Fantasy RPG Setting

Compatible with DnD 5E and Pathfinder

All proceeds go to the Worldbuilders charity!

Explore the fledgling colony of a fantasy

realm shaped by the magic of the Dreamtime

Inspired by ancient and colonial Australia!

Magellanica

Fantasy RPG Setting

for DnD 5E and Pathfinder

By Craig McKenzie
Intrepid explorers delve into the deserts of Magellanica. Gold, opal, surveyance, banditry
or rumours of ancient treasures lead enterprising adventurers into unknown lands.

4

Credits &
Acknowledgements
Designer, Producer, Writer:
Craig McKenzie
Original Concept Art: Alex
Drummond , Jessica Elliott
Stock Art Illustrators: Brett
Neufeld, Claudio Casini, Gary
Dupuis, Jack Holliday, Jacob
Blackmon, Lawrence van der
Merwe, Luigi Castellani, Matt
Morrow, Peter Temesi,
Publishers Choice Quality
Stock Art © Rick Hershey / Fat
Goblin Games, Dragonic
Barbarian – Fighter –
Lizardfolk Shaman © Vagelio
Kaliva, used with permission.
All rights reserved.
Playtesters and Proofreaders:
Anthony Heath, Keiran
McLeod, Jonathan Hill and a
special mention to Lachlan
Morrison for persuading me to
put in unique races.
1
Front and chapter cover artwork
are in the public domain and
were obtained from wikipedia
commons.
You can contact Craig McKenzie
via the following email address:
craigimck117@gmail.com
For full Open Gaming License, see back.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000,
Wizards of the Coast, LLC.
System Reference Document 5.1 Copyright
2016, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors
Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Chris
Perkins, Rodney Thompson, Peter Lee,
James Wyatt, Robert J. Schwalb, Bruce R.
Cordell, Chris Sims, and Steve Townshend,
based on original material by E. Gary Gygax
and Dave Arneson.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Reference
Document. Copyright 2011, Paizo
Publishing, LLC; Author: Paizo Publishing,
LLC.
Magellanica: Fantasy RPG Setting © 2017
Craig McKenzie.
 3.5 Environment................................... 109
3.6 Exploration and Discovery...........111
Table of Contents & 3.7 The Dreamtime............................... 114
Abbreviations 3.8 Secrets of the Natives.....................115
3.9 Designer’s Inspiration....................116
Magellanica
Fantasy RPG Setting Chapter 4. Bestiary................................... 120

Introduction.................................................. 3 4.1 Introduction....................................120

Chapter 1. The Setting................................. 8 4.2 People of Magellanica....................121

1.1 Introduction........................................ 8 4.3 Animals of Magellanica.................128

1.2 History............................................... 11 4.3 Monsters of Magellanica...............133

1.3 The Environment of Magellanica...17

1.4 The People of Magellanica..............22
1.5 The Colony of Magellanica.............28
Common Abbreviations
1.6 Powerful and Noteworthy People of
Magellanica ............................................ 41 Con: constitution
Cha: charisma
1.7 Landmarks and Settlements of the
DC: difficulty class
Colony..................................................... 50
Dex: dexterity
1.8 The Wilds of the Outback................61 DnD: Dungeons and Dragons, 5th Edition
1.9 Landmarks and Sacred Sites of the Fort: fortitude
Wilderness.............................................. 66 NPC: non-player character
PC: player character
1.10 Current Affairs............................... 73
PF: Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
Chapter 2. The Rules.................................. 78 Ref: reflex
2.1 Introduction...................................... 78 RPG: roleplaying game
Str: strength
2.2 Character Creation...........................78
Will: willpower
2.3 Races.................................................. 82 Wis: wisdom
2.4 Class Advancement.........................86
2.5 Items.................................................. 89
2.6 Spells.................................................. 94
Chapter 3. Gamemastery.........................100
3.1 Introduction.................................... 100
3.2 Basics of Gamemastery..................100
3.3 Beginning a Campaign..................101
3.4 Encounters in Magellanica............102

