as in eSpecially Deadly!) Adventures
S1: Tomb of Horrors is found in the Mucklands, in an outcropping of the Wyvern Hills that extends into the swamp. Acererak was originally a Stygian sorcerer who made his way north through ancient Cirkoshia and Mirakosia, then built a kingdom amongst the primitive Kells, and eventually hid his final resting place in the debatable lands between the Picts, Salikar, and Peshwah, far from the prying eyes of his many enemies.
S2: White Plume Mountain is placed on the western edge of the Barrier Swamp, a lone volcanic hill jutting into the swamp from the eastern Barrens of Karsh, north and east of Tor Kurram.
S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks takes place in the Dragon Hills, east of the River Running.
S4: The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth is set in the Burning Mountains, south of the Blackmoor map in the lands of Great Bolgerie, in the Concatenated Cantons of Perunland.
T Series: The Temple of Elemental Evil
T1-4: The Temple of Elemental Evil is set in Western Eaves of the Redwood, and in the Southern Redwood, and the northern Stormkiller Mountains. Williamsfort takes the place of Verbobonc. Hommlet is in the northwestern hills of the Stormkillers, 15 miles north of Williamsport on the road between Williamsport and the Western Eaves. Knurl is a small hamlet of gnomes and dwarves in the hills to the east. Nulb and the ruins of the Temple of Elemental Evil stand to the northeast in the southwestern Redwood; note that the Redwood south of the Elf Road is in the hands of Chaos – held by giant spiders, orcs, goblins, ogres, necromancers, and such ilk. The Temple, a power opposed to Law but also opposed to the Egg of Coot, was cast down by local knights and adventurers 10 years ago. Unbeknownst to the world at large, the temple is rebuilding. In this setting, the cult of the temple is dedicated to the Princes of Elemental Evil – Cryonax, Imix, Ogrémoch, Olhydra, and Yan-C-Bin.
U Series: Underwater Adventures
U1: Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, U2: Danger at Dunwater, and U3: The Final Enemy all take place on the peninsula north of the Taproot and south of Archlis.
WG: World of Greyhawk
WG4: The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun like S4 is found in the Burning Mountains, far to the south and west. Tharizdun in this cast is another name for the King in Yellow.
And so...
Locations of Classic Adventures in Blackmoor
A Series: Scourge of the Slave Lords
The Slave Lords Series takes place on the Chimera Peninsula, west of the Egg of Coot. The ruins of Highport (A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity) are found on the end of the peninsula between the Realm of the Egg and the Firefrost Channel. The old fort (A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade) is in the hills to the north, a quarter of the way between ruined Highport and Suderham. Suderham, the hidden city of the slavers (A3: Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords and A4: In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords), is located in a volcano in the mountains in the Chimera Hills. These Slave Lords serve both the Egg of Coot and the Lords of the Peaks, as both factions have an insatiable desire for slaves that cannot be fulfilled by their own resources.
B Series: Basic Adventures
B1: In Search of the Unknown is set in the Northern Downs, just north of the Wizard Wood. Rogahn and Zelligar purportedly met their ends at the hands of the foul forces of the Egg of Coot; it was the peoples of Blackmoor and the Western Eaves of the Redwood who gave them their great treasure, in gratitude for their assistance against the forces of the Egg of Coot at the Battle of Wolf Pass in 1056 AC, which spared the Blackmoorian lands (if not the town) and the hamlets of the Western Eaves from the raids that befell lands elsewhere in the Northlands. Rogahn and Zelligar went on their great raid against the Egg of Coot in 1063 AC. It is known that the and their forces landed in Bartertown, then moved north and west, seeking to attack the Egg by land. Only now have the stories of their disastrous battle at Trollgate arrived in the Northlands…
B2: The Keep on the Borderlands is set in the Stormkiller Mountains, on the Skinner’s Road, right where the mountains and the hills meet between Bramwald and Erak. The tribes and clans of the Caves of Chaos are independent from the Orcs of the Black Bolt (the great horde of the Stormkillers). The clerics of the hidden temple and the Chaotic cleric in the keep are followers of Ahriman, the nemesis of Mitra, the god of the Holy Thonian Empire; deception and lies are their trademark.
B3: Palace of the Silver Princess isn’t set on the Blackmoor map; it fits in nicely in the Vales to the northwest, amongst the petty Kelltic kingdoms and tribes. Ellis the Strong is a paladin of the Gudtro faith of the Northern Lords. Arik is just a manifestation of Yog-Sothoth.
