You don’t have to be a map maker to make adequate maps for gaming. A map can be as simple as showing the relative relationship between distance and location of the important elements. Even putting a few words on a page can be a map.
Take the word map of the Six Kingdoms. It shows the relative locations and rough distances between the various kingdoms, their major cities and the other lands that interact in the World of the Everflow.
Word maps can also represent a homestead, village or neighborhoods of a city.
Any player can take a quick glance and know what each location is and what they connect to within the compound. More thorough descriptions in a blog post and in the character’s notes, but these quick notecards reminds us of Spinebloom Farms at the table.
Fort Ooshar is a bridge-town that turned into a fortress when Sheljar fell to the Necromancer. This quick sketch lays out the neighborhoods of the bridge-town, the gates, the fields and the nearby hills.
Yes, a better mapmaker would be better. My favorites are Deven Rue and Dyson Logos. I support both via Patreon and use their works in my games.
But sometimes I want something that is unique to my world. That leaves me with my lack of art. I then build a word map.
Keys to making a quick word map.
Decide on the central space
Build outward using relative distance to represent a unit of time
Include evocative names, especially when in tight focus
If building a dungeon, point crawl or town having connective tissue — this can be a road, river, or other path
Leave yourself space to build details and add discoveries
Doing this as a player
Old school D&D involved at least one player making highly detailed maps. But a word map may be all that’s necessary to prevent your party from getting lost. Using a room-and-halls word map by the player helps represent how the characters think.
In essence you are channeling the concept of ‘turn left after the big red barn, go over Herringbone Bridge, take the third path’ into a simplistic drawing.
These are quick, simple and can be done on a 3-by-5 card or as a sketch in something as simple as Paint, Slides, Canva or even in a Spreadsheet (the Six Kingdoms started as a spreadsheet).
One of the special powers of the word map is that they’re quick. You don’t need to search for anything. It’s a sketch that can be done in a few seconds.
Whether as a player or a DM this tool can help you understand your fantasy world better than without a map at all.
The recent addition of Drops subscription content to DnD Beyond is going to challenge me.
I’m running only a single intermittent 5e campaign right now. The Ferments uses 2024 as its base set, but permits things from Black Flag, 2014 and A5e in general, with a quick scan to make certain that the addition fits within the campaign themes and the setting’s common lore.
In the past it’s been easy to judge what works and doesn’t. Book releases are heavily themed. Most grimdark will not fit in The World of the Everflow. Dragon stuff always fits. Giant stuff rarely fits. The new dinosaur book added to Beyond fits well in an undiscovered-to-this-point land.
But now there are weekly drops. The player facing stuff needs a quick review. Maps and stickers won’t matter because we aren’t using the Maps VTT. The cosmetics are fine, because they help a player connect with their character.
Teos explains the broader program.
Evaluating the content to fit The Ferments and The World of the Everflow
First off, the five feats added are all extra planar in a way that has not been explored in our games through the several hundred sessions of play plus writing and backstory. There’s only been a single Warlock.
Those are going to be easy to ignore. If I could toggle them off at the campaign level I would.
All five feats = no
Pact Seeker background = with lore tweak and different feat
Astral Flood = yes, fully
Buzzing Bee = yes, fully
Insidious Rhythm = yes, fully
Leomund’s Lamentable Belaborment = yes, fully
Sticks to Snakes= yes, but DM content only
The Pact seeker background doesn’t fit as written. The lore doesn’t work because of the demand that the pact is extraplanar, but if a player wanted to rework that and take a new origin feat it would be allowed. Maybe they are seeking a pact with a religious figure, an elder dragon, a scholar or something similar.
There are also five spells in the first Drops.
Astral flood fits unchanged. The Astral and Ethereal are somewhat merged in my world and opening that up to the physical realm would be devastating.
Buzzing bee is excellent. My first encounter with Bee was the useless cantrip from Unearthed Arcana back in the 80s. This is better and needed. It fits the use of animals for the Kin too.
Insidious Rhythm is a fun spell too. The magic of performance by Bards and others would be the path of introduction.
Leomund’s Lamentable Belaborment may not fit combat well. It does fit in social and political settings. Players will definitely find a way to turn a crowded room into a debate-disaster.
