Part of our environmental series where we look into a different environment each week and see all the role playing options that can be had. In Crossing the Dunes we discuss the many adventures that can be had in this biome. We go over the many hazards and opportunities to run a game. We share out thought and notions of what we thought when searching of water in the sea of sand.
Find all our links below:
https://linktr.ee/nerdandsonpod
Who are we?
We are just a couple of nerds who enjoy the game. Ralph, who has been running games, and Conner, who has watched his father run the games and who has ventured out into the world to run some of his own. Together we talk about our passion for role playing and some of our adventures along the way.
Please enjoy this journey with us.
Notes:
A tumbleweed bounces across the path as the party enters town, the sand-swept town is quiet, but the few people that are out and about have stopped what they’re doing and are staring, clearly wary of outsiders. Especially outsiders so well armed…
Culturally, I can’t speak on ‘arabian nights’ type settings. But, I can speak on the western desert tropes and things
Desserts
Pros:
Wild west, just like pirates, fits very well with the freelance adventurers tropes already.
Cons:
If you’re not down with the vibe, then you’re already out
Talk to your players about the setting and tone you’re playing with
Games:
We normally talk about things from a D&D perspective, but this could be better served with a different system
Dead-Lands: Weird-west
Shooting Iron: Regular-West
We Deal In Lead: Even Weirder West (Dark Tower)
Try to find an OGL Western RPG conversion
Ravenloft Amber Wastes, har’ Akir, Sebua, Pharazia - old game by TSR
Guns: Do you want guns or not?
Survival:
Water. Water will always be a problem.
Cactus Juice: It’ll quench ya, it’s the quenchiest.
Oases: Water holes along trade routes, perfect known stops for bandits to take advantage of
Sandstorms
Sink holes
Plants:
Prickly Pear
Agave
Cactus
Creatures:
Yuan-Ti/ snake things (naga, lamia, medusa)
Brass and Blue Dragons
Ambush predators (bullette and Remorhaz)
Sphinx
Mummies
Media:
Deadwood
Blazing Saddles
Red Dead Redemption 2
Louis L’amour books
Assassin's Creed, Origins, Odyssey
Nevada bomb radiation - Giant creatures ie scorpions
Dune - Spice and Sandworms
Adventure corner
Kragons Lair
Old ruin nestled into the side of a small mountain range some distance outside of a small village. The ruin was cleaned out decades before.
Rumors have arisen of weird stuff happening around the ruins. A made up story about a priest that was murdered there has cursed the place.
History
These were religious ruins that were ransacked decades before and any resemblance to a god has been erased from the grounds.
A large kobold clan has moved into the area looking for a new mine to work and live in.
When exploring the ruins the found a small hole when excavated out was the final resting place of this colossal creature whose skull resembled that of the kobolds.
The kobold leader started a hardcore religious effort to worship the remains of this so-called kobold god.
The kobolds harass and terrorize the surrounding area without being seen to keep all away.
Encounter
The players are tasked to find out the truth of this curse
They come across the kobolds who are very bold and are willing to die for their new god. This is very different for a kobold
The kobold leader Kragon will be a cleric of some sort leveled enough to be a challenge for the players.
The players can discover the bones of a dragon if the search well enough to find the small excavated hold that leaded to the cavern or not
Depending on if dragons are real in your campaign or not or these bones could be mistaken for a dragon. Or during the final battle the skull that was maybe position up high for all to see falls and shatters leaving dragons a mystery.
Image by nightowl from Pixabay
Image by Roberto Lee Cortes from Pixabay
