Campaign settings may be a dime a dozen, but for the busy GM that’s a good thing. Even the highly skilled worldbuilders out there need inspiration every once in a while, and what better way to get it than from a “live example,” if you will? Well, the three-settlement area described in Adventures in Dalentown and at the heart of the events in The Darkness Beneath Dalentown is an exceptional tool for any campaign; let’s talk about what it can do for you.
#1. A settlement for any fantasy campaign setting.
If you want a premade town easily slipped into multiple fantasy settings.
Dalentown is a fairly “typical” growing town in a fantasy campaign setting milieu that fits with just about any established world you’ll find in roleplaying games, from the famous Forgotten Realms and Golarion down to more “indie” settings like Necrotic Gnome’s Dolmenwood. But it’s not a boring place: Dalentown features several factions vying for power, including a well-entrenched thieves’ guild called the Lamplighters. Meanwhile, the other two settlements described in Adventures in Dalentown feature just enough fantastical and strange inhabitants that you get endless scenario ideas from them. Rock Down is a little slice-of-life village peopled by gnomes and halflings. The Wizard’s Enclave is a mysterious settlement primarily inhabited by artifact hunters.
#2. Interesting NPCs with lots of connections.
If you enjoy interesting NPCs with notes on how they interact with adventurers and their role in town.
The NPCs in the three main settlements have plenty of personality and lots of adventure hooks tied to them. They make perfect patrons for adventures. Many are great quest-givers, with the ability to pay in cash, favors, or faction-based rank. Several of them are mysterious or nefarious; few of them are clearly portrayed as either fully good or fully evil. There’s a lot going on in this small area.
#3. Adventure hooks for all levels of experience.
If you want a location with multiple adventure hooks that can appeal to inexperienced or legendary heroes.
The gamut of experiences in the Dalentown region provides something for newbies, mid-level characters, or even legendary heroes. Are your characters new to gaming, or simply low-level? Have them start in Rock Down, helping to find the secret (and likely fey-enchanted) ingredient that’s a key to winning the local pie baking contest. Looking for something more adventurous? Have them hook up with — or race against! — the magical treasure-hunters of The Wizard’s Enclave. Do they want to carve out their own legends? Well, in The Darkness Beneath Dalentown, there are hordes of oozes, slimes, undead, and demons to square off against!
#4. If you like the idea of ancient dwarven lore.
If you think it may be fun to tie a location into newly discovered ancient troves of dwarven lore.
As featured in The Darkness Beneath Dalentown, the namesake town is built atop the ruins of an ancient dwarven hold. That adventure features plenty of treasure and lore, but the fact is that a massive library of dwarven knowledge rests deep below the town, and its ripe for the plucking. If you can get past the demons and oozes. That means that GMs are empowered to add their own lore to the campaign, or to fully utilize the encyclopedic tomes of whatever larger campaign setting they use and strategically place that among the stacks of books on dwarven architecture. There’s a ton of room to build your own setting, or seed the existing creations of whatever you’re already referencing.
#5. If you like campaigns filled with intrigue.
Intrigue. Opportunity. Welcome to Dalentown!
Dalentown and its surrounding region are lightly detailed, but they feature enough goings on to power three factions that the PCs can join, manipulate, or face off against. The Brightguard is a knightly order dedicated to the protection of the folk under the governorship of Belina Brice. Though they act as a regional arm of the Royal Guard, they are in fact a mostly autonomous order: this region is so remote that they have no oversight. What could possibly go wrong with that? Although the bulk of the Lamplighter’s Guild resides in Dalentown, their organization actually extends throughout the region. he leaders of the guild have infiltrated many houses of the merchant’s guild, and therefore hold a wide sphere of power, as well as a much more mercantile slant than other such guilds. They shakedown businesses, engage in smuggling and fraud, and otherwise deal in illicit trade more so than simple purse-cutting and B&E jobs. And then there’s The Wizard’s Enclave (not just a place, it’s also a faction!). Xailaria’s designs on forging a meaningful place in the world has included her taking several spellcasters under tutelage. Though she ever allows them to grow in power to rival her, she has either taught or made connections with dozens of young, wide-eyed apprentices of the magical rts, and this has turned into a small, loosely organized guild of wizards trading in minor spells, scrolls, and the occasional artifact uncovered from ancient ruins.
And among those ancient ruins is the mysterious Flying Citadel…
You can check out the entire product line of Dalentown supplements and scenarios in our Shop! They are available for a variety of game systems, including 5th edition, OSR (by way of B/X and 1st edition), and the diceless DeScriptors RPG.
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