Ancient Lands - Sword & Sorcery Campaign Setting, Take 3

[Zap Dynamic]

Ancient Lands Campaign Guide
While writing the guide, I noticed that writing these small entries on specific aspects of the world really is much easier and enjoyable than trying to hammer down a full master plan for the entire world. There is a slight risk that I end up creating stuff that is not really fitting the original vision, but I think the basic framework is really nailed down now and not much going to change anymore.

Have you created an adventure path for your setting? Or at least a list of possible adventure hooks? I've found that hammering those out is a huge help in helping to clarify the vision for my own setting. Thinking about it in terms of what I would like the players to do has allowed me to look at what I have and determine what's absolutely necessary at the table. It's also been pretty cool because I've been able to sprinkle the most vital bits of flavor into specific scenes/dungeon rooms... everything is becoming reinforced through gameplay!

[Yora]

I agree. A setting becomes great by the stories that takes place in it, and the characters that appear in them. Just having some locations and static organizations simply doesn't cut it like that.
You have to have some underlying events that are going on into which the players can jump in and participate.

I did roughly define the role and purpose of PCs in the Ancient Lands and a quite early stage, but some examplary storylines that are taking place in the world, with player involvement or not, are clearly still something that is needed.

Right now, I feel like all the parameters have been defined. Now it's time to have some things happen within these boundaries.

[Yora]

Random Encounters, Wilderness Travel, and Dungeon Design (Introduction)
These last days I've been spending a lot of time trying to work out something different. Given that adventures in the Ancient Lands will take place in the wilds to a great deal and PCs are not supposed to completely clear out dungeons and be able to defeat everything in combat, random encounters are an element that will actually be really quite important. I've never really been using random encounters in the past, because they were usually presented as simply four rounds of combat that happens between one segment of the adventure and the next. And for an Ancient Lands game, that is obviously not going to be working.

Wilderness and Dungeon Terrain
One of the things I never liked about D&D 3rd Ed. and that wasn't improved in any way by Pathfinder, are the overly complex rules for wilderness environments. There's 9 pages describing the different types of underground that all have special modifiers to combat and skill checks, but unless the GM can memorize all of them, they are completely useless. And then there are 6 pages of listing the rules for moving on floors and climbing walls inside dungeons. This isn't going to work and will have to be significantly simplefied.

Random Weather
Same problem with weather and wind. There's just way too many variations with tiny differences to be practical. For this, I already have come up with something new.

Spoiler

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Table: Random Weather
{table=head]d% | Weather | Cold Climate | Temperate Climate | Warm Climate
01–70 | Normal weather | Cold, calm | Moderate, windy | Warm, windy
71–80 | Abnormal weather | Moderate (01–30) or very cold (31–100) | Warm (01–50) or cold (51–100) | Moderate (01-30) or hot (31-100)
81–90 | Inclement weather | Snow | Rain (1-70) or fog (71-100) | Hot, storm
91–99 | Storm | Snowstorm | Thunderstorm | Duststorm
100 | Powerful storm | Blizzard | Windstorm | Downpour, hurricane[/table]

Calm: Wind speeds are light (0 to 30 kph).
Cold: Between -20° and 5° during the day, 5 to 10 degrees colder at night.
Cold Snap: Lowers temperature by –5°.
Downpour: Treat as rain, but conceals as fog. Can create floods. A downpour lasts for 2d4 hours.
Heat Wave: Raises temperature by +5°.
Hot: Between 30° and 45° during the day, 5 to 10 degrees colder at night.
Moderate: Between 5° and 15° during the day, 5 to 10 degrees colder at night.
Powerful Storm (Windstorm/Blizzard/Hurricane): Wind speeds are over 80 kph (see Table: Wind Effects). In addition, blizzards are accompanied by heavy snow (1d3 feet), and hurricanes are accompanied by downpours. Windstorms last for 1d6 hours. Blizzards last for 1d3 days. Hurricanes can last for up to a week, but their major impact on characters comes in a 24-to-48-hour period when the center of the storm moves through their area. Tornadoes are very short-lived (1d6 × 10 minutes), typically forming as part of a thunderstorm system.
Storm (Duststorm/Snowstorm/Thunderstorm): Wind speeds are severe (50 to 80 kph) and visibility is cut by three-quarters. Storms last for 2d4-1 hours. See Storms, below, for more details.
Warm: Between 15° and 30° during the day, 5 to 10 degrees colder at night.
Windy: Wind speeds are moderate to strong (30 to 50 kph); see Table: Wind Effects.

Table: Wind Conditions
{table=head]Wind Conditions | Wind Speed | Ranged Attacks | Checked Size | Blown Away Size | Fly Penalty
Calm | 0-30 kph | — | —| — | —
Windy | 30-50 kph | -2 | Tiny | — | –2
Storm | 50-80 kph | -4 | Small | Tiny | –4
Powerful storm | 80–300 kph | Impossible | Medium | Small | –8[/table]

Wind
Calm: A gentle breeze, having little or no game effect.
Windy: Gusts that automatically extinguish unprotected flames (candles, torches, and the like). Such gusts impose a -2 penalty on ranged attack rolls and on Perception checks.
Storm: In addition to automatically extinguishing any unprotected flames, winds of this magnitude cause protected flames (such as those of lanterns) to dance wildly and have a 50% chance of extinguishing these lights. Ranged weapon attacks and Perception checks are at a -4 penalty. This is the velocity of wind produced by a gust of wind spell.
Powerful Storm: Powerful enough to bring down branches if not whole trees, windstorms automatically extinguish unprotected flames and have a 75% chance of blowing out protected flames, such as those of lanterns. Ranged weapon attacks are impossible, and even siege weapons have a -4 penalty on attack rolls. Perception checks that rely on sound are at a -8 penalty due to the howling of the wind.

Rain, Snow, and Fog
Fog: Whether in the form of a low-lying cloud or a mist rising from the ground, fog obscures all sight beyond 5 feet, including darkvision. Creatures 5 feet away have concealment (attacks by or against them have a 20% miss chance).
Rain: Rain reduces visibility ranges by half, resulting in a -4 penalty on Perception checks. It has the same effect on flames, ranged weapon attacks, and Perception checks as storm speed wind.
Snow: Falling snow has the same effects on visibility, ranged weapon attacks, and skill checks as rain, and it costs 2 squares of movement to enter a snow-covered square. A day of snowfall leaves 1d6 inches of snow on the ground.
Heavy Snow: Heavy snow has the same effects as normal snowfall but also restricts visibility as fog does (see Fog). A day of heavy snow leaves 1d4 feet of snow on the ground, and it costs 4 squares of movement to enter a square covered with heavy snow. Heavy snow accompanied by strong or severe winds might result in snowdrifts 1d4 × 5 feet deep, especially in and around objects big enough to deflect the wind—a cabin or a large tent, for instance. Snow has the same effect on flames as moderate windy conditions.

