Making a Fantasy Sandbox: Part II

Part I 

According to Rob's guide, the next steps are as follows:

2. Label important regions
3. Write one page of background giving no more than a handful of sentences to each region
4. Pick an area roughly 200 miles by 150 miles

Before I started labeling regions on my map, I did some research on human migration. I wanted to have a history for my continent that really changed the map over time. You can check out a Wikipedia article on the subject here. For an example of human migration used in fantasy fiction, check out Robert E. Howard's essay The Hyborian Age.

I went through several iterations of my map before reaching the final product. This is a good thing. It gives your map realism. Each time I redrew my map, I moved the regions around, removed some, and added others. As I did this I had a vague narrative in my mind about what was causing these changes, but I didn't flesh out the details until I wrote my one page background based on the maps. Just how far back you want to start your history is up to you. I think around 1,000 years is a solid number. I made about six rough maps over about 1,200 years.

History of Rimeland

The heroes of the Tarusian War journeyed to the northern coast of Rimeland. There they settled, naming their new kingdom Tythia.



After five hundred years of peace, invaders landed on the shores of Tythia: they were the Jorykir, blue-skinned and fair-haired, descended from giants. The Tythians fought. The blood of the Tarusian heroes made them strong, but the Jorykir were too mighty and too numerous to withstand; they overflowed into Tythia, pushing the Tythians south.



Another kingdom, called Erorria, had expanded from the east into the lands south of Tythia. The Tythians, after decades of pushing by the Jorykir, fell into the Erorrians. Erorria, witnessing the fury of the Jorykir, aided the Tythians.

The two kingdoms fought as allies for two centuries and formed the kingdom called Ardiel.



It was in this time that the strain of mixed race began to appear: the result of interbreeding between the Jorykir and their Ardelian captives. This new race lacked the fury of the Jorykir and were kept by them as slaves; but, growing numerous, and imbued with Jorykir strength, they rose up against their masters, forming the kingdom called Vorn.



In Ardiel, some embraced the kingdom of Vorn as ally; others cursed it for its Jorykir blood. Those of the old Tythian bloodlines raided Vorn repeatedly, treating them like Jorykir. Many of the Erorrian bloodlines disagreed with this. Ardiel fell into a period of civil war, ending with the separation and reformation of the kingdom of Erorria.

Erorria sent aid to Vorn against the Jorykir when Ardiel would not. Over three hundred years, Vorn, with the help of Erorria, pushed the Jorykir back into the sea. Years of fighting in that land where the Jorykir had last clung led to the slow establishment of the kingdom called Svedain. Now the strength of Jorykir is reduced to sporadic raiding against Vorn and Svedain. Those kingdoms work to rebuild and recover, striving to establish a permanent bastion against Jorykir. Ardiel and Erorria turn to their own interests, cultural and economic, but the old enmity between them smolders beneath the surface.



Like I said, you don't have to put this amount of detail into your final map. It could just be rough shapes and scribbled notes. I just find that for me the more realistic and polished I make my map look, the more real the world feels.

Now that I've created my map, labelled my regions, and written a page of background, it's time to choose my campaign area.



That rectangle is my roughly 200 by 150 mile campaign area based on me deciding what I wanted the scale to be and eyeballing it. You don't need exact measurements to decide on a scale for a poetic map like this. Just go with what looks right to you.

I chose an area on the coast of Svedain because I want to feature longships in my campaign and I want the Jorykir to have a presence.

Next up, I'll draw a hex map of the campaign area in Part III.

Making a Fantasy Sandbox: Part I

This series will show my step-by-step creation of a fantasy world using Rob Conley's How to Make a Fantasy Sandbox. Aside from following the guide for the fun of it, I want to create a detailed world for the purpose of running a little experiment.

Part II
Part III

Step one, from Rob's guide:

1. Using one page sketch a world or continent map

I actually started with a concept phase before step one. My main source of inspiration for this campaign setting is Iron Maiden's Seventh Son of a Seventh Son album.



I like the arctic setting and the weird, desolate fantasy the album evokes for me. Based on that, I decided on a northern continent for my map.