Sticks to Snakes is a classic spell, but this version is quite underpowered for 2024. It adds in-combat complexity for low damage. It reads more like a 2nd level spell and not a 4th. For narrative purposes it fits the world well. But it’s a waste for a player. This will be DM content only.
Eleven player facing items this week needed to be reviewed. Next week there will be more. And then there will be more. And more.
It’s going to be too much.
And each drop and each book from every publisher stretches and pushes a world. But fantasy worlds are not only defined by being permissive. They are also defined by what’s forbidden.
Every world a DM and their tables creates can choose to be a global fantasy (kitchen sink) or be as neatly defined as the group wants.
With Drops the default in the Everflow will not be for permission, but to evaluate what a player wants to add as they want to add it in order for us to continue to explore the themes of the world — how strong can the love between person and animal be, who gets to control access to knowledge, how can our local connections make the world better for most.
Walking past Idarak’s I grab a fresh peach off one of his trees. Nightbridge tends to have more of the old fruits and Idarak’s family keeps a small grove. Plus Edarra wants a white bucket soon, with some falls from the Dead Forest (obviously not the red oak or black maple — other trees seem to be seeding too).
Visiting the Dead Forest now is this weird mix of Council Guard, elves, dwarves, Daoudians, Kirtin-ish — crowded and uncommon. We Rudes need to go there because our buckets and casks are expected to have staves and finishes from the Forest. That may not last. Craft has to change and if dragons come back I do not need that risk. Maybe something from the island or up toward Kirtin proper.
Anyway, I’m off to see if it’s safe.
This is a daily assessment in Kirtin-on-the-Lake. There’s so many competing interests. The old neighborhoods and walls don’t mean as much. If dragonken settle in a few blocks that’s a new neighborhood — with magic everywhere.
Refugees from the destruction in Kirtin-in-the-Sky are trying to move in with cousins they ain’t seen in decades. Kirtin is a mess.
The peach is good, though. Really good.
Yaffy’s cackle-call echoes through the street from behind. Yaff hates visiting the forest, because those trees are not for him. He’ll always find a way to dilly-dally on the way. I think he ‘reads’ the neighborhood more than Kyrik, my little ratting dog that stays home, always.
I’m not of the born generation. I don’t have magicks.
The forest seems to refuse us and accept the youngsters with their elementalisms, enchantments and energies. This works in my favor. A few copper to the youth you have these abilities for each of the sticks I can turn into staves.
That peach is already gone. It’s three bites for an old stoney like me. Apple’d be two, but the pit gets in the way. I toss the pit to Yaffy as I sit down on a bench.
Casking for someone up in The Rise means gathering stick for art, proper wood carving ‘ll be needed too. I’ll see if maybe I can convince a dragonken to do it, mayb an elf. Edarra will pay.
Blues and whites without paints thanks to the woods from those trees come from a few kids. Those dragontrees seem to be shedding. There will be new dragons soon.
I shudder.
In-the-sky went from mighty city to flooded caverns with most bridges fallen into the waters.
Douad ain’t to protect us. Kirtin is a fighting force over on the Slope, but without leadership. Is it going to fall like Sheljar to the Necromancer? Broadsheets say the West is many cities without a kingdom now.
I need another peach. Or tea. Or ice cream (magicks are great for a few new discoveries). Or a game.
My mind wanders under this constant pressure of not knowing how this city will fall further into disrepair or if maybe it can rise like Sheljar under the Free City movement.
I stick the staves and falls into my basket. Yaffy leading the way to church. Quar’s followers have the Everflow — that’s better than wine, it’ll heal, even a broken soul.
Then it’s back to work.
This narrative slice of life was an attempt at Tuesday Afternoon, a technique to test world building to see if the created world makes sense for normal people.
Kirstin-on-the-Lake was the center of the Uprising & Rebellion campaign. It is the former winter capital of Kirtin, but was conquered by Daoud for most of the past several centuries. It is now controlled by neither nation with influences of both, with the new council system taking over governance while the Dragons come back to the Dead Forest, goblins land at their airxip tower, and the visitors from Sheljar.