B4: The Lost City is found in the Wastes of Salik to the south, in a sandy section of the Valley of the Ancients.
B5: Horror on the Hill takes place on the Rat River; Guido’s Fort is the furthest push west from Blackmoor along the southern shores of the lake and river system. The fort was founded by a consortium of Thonian merchants seeking to connect up with the Gold Road. The hill is in the Forest of Fear across the river. In addition to raids from the local Beastmen, one must also be on the lookout for Picts from the north and Salikar from the south.
BSolo: Ghost of Lion Castle is found on the western plains of the Golden Horde, just west of the Barrens of Karsh.
C Series: Competition
C1: The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan is on the Isle of the Bat, one of the innumerable small islands in the Great Dismal Swamp, no more than a day’s hard march from a major river or waterway of Loch Gloomen.
C2: The Ghost Tower of Inverness stands at the tip of the peninsula between Robinsport and Port Dacoit. Galap-Dreidel was a Cirkoshian expatriate who built his tower in the days between the retreat of the Mirakosian Empire and the rise of King Uther, more than 500 years ago. He left his towner to challenge the growing might of the Witch-Queen of the North and never returned. The castle and tower were cast down by the Kells in the days of King Uther, and the Ghost Tower has been a frightful legend among the Tenha and Kells ever since, told by bards as far east as Maus and as far south as Dragonia.
D and G Series: The Drow and the Giants
The Drow series — D1-2: Descent into the Depths of the Earth and D3: The Vault of the Drow — and the Giants series — G1-2-3: Against the Giants — suffer from the same factor: no extensively large mountain range inhabited by giants that is also near at hand to civilized nations. Thus, the action is far off the Blackmoor map, in the Jotunheim Mountains, to the north of the lands of the Witch-Folk, that separate the Vikings and Varangians.
N Series: Novice Adventures
N1: Against the Cult of the Reptile God is set along the Hell Road connecting Ramshead and Boggy Bottom; Orlane stands along this road just west of where the road branches off to Kenville, between the forests and swamps. Orlane is a village a mere generation old, with a temple to Freyja. The cult lair is in the Blood Marshes, the marshes between Lake Brandon and Blood Lake and south of Trog Lake. Note that the cult members include Picts, found among the warriors at the cult lair.
S Series: Special (as in eSpecially Deadly!) Adventures
S1: Tomb of Horrors is found in the Mucklands, in an outcropping of the Wyvern Hills that extends into the swamp. Acererak was originally a Stygian sorcerer who made his way north through ancient Cirkoshia and Mirakosia, then built a kingdom amongst the primitive Kells, and eventually hid his final resting place in the debatable lands between the Picts, Salikar, and Peshwah, far from the prying eyes of his many enemies.
S2: White Plume Mountain is placed on the western edge of the Barrier Swamp, a lone volcanic hill jutting into the swamp from the eastern Barrens of Karsh, north and east of Tor Kurram.
S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks takes place in the Dragon Hills, east of the River Running.
S4: The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth is set in the Burning Mountains, south of the Blackmoor map in the lands of Great Bolgerie, in the Concatenated Cantons of Perunland.
T Series: The Temple of Elemental Evil
T1-4: The Temple of Elemental Evil is set in Western Eaves of the Redwood, and in the Southern Redwood, and the northern Stormkiller Mountains. Williamsfort takes the place of Verbobonc. Hommlet is in the northwestern hills of the Stormkillers, 15 miles north of Williamsport on the road between Williamsport and the Western Eaves. Knurl is a small hamlet of gnomes and dwarves in the hills to the east. Nulb and the ruins of the Temple of Elemental Evil stand to the northeast in the southwestern Redwood; note that the Redwood south of the Elf Road is in the hands of Chaos – held by giant spiders, orcs, goblins, ogres, necromancers, and such ilk. The Temple, a power opposed to Law but also opposed to the Egg of Coot, was cast down by local knights and adventurers 10 years ago. Unbeknownst to the world at large, the temple is rebuilding. In this setting, the cult of the temple is dedicated to the Princes of Elemental Evil – Cryonax, Imix, Ogrémoch, Olhydra, and Yan-C-Bin.
U Series: Underwater Adventures
U1: Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, U2: Danger at Dunwater, and U3: The Final Enemy all take place on the peninsula north of the Taproot and south of Archlis.
WG: World of Greyhawk
WG4: The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun like S4 is found in the Burning Mountains, far to the south and west. Tharizdun in this cast is another name for the King in Yellow.