2

Introduction
Welcome to Magellanica! This book
describes an exciting new land for
adventurers to explore – the mysterious
continent of Magellanica. It mixes
Australian history and mythology to
create a novel setting that can be woven
into any fantasy campaign. This book
contains rules and gamemastering advice
compatible with DnD 5E (5th Edition) and
Pathfinder to bring this setting to life on
the tabletop with you and your friends!
Magellanica is a far flung continent newly
colonised by civilisation and brimming
with opportunity for those with the
wherewithal to seize it. However, the
colonists are far from its first inhabitants
and the ancient land is steeped in secrets
that the natives refuse to reveal (for good
reason). The borders of the colonial map
are ever expanding but have barely
touched on the true scale of the continent.
From the eastern coastal cliffs to the
horizon-spanning desert of the west,
Magellanica beckons to heroes and
villains alike.
As if that were not enough, all money
raised from purchasing Magellanica goes
to the Worldbuilders charity! By buying
this book you help support those in need.
1.1 Roleplaying in Magellanica
First and foremost, this book is designed
for people with at least a little experience
with tabletop RPGs. It is a supplement
that provides a new land for players to
explore, one that can be added to existing
campaigns or can be the focus of an entire
3
campaign itself. Indeed, the setting for
Magellanica can be used in any tabletop
RPG regardless of the rules system used.
However, the rules included in this book
require either the Dungeons and Dragons
Player's Handbook or Pathfinder Roleplaying
Game Core Rulebook. We have included
new character backgrounds, traits, spells,
equipment and beasts with two sets of
rules tailored to either game. These rules
codify unique elements of the setting that
help bring it to life on the tabletop.
We envisage Magellanica being woven
into pre-existing campaigns by beginning
a new adventure that leads intrepid
players to the colony. However, the
setting of Magellanica is designed to be
used in any way the GM sees fit. Whether
PCs fleetingly visit the continent or
remain there for an entire campaign is all
within the scope of this book.
Alternatively, a new campaign can begin
within Magellanica, with PCs beginning
their life of adventure in the colony or
wilderness of this strange new land.
1.2 Summary
This book contains the following chapters:
1. The Setting: a detailed description
of the land and people of
Magellanica
2. The Rules: a compilation of rules
for using Magellanican characters,
equipment and spells
3. Gamemastery: advice on how to
bring an adventure in Magellanica
to life
4. Bestiary: a catalogue of the unique
creatures that inhabit Magellanica
Invasions and Extinctions and more, and more. The ones whose
bones
We killed them all when we came here. we’ve never seen. The megafauna haunt
The people came and burned their land our dreams.
The forests where they used to feed This was their land before mankind.
We burned the trees that gave them shade Just fifty thousand years ago...
And burned to bush, to scrub, to heath
We made it easier to hunt. Neil Gaiman
We changed the land, and they were gone.
Extract from “Invasions and Extinctions”
Today our beasts and dreams are small
As species fall to time and us
But back before the black folk came
Before the white folk’s fleet arrived
Before we built our cities here
Before the casual genocide,
This was the land where nightmares loped
And hopped and ran and crawled and
slid.
And then we did the things we did,
And thus we died the things we died.

We have not seen Diprotodon

A wombat bigger than a room
Or run from Dromornithidae
Gigantic demon ducks of doom
All motor legs and ripping beaks
A flock of geese from hell’s dark maw
We’ve lost carnivorous kangaroo
A bouncy furrier T Rex
And Thylacoleo Carnifex
the rat-king-devil-lion-thing
the dropbear fantasy made flesh.
Quinkana, the land crocodile
Five metres long and fast as fright
Wonambi, the enormous snake
Who waited by the water-holes
and took the ones who came to drink
who were not watchful, clever, bright.
Our Thylacines were tiger-wolves
until we drove them off the map
Then Megalania: seven meters
of venomous enormous lizard...