Sudes Rudes is a cooper. His animal companion is a green woodpecker named Yaffy. He also has a non-bonded ratting dog Kryrik. Sudes is a goliath with Kirtin-ish heritage (stone) whose beard is tinged with the blue-greys (wave) more common in Daoud.
Not all desert communities are near an oasis. Long ago the Spineblooms settled in a desert area where the West Thundermoon River took a slow bend. Along that bend in the shallow salty marsh they do their best to raise some rice, as well as some fruited cacti, peppers, vines and largeflower onions in pods.
Originally the Spineblooms were a group of goliath druids, frequently connected to storms and fire. For many generations they’ve lived on The Bend in earthen huts only partially protruding from the ground.
Now, most are not magical. Instead they raise birds — herons (to fish), mynahs (pest control), bulbuls (warnings), waders (fishers) — in an aviary. They frequently trade their rice and catch upriver at the Multunyn Trading Post.
The Location
Based on a sketch by the player that included domed buildings mostly underground
Ensuring environmental oddities of The Ferments are included.
Thundermoon River
Slow, wide and muddy at The Bend, the Thundermoon River floods every early spring and during storms. It is the source of water which has to be filtered prior to use.
Auntie Dauthia Spinebloom kée Dustcaller is here during the daytime, fishing.
Elemental affinity: Water
Hazards: People frequently get stuck in the sands, animals do not. Every second round in the river a person must make a DC: 12 Strength check or be restrained.
Allies: Birds from the aviary are common here.
Max occupancy: 10 medium creatures.
The River connects to Spinebloom Commons (the main home) and lower river marsh.
Lower rice marsh
Less productive than upper marsh, the lower marsh is an edge of wild marsh plants and some rice that isn’t farmed. Within the plants one may find a mud mephit rehydrating, or the chwinga family that settled in the Farm.
Elemental affinity: Mud, water, salt
Hazards: Some chwingas settled here after the mephit flood.
Allies: The chwingas may insist they are allies while acting like foes, or they are foes acting like allies.
Occupancy: 5 medium creatures.
Lower rice marsh connects to the Upper Marsh, Spinebloom Commons and to Thundermoon River.
Spinebloom commons
The main home is inside the Commons. It has a large kitchen and a conversation pit with several small beds cut into the earth at the edges. These ‘rooms’ are frequently sectioned off with blankets or robes, with only a tiny shelf for personal goods. At the entry to the hut is a placement for staves, cudgels and gardening equipment.
Every member of the Spineblooms spends significant portions of their days in the Commons. They will clean items, repair them, play, and gather. All property is communal and the next person will want to use it shortly — it gets left there.
Elemental affinity: Hearth, dust, earth
Hazards: Interior has several changes in elevation. The kitchen has many flare ups that could occur. During certain lunar conditions the conversation pit has a dust devil in the center. Exterior is cluttered with loose tools, toys, cleaning pans and other small chore sites. It is difficult terrain and an improvised weapon is always at hand. Creatures knocked prone may take damage from the clutter.
Allies: There are always Spinebloom children present. Roll 2d4 to see how many. Half will be small. 1d4-1 adults are also present.
Occupancy: 8 medium creatures outside and 8 medium creatures inside.
Spinebloom Commons is centrally located and connects to every other zone, except the Path of Dragons.
Guarase traded for many, many books. This works as a Library from Bastions with a single research project per week of Scheming.
Upper rice marsh — also known as Marsh Chwinga
Once upon a time the upper marsh was highly productive for rice, eels and herbs. Now it has long furrows of damage from two dragon/ken invasions and the curse of the chwingas make it flourish for foods while everyone dreads entering the space.
Elemental affinity: Water, mud, plants
Hazards: Chwingas may take a soul. When a creature drops to zero HP and fails two or more death saves the chwingas can choose to stabilize it, mud wrap the body and have it kept until the mud breaks. There is currently an elven mage encased. The Spineblooms have not attempted to free the elf as its group tried to damage their home.
Allies: In this space the Chwingas act through their blue thoughts, sideways from morality of people.
Occupancy: 7 medium creatures.
