BARD’S GATE TM Credits Authors: Art Direction and design: Casey Christofferson, Clark Peterson, Shane Glodoski Mike Chaney With additional material by: Cover artist: Jeremiah Lasch, Dan Messinger, Brenden Simpson, Rachel Rick Sardinha Tayler, Sharla Williams, Skeeter Greene, Scott Greene, Kevin Walker, Anthony Pryor, Kathy Christofferson, Greg Ragland, Interior Art: Pat Lawinger and with valuable contribution from the many Jeremy McHugh, Eric Lofgren, Jeff Rebner, Alex Bradley, members of the Necromancer Games Message Boards. & Mike Chaney Developers: Playtesters: Clark Peterson, Bill Webb, Casey Christofferson David Peterson, CJ Land, John Ackerman, Mike Weber, Chris- topher Laurent, Nicolas Laurent, Timothy Laurent, Conrad Claus, Producer: Karl Harden, Dale Haines, John Murdock, Ian Thompson, Bill Webb, Clark Peterson Angelina Mohr, Shane and Danielle Shirley, Clint Bennett Editor: Special Thanks: Anthony Pryor To all the fans who have waited so long, to all the friends who worked so hard, and all the family members that stuck Content Editor: with us through this great journey. Scott Greene and the Necromancer Games staff And to Casey in particular for helping realize my vision of this product. –Clark Product Update Password for Bard’s Gate—Cylyria This product requires the use of the Dungeons and Dragons® Player’s Handbook, published by Wizards of the Coast®. This product utilizes updated material from the v.3.5 revision. ©2006 Necromancer Games, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without the written permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden. Necromancer Games, Necromancer Games, Inc. and the Necro- mancer Games logo and Tome of Horrors are trademarks of Necromancer Games, Inc. All characters, names, places, items, art and text herein are copyrighted by Necromancer Games, Inc. “D20 System” and the D20 System logo are trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast and are used under the terms of the D20 Trademark License. Dungeons and Dragons® and Wizards of the Coast® are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, and are used in accordance with the Open Game License contained in the Legal Appendix. The mention of or reference to any company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the trademark or copyright concerned. SampleThis book uses the supernatural for settings, characters and themes. All mystical and supernaturalfile elements are fiction and intended for entertainment purposes only. Reader discretion is advised. Necromancer Check out Necromancer Games online athttp://www.necromancergames.com Games Visit the Sword and Sorcery Studio online athttp://www.swordsorcery.com Third Edition Rules, First Edition Feel PRINTED IN CHINA. 1 PREFACE Preface 3 Introduction 5 Chapter 1: Groups and Organizations 10 Chapter 2: Tent City 20 Chapter 3: Market District 28 Chapter 4: Guild District 38 Chapter 5: Old Temple District 43 Chapter 6: The Docks 51 Chapter 7: Canal District 54 Chapter 8: The Hill 59 Chapter 9: North Wall District 63 Chapter 10: Bridge District 66 Chapter 11: Keep Quarter 74 Chapter 12: Thieves’ Quarter 77 Chapter 13: Bard’s College 84 Chapter 14: East Docks 89 Chapter 15: Turlin’s Well 92 Chapter 16: Outer Quarter 103 Chapter 17: Stable Row 109 Chapter 18: Other Locations 111 Chapter 19: The Lyre Valley 115 Chapter 20: Slip Gallows Abbey 123 Chapter 21: Gnoll Fortress 133 SampleAppendix A: Gods of Bard’s Gate file144 Appendix B: New Magic 159 Appendix C: NPCs of Bard’s Gate 163 Appendix D: Monsters 216 2 BARD’S GATE Welcome to Bard’s Gate, a city supplement for use barracks, the keep, etc), we detailed shops with in any fantasy campaign! unique or interesting wares, we detailed places with unusual NPCs that could provide story hooks and we detailed locations that would be of particular What Is In This Book interest to adventurers even if relatively mundane This book contains a description of Bard’s Gate (stables, taverns, and so on). — its laws, politics, temples and cults, organiza- tions, shops, locations and personalities. This book does not attempt to detail every street, alley, inn, Magic and Power Level shop and NPC in Bard’s Gate. Instead, it provides Bard’s Gate is a city of “medium fantasy.” It is not a a majority of the bones and a good bit of the meat city where centaurs roam the streets, ogres and trolls and leaves the rest to be fleshed out by you and run stores, orcs and faeries mingle with humans and your players. ordinary shop owners possess powerful magic items. We took this course for a number of reasons. First, This is not to say Bard’s Gate does not contain the we wanted this city supplement to be detailed yet unusual or the fantastic — it does, simply not in every manageable. A book that describes every element shop. Bard’s Gate, for your reference, has more in down to the last detail would be cumbersome and common with Lieber’s Lankhmar than it does with would make it difficult for you, the DM, to really the Realms’ Waterdeep (high fantasy) or Tolkien’s “get your hands around” the city. We wanted to Minas Tirith (low fantasy). give you the flavor of Bard’s Gate. Second, we Most residents of Bard’s Gate are of the NPC classes wanted to make it flexible. We left room for you (commoners, experts, warriors, etc) with a Profession to drop your favorite inns and shops into Bard’s skill reflecting their occupation and Skill Focus on their Gate. If we detailed every location, there would respective main skill. Most are no more than 5th level be no room for your creativity. Third, we wanted in their NPC class, with some exceptional few being to make the city expandable so that you could tie as high as 9th level. A few residents have levels in a products from other companies or other campaigns class from the PHB, those being mostly rogue, fighter, into Bard’s Gate. Fourth, we didn’t want to waste sorcerer or cleric levels. In general, those residents time on the common stuff. We presume that the that do have such classes are no more than 3rd level many unnumbered locations are so common as to in any PHB class, with several exceptional few being not need detail—the proverbial butchers, bakers as high as 7th level. Keep these parameters in mind and candlestickmakers, as well as simple taverns, when you fill out the city as part of your campaign. fishmongers or craftsmen. Lastly, we wanted Bard’s Unless you intend the shop to be unique, do not make Gate to grow through development over the inter- a common baker a 9th level wizard. Rather, he or she net. If you go to the Necromancer Games web site is most likely a 2nd level Commoner or Expert. (www.necromancergames.com) or the fan site, you Of course, you are free to mold the city to the magic can find shops and NPCs posted by fans or created level of your campaign. If you wish a more high fantasy periodicallySample by the writers here at Necromancer game, switch some of the shop keepersfile to ogres or Games, making Bard’s Gate an ever changing and goblins, give them several more PHB class levels and ever growing city. be more liberal in handing out random magic items. If Why did we detail the locations we did? Simple. you wish more low fantasy, change most shop keepers We detailed locations that we deemed were essential to human, take away powerful magic items and reduce to understanding or using Bard’s Gate (city watch, the class levels of the main NPCs. 3.