4
5
6
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Chapter 1. The Setting
1.1 Introduction
Magellanica is an unexplored continent
far across the sea from the ambitious
colonial empires of the civilised world.
For the entirety of known history,
Magellanica has been shrouded from the
outside world by a red mist that
swallowed every intrepid explorer
seeking its shores. Imperial scholars had
supposed of Magellanica’s existence,
convinced it was needed to balance the
weight of the world’s hemispheres. But
the red mist has finally lifted and the
mysteries of Magellanica are finally
unravelling at the behest of a new
imperial colony. The Empire is known by
its colonists as Old Home.
To the civilised people of imperial Old
Home, the continent was thought to be
discovered by Captain Ferdinnian
Magellan. He was a man whose
exploration of the world was legendary.
Magellan had set himself the task of
braving the red mists in search of the
unknown. Although his memoirs tell of a
daring foray into the shroud, accounts
from his sailors suggest the mist had
already lifted by the time he arrived.
Regardless, limestone cliffs at the mouth
of a large calm bay were far from what
Magellan expected, nor where the
towering pillars of smoke that billowed
upwards from inland. As humble as any
explorer, he named the continent
Magellanica after himself. He went on to
name the plains about his anchorage the
Land of Fire after the smoke on the
horizon. Magellan mapped a brief part of
coastline before stepping foot upon the
land at a marshy estuary. From there the
accounts differ. Some claim Magellan’s
crew were set upon by eyeless
monstrosities whilst others suggest that
they were poisoned by the air or even
cursed by strange gods. Magellan’s crew
swore an oath to their captain never to
tell. One thing seems for certain: Captain
Magellan did not discover Magellanica.
Native people were waiting for him at the
shore.
Only three decades after Captain
Magellan’s discovery the Empire of Old
Home was in crisis. Harsh laws to protect
the burgeoning merchant classes meant
that the crime rate had risen sharply. With
the death penalty meted out only in the
most extreme circumstances, criminals
were rapidly filling the gaols and hulks.
The king of Old Home decided to colonise
Magellanica with convicts, simultaneously
creating a new colony whilst relieving
pressure upon the prisons.
The colony of Magellanica has since been
established for 70 years. It has begun
burgeoning through farmland, sheep and
mining. Expeditionary forces and
explorers have since mapped the green
plains and bushland of the eastern coasts,
while much of the red desert interior
remains unknown. The source of smoke
for the Land of Fire’s namesake stems
from a multitude of active volcanoes, but
many mysteries remain. Accounts of
backwards-flowing rivers, ravenous
megafauna, distant metallic mountains,
far away islands of two-headed giants and
rumours of a long-lost civilisation
highlight the need for further exploration.
A number of dichotomies divide
Magellanica’s people. Within the colony,
there are stark differences between the
8
treatment of convicts and the freedmen or
freemen. Furthermore, there are
differences between the Governor and
those he strives to govern. Recently,
mining guilds have begun to monopolise
the gold and opal resources, leading to
tensions between rich guildsmen and
traditional aristocracy. Harsh treatment at
the hands of supervisors and the
availability of valuable gold or opal is
driving convicts and freedmen to
banditry. As a result, bushrangers are an
increasingly common threat. The success
of the colony is beginning to attract
immigrants from across the sea, further
dividing the colony between those within

Old Home

We use the term” Old Home” in the same way a colonial Magellanican would. It refers
to “the Empire” from which the colony of Magellanica has been established. The true
name and nature of Old Home and its monarchy has deliberately been left up to the GM
to describe. We do not wish to rigidly categorise and indoctrinate all aspects of the
world outside Magellanica as it restricts the freedom of the GM to create their own
setting within which Magellanica can be included.

However, we perceive a few core components to Old Home that we have woven into the
setting to feel like our own real-world colonial empires:

• Ruled by a monarchy

• Strong indoctrinated ties to religion (preferably a single religion)

• Far away

• Class divide between rich (aristocracy) vs. poor (peasantry) and those stuck in
between (merchants, guildsmen)

• Brutal law enforcement

• Heavily bureaucratic (licences, taxes and tickets)

As an aside, we see Old Home at a similar technological and cultural level to Tudor
England that has developed alongside monsters, gods and magic. It is indicative of a
nation somewhat typical of western fantasy settings – a likely familiar place for western
players to conjure in their minds. However, GMs are encouraged to change the nature of
Old Home in any way to suit the setting of their campaign. Many different kingdoms
and empires from DnD or Pathfinder settings can replace Old Home in its role of
colonial empire.