Storms
Duststorm (CR 3): These desert storms differ from other storms in that they have no precipitation. Instead, a duststorm blows fine grains of sand that obscure vision, smother unprotected flames, and can even choke protected flames (50% chance). Most duststorms are accompanied by storm strength winds and leave behind a deposit of 1d6 inches of sand. There is a 10% chance for a greater duststorm to be accompanied by powerful storm strength winds (see Table: Wind Effects). These greater duststorms deal 1d3 points of nonlethal damage each round to anyone caught out in the open without shelter and also pose a choking hazard (see Drowning, except that a character with a scarf or similar protection across her mouth and nose does not begin to choke until after a number of rounds equal to 10 + her Constitution score). Greater duststorms leave 2d3-1 feet of fine sand in their wake.
Snowstorm: In addition to the wind and precipitation common to other storms, snowstorms leave 1d6 inches of snow on the ground afterward.
Thunderstorm: In addition to wind and precipitation (usually rain, but sometimes also hail), thunderstorms are accompanied by lightning that can pose a hazard to characters without proper shelter (especially those in metal armor). As a rule of thumb, assume one bolt per minute for a 1-hour period at the center of the storm. Each bolt causes between 4d8 and 10d8 points of electricity damage. One in 10 thunderstorms is accompanied by a tornado.
Powerful Storms: Very high winds and torrential precipitation reduce visibility to zero, making Perception checks and all ranged weapon attacks impossible. Unprotected flames are automatically extinguished, and protected flames have a 75% chance of being doused. Creatures caught in the area must make a Fortitude save or face the effects based on the size of the creature (see Table: Wind Effects). Powerful storms are divided into the following four types.
Windstorm: While accompanied by little or no precipitation, windstorms can cause considerable damage simply through the force of their winds.
Blizzard: The combination of high winds, heavy snow (typically 1d3 feet), and bitter cold make blizzards deadly for all who are unprepared for them.
Hurricane: In addition to very high winds and heavy rain, hurricanes are accompanied by floods. Most adventuring activity is impossible under such conditions.
Tornado (CR 10): All flames are extinguished. All ranged attacks are impossible (even with siege weapons), as are sound-based Perception checks. Instead of being blown away (see Table: Wind Effects), characters in close proximity to a tornado who fail their Fortitude saves are sucked toward the tornado. Those who come in contact with the actual funnel cloud are picked up and whirled around for 1d10 rounds, taking 6d6 points of damage per round, before being violently expelled (falling damage might apply). While a tornado's rotational speed can be as great as 500 kph, the funnel itself moves forward at an average of 50 kph (roughly 250 feet per round). A tornado uproots trees, destroys buildings, and causes similar forms of major destruction.

Still a lot of numbers, but a lot less than originally.

There really only need to be weather tables for cold, temperate, and warm conditions. Sub-artic areas in summer count as temperate, temperate areas count as cold during winter and warm during summer. Easy as that.
I think random weather should definitely be used. Simply by stating that an encounter happens during rain or fog makes it more than "you run into 5 wolves".

Wilderness Survival
I generally like the idea that characters have to keep track of their supplies, in particular food and water. However, since there are few barren landscapes in the Ancient Lands and most characters will have some ranks in the Survival skill, it should rarely happen that there is any risk of running out.
One important thing about finding food and water while traveling overland is that it reduces the speed at which the group progresses by half. When the speed at which the PCs reach their destination is a factor, they have to decide to press on or keep their supplies well stocked. While this probably won't result in them ending up without food and water, as they can always make the descision just on the day they run out, it might still cause them to end up with very little supplies. And if they get trapped in a dungeon or a forced to cross a barren landscape, it will be a problem.
So I suggest that the GM and the players should always keep track of how much food and water the PCs are currently carrying with them. You don't want to end up without supplies when you have to start chasing raiders for four days straight. And there might on occasion be NPCs like prisoners or trapped adventurers in a cave, who are in dire need of food that the PCs could share with them. I looked at the rules for thirst and starvation and did some research, and it seems to be quite realistic. Even people who are not particularly fit to begin with will usually survive for well over a month without food before they die. It still means being permanently fatigued once a character has been going for three days without food. That's a -1 penalty to all Strength and Dexterity checks, including AC. And if then anything happens that would make them fatigued, it becomes -3 and they can move at only half speed. That really hurts a character at 3rd or 4th level.
So I say, just keep track of it and remind the players that running out of food and water might become a problem at some point. The fear of a threat is often much more interesting than the actual threat itself.

Dungeon Design
In all the 3rd Ed. and Pathfinder adventures, dungeons are a long winding corridor with a boss fight at the end. I think that's where dungeon and adventure design went wrong. When you look at older AD&D modules, dungeons are often open adventuring sites where the PCs have all kinds of options which paths to take to get to certain locations within the dungeon. With one of the important themes of the Ancient Lands being that the PCs should consider carefully which fights to pick and when to avoid or flee combat, that is actually a much better approach. The PCs usually don't go to a dungeon to clear out all the rooms and collect all valuables. They are looking for something or someone, or exploring what is inside the place. Neither of which requires that everything that is inside the dungeon needs to be defeated or even engaged at all. There can be lots of excitement in sneaking by creatures or making a wild dash right through them to get to the other side of the area and lose them in the tunnels.

Also, personally I would rather go with flowchart dungon maps rather than graph paper maps. Such dungeons can be a lot bigger and include numerous empty rooms or simply rooms that are irrelevant. In a video game, you will often have lots of doors that won't open and players accept it that the designers did not build lots of unique but empty apartments and offices, because it really won't matter. In a similar way, a flowchart map only has the relevant rooms and corridor crossings where there is anything special. You can leave out the 20 doors leading to identical priests quarters in a dark cults temple.

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Random Encounters
With random encounters I am struggling with an apparent paradox: Encounters that are not pre-scheduled by the GM are a good way to represent that the PCs have to chose carefully which routes to take and where to make their campsites. But at the same time, truly random encounters mean that any of the players descisions are absolutely meaningless and don't affect what they have to deal with at all. That's the real issue I am currently struggling with and that I will have to figure out somehow before we can start the first session of our new game.

