Made a quick Shrine Generator for use with The Lost Tomb of Queen Rhawen, it can generate most of the shrines in the module but is expanded with some more options for the shrine itself and its history and potential controversies it has caused.
Here is a sample:
A knee-high altar made of bronze, depicting a skeletal warrior. It is completely shattered, with only fragments remaining, with a tattered piece of red cloth tied around it left nearby. A local gang claims it protects them from the city guard. The shrine next to it is dedicated to a rival god, and tensions simmer daily.
Dungeons are great, they are a non arbitrary limitation on what players in a TTRPG can do. It’s a confined space that by limiting freedom facilitates meaningful actions. Players in a dungeon are experiencing play at the most immediate scale with the least amount of abstraction. A dungeon is a defined understandable space at a level that a 6 or 12 mile wilderness hex cannot be.
Often what can be is more exciting than knowing the truth and the transition between the known and unknown state is exploration. As players work their way through a dungeon they are narrowing down limitless possibilities to a single understood reality. When you open the door and the area that could contain a manticore becomes the area that either does or does not. But the player’s understanding of the space, partially as a disconnect of trying to visualize a 3d space from descriptions, is not perfect. The manticore could always be invisible.
The adventure involves dealing with multiple factions in a temple divided into five sections, each featuring its own challenges and hazards. It includes a table for events that change the dungeon’s dynamics and optional musical puzzles that can be used on doors between the sections.
A common online complaint about TTRPG systems I have seen is that combat can stagnate and turn the game into a slog. I think there are a couple of main contributors to this, and while I think you can have fun combat in any system, some mechanics do contribute to this. Other factors can include novelty wearing off, a lack of stakes or relevance, and a lack of dynamic elements in encounters. These all lead to the real issue: a shift from narrative immersion to pure mechanics. While there is intrinsic enjoyment in rolling dice, most people aren’t captivated by doing basic repetitive math.
I’ve set up this site—doomed.zone—to be the central place for all my OSR modules going forward. This is where you’ll be able to find everything I’ve made, all in one spot. While I’m using platforms Itch.io to distribute my work, I wanted a place that’s totally under my control, so you can always count on it being there, no matter what.
If Itch or other platforms change, go down, or become hard to access, you can always come to doomed.zone and find the latest versions of my modules, updates, or anything new I’m working on.
“Adrift upon the boundless Etheric Sea, the Celestial Bodies move in accord with the Cosmic Currents, which are borne forth by the breath of divine agents, stirring mighty winds. Each Celestial Orb is, in truth, a vessel containing a slumbering godling, much akin to an egg. The steady course of their ethereal drifting doth preserve the peace of these unborn divinities, holding them in gentle repose. Yet, should these sacred beings awaken and emerge in their full divinity, a Great Reckoning shall befall, and with it, our world wouldst be brought to ruination.”
excerpt from De Natura Caelestium: A Treatise on the Etheric Movements of the Heavenly Orbs by Anselm de Velstrum
Rumors swirl in the plazas and markets of Omere, the City of Temples, about the discovery of the Lost Tomb of Queen Rhawen. Tales of untold wealth and ancient secrets lure adventurers to seek their fortune within the tomb’s depths. But whispers of a sinister cult and wandering undead paint a darker picture.
Overview
The Ocaulin Cult has stumbled upon the tomb, seeking to awaken an abomination known as the Spawn of Ocaulin. They have kidnapped a merchant’s daughter, Mornea, to serve as the final sacrifice for the creature. Meanwhile, undead have escaped the tomb, plaguing nearby settlements. The PCs must navigate the dangers of the tomb, confront the cult, and prevent the Spawn of Ocaulin from being unleashed upon the world.