Next, I gathered some reference material. I want to create a realistic northern medieval setting, so I chose two history books: The Middle Ages and Viking Age. I also chose some Norse mythology books, and for mapping, Jared Blando's How to Draw Fantasy Art and RPG Maps.



You don't need to go to this level of research, but I find drawing from actual history and myth gives me a ton of ideas that I would never come up with myself. There are all sorts of little details you can steal from history books.

For my continent map, I got a vague sense of where I should place mountains and things from Rob's guide, then just started drawing. All you need for this map is to place in coasts, islands, mountains, hills, forests, rivers, and lakes. I spent a lot more time on it than I needed to, but the more beautiful I can make my campaign map, the more inspired I'll feel about running the campaign.



I think I'll call this icy setting Rimeland.

Next up, Part II: labelling important regions and inventing some history.

Bringing Your Campaign to Life: Leitmotif

In movies and video games, theme music goes hand in hand with individual iconic ideas. Most often a theme will be associated with a culture, a city, or a character. This musical technique is called a leitmotif. It's a way of reminding the listener of a particular character, announcing an entrance, or evoking a mood for a specific location.

As an example, in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit, the elven theme music from the Lord of the Rings films starts playing before the elves even appear on screen, but the audience immediately recognizes what that means -- here come the elves! 

In RPGs, MMORPGs in particular, there is often a distinct musical theme for each city that you visit. You begin to associate the imagery of that city with the theme, and that allows you to develop an even greater familiarity with the location.

Try using a leitmotif in your campaign. The easiest thing to do would be to play a specific track each time the players visit a particular settlement. Over time, they'll begin to feel even more familiar with the location you've designed, and it will be easier to consistently reinvoke the mood, atmosphere and imagery you've envisioned for that place.

Xeria: Espadian Occupation Table

DCC RPG uses a character creation system that has the player roll on an occupation chart that determines what the character did before he became an adventurer. Each occupation also comes with an undetermined set of skills that can be called upon when making a check. I use the word undetermined because DCC RPG has no skill system, per se -- if the character is attempting something he would have learned in his occupation, the skill is trained. Roll a d20. Otherwise, it's untrained. Roll a d10.

Since we've done away with Elves, Dwarves and Halfings for our Xeria hexcrawl, we decided to make a unique occupation table for each of the four human races we've designed instead. Here's the table for the Espadians, a race of humans who are essentially eccentric musketeer nobles. They wear fancy clothing, hold frequent balls, duel with rapiers for honour, and create beautiful works of art from glass, including the three splendid glass spires in their city of Espada.

Espadian Occupation Table (1d20)*

1. Glassblower's apprentice (blowpipe as staff, glass bauble)
2.  Architect's apprentice (dagger, parchment and quill)
3.  Servant (kitchen knife as dagger, 'lucky' trinket)
4.  Noble (rapier, large finely crafted satchel [50lbs])
5.  Messenger (letter opener as dagger, supple leather shoes)
6.  Herald (dagger, brass horn)
7.  Excavator (shovel as staff, 1lb sand)
8.  Foreman (hammer as club, speaking trumpet)
9.  Tailor (scissors as dagger, needle and thread)
10.  Dressmaker (scissors as dagger, 2 yards fine cloth)
11.  Lookout (sling, brimmed hat)
12.  Duelist (rapier, fine gloves)
13.  Blacksmith (hammer as club, steel tongs)
14.  Ostler (staff, bridle)
15.  Chef (rolling pin as club, fine spices)
16.  Merchant (dagger, cask of fine rum)
17.  Deckhand (knife as dagger, 50' rope)
18.  Scholar (dagger, 10 candles)
19.  Conman (dagger, quality cloak)
20.  Actor (dagger, fine clothes)

*The items in brackets are the character's trained weapon and starting trade good, respectively.

