This week, in the 20 Things line we return to one of my favourite adventure sites—ruined wizard’s towers. Ruined wizard’s towers are iconic adventure locales and—by a strange twist of fate—the heroes in my Adventures in Shadow campaign just discovered, explored and sacked such a place after they wandered off mission (again). (I used ...
2019-08-30 06:58:50 +0000 UTC View PostI've been working on this week's main book on and off for years.
The first deities in the book to see print were Darlen and Braal who featured in Retribution--our first ever product which we released way back in 2010. (Next March is our ten-year anniversary by the way!) Since then the pantheon of the Lonely Coast and Ashlar has grown as I needed it to grow, but I'd made no determined effort to codify it.
2019-08-23 06:50:06 +0000 UTC
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This week, sees the first “proper” release of the Dungeon Dressing line. Last month, we tackled Names & Legends, but—of course—that release didn’t have any crunch. This week, Dungeon Dressing: Altars changes all that. We’ve got 5e, OSR, Pathfinder 1 and Pathfinder 2 editions of the book and they all contain not only loads of dungeon dressing (as you’d expect) but also two pages of fiendish altar traps.
2019-08-16 06:48:41 +0000 UTC
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Next week, Raging Swan Press releases Deities & Demons for the Ashlar and Gloamhold campaign setting. To celebrate, today we release GM Screen inserts for the book which present all the sigils of the human-worshipped deities (and demons) appearing in the book.
You can grab your free copy (which includes landscape and portrait versions) at the 2019-08-14 08:55:00 +0000 UTC View Post
It's a momentous week here at Raging Swan Press; this week, sees the first Village Backdrop released in Pathfinder 1, Pathfinder 2, 5e and System Neutral editions. You've got a lot of downloading to do!
Hopespyre was always an intriguing village and I leap at the chance to update it to our new expanded format when Jacob said he had a hole in his schedule. I hope you agree and that you can find a place for Hopespyre in your own campaign. It could be one of those villages, your players ne...
2019-08-09 06:45:55 +0000 UTC View PostToday, Raging Swan Press is back with another free product for you! This time, we give you the tools to quickly and easily dress up a green dragon's lair all ready for your characters to blunder inside. I hope they enjoy the extra effort you put into designing the green dragon lair and that their adventure is memorable (preferably for all the right reasons).
As always, by the time you get this you should have a message from me containing the special secre...
2019-08-02 06:49:36 +0000 UTC View PostPathfinder 2nd Edition releases today, and Raging Swan Press are in at the start with an adventure for 1st-level characters--Shunned Valley of the Three Tombs. The adventure is a conversion of a Pathfinder 1 adventure which is also available as a 5e module set in the Duchy of Ashlar and comes with a Pathfinder 2nd Edition conversion of the town of Dulwich.
We are also releasing Dungeon Dressing: Names & Legends 2.0 (Pathfinder 2 edition) today. Everyone pledging at...
2019-08-01 06:50:13 +0000 UTC View PostThis week, Raging Swan Press has got a free Monstrous Lair instalment for you. This week, we delve into a fire giants' hall.
Next month, we've got instalments dealing with hill giants and frost giants (just in case you were planning to run a certain series of rather famous modules in the future). (I'm confident, we'll get around to drow and other subterranean races before the line ends in December.)
Where's My Stuff?
As always, by the time you ge...
2019-07-26 06:55:20 +0000 UTC View PostThe annual Xmas in July sale has started over at OBS! You can get products from hundreds of publishers at 25% off until the end on the month.
Raging Swan Press is also bravely running a Christmas in July sale at our online store. If you are plotting some light Christmas shopping we'd love to see you at the store!
2019-07-19 10:05:04 +0000 UTC
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It's back--Dungeon Dressing!
As I revealed earlier this month, I've been plotting the return of the Dungeon Dressing line for over a year and I'm delighted to finally be able to start sending out the instalments of the reincarnated, reborn line.
We kick off with Dungeon Dressing: Names & Legends. Although you'll soon have the download codes for the Pathfinder, 5e and OSR versions of this book you'll discover two things very quickly:
1. There is no Pathfind...
2019-07-19 07:07:48 +0000 UTC View PostIn my quest to appear totally prepared and ready for anything my players throw at me, I recently designed a NPC Name sheet for my GM's screen, and I realised you might fancy a (free) copy as well!
