Savage Coast Campaign Book Credits Design: Tim Beach and Bruce Heard Additional Design: David Gross, Cindi M. Rice, and Ed Stark Editing: Cindi M. Rice Editorial Assistance: Tony Bryant, Jonatha Ariadne Caspian, and Lester Smith Project Coordination: Karen S. Boomgarden Art Coordination: Bob Galica Cover Painting: Paul Jaquays Cartography: John Knecht and Diesel Graphic Design: Heather Le May Based in part on the "Princess Ark" series by Bruce Heard and partially derived from the work of Merle and Jackie Rasmussen. Playtesting and Review: Many people at WarCon, Hurricon, and Concentric; Carrie A. Bebris; Anne Brown; Steven Brown; Bruce Cordell; Miranda Horner; Mike Huebbe; Kevin Melka; Sean Reynolds; and Ed Stark Special Thanks to the following, without whom this would have been a lesser product: Rich Baker, Wolfgang Baur, Tim Brown, Angela Clay, William W. Connors, David "Zeb" Cook, Patty Corbett, Flint Dille, Dan Donelly (and the Society of the Grand Gauche), Cathy Griffin, David Gross, Jeff Grubb, Andria Hayday, Bruce Heard, Dori Hein, Gordon Hookailo, Gwendolyn Kestrel, Brad Lavendar, Julia Martin, Colin McComb, Dominic Messinger, Bruce Nesmith, Faith Price, John Rateliff, Thomas Reid, Marshall Simpson, Bill Slavicsek, Lester Smith, Dave Sutherland, Audra Timmer, Sue Weinlein, Skip Williams, David Wise, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (especially John Cereso and Ky Hascall) Copyright © 1996 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Made in the U.S.A. ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, AD&D, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, DRAGON, DUNGEON MASTER, AD&D, MYSTARA, MONSTROUS COMPENDIUM, and RED STEEL are registered trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. MONSTROUS MANUAL, SAVAGE COAST, and the TSR logo are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. All TSR characters, character names, and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. Random House and its affiliate companies have worldwide distribution rights in the book trade for English language products of TSR, Inc. Distributed to the book and hobby trade in the United Kingdom by TSR Ltd. Distributed to the toy and hobby trade by regional distributors. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork printed herein is prohibited without the express written permission of TSR, Inc. TSR, Inc. most TSR Ltd. 201 Sheridan Springs Road recent 120 Church End Lake Geneva TSR Cherry Hinton WI 53147 logo Cambridge, CB1 3LB U.S.A. TM United Kingdom 2521XXX1501 ISBN 0-7869-0379-1 1 Foreword A crimson shadow covers this lush land. I have spent much of my life exploring the Savage Coast, discovering its history and learning its secrets. I saw the effects of the Red Curse before most people knew of it and I saw the results when the curse spread to all parts of this beautiful expanse. I have undertaken the task of creating a history of the Red Curse, from theories about its origins to descriptions of its varied effects. I will describe the history of the Inheritors, those people who have learned to manipulate the powers of the curse, and I will tell of our efforts to end the reign of the curse. I do this for the people of the Savage Coast, so that should my efforts end in failure, they might learn, and through perseverance, find a way to terminate the affliction that now dominates and diminishes this region. I will attempt to describe the nations of the coast and the peoples of those nations in order to show what the coast was like before the coming of the curse. Most importantly, I will try find a way to lift the ruby darkness from our homes. -- The Chronicle of the Curse by Don Luis de Manzanas, Baronet of Aranjuez, Crimson Inheritor Welcome to the Savage Coast. You are now reading the results of an experiment that worked. In 1992, I was asked to work on a product that eventually became known as the RED STEEL¨ campaign. I would take some excellent material that Bruce Heard had been publishing in DRAGON¨ Magazine, and I would turn it into an accessory for the AD&D¨ game. As originally envisioned, it would be a sort of mini-setting, accompanied by an audio CD with background music. I began writing in 1993, and the original boxed set was published in late 1994. In early 1995, the supplement, Savage Baronies, was released. By that time, the RED STEEL campaign had received a lot of support and gotten some very favorable reviews. So we decided to do a relaunch, offering the lands of the Savage Coast as a full line of products. You hold the results of that decision in your hands, a book that combines all the material from the original RED STEEL campaign set and the Savage Baronies supplement, along with some new material. More supplements will follow. I offer my sincere thanks to the readers