Xeria: Hex Contents Table

The new campaign setting in the works is called Xeria. I'm actually co-creating it with my partner, Leah. The two of us decided we wanted to design a desert-themed hex crawl/sandbox. We printed out a hex template map and started allotting terrain using this awesome guide over at The Welsh Piper. After that, we turned to this awesome guide by Flynn over at his excellent blog, In Like Flynn. To suit our desert theme, we came up with a combined and modified version of the tables provided in both guides and rolled once per hex on the following custom tables.

Hex Filling Table (d6)
1-2. Colour
3. Terrain effect
4. Settlement
5. Lair
6. Adventure

After rolling on the Hex Filling Table, roll again on the indicated subtable.

Terrain (d6)
1. Weather
2. Arcane
3. Divine
4-5. Strange
6. Combine two

Settlement (d6)
1. Waystation/outpost/hut
2. Permanent camp/farm(s)
3. Village/small town
4. Large town/city
5. Monastery/shrine/temple
6. Wise person's abode

The different results indicated by the slashes correspond to the terrain type of the hex being rolled for, eg. waystation (desert), outpost (plains), hut (mountains).

Lair (d6)
1-3. Monster
4-5. Supernatural
6. Humanoids

Adventure (d6)
1-3. Site
4-6. Event

A site is a location, such as a ruin or dungeon. An event is a scene that is triggered when the players first enter the hex, such as coming upon a caravan master with a broken wheel who needs help reaching his destination.

Colour: This is just flavour or fluff and requires only a short description. For example: A tree with dangling nooses used to hang criminals.

We were quite pleased with the results and only occasionally fudged what the table gave us. But that's okay -- the point of the table is to give you ideas and get your imagination going. Also, we already had some cool ideas that we just plunked down into certain hexes instead of rolling for them. 

Note: This table and tables like it are NOT masters to be bowed down to. You don't need to be a slave to them. If another idea pops into your head, use it!   

The reason we decided to modify the tables in the original guides was due to the fact that those tables left roughly 50% of hexes completely empty. This seemed like a waste of space to us and we didn't want our players just trudging around only finding something interesting half of the time. That said, you don't want your hexes too cluttered, either, or exploration will start to lose some of its lustre. Overall it came to a nice balance of fillings for our purposes.

Enchanted Steel

How do magic weapons look in your game? Are they glowing with energy, alight with fire and crackling with lightning? Or do you prefer a more subtle approach? An exquisitely wrought pommel, a blade that never dulls, a faint warmth in the hand when grasping the hilt? Or is it the weird and otherwordly that strikes you? A strangely coloured metal, alien runes along the blade, a trail of whispering shadows when swung?

Leave a comment describing your favourite magic weapon you've come across in your games!

A Dash of Flavour: Tavern Menus

Tired of the same old stale bread and cheese? For this week's tavern visit, why not try something new? Invent a new tavern menu - create a few colourful local dishes involving original animals or plants and see how they bring your world to life just a little more.

The Hallowed Horseman
Menu: Pumpkin soup, fresh gef cream, mill fish, spiced ale, kethaflower cordial.
Goods: Yellowsage pipe-weed from the Yellow Marsh.

Now figure out a few things about the plants and animals you just made up!

Gef 
Black furred, four legged beast with a silver breast and short tail. Two huge scythe-like antlers. Feeds on grass and ketha flowers which grow near the Devilswood. A source of food for Grimrose. Hunted by giant birds and wolves. Kept in herds by the barbarian clans. Stags sought after for the value of their horns. Very defensive of their territory. The females can be domesticated and are kept for milk, cream and butter by the people of Grimrose.

Mill fish 
Small speckled fish that gather at the turbulent waters near the water wheels of mills. They are easily caught by netting them from the wheel or just dropping a line in the water.

Story vs Mythos

In preparation for my summer campaign (the ideas for which have begun budding nicely) I find myself thinking of ways to make this a unique gaming experience. I always try to make each campaign different in both flavour and meaning, and this will be no exception. But this time, I want to bring the world to life a bit more than usual, by using things like themes, ecology, stories and mythos. I have some world building to do, but a question strikes me as my mind begins to plot and scheme: should I create the world and then build stories within it, or should I create interesting stories and then build a world around them?

