What do you need to build a D&D or fantasy OSR campaign? You need to answer a few questions…. or at least roll some d6s. Some of the answers could be used together, but some are mutually exclusive. Yeotland is inspired by 16th-century England, but without firearms, and with less French influence.

Based on a very old post by Jeff Rients.

What is this realm and where do we start?

Yeotland, the eastern of four kingdoms of Breccan-speaking Breccany, where food shortages caused by a run of poor weather has encouraged the people to reclaim some of the wild land overrun with monsters since the plague times, exposing old ruins. Dirt roads connect the cities, which are places of moderate magic and religion and low politics.

Most of you grew up in and around the market town of Inkelton, in the borderlands. Not far away is the Graygreen Wilderness, a land untamed, where monsters have always dominated and civil folk have rarely ventured. But the monsters grew bold during the plague and intruded into the settled lands to occupy abandoned places.

Over the western mountains is Hengisland, to the far west are the prosperous coasts Vasserland, which trades with the continental lands of the Old Empire across the sea–now the Kingdom of Quiance (who speak Quiant). To the northwest is the chilly plateau of Hichland, where the Snoevast lies. They are all Breccan-speaking, altho their accents give them away. Just off the eastern coast is the wilderness island of the elves, called Galbrien [gahl-BREE-en], tho many have come to the mainland. And to the south is the Golden Waste desert, where ancient monuments pre-date the Old Empire.

Where Do we buy equipment? And with what?

Silver pents and gold nobles are the coins of realm. However, imperial silver dena and gold gilder coins often found in ruins are virtually identical to the current coins in size and weight.

1. The churchyard of the town of Inkelton on market day.
2. The market square of the city of Claymouth on market day.
3. The market square of the city of Port Crown on any day.
4. The monthly fair at Moster-on-Lake.
5. The storehouse of Quata, merchant sea trader, when she is in port.
6. The Great Zovian Trade Caravan, wherever it travels next.

Where can we get custom armor?

1. Port Crown has expert armorers. Visit their shops on any day. The experience will take time, so order before one adventure and pick it up before the next.
2. Claymouth has very capable smiths.
3. Freehaven can provide fine foreign armorers.
4. Mountainhold has the great dwarven armorers.
5. Thistleberry has surprisingly good halfling smiths.
6. Bien is where elven armor is made, but–being elven–it is a moving camp.

Whom are we going to meet and get to know?

1. Britomart the town bailiff, who warns the heroes of danger, like “The River Rollers have their eyes on you,” but needs help with some problematic bandits.
2. Samanara, the Witch of the Wilds, who gives potions and clues in return for potion ingredients, information about the local nobles, and a bit of silver.
3. Sorman the Deep, the sage who knows so much about so many topics, but especially the Old Empire.
4. Sir Handuk the Sturdy, who trains less experienced warriors in new techniques for cash and may one day head an army in a war.
5. Anghella the innkeeper, who knows everybody in the city and is related to half of them; she knows all the news and gossip, and all she needs is compliments.
6. Malinza the fortune teller, whose caravan is hard to find but who is amazingly accurate about whom the heroes can trust and what complications they may face soon… for a little silver.

What is the nearest tavern like?

1. The Blue Hawk is known for the finest ale, cider, and perry.
2. The Festive Cow is known for its music.
3. The Round Drummer is known for its storytellers.
4. The Grand Galleon is known for its foreign clientele.
5. The Winged Maid is known for its dangerous clientele.
6. The Spotted Dog is known for its secrets, which no one knows, but everyone knows about….

What is there to eat around here?

1. A bowl of pottage of grain or lentils, and boiled apples.
2. Peas porridge with a bit of bacon on a bread trencher.
3. Brown bread and sausages.
4. An aurochs steak, fresh killed when it came out of the hills and killed a peasant.
5. A slab of turkey fowl with steaming potatoes, maize, and stewed tomatoes, all from the sovereign’s new colonies in Amexito.
6. A feast of peacock, eels, jellies on white bread, and pear pie.

What is my cleric’s religion?

All the gods are revered by the people of Breccany. Clerics take various forms, but their leaders share the structure of prelate > superior > dia > archdia. They use the Imperial tongue across realms, altho druids prefer Old Breccan and are led by high druids and arch druids.

1. A minister of Uron, the great god of good, who demands evil idols be destroyed.
2. A friar of Skettis, the trickster goddess, who rewards cleverness.
3. A servant of Penitus, the god of justice, who rewards righteous punishment.
4. A priest[ess] of Ofenia, goddess of redemption, who rewards redress of wrongs.
5. An adherent (druid) of Twylin, the goddess of nature, who abhors monstrosities.
6. A follower (druid) of Veander, the god of balance, who seeks harmony in tension.