Another thing about random encounters is, that I think they need to be more than "1d4+2 goblins". It has to be something like "1d4+2 goblins setting up an ambush at a ravine flanked by 15 feet high stone walls and 60 feet in length". A random encounter does not take place in the middle of a wide empty plain, but environment must be an element. Or in the case of an encounter actually happening in a wide open plain, the PCs would have to see figures in the far distance and decide to face or avoid them, and if they want to make a run if they are heading towards them. Just anything but simply having some enemies pop out from nowhere.
Except for maybe some skeletons comming out of the ground...

Another thing is environment encounters. It doesn't have to be creatures, but can also be a terrain feature that poses an obstacle to the characters progress. They can either try to get over it, or circle around the whole thing, adding some additional hours of travel to their journey.

--

That's the kinds of thing currently on my mind. If I can work this out well, this could be kind of "the thing" of the Ancient Lands campaign setting. I am looking into learning more about hex-crawl sandbox games, of which I am normally not a fan of at all. But I think the fact that the PCs are heading to specific locations to do a specific thing there on behalf on NPCs as part of a larger storyline shouldn't make much of a difference when it comes to facing the wilderness and exploring large dungeons.

[Zap Dynamic]

It looks like we have almost identical thoughts on dungeons! However, I think you're setting up challenges for yourself with the "flow chart" style of dungeon mapping. You said that dungeons should be nonlinear, sprawling complexes with a host of options for players. It seems like you're using the flow chart style to keep track of only the most important information about a dungeon. By doing that, it's like you're saying "Dungeons should have a lot of empty rooms, but I'm only going to keep track of the important ones."

While that saves you a lot of prep time, it makes me wonder how you're going to implement the two ideas together. Will you roll randomly for the empty rooms just before the PCs enter?

[Yora]

The nodes on the map should of course not only be the locations where something really special and plot related is going to happen. What I think about is simply having a node that says "priests quarters" that comes with a short description what the average room looks like and maybe a note that says "if the PCs spend 10 minutes of searching through the rooms, they find a small box with 3 potions of cure light wounds". But I wouldn't draw up a map that has all the 20 rooms with furniture and storage rooms and toilets, and so on.
Drawing a scale correct map of large castles would take forever, and then you also have to draw a map for the players every time they open a door or come around a corner. I want to avoid that. However, in rooms where encounters are likely, there should be a detailed description of the "terrain", like mentioning if there are pillars, holes in the floor, barricades, big tables to climb on or turn over, and so on. But I think it's not neccessary to make a map that puts all these things into a precisely defined square.

[Zap Dynamic]

I see what you mean now! I think that's a good idea; literal representation can fill a lot of unnecessary pages.

[Yora]

On making random encounter tables
Some thoughts I've been having on approaching the random encounter tables:

First, I think I will be making eight different encounter tables, one for each type of common environment: Plains, forest, marsh, jungle, hills, mountains, arctic, and ocean. That should cover about all the wilderness environments that can be found in the Ancient Lands.

Second, I think the composition of each table should be roughly like this: 40% monsters, 30% natural features, 20% humanoids, 10% artificial structure. Except for ocean encounters, I think that balance should work for all environments equally well.
Monster encounters are wild animals and other beasts that might want trouble with the PCs or not, depending on their type.
Humanoid encounters are any kind of NPCs, which again might have all kinds of interests.
Natural features are mainly obstacles found in the environment that the PCs either have to overcome or circle around, which adds a significant amount of additional distance to their journey.
Artificial structures are mainly ruins, but maybe I also have some ideas for other buildings.

And I am also thinking that maybe these encounters make up only 80% of the encounter tables, with the remaining 20% to be filled with things that are specific to the current situation of the campaign. If the PCs are on a patrol along the border during a conflict with a neighboring clan, those additional encounters could be enemy scouts or raiding parties. If they are crossing a valley known for it's infestation of giant spiders, they could be additional monster encounters with giant spiders (increasing the chance to run into spider well above normal) or the remains of the spiders victims.
This cuts down work for the GM significantly since 80% of the encounter table are already ready and it also means that characters in the valley of spiders won't be running only into spiders and nothing else.

An encounter table could look like this.

{table=head]d% | Encounter
01 | Monster encounter
... | Monster encounter
32 | Monster encounter
33 | Natural feature
... | Natural feature
56 | Natural feature
57 | Humanoid encounter
... | Humanoid encounter
72 | Humanoid encounter
73 | Artificial structure
... | Artificial structure
80 | Artificial structure
81-100 | See special encounter table or roll again.[/table]

That leaves still the question how often to roll for random encounters, and how high the chances are to not get any encounter at all.

--

Here is a nice idea based on a proposal by Kol Koran: Changing the chance of having an encounter based on whether the PCs travel on the roads for greater speed, through the wilds, or try to stay out of sight for reduced speed. You can improve your speed by increasing your chance of running into something, or you can avoid encounters by accepting slower progress.

[Yora]

Hex Movement
Here is an improvement of the Hex movement and exploration rules from Ultimate Campaign, based on the rules from AD&D, in particular Dark Sun.

Each hex is about 12 miles in diameter (since I treat a hex as an aproximation of a circle, it doesn't matter if it's side-to-side or corner-to-corner), just like in Ultimate Campaign.
Characters movement speed is given in Movement Points per day (8 hours of marching): 15 ft. = 3 points; 20 ft. = 4 points; 30 ft. = 6 points; 40 ft. 8 points; or simply one point per 5 ft. of movement speed.
Crossing a hex takes the following number of Movement Points.

{table=head]Terrain | MP
Highway | 3
Trail (forest, marsh, plains) | 3
Highway (mountains) | 4
Trail (jungle, hills, mountains) | 4
Trackless (plains) | 4
Trackless | 6
Trackless (jungle) | 12[/table]

The frequency at which you would roll for random encounters would depend on whether the group travels highway, trail, or trackless.

[Yora]

Magic Items II

This is an important plot item for the campaign I am starting, so any of my players who look into this thread to learn about the setting, don't read this.

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The campaign I am starting consists of a couple of individual adventures set around one of the major villages in a valley at the very edge of human settlement in the Ancient Land, bordering the territory of some elven clans that live in the nearby forests. The situation in the valley is disturbed even more than usual after an elven hunter is drawn to an overgrown cave and disturbs an ancient artifact that has been hidden there for an unknown eternity.

