Quick Dolmenwood Loadouts for Bastionland

After reading Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell I was enchanted all over again by the dark and quasi-creepy folklore of the British Isles and Northern Europe that I grew up hearing. Clarke nailed the eerie otherness of faerie, and proved for modern audiences that concepts like neverland are not, in fact, streaked through with rainbows and pixie dust. 

Pauliina Hannuniemi

There is one RPG setting that has perfectly captured this strange, disturbing-at-the-edges folk feel, and that's Gavin Norman's Dolmenwood as made popular through the Wormskin zines by Necrotic Gnome. As I type this, there is a Kickstarter for the setting somewhere on the horizon. Could be this year. Could be five years from now.

Who knows? But I want to know... pssst, Gavin!

I like Old School Essentials, but I tend to houserule it to pieces so that it's smoother to run, cutting out initiative and changing encumbrance and this and that and whatever. Basically, I admire the feel and flavor of OSE and B/X classic fantasy, but I simply prefer Into the Odd/Electric Bastionland if I'm going to pick a system and feel at home right off the bat. To that end, I've put together quick loadouts in line with Bastionland for use with the Dolmenwood setting.

Given that Bastionland is essentially a classless family of games, the "classes" below are not hard and fast. I like to look at them and their related style of play as "class = background + items," that is, what you're holding and why you're holding it informs me as a referee to understand how you can reasonably interact with the world. "Oh, you're a hunter so you would be able to track this"/"You want to talk to the priest? Well, you're a friar so you should have no problem getting a word" etc. 

Pick one or roll 1d12, grabbing the Dolmenwood background (modeled after the eponymous OSE class) and the small suite of items that goes with it:

1. Cleric
- Warhammer (d10, bulky)

- Chainmail (2 armor, bulky) 

- Gauntlets (+1 armor)

- Curved Blade (d8)

- Holy Symbol (Ward, once per day)

- Cloak of the Order

2. Dowser 

- Sickle (d6) 

- Patchwork Doublet (+1 armor) 

- Dowsing Rod 

- Eyestone (Sense if placed in fresh water) 

- Worn Map

- Spyglass

3. Elf 

- Elegant sword (d8) 

- Recurve bow (d8) 

- Gilt Clothing (1 arnor)

- Rune (Charm or Detect Magic) 

- Golden Flute (Fae)

- 50' Silken Rope

4. Fighter 

- Glaive (d10, bulky) 

- Scimitar (d8) 

- Shortbow (d6) 

- Splintmail (1 armor) 

- Tobacco Pouch & Pipe 

- Dice Set

5. Friar 

- Scepter (d6)

- Deceptive Robes (+1 armor)

- Censer & Holy Water 

- Jug of Honey Wine 

- Folk Songbook

- Cart (+4 slots, bulky) 

6. Grimalkin 

- Curved Knife (d6) 

- Hex Stone (random spell) 

- Pouch of Catnip 

- Spangle (psychoactive compound)

- Blackberry Pie 

- Baubles

7. Hunter 

- Longbow (d10, bulky) 

- Hatchet (d6) 

- Padded Leathers (1 armor) 

- Large Trap 

- Bloodhound | 2 HP, 12 DEX, Bite (d6) 

- Thundering Horn

8. Knight 

- Longsword (d8) 

- Platemail (2 armor, bulky) 

- Helmet (+1 armor)

- Heraldic cape 

- Manacles 

- Fine Rope

9. Magic-User 

- Fizzled Staff (d8, bulky)

- Dagger (d6)

- Spellbook (random spell) 

- Spellbook (random spell) 

- Ragged Clothing (hidden pockets)

- Leycap (2x, restores fatigue, WIL save against addiction)

10. Moss Dwarf 

- Prickly Root (d6) 

- Pinecone Lattice (1 armor) 

- Trowel

- Jar of Forest Ants 

- Poisonous Mushroom 

- Hand Drill

11. Thief 

- Two Daggers (d6+d6)

- Hooded jerkin (1 armor) 

- Lockpicks

- Caltrops

- Grappling Hook

- Metal File

12. Woodgrue 

- Cudgel (d6) 

- Sling (d6) 

- Panflute 

- Flask of Moonshine 

- Drake (psychoactive compound)

- Spiked Boots

When I run Bastionland I typically give players ten inventory slots, counting bulky items as two slots and tiny items as no slots. I also like to use the expedition resource concept from Scones Alone. Finally, magic in this setting is very much like Knave--arcane items in slots allow for spellcasting--as opposed to typical Bastionland arcana/oddities.