Sunken Castles, Evil Poodles - what German folklore can do for your game

I've written about German folklore before, especially about the legends of the Fränkische Schweiz mountain region. But it has been a few years and my attention wandered elsewhere.

But last year I found this page at Wikisource which lists a massive number of old, public domain collections of German folklore tales - and realized that the vast majority of these tales have never been translated into English. Thus, I decided to start translating them myself, which culminated in the creation of a Patreon campaign in early April:

Sunken Castles, Evil Poodles

All translations are published under a Creative Commons Zero license and thus can be used and copied by anyone without any restrictions, even for commercial purposes. I have posted new translations and commentary of more than 1,000 on a weekly basis since then, and currently maintain a buffer of material sufficient for the next three months. Additionally, I am developing a Google Map layer which displays the locations of these folklore tales:


I am confident that I can maintain this pace for the foreseeable future... so now it's a good time to consider how I can use all this in gaming products. For one thing, gaming will always be my first love when it comes to hobby projects - and for another, folklore-themed gaming products could create some additional revenue and channel folklore-interested gamers back to my Patreon page.

The lowest-hanging fruit would be Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition... or rather, the 5E d20 Rules. It's popular, it's everywhere, and the license is not overly complicated. The following options spring to my mind:

• Miniature "monster supplements", each showcasing and discussing a single creature or type of creature from German folklore. One-off entities or ones that only appear in a few stories like the Mecklenburg Hoop Lindwurm should be easy to write up, while more common entities like pressure spirits, the Wild Hunt, the many types of ghosts, or the Devil himself require considerably more care and would have to wait until I have a firmer grasp of the source material.
• New spells and magic items. As it happens, there are quite a lot of descriptions of magic and its effects in German folklore, ranging from the minor and subtle to grand works that wouldn't feel out of place for 9th level spells. This would likely be an ongoing effort as I uncover new descriptions of magic in German folklore.
• Character options. Eventually, I should be able to work out new subclasses, backgrounds, racial options and so forth that fit into the themes of German folklore.
• Finally, a very distant project would be regional sourcebooks for specific regions, mixing real world history at a specific time (right now I am thinking the year 1500, but I am open to other suggestions) with folkloric stories - possibly including legendary locations such as Vineta. However, this would require considerable research for both the region in question and its associated folklore stories.

Another option which I am considering is the newly-released Scion 2nd Edition, a game where the myths of old faded into the background, but never completely left. The "All Myths Are Real" premise of the setting would surely apply to German folklore, and it would be fascinating to explore how these stories interact with both the Gods and their children, and modern-day Germany. And since historically Germany sat at the crossroads of Nordic, Slavic, Roman, and other pantheons before the rise of Christianity, it should be a fertile ground for the adventures of the children of the Gods.

The upcoming Storypath Nexus, a "Community Content" program like the Dungeon Master's Guild for D&D, would provide the opportunity for publishing material for the game. I'm envisioning a series of essay collections similar to short magazines - perhaps 20 pages each - exploring facets of Germany and German folklore as they apply to the setting of Scion, which can be used either by entire chronicles set in Germany, or for shorter stories that visit the region and its associated Otherworlds.

A third possibility would be creating a supplement for the Zweihander RPG, a retroclone of the first and second editions of the old Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay game. To be honest, I haven't paid too much attention to Zweihander until recently, but people have been saying good things about it and I do have fond memories of WFRP. And as its flavor is strongly inspired by Renaissance-era Central Europe (with extra doses of Grim and Gritty), German folklore would be a perfect fit for its Community Content program.

What other possibilities do you see for using German folklore in gaming products?

Introducing JürgenWerks

This past Sunday, I released the second edition of Doomed Slayers on DriveThruRPG.

Doomed Slayers is my exploration of how typical fantasy RPG "adventurers" might fit into a typical pseduo-medieval society - why they are tolerated by the rest of society and even needed, and how they interact with rulers and commoners alike. In this setting, I postulate a distinct social class of adventurers - here called "Slayers" - whose primary task is to seek down and slay dangerous monsters before they threaten society. In exchange for this duty and its implications, they are also allowed a number of privileges - like freedom of movement and freedom of taxation - and this mixture of duties and privileges allows them to co-exist in an uneasy status quo with other people.

