The Scourge of Northland – Announcement Post

The Scourge of Northland is a low-level adventure campaign designed for use with Old-School Essentials or your favorite OSR ruleset.

The Story

The frontier town of Obanhold is situated at the upper edge of settled lands, in a veritable utopia of natural resources and rich soil, simply known as Northland. The people of Obanhold look to expand their territory and take from the land wantonly, ever blind to the cost. Nature resists, but men are stubborn and little will deter them from their course when their sights are set. It is the eternal struggle of law and chaos. However, will and persistence can only get man so far, and this time a reckoning is coming.

Nearby settlements have been rocked by bands of orcs and the very walls of Obanhold have been assaulted by swarms of giant spiders. War is coming and and neither shield or bow may be enough to weather the storm. With their military strength stretched thin, the leaders of Obanhold are seeking adventurers and mercenaries brave enough to secure strategic locations, resources, and allies to aid them.

The enemies tread nearer. Their rumbling approach gathers on the horizon like a storm cloud with its shadow cast across Northland.

The Adventure

The Scourge of Northland is a sandbox style adventure campaign aimed at low level characters and players new to the hobby. The module is over 60 pages of keyed adventure locations, dungeons, important NPCs, treasure maps, magic items, all with unique and evocative art.

The expansive Northland is comprised of varying landscapes—from rolling hills to grassy plains, and wild woods to a bustling town and nearby villages. The detailed environment gives adventurers plenty of opportunities to seek out and uncover mysterious ruins, delve into dungeons and recover lost treasure and artifacts. For those wishing to pursue urban adventures, there are also threads to follow within the walls of Obanhold itself. There are quests to take on and rumors to follow, but the campaign can be approached in many ways.

Adventuring locations are thoughtfully laid-out with clarity and usability in mind. Dungeon maps are clear and easy to read with their corresponding room descriptions and relevant monster stats placed so that they are all on the same spread.

The Map

The adventures take place among hilly grasslands marked with sparse wooded areas and lakes. Compared to the previous adventures, In the Shadow of Tower Silveraxe and Through the Valley of the Manticore, the area is far greater than both combined. Calculating the map in square miles, Northland is larger than the state of Delaware!

With more area, comes more adventuring locations. Northland contains many dungeons, caves, and ruins to be explored, as well as various settlements and camps to visit.

[The version of the map shown here is not the final version, and more locations and details will be added before release.]

The Art

In our last project, I experimented more with digital full-color art and I was happy with the evocative landscapes that came out of it. Continuing that progression, I’ve been exploring more digital tools like Midjourney. In conjunction with digital painting, the images produced give atmosphere and a tone, which is darker and different to the previous adventures.

Below are some examples of the images that have been produced for the module.

Reward Tiers

For this project, we’re going further with the printed extras. In addition to the printed poster map, we are also printing the handouts and treasure maps. Players can hold the physical handout and it can save the referee some extra session prep time. The Handouts and Maps pack is included only with the Village Priest backer tier. Here is a preview:

Along with addons specific to this project, you can also pick up our previous adventures, In the Shadow of Tower Silveraxe and Through the Valley of the Manticore. Both of which come with their respective printed poster maps. Here is a breakdown of the different reward tiers.

Follow the Prelaunch page for The Scourge of Northland to be notified at launch!