Kievs, part of the 5e D&D ravenloft hexcrawl

Here is how I write up cities: in three parts. A general idea/theme, followed by facts useful and apparent to any players spending some time asking around. Places are things that are well known or of important. In cities, these are just a few major landmarks. The last part covers what the characters can get out of the city _in general_. Like if you just want to treat the city as a place to sleep, find some help and get new gear. There is more if they dig in, but I'm not sharing that, because of things.

KIEV(S), CITY OF CITIES

the Mongols took Kiev and put it somewhere far away, twice.

The first time was with muscle and horses and the ground was so well churned with human fat that the topsoil was buttery and burned easily and decades later Chinese emissaries reported the environs still riddled with bones. the second time was faster, Kiev having been reduced to a military research station in the middle of burning wasteland, and was transported with the tearing of atoms and a rotation of the stars.

By a confusion of time and because the second Mongol ascendancy was more technologically adroit than the first, the first Kiev and the second Kiev arrived in their new home at roughly the same time, the second interposed on top of and along the eastern edge of the first.

This combination of cities has created a tendency towards accretion and other cities lost in flame and ruin have slowly crept in, and Kiev(s) are a jumble architectures, people and language, full of weird angles and confused chronologies.

_______________________________________________________

/population

thousands

/unique peoples

ghouls of the Cheka

/unique architecture

a city built of a number of other cities, the buildings jumbled collections of other buildings (floor by floor, room by room, or brick by brick). The general aesthetic is slavic.

/in power

the Emergency Council of Eastern Kiev, below them, the Agents of the Cheka (or just Cheka)

/religions

mostly eastern orthodox, some zoroastrian temples and mosques  (Light and War domains)

some jewish temples (Life and Light)

Church of Christ Unburied (Trickery and Tempest)

________________________________________________________

/places

Church of Christ Unburied (formerly St. Sophias). Green roofed, golden “onion” domes and minarets with white walls, now covered in black writing in an enormous hand.

Eastern Kiev. A wall composed of regular sections, all in grey poured stone, studded with rebar and metal bones, runs along the eastern bank of the Dnieper and ends on either side into a hill of rubbish - scrap metal and stone. Overlooks the badlands. Government offices.

The Chekan Palaces. The emergency council maintains seven black metal gothic-looking castles with smudged, huge windows and lit by braziers fed by the bodies of criminals (always burning green, smelling of pig fat). These are the palaces of the Emergency Council and where most of their agents live and work. Anyone living here is a bit taller than they used to be, more elegant, and pale, almost glowing at night. The largest Palace is built over top St. Andrews and is referred to as such. All are holy places for parishioners of the Church of Christ Unburied.

The Armory and Academy of Apocalyptic Material. A broad, classical, deep red building of many pillars and marble halls and dull carpets. Home to all the secrets of the Cheka and a great deal of weapons of mass destruction, tomes of lore, occult power sources, etc. Heavily guarded by the Cheka.

________________________________________________________

/pets

phlegmatic monkeys

starving hunting dogs

birds of a thousand varieties, colors, songs (including the griffon, hippogriff, roc and phoenix)

plump, knowing cats

trained fox, likely sneak away at first opportunity

/mounts

ailing camels

horses, lots of horses of various sizes and breeds

dire wolves

/characters

*can field 10 characters/month (twice that much the first month, twice as many subordinates)

*to determine what characters, roll a d20.

         1-5 Fighter

         6-10 Rogue

         11-12 Wizard

         13 Cleric (Jewish, Zoroastrian, Muslim, Orthodox)

         14-15 Warlock

         16-17 Ranger

         18 Barbarian

         19 Bard

         20 Paladin (Jewish, Zoroastrian, Muslim, Orthodox)

*can only field Cheka/ghouls if allied with them (Palading and Clerics of the Cheka are always members of the Church of Christ Unburied)

*Backgrounds tend to be (Urban) Outlander or Urchin, followed by Criminal, Charlatan and Folk Hero.

attribution: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_the_Kiev_tram_(1914).jpg

you are in a field of tall green grass - more 5e setting stuff (lots of monsters)

more on that 5e starting area hexcrawl thing.

let me know if the links don't work.

there are probably some typos/math errors in the monsters. Nothing major. Building 5e monsters seemed pretty easy, which probably means I've screwed them up.