The Box

- "What's inside the box?"
- "Pain."

The Box is a major artifact of the Ancient Lands. The box itself is a small block made from a rock-like green mineral and about 20x15x15 cm in size. The material is the same mineral that aboleths are using in the construction of their underwater strongholds, as it has the property of being completely resistant to any forms of molds, mosses, or algae to grow on it. The outside of the box is carved with patterns of thin curved lines and barbed arrow heads and closed with a simple latch held in place by a a flanged screw that can be easily opened by hand. The box itself has no magical enchantments on it. Putting a hand close to it causes an uncomfortable tingling in the fingers and aching in the joints, which gets worse when the box is held, but does not have any other negative effects.

"But even a dead god can dream. A god — a real god — is a verb. Not some old man with magic powers. It's a force. It warps reality just by being there. It doesn't have to want to. It doesn't have to think about it. It just does."

Inside the box is the proper artifact. It's a piece of flesh torn from the body of one of the Great Ancients in a battle far in the distant past. Even after all the time, the piece is still alive and occasionally writhing in small movements. It doesn't have a mind or any kind of consciousness, but it is still in constant terrible pain and projecting it as a psychic impression. One of the effects of the artifact is that it spreads a great ammount of Corruption whenever the box is left opened, which can affect the local wildlife or any people exposed to it for a long time.
The piece has very high Spell Resistance and Regeneration that can not be overcome by any ordinary means or mortal magic. Casting cold spells on it can freeze for a time, but it simply returns back to normal once it unfreezes.

--

That's about what I have so far. Though as of now, it's just a hazard with no useful application. There should be a temptation to use the artifact, though the players are not supposed to be so attracted that they will actually do it.

When the box is found and opened by the elven hunter, the piece tried to reattach itself to the rest of its body, but only succeeded in draining some life energy from the hunter to invigorate itself after having used up all its energy a long time ago. The elf slowly turned into a horrible aberration and while the box was left open, the Corruption spread and affected all types of animal living nearby. When he awoke as a monster, he closed the box again and took mental of the other corrupted creatures, setting out to destroy some elves and humans he barely remembered from his previous life.
In the first adventure, the PCs will hunt him and probably destroy him, and eventually find the small cave where the box is still hidden. Not quite sure yet how to make sure they don't play around with it and know that it's EVIL (TM). Eventually, word will reach a cult of the Great Ancients, who want to have the artifact, because they are cultists and that's what they do. The leader of the cult is an elf who isn't exactly evil and wants to learn more about it to use it to make him and his followers divine. However, his human assistant wants to take it for herself and create an army of mind-controlled monsters and replace the leader.

If anyone has idea what specific powers to give to the box, speak up!
Just use spoiler tags, since this thread is also were I'll be sending all my players interested to know more about the setting.

[Yora]

Powerful Merchants?
Here is an idea that might be really great, but could also be entirely wrong for the setting, so I would really appreciate what other people are thinking about it.

The roughly outlined history of the Ancient Lands has it, that about 500 years ago, certain advances in agriculture became common, that allowed the farmers of the clans to get enough food for the clan even from land that isn't of the highest quality grade. As a result, it became much easier for everyone to expand into areas that previously did not produce enough food for everyone rather than to keep fighting bloody wars for the best patches of lands.
With the battle for farmland mostly over, the powerful chiefs set their focus on fighting for control over other valuable resources like metals, gems, and salt, and also trading for rare goods from more far away places become a worthwhile endeavor. Eventually, buying goods from the Western Lands from human nomads who live in the Great Plains became the most prized and lucrative form of trade, which led to the hiring of human mercenaries to guard the caravans and eventually to the Vandren settling down in the Ancient Lands.

Now in history, merchants seem to have most often been private businesmen, who might have had the protection and patronage of a lord, but would still operate under their own control. Having the lords send out caravans to buy exotic goods would probably be rather unusual.
So what I am thinking of is introducing a handful of rich and also somewhat powerful merchant companies. They would be relatively small and only have some guards but no territories of their own, and would also be closely allied with some lords. Those lords would help with their protection and in turn get first call on the goods the merchants bring back at very good prices. This wouldn't be anywhere near the scope of the big merchant empires of the middle ages, but I would imagine even the Greeks and Romans had lots of merchants who owned a few dozens of ships and had their own warehouses in several cities. And of course, there were the Phoenicians, who are really known for their traders with barely any mention of their governments.

I think adding merchant companies could add another interesting dimension to society in the Ancient Lands, with only having the chiefs possibly being a bit bland. Does this seem like a good idea, or do you think that seems too advanced and out of place for the setting?

[Yora]

Some new critters.
The Shriker (little monkey-beast), Fey Giant (ogre-sized cloud/wood giant), Intelligent Spider (underworld aberration), and a new version of the Reaver for CR 2 rather than CR 4.

[Zap Dynamic]

I think adding merchant companies could add another interesting dimension to society in the Ancient Lands, with only having the chiefs possibly being a bit bland. Does this seem like a good idea, or do you think that seems too advanced and out of place for the setting?

From a mechanical perspective, creating a powerful merchant faction would be exactly the same as any other major faction. From a gameplay perspective, it makes sense that you would see caravans or ships out peddling their wares from one settlement to the next. If you're worried about the "merchant lords" being too advanced for the setting, maybe only the most powerful and successful merchants can afford their own warehouse? And maybe they continue to send out caravans once they've got that far along, but they make just as much money renting out warehouse space to other caravans? That keeps the operations small enough that it still feels pretty ancient, but it still adds depth to the game world.

[thorr-kan]

Yora, have you seen the Sword and Sorcery.org's d20 conversion notes?
http://www.swordandsorcery.org/toolkit.asp

[Yora]

No, I've actually never seen this. Thanks a lot for the link.