You can find some reviews for the first edition of Doomed Slayers here, here, here, and here. But Doomed Slayers is only the start - it is the first release of JürgenWerks, my new publishing imprint. And thus it seems appropriate that I should discuss my future publishing plans.

First of all some discussion of how I create the products (at least, this is how I did it for the new edition of Doomed Slayers, and I plan to follow this model for future publications). I create the initial outline and manuscript as Google Docs, since I travel a lot and this allows me to add new material wherever I have an Internet connection. Once I am reasonably satisfied with this manuscript, I convert it into a LaTeX file, a document preparation system which was originally developed for scientific papers and which I am familiar with (plus, it is free). In particular, I use the Tufte Layout, which uses a wide "main text" column and a smaller side column with space for margin notes, references, and smaller illustrations. I read through the manuscript again a few times, and write appropriate margin notes expanding on the main text.

Next comes a "playtest" phase where I ask others to read the compiled manuscript and give me feedback. For the second edition of Doomed Slayers I tried a public playtest, but feedback was minimal. Therefore, in the future, I will do a private playtest where the playtest files will only be made available to those who specifically volunteered.

Then, after getting the feedback and adjusting the manuscript accordingly, I add the art. For the second edition of Doomed Slayers, I largely used illustrations I had purchased the rights for when I wrote the first edition. However, since then I have developed my own artistic aspirations (as well as bought a Cintiq Companion Hybrid), so I will do most illustrations on my own for future products (for this product, I've only created the cover design and a map).

All my products will be free of any kind of copyright protections - no watermarks, no disabling of text copying. Furthermore, at DriveThruRPG I plan use the "Pay What You Want" option for all my products - while there is a "suggested price", customers will be able to set any price they want. Yes, that also includes the option of getting the product for free. I am fine with this - I still remember when I had a lot less disposable income than what I have now. However, if you do get one of my products for free, I would appreciate it if you reviewed it - at DriveThruRPG or elsewhere - or otherwise spread the word about it. (Another option, if you want to "try before you buy", is to first get it for free and then buy it again, at whatever price you see fit).

So, what further products are in the pipeline for JürgenWerks?

First, there are two products which I definitely want to release during this year:

Doomed Slayers: Order of the Silver Hart is the first supplement for Doomed Slayers. Slayers are expected to stay out of politics - but how "non-political" can an organization of Slayers get which only accepts former nobles into their ranks, and which frequently rejoin the nobility right after mustering out of the Order? The manuscript for this product is about 75% complete

Urbis Player's Guide is the introductory product for my longest-running fantasy world: Urbis - A World of Cities. It will contain everything a player needs to know to create and play a character (using the Pathfinder RPG) in a world where magic and industry, commerce and science met and gave rise to vast and powerful city-states balanced between utopia and dystopia, freedom and oppression. The manuscript for this product is in development, but still in its early stages.

I have also ideas for further products, but their schedule and format is still rather tentative:

• Doomed Slayers: The Vanguard - basically, Doomed Slayers meets XCOM.
• City sourcebooks for Urbis (likely starting with Dartmouth, followed by Nimdenthal and Bodenwald).
• Assorted smaller sourcebooks on various Urbis-related topics - various organizations, different planets or planes of existence, regional sourcebooks, and so forth.
• A proper writeup of my Cold Frontier campaign, for Urbis/Pathfinder.
• Some Pathfinder-related products describing aspects of German folklore (such as creatures, unique entities, or phenomena described in my German Folklore for Gamers series).
• A setting sourcebook based on my After Victory campaign idea.

As you can see, I have lots of ideas - but I will need to prioritize. So, what are your thoughts? Which of these ideas excites you the most?

[German Folklore] The Devil in the Fränkische Schweiz, Part II

Continued from Part I.

Further stories of the Devil in the Fränkische Schweiz:

- Near Leutenbach there is a small well next to a chapel dedicated to St. Moritz (Saint Maurice). It was used as an oracle by sick people by throwing a small stick into the well. If the stick floated, they would live for a long time, but if it sank to the ground they would die within the year. One year, during the local Kirchweih (a folk festival celebrated at the anniversary of the local church's sanctification), a group of young people decided to test this oracle on a lark. When the local village headman's beautiful daughter threw in her stick, the stick sank immediately, causing the girl to despair. Upon hearing this, the girl's grandmother told her that she should go to the well on the night of the full moon between Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday and draw some water - which would turn to wine at midnight - and drink of it, which would banish her doom. But she should "leave her fear behind", as "horrible things happen this night, and the spirits of hell are abroad".