Some creatures worship death and war, represented by evil idols and given power by Skettis, Twylin, or Veander for balance.

Where can we get disease cured, curses lifted, and the occasional resurrection?

Any market town or city will likely have a place where healing and other services of mercy can be had for a generous donation of treasure or promise of service.

1. Port Crown’s high priestess, Dia Imparta, if you can get an audience. But her assistant, Superior Wynozia Scribe, is a ruthless negotiator.
2. Claymouth’s high priest Dia Turvinon and even his capable assistant, Superior Janita Whiterobe, who will only request gold.
3. The good-natured high druid Goldin Scrubborn of the halfling town of Thistleberry, and he won’t ask for gold, either. Of course, there are terrible problems brewing not far away….
4. Antis Quail of the Silverwood, archdruid, if you are willing to take on a quest for her.
5. Teng Tesniader, wiseman of Rockwood Forest, if you dare face his cryptic predictions.
6. Dia Lantor, Baron Dommen, the landholder high priest, who has very specific needs in his lands of late….

Where Did All These Dungeons Come From?

1. When the Old Empire collapsed, its villas, fortresses, and monasteries fell into ruin, especially in the Dire Fens, large swaths of which had been drained to be rich cropland but which are now long reclaimed by marsh and swamp.
2. Generations ago, the Spotted Death struck the realm, and the folk of many castles, towns, and villages were wiped out and the buildings abandoned.
3. Civilized folk once commonly dug extensive tombs for their honored dead. Over the centuries, tomb robbers broke into them, and now monsters inhabit them.
4. Goblins, kobolds, and dwarves love digging tunnels and mines, and this region is easy and stable to dig in. When the creators abandon them, others move in.
5. In ancient times, the centaur Kahul Ghan arose as emperor of the western grasslands; monsters fled before him and overran the fair realms, leaving many places in ruins.
6. This region is rich with natural caverns expanded by folk of the Untold Age as well as by monsters. Mankind left the caves and built houses, but monsters did not.

Who is the most powerful person in the land?

Towns and cities are run by a bailiff appointed by a council. Above them are knights, then the gentry (lords), then nobles (barons and earls). Above them is the monarch.

1. King Torrion and his wife, Queen Hergannia.
2. King Torrion the Weak, who suffers from ill health.
3. King Torrion the Mad, who suffers bouts of madness and cruelty.
4. Queen Hergannia and her husband, Prince Torrion, the prince consort.
5. Queen Hergannia, the Blood Queen.
6. Queen Hergannia, child queen, and Prince Vicasio, her mother’s consort.

Who is the greatest warrior in the realm?

1. Lord Davernal, Earl of Shallishire, who won the War of the Peers.
2. Lady Tisania of Loringdale, heroine of many border battles.
3. Gunder Stonehall, dwarven champion of the royal family.
4. Sir Sigurd Richaels, foreign champion of the underage Baron Gwyre.
5. Amis Morningtall, champion of Prince Riyel of the elves.
6. Thaif Highborn, ranger of the Silverwood, whose secret is as great as his legend.

Who is the mightiest wizard in the realm?

1. Candolwast the Archmage, Head of the Council of Wizards.
2. Epithermis, sorcerer to the king, in Port Crown.
3. Mezia Afabraxa, sorceress to the queen, in Port Crown.
4. Zazibur the Cruel, mad sorcerer of Mountainfoot Bluff.
5. Tensibal the Wise, Headmistress of Lyrebridge College of Magic.
6. Mathras the Hidden, the Wizard of the Wastes.

Is there a magic guild? Where can I find an alchemist, sage, or other expert?

A sage is a wizard who does more study of arcane lore than practice of it. An alchemist is a wizard who concentrates more on potions and magic items than spellcasting. An apothecary is a layman who mixes up salves and rat poison and varnishes.

1. The arcane guild, based in Claymouth (but having a hall in every city and a member in every market town). Without membership, you will get no help with spells or identifying magic items. If you prove yourself a master of the arts, doors open. But there may come a time when the council has a task you are suited for.
2. Lyrebridge College of Magic outside Port Crown serves as a place of learning and clearing house for arcane knowledge. It is run by the council of wizards.
3. Sorcery is learned in small schools run by master sorcerers in loose association.
4. Wizards are educated by other wizards as apprentices. When their apprenticeship is complete, they travel as a journeyman to meet and study for short periods with other masters before becoming a master themselves.
5. Sorcery is learned from tutors and grimoires. Wizards are always suspicious of each other. But sages can be found, both in cities and in lonely towers.
6. Sorcery is learned by direct revelation from a powerful, often otherworldly being and is generally mistrusted across the realm.

Where can I hire mercenaries?