I've been thinking some more about the major conflicts that shape the history of the Ancient Lands and local events, and came up with a second one in addition to the basic Druid-Warlock opposition (which is basically Preserver-Defiler from Dark Sun or Jedi-Sith from Star Wars).
The other big source of conflict is between the Naga who have their center of power in the jungles of the south, and sorcerers, who have a major power base in the realm of the elven sorcerer queen. Both groups consist more or less of dozens of independent group but often cooperate with others of their kind. The naga were the original sorcerers of the Ancient Lands, long before the humanoid races knew anything about the magic of the Void. Now that particularly elves but also humans are dabbling in sorcery, they tend to find and collect all kinds of materials and artifacts that could be very useful for sorcerous research, and the naga sorcerers are very much interested in stealing them or snatching the away before the elven sorcerers can take them. Since naga are big, 6 meter long snakes, they can't simply crawl around in elven and human lands, so they have agents working for them instead. Naga agents are always spying in the northern Ancient Lands, particularly along the coasts. They look out for clues about any finds that might be valuable for the naga sorcerers and try to get them first. Basically, this conflict is all about artifact hunting. Anything left behind by dead naga sorcerers, remains of Ancients that found their way to the surface, and ocasionally magic items created by the shie that have lots of magical power and could be converted to sorcerous magic. There's usually no armies fighting wars or even just big assaults on single strongholds, but there's always lots of spying, thieving, and assassinating going on, and both sides want to trick others to do the dirty work for them.

I also decided that the idea of a large brotherhood that rejects clan status and creates a society of equals doesn't really work. All ideas I had for them go instead into the warrior societies (loosely based on the Mandalorians and Qunari). Having just one such group is probably better than two that are both not quite as well developed. And maybe I can come up with a good idea how to involve them in a third major conflict, that drives the interactions between power groups in the Ancient Lands. Simply roaming the lands and conquering everything would be too simple, it needs to be something with more facets.

--

Two more ideas to increase the amount of interconnections and getting both the kaas and the dark elves more involved. (Who as of now really don't play into things at all.)

Given the mindset of the kaas, they are strong supporters of both the druidic tradition that is all about keeping the Spiritworld strong and opposing Corruption spread by warlocks and sorcerers, as well as the warrior orders, which are all about self-reliance on personal power and turning away from the guidance of spirits. Of course, those two views don't match at all, which should lead to much tension between kaas belonging two the two groups.

With dark elves, I considered making them a strong element of the warrior orders as well, but actually it might be a lot more interesting if they violently oppose them. The warriors would be strongest in the River Valley where most humans have settled, which is just north of the jungles of the dark elves. With the dark elves making a major deal about having created a civilization all by themselves without guidance from shie or naga (as did the wood elves and lizardfolk), they would never dream of joining and outside power or letting them take hold in their lands. And the warriors of course love a good challenge. So the southern side of the River Valley can be a common battleground between Order Troops and dark elf warriors who don't fight so much about territory or resources, but mostly out of principle. Which also means that they love to start a fight even in far away places where their fighting wouldn't have any impact on the main conflict at all.

[Yora]

Another aspect I've been thinking about.

One goal of Ancient Lands is to have a world that is something different than a basic "Invasion of Evil" setting like Lord of the Rings, Warcraft, Record of Lodoss War, Midnight, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and so on. So both demonic invasion and return of the Old Ones are both out right away.
However, one of the big themes of the setting are the warlocks and sorcerers and the Corruption spread by their sorcery. The world is not in danger of being invaded by hordes of demons, but there's risk of widespread Corruption of large areas, which become uninhabitable and spawn all kinds of undead. Warlocks are more like Defilers from Dark Sun or the Sith from Star Wars in that way.
Demons can however take a corporeal form by possessing object, corpses, and creatures, and the most refined form is taking over a living person while mostly preserving the body in its original state and completely absorbing the mind and memory into the demon. These creatures are intended to fill the role of vampire lords, who live secretly in high society and gain lots of wealth and influence.
Now since such possession of a person requires extensive preparations performed by warlocks, these warlocks would already be minions of the demons that want to come over to the physical world for a century or two. What I am thinking of is, should I make these possessing demons the top tier rank of the warlocks? In earlier posts, I mentioned that many warlocks seek immortality by having their soul being absorbed into a demon and being taken back the Void once the demon returns. In that regard, it would only make sense that many of the most powerful warlocks would invite their demonic patrons to possess them. Question is, should these only be a a few individual and rare cases, or should they be the masterminds of warlock cabals everywhere? I think it would be a really cool idea, but I'm not entirely sure if that makes the whole setting shift too much into the generic high fantasy direction.

[Yora]

Magic Wells
A magic well is a natural conduit of strong magical powers. Most are found in places that are very rich in pure elemental essence, like natural springs or inside volcanoes. Wells tied to the elements of air and earth are believed to be just as common but usually a lot harder to locate and most likely found high atop mountains or in very deep caves.
A spellcaster or a creature with spell like abilities can make a DC 20 Spellcraft check to tap into the power of a magic well. When doing so, their caster level increases by one point for every point of the wells strength. For example a 6th level adept tapping into a magic well with a strength of 3 would raise his caster level to 9th.
Adepts and shamans get additional bonus spell points based on their temporary caster level, and creatures cast their spell like abilities as if augmented to a spell point cost equal to their temporary caster level. The bonus provided by the magic well decreases by 1 for every day after tapping into it.
Magic Wells can be found both in the material world and in the Spiritworld. Those in the Spiritworld tend to be of a higher strength than those found in the material world.

Ancient Well
Found mostly in deep caves in the material world and are connected to the Underworld. (Specific effects yet to be determined.)

Void Well
Void Wells are not natural occurances by rather creations of sorcerous magic that oppened a conduit to the Void inside a magic well. By adding void energy to the well it becomes more stronger (usually increasing the strength ba +1 to +3), but anyone who uses their power is causes by the same corruption as sorcerers and warlocks. (Which I havn't yet entirely nailed down.)
Void wells are very important to warlocks, as they provide them the power they need for many of their arcane rites, which no mortal sorcerer could provide from their own magical energies.

[Tzi]

One goal of Ancient Lands is to have a world that is something different than a basic "Invasion of Evil" setting like Lord of the Rings, Warcraft, Record of Lodoss War, Midnight, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and so on. So both demonic invasion and return of the Old Ones are both out right away.

I wouldn't write those plots out completely just yet.

I had a version of that sort of plot in one world I did. Basically it was a sword and sorcery ancient earthlike world of just humans. The former King of one such civilization had sacrificed a great many of his people to absorb a lot of magical power and ascend into the chaotic "other realms," basically other planes and was himself part of a multigenerational plot by the leaders of many of the worlds great magic wielding civilizations (All having a common bloodline) to eventually amass great armies, unite the whole of the world and then open a gateway to another world and invade it as vengeance for a genocide done so long ago and so distantly that humans weren't even on that world at the time.

Basically a Human-ish person became the demon from the great beyond manipulating the world and plausibly setting himself to return to it as the King of the World.

