Exploit the setting guide

Book II is full of example sites and tools to help you create your own. Use it for inspiration and to help make sites that fit the larger Stonetop setting.

If you're making a site from scratch, start by deciding what manner of site it is: a Fae domain, a ruin of the Makers, a haunted site, etc. If unsure, refer to the entry for the relevant region and review the sections for "Terrain" and/or "Discoveries" therein.

Once you know the manner of site you're creating, go to the "Sites" section for the appropriate entry. For example, you'll find the entry for Forge Lord sites, and haunted sites in the "Death and the undying" entry. Use the procedures and tables there to develop the site's concept.

Treat the tables as creative prompts. Pick options that make sense or catch your eye, or roll if unsure. If you do roll, try to make sense of the results even if they seem disjointed. Unlikely combinations can lead to some of the most interesting, memorable sites. That said, if a roll really doesn't feel right, then pick something else or roll again. You're not beholden to the dice!

Consider the results in light of what you've already established. Envision the site. If you're prepping in advance, write a few sentences describing the place. Try to get fairly specific, but keep it brief.

If you're creating the site on the fly, you can ask your players to roll the dice. Read the results out loud, or write them down and "Hmm" sagely, revealing them through play. Either way, take a short break to think through the rest of the process.

The swyn's lair is a Green Lord tomb, so I find the "Sites" section of the Green Lord entry. This is a "ruin," so I start there (Book II). The process has me roll or pick a Green Lord theme, and "tombs, mummification, constructed afterlives" is the obvious choice. I roll a 6 for structure, "ziggurat/pyramid/dome" and the purpose is clearly a "tomb." I roll a 1 for architectural elements, "huge slabs of smooth stone…carved with scrollwork and bas relief." Because I want a Green Lord mummy to still be in there, I choose "buried, submerged, and/or overgrown, but mostly intact" for the site's condition.

The procedure then has me pick a Great Wood terrain, so I flip to that table and roll a 4, "clearing, meadow, sparse trees." It also says to populate it with lingering signs, artifacts, and dangers but I'll worry about that later.

I ponder a bit and write down: