Blocks (development)

Blocks are physical spaces that act as locations in the game setting, with which the player characters interact. When describing built locations, blocks will typically fit within an hexagonal area that is 145 yards in diameter — but a block may describe a notable feature surrounded by a prevalent topography, vegetation or civilisation. Natural environment "blocks" are often much larger, but may be considered a collection of adjacent block-sized hexes sharing the same characteristics. The blocks that can be found in the world setting are distributed according to their development level.

DEV-4

Natural Environments

Beastland: a verdant or barren area that spontaneously spawns wandering monsters into the Prime Material Plane, typically as rarely as once a year. As these monsters venture outwards, it is often difficult to locate the originating beastland.

Blasted deadlands: areas devoid of all life, even insects, marked by excessively harsh climate. These areas are inherently malevolent and spawn (serves as a gateway) unnatural monsters such as undead, demons and other creatures from the outer planes.

Cliff gaces & canyons: vertical or nearly vertical areas of exposed rock, acting as impassable barriers or choke points where passage is enabled between high topographical formations.

Coastlines: atolls, beach, coral reefs, grottos, headlands, lagoons, sea cliffs

Dunes: large masses of windblown sand, most common in desert environments but sometimes located near beaches. An area of dunes is called an dune expanse; large dune expanses are called ergs or sand seas. These are notably devoid of any vegetation (see waste).

Glacier & snowfield: persistent bodies of dense ice that form where the accumulation of snow is greater than its melting and sublimation. Glaciers form from snow fields, with crevasses and other stress features due to their movement.

Grazing land: untapped hunting grounds with extensive grass supporting large herds of meat-bearing animals.

Jungle: areas of dense forest and tangled vegetation, often with poor drainage, acting as considerable barriers to travel.

Lakeland: watered land with numerous bodies of fresh water, often acting as barriers to travel. Lakelands also occur where geological shield formations block or minimize river drainage.

Mangrove swamp: a submerged woodland or shrubland, formed by mangrove trees in brackish tidal salt water. Creatures from both land and sea mix together in these areas.

River rapids: sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence.

Roncaria: rough scrubland abounding with brambles and briars, prickly scrambling vines or shrubs, ground thorns or other impassable vegetation. Commonly interspersed with grazing land.

Shingle land: gravelly areas existing as sandless beaches or as extensive desert areas.

Swamp: a forested wetland that acts as a transition between land and both freshwater and salt water. Related to bogs (moors lacking trees), fens (tall grass and shrubs) and muskeg (coniferous forest swamps). Marshlands describe lands that annually flood, while remaining dry through much of the year.

Verdant: mixed meadowland and rich vegetation, wild but excellent for hunting and future homesteading. Excellent habitat for large herbivorous browsing monsters; animal trails abound.

Wasteland: distinct from dunes, ergs and sand seas in that they are sandless, featuring areas of broken stone and gravel without vegetation.

Watered land: unoccupied verdant land with rich soil and an extensive water table near the surface. Springs are common.

Waterfall: an area where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops in the course of a stream or river. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg of ice shelf. Plunge pools are common features of waterfalls.

Waterways: lakes, ponds, rivers

Built Areas

Barbaric camp: a primitive humanoid settlement thriving in a fertile wilderness region. May be friendly, may even have goods that can be bartered for; will ordinarily have no contact at all with civilization. Usually adjacent to grazing land, verdant or watered land blocks.

Dungeon: a labyrinthine environment serving as a mixed biome for numerous creatures, not usually more than two miles deep. Denizens might exist independently at different levels, or they might be obedient to an overarching master race.

DEV-5

Hinterland

Fertile land: areas where the soil is capable of producing in abundance, typically well-watered with one or more springs, formerly verdant, with easy access to rivers, ponds and lakes, adjacent to known animal trails and watering holes. Bottomland fits this description.

Forage land: indicates naturally rich food sources related to animal and plant life, such as patches of fruiting trees and shrubs, bird mating grounds, extensive sources of honey, crab grounds, muscle and clam shoals, etc.

Ford: a shallow place with good footing where a river or stream may be crossed by wading. Such places may be impassable during seasonal high water.

Groves & dales: these are naturally idyllic wilderness places existing as gathering places for benevolent spirits, able to heal and restore worthy persons to a state of health and life. Worthiness is determined by the manner in which the subject became infirmed, disfigured or killed.

Ocean banks: submerged plateaus that are shallow compared to their surrounding area, accessed by boats and improved by markers and navigation to become fishing grounds.

Protected beach: with fishing boats that are pulled high upon the beach to protect them from storms, with boats light enough to be carried; the settlement is located behind the beach in trees or among protective rocks.

Sacred places & isles: These are naturally occurring geographical features that lend focus to wild magic and other energy, increasing the effectiveness and power of spells, typically from 20-50%. Such places are typically marked by a monolith.

Monuments

Cairns & columns: these are unnatural piles, or stacks, of stones, serving as landmarks and guideposts. Diviners are sometimes able to communicate with spirits related to the cairn.

Geoglyphs: these are large designs or motives produced on the ground and formed of broken rocks or similarly durable material. These function as monoliths, but as they cannot be understood from the ground, they are comprehensible to only a small number of holy persons who understand their nature.

Monoliths & megaliths: a humanoid-made monument in the form of tumulus, dolmens, barrows, mounds, kurgans and like structures, existing as markers, burial sites or features intended to channel magical energy. The presence of monoliths demonstrate a shared cosmology among primitive cultures. These places act as catalysts for empowerment, visions, self-awareness and direct communication with the cosmos. Their presence adds +1 culture. Megaliths are mindbogglingly immense monoliths, adding 1d6+2 culture; 1 in 100 monoliths will be a megalith. Monoliths and megaliths are commonly rock cuts.

Trading site: a specific agreed-upon location usually coinciding with an unusual geographic feature such as a stone platform, high embankment or isolated tree or standing rock. A cairn or other minor construction may be present.

Villages

The nature of the village and its juxtaposed landscapes depends upon the food source exploited by the inhabitants. Nomadic clans will sometimes create temporary villages that are not technically "blocks" because of their impermanant nature (and are therefore not included); they are more appropriately deemed encounters.

Hut village: component settlement blocks with semi-permanent wooden huts and movable hide huts. The block provides consistent forage throughout the year, surrounded by grazing and verdant lands. Seasonal change of permanent residents reflects the season, with clans gathering in cold and dry seasons and dispersing when the weather improves. Natural features provide defense and protection from monsters and raiders. The population of such a conglomeration is between 100 and 150 males, females and children.

Village centre: a collection of long-established durable buildings organized around a village green and common water supply (natural spring, pond or river), with paths leading beyond. Settles 100-150 persons. Village centres are only present in settlements of 500 persons or more, with remaining population distributed among other village blocks.

Water village: small settlement constructed on a tidal mud flat, freshwater pond or marshland, with houses on pillars or jetties, allowing direct access to boats tied to each house. The village is often reachable only by boat. The population of such a conglomeration is between 75 and 125 males, females and children.