[Yora]

It can of course still work as an adventure plot or even a campaign plot. But what I don't want is for the entire setting to be defined by an ancient evil that is about to return and bring an end to all life as we know it. Those can be interesting on occasion, but they work for a story, not for a world. Because once the big event happened, the story is over and the world completely changed. Either everything is in ruins or the big defining element that shaped all events no longer is around anymore.

[Tzi]

It can of course still work as an adventure plot or even a campaign plot. But what I don't want is for the entire setting to be defined by an ancient evil that is about to return and bring an end to all life as we know it. Those can be interesting on occasion, but they work for a story, not for a world. Because once the big event happened, the story is over and the world completely changed. Either everything is in ruins or the big defining element that shaped all events no longer is around anymore.

Ah, good point if its the big bad of all big bads it can quickly consume basically every plot. My friend definitely ran into that in his setting. Thankfully mine wasn't as all consuming as it seemed. Basically one character had foreknowledge that this malevolent spirit was seeking a way back into the world and that a baby would be born to royalty in a specific city and they basically had to kill said child or its mother before predicted events might occur. More or less the party was working to prevent the the game worlds equivalent of the birth of the Anti-Christ. Though a relatively obscure and unknown event the Oracle foresaw the impending doom actually his birth and bloodline would spawn. Kinda a grizzly campaign in the end but they managed to work through it. From the perspective of the world it was just another war between the various city states in a region known for it. One City State using assassins to kill a specific princess during the course of a grizzly war.

Not sure if that sort of campaign or quest line might be too much. My setting or that particular setting was set in a region akin to Mesopotamia and Fertile Crescent so it might not necessarily be in line with the Ancient Lands. But its a thought if you ever have an Oracle in the party to throw them horrific visions of doom.

[Yora]

Now that I am working on starting an actual campaign in the Ancient Lands, a few things that I thought were really cool in theory turn out to be a bit more complicated.
One big issue I've been running into is the idea of making the clans sticking very close together and welcomming nobody to their lands who isn't from an allied clan. Cool idea, but really quite an obstacle for a great deal of possible adventure plots.

Two of my favorite settings when it comes to the way they are designed, are Star Wars and Mass Effect, which somehow happen to be both in Space and have lasers, which is kind of at the completely opposite end of the technology spectrum. But for the cultures and the dynamics between the races and organizations, the lasers and spaceships are completely irrelevant, it all would work exactly the same with sailing ships and swords. Which is kind of what I am aiming for.
But a very important element of these settings is that you travel between places inhabited by very different people. If nobody wants to talk to you and you're not allowed into any of the interesting places, that just doesn't work. Even in Dark Sun, which is technologically and culturally very close to the Ancient Lands, you still move between cities and travel with strangers. Unless you play only war campaigns or games where you drive monster and bandits from the clans territory, being isolist just doesn't work. I wanted to avoid the common "wandering adventurers" background for PCs, but making every quest an assignment of the lead warrior of the village turns out to be too restrictive. And especially at low levels, it's rather hard to justify sending some of the weakest warriors around on important tasks. The older warriors can't be doing something more important all the time. Some snooping around on their own initiative is rather critical for low-level PCs.

As of now, I am not quite sure what this would mean for the character backgrounds. If a characters reputation is not so tightly tied to the name of his chief and his standing within his clan, the categories are no longer that clear.
A simpler scheme could be "Landowners/Freemen/Slaves/Outcasts".
Landowners are people who work their farms not only to feed themselves but as a business, and who also employ servants or keep slaves. They would obviously have a monopply on power and influence.
Freemen are the free peasants who either have their small plot of land to grow their own food, or are employed servants for the richer families. Since they have no money they have no power and generally no say in the politics of the village and the clan.
Slaves are not free but in some form of unpaid servitude, mostly to landowners.
Outcasts are the whole bad crowd, who are technically equal to freemen, but usually almost everyone knows that they are raiders or bandits and they don't mix with the rest of society. In a world where communites are small and the locals all know each other, even those outcasts who are not criminals are not welcome in the places where landowners and freemen gather. However, in places where they are not known, outcasts have a good chance of passing as freemen, at least until people ask questions where they are from and why they left that place. Unless there's been a war or disaster that left large numbers of people displaced, people are usually rather suspicious about strangers who can't provide references for their honest background.

[Zap Dynamic]

Switching the reputations and loyalties from cultures to classes of people is a nice move. Also, you could say in your guide that clans have a tendency to form alliances and exclude any outsiders, then just leave it at that. GMs and/or players can figure their own clan alliances and enmities on a by-campaign basis, adding a sense of tumult and chance to the reputation system.

[Yora]

Originally the backgrounds were intended to give skill bonuses and special social abilities, but with that aspect dropped long ago, I think social rank really isn't that important anymore, at least when it comes to character creation.
But in most games, I got the very strong impression that it's pretty much out of question for a PC to be of lower nobility and get all the perks that come with it.

For Ancient Lands, this is very much encouraged, however this goes together with creating player characters as a group, not as a bunch of random strangers joining forces out of opportunity.
Commonly, the PCs should know each other well and have some kind of home base and affiliation to a clan, merchant house, or magical society.
Clansmen have some responsibility towards their clan and are expected to help protecting it, but don't neccesarily have to be members of the "standing security force".
Freemen characters are either for groups who have no association with a clan or for individual characters of a different race or culture who are basically "guests" of the other PCs clan or people the PCs vouch for.
Slaves would commonly be owned by one of the clansmen or freemen PCs. Alternatively they might be slaves of one of the PCs superior but for the duration of the campaign still be under the command of one of the PCs. Sending a slave to aid strangers without any supervision would be highly unusual.
Outcast characters would require the explicit permission of all the other players to be allowed to accompany their PCs unless the entire group is outcasts. Outcasts not being trusted by honest people is a major aspect of the setting and players have every right to say that their characters would not allow such a person to follow them around. Exceptions might be made for escaped slaves or if the outcast character is a later addition to the party whom they got aquainted with during their adventures and whose temporary assistance they need. It's not impossible to have an outcast PC in a group of non-outcasts, but no player can be expected that his clansman or freeman character would just team up with a known outcast or a total stranger.

