A Brief Introduction to Talon's Height

A Brief Introduction to Talon's Height –

A Campaign Setting for 1st-5^th Level Adventurers

Talon's Height is an ongoing project, both in play and in writing, by myself with sturdy assistance from my friend Nathan. It's an attempt at developing a low-level sandbox/hexcrawl with a Haughty Fantasy feel. I'll offer a brief overview of the locations below, but first, let's get some headline items out there.

Beginner-Friendly

If this ever emerges from its cocoon as a complete product, I want it to be a beginner-friendly setting. If anyone should need an alternative Starter Set for DnD 5^th Edition (for which this is statted), I would hope that they would be able to basically run Talon's Height “out of the box”. I'll need to work out what this means – especially striking a balance between cramming too much direction in and leaving newbies to flail – but one aspect of this being a Haughty Fantasy setting is that it should not only be approachable for players, but also those willing to run the game. One thing this will require is a reasonable introduction to some of the more complex elements of the setting – such as faction play, setting development, or stronghold-building. These aren't meaningfully covered in (say) the 5^th Edition's Dungeon Master's Guide. If I want to help new DMs run a wider, deeper game than they might otherwise, I'll need to provide the help.

Haughty Fantasy

Talon's Height was conceived in three non-linear stages. First (and initially), it was conceived as a “normal high fantasy” trapdoor to start my players in during our Out of the Abyss campaign. They would spend a bit of 1^st Level time ambling about and experiencing normal fantasy (and fantasy RPG) tropes, and then have those thoroughly upset as they were captured by the Drow (or – if they should escape them – as they followed them down to their base). Second, when required at short notice to run a variable-length game at the games store at which I work, I took out the Talon's Height material and began expanding it in relation to reason the third – making a High Fantasy setting that would be familiar-yet-new.

That was the beginning of my thoughts about Haughty Fantasy. I wanted to run a setting that wasn't entirely unfamiliar to new players, and which gave them an enjoyable chance to experience the old tropes, but I also wanted to put new spins on some of that material. This led to some very serious thinking about the nature of the genre, and then, in a matter of days, some 40,000 words of setting material. Talon's Height, then, is my (limited, failing) attempt at a Haughty Fantasy setting – see my previous post for a definition of that.

Factions, Theme, Plot

A major element of the Talon's Height setting are the factions, whose desires operate at crosspurposes and who will interact with the adventurers. When left to their own devices, the factions fight, and extend their reach and power so far as they are able. They will fight each other as well as any awkward heroes. A major theme of the factions is that they are all concerned with order – or, at least, control. They represent different views of law – how law originates, what it is valuable for, and how it is exercised.

The leaders of the factions are: Lady Jana Truesight (Lawful Good, local ruler, great-granddaughter of the founding Lord of Talon's Height, looking to defend her own); Moritz Torrynton (Lawful Evil, leader of the Torrynton Compact of devil-supplicants, who seek wealth and more stability than Jana is offering); Osswald Dehazar (Neutral Evil, a bitter man whose family have left him to stew, who is turning to necromancy to assert control over those who would defy him in life); Targyn (Lawful Evil/Neutral, leader of the Dragon's Tooth Kobolds, who seek to build a stable Kobold civilisation independent of dragons); the Prince Most Magnificent of Shimmering Smoke (Lawful Evil, an efreeti prince who is breaking the bonds on his magical prison and seeks “justice” against those who slighted him); and Nimthur (Lawful Evil, a blue dragon who has concluded his glory and intelligence entitle him to rulership of the region).

All six of these represent tried and true tropes of Dungeons & Dragons and fantasy roleplaying in general. There is a power-hungry dragon, an imprisoned evil, a mad necromancer, and all the rest of it. But my intention is to – one – liven those up via the interaction between them and the players, and – two – slightly twist some of them. The Kobold, who many or most adventurers will seek to kill, is a once-in-a-thousand-years figure, a force of personality able to resist draconic influence, and a leader genuinely seeking to build something worthwhile. The Necromancer can, with difficulty, be talked back from the brink. The Torrynton Compact have a point that the Lordship is hardly stable as it is. And all of these factions, not just Lady Jana, can be negotiated with – Nimthur will hire adventurers to aid him against other factions, Dehazar will engage them to bring him parts for experiments, and so forth.