I think it is tradition in campaign planning that the map is filled first and then come the plot points and adventuring sites. I'd like to try it the other way around. Perhaps if I create a few interesting plot lines, and then build a mythos around them, my world will spring to life a bit more. It will leave more room for the evolution of ideas and hopefully allow for another memorable campaign. Creating a truly mythical experience for the players would be extremely gratifying.

My summer campaign is going to take place in Yekkislovia, a misty, wooded region beneath a silver moon shrouded by dark clouds. To the north, matriarchal barbarian hill clans; further north, an ancient forest inhabited by colossal god-beasts; to the south, a haunted wood full of lycanthropes and the enchanted ruins of ancient beast-men; in the centre of it all, on the banks of a wild river, Grimrose, a lonely bastion of civilization surrounded by darkness and devils; just beyond the river, a ruined castle, home to a pale man with a thirst for blood. Sentient, Scandinavian inspired trolls. Ghostly elves that dance and bewitch mortals for years in their woodland halls. An ancient book housing the secrets of Death in its pages. Seven holy relics scattered across the land.

Oh, yeah. This is going to be my gothic campaign. Witch hunters, witches, vampires, werewolves, alchemy, moon phases, Shostakovich. Get your silver sword.

Sources of Treasure

Why are dungeons filled with treasure? Aside from enticing brave (or foolish) adventurers to come visit them and serving as an important game-play element in our hobby, treasure can and should, in my opinion, be more.

In my dungeons, treasure is rarely just sitting in the corner of a room. I tend to avoid using treasure chests at all. I just don't think most monsters would be keeping treasure around like their finest set of china, waiting for important visitors to show it off to. Most of the treasure I dole out is found more naturally - on the bodies of fallen explorers.

Unless you are designing a tomb or crypt in which the occupant's wealth was buried with them, the majority of a dungeon's treasure would not be secreted away in sarcophagi and medieval bank vaults. Monsters kill people - that's what they do. Then they either take their treasure (if intelligent or greedy), or leave it where it is. Few monsters have the tendencies or intelligence to hoard treasure. It is more likely that some adventurer made his way into the place in search of rumored treasure and was killed by the local monsters. That adventurer's belongings become the treasure for the dungeon. 

In general, I include one or two main treasure hoards as set pieces and themes for my dungeon, and as a hook for the players. Otherwise, the rest of the treasure is found on skeletons and corpses in the form of old armour, jewelry, coins - and maybe even magic items the unlucky adventurer might have been carrying when he died.

Collaborative Worldbuilding: Tol, Part I

So I stumbled upon this game called Dawn of Worlds by a group of people under the name Legends. Essentially, the game is a collaborative world building exercise where you and your friends sit down around a table with a big piece of paper and create an entire world complete with geography, races and histories. As the rules manual states, there are several advantages to this approach to world building. (Let me just say that I intend to use Dawn of Worlds to create the setting for my next Swords & Wizardry campaign.)

First, the DM isn't given the daunting task of creating the entire world all by his lonesome. Yes, creating a world is fun, we like to spend hours on it, but for some it can be a little tedious and time consuming. I am a DM who really enjoys this part of the hobby, but I have to admit that I do lose steam with these worldbuilding projects after a while. Having a bunch of other people to cheer you on you makes it a little easier.

Second, more minds are better than one. As I've seen so far, everybody will come up with different ideas that either mesh or clash with each other. Either result is fine and leads to good worldbuilding. The world becomes much more dynamic with the input of multiple creative individuals.

Thirdly - though this has pros and cons, depending on your play style - every player involved will know the world. I really like this. You won't have to waste a lot of wind explaining to your players how the kingdom came to be and the giants destroyed the dragon prince, blah blah blah. It makes the setting familiar to the players, and even endearing since they played a part in its creation. There are plans for a round-robin style of DMing, since everyone will know the world. To me, this is even superior to using a familiar and well-loved published setting - creative types love their brainchildren. 