Even with the aspect of social rank within the clans being significantly reduced in importance, the default assumption is still that the PCs know each other well and are integrated into a larger community which they want to keep safe and that also supports them. Wandering mercenaries are possible, but within the context of the world it would be unusual for any significant settlement to rely on those people instead of having their own take care of things, at least at the 1st to 3rd level tier. Once characters make it to the higher tiers of 7th to 9th level, it wouldn't be that unusual that settlements that are hard pressed by a major threat would plead with their neighbors for help, who are known to have exceptionally strong warriors and mages among their ranks.

[Yora]

Now that my players have decited on their characters, I am ready to start planning the campaign.

As of now they are:
Wood elf ranger (freeman)
Half-elf bard
Human shaman (clansman)

So we're going to start in a human village. It's set on the border of the lands settled by the human Vandren clans some 200 years ago, which occasinally led to clashes with local wood elves. The ranger is from an elven clan who is still particularly hostile to the humans and he got kicked out for siding with humans against his own people. They are pondering about how to get the half-elf included in that backstory as well.

It's a good combination for a party, which includes someone good with nature and stealth, someone good with talking and lore, and someone good with magic and spirits. That should cover about everything. Except heavy combat, which suits me just fine.

Spoiler

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As for the plot, I've decided on a meshup of the wood elf-opening from Dragon Age, the Dungeon magazine adventures Depths of Rage and Within the Circle, and Feros-Storyline from Mass Effect.

The campaign starts with the PCs catching some trespassers on their clans territory and getting from them the location of a previously unknown ruin not that far away. They either check it out or bring the information back to the village, where they will get the order to check it out. (That's how the elf-intro in DA goes.)
The ruin is almost entirely underground and mostly empty, but includes some large caves. And as the PCs are pretty far in, a small earthquake colapses some of the tunnels and bridges, but also opens some new passages and upsets the local critters. Finding a way back out is where the real meat of the adventure lies. (Taken from Depths of Rage. Not sure if there will be goblins or not yet.)
Should be a good introduction.

The next adventure is a modified version of Within the Circle. One of the clans leaders get the PCs on an assignment to travel to a cluster of farms on the edge of the clans territory to help them deal with some outlaws who poisoned the river and demand tribute or they'll do it again. However, he approaches the two outsiders and the shaman instead of some of his regular warriors, because he has also some special orders for them. Some years ago he did some work for a secret society and got rewarded with all kinds of favors they arranged for him, that helped him greatly with his rise in power. He's starting to suspect that they might not have his best interest in mind, but now he's too tied up in their activities that he can't simply quit without having to explain things to his warriors. The society in the adventure is a yuan-ti cult, which for the Ancient Lands becomes one of the lookout teams for the naga-sorcerers, who are searching for clues to any items or sites that might be of value for sorcerous research, and the sub-chief has become a quite useful help to their activities.
The sub-chief wants the PCs to deal with the outlaws, but also try to find another underground ruin near the farms, where he once burnt down a hideout on order of his associates. He hopes that the PCs can find anything that might help him learn more about who those people are and why they wanted that place destroyed in the first place. And that ruin just so happens to be the current camp of the outlaws they are send to deal with.

This next part is still a bit uncertain, but the PCs find a few secret rooms that were not burned down and still hold some artifacts and papers that belong to the naga-sorcerer who used the ruin as a base. From those the PCs learn that the naga have agents in the area.

In the third part, a small group of naga-sorcerers and their snake-warriors tries to find and take control over a site of great value to them. That part is basically the plot of the planet Feros from Mass Effect.
The place is a big old ruin which since then has become the site of a human settlement, that makes use of the old walls for their houses. The naga are snooping around in the catacombs below the settlement where they free a powerful aberration from it's magic prision. This is what the sorcerers were looking for, as they want to steal its arcane knowledge. The creature tries to defend itself by telepathically controlling the villagers, but since the PCs might actually have a better shot at getting rid of the naga, he commands them to "act natural", which they of course don't do quite right. I think some kind of unique aboleth might be a good choice for the creature. They have a mind-control thing going on and also have huge amounts of knowledge from their ancestors.

Since the naga-sorcerers have a big conflict with the elven sorcerers of the area, this might actually be a good opportunity to have the rangers old clan make an appearance. Maybe the PCs want to take sides and help one of the sorcerer groups? Or they find a good way to play them against each other. Or they ally with the creature to destroy the sorcerers. So many options.
In the end, the PCs probably will want the villagers to be freed from mind control. They could either kill the creature or might be able to work out a way that allows it to return to the underworld. If I use an aboleth, it would require help simply because it's a giant fish and trapped in a pool.
I'm quite sure the player will figure out the mind-control going on pretty soon, but I rather doubt they will recognize it as a recycled plot, at least until they meet the creature. And from that point on everything will go in a new way anyway.

[Yora]

Here's an idea for a small, but maybe important detail:
How about requiring every chracter regardless of class and race, to have at least 1 rank in the Linguistics skill to be able to read?
I imagine most places in the ancient lands don't use any written documents or records at all. It's not something most people ever get the opportunity to use and in Pathfinder giving up one skill rank isn't too bad a thing.

[Yora]

Some dragons I made today. They seem a lot more practical and easier to handle than those GM nightmares from D&D.

Spoiler

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Young Dragon - CR 7
3,200 XP
Large magical beast
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +11
DEFENSE
AC 19, touch 9, flat-footed 19 (+10 natural, -1 size)
hp 82 (12d10+22)
Fort +10, Ref +8, Will +8
DR 5/magic; Resistance acid 5, cold 5, electricity 5, fire 5; SR 17
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft., fly 80 (poor)
Melee bite +15 (2d6+4/19-20) and 2 claws +10 (1d8+2)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks breath weapon (30-ft. cone, once every 1d4 rounds, 4d10 fire damage, Reflex DC 18 for half)
STATISTICS
Str 18, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 12
Base Atk +12; CMB +17; CMD 27
Feats Flyby Attack, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Power Attack, Skill Focus (fly)
Skills Bluff +4, Fly +6, Perception +11, Sense Motive +5, Stealth +5
ECOLOGY
Environment any
Organization solitary
Treasure double