The way in which the different “plots” of the factions advance – in the system I have outlined – is via a rough link to the level of the characters. When characters level up (which I recommend via milestoning), each faction has a plot event, which the DM can trigger when appropriate (or behind the scenes if players never get near the relevant area). If a faction has been removed from play, then its event doesn't occur. The final stage of these various plots is the “Plot Advance Finale”, which is a special event – think a “raid” in World of Warcraft terms. Some of these are combat-focussed, some are not.

Strongholds, Hirelings, Romances, Friendships

Talon's Height is a place that can be settled and that can be affected by player actions – not just via their adventuring deeds but by their social actions. Talon's Height is a setting where adventurers can build strongholds, hire mercenaries and gain followers, make friends and fall in love. These are not just roleplaying opportunities, but many have real mechanical effects (outlined in the future). There are romantic story-threads between NPCs in the settings, as well as as many opportunities for PCs to find love as the DM likes. Friends of the characters spend their free time with them and will aid them. Though Talon's Height can be played by groups of tragic loners or by murderhobos, it is also a place that is worth settling. The tortured hero is a fascinating trope, but not inherently a Haughty Fantasy one. The idea of building something from nothing is, however. Adventurers in Talon's Height can do that.

Toolboxes, Not Hammers

Most “problems” in the setting have multiple potential solutions. Very few require combat. You can ally with the bad guys, or you can subvert or limit their plots indirectly. You can help people in different ways, and many quests have optimally non-violent solutions – depending on the aims of the adventurers, of course. The world of Talon's Height is not full of nails to be smashed. It can reward many approaches.

The Five “Regions” of the Lordship of Talon's Height

These descriptions offer a brief overview of the region's key locations and plot highlights, with some sense of local themes and how a DM can use the area – though I won't give you every secret here.

The Long Moor (5 Keyed Locations, 62 Random Encounters):

The northernmost region of the Lordship of Talon's Height is now largely out of touch with the Lordship proper. There is one large human settlement in the midst of this tinmining country, where the moors are intermittently riven by deep ravines. Recently, the Mists which have historically swamped the ravines have risen, covering the Moor itself. The town has been nearly cut off from its neighbours, including the monks of the Abbey of the White Silence, who provide it with much of its food. The monks have been slain by the beasts in the Mists, which means the seal on the magical prison-dungeon underneath the Abbey is degrading. That is pleasing and helpful for its inhabitant – the wicked efreet, the Prince Most Magnificent of Shimmering Smoke, who with his court of elementals is now beginning to influence the world outside.

The town itself is riven by rivalry between two families, the two families most instrumental in the foundation of the village. Their rivalry is somehow connected to the rise of the Mists, but its root and possible solutions are hard to discover at best. There is a Drow – accused of murder – in the town prison awaiting trial by the Lord Abbot (who isn't coming), whilst strange travelling merchants have been trapped here by the Mists. Blame is being thrown around at the drop of a hat, and it will only take a spark to cause an explosion.

Meanwhile, in the north-west of the Moor is the entrance to the great Underdark City of Glimmerdwell, ruled by a council of Deep Janeen (from Veins of the Earth), powerful elemental lords, who live in labyrinthine compounds and dwell on architecture as much as they do on their interminable politics. Here Shield Dwarves and Duergar live in uneasy peace together, kept civil by the power of the Deep Janeen and rewarded by the mineral wealth of the surrounding area and the renowned Crystal Market. Gnomes are also a significant part of the population – with Svirfneblin in the deep and Rock Gnomes running the surface outpost. Glimmerdwell has not heard from its surface neighbours in some time due to the Mists.

There are also two significant dungeon ruins: one is the home a Goblin tribe who are being forced out by others monsters; the other is the ruin of a Hill Giant King's Steading with factions of monsters ruling different sections. Aboveground, fearless of the Mists, is an exiled prince from a nomadic tribe, waiting for the moment to return to reclaim his own.

The Brightwood (12 Keyed Locations, 20 Random Encounters):

South of the Long Moor lie the hills and woods of the Brightwood. This is a “monster forest” rife with tree-dwelling bandits, witches of the wood (some friendly, some not), sentient beaverfolk, a myconid village, a few hardy foresters, and the bases of two of the major factions – Nimthur's Lair and the Dragon's Tooth, home of Targyn's nascent Kobold civilisation. Adventurers will be sent here to gather ingredients for merchants and wizards, to clear out monsters, and to meet powerful potential allies.