In the creation of this world, the first thing I did was take two 14x17 pieces of paper and stick them together. I then drew an outline (which turned out pretty cool) of a continent. I won't get into the rules of the game here - you can check them out in the link above. Basically, everyone proposed a name for the world, we voted on it, and the world of Tol (pronounced "toll") was born. We went around the table, taking turns filling in mountains, forests, lakes and rivers. To be honest, the map was a little big. We have played two sessions now and still have along way to go. You can use a smaller landmass depending on how big and how detailed you want your world to be, and how much time you want to spend on it.

The game is split up into three "Ages": the First Age (geography), the Second Age (races), and the Third Age (conflict). We are currently early in the Second Age and have about 6 players. Turns take a fair amount of time with this many people, but there are more ideas as well.

I'll be posting a bit about the history and nature of the world as it develops. For now, here is a picture of the map as it stands in the Second Age. Sorry for the quality - it was too big to scan.

I recommend trying Dawn of Worlds for your next campaign. Your group might just come up with a beloved setting that you'll use for years together.

From Whence Do Our Wizards Learn Their Magic?

It may not occur to players and referees alike that the idea of acquiring new magical abilities could potentially be role-played. It didn't occur to me until today. "You've got enough XP to level, so choose your spells and update your character sheet." Hang on a minute!

Wouldn't it be way cooler to have an opportunity arise in-game? Don't wizards need other, better wizards to teach them stuff? And don't these other, better wizards require things in return for their tutelage? There's a lot of opportunity for adventure in just learning a new spell, I'll wager!

I'm currently running Goodman Games Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG Beta Rules for my Thursday night game, and some of the characters just got enough XP to choose a class last week.

I think for this week I'll create an NPC wizard who will offer up a few select spells to prospective wizard characters in exchange for an errand or two. Try it! Don't let them pick from a table in a book! Have your players meet real wizards in the game world and see how much more meaningful their spells will be to them.

Describing the World: A Glossary of Architecture

This post is being compiled with the intent of expanding the vocabulary of the Referee in describing buildings and their features, in order that they may have a deeper pool of vivid descriptions to draw from, other than "door," "window," "floor," or "ceiling."

A


Aisle - subsidiary space alongside the body of a building, separated from it by columns, piers, or posts.
Apron -

1. raised panel below a window or wall monument or tablet.
2. open portion of a marine terminal immediately adjacent to a vessel berth, used in the direct transfer of cargo between the vessel and the terminal.
3. concrete slab immediately outside a vehicular door or passageway used to limit the wear on asphalt paving due to repetitive turning movements.

Apse - vaulted semicircular or polygonal end of a chapel.
Arcade - passage or walkway covered over by a succession of arches or vaults supported by columns. Blind arcade or arcading: the same applied to the wall surface.
Arch - a curved structure capable of spanning a space while supporting significant weight.
Architrave - the moulded frame of a door or window.
Arris - sharp edge where two surfaces meet at an angle.
Articulation - articulation is the manner or method of jointing parts such that each part is clear and distinct in relation to the others, even though joined.
Ashlar - masonry of large blocks cut with even faces and square edges.
Atrium - (plural: atria) inner court of a house; in a multi-storey building, a toplit covered court rising through all storeys.
Attic - small top storey within a roof. The storey above the main entablature of a facade.