In the text, the italicized text is meant to call out mechanics, die rolls or GM-significant stuff.

“in a field of green grass that reaches to the shoulders”

"grass varies from 3-6’ tall. d4+2

the grass is untouched and sways in the wind, and is just really, really long grass that somehow is able to stand upright like corn without being wider, etc.

grass moving in a pattern or against the wind or bird flight is the likeliest sign of something incoming. Surprise is rolled with an advantage by all parties that are using the grass to their advantage (locals always do).

The grass is slow to burn without an accelerant. mass burn-offs using accelerant are likely to disturb large, hunting myriapodia, confusing the sudden flash of heat for a nearby food source."

"The ground is uneven, rich, black, lumpy but soft, full of holes and strange rises. It writhes with an overabundance of life, especially with annelids and myriapoda.

when all-out running, the ground should be treated as a falling hazard,  requiring a DC 20 DEX Save to avoid being knocked prone. horses and similar destriers may break a leg when they fail this Save.

when rolling a 5 or less on this Save, the character falls 10’ below into a roiling horror of enormous biting myriapoda and venom and blind hunger and madness. Climbing out without help takes a round and a DC 15 check. First round of exposure is 9 (d20) damage, second is 19 (2d20), etc."

daytime encounters (wandering encounters are rolled twice, once for day and once for night)

d20	encounter	second roll	notes
1	2-5 red birds	d4+1
2	3-30 gazelle	3d10
3	2-8 young lithobius	2d4
4	1-2 lithobius	any die/2
5	an archispirostreptus	any die/2 (see note)	50% chance it's startled, being chased by 1-2 lithobius
6 - 8	3-30 bin warblers	3d10
9 - 12	spider	see entry(4d10)
13 - 15	30-300 oracle swallow	"a lot" or 30d10
16	5-8 swamp people	d4+4
17	30-300 swamp people	30d10
18	an evangelist of torment	one	see the names of the evangelists
19	1-2 giant hunting spiders	any die/2 (see note)	50% chance for each that it is accompanied by d10 host
20	1-2 Oji Scarab	any die/2

attribution: John Hallmen

Bad Evangelists, a magic item, a Hex/Hex layout

There are three parts to this post as I continue to work through my hex-y 5e thing. 1 is a how I'm doing hex keying. Thoughts very much welcome. The second is an item, which is how I'm seeing a lot of smaller, random magic items work out (in my head, at this point). The last is more on the Evangelists of Torment.

A LOCATION/HEX LAYOUTS
The general format is intended to leave space on the left for notes or to refer to other locations (a la Carcosa) and the space on the left delineates when something is available. Entries in the same row, separated by a semi colon are usually something more specific or a different visual "beat" in the description. The options thus far for the conditional/right hand column are:

always   is whatever is evidently here when you're just passing through

careful   is stuff happens when the players spend time carefully poking around

time       is stuff that happens only at a certain time (first time here, night, day being the three                      I've used thus far)

DC X     being a gate behind which things are put. Rolled stat/skill is determined by context.


Here is an actual example:

005	former farm house, mostly just its stone walls and floor and rotten ceiling boards and walls; the grass thins and reaches the knees rather than shoulder in large rectangular spaces around the house	always
	child’s voice singing backwards under the flagstones	at night
	the flagstones don’t sit quite evenly (under is the dolorous poppet)	DC 15

AN ITEM
the dolorous poppet. a child’s doll stuffed with soft blond hair and little teeth. an arcane focus granting advantage 1/session on any check relating to infernals or deep places or far places.

EVANGELISTS
I posted the Evangelist of Torment 5e stat block at the bottom of this post. Something in between dragon and deity. I think I need to up their CR a bit and maybe give them a recharge power. Part of the below is for figuring out who is around when you com calling the first time and part of this is for clerics.