The Dragon's Tooth, home of the local independent Kobolds, is a small low-level dungeon (8 rooms plus outlying patrols) inspired a little by “Tucker's Kobolds” with a variety of tricks and traps. However, it is also – upon investigation, whether through slaughter or diplomacy – obviously not just a typical monster dungeon. The Kobolds are beginning to farm and keep goats, and their King, Targyn, is a remarkable individual who has somehow defied Nimthur's call to join him. Not all of his lieutenants feel the same way.

The High Lake is inhabited by the Weaverfolk, who trade both with the people of the Long Moor and the Dragon's Tooth. They are sentient beaverfolk who have built a great dam over the years. If this dam was released, the released waters would partially flood Nimthur's Lair.

Nimthur's Lair, then – a great sandstone quarry in former ages, now the home of a Blue Dragon who intends to rule the area. Nimthur has gathered various peoples to aid him, directly ruling over Kobolds, Lizardfolk, and Goblin refugees from the Long Moor, and assisted by allied Duergar. This will be a fairly significant dungeon with verticality and a complex environment.

Talon's Height (17 Keyed Locations, 12 Random Encounters):

The seat of the Lordship, built by Lady Jana's great-grandfather after the Spellplague. Still only really a large village, but it feels bustling from its location at the junction of the Trade Road and King's Road, and from local farmers coming in to trade. In the centre of its Market Square is the Silver Spear, the great marble tower inhabited by Lady Jana, a powerful wizard and the local ruler. She is talented but over-strained by the many problems facing her people.

There are a couple of low-level encounters in Talon's Height, which if conquered offer long-term possibilities to the players. Slaying the Giant Rats in the biggest inn's basement – controlled by a horrid Ratking in a cavern beneath – will give the players long-term free accommodation. The Xvarts who have taken over the Shrine of Sehanine, a couple of miles from town, are an obstacle in the way of the players gaining a potential Temple Stronghold.

There is also a second major player based in the town – Moritz Torrynton, leader of the Torrynton Compact. He has gathered together envious and greedy people from round the Lordship and made them his junior partners in a powerful deal. They have made a contract with a Barbed Devil, who is assisting them with the gathering of wealth and magical power, but requires from them the disruption of the Lawful Good rule of the area. Adventurers will likely need a combination of investigation and combat to defeat Torrynton, whose own long-term goal is to rule the Lordship. They might, of course, be hired by him instead.

Puddleton (7 Keyed Locations, 10 Random Encounters):

The second-largest settlement in the Lordship, governed by Alderman Jedba Reedbottom on behalf of Lady Jana. There is giant alligator living in the underground river who is causing trouble. More significantly, Osswald Dehazar – whose wife is away on a “long holiday” with her family and whose son works at a University far away and does not visit home – lives here. In his bitterness at his family turning away from him, he has chosen to gain control over people – via necromancy. People are easier to control when dead. He might, perhaps, be turned back from this dark and deadly path.

Cabbage Country (10 Keyed Locations, 20 Random Encounters):

At first glance, boring fields of corn and cabbage. At a closer look, a strange and often dark place. Agents of the Torrynton Compact, Nimthur, and the Prince Most Magnificent are at work here, but that is by no means the most dangerous thing here, nor the strangest.

A civilised settlement of Faeries lives in a gigantic hollow acorn, whilst an Earth Genasi kibbutz has been built beside a river. A mad Eladrin druid lives in a great termite mound on friendly terms with the inhabitants. In one village, the Autumn Equinox festival is infused with strange magic, turning revellers into vegetable-headed folk for the duration and casting them in strange stories.

But there are darker things still. A deranged fertility cult worships Orcus, immolating sacrifices on the Winter Solstice. Visitors, however, will think this a lovely and friendly village, and be encouraged to stay as long as they like. That is not the limit of Orcus' power here; the real source of his influence is a sealed Fane underneath a ruined Gatehouse, which might prove an excellent Keep Stronghold, but which has dungeons beneath hiding a Drow Outpost, the Fane to Orcus, and passages to the Underdark and an underground water system.

Fin

That's it for now. What do you think? Next Talon's Height post, I'll put up the DM's Hexmap with a Mapkey giving an overview of all of the keyed locations.