And indeed she saw uncanny signs on her way to the well - there was a fire on a nearby field, and as she drew from the well after a prayer, a horrible storm arose and the Wild Hunt rode through the sky. After she drank, she waited for the end of the storm and was about to go home when a huntsman with a green suit and a green hat stepped out of the woods. She realized that he was the Devil when she saw his horse foot. As she screamed for help, the huntsman said: "No one cam hear you and help you. You belong to me, and shall be queen in my realm!" She called out for St. Moritz, who then suddenly appeared and managed to drive the Devil back.

At the same time, a local young man who had a crush on the girl had a dream about his beloved lying helplessly near the well. He woke up and hurried into the direction of the well. On the way he met a wanderer and asked him if he had seen a young girl. The wanderer replied: "Satan has seen her!" But the young man also recognized the Devil by his horse foot and called out: "You have stolen my beloved! By St. Moritz, I will tear you apart!" After this second call to the saint, the Devil was banished, tearing a nearby pear tree in half during his departure. The young man found his beloved, managed to revive her, and (as it tends to happen in these stories) they married soon after. [100]

- Near Elbersberg the Devil once attacked a man, but couldn't defeat him because he had "Freitagsbrot" ("Friday Bread") in his pocket. However, the Devil was able to snap his neck once the bread fell out of his pocket during the struggle. (Note: I have been unable to determine what this "Friday Bread" is. The only other appropriate reference I have found is here, where apparently baking it is a taboo that humans who use local fey spirits must not break, or else the spirits will no longer work for them.) [108]

- Two similar stories revolve around Knight Kuno, a Count of Gräfenberg. In one story he came across a "fearsome knight in black armor, sitting on a frothing horse" who waited for him at a crossroads and challenged him to a fight. To his horror, Kuno couldn't harm him as all blows simply bounced off. Kuno was defeated but survived, and when he had recovered he swore revenge. "Let him come, if he is not a coward."

In the other story, Kuno (during a night of drunken revelry) had promised to sit down and eat with the Devil, as long as it wasn't "in my own home". In both stories the Devil arrived at Kuno's castle and invited him for a midnight meal at the nearby Eberhardsberg mountain. Not wishing to appear as a coward, Kuno accepted the invitation and arrived at the mountain. The Devil was waiting for him, and thrust a boulder into the ground which then became flat like a table and was filled with plates and food by an invisible hand.

In the first story, the church bells of the nearby monastery church banished the Devil at this point, while in the latter story Kuno banished the Devil with a heartfelt prayer. The boulder can still be seen today, and is called the "Teufelstisch" - the "Devil's Table". [154,155]

- A third story concerns a farmer who had to go over the Eberhardsberg at night. He passed the Devil's Table around midnight, and saw a group of "Fellows of Hell" sitting at the table and celebrating. He became curious, sneaked closer, and listened to them talk about hell and how they were torturing the souls of various rich people. After they had drunk their fill, they started to gamble with pure gold coins and were rather careless with throwing the coins around. One of those apparitions accidentally let a bag of gold fall to the ground, and the farmer sneaked closer and grabbed it out of greed.

Then the Devil appeared in his "horrible true form", smelling of smoke and bearing rolling eyes of fire. The Devil got the attention of the crowd, drew a blood-red piece of parchment from his pocket and read a list of names of people which he would soon claim for his own. The farmer recognized a lot of well-known and respected names, thinking "Now I know where those people got their money!". But then the Devil read the name of the farmer in a particularly loud manner, and the farmer became frightened. But he didn't dare leave his hideout and waited until the apparitions vanished before he raced home.

Then he realized he still had the bag of gold with him. While his conscience told him to give the gold to the church or to the poor, an uncanny voice whispered to him: "Keep the gold! Live a good life! Now you will be respected in your village and others will be envious of you!" As he made the decision to keep the money, he heard mocking laughter.