Adult Dragon - CR 10
9,600 XP
Huge magical beast
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +18
DEFENSE
AC 22, touch 7, flat-footed 22 (-1 Dex, +15 natural, -2 size)
hp 129 (14d10+52)
Fort +13, Ref +8, Will +9
DR 10/magic; Resistance acid 10, cold 10, electricity 10, fire 10; SR 20
OFFENSE
Speed 50 ft., fly 100 (poor)
Melee bite +20 (2d8+8/19-20) and 2 claws +15 (2d6+4)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks breath weapon (40-ft. cone, once every 1d4 rounds, 8d10 fire damage, Reflex DC 21for half)
STATISTICS
Str 26, Dex 8, Con 18, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 14
Base Atk +14; CMB +24; CMD 33
Feats Cleave, Flyby Attack, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Power Attack, Skill Focus (fly)
Skills Bluff +8, Fly +9, Knowledge (arcana) +6, Knowledge (history) +6, Perception +18, Sense Motive +9, Stealth +6
ECOLOGY
Environment any
Organization solitary
Treasure double

Old Dragon - CR 13
25,600 XP
Gargantuan magical beast
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +25
DEFENSE
AC 24, touch 4, flat-footed 24 (-2 Dex, +20 natural, -4 size)
hp 195 (18d10+102)
Fort +17, Ref +1, Will +12
DR 15/magic; Resistance acid 15, cold 15, electricity 15, fire 15; SR 23
OFFENSE
Speed 60 ft., fly 120 (poor)
Melee bite +26 (4d6+12/19-20) and 2 claws +21 (2d8+6/19-20)
Space 20 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
Special Attacks breath weapon (50-ft. cone, once every 1d4 rounds, 12d10 fire damage, Reflex DC 25 for half)
STATISTICS
Str 34, Dex 6, Con 22, Int 18, Wis 18, Cha 16
Base Atk +18; CMB +34; CMD 42
Feats Cleave, Flyby Attack, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Critical (claw), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Skill Focus (fly)
Skills Bluff +12, Fly +12, Knowledge (arcana) +13, Knoweldge (history) +13, Perception +25, Sense Motive +13, Stealth +7
ECOLOGY
Environment any
Organization solitary
Treasure double

[Yora]

Demonic Possession
This is a first draft, it still needs some refinement. In particular, the effects of corruption on a possessed creature.

Demons can not normally exist in the Material World or the Spiritworld. They have to possess a body in some way.
When a creature comes within 5 feet of a conduit to the Void or an artifact that holds a demonic spirit, the demon can attempt to possess the creature. The creature must make a successful Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 demons HD + demons Cha modifier) or become possessed.

When a demon possesses a creature, it can remain quiet and stay hidden, take control over the creatures body, or consume its soul and take the body for itself.

If a demon stays quiet, it can make a Bluff check to avoid detection by magic. The Bluff check works like a saving throw, even of the detection spell does not usually allow a save. The demon can also give commands to the possessed creature, but it can make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 demons HD + demons Cha modifier) every round to resist it. However, even on a successful save, the possessed creature does not automatically know that it is possessed.

If a demon wants to take full control of the possessed creature, the host must make a successful Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 demons HD + demons Cha modifier + 1 for each previous failed save against control that day) every round. If the creature makes three successful saves in a row, the demon can not control it for the next 24 hours.
The possessing demon automatically maintains control of its host for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 fiend’s HD + fiend’s Cha modifier + 1 for each time the demon has controlled this specific creature before. When the demon’s control lapses, it can attempt to reassert control if it chooses.
While in control, the demon uses its own Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores, but it adopts all the possessed creature’s physical ability scores. If a demon with at least 9 Hit Dice and an Intelligence score of 15 or higher can maintain control for at least 10 rounds per day for seven consecutive days, it can also draw upon the possessed creature’s spell- like abilities and use them at the same caster level as the possessed creature did.
The demon retains the host’s type and is affected by spells and effects as if it actually were the possessed creature.

If a demon want to take the possessed creatures body for itself, it can consume its soul and mind and permanently replace them. The demon can make one attempt per day, which forces the possessed creature to make a Will save (DC 1/2 demon’s HD + demon’s Cha modifier). If the creature fails three such consecutive saves in a row, it's soul becomes permanently a part of the demon. Even if the demon is driven from the body or the body destroyed, it retains all the memories and the original creature can not be returned back to life.
The new creature retains the original abilities and stats of the possessed creature, but gains the half-fiend creature and advanced creature templates. However, its mental ability scores are at least as high as those of the original demon.

Any thoughts so far?

[Grinner]

• Where do demons come from?
• Why do they come here?
• Why would a demon settle for temporary possession when he could permanently possess someone? Is there a drawback to permanent possession?
• How are demons meaningfully different from spirits?

[Yora]

There's info on the Void and a bit about demons here.

Why they don't just take over every body permanently is a god question.
I would say a good reason might be that they could still hop from one body to another without being send back to the Void. That way, it would be best for them to not take over a body until they found one they really want to keep. Otherwise they have to kill their current body and go through the whole process of getting a warlock to open a conduit and provide a good body again.
Also, the demons are not stupid and simply hiding in a humanoid and staying quiet to observe can be more useful than completely taking it over and turning it into a monster.

[Yora]

Morale
Not exactly a setting thing, but I think a rule that would be quite important to run an Ancient Lands campaign as I envision it.

When enemies take serious casualties, they have to make morale check. It's a Will save against fear with a DC of 10 + the average party level. (Since a larger party means more or stronger enemies, the size of the party doesn't change this number.)
As the Will save bonus is based on hit dice and Widsom scores, stronger enemies automatically have a better chance to make their save.
If the enemies fail the check, they turn around and run and if that is not possible try to surrender.

Situations that cause the enemies to make morale checks are left to the GMs descision, but common situations should be the loss of 50% of allies (killed or fled), loss of 75% of allies, loss of the leader, or loss of the most powerful creature in the group.
If an enemy leader is considering a retreat to regroup and prepare for a counter attack, this is not covered by a morale check. He can give the command at any time the GM thinks it is appropriate. A failed morale check means that the enemy abandons the fight and runs for his life, leaving his allies behind if they have to.

[Yora]

A little querry: I want to once more get started with writing up some major clans for the Ancient Lands, since they are the worlds nations and political powers.
I've started this with going through all the fantasy settings I know about and making a lists of clans that might work as good examples I can use as reference.
A clan is a group of usually about 5,000 to 10,000 people (including slaves and freemen servants) and rarely up to 40,000 or 50,000. It has a chief whose town or stronghold is the capital of the clans territory.
The Elder Scrolls is a big one, with the Dunmer houses from Morrowind and the Holds of Skyrim being great examples of what I have in mind for the clans.
Forgotten Realms has the Uthgardt tribes, which also work as a good reference.
There might be a bit to take from Dark Sun and Dragon Age, but I think those have few specific examples of actual clans.

Any ideas where else I should look into?