Contract Law in Veenhaven

  The Merchants of Veenhaven are well known for their complicated contracts that often swindle outsiders.

The Merchant's Archive

Straatkei district

 Any contract signed in the city must be signed with one copy for each party and one copy to be stored in the grand archive building so it can be used to settle any future disputes. Supervised access is allowed to the archive at a cost of 10 gold per day subject to archivist availability. 

 The head archivist can be bribed to temporarily misplace a contact for 1% of it's value, amend a contract for 2% of it's value, destroy a contract for 5% of it's value or replace a contract for 7.5% of it's value (you must provide your own forgery). Note that the archivist will take the higher value of the original or replacement contract when setting their fee.

 Able to hire its own guards the archive has 8 guards working the day shift and 8 working the night shift, they count as light footmen. 

Head Archivist - Piet Hofstra - Human, Male, 62 - Reserved, Remorseless

Rarely shows emotion, has no interest at those who suffer because of their corruption.

Captain of the Guard - Aaghie Dahm - Human, Female, 31 - Fighter 3 - Sardonic, Observant

Sees everything, does a good job of protecting the archive.

The Civil Courts

Straatkei district

 Three judges over see the civil cases, they rarely find for foreigners and are all corrupt. During the day twenty light footmen serve as guards under the orders of the bailiff of the court.

Head Judge - Geerta Evers - Human, Female, 73 - Terse, Bigoted.

Hates foreign merchants, will find them in contempt for minor issues.

Judge - Jokob Botes - Human, Male, 57 - Florid, Vain.

Can be swayed with flattery, often found at the parties of House Dekker.

Judge - Kees Hals - Human, Male, 52 - Jovil, Greedy.

Newest to the bench, out to fill his pockets as quickly as possible.

Bailiff - Sir Saal de Jongh - Human, Male 29 - Knight 4 - Handsome, Lazy

More interested in attracting suitors than doing his job.

Methuen Law Offices

Straatkei district

 Prestigious law firm run by Gwir Methuen (Elf, Female, 279 - Humourless, Connected). High fees, 2-in-6 chance to solve a case favourably without a bribe due to good connections with all important figures of the city.

J. Rumbledance at Law

Straatkei district (hidden)

Joras Rumbledance (Halfling, Male, 33 - Uncouth, Honest) runs a small, messy office with his partner Nonyon (Ogre - Cheerful, Mute). Joras does the talking, Nonyon does the thumping. Services affordable. Connected to the Pebbledasher gang which they use for robbery etc in the line of servicing their clients.

Ms. T. Verken Legal Services

Waddendorp district

 Working from her home Truida Verken ( Human, Female, 22 - Idealist, Naive)  offers legal services to the poor of the city, she can often be talked into helping for free with a good sob story and as such is over worked.

Maas & Sons

Geweldig docks district

Large legal practice run by Denys Maas (Human, Male, 58 - Charming, Dishonest) and his 8 sons. The specialise in picking up the legal business of foreigners, promising them success and drawing out cases to get as much money from them as possible. Denys will take bribes from local merchants to intentionally mess up a case.

The Bounty Hunter for Dolmenwood

 Self promo update!

I have just released my first custom class for Dolmenwood RPG, check it out on drive thru rpg!

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/542433/the-bounty-hunter

Blackthorn & Ramil

Two magic items to brighten up your day

 Blackthorn

A two handed +1 sword. The first time each day that blackthorn is used to kill a human or demi-human cause fear on all creatures in a 30' radius and the sword becomes a +3 for the next hour.

Ramil

A simple wooden staff bleached white by the sun, has the word "Ramil" carved into the side of it, up to three times a day when the command word is spoken a 30 foot cone of sand blasts forth from the tip of the staff.

The Garden of Reeds

 A six foot tall brick wall surrounds a compound containing an overgrown garden of reeds and an abandoned building made of thatched roof that has collapsed in on the mud walls.

During the day there is a 2-in-6 chance per hour of an elderly inhabitant of the city visiting the compound. 

 Elderly inhabitants of the city can explain that in days gone by the compound was used by the druids of the marsh for their representative in the city however the druids have not been present in the city in at least two decades. Under the guidance of the marsh druids people could be laid to rest in the reed gardens and offerings given to the spirits of the surrounding marshes.

