Tales of the Lunar Lands: Zenithia
By this point, our investigation into the setting of The Saga of the Ortegids has covered every region present in the original NES Dragon Q...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
My default setting, as it were, for The Saga of the Ortegids would ground the action many generations after the events of Dragon Quest II - enough time for the setting to be a blank slate for the DM to run as they pleased, without needing to worry about canon characters or events impacting their plans, and for it to make sense that the Worldtree would have grown to the point where travel between Erdland and Torland would be possible in order to make full use of the material and its potentia...| Tales of the Lunar Lands
By this point, our investigation into the setting of The Saga of the Ortegids has covered every region present in the original NES Dragon Q...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
I've posted a fair amount on this blog about the Dragon Quest series, and in particular Dragon Quest III , a game that I grew up with and ...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
This entry is somewhat of a sequel to my previous post on 20 Encounters from Dragon Quest III . Thinking more on that post, I realized I cou...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
Musings on Tabletop RPGs, Pop Culture, Perytons, and Other Nonsense| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
Musings on Tabletop RPGs, Pop Culture, Perytons, and Other Nonsense| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
Following on the same format from my Erdland maps, now that we've completed our look at Torland, we can now present a complete map of my interpretation of the inner world for The Saga of the Ortegids.| Tales of the Lunar Lands
Here's a simple two-room puzzle designed to be slotted into a larger dungeon. This one is based on Archimedes's principle that an object displaces water equal to its mass, and attempts to simplify these physics for the sake of gameplay. Keep in mind that the intended solution to this puzzle may not be obvious unless your players are familiar with the theorem, although there are alternative solutions as well.| Tales of the Lunar Lands
The setting for the climactic confrontation of Dragon Quest II is Rhone, a highland region in the center of Torland's Southern Continent under the control of Hargon, high priest of a cult that worships Malroth, the god of chaos and destruction. There's a few things that make this area unique and interesting, and they deserve a closer look - in no small part because they raise questions that might elucidate further worldbuilding in The Saga of the Ortegids.Rhone appears to be cotermino...| Tales of the Lunar Lands
The southwestern corner of Dragon Quest II's overworld features a large island off the coast of Tuhn, on which is the city of Beran. There's no major quests or dungeons here, but it is an evocative area that deserves a closer look for The Saga of the Ortegids.| Tales of the Lunar Lands
South of Moonbrooke and the Lianport region, the Southern Continent of Dragon Quest II 's overworld is highly mountainous. The central reg...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
The setting of the Erdrick Trilogy has some very interesting worldbuilding implications. Not all of them were intentional - some appear to h...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
It does not feel this massive when you're walking around. After leaving Aliahan , the first place you go in Dragon Quest III is the city of...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
The city of Ashalam is Dragon Quest III 's stand-in for the Middle East as a whole, and while there are no major quests there, it's one of ...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
The Kingdom of Aliahan is the starting area of Dragon Quest III , and consequently chronologically where the Erdrick Trilogy begins. It's o...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
Know, O prince, that between the years of the fall of the Sons of Aliahan, and the years when the moonless sky drank the Great Pit of Giaga,...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
Musings on Tabletop RPGs, Pop Culture, Perytons, and Other Nonsense| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
This encounter could work either in the wilderness or in a dungeon - really, anything far enough removed from civilization. The PCs come acr...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
This encounter is designed to challenge your players' expectations of morality and social expectations in a setting that may have different worldviews from their own. In that way, it's well-suited to a non-Flintstonist campaign, as a way to introduce players to the concept that people in a medieval fantasy world might see things differently than they see things today - especially with players who are new to the idea of leaving their preconceived notions at the door when approaching the camp...| Tales of the Lunar Lands
Wellgarth is one of the more unique towns in Dragon Quest II. Located in the southern peninsula of the Southern Continent, just across the sea from the Southern Archipelago, the majority of the town is located underground. Why this is is never really explained. It's far away from any other settlement, and none of the townspeople comment on the unusual circumstances of the town. A lot of sources I've found online suggest that the people moved underground to defend against attacks, ...| Tales of the Lunar Lands
So this is probably the single nerdiest thing I've ever done.| Tales of the Lunar Lands
At the tip of the southern continent in the overworld of | Tales of the Lunar Lands
This encounter could be used on the road, in the wilderness, or in a dungeon. If encountered outdoors, it works best at night. If the PCs co...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
Musings on Tabletop RPGs, Pop Culture, Perytons, and Other Nonsense| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
The middle act of Dragon Quest II follows a structure much the same as its successor. After obtaining a ship, you have free reign of the map and must seek out a series of artifacts - five crests, in this case - in order to access the next area. Probably the simplest of these to obtain is the Moon Crest, which is located in the Kingdom of Dirkandor.Dirkandor is a large island to the south of Lorasia. The only site of interest we see in-game is the capital city, which I am calling Osterfai...| Tales of the Lunar Lands
Much like how Portoga is where you get a ship in Dragon Quest III, significantly opening your venues for exploring the world, the city of Lianport plays a similar role in Dragon Quest II. This port town is located on the eastern coast of the southern continent of Torland, facing Alefgard, and with the northern continent not far from there. It's no surprise that a port would be established there - it's at a crossroads of Torland's three major land masses, with ready access to all three. For th...| Tales of the Lunar Lands
At the end of Dragon Quest I, the hero (who, for the purposes of The Saga of the Ortegids, I've given the name Aleph Wyrmbeorn - if you know, you know) defeats the Dragonlord and marries Princess Gwaelin of Alefgard. The king gives him the option to stay and succeed him, but he instead chooses to sail across the sea and settle a new kingdom.| Tales of the Lunar Lands
Here's another encounter designed to give the PCs access to a potentially powerful strategic asset, but one that presents plenty of dangers too. It would make the most sense on a road, and should ideally be used in an area with a developed military. If you're using it, you should do so in a setting that has developed gunpowder or similar technologies.While on the road, the PCs come upon an abandoned cart on the side of the road, carrying a large barrel filled with a fine black dust with...| Tales of the Lunar Lands