1. Right in Port Crown, if you catch up with, Hexer Mourwind, the engager.
2. Freehaven, on the border, where foreigners enter. Watch your back there.
3. In any city and even some market towns, if you’re not too picky about quality.
4. From among Baron Postern’s Graystone free company.
5. In the rougher parts of Port Crown, if you’re discreet.
6. Try the bandits in the woods.

Is there any place in the realm where magic is outlawed or any other notable Legal hassles?

1. The gates of towns and cities are locked soon after sundown. And any about after the linkboys have gone to bed are arrested and held until morning.
2. The county of Lexater has outlawed all fire magic.
3. You cannot carry weapons on any temple grounds.
4. Injurious magic is outlawed in villages, towns, and cities.
5. You cannot wear weapons or armor of war in a city, and they are regarded with hostility in towns. (Leather armor and daggers are allowed.)
6. Any magic but that of the dominant religion is considered evil witchcraft.

What monsters are terrorizing the countryside?

1. Giant spiders trouble the folk around the White Swamp in the Dire Fens.
2. Undead from the Battlefield of the Ancient Dead haunt the moors of Shallishire.
3. Hobgoblins of the Graygreen Forest are up to no good, to be sure.
4. The crested dragon Basimel plagues Highlandshire.
5. The flying ship The Green Djinn is said to have become the demesne of an air elemental that frightened away the crew and now terrorizes the skies.
6. The sea monster of the Copper Coast wrecks ships.

What are some points of interest?

1. The Floating Stones of Soderburnam, a ring of huge stone floating in the air.
2. Greatstone Castle, a grandly scaled castle built long ago by giants but occupied now by the Earl of Highlandshire.
3. The Dragon’s Tail, an archipelago extending from the southernmost tip of the mainland well out to sea, the last of which is an active volcano.
4. The Tower of Tuzian, a tall tower overlooking wasteland, built by Lord Tuzian, Earl of Lakeshire as a sentry over goblin territory.
5. The Stone Titan of Lexater, the enormous, petrified skeleton of a titan lying half-buried on a hill.
6. Dinabrian’s Obelisk, a monument to Emperor Dinabrian of the Old Empire, carved with his triumphs and likeness, standing in Gemma, the old center of Port Crown.

Are there any wars brewing I could go fight?

1. The Earl of Lakeshire has designs upon his late cousin’s lands in Throvin.
2. The foreign Ankhias League threatens trade every day with their corsair fleet.
3. The dwarves of Highlandshire continue to harass the sovereign’s supporters over their former holdings.
4. The foreign king Gustar of Svagun is raising quite a fleet, for some reason.
5. The giants of the frozen north continue to be a thorn in the sovereign’s side.
6. The gray elves of the Underforest come out to raid Sperryshire.

How about gladiatorial arenas?

1. In Highlandshire, trial by combat is still an option, and disputes are settled in the judicial lists between litigants or their champions.
2. At nearly every festival, some real or imagined slight is contested with a duel.
3. In the lands of the Old Empire, the grand arenas still operate, tho little else does.
4. In the Great Southern Desert in the lands of the Old Empire, nomads gather at oases for trade and battles between brawlers under huge tents.
5. In the distant Lion Savanna, wars are avoided by melees between tribal champions and may include charmed rhinos and leopards.
6. In far off Pechu, silk-robed potentates are entertained by foreign fighters in finely appointed contest houses.

Are there any secret societies with sinister agendas I could fight (or join)?

1. Rumors continue to brew about the Vorgat cult’s desire to open a portal to a strange plane.
2. The Dwallian Syndicate, smugglers, thieves, and fences who hate noblemen.
3. The Budj-al-bi are foreign assassin and spies hired by nobles to assassinate one another or sow unrest in each other’s lands.
4. The Vandimar Sodality, who are said to hunt undead across the land, are servants of evil and kill the living and merely claim they were undead.
5. The Earl of Bestifal heads a syndicate of spies, wicked sorcerers, evil men-at-arms, and depraved sailors who rob and pillage and pirate as the “Lackary Knaves”.
6. The Paladins of the Infirmary, often known now as the Broken Brotherhood, dedicated to relief of the common people, decimated by King Manx to seize their treasure and lands after they dared execute the wicked Earl of Gluston.

Any legendary lost treasures I could be looking for?

1. The Sword of Atrithor, which shoots lightning.
2. The Skull of Gav, which whispers dark secrets.
3. The Fortune of Isvarias, which was seized by the Rat Monks free company.
4. The Crown of Colhavern, which gives the wearer clairvoyance.
5. The Ring of Pentia, which controls red dragons.
6. The Treasure of Tenthor, which was captured by the thunder dragon Ganistaril.