There is a 1-in-6 chance a city inhabitant that still visits the garden knows the hex which has historically been the centre of power for the marsh druids.

Any attempt to pilfer objects that were laid as offerings into the reed beds will awaken the revengeful spirits of druids who were laid to rest in the garden.

The Shadow of Sadness

 When a knight fails during a sworn quest their shadow is the last vestige of their soul to chained to the mundane plane in the form of a Woe Knight, the shadow is usually tethered to the spot the knight faced their greatest failure. The longer a Woe Knight lingers the further the influence of their anguish will spread, initially the effect will only cover a radius of 100 feet but if left unresolved over a century it could spread to encompass an entire kingdom.

 If a Woe Knight is defeated in combat it reappears the next dusk, only by identifying the knight's original quest and rectifying their failure as best as possible can the soul be given a final peace allowing the land to heal. Treasure and XP should only be awarded once the knight's soul has been given eternal rest.

Woe Knight

Armour Class    2 [17]

Hit Dice    5** (22hp)

Attacks    1 × weapon (1d6 + energy drain)

THAC0    16 [+3]

Movement 60’ (20’)

Saving Throws D10 W11 P12 B13 S14 (5)

Morale 12

Alignment    Lawful

XP 425

Number Appearing    1

Treasure Type    B

Energy drain: As a Wight

Immunity: Cannot be harmed by mundane attacks.

Unaffected: Sleep and Charm spells do not affect this creature.

 Generate the location of the Woe Knight, the nature of their quest, the reason for their failure, how the effect of their sadness permeates the land and a near by item which could give a clue to the knight's identity using the table below.

D6	Location	Quest	Failure	Effect	Clue
1	Battlefield	Destroy	Bravery	Anxiety	Helm
2	Chapel	Protect	Faith	Cold	Letter
3	Road	Recover	Humility	Decay	Necklace
4	Ruin	Rescue	Judgement	Emptiness	Ring
5	Tomb	Slay	Knowledge	Hopelessness	Scabbard
6	Wilderness	Stop	Strength	Lethargy	Shield

Spy (New class)

 A new class that might work best for NPCs, the spy! This is first draft material.

Spy

Requirements: Minimum CHA 9, DEX 9

Prime requisite: INT

Hit Dice: 1d4

Maximum level: 14

Armour: Leather only, no shields

Weapons: Dagger, club.

Languages: Alignment, Common, Code.

Code

All spies know one code which they made use to encode and decode messages. From 4th level they have an 80% chance to understand other codes given an appropriate amount of research time for the difficulty of the code.

Disguise

Spies have the same disguise ability as the Assassin class.

Extra languages

Spies gain an extra languages as they advance in the same manner as the Bard class.

Spy skills

Spies have the same Climb Surfaces, Hear Noise, Hide in Shadows, Move Silently and Pick Pockets skills as a thief of the same level.

After Reaching 9th Level

 A spy who has reached 9th level may establish a spy guild attracting 2d6 level one spies to work for them.

Spies use the thief progression table.

Fuzanglong Legionnaire (new class)

 It has been a while, here is some lore and a new class.

Fuzanglong Legion

 Sallying forth under the banner of a green dragon the Fuzanglong Legion is a politically unaligned mercenary army from Lusebao in the Fenghuang Empire. Fighting for the highest bidder the legion has a reputation for changing sides mid battle and greedily looting lands they have helped to conquer.

 Former officers in the legion have gone on to become mayors, generals, warlords in their own right and even on one occasion marry into the imperial family. With a predilection towards poisonous weaponry the legion is detested for the methods they employ but respected for their prowess in combat. 

Fuzanglong Legionnaire

Requirements: Minimum INT 9

Prime requisite: STR

Hit Dice: 1d8

Maximum level: 14

Armour: Any including shields

Weapons: Any

Languages: Alignment, Common, Dragon.

Alignment: Members of the legion must be chaotic in alignment and have sworn an oath of loyalty to the legion. Renegade members may be hunted down and killed.

A legionnaire must have a golden medallion of the green dragon to show their membership of the legion.

Poison

Legionnaire’s use poison as an assassin. They can identify any poison or its effects if they have previously seen or used it and have a 1-in-six chance of identifying a poison they have not seen or used before.

