Gate Pass Gazette Articles

The following RPG supplements are available through the Gate Pass Gazette Patreon:

Issue 49: Tools of the Trade: Magical Mysteries

Not all magic items have the same utility, and certainly not to all adventurers. This new series of articles presents specialized magical tools to support specific classes (though generally adventurers of any class can wield them.) In this issue we focus on items for the bard, druid, and sorcerer classes.

Issue 47: The Merland Bazaar

In a deep seafloor fissure near the Dreamless Shore lies the Merland Bazaar. The growth of multicolored corals and fast-moving fish adds color to the dark stone, sometimes revealing the trenches that branch off from the core. The faint shafts of sunlight that reach these depths create areas of light and shadow. Combining the dangers of being underwater with the challenges of a busy market, few dryland creatures are comfortable in the Merland Bazaar. For those who can visit, though, it is a place of wonder and opportunity.

Issue 43: Urban Archetypes

While many adventurers thrive and grow in wild forests, open steps, or across vast plains, some learn their skills in the rush of the world’s bustling cities and towns.

Issue 40: Rangers Past the Gate

The lands beyond the Bleak Gate are drenched with strange magic, filled with unspeakable evils, and home to strange forms of life. Rangers who journey through these lands may gain powers unique to those domains. Some become fascinated or infected—none are sure which comes first—with the fungal life that infiltrates every dark corner of those realms. Others emulate the life they find—or that they left behind in the world of light—taking on bestial aspects to aid their chances of survival. And still more encounter lifeless things that yet walk and pledge themselves to the restoration of the natural order.

Issue 38: Origins of Yezzazi’s Oasis

Yezzazi’s tales are told by the tribes as warnings against bad decisions and foolish choices, but they also reinforce that no situation is ever truly hopeless. The most famous tale concerns the creation of the oasis that bears his name. In it, Yezzazi is alone and dying of thirst in the great sea of sand when he finds a strange bottle that is cool to the touch. Hoping to find a drink to quench his all-consuming thirst, he breaks the seal, releasing the noble djinni who had been trapped inside for centuries. It offered him one wish in gratitude, and his answer was one word: “water”. A spring of cool water burst from the rock beneath his feet and continues to flow with clean, fresh water to this day. The oasis, which formed around the spring, has become an important water source for all those who call the desert home.

Issue 36: Deep, Dark Woods

Deep and ancient woods may not contain terrifying monsters, the secrets of elder gods, or the waiting claws of pixies and spiders, but they certainly feel like it. Something about the hushed environs and the earthy smell of decay, coupled with the claustrophobically thick plant growth, makes them feel more dangerous than they really are. Sometimes, however, these fears are justified.

Issue 34: The House of Three Flowers: Rules for Gambling Houses

Nearly every settlement worth its salt has a gambling house, and when adventurers are ready to put their hard-earned coin on the line, the House of Three Flowers is more than happy to provide the venue. A graceful, three-tiered building with slanting, upturned roofs at each level, the House is accessible to the common person, while still remaining exclusive enough to attract some of the wealthiest—and often most dangerous—figures in the city.

This article details the specifics of this famous establishment, as well as rules for several games of chance adventurers may choose to partake in.

Issue 32: Heralds of the Dark

Some heralds shine like a beacon of light drawing the righteous to them, others dive into the darkness to destroy it and save those captured by it, while some embrace the shadows as a weapon of their own. This article presents new herald archetypes who dive into the darkness to bring justice, hope, and redemption to your Level Up A5e games.

Issue 30: Streets of Shalehold

Situated in the shadow of the mountains at the southern end of the Thunder River is Shalehold, the seat of Idilia, the Baroness of Riva. Shalehold is built on the ruins of an ancient settlement, and rumors persist of vast halls buried under the more recent construction. This article includes exploration challenges, magic items, and NPCs found in the city of Shalehold, but can be used in any urban setting.

Issue 27: Year of Celebration: Summer Celebrations

Summer festivals are frequent and the most commonly celebrated as people enjoy long warm days and watch nature’s bounty grow. This article presents narrators with a collection of unique holidays and festivals for their games: Ignanfeast, Summer-Forge, the Festival of Bridges, and Tidecall. In addition to giving your game a sense of life, the listings below also help narrators create memorable events, and include mechanics to give them a real impact.

Issue 25: Year of Celebrations: Spring Holy Days

With winter finished and new growth on every side, spring is a time of hope and excitement and many celebrations are held during this season, some with eyes forward to the year ahead while others feed on the relief of surviving another winter. Spring Holy Days provides a collection of festivals and revels for your games that add exciting details and new options to settlements and communities and make your players’ visits to town more memorable.

Issue 22: Year of Celebration: Winter Wassails

As the dark months close in and snows blanket the ground, a community gathers around fires, swapping tales of better times and waiting for the light to return. Winter Wassails presents narrators with a range of winter holidays for their games. In addition providing lore and depth to any setting, the festival listings below also include relevant game mechanics for the effects of taking part.