Chwinga marsh connects to the lower marsh, the Commons and the aviary.
Unkie homes
Adult and middle aged men are the Unkies. They are kept aside from the Commons and the Aunties. They maintain the extremely competitive nature of goliaths, using their abilities and size to show off during the days.
Most of the Spinebloom Unkies came of age during The Awakening. The elements rage within them, frequently out of control. Lalok is peaceful. Others have wandered away with the few that stay not quite fitting in with the farm’s demeanor weaving with nature and kin to grow and thrive as one.
Elemental affinity: Hearth, fire, air, water
Hazards: These homes have doors with locks and they can be barred from the outside. Random spouts of elemental anger pop up regularly.
Allies: Unkies are usually around, but disorganized and will wrestle solo.
Occupancy: 5 medium creatures outside. Each hut fits 1.
Unkie homes connect to the Aunties, to the Commons, to the River and to the path.
The Unkies are also trained to Rally and Funnel (militia actions).
Auntie homes
Most of the women of the family live in smaller huts here by ones and twos. These small dugouts are protection from the elements, but few have cooking hearths.
Two took significant damage during a dragon attack, one of which collapsed and is now a pit.
Elemental affinity: Hearth, dust
Hazards: The pit-home is a ten-foot fall.
Allies: Aunties are frequently in the area able to help with militia actions.
Occupancy: This is a larger space able to hold 12 medium creatures outside.
Auntie homes connect to the Unkie homes, the path, the aviary and the Commons.
Fruitful Aviary
A mix of cacti and spined bushes the aviary is the home of the non-waterfowl that companion with the Spineblooms. Some of the cacti have fruits that the family eat, turn into jam, and use for meads.
Unkie Lalok Goateye Spinebloom is found at the aviary most times of the day, sometimes sleeping near the spiney bushes. He can create a small pool of water for the bird bath if need be.
Elemental affinity: Plants, water
Hazards: The maze of briars and cacti are spiny everywhere. Those knocked prone will take damage.
Allies: Many birds and Unkie Lalok are present
Occupancy: 4 medium creatures usually separated by the plants.
The fruitful aviary connects to the Commons, the Path of Dragons, the auntie homes and the upper marsh.
Inside the fruitful aviary is an optical telegraph that looks like a large, janky spire. The telegraph connects to Ellis Mills at Pirna Farms. Three small mousekin operate it and stay in a small hut at its base.
Path of dragons
A few months ago this path was simply “the path.” It is bare trail with scratched ruts in hard dirt that heads towards the West Thundermoon Mountains.
Then dragons and their ken attacked. They attacked again. Since the river is where the Maltunyans visit, the path is now the Path of Dragons. Everyone assumes more dragons are coming soon. They left one of their own behind.
Elemental affinity: Dust, sand
Hazards: Drakes, dragons and their Ken may come at any time.
Allies: None
Occupancy: There is no limit.
The Path connects to the Auntie and Unkie homes.
Recently Guarase created a system of locks and canals to flood the path of dragons. A militia action can activate these. When this happens the Path of Dragons becomes difficult terrain and the rushing waters cause disadvantage on Dex-based d20 Tests.
Ask a Spinebloom and Auntie Dauthia is a Spinebloom. If you can convince Duathia to talk she may, eventually tell you she’s a Dustcaller, a separate desert goliath collective that lives even more remotely. She’s mastered the ability to use small dust devils to carry fishing lures and nets around the river, until she catches something.
Every member of the family has a different tale about what Auntie Dauthia did before they found her injured along the path. She was a thief, a sorcerer, clergy with the Reformed Church of Quar, a warrior of the wilds or some other mystical thing. They all agree that there is no better fisher in all the land and likely the world.
Unkie Lalok Goateye Spinebloom
Lalok once left the home to work in a caravan. He’s wandered the Ferments and Western Wildes, seen Telse and the Evereflow, visited the Cliffs of Galinor, and Fort Ooshar. He’s seen everything.
He’ll never tell you about his encounters protecting the caravan. It”s the cities and his friends he tells tales of while sipping on cacti mead and with a flutter of sandpipers around him. He still has a massive pike, a shield the size of a table and a helm missing a third of an eye ridge where is slightly bulging ‘goateye’ is.
