A new campaign setting guide provides Dungeons & Dragons with a terrifying post-apocalyptic fantasy world to explore. The Lost Citadel, a new campaign setting guide by Green Ronin Publishing, is a full-length campaign setting detailing the fantasy world of Zileska, which was overrun by an invasion of the Dead just 70 years ago. Those who survived the initial attack fled to the dwarven city of Elldimek, which became known as Redoubt after humans and elves took refuge there. Redoubt is not a pleasant place – it’s a city where power and security trumps all, and seems rife with corruption. But, it’s better than the alternative – where powerful undead monsters roam freely among the ruins of civilization.
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While The Lost Citadel uses Fifth Edition rules, the core rulebook features a totally re-worked class system that eliminates the traditional “pure” magic-casting classes like the Bard, Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, and Wizard to reflect the fallen nature of the world. These classes are replaced with new classes like the Beguiler, the Penitent, and the Sage, all of which provide interesting “low magic” alternatives to roles typically filled by those who can do magic.
The campaign setting book also contains a new Woe system, which reflects spiritual damage and also denotes the likelihood of a character becoming one of the Dead should they fall in battle. The Woe system gives each players a pool of Pneuma points which decrease when hit by certain attacks or when entering areas corrupted by Woe. When a player’s Pnuema points reach 0, they gain a Mark of Woe, a spiritual mark that comes with some sort of negative consequence. Some Marks of Woe prevent healing during Long Rests, while others turn animals against them. Most importantly, the Mark of Woes help to determine whether a character rises as one of the Dead as soon as they die, which can have catastrophic consequences for the rest of the party.
The Lost Citadel is a planned transmedia franchise that will eventually include a mix of published fiction and roleplaying media. The initial campaign setting book was designed by a group of talented creators that includes Keith Baker, Natania Barron, Jaym Gates, Jesse Heinig, Rhiannon Louve, Ari Marmell, Malcolm Sheppard, C.A. Suleiman, Elizabeth Hand, and Carina Bissett. If you’re looking to expand beyond traditional fantasy in your Dungeons & Dragons game, give The Lost Citadel a try today.
The Lost Citadel is available now on Green Ronin’s store for $29.95.