Although we have been deliberately vague surrounding Old Home, we do have an Old
Home in our minds that we would like to explore one day in a supplement or three...

9
Old Home culture and those without. The
land of Magellanica is also seen at times as
an adversary to the colony. Food and even
water are hard to find, not to mention the
strange beasts lurking at the edge of the
map. However, most importantly are the
differences between the colonists and the
natives, whose land and culture is being
overrun at the expense of their lives.
It has been 100 years since Captain
Magellan set foot upon Magellanica. Since
that time, the eastern shores of the
continent have been swamped by
colonists from Old Home. First generation
Magellanicans have begun to establish
their birthplace as a new nation within the
bounds of the Empire. These sweeping
changes are coming too quickly for many
traditionalists of Old Home. Despite the
melting pot of class and culture, much of
Adventurers must be well armed if they wish to survive in the wilderness
the continent remains foreign to the eyes
of the common colonist. The weather,
landscape, flora, fauna, and culture of the
native people are exceedingly unique
when compared to their counterparts in
Old Home.
The need for adventurers in Magellanica
is growing rapidly. With such a strange
new land to explore and exploit, the call to
adventure is growing louder. Explorers,
scholars, mercenaries, prospectors and
even bushrangers are becoming
commonplace. Though much of the east
has now been mapped and colonised, the
untamed wilderness the stretches for
unknown miles to the north, south and
west remain a mystery. There is much that
remains to be discovered in the colony
and the wilds of Magellanica.
10

1.2 History
The Dreamtime (Pre-history)
 Dreaming primordials wake
 The world and its moon is laid
 Life-that-is-not precipitates upon
them both
 Monsters, spirits and denizens of
the other-worlds stalk the lonely
landscape and caves beneath them
 Ruin befalls much of the world as
pre-historic monsters, spirits or
gods collide. A titanic wave sinks
the land bridge to the continent
and Magellanica’s native people
are cut off from the outside world
from which they came
 Red mist swathes the continent’s
borders at sea, killing any that
attempt to pass through it
Contemporary History

 An ancient people migrate across  The Empire of Old Home begins

the land to Magellanica expanding across the sea, forming

Magic

Magic in the world of Magellanica is evident everywhere. Flora, fauna and the
environment within which they live have all been touched by magic. To an outsider from
earth, the most obvious differences would be in the appearance of humanoids. Skin of
any colour, extremely small or large sizes, animalistic or physics-defying magical
adaptations are commonplace. The landscape can also seem very different, from
bioluminescent trees forming forests of light to humming crystal pillars far beneath the
earth. However, despite magic’s obvious presence in the world, spellcasters are rare.
Magic is difficult to harness and often socially despised amongst the colonists of Old
Home. This has restricted the use of magic to a small minority of any given population.

One of the most socially accepted forms of magic within any culture is that which stems
from religion. Magellanica is no different. The nature of tangible gods and spirits means
that they can channel their power through their most pious and devoted. Although this
tempts many to join the clergy or fanatical groups, often the requirement for a fraction of
a deity’s magic requires extreme sacrifice. These sacrifices can range from strict lifestyles,
years of worship and repetitive chants to sinister sacrifices of blood or even life. In the
most extreme circumstances some incredibly talented, intelligent or dedicated
individuals can discover, learn and even teach magic independently of religious or
spiritual doctrine. This is typically exemplified by wizards and bards. These individuals
have recently begun to band together in Old Home to form the first Academae of magic,
detailed later in this chapter. Some are even claiming the title of “university” in spite of
the religious ties that universities have traditionally maintained.