In Dragon Quest I , the castle of Charlock is the final dungeon in the game, and the site of the final battle with the Dragonlord. It repri...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
Musings on Tabletop RPGs, Pop Culture, Perytons, and Other Nonsense| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
The Kingdom of Alefgard is the only location to make an appearance in all three games of the original Dragon Quest trilogy. Thus, it's a natural place to begin our exploration of Torland for The Saga of the Ortegids. The entirety of Dragon Quest I and the latter third of Dragon Quest III take place within its borders - using the same map, in fact. This was apparently a big reveal when the games first came out, one that was completely lost on me because I played III first as a ...| Tales of the Lunar Lands
Art by Lindsey Crummet| Tales of the Lunar Lands
We've come to the end of our journey of analyzing every major location in the overworld of Dragon Quest III for tabletop purposes. Things aren't over yet for The Saga of the Ortegids - we still have two more games to go through - but we now have a picture of Erdland, a historical mashup world grounded equally in history, fantasy, and sword-and-sorcery pulp. To cap this investigation off, I've made a map overlaying the areas in the game with the borders of the different cultural ...| Tales of the Lunar Lands
By this point, we've covered every notable location from the overworld of Dragon Quest III. This does not mean we've covered every location in the game - if cramming an expansive open world into an NES carttridge wasn't impressive enough, they crammed two in there. Apparently, the original Japanese release used every single megabyte of storage space on the cartridge, and it shows. But we'll get to that later.| Tales of the Lunar Lands
Once you get a ship in Portoga , most locations in the overworld of Dragon Quest III are open to exploration, either by sea or via portals....| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
Here's an encounter aimed at giving the PCs access to a powerful magic item that could change their approach to problems - and to the strings attached. It can be used in any environment, but may make the most sense in the open wilderness.| Tales of the Lunar Lands
In the world map of Dragon Quest III, the vast area corresponding to sub-Saharan Africa, south of Isis, makes up a rugged, mountainous region I've dubbed the Southlands. The Southlands can further be divided into two major regions.First of these is actually named in-game as Gondo, and appears to comprise much of the eastern half of the continent. Gondo seems to be a rather inhospitable region, and NPCs warn you of its dangers. They're probably referring to the high-level enemies there, ...| Tales of the Lunar Lands
The middle third of Dragon Quest III is centered around collecting a series of six orbs found throughout the world, some of which require m...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
Musings on Tabletop RPGs, Pop Culture, Perytons, and Other Nonsense| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
The Kingdom of Manoza is the largest polity on the Eastern Continent , taking up much of that landmass's southern half. Much as I did with E...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
The inland reaches of the Eastern Continent are dominated by wilderness, with much of the northern half of the continent split by a large r...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
Dragon Quest III had to get creative when it came to adapting the Americas to a medieval fantasy world. There's still plenty of historical ...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
If we're going to discuss tropes of fantasy maps, the first one that comes to mind is surely a continent with a defined western coast and an...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
After purchasing a ship in Portoga , the overworld of Dragon Quest III opens dramatically. From this point on there are no real road blocks...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
The Nine Gods comprise the main pantheon of The Saga of the Ortegids . These are the gods you can expect to be worshiped in any temple in r...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
The northern portion of Dragon Quest III 's pseudo-Eurasian continent is dominated by forest. There aren't many dungeons or settlements to b...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
Here's the other half of the main pantheon of The Saga of the Ortegids . See here for part 1. Gaius , the Forgemaster, is the god of the su...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
Following up from last post , it's high time we began to lay out the pantheon we're working with for The Saga of the Ortegids . For the prim...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
Art by chuckcg Religion does not play a very big part in the Erdrick Trilogy. Remember, these games belong to an era where the difference be...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
As any polyglots out there could probably guess, Baharata corresponds to the Indian Subcontinent in the overworld of Dragon Quest III . It'...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
In my opinion, the Kingdom of Portoga is where the History's Greatest Hits nature of Dragon Quest III really shows through. After clearin...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
The settings of the Dragon Quest games tend to be quite humanocentric. Almost all playable characters throughout the series have been human...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
There are a great many islands in the Tennurhaf, ranging from humble sea-stacks to realms in their own right. The largest of them all, howev...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
The Levic Marches are often held as the last bulwark of true civilization between the lands of the Northmen and the more settled lands beyon...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
Lost Ark The League of Three Crowns is an alliance of trade guilds, banded together to promote their mutual interests of trade in the Sea o...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
It is the deepest and darkest of the forest that the mysterious and inscrutable elves call their home. Ageless and ethereal beings, they are...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
If the League of Three Crowns could be said to have a capital, that capital would be Hynden . Though nominally a part of Kvesland, and inde...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
In some ways, the League of Three Crowns can be called the preeminent naval power in the Sea of Bartel. The number of trade routes in the s...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
This encounter may be used anywhere. It may be found in the wilderness, on the side of a road, at the center of a town, or in a dungeon. Ide...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
Sonderlunding culture puts a great importance on honor. Sonderlundings strive to live honorably and perform heroic deeds, both for their own...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
Although Sonderlund practices the Old Faith , its Old Faith is a different kind than that observed by the elves or the hillfolk of Vardessy,...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
In ancient times - before the times of great kingdoms - much of the western part of the continent was settled by small and secluded tribal v...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
Starting to the southwest of Vardessy and stretching far out into the western ocean, Sonderlund is often described as a land out of time. It...| tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com