Saving Throw Bonus

Legionnaire’s have a +1 to saving throws against poison.

Strongholds

Upon reaching second level a legionnaire may establish an outpost of the legion and raise their own company of the legion marshalling as many legionnaires as they can afford to pay.

Reaching 12th level and above

 A 12th level or higher legionnaire commands the entire Fuzanglong Legion, to rise to this level the legionnaire must remove the existing commander and replace them or defeat all rivals if the position is empty.

Legionnaire’s use the fighter progression table.

Winter Elf (new class)

 Elves of the far north, at home in the snowy climates. A variant of the standard elf class.

Winter Elf 

Add

*Minimum CON 9

* Energy resistance, +2 to saves against cold

Remove

*Immunity to Ghoul Paralysis 

Paladin of Murder (new class)

 To go along with my previous cleric of murder how about a paladin of murder?

Paladin of Murder

Add

*Mininum DEX 9

*Poison: As per the assassin ability

*Disguise: As per the assassin ability

*Life Drain: As per the Chaos knight ability in Carcass Crawler #0

Remove

*Turn Undead

*Holy Resistance

*Lay on Hands

Change

*Alignment: Must not be lawful

*Armor: Leather, no shields

Dragonhunter (new class)

 Do you want to go hunt dragons? This is the class for you.

Dragonhunter 

Requirements: Minimum DEX 9, Minimum WIS 9

Prime requisite: STR

Hit Dice: 1d8

Maximum level: 14

Armour: Any, including shields

Weapons: Any

Languages: Alignment, Common, Dragon

Attack Bonus

Dragonhunters have a +1 to attack rolls against dragons

Damage Bonus

Dragonhunters have a +1 to their damage against dragons.

Lore

A dragonhunter has a 2-in-6 chance of knowing lore about a specific dragon such as its history, location, lair. weaknesses, usual abilities or personality.

Saving Throw Bonus

Dragonhunters have a +1 to saves against any effect caused by a dragon such as their breath, fear or spells.

After Reaching 9th Level

Upon reaching 9th level a dragonhunter may found a stronghold attracting 1d3 sages and 2d4 level 1 dragon hunters. The strongholds of dragonhunters are likely to become targets of dragons and their agents if they become sufficiently well known.

Dragonhunter level progression

Dragonhunters use the Fighter progression table in all regards.

Winter Dwarf (new class)

 Dwarfs who live in the snow of the far north.

Winter Dwarf

Add

* Energy resistance, +2 to saves against cold

Remove

* Detect room traps

Phantom (new class)

 Warriors of illusion from strange lands. 

Phantom

Requirements: Minimum DEX 9, Minimum INT 9

Prime requisite: STR

Hit Dice: 1d6

Maximum level: 14

Armour: No armour or shields

Weapons: Single handed melee weapons

Languages: Alignment, Common

Alignment: All phantoms are part of a secret order and must maintain the alignment and code of their order.

Blur

Phantoms may cast the illusionist spell blur on themselves once a day, gaining an extra cast at 4th and 7th levels.

Detect Illusion

Phantoms have a 1-in-6 chance of detecting illusions.

Phantom Skills

Phantoms may hide in shadows and move silently as a thief of equivalent level.

Wraithform

Upon reaching 10th level a phantom may cast the illusionist spell Wraithform on themselves once a day.

After Reaching 12th level

 Once a phantom reaches 12th level they may attempt to take over a cloister of phantoms by defeating the current cloister master in single combat.

Phantom Progression

 The phantom uses the fighter progression table in all regards.

Paladin of festivals (new class)

 Paladin of Festivals 

Add

*Reaction Rolls: +1 to reaction rolls

*Hospitality:  A cleric of festivals can expect hospitality and aid from from barkeeps and tavern owners with the expectation they will do their best to aid them in return.

Remove

 *Turn Undead

Cleric of murder (new class)

 Continuing with the exploration of clerics of other gods, what if you serve the lord of murder?

Cleric of Murder

Add

*Requirements: Minimum DEX 9

*Alignment: Must not be lawful

*Poison: As per the assassin ability

*Disguise: As per the assassin ability

Remove

*Turn Undead

Change

*Armour: Leather, no shields

*Weapons: short swords, short bows and daggers

Duelist for Shadowdark (new class)

 Duelist

Masters of individual combat who favor maneuver and attack.