11
 new colonies and conquering new
lands
 Magellanica is shrouded in red
mist, remaining elusive to
exploration. The existence of
Magellanica is proposed by
scholars to balance the east and
west hemispheres of the world
 Without warning the red mist
subsides. Captain Ferdinnian
Magellan is contracted for the
continent’s exploration and
Magellanica gets its name. He
names the coastal region the Land
of Fire after seeing streams of
smoke covering the inland horizon
 Tragedy befalls Magellan, his ship
Pentanidad and the rest of his fleet.
Only one ship from amongst his
fleet, Valorous, returns to Old
Home. Magellan is not on board
though his memoirs were
recovered. No crew member will
tell of what befell Magellan or the
fleet, but they do divulge stories of
green plains waiting for the taking
 Rumours abound that Magellan
was cursed when his son and wife
die just as Valourous reaches Old
Home. The rumours remain
unsubstantiated
 Old Home has a crisis of too many
criminals due to strict angel-
deigned laws. The king decides to
make a convict colony in
Magellanica with excess prisoners
 The initial fleet sent to colonise
Magellanica is known as the 1 st
Expeditionary Force. It is filled
with convicts led by Lord Edric
Valourre. They create the first
colony, known as Valourrelend.
The 1st expeditionary force
establishes the following:
o The first settlement at
Gale’s Meeting, now
commonly corrupted by
poor or lazy colonial
language to Galesmeet
o Governor Valourre and his
descendants become the
Governors of Magellanica –
caretakers of the continent
in the eyes of Old Home.
The colony is named
Valourrelend in their
honour.
o The first building at
Galesmeet is the church,
later turned into a
cathedral, dedicated to the
Shadow Faith
o Valourrelend extends over
large grass plains and
sporadic bushland
o Contact with natives. It
begins peacefully but soon
turns violent from apparent
misunderstandings. The
first tribes are forced to co-
habit or be pushed from
their traditional land. The
natives see the colonists as
ghosts, then demons, then
for what they really are
o Discovers many volcanoes
amongst the grassy plains
o Pushing westward yields
the discovery of The Barrier
o A temperate mountain
range with no passes
12
  Galesmeet grows in size as more
convicts are sent and even some
colonists arrive of their own accord
 The first Tickets of Leave are
awarded to convicts
 Sheep become a valuable resource
on the green plains nearby
Galesmeet.
 Squatters begin claiming land in
large numbers, most are ex-convict
freedmen
 Tensions arise between shepherds
and natives
 Many natives begin dying of
diseases from Old Home
 2nd Expeditionary Force, contains
many convicts from the 1st
expedition and a smattering of
freedmen and colonists, led by
Lord Esterlyn Whitewall:
o Heavily relies on many
natives to navigate
woodlands and mountain
terrain in the western
perimeter of the colony
o Finds a pass through The
Barrier and into the desert
beyond, the desert is called
the Plain of Rust after the
rusty red-orange sand
o Discovers the obelisk, now
at the town known as
Oldstone, alongside rich
opal deposits
o A spate of bad luck plagues
the expedition after contact
with the obelisk, it is forced
to return to Galesmeet
13
 Gold is discovered in the bed of
rivers that flow from The Barrier
 Alcohol is introduced to the
natives and it rapidly grows in
popularity, replacing older less-
addictive forms of alchemical
intoxication
 Successful squatters with large
tracts of land become major users
of convict labour. Begins a rift
between the squatter and the
convict
 The Shadow Faith begins to be
concerned about native welfare
 Colonists flock from Old Home
and beyond in search of gold
 Bushrangers become a common
problem, a bounty is set upon their
heads
 Many escaped convicts attempt to
walk back to Old Home with the
expectation that there is a land
bridge nearby to the north