THE NAMES OF THE EVANGELISTS

roll d6+1 to determine the number of Evangelists

roll d10s that number of times to determine which Evangelists. Multiple rolls indicate a greater presence.

roll d6 to determine which nest is where. if there is increased presence, they are currently in residence at more than one nest/palace (roll again).

/1/	Mag
as a bird	a snub, jagged beak, slightly erratic from parasites in its inner ear that occasionally peek out and tries to tell it what to do.
as a humanoid	an old woman of crooked aspect and prodigious hair under which she hides her clawed feet. Often talks to her parasites
desires	the fingers of painters or doctors, the beak of Lugh to wear over its own
hates	Kutkh, anyone asking too many questions, anyone disturbing its near-constant naps
/2/	Indra
as a bird	its body crackles with bolts of energy, like storms beneath its feathers
as a humanoid	drunk, occasionally gripped by paralytic spasms, winged, bloody-mouthed
desires	to drink, to fight until no one sober is left living and everyone living is dying of drink
hates	Mag, Lugh, Huginn, the sun, seriousness, questions
/3/	Na’Satja
as a bird	vicious, scabby-eyed, beak split down the middle, opens as normal or along split
as a humanoid	one head bearing two faces that speak simultaneously (only one is audible at a time, the other speaks thoughts. Na’Satja has no thoughts other than when it speaks)
desires	the tongues of lawyers and bureaucrats, the brains of scientists and philosophers, the moon hiding behind our moon
hates	books, maps, paintings and other records, science, philosophy, civilization, Indra
/4/	Naunghaithya
as a bird	all 343 of its eyes have been bound or pierced or spiked with an inscribed silver pin
as a humanoid	arthritic, swollen hands and knees, blind-looking eyes (that see just fine)
desires	the wealth of kings and merchants, the simplicity of beggars
hates	everyone and thing
/5/	Verethreghana
as a bird	three-headed, razor-sharp feathers slice whatever they touch, leaving cuneiform behind
as a humanoid	monstrously proportioned sex organs, pregnant, decked in an infinity of weapons
desires	endless destruction, endless birth
hates	Lugh, celibates, opposition
/6/	Sauru
as a bird	emaciated, its claws are black, wrought iron
as a humanoid	robed in feathers growing from it, magisterial, crowned in human bone, scepter is a smooth, slim arm
desires	everything is to be taxed (breath, dreams, thoughts, battles, births, deaths, names)
hates	justice, kindness to the poor, order, safety, comfort
/7/	Huginn
as a bird	leaves ink stains where it rests, appears as one bird or several or your mother or a king
as a humanoid	wears a crimson silk blindfold, ink-stained fingers, trails catalog cards and charts, writes using a brush of eyelashes
desires	the cessation of time until it has caught up
hates	time, fiction, imagination, sleep
/8/	Lugh
as a bird	flaming with negative light, clattering with bones
as a humanoid	gigantic, wreathed in a halo of black flame, armed with a spear and a clawed right hand, wears bodies from hooks around its waist like scalps
desires	order, power, the humiliation of others, empire
hates	weakness, Sauru, opposition
/9/	Kutkh
as a bird	body laced with torcs and it’s wings tingle from chimes of bronze and steel
as a humanoid	wind-burned, rugged, moustachioed or bearded or wild-haired, always with a black horse and a white horse and sword that always drips blood, usually at the head of a multitude
desires	conquest, the spread of its seed regardless of the subjects willingness or capacity
hates	everything not of its host
/10/	It Shits In the Water
as a bird	as any other, also appears as a black monkey or grinning, pregnant dog
as a humanoid	usually a young man or woman with a bulging sack or pack, always grinning
desires	to finish telling the joke that ends the world, to make the world again
hates	serious things like anything that isn’t strictly animal, including civilization, language, and the other Evangelists

attributions: Lucas/Richard Windsor, Wilfried Satty