He invested the money carefully and eventually became the wealthiest farmer in the area and the mayor of his town. However, one day the cattle in town became sick from a plague, and the villagers looked for a scapegoat. An ancient woman in the local poorhouse was called a "witch" and blamed for the plague. She was tortured, with the mayor being the most eager interrogator. The old woman finally admitted being a witch in order to stop the torture, and as the villagers were about to burn her, the mayor demanded that she first told them of her helpers. The old woman only said: "The mayer has dealt with the Devil!" before dying from her injuries. The mayor remembered his experience at the Devil's Table and was so shocked that he was unable to defend himself against this accusation. Now it was his turn to be tortured, and when he finally told his story, the villagers burned him on top of the Devil's Table. [156]

- A fourth story concerns a Count Botho (of Weißenohe near Gräfenberg) who had drunken revelries with his followers at the same location "night after night". They also played with "metallic cards" which were adorned with "uncanny symbols". The final guest was the Devil, who brought a round table, and the group of revelers "mocked and cursed everything good and holy in the world". Flames shone out of "blood-red cups". Finally, a Benedictine monk banished the whole group - once again leaving a stone table behind. [158]

- At the old Breitenstein Castle near Hetzles, the Ladies of the Castle once had a grand washing day on Good Friday. Since it was very sunny that day, she hung them up to dry on the same day. But then the Devil arrived "with the rush of a storm", took all the clothes from the clotheslines, and departed with them. (Note: The three Ladies of the Castle were apparently capable of using magic and otherwise felt into the "Three White/Wise Women" archetype. But that will be a separate post.) [178]

- In Kainach two households were feuding with each other. A woman in one of the families was allegedly a witch. When the neighbor's wife wanted to milk her cows in the mornings, a small black devil sat on the backs of the cows, and the cows produced blood instead of milk. [193]

- In Krögelstein two huntsmen wanted to capture the Devil and hold him hostage for a lot of money. They agreed to meet under a huge fir in a nearby forest. One of them brought a "magic book" ("Zauberbuch" - this could also be translated as "spell book") with him, and attempted to summon the Devil as midnight approached. A large thunderstorm arose. The Devil arrived within the storm with a glowing red "hell hound" and saw the two men waiting. These were now so afraid that they abandoned the plan and fled in terror. They became deeply ill after this adventure and did no longer want anything to do with the Devil. [214]


Source: Heinz Büttner, "Sagen Legenden und Geschichten aus der Fränkischen Schweiz". Numbers in   [brackets] represent page numbers.

To be continued.

Note: For a list of all "Fränkische Schweiz" posts go here.

[German Folklore] The Devil in the Fränkische Schweiz, Part I

There are a few figures which loom large in German folklore, and the Devil is one of them, appearing in innumerable places and stories. While he does fulfill the traditional role of Tempter towards those weak in their faith, I found something surprising in his depictions in these stories. While entering into a bargain with him is a very bad idea, as expected - and so is taking his name in vain - making a bet with him is much safer, as he is easily tricked out of his price (i.e. human souls), and even priests frequently make bets with him (often involving speeding up the construction of a new church) without any apparent bad consequences.

But for now, let's see what the Devil has been up to in the Fränkische Schweiz. I will only list explicit appearances - magic powers derived from the Devil deserve a post of their own. He is also often identified with the Wild Huntsman, but again that entity deserves a separate post.

- In a manor in Adlitz there lived a cruel noble who oppressed his peasants and also terrorized the priests of the church in nearby Poppendorf, causing them to flee and the church to decay. When a new priest showed up, he was forcibly taken to the manor and eventually told he would be killed if he lost a debate with a "highly educated man" - the Devil, who appeared as a scholar "wrapped in red cloth". He first attacked the Christian faith, and then the priest's past sins as the latter countered every argument. After the priest won the debate and turned to leave, the noble begged the priest to banish the Devil for the sake of their souls, which he did. [17-20]

- A widow in Aufseß wished that the Devil "would turn the face" of a Jewish moneylender "on his back". The Jew tried to hide from this curse in a cave (taking his bag of money with him), but the Devil found him and not only rearranged his body but also trapped him there, where he still remains today, still sitting on his bag of money. (Note: Unfortunately, there is a strong trend of anti-Semitism in these stories, and Jews are generally portrayed in a highly negative light, with the implication that they deserve whatever grisly fate befalls them.) [23]

- Again in Aufseß, Karl Holley, a servant of one Christoph Ludwig von Aufseß, was said to be able to summon the Devil and get "advice" from him. But once he was caught by a horrible storm around midnight and sought refuge in a church - whereupon a huge gap opened in the earth and a "horrible dragon" appeared which caught Holley and dragged him into the Earth. After that, the gap vanished without a trace. [29]