 A pair of volcanoes called by
natives as Tarrengower and
Lalgambook erupt one after the
other, swathing eastern
Magellanica in ash. The natives
claim the spirits of the volcanoes
have begun competing with each
other
 A secondary colony is established
in the lands to the south. It is
named Senedinnia after the current
King Senedine III from Old Home.
Sennedinnia covers vast salty
marshlands that drain from a
colossal salt plain. Very little value
is placed in the colony
 Migrant slave-masters make a
settlement far to the north,
establishing a foothold in the new
land. They create a staging ground
for their lordly citizens to seek
heroism by slaying vicious
monsters that are rumoured to
dwell there. Due to the ash, they
call Magellanica the Land of Fire
 3rd Expeditionary Force with
professional cartographers,
experienced explorers and a large
caravan of supports (no convicts)
attempts to range into the desert. It
is led by Lord Dahved
Woodsworth but is often believed
to be truly led by his wife, Lady
Alisonne Woodsworth:
o Discovery of more gold in
the northwestern plains
o Discovery of a mountain
pass through the Barrier,
labelled Ashwood Passage
o Explored further into the
desert, said to be
guaranteed to find valuable
gemstones by native guides
o Discover a number of
gemstone deposits within
the desert beyond The
Barrier
o Discover Alisonne’s Well,
named after Lady
Woodsworth
o Lady Woodsworth is left at
Alisonne’s Well
o Discover ochre and opal at
Dahved’s Hill
o Pushes further westwards
into the Plain of Rust
towards the mysterious
mountains on the horizon
that the natives call
something that translates
roughly to “The Slag”
o The magically teleported
runestone messages that
are sent by the expedition
to the governor suddenly
cease. The expedition is
never heard from again,
leaving Lady Woodsworth
and her retinue as the only
presumed survivors of the
3rd Expeditionary Force
 Drastic increase in the number of
churches dedicated to the Shadow
Faith from Old Home
 Mines are established across
Valourreland
 The success of gold attracts many
prospectors who become roaming
swagmen that camp on private
and crown land with impunity
 Tensions arise between
prospectors and shepherds versus
natives. The natives are mercilessly
murdered in massacres across
Valourrelend by a few magic-
wielding convicts under orders of
frenzied land owners
 The Dark Guard is created to
ensure natives that will not join
colonial society will still obey
society’s laws
 A third colony is established on
what is presumed to be a large
island to the south. It is called New
Home in reference to Old Home.
The colony is hampered by thick
14
 bushland and fierce two-headed
giants
 Clergymen of the Shadow Faith
begin widespread handouts to the
natives, “bringing them into the
shadow” by indoctrinating them
within the church in exchange for
food
 Miner Permits are soon enforced
 A number of immigrants arrive on
Magellanican shores in search of
wealth from gold or safety from
persecution. Most hail from the
Overworld in the far northeast
 Mining guilds are formed as the
Lords of Old Home begin to stake
a claim in the valuable metals
being mined in Magellanica
 Mines begin being set up in the
Plain of Rust. Dahved’s Hill is the
furthest west
15
 A violent dispute erupts between
gold miners and constables,
whereby many miners are
massacred. The site is known
thereafter as Grave. The gold still
attracts more prospectors and soon
creates a township and a mine
 Disenfranchised natives near the
Murrawi River declare they are
seceding from Magellanica to form
the Murrawi Republic. It is widely
ignored by the colony but
considered a direct challenge to the
crown
 The Mining Guilds exert
considerable political influence by
successfully forming a council to
which the Governor must convene
with. Rumour suggests the Guilds
are puppets to the Lords of Old
Home that fund them
Dreamtime and the Realm of the Awoken

