Twenty Questions by Jeff Rients

Artist Unknown

If you haven't seen this yet, you owe it to yourself to look it over. And if you ever run a campaign you should answer these questions for yourself, because your players are bound to ask them of you. One of the worst feelings in the world is being stuck on a simple answer and coming up with something that ends up being lame!  

Jeff Rients, one of the guys who has been churning out great old school content for years and years and years, published a list of 20 questions about your campaign setting sometime in the Triassic era. A load of bloggers have filled one of these out for their setting. It's time for me to do one for my Welsh Marches.

1. What is the deal with my cleric's religion?

It's mostly just Catholicism. Not exactly, but nearly so. See here. If you're a Druid, then you're a heretic and will be burned at the stake.

2. Where can we go to buy standard equipment?

If you're a nobleman or a Bishop, you tell your staff to bring it to you. If you're a commoner, you'd better be very careful sniffing around for it. Armorers and weaponsmiths are closely monitored by the Crown. Bows, even long bows, are widely available. Backswords are available. Pole arms are available, but you shouldn't go carrying them around. Bandits usually have what you need but it'll cost you.

3. Where can we go to get platemail custom fitted for this monster I just befriended?

That's a weird question. There are no monsters and you're not allowed to own platemail. Except if you're a noble of course.

4. Who is the mightiest wizard in the land?

There's no such thing as wizards, just crazy old hermits in the woods.

5. Who is the greatest warrior in the land?

Some say it was Fulz FitzWarin the Bandit King. Some say it was Llewellyn the Great. It depends on the exact date. It's likely the greatest warrior you will meet is your Baron, a Welsh Chieftain, or the Earl of Chester. There are many formidable fighting men among Knights and even some among commoners.

6. Who is the richest person in the land?

The Earl of Chester, who is said to be even wealthier than the King Himself. 

7. Where can we go to get some magical healing?

Wise women and clever men exist throughout the world who know how to mix a poultice or potion. Some are churchmen; some are laymen. Certainly you will find many in cities and towns. You might chance upon one in any village, abbey or cloister.

8. Where can we go to get cures for the following conditions: poison, disease, curse, level drain, lycanthropy, polymorph, alignment change, death, undeath?

Poisons, diseases, curses and lycanthropy are the purview of the same clever men and wise women. Some say the forest hermits can cure these too. Death and undeath are beyond the ability of mortals to cure. Your best chance is faith in God. Level drain is an odd case. It may be curable, but nobody knows if it is or not.

9. Is there a magic guild my MU belongs to or that I can join in order to get more spells?

Again, no magic users exist. Learning simple spells and charms requires study with someone who knows them. If you are a Druid, then Mother Nature has instructed you in her eldrich ways.

10. Where can I find an alchemist, sage or other expert NPC?

Among the clever men and wise women, you can sometimes learn what you need to know. Some nobles have extensive collections of books - as many as 2d6 all in one place. The Church teaches some old knowledge, but it's impossible to say whether it's actually true since it's so very old.

Educated commoners and noble advisers at Court can help within their areas of expertise.

11. Where can I hire mercenaries?

If you have money, they will come. These lands breed hard men looking for easy money and a break from the drudgery of peasant life. If necessary you can import them from Normandy or hire Vikings or Danes, but that's more expensive.

12. Is there any place on the map where swords are illegal, magic is outlawed or any other notable hassles from Johnny Law?

Plate mail, war horses, lances, long swords and crossbows are strictly illegal. 

Being proven (or suspected) to be a Druid or of doing witchraft or consorting with the Devil or any other number of transgressive religious crimes is a death sentence. 

Insolence and fraud are harshly punished. Your Lord may tax you for trying to move away or go on a pilgrimage. 

There is a whole society of Outlaws who have literally no protection from the Laws of the Realm, and are therefore subject to any violence without repercussion.

Nobles owe tribute to the Crown and the tithe to the Church. They owe to their vassals protection. They owe to the commoners their protection, justice, and enough to eat.

Perhaps surprisingly, most laws of morals and ethics are observed in the breach as much as in practice, just like today. Local law courts are an important tool for keeping the peace.

13. Which way to the nearest tavern?

Any tavern sprouts a village, so it follows that every village has a tavern. Or two or three. As a rule of thumb, there are enough bar stools and tables in town to seat every rump all at once.

14. What monsters are terrorizing the countryside sufficiently that if I kill them I will become famous?

Outlaws, Elfs and Druids. Vikings and Danes probably. Picts and the Irish. Anyone who speaks a funny language or looks exactly like we do, except with one slightly different feature. The Welsh.

15. Are there any wars brewing I could go fight?

Wars are everywhere. "Going to find a war" makes about as much sense as going to find a rainstorm. Just wait. One will find you. And it will be just as purposeful and explicable as a rainstorm too.

16. How about gladiatorial arenas complete with hard-won glory and fabulous cash prizes?

Nothing as fabulous as treasure hunting, I assure you. You could prize-fight in the back of some taverns.

17. Are there any secret societies with sinister agendas I could join and/or fight?

Evil is banal, not monolithic. Life is brutal. This is a fallen world where we can choose obedience and evil or slavery and evil - or licentiousness and freedom in this life, then oblivion.

18. What is there to eat around here?

Medieval diets were pretty bad. Most of the fruits, vegetables and grains we consume were still in the future, either due to technology or distance (for instance, tomatoes and peppers still resided only in the New World.)  For more information, check this link out!

19. Any legendary lost treasures I could be looking for?

One can scarcely kick a peasant's pet dog without hitting a legendary lost treasure. Kidwelly, the Royal Charter shipwereck, the lost treasures of Swansea Bay, the Secret Welsh Church Tapestries, Llewellyn's Coronet, The Cross of Nieth, the Crown of Principality, the Holy Arms of Wales, The Treasure of Vortigern, and the Rhyader Treasure of Powys are all... somewhere out there. Not to mention the more accessible treasures carried by the King's men, bound for the Exchequer of the Realm.

20. Where is the nearest dragon or other monster with Type H treasure?

Foreign Parts, if anywhere. St. George killed the dragon centuries ago.