B


Bahut - a small parapet or attic wall bearing the weight of the roof of a cathedral or church.
Baluster - small moulded shaft, square or circular, in stone or wood, sometimes metal, supporting the coping of a parapet or the handrail of a staircase; a series of balusters supporting a handrail or coping.
Barrel vault - an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance.
Basement - lowest, subordinate storey of building often either entirely or partially below ground level.
Basilica - a large roofed hall erected for transacting business and disposing of legal matters.
Batter - upwardly receding slope of a wall or column.
Bays - internal compartments of a building; each divided from the other by subtle means such as the boundaries implied by divisions marked in the side walls (columns, pilasters, etc) or the ceiling (beams, etc). Also external divisions of a building by fenestration (windows).
Bay window - window of one or more storeys projecting from the face of a building. Canted: with a straight front and angled sides. Bow window: curved. Oriel: rests on corbels or brackets and starts above ground level; also the bay window at the dais end of a medieval great hall.
Belfry - chamber or stage in a tower where bells are hung.
Boss - roughly cut stone set in place for later carving.
Bossage - uncut stone that is laid in place in a building, projecting outward from the building, to later be carved into decorative moldings, capitals, arms, etc. Bossages are also rustic work, consisting of stones which seem to advance beyond the surface of the building, by reason of indentures, or channels left in the joinings; used chiefly in the corners of buildings, and called rustic quoins. The cavity or indenture may be round, square, chamfered, beveled, diamond-shaped, or enclosed with a cavetto or listel.
Bond - brickwork with overlapping bricks. Types of bond include stretcher, English, header, Flemish, garden wall, herringbone, basket, American, and Chinese.
Boutant - type of support. An arc-boutant, or flying buttress, serves to sustain a vault, and is self-sustained by some strong wall or massive work. A pillar boutant is a large chain or jamb of stone, made to support a wall, terrace, or vault. The word is French, and comes from the verb bouter, "to butt" or "abut".
Bracket - weight-bearing member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall.
Brise soleil - projecting fins or canopies which shade windows from direct sunlight.
Bullseye window - small oval window, set horizontally.
Bressummer - large, horizontal beam supporting the wall above, especially in a jettied building.
Bulwark - barricade of beams and soil designed to mount artillery. On board ships the term refers to the woodwork running round the ship above the level of the deck. Figuratively it means anything serving as a defense.
Buttress - vertical member projecting from a wall to stabilize it or to resist the lateral thrust of an arch, roof, or vault. A flying buttress transmits the thrust to a heavy abutment by means of an arch or half-arch.


C


Cantilever - an unsupported overhang acting as a lever, like a flagpole sticking out of the side of a wall.
Casement window - window hung vertically, hinged one side, so that it swings inward or outward.
Cella - the inner chamber of a temple.
Celerestory - an upper story of a building with windows above adjacent roofs.
Chapter House - a meeting place for the chapter or governing body of a monastery or a cathedral.
Chresmographion - chamber in Greek temples where oracles were delivered.
Cincture - ring, list, or fillet at the top and bottom of a column, which divides the shaft from the capital and base.
Cippus - low pedestal, either round or rectangular, set up for various purposes such as military or milestones, boundary posts. Occasionally funeral memorials.
Circulation - describes the flow of people throughout a building.
Coffer - a coffer, in architecture, is a sunken panel in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon that serves as a decorative device, usually in a ceiling or vault. Also called caissons, or lacunar.
Compluvium - Latin term for the open space left in the roof of the atrium of a Roman house (domus) for lighting it and the rooms round.
Coping (architecture) - the capping or covering of a wall.
Cornice - a projecting shelf along the top of a wall often supported by brackets.
Cross springer - block from which the diagonal ribs of a vault spring or start. The top of the springer is known as the skewback.
Crypto-porticus - concealed or covered passage, generally underground, though lighted and ventilated from the open air. One of the best-known examples is the crypto-porticus under the palaces of the Caesars in Rome. In Hadrians villa in Rome they formed the principal private intercommunication between the several buildings.


D


Dormer - a structural element of a building that protrudes from the plane of a sloping roof surface. Dormers are used, either in original construction or as later additions, to create usable space in the roof of a building by adding headroom and usually also by enabling addition of windows.
Dosseret, or impost block - cubical block of stone above the capitals in a church, used to carry the arches and vault, the springing of which had a superficial area greatly in excess of the column which carried them.
Dromos - entrance passage or avenue leading to a building, tomb or passageway. Those leading to beehive tombs are enclosed between stone walls and sometimes in-filled between successive uses of the tomb. In ancient Egypt the dromos was a straight, paved avenue flanked by sphinxes.


E


Estrade - French term for a raised platform or dais.