I've just uploaded the relevant files to the Raging Swan Press store; here's a direct link: 2019-07-16 10:54:13 +0000 UTC View Post
As you probably know, Pathfinder 2nd edition is hurtling towards us. In a few short weeks, Paizo will unleash the new edition into the world at Gen Con 2019. If you were wondering if Raging Swan Press will be supporting the new edition, wonder no more. The answer is a resounding yes!
Instead of me waffling on at great length, I’ve created a FAQ so you can quickly get the answers to some of the questions I expect to be frequently asked. If the FAQ doesn’t answer a question you have, ...
2019-07-15 13:40:09 +0000 UTC View PostI designed this week's Dungeon Backdrop for the paladins in my campaign so they'd have something to aim for in the future--some epic quest to recover a holy weapon that could run as a subplot through the coming months and years. Turns out, I don't have any paladin characters in my campaign*--this is a slight flaw in my plan, but given I enjoyed designing the Splintered Crypt I can live with my slight oversight.
(*In fact, the heroes seem to becoming less heroic and goodly with eve...
2019-07-12 07:04:15 +0000 UTC View PostBack in the shadow-cloaked depths of Raging Swan Press’s early years we released the Dungeon Dressing line which was eventually compiled into GM’s Miscellany: Dungeon Dressing—a massive 300+ page book. It’s been one of our most successful books and rather marvellously won Endzeitgeist’s 2014 Book of the Year
I’ve wanted to return to the subject of Dungeon Dressing for over a year. Dungeon dressing is near and dear to my heart and I really, really want to update the ...
2019-07-09 11:50:40 +0000 UTC View PostLast week, I posted a poll about the Monstrous Lairs line and what should replace it once it comes to an end in December. That poll is now closed and it's time to share the results (but in the meantime, thank you for voting).
It looks like the majority of you would like Urban Locations to replace Monstrous Lairs, although Random Encounters was a pretty close second.
I'll begin to pl...
2019-07-08 13:45:55 +0000 UTC View PostThis week, Mike Welham is back, and he's revisited an old favourite of ours. Several years ago, Mike revealed the thriving, but cursed, village of Edgewood, but until now the village was only available in a Pathfinder edition. Now, Mike has added a ton of extra detail, and we've also taken the opportunity to update the village to include both 5e and System Neutral editions. I hope you enjoy the result!
2019-07-05 06:52:06 +0000 UTC
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It’s been two years since we started the Monstrous Lair (or sometimes the Monstrous Liars) line, and it that time it’s been a great success. That said, all good things must come to an end, and the Monstrous Lair line is shortly to come to an end.
Monstrous Lairs is a System Neutral line and while that makes the stats easy (because there aren’t any) it also makes finding common, “popular” monsters that work well across systems and editions increasingly difficult. While I ...
2019-07-02 11:42:14 +0000 UTC View PostAs you might suspect, I'm a big fan of dragons (as a GM, obviously, not as a player). My players haven't fought a black dragon recently, but I'm getting ready for some later events in my Adventures in Shadow campaign with 20 Things #39: Black Dragon's Lair. I hope you find the book similarly useful and that it helps you p...
2019-06-28 07:04:46 +0000 UTC View PostIt's been a year in the making, but finally GM's Miscellany: 20 Things IV is here! The 20 Things compilation is one of the books I most look forward to every year, because I reckon its the book that most GMs can get use from. Crammed full of tables this book could become your new best friend (or, if not, a valued acquaintance.) Keep it behind your screen for times when you need some inspira...
2019-06-21 07:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostThis Friday, I'll be unleashing GM's Miscellany: 20 Things IV at you. Ahead of that auspicious event, however, I've just returned from the post office having sent out physical copies of the book to everyone pledging at the $10 level. Of course, I can't give you a precise delivery time, but backers in the UK should get them somewhat faster than those in the US.
On Friday, I'll be...