Issue 21: Harvest Hall

Many mortals have heard of the wild feasts of the Dreaming, but the most raucous is that of the Harvest Hall. Breathing life into every harvest celebration across the Dreaming, the hall is first discovered by a random satyr around the last moon of autumn. As it enters, the satyr grows to nearly twice its size, becoming the Ruler of the Hall and setting both the feast hall’s appearance and the requirements to leave it. The ruler, with the unwelcome assistance of other satyrs wielding pointy sticks, makes every effort to stay awake, as only while they are conscious will the Hall remain. This article introduces spells, magic items, and challenges one is likely to find in the mystical Harvest Hall, but can be used in any game that calls for some fey-flavored chaos.

Issue 19: Year of Celebration: Fall Festivals

As leaves fall from the trees, crops are gathered, and days grow colder, many folk look forward with anticipation to the festivals of fall. These holidays focus on bringing cheer and binding communities together as they face the long winter months ahead, and this article presents Narrators with a range of such celebrations for their games. Adding color to any stop in a settlement, these listings also include game mechanics for the small perks that participation can provide.

Issue 17: The Court of Dawn & Tribunal of Twilight

Holding sway over smaller domains than the Queens of Summer and Winter, the Count of Dawn and the Earlessa of Twilight nonetheless have influence over the beginnings and endings of things.
Strange even for the Dreaming, these two realms either exist in the same space or else each only exists when the other does not. None are quite sure, but what is certain is that one cannot know which will lie on the other side of the gatestone—or even that, having entered the Court, one will not suddenly and inexplicably find oneself in the Tribunal or vice versa!
The following exploration challenges, spells, and NPCs can be used together or wherever an adventure calls for an intrusion of fey magic.

Issue 15: The Forest of Davek’dran

Deep in the Underland lies the Forest of Davek’dran. Giant mushrooms with stalks like tree trunks dominate the view and pieces of deep-dwarven architecture peek out amongst fungi of all colors. The gentle sound of water dripping can be heard echoing through the cavern and the chittering of bats is a soft constant. An inviting, spongy moss covers the floor of the cavern; however, scattered amongst it are bones and scraps of metal armor, a clear signal this place is not as idyllic and peaceful as it first appears.

Issue 13: The Mines of Herekda

Many, many centuries ago, so far back that even the oldest elves could scarce recall hearing the name, the dwarf prince Herekda came to Brentur. Unsatisfied with the cold iron and precious gems the mines there already produced, Herekda drove ever deeper into the heart of the mountain and there, according to legend, something consumed him. This article introduces thematic exploration challenges, magic items, and monster variants that can be used together or individually in your games under the mountains.

Issue 11: The Icefields of Rhinam

A glacial landscape covers the ancient dominion of Rhinam, and the ice is as beautiful as it is treacherous. Some legends claim the gods cursed this land for the arrogance of its long-ago inhabitants—the ancient Rhinam were said to have slaughtered sapient creatures in their quest for immortality.

Issue 9: Heaven’s Roof

Set among the Skyreach Mountains, Heaven’s Roof is a city built among the clouds. From distant peaks across the valleys the settlement appears to sit atop a floating tableau of rock with the single, thin bridge of the Elseanian Span tethering it to the rest of the world. This article presents NPCs, potion variants, exploration challenges and more for use in campaigns that brave the mountain heights.

Issue 7: Sea of Sand

Sand reaches as far as the eye can see as sweat begins to trickle down your neck. The early morning sun is already baking the land with a relentless fury, and you cannot imagine how any creature can survive in this empty expanse of rolling dunes. Like the oceans to the west, some believe this desert never ends, but your destination lies on the far side of the Sea of Sand, so cross it you must.

This article introduces exploration challenges, magic items, and a monster variant that can be used together or individually to add some desert heat to your game.

Issue 5: The Western Shore

Flanked by towering cliffs on one side and the treacherous ocean on the other, the Western Shore plays host to a variety of unique monsters and hazardous exploration challenges. Your heroes won’t have to face these trials unaided, however, as the beach is also home to potentially helpful NPCs and the assistance they can provide. These mechanics can be used separately or in conjunction to populate your oceanfront adventures.

Issue 3: Mount Jino

Once home to a magnificent wizard's castle, Mount Jiro is a crumbling mountain now littered with ruins and populated by magically-created monstrosities and natural predators alike.

Meanwhile, the bog below is home to its own hazards and opportunities. These challenges, monster variants, and NPCs can be used in conjunction or individually.

Issue 1: The Fellspire

Set in a dark corner of the land beyond the Bleak Gate, Fellspire is a perpetually-twilit city long fallen to decay, though its titular tower still rises like a spear to pierce the bleak skies above. Its reflection in the Waking is a rambling swamp where creeping vines choke all other growth as they reach to break the stones of a long-forgotten ruin.

With most of its residents gone, those that remain are filled with an endless hunger and an overwhelming sense of distrust. Some hold just enough sanity to deal in unclean magic, souls, or flesh with those intrepid few who visit, while far more prey on such visitors—and each other.

Lurking in the shadows of darkened alleys or ancient sewers, they’re always ready to pounce on their next meal, no matter how much of a fight it puts up.

These challenges, items, and monsters can be used all together or wherever your game needs some horror in the shadows.