G


Gable - a triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof.
Gablets - triangular terminations to buttresses.
Gadrooning - carved or curved molding used in architecture and interior design as decorative motif, often consisting of flutes which are inverted and curved.
Gambrel - a symmetrical two-sided roof with two slopes on each side.
Gazebo - a freestanding pavilion structure often found in parks, gardens and public areas.
Geison - forms the outer edge of the roof on the sides of a structure with a sloped roof.


H

Hip roof - a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls.
Hyphen - a structural section connecting the main portion of a building with its projecting wings.


J


Jamb - a vertical element of a doorway or window frame.


K


Keystone (architecture) - the architectural piece at the crown of a vault or arch that marks its apex, locking the other pieces into position.


L


Lacunar - paneled or coffered ceiling, soffit, or vault adorned with a pattern of recessed panel.
Lantern - a small circular or polygonal structure, with windows all around the base, which opens above a larger tower or dome.
Latticework - an ornamental, lattice framework consisting of a criss-crossed pattern.
Lintel (architecture) - a horizontal block that spans the space between two supports.
Loggia - a gallery formed by a colonnade open on one or more sides. The space is often located on an upper floor of a building overlooking an open court or garden.
Lozenge - a diamond shape.
Lunette - a half-moon shaped space, either masonry or void.


M

Mansard roof - a curb roof in which each face has two slopes, the lower one steeper than the upper.
Marriage stone - a stone lintel, usually carved, with a marriage date.
Molding - decorative finishing strip.
Mullion - vertical bar of wood, metal or stone which divides a window into two or more parts.


N


Narthex - a low projection at the western end of a church, like a porch.
Niche - a recess in the thickness of a wall.


O

Oillets - arrow slits in the walls of medieval fortifications, but more strictly applied to the round hole or circle with which the openings terminate.


P


Parclose - screen or railing used to enclose a chantry, tomb or chapel, in a church, and for the space thus enclosed.
Pavilion (structure) - a free standing structure near the main building or an ending structure on building wings.
Pedestal (also Plinth) - the base or support on which a statue, obelisk, or column is mounted.
Pediment - a triangular space above a window or entrance.
Pendentive - a spherical triangle which acts as a transition between a circular dome and a square base on which the dome is set
Piano nobile - the principal floor of a large house, built in the style of renaissance architecture.
Pier (architecture) - an upright support for a superstructure, such as an arch or bridge.
Pilaster - a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall.
Plinth - the base or platform upon which a column, pedestal, statue, monument or structure rests.
Pinnacle - a pointed termination of a spire, buttress, or other extremity of a building. Pinnacles are sometimes ornamented.
Poppy heads - finials or other ornaments which terminate the tops of bench ends, either to pews or stalls. They are sometimes small human heads, sometimes richly carved images, knots of foliage or finials, and sometimes fleurs-de-lis simply cut out of the thickness of the bench end and chamfered. The term is probably derived from the French poupee doll or puppet used also in this sense, or from the flower, from a resemblance in shape.
Porte-cochère - a porch - or portico-like structure at a main or secondary entrance to a building through which a horse and carriage can pass in order for the occupants to alight under cover, protected from the weather.
Prick post - old architectural name given sometimes to the queen posts of a roof, and sometimes to the filling in quarters in framing.
Portico - a series of columns or arches in front of a building, generally as a covered walkway.
Pteroma - the enclosed space of a portico, peristyle, or stoa, generally behind a screen of columns.


R


Refectory - Dining room in a monastery.
Return - receding edge of a flat face. On a flat signboard, for example, the return is the edge which makes up the board's depth.
Revolving Door - an entrance door for excluding drafts from an interior of a building. A revolving door typically consists of three or four doors that hang on a center shaft and rotate around a vertical axis within a round enclosure.
Rib - an arch of masonry, often molded, which forms part of the framework on which a vault rests. 
Rib vault - a masonry vault with a relatively thin web and set within a framework of ribs.


S


Scriptorium - area in a monastery where books and documents were written, copied, and illuminated. 
Socle - low projecting base for a wall or statue
Soffit - The underside of an architectural structure such as an arch or overhanging eaves.
Spandrel - the roughly triangular wall space between two adjacent arches.
Spire - an elongated, pointed structure which rises from a tower, turret, or roof.
Squinch - a piece of construction used for filling in the upper angles of a square room so as to form a proper base to receive an octagonal or spherical dome.