Weapons: Dagger, shortsword, longsword.

Armor: Leather armor

Hit Dice: 1d8

Dual wielding. You may use a weapon in your off hand to give you either +1 to your attack rolls or +1 to your AC.

Single Combat. When in single combat you do an extra weapon dice of damage.

Duelist Talents

2d6 Effect

2 Gain adv on initiative rolls (reroll if duplicate)

3-5 Your Single Combat deals +1 dice of damage

6-9 +2 to Dexterity, Constitution or Charisma

10-11 +1 to AC or melee attacks

12 Choose one option

Renegade Dwarf (new class)

 These are the evil, chaotic dwarfs of my homebrew setting. Dwarfs who treat with the forces of hell in return for arcane power. Currently the class uses the magic-user spell list, if I ever do a warlock class it would likely use a modified version of that spell list.

Renegade Dwarf

Requirements: Minimum CON 9

Prime requisite: INT & STR

Hit Dice: 1d6

Maximum level: 10

Armour: No armour or shields

Weapons: Dagger, sling, warhammer, staff

Languages: Alignment, Common, Dwarvish, Diabolic, Hobgoblin, Goblin.

Alignment: Renegade dwarfs must be of chaotic alignment.

Prime requisites: A renegade dwarf with at least 13 INT and STR gains a 5% bonus to experience. A renegade dwarf  with an INT of at least 16 and a STR of at least 13 receives a +10% XP bonus.

Arcane Magic

Patron disfavour: Renegade dwarves draw their arcane power from a hellish patron who may withdraw the characters arcane abilities if their acts displease them.

Magical research: A renegade dwarf of any level may spend time and money on magical research. This allows them to add new spells to their spell book and to research other magical effects. When a renegade dwarf reaches 9th level, they are also able to create magic items.

Spell casting: Renegade dwarves carry spell books containing the formulae for arcane spells. The level progression table (below) shows both the number of spells in the renegade dwarf’s spell book and the number they may memorize, determined by the character’s experience level. Thus, a 1st level renegade dwarf has one spell in their spell book, selected by the referee (who may allow the player to choose). The list of spells available to renegade dwarfs is found in Magic-User Spells.

Using magic items: As spell casters, renegade dwarves are able to use magic scrolls of spells on their spell list. They can also use items that may only be used by arcane spell casters (e.g. magic wands).

Forbidden Casters

 All dwarves are forbidden from using arcane magic by their creator thus when a renegade dwarf casts a spell they must make save vs petrification at a minus one per level of the spell cast. On a failed save 1% of the renegade dwarf’s body is turned to stone starting from their toes and working its way up. This petrification is irreversible and cannot be affected by a stone to flesh spell.

Infravision

Renegade dwarves have infravision to 60’

Listening at Doors

Renegade dwarves have a 2-in-6 chance of hearing noises

After Reaching 10th Level

A renegade dwarf may construct a stronghold (usually in the form of a tower). 1d6 apprentices of levels 1–3 will then arrive to study under the renegade dwarf.

				Saving Throws					Spells
Level	XP	HD	THAC0	D	W	P	B	S	1	2	3	4	5
1	0	1d6	19 [0]	8	9	10	13	12	1	—	—	—	—
2	2,200	2d6	19 [0]	8	9	10	13	11	2	—	—	—	—
3	4,400	3d6	19 [0]	8	9	10	13	12	2	1	—	—	—
4	8,800	4d6	19 [0]	6	7	8	10	10	2	2	—	—	—
5	17,000	5d6	19 [0]	6	7	8	10	10	2	2	1	—	—
6	35,000	6d6	17 [+2]	6	7	8	10	10	2	2	2	—	—
7	70,000	7d6	17 [+2]	4	5	6	7	8	3	2	2	1	—
8	140,000	8d6	17 [+2]	4	5	6	7	8	3	3	2	2	—
9	270,000	9d6	17 [+2]	4	5	6	7	8	3	3	3	2	1
10	400,000	9d6+2*	17 [+2]	2	3	4	4	6	3	3	3	3	2