- In Bieberbach, three rather drunk men returning from a pub crawl in nearby Egloffstein argued that money "was the most important thing in the world". They were then approached by a Stranger who promised them plenty of money if they could "walk over three different graveyards within one hour". Getting excited, they started in Thuisbrunn, moved on to the graveyard in Egloffstein, and finished at Affalterthal. There they met a "small man" who handed them a stein. When they opened it in their home full of anticipation for the treasure it must contain, a "black thing" emerged which caused terrible chaos on their farm and was identified as "The Devil". Only when the local priest came and sprinkled holy water into every part of the house did the creature vanish "with a terrible cry". [41]

- In Dürrbrunn, a farmer was tilling his field when the church bells called for prayer. The farmer didn't heed them and continued to till. Then a downpour started and the farmer called out: "I won't go back, even if the Devil fetches me for it!" Then there was a bolt of lightning and the farmer, his plow, and the ox before the plot were swallowed into a hole in the earth. The field is now called the "Totenacker" ("Dead People's Field"), and allegedly the filled-up hole can be found even today. [57]

- In Ebermannstadt a man frequently had problems with someone stealing his herbs, and he was desperate to catch the thief. One day, when he was out in order to catch the thief, he encountered a huntsman with a green hat - the Devil. The Devil presented him a book and told him: "Write down your name into this book and you will discover who the thief is". The man did so, and discovered the thief. A few day laters he (and the story is unclear whether this refers to the man or the thief) hanged himself. [65]

- The devil was said to lurk at a waystone near Effeltrich at midnight and help people coming to him with money if they sold him their souls in exchange. [69]

- "A devil" was said to lurk on a path in Eggloffstein during the night. At one point it attacked a farmer walking on this path around midnight, but the famer hit this creature until it fell to the ground. Since then it is called the "Teufelsgraben" ("Devil's Ditch"). [79]

Source: Heinz Büttner, "Sagen Legenden und Geschichten aus der Fränkischen Schweiz". Numbers in   [brackets] represent page numbers.

Continued in Part II.

Note: For a list of all "Fränkische Schweiz" posts go here.

[German Folklore] Fränkische Schweiz

As any gamer should know, much of what we now consider "modern fantasy" has roots in German folklore, myths, and legends. The most famous collections of German folklore are, of course, the various works of the Brothers Grimm which spawned numerous derivatives by Disney and others. But, as I have learned over many years of collecting books about German regional folklore, these barely scratch the surface - German folklore is much stranger and even outright bizarre than the tame, made-for-children animated movies hint, and much of it is ready-made for gaming.

Unfortunately, while there are numerous books on regional folklore, myths and legends, few of these books are available in English. Which is where I come in - I plan to read through these books, and as I do so take notes on particularly interesting gaming material. But where to begin?

At home - or to be more precise, a region near where I grew up. This is the Fränkische Schweiz, which Wikipedia translates literally as "Franconian Switzerland" - a phrase I won't use henceforth, as it sounds rather daft in English (incidentally, the current name for the region was only established early in the 19th century, when people all over the German-speaking lands started to call local hilly areas "Schweiz", or "Switzerland", for marketing reasons in order to attract tourists).

The Fränkische Schweiz is a hill/low mountain region in Franconia (the northern half of Bavaria), roughly occupying the space between the cities of Bayreuth, Bamberg, and my hometown of Erlangen. It has an extremely high density of castles - about 200 (most of which are now in ruins or completely gone) were once scattered through this region, many of which once housed infamous families of Raubritter ("robber knights"), preying on the surrounding trade routes, especially those connecting to the nearby trade center of Nuremberg. Due to its chaotic terrain, the region was never really unified, with the surrounding cities vying for influence. To top it off, the region is dotted with innumerable caves.

In other words, the Fränkische Schweiz would be a prime ground for adventures even if you were to ignore the supernatural elements - which we won't, of course. My guide to this aspect of the region will be "Sagen Legenden und Geschichten aus der Fränkischen Schweiz" by Heinz Büttner (which you can order here, and tell them I sent you!).

List of Fränkische Schweiz posts:

• The Devil in the Fränkische Schweiz, Part I
• The Devil in the Fränkische Schweiz, Part II