The material world in which mortal creatures live is called the Realm of the Awoken, a name
with an origin that none can reliably trace. A hint towards the truth lies in its counterpart,
known as the Dreamtime.

The title “Dreamtime” is a poorly translated native Magellanican word that describes what
scholars call the “Everywhen” or the “Other”. It is a primordial reflection of the world where
time flows without reason and magic pours unbridled from everything. The Dreamtime is
barely considered real, with common perception of the Other being the stuff of make-
believe. But magic-users tend to know or at least suspect the truth – that the Dreamtime is as
real as the Realm of the Awoken.

Spirits, ghosts and all manner of magical monsters call the Dreamtime home. Through their
dreams, mortal creatures can reach it too. Some touch upon it in their most vivid dreams,
glimpsing the Other realm before being thrust back into the mundane Realm of the
Awoken. Any rare glimpse that is remembered is either forgotten upon waking or
dismissed by others as merely dreams. Rumours suggest that those with enough magical
power can force their way into the Dreamtime, bringing their waking bodies with them.
Ancient stories tell of portals to the Dreamtime where reality is torn between the dreamers
and the awoken.

The fae claim to have the greatest knowledge of the Dreamtime, though none will ever speak
of it. However, recent illumination on the nature of the Dreamtime has come from the very
people that coined the term. Natives of Magellanica have a deep respect and knowledge of
the Dreamtime, more so than any other mortal culture. As such, recent contact with the
natives has meant Old Home scholars have a rare opportunity to learn of this Other place. In
the tongue of native Magellanicans, when one is in the Other realm it is known as their
“dreaming”, whereas mundane consciousness is their “waking”. The dreaming of
primordial beasts and spirits is a common theme amongst native Magellanican tales of
creation. They suggest that in a bygone era, the realms of the dreamers and the awoken were
as one. Great creatures were said to have made the land before some great tragedy split the
Dreamtime from the Realm of the Awoken.

Native Magellanicans warn any who wish to learn about the Dreamtime that it is a realm of
both ecstasy and terror, where one’s wildest dreams or nightmares may reside with terrible
reality. Tales describe a place of luminescent technicolour jarred by greyscale and shadow,
where the sun is stuck at dawn or dusk – though none can ever tell which. The landscape
can often seem familiar, but can be stitched together from many places in both time and
space. It is commonly claimed by Magellanican elders that those lucky few who return from
the Dreamtime have never been the same as when they entered – for better or for worse.

16
1.3 The Environment of
Magellanica
1.3.1 The Land
The coastal regions of Magellanica are
green with grassy plains and bushland.
Creeks lazily wander through verdant
gum forests and stroll into even lazier
rivers. Rivers and lakes swell during
winter whilst summers see them wither.
Contrasting with the greenery are
volcanoes that dot the landscape with
large black mountains billowing ash.
These crucibles of lava gave the coastal
region its name, the Land of Fire, when
Captain Magellan saw their ash clouds
from afar. Dry summers and volcanic
eruptions cause wild bushfires that
rapidly consume large swathes of forest.
Bushland extends westwards until it
reaches the slopes of a mountain range
known as the Barrier. Stretching for 100’s
of miles north and south, the Barrier is
exactly that: a barrier to any travel further
westward into the interior. These
mountains are temperate like the forests to
their east. During winter, the Barrier’s
mountaintops become home to viscous
snowstorms that stretch eastward so far as
to whiten the tops of distant volcanoes.
West of the Barrier is a different world.
The mountains give way to a vast desert
of red-orange sand known as the Plain of
Rust. It stretches for an unknown distance
westward. None from the colony have yet
to discover an end to the Plain. The vast
dune-lands of the desert hide rare
sandstone rock formations, curiously
shaped like melting wax and buried
underground. The furthest westward any
17
explorer has ever surveyed still remains
within the bounds of the desert. However,
some claim to have glittering mountains
far on the horizon, shimmering brightly in
both daylight and moonlight. Those who
ventured even further westward have
never returned.
1.3.2 The Weather
At first glance, the weather of any given
day of any given season is not so different
to Old Home. However, the weather can
change rapidly and without warning.
Spring, winter and autumn are reasonably
mild in the lowlands, with snow reaching
the mountaintops in the colder months.
However, during summer extreme heat is
the most predominant factor of
Magellanican weather. None who live in
Old Home will ever experience the heat of
a Magellanican summer.
During summer, fierce storms blow in
from the interior. They bring dust storms
and destructive winds with them.
Lightning strikes, volcanic eruptions and
the native’s penchant for burning
vegetation can mean that hot days in
summer lead to catastrophic bushfires.
These fires are a common threat during
the hottest months, stretching for as many
as 300 miles across the eastern bushlands.
They tend to burn hot and travel quickly,
killing everything in their path. Once one
bushfire