2019-06-19 13:44:03 +0000 UTC View PostI've been looking forward to sharing Five Nights at the Scythe with you for some weeks now. I wrote the eventure for my own Adventures in Shadow campaign because several of the characters had added the Scythe into their backgrounds. (This was also an excellent excuse to get a map done by the awesome Tommi Salama!)
We've also got Monstrous Lair #33: Dryad's Glade for you this week. Strangely, I seem to ha...
2019-06-14 06:57:31 +0000 UTC View PostI've just uploaded another free product to the Raging Swan Press Store. This time, you can snag tagged and untagged maps of Town Backdrop: Dunstone and Town Backdrop: Dulwich in Town Maps of Ashlar.
The product is free, and I hope you find the maps useful in your campaigns.
I'll be back on Friday with 2019-06-12 10:06:17 +0000 UTC View Post
This week, Raging Swan released Village Backdrop: Arcmoor into your campaign. This Village Backdrop is actually an expansion of the village released in the original version of the Collector's Edition of the Pathfinder adventure Dwellers Amid Bones. Expanding and re-organising Arcmoor is the first step in my diabolical scheme to release a 5e edition of the adventure along with re-released Pathfinder ed...
2019-06-07 08:23:18 +0000 UTC View PostThis week, we've got an atypical 20 Things for you. I don't think we've touched on torture chambers before, which is a shame as they can be a great venue for either a desperate combat or impassioned role-playing. Now we give you loads of tools to make the torture chambers (and their occupants) in your campaign memorable places!
(And check out this cool new illustration from Matt Morrow!)
...
2019-05-31 06:54:55 +0000 UTC View PostUK GamesExpo is just around the corner (it's this weekend) and I'm busily plotting my attendance.
I've realised, I'd rather not stay in a tent (and I'm quite keen to loot and pillage the trade hall while I'm there) and so I've decided to run a sale at the Raging Swan Press Store. From now until next Monday all our PDFs and bundles are 25% off. If you had your eye on some of our 2019-05-27 12:36:26 +0000 UTC View Post
This week, we've got an Eventure by a newcomer to Raging Swan Press--Bart Wynants--for you. Bart's a new addition to our freelance roster and this eventure offers something different for the PCs--the chance to rub shoulders with Ashlar's nobility (or the nobility of whichever realm your PCs are adventuring in). What opportunities or lurking threats will your PCs' encounter?
Every year, Duke Armas Nenonen hosts a fabulous masked ball to celebrate Ashlar’...
2019-05-24 06:48:41 +0000 UTC View PostOver the weekend, I set up a new blog for Raging Swan Press over at our online store designed for the busy, time-poor GM.
It has occurred to me recently, I spend a lot of time duplicating various tasks, which means I have less time to actually design (which is why I set up Raging Swan Press in the first place!) I'd like to remedy this situation as much as possible, and this is the first step in my ...
2019-05-20 14:35:33 +0000 UTC View PostThis week, we have a Dungeon Backdrop set in a quintessential adventuring locale--a ruined wizard's tower. You can insert this self-contained dungeon virtually anywhere in a campaign. I'm looking forward to using it myself in my Adventures in Shadow campaign. No doubt the party will wander off in an unforeseen direction at some point and the Crumbled Tower will come to my rescue!
(Art by Dyson ...
2019-05-17 06:56:49 +0000 UTC View PostI've have just collated and posted a handy City of Languard maps download to Raging Swan Press's online store. This bundle is a free download and contains tagged and untagged versions of all the city maps appearing in City Backdrop: Languard and the Languard Locations line. If you are running a campaign in Languard, it's a pretty essential resource to grab.
Again, this is a free product 2019-05-13 15:10:01 +0000 UTC View Post
I think you'll enjoy this month's Village Backdrop by Jacob W. Michaels. Richly detailed, and with a lurking supernatural menace nearby, it's the perfect place for the PCs to stop for a breather before their next adventure! Behold:
Ringing day and night, the many bells of Carillon echo through the village, a nearly constant tolling that serves as both protection from, and reminder of, the danger lurking beyond the village’s borders. Deep in the otherwise idyllic Elysian Valley t...
2019-05-10 06:57:06 +0000 UTC View Post