Good things come to those who wait….
Back in 2015 and 2016 I wrote four villages for Raging Swan Press’ Village Backdrops series for Pathfinder 1st edition: Black Wyvern, Red Talon, Revenge, and Sea Bitch.
Each village was founded by a pirate captain and crew, and named after their vessel, hence the colourful names – the last of which was censored on Paizo.com! The four villages were set on the then-unnamed forested peninsula surrounding the swashbuckling town of Deksport, written by Raging Swan publisher Creighton Broadhurst and published earlier as a Town Backdrop. Each village featured plenty of adventure hooks including vile cannibal cults, human sacrifices to a blood-drinking tree, the Black Spot, mysterious rock formations and sea caves, monster-infested shipwrecks, and ancient ruins inhabited by belligerent orc tribes. They were a lot of fun to write and were well received.
Then, in 2019, after I’d finished writing Empire of the Ghouls and before I started working on Southlands, I suggested to Creighton that I write some additional setting material fleshing out what was now called the Picaroon Peninsula, including the mysterious Forest of Gray Spires which has been mentioned in several other Raging Swan products. Happily, Creighton said yes and I got to work, detailing a collection of cool adventure sites along the coast, in the woods, and in the Forest of Gray Spires.
I wrote about the twisted Demonsworn elves, worshippers of Xeucros the Unchained, the ancient sky palace of the cyclopes who once ruled the forest, the humanoid strongholds of Hemp Jig Tower and Skullgate Keep, and the haunted wrecks of two pirate ships, doomed to fight the same battle over and over for all eternity. I also included fun encounter tables for the woods of the peninsula and the Forest of Gray Spires.
When Creighton got my turnover, he added even more material including an overview of the whole Picaroon Peninsula, weather tables and more. The collection – including Deksport, all four village backdrops, and the new setting material was published in January 2020 for Pathfinder 1e.
Now, three and a bit years later, The Picaroon Peninsula is now available in PDF and print for 5th Edition D&D, with 5e stat blocks by Andy Lewis. Please do check it out and let me know what you think!
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Main image: The Forest of Gray Spires by Matt Morrow
Richard Green | Game Designer 