T


Transom - window or element above a door but within its vertical frame.


V


Voussoir - a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone used in building an arch or vault.

Bardic Magic

I'll begin by saying that I am a huge fan of bards and once played a hobgoblin bard named Rook in a PbP game. But to me, something is missing from the bard class. How does their magic really work?

I realize that we are supposed to assume all bardic abilities related to the actual performance of music are magical, but there has always been a barrier there for me. I simply find it difficult to imagine myself fighting harder or better because someone is singing at the back of the room. What would they be singing that would spur me so? If it were real life, it would have to be a song I already knew, and one that I had a deep personal connection with. So how does the bard create music that touches every member of the party in such a way that they are all "inspired?" If anything, I would find such engaging sounds distracting.

As a professional musician myself, perhaps I over analyse these concepts about how a party gains +1 to-hit from the bard's ballad. Perhaps as part of the bard's magical ability, he can intuitively know which style of song will affect his companions, or even enemy monsters. Which brings me to another question.

If monsters are affected by a bard's music, is it because they have some crude form of music in their own society and therefore have an emotional relationship with the medium of song, or because they have never heard such sounds before and are overcome by wonder and awe? Or perhaps a bard's music has nothing to do with why listeners are affected. Perhaps it is simply the component or ritual used to channel their spells, in which case they might be considered inferior to illusionists and druids who can cast magic without producing sound at a volume that might make them vulnerable to enemy discovery.

If an enemy is deafened or some form of sound barrier is in effect, such as being underwater, are the bard's spells nullified?

What are your answers to these questions? What are bards like in your campaign? Are they simply vocal wizards, or is there an entirely different explanation for their abilities?

Vordhea, Dargheba, and the Downfall of the Gods

In ages long past, when the world was already old and dust had settled on the ruins of the first great civilizations, a war was being fought, as it had been for eons and eons on countless worlds and even in the womb of the universe. A war between two ultimate wills. A war between Light, and Darkness.

The legions of Light marched over twisted, shadowy creatures and into the depths of the fiery daemon realm, slaying devils and dark beasts in the name of their holy Gods. The daemon horde pushed them back, shrouded in darkness and unholy magic, a terrifying force to behold before the whips of their evil masters. But the Gods, both Dark and Light, were all evil, replenishing their armies by calling on the common people of the mortal realm to do their bidding, falsely promising entry into the afterlife as reward. The deities of Light and Darkness ravaged the land, vying for control over mortal souls. For thousands of years the battle raged, neither side gaining a true advantage. It was like this on many worlds in the universe. But the mortals of Vordhea would not let it be so on theirs.

So distracted were the gods with their game of war, and so much power did they give to the mortal champions of Light and Darkness on Vordhea in the form of magical abilities and artifacts, that they were blindsided and easily overwhelmed when their armies joined forces and turned against them. Their warlords rose up and knocked the Gods from their pedestal, daemon and human alike fighting side by side. They imprisoned the Gods on the ruined mortal plane, taking the realm of the Gods for themselves. In a fury, the Gods unleashed their full might against the mortals, but they had made their soldiers too powerful. Their combined strength deflected the raw energy of the Gods, utterly shattering the mortal plane and crippling their supernal masters.

The mortal plane became Dargheba, the Shard World, Land of the Dying Gods - dozens of tortured land masses drifting in a writhing black abyss. The air crackles with magical residue and time flows in strange patterns. The Gods reside there, deranged shadows of their former selves. Mortals live in the realm of the gods now, in lush Vordhea. There, Dark and Light manifest themselves in shades of grey, not so unalike, and not every daemon is without compassion, not every human or demihuman to be trusted. The world is as they desired to make it - free from the tyranny of the Gods, and they will not allow any being, divine or otherwise, to determine the fate of their existence. They are the weavers of their own destiny now, one of the only free worlds in all of the endless void.