Encounter-a-Day

In the matter of the Forces of Creation v. Dorian Gray, we the members of the jury find the defendant, Dorian Gray, not wicked. -Verdict given at the trial of the great hedonist Dorian Gray
On the cusp between this world and the next there is a great, sprawling city known as Mourngate. It is here [...]

I updated Shamus Young’s Wavatars plugin to the newest version to fix a bug which had cropped up where wavatars weren’t being displayed correctly (took me a while to notice, though, because gravatars were still working so if you had a gravatar then you wouldn’t get a wavatar anyways).
Also, I stumbled on some alternate artwork [...]

I just wanted to offer a more proper apology for the lack of posts yesterday or today (and, likely, tomorrow).
I don’t have an excuse. Sure, I’ve got homework and responsibilities, but I’ve still got ample free time.
I’m going to continue posting encounters as they come to me, and I’d certainly like to continue the new [...]

If you’re reading this, something terrible’s happened to me. I’m probably dead, or something. Or even worse, I got totally caught up in homework and this is my clever way of apologizing for missing an update without warning.
Note to self: come up with an encounter using a dead man’s switch.

One of the PCs enters his room at the inn to find a man sitting on his bed. The man is holding one of the PC’s daggers, but is completely at ease. As soon as the PC enters, the man screams, “HELP! HELP!” and then slits his own throat with the PC’s dagger. On the [...]

We, who seek to coexist peacefully and lawfully, and who through no fault of our own, but through birth, circumstance or affliction, are branded monster, must take it upon ourselves to improve our lot in this life, for there are none who would give us aid or succor in our times of need but we [...]

Trask has a blog called Living Dice, where he talks about whatever happens to pop into his mind at any given point. Check out his ideas for running a plague or his review of The Vampire Slayer’s Field Guide to the Undead.
Over at Ars Ludi you can see a two-part series on bad traps and [...]

Newly-crowned King Thornwald III spent the first month or so of his reign abroad, making allies and learning the political landscape. He’s come to the conclusion that many feel his kingdom is weak, and so Thornwald decides to do something about it.
He’s begun bolstering his army, and on top of that has decided to complete [...]

The old fort on Weston Hill is nothing particularly interesting or unusual. It stands vigil over the countrysides in that western bit of the empire, sort of like a gargoyle on a ledge warding against evil spirits. Like the gargoyle statue, though, the old fort is nothing but a symbol. It’s was abandoned before construction [...]

The simply-named Messengers’ Guild is a conglomerate of merchants, couriers, caravan operators, and others who work together to create a rudimentary postal system. Identified by their stylized nightingale emblem, Messengers’ Guild offices are located all over the land. Large cities often have several, and even smaller towns usually have at least one. Smaller villages and [...]