Dungeons & Dragons,  My Life,  Raiders of the Serpent Sea

Further Into the Serpent Sea…

Last week I was finally able to provide the title for my upcoming project. Going forward, I’ll now start explaining the world a bit more and what to expect from the Raiders of the Serpent Sea game master and player guides.

Here’s a first look at the current back cover blurb for the player’s guide:

Glory is Yours For The Taking

Centuries ago, upon a vast, beautiful, and wondrous world, a horde of shape changing fiends known as the Yoten warred with the heroic Vanir. Betrayed by their own, the heroes failed and fell, one by one. Only upon the very edge of destruction did the survivors unleash ancient magic to conjure a portal to a new world. They fled through it, sealing it against the Yoten.


They found themselves in a world they named Grimnir. Vast and inhospitable, its forests were foreboding, its sea mercurial. Winters ran long and cold and many died in the early years. Yet, it was a land free from their enemies, a place to rebuild.

Generations would pass but the memory of the old world’s death was never forgotten. The raiders, as these peoples became known, were ever vigilant, watching for the return of the Yoten.

You are one such raider, destined by fate to bear witness to Grimnir’s destruction — and perhaps fated to finally break your people free of the cycle of destruction and rebirth known as Ragnarök.

Raiders of the Serpent Sea is an epic fantasy campaign for the fifth edition of the world’s greatest roleplaying game. This player’s guide will provide you with all the details and rules required to begin your career as a heroic raider in the ill-fated world of Grimnir.

  • The World of Grimnir. Introduces the world, its origins, and the major historical events. It also includes details about the raiding clans and their main adversaries. Learn about the cursed gods known as the Stone Court, the wealthy kingdoms that threaten the clans, and the power of sacrifice.
  • New Class Archetypes. Includes ranger, bard, and wizard archetypes that help bring to life the different raider clans.
  • New Player Races. Includes rules for playing the Wicker and Tallfolk. The Wicker are creatures formed from wood and infused with the primal magic that birthed Grimnir whereas the Tallfolk are the mysterious offspring of giants.
  • Glory! Introduces a new glory system fueling your character’s ability to boast when attempting to overwhelm your adversaries.
  • All Backgrounds are Epic. Includes epic backgrounds for players to choose from. These backgrounds create additional motivations for your hero and weave their personal stories into the core campaign.

Still wondering what being a raider actually means? Is there more to raiding life than drinking mead, sailing, and pillaging settlements? For some raiders… absolutely not. That’s the life, the path to glory! But for others, the signs of impending doom are enough to make them search for a way to overcome the forces of destruction and save the world.

There will be plenty of opportunity for all sorts of adventures… from raiding and consolidating the power of the clans to more traditional dungeon crawls, rescue missions, and exploration. The epic backgrounds exert significant influence on the story direction. Grimnir might be saved at the end of the campaign but shall be forever altered by the heroes’ actions; for better or worse.

Finally, just for fun, here’s the Chapter 1 headings from the player’s guide (still subject to change / tweaking!) As you can see, Raiders of the Serpent Sea will have a similar structure to Odyssey, so those of you used to that book should have no trouble perusing Raiders!

Questions? Let me know! And if you want to follow along sign up to the newsletter at Modiphius.

Former lead designer at BioWare (Dragon Age: Origins, Neverwinter Nights). Creator of Raiders of the Serpent Sea.

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