and players who made this experiment a success, allowing the RED STEEL campaign to continue. I have gathered comments and criticisms from many of you and from playtests and tournaments, and I have tried to incorporate much of your advice into the setting. To those of you who have just discovered the setting, thanks for giving it a try. I hope you all enjoy The SAVAGE COASTª Campaign Book as much as I enjoyed writing it. Tim Beach, May 1995 2 Table of Contents AN ATLAS OF THE SAVAGE COAST The Savage Baronies Nomenclature People of the Savage Baronies Conventions The Immortals The Red Curse Threats The Environment History of the Savage Baronies Region History of the Savage Baronies Possibility of Unification Vilaverde and Texeiras Dominio de Vilaverde Estado de Texeiras Torre—n and Narvaez Baron’a de Torre—n Baron’a de Narvaez Nearby Lands Gargo–a, Almarr—n, and Sarag—n Baron’a de Gargo–a Estado de Almarr—n Baron’a de Sarag—n Guadalante and Cimmaron Estado de Guadalante Cimmaron County El Grande Carrascal Bushwack Prairie and the Badlands Robrenn and Eusdria The Confederated Kingdom of Robrenn The Kingdom of Eusdria Renardy and Bellayne The Kingdom of Renardy The Kingdom of Bellayne Shazak, Ator, and Cay The Kingdom of Shazak Kingdom of Ator The Kingdom of Cay Immortals of the Lizard Kin Herath The Magiocracy of Herath Other Places The Orc's Head Peninsula The Arm of the Immortals The Yazak Steppes Other Goblinoids 3 TABLES 10.1: Goblinoid Word Components 11.1: Racial Class and Level Limits 11.2: Thieving Skill Racial Adjustments 11.3: Racial Ability Requirements 11.4: Racial Ability Adjustments 11.5: Wizard Racial Requirements 11.6: Multi-Class Combinations 11.7: Natural Armor Class 11.8: Average Height and Weight 11.9: Age 11.10: Aging Effects 11.11: Natural Attack Forms 12.1: Defender Spell Progression 12.2: Forbidden Schools 13.1: Initial Legacies by Region 13.2: Legacy Reference List 14.1: Torasta Results 14.2: Secret Pass Exceptional Hits 14.3: Dominguez Secret Passes 14.4: Cavalcante Secret Passes 14.5: Moncorvo Secret Passes 14.6: Verdegild Secret Passes 14.7: Specialist Attacks/Round 14.8: Group Crossovers 14.9: Nonweapon Proficiency Groups 14.10: Fast-Talking Modifiers 14.11: Bulk PP Expenditures 14.12: Crude Weapon Construction 15.1: Money on the Savage Coast 15.2: Weapon Materials 15.3: Special Items 15.4: Weapons List 15.5: Missile Ranges 17.1: Calendar of Mystara 19.1: La Pampa Rica Encounters 4 Overview The Savage Coast is a land of diversity and adventure. I have been surprised many times in my extensive travels. In this journal, I have attempted to organize my thoughts, so that those who read my work might more easily benefit from this knowledge. I offer first a summation of my knowledge, an overview perhaps the details that I might reveal to a visitor new to the Savage Coast. The Chronicle of the Curse By Don Luis de Manzanas The lands of the Savage Coast give rise to larger-than-life characters and marvelous adventures. Within this region live not only humans of assorted cultures, but also such races as the ee'aar, lizard kin, rakastas, lupins, and tortles. Moreover, these beings also wield unusual powers granted them by the Red Curse, abilities often accompanied by hideous mutations. Exciting adventures arise out of the struggle to control those powers and acquire the magical metal, red steel, as well as from the natural conflicts of the region's divergent races and cultures. This book contains all the information needed for a SAVAGE COASTª campaign, from descriptions of its nations to rules for creating player characters, and from details on the Legacies of the Red Curse to advice for running adventures. The DM will need to become familiar with all the information contained within, but much of it is aimed at the players as well. The quantity of material presented here may seem daunting. To ease the burden of digesting the details, this book has been organized into three sections: • An Atlas of the Savage Coast. This details the lands of the region, including information on geography, culture, religion, customs, and attitudes. • Characters of the Savage Coast. Devoted to rules, this section covers procedures for generating player characters for SAVAGE COAST campaigns, including new kits, proficiencies, and weapons. Also included are the special rules for the setting, such as the influences of the Red Curse and panache rules. • Adventures on the Savage Coast. This final portion of the book deals with general campaign directions and background, providing an overview of possible adventures. In addition, a few short quests and one major adventure are included. The remainder of this section is devoted to a short overview of the campaign setting, introducing several key concepts important in later portions of the text.