Index of Cold Frontier-related posts

The Cold Frontier started out as an intellectual exercise on how to build a hexcrawl sandbox exploration / nation building campaign in the style of the Kingmaker Adventure Path for Pathfinder, but it morphed into an actual campaign set on the remote northern continent of Nardhome, in the world of Urbis.

• Building the Cold Frontier - the basic idea.
• Endgame of the Cold Frontier - where the campaign is headed.
• Maps of the Cold Frontier, Part I - a first rough map of the primary campaign area.
• Maps of the Cold Frontier, Part II
• Maps of the Cold Frontier, Part III - two map sketches, including a first look at the God Chamber complex.
• Company Men of the Cold Frontier - details on the Far Shores Trading Company, the organization which sets the campaign in motion.
• Coastal Tribes of the Cold Frontier, Part I - examining the native tribes dwelling near the coast and their culture.
• Coastal Tribes of the Cold Frontier, Part II - their Hunting Lodges and their future.
• Mothmen of the Cold Frontier - on the original inhabitants of the continent, and why the PCs constantly get harassed by them.
• Monsters of the Cold Frontier, Part I - examining the Pathfinder Bestiaries for suitable creatures to populate the region.
• Monsters of the Cold Frontier, Part II
• Monsters of the Cold Frontier, Part III
• Monsters of the Cold Frontier, Part IV
• Monsters of the Cold Frontier - The Coastal Forests
• The Surtus Termite - an alien creature that will populate the region in the later stages of the campaign.
• GURPS Rules of the Cold Frontier, Part I - basic GURPS character creation rules for my campaign.
• GURPS Rules of the Cold Frontier, Part II - how to handle GURPS magic and supernatural powers in the Cold Frontier campaign.
• GURPS Rules for Hex Travel and Exploration - how to fit the GURPS travel rules into the hexgrid map.
• Expanding the Cold Frontier Map - east and west

There is also a series of posts detailing specific locations in the area. The following are for the starting map - the region the PCs are initially exploring.

• The Spring Seeds Farm - a survivalist commune populated by a religious splinter sect of halflings.
• Help me build a Halfling Survivalist Compound!
• Marsh Giant Lair and Mating Beach - stuff you really didn't want to know about Marsh Giants.
• The Fungal Gardens - a colony of plant life, intelligent or otherwise - supported by an ancient magical artifact.
• The Red Plateau - center of the Skinwalker Society
• The Valley of Fogs -  home of the Sasquatch.
• The Mound City Ruins - a ghost town.
• The Canyon of Faces - home of the Morlocks
• The Lone Cabin - home of a deeply paranoid prospector.
• The Black Crystal Tree - possibly the first evidence of the elder civilizations that used to inhabit this continent.
• The Parliament of Animals - a whole society of sapient animals
• The Crystal Mountain - a  hidden fortress containing an ancient superweapon.
• Jellyfish Bay and Owl Mountain - where the animals roam.
• Stone Totem Valley - the perfect place for communing with the spirits.
• The Stone Pillar and Drake Graveyard - a place for changing one's luck and the final resting place of drakes.
• The Trade Outpost, Part I - the characters' home away from home.
• The Trade Outpost, Part II
• Bandersnatch Footprints and Werebear Den - where two very different groups of people hide.
• Aranea's Lair and First City Spa - visit the first for information, and the second after a hard week of exploration.
• Ghost Crab Village - the first and largest of the local Coastal Tribe villages. 
• Stranded Whale Village - Village of Secrets. 
• Tribal Meet and Burning Hills - traditional meeting place of the Inland Tribes and ever-burning coal. 
• Old Far Coast Enclave - an excuse for an Aztec-style dungeon
• Draugr Island - explorers of old who never returned home. 
• Giant Eagle Eyrie and Spiral Seal
• Fey Gardens and Ravine of Whispers 
• Apple Orchard and Treants' Court 
• Ponds of Time and Crystal Falls
• Valley of Bees and Burial Mounds 
• Sovereign Crab Fossils and Plague Pits 
• Grass Circles and Cloning Vats 
• Alpluachra Infestation and Field of Ravens
• Marmot Warrens, Wendigo Altar, Fog Wraiths, and Ghoul Warrens
• Blue Octopus Village
• Cave Fisher Cave, Fog Island, Ancient Dig, and Elder Apluachra
• Whipgrass, Zone of Silence, Gopher Mounds, and Eye Botfly Swamp
• Ancient Memorial, Elder Tree, Fog Canyon, and Spire City Ruins
• Wind Flute, Beaver Colony, Blighted Grass, and Ancient Terraces
• Canyon of Spiders, Bird Lakes, Giant Frog Swamp, and Bat Caves
• Azoth Refinery, Treaty Stone, Ghost Boat, and Star Tower
• Soaring Eagle Village
• Forest Lanterns, Larval Spore, Wind Shrine, and Aranea Coven  
• Basalt Pillars, Adlet Lair, Musk Creeper Vale, Dragon Fossils
• Seed Repository, Underground Gardens, and Morlock Shrine
• Cold Road, Old Native Tombs, and First City Mansion

The following detail map locations in the area to the east of the starting region:

• Pool of Darkness, Forest Witch, and Dead Village
• Shrouded Tree Village
   

Finally, the following posts deal with the ongoing campaign itself:

• Explorers of the Cold Frontier - Part I: Our heroes. 
• Session Log 01: Arrival. 
• State of the Campaign 1 

[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

Index of Urbis-related posts

This is an index of all post related to my Urbis setting. It will be updated as I write further posts. Note that the entries are listed in thematic order, and not necessarily in their chronological order.

• My Gaming Projects, Part II: Urbis - A World of Cities - an introduction to the setting.

Cities of Urbis

This series of posts attempts to flesh out the city-states of Urbis.

Building Bodenwald

Detailing the local analogue of Munich - as well as a major center of interplanetary exploration.

• Part I - contemplating the geography, ancient history, and other basics.
• Part II - building the Inner City.
• Part III - where the citizens go to celebrate beer and where interplanetary explorers cool their heels.
• Part IV - giant alien statues.
• Part V - ghosts and murders.
• Part VI - artists' colonies and goblin ghettos.
• Part VII - tree temples and sunken castles.
• Part VIII - eugenics research and religious orders.
• Part IX - the secrets of nobles and haunted bogs.

The Cold Frontier

This started out as an intellectual exercise on how to build a hexcrawl sandbox exploration / nation building campaign in the style of the Kingmaker Adventure Path for Pathfinder, but it morphed into an actual campaign set on the remote northern continent of Nardhome. Cold Frontier posts have now received their own index, which can be found here.