Adversaries
Chwingas
These elemental sprites act on their own will, with purposes that center the elements, not people. Though intelligent, it is impossible for normal kin to understand what the chwingas want. They are extremely active when Unkies or ken are in the area. If someone tries to visit the encased elf the chwingas attempt to block that path through mischief and thievery.
Dragons and their ken
Twice ken and dragons struck at the Farm. They damaged upper marsh while attacking the Auntie homes and the Commons. These powerful magic users are not local to The Ferments and remind most of the myths of a time unification, before companionship.
Goblins
A recent raiding party from the south indicated that these goblins know how they can harvest the fires and flames of The Ferments to power their smog-buggies and other creations — as long as someone from The Ferments is with them.
One goblin is now trapped with the chwinga.
Downtime and Quests
Guarase is searching for answers as to why the dragons and their ken came to the Spineblooms. The two attacks leave few clues and lots of damage.
There is a body and two members of the family were away during The Awakening when magic came back to The Ferments.
D&D and its variants are often referred to as “combat simulations” or “tactical combat games” or “dungeon crawling miniature games” in a somewhat dismissive way that seeks to reduce the other things that players have their characters do during sessions and campaigns.
These mostly heroic characters do have a lot of combat support. A vast majority of the rules support violence portrayed in what is now six-second rounds. Combat’s scenes in 5th edition are done in expanded time taking many real minutes for less than thirty seconds of cinematic action.
But combat is not all of modern Dungeons & Dragons. Other pillars are supported.
The three main pillars of D&D play are social interaction, exploration, and combat.
Social interaction in the modern game is mostly done in scenes lasting a few minutes. These scenes take place in real time at the table. Ritual spells do not make sense in the context of social interaction because of the nature of social interaction. Other spell casting is less frequent than in combat, while it can still fit. The main engine of social interaction within the rules are skills (Charisma, Wisdom and Intelligence) and a light dusting of feature from class, archetype, feat or species.
Taking a longer period of time, historically measured in ten-minute chunks, is Exploration. This is abstracted in an opposite fashion from Combat in that where combat sees time expanded, Exploration compresses it. Some, but not all travel makes sense as exploration. Rituals are frequently used. Spells are common. Certain spells and features may make classic exploration challenges meaningless (Goodberry or Find & Remove Traps). But Exploration, the delve into dungeons, the searching the wildes, the entry to a wondrous temple or the site of a majestic floating city is and always will be a part of the D&D genre.
Between the 2014 core books, and Xanathar’s there are 37 sometimes overlapping options for what can be done with Downtime. The 2024 core books and the Forgotten Realms expansions add many Bastion and Crafting options onto this.
Most downtime choices are measured in weeks, though small projects are within days. These scenes are time-compressed frequently taking only a roll or two per character to resolve as weeks, months, maybe even seasons pass. In film, TV and books the montage is how downtime is presented. Pick your favorite heroic montage — we’ll get back to it.
Every class supports downtime activities in some capacity, especially with the 2024 ruleset adding on Bastions. Skill challenges, as adopted to 5e by some homebrewers, make sense as resolution systems for downtime, exploration and sometimes social events.
But downtime is often viewed by players and DMs as accounting, boring academics, spreadsheet management.
Even the name is boring.
Downtime has a branding problem
Stories and adventures are an assembly of beats, eventually leading to rising action, climax and resolution. There are sometimes downbeats, setback.
Downbeats.
Who wants downbeats? Who wants downtime.
Even how downtime is presented, either by name or by style of play (Bastions and Crafting), it is shown as an appendage with little support. Downtime is a thing to rush past, not to enjoy.
A Bastion offers a character temporary refuge from the dangerous world of adventuring, and it provides opportunities for a character to craft magic items, conduct research, harvest poisons, build ships, and carry out a range of other activities.
They do want the ability to craft magic items, research mysteries, harvest fantastic elements, carouse, gamble, set sail across an astral sea, or plot the overthrow of a corrupt regime.
Those are all upbeats, not downtime.
Downtime also a massive part of the game
Acquisitions Inc combines D&D and modern franchise capitalism for fun. It contains franchise rules. It also lists every one of the 2014 options in downtime at its point of publication.
These choices are things heroes do!
The options above belong at your table. At some tables the options in Dragon Heist, Acq Inc, Tasha’s (Group Patrons), Strixhaven (schooling) and other official and unofficial books expand your campaign in ways that make sense too.
Think of your favorite montage scenes in your personal Appendix N. Do they involve plotting the overthrow of a corrupt leader? Do they involve building a guild? Do they involve carousing to gain information? Do they involve long study to craft a previously unknown spell? Do you have a favorite montage that includes sowing rumors? Or mayhap one that involves training for new skills? You probably have one where the heroes prepare for a test of skill, chance or magic?
In traditional D&D that’s downtime.
In the fiction these things advance the plot and add excitement.
making intelligent, secret plans, often to deceive others
behaviour or activities that involve making clever secret plans intended to deceive people
In British English schemes aren’t necessarily deceptive or secret. They are plots and advancements, plans and procedures. They are the many days, weeks, months processes.
Both versions work for modern D&D, but the American concept of intelligent, secret plans especially fits my preferred themes.
Why Scheming? Other considerations
Concerns – while this captured the idea of the character being in charge of things it felt less involved in the plot and continued the ‘set aside’ concept of Downtime.
Occupations – but who wants to do work? That’s spreadsheet life, not plot advancement and fantastic discoveries.
Rejuvenation – is wonderful for healing, but poor for plot advancement and heroic actions over time.
Strategic play – this conveys the proper tone and your schemes should be strategic while other pillars are tactical.
Schemes involve rising action by heroes and antiheroes to get ready for the messy work that needs doing. Schemes are active plots and machinations (maybe that belongs above). Sometimes they are down notes, sometimes they are upbeats. They build rising action.
Unifying disparate subsystems into Scheming
Oracles ready to provide advice after a sacred rite (Photo by Dave Clark)
Crafting, Bastions, Franchises, Group Patrons, Schooling, Carousing, Sacred rites, Grand rituals, Research, Business operations, Running a faction, Guild matters, Training militias, Communal defense, Grand voyages ….
The list goes on.
When these are schemes they are multi-check montages where failure matters and the results fuel the story. They either help or hinder a character or party on their quest. They take time.
Whatever you take to calling downtime (and do include Bastions and Crafting when appropriate for your campaign) you need to unify this set of systems together.
Describe the quest with the amount before the pace of action changes again. Set the expectation that there is time to Scheme.
Players describe their goals using the above activities or a combination thereof to achieve that goal within the amount of time (measure in weeks).
Narrate the results of the actions. These may require skill checks, use of various features or cooperation in the party. If there isn’t meaningful failure there is not a check unless extraordinary success matters. Use an odd number of checks (3 or 5 are best) mimicking skill challenges or use group checks if everyone is cooperating. Or combine the two.
Move on from the Scheme into action with a faster pace taking note of how much time passed and what that means for those that oppose the group.
If that resolution system feels familiar it is because it is the basic rhythm of play at the table, while capturing the montage and compressed time nature of a Scheme.
It’s not a scheme if the activities are passive. It’s not a scheme if it doesn’t advance a quest or plot. It’s not a scheme if it is fast. It’s not a scheme if it is tactical.
Frankly it’s not worth doing at the table if the activity is passive and/or doesn’t advance the quest
Schemes are strategic, long-term, montage-y activities that advance the action fitting a rising narrative building the eventual heroes towards a climax. They should not be the climax, nor the resolution. A denouement can be a scheme as it preps for the next campaign.
Ways to add Schemes to common campaign types
Try working in schemes into your campaign. Use a timehop that creates challenges because the enemy is building a grand army. The timehop also gives the heroes time to train a militia (as in Wheel of Time).
In a heist adventure use a scheme as the way to collect the necessary materials or information, setting up the background before the strike on the location (as the Crows in Shadow & Bone).
Maybe the scheme is to collect a group of allies to help the party cross a perilous ocean or astral sea, commissioning a ship and its crew (as in One Piece).
Play a scheme at your table inspired by the fictions that inspire your D&D.
