“Inspiring Terrains” looks at encounters—fundamental building blocks that bring together PCs, conflict, and environment. With a little inspiration and a few mechanical bits, it’s easy to make the terrain in an encounter just as memorable as the foes. [Part 1][Part 2][Part 3][Part4]

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For the fifth installment, we leave the wilderness to explore a shadowy, refuse-strewn alleyway.

Betwixt and Between

Clandestine meetings with informants, grisly murders by cultists, stealthy urban rangers tailing their marks, thieves casing their next score—scenes set in alleyways figure prominently in urban fantasy. Typically, though, the narrow lane serves only as a convenient hiding place. To enhance an alleyway, think about why the passageway exits, and then, use its essential characteristics to make it an active participant in the encounter…

“Inspiring Terrains” looks at encounters—fundamental building blocks that bring together PCs, conflict, and environment. With a little inspiration and a few mechanical bits, it’s easy to make the terrain in an encounter just as memorable as the foes. [Part 1][Part 2][Part 3]

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For the fourth installment, we endure the stinging winds of the preternaturally flat playa.

Trapped Water and the Hot Sun

Through a quirk of topography, some of the flattest surfaces in nature occur in the most rugged regions. Mountains and ridges channel water to the lowest points in the basins they surround. Once there, the water has nowhere to go, so it remains, forming lakes which slowly disappear as evaporation and seepage take their toll. The flat expanse of sand and salt left behind in the dry lakebed is known as a playa…

“Inspiring Terrains” looks at encounters—fundamental building blocks that bring together PCs, conflict, and environment. With a little inspiration and a few mechanical bits, it’s easy to make the terrain in an encounter just as memorable as the foes. [Part 1][Part 2]

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Stagnant Water, Sucking Mud

Fen, bog, marsh, swamp—whatever the name, standing water and thick mud define the unique environment of the swamp. The slowly moving water saturates the soil, clumping it into low hillocks and thick layers of silt. Dead plants and rotting animals do not wash away. Instead, they suffuse the area with a fetid odor of decay and fertilize the life that remains. Still water, oozing mire, and a profusion of life endure year-round…

“Inspiring Terrains” looks at encounters—fundamental building blocks that bring together PCs, conflict, and environment. With a little inspiration and a few mechanical bits, it’s easy to make the terrain in an encounter just as memorable as the foes. [Part 1]

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Deep, Foreboding Mines

Mines have been part of fantasy literature since its earliest days. In the game, though, mines usually feel like little more than renamed dungeons or caves—just another dark, underground environment with a different name…

Welcome to 4th Edition week here at KQ.com. All this week will feature wonderful material designed for 4th Edition (while still being inspirational for any edition).

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The encounter is our fundamental building block, bringing together PCs, opposition of some sort, and the environment. Although 4th Edition with its emphasis on movement during combat underscores the architecture of locations—defining where the PCs can and cannot move—too often only the color of the battle mat distinguishes one set of surroundings from another. With a little inspiration and a few mechanical bits, it’s easy to make the terrain in an encounter just as memorable as the foes…