Over the past year I have put out 12 zines designed around my setting of Kre’ash and it felt like it was time to design an adventure to go with with this world or horrors.
Echoes of Dawn is my first stab at sandbox adventure design and it’s built for DMs who want a framework to spark their imaginations versus “this is how you should do it”.
Let me offer 3 features in Echoes that emphasises my belief that DMs stand ready to create and all they need is a spark to get them going.
Spark 1: Map of the Area
Here’s the basic map with approximate distances. If you have the Land of the God’s you’ll see where this small section fits but I have included a small hext map that shows how these locations fit together.
Even if you’re not doing a hex crawl, these locations and distances give you the big picture of where your PCs could start at and travel to with dangers along the way .
Spark 2: Location at a glance
Like with the area map, I wanted to keep the map for The Spire “what you see is what you get” without a ton of exposition. I have a brief explanation/description for each level of the spire with no room maps.
My thinking was, give DMs a graphic that would be big picture and self explanatory and allow them fill in the gaps for a session of play.
Spark 3: Creature Design
This is one of 3-4 creatures I designed for this sandbox. When I asked myself, “What kind of pets would a vampires have?” the answer was clear: Bloodhounds. Just about all the creatures, be they the Blight Bushes or Bloodhounds, have diseases. They are a filthy lot and PCs should think twice before tangling with them.
These are just a few of the fantastical ideas you’ll find within Echoes of Dawn; If you’re the kind of DM who says, “Just give me the idea, I’ll build it” I hope you’ll check out the zine to discover even more sparks to light your creative fire.
Which of these “sparks” has your creative juices flowing or which of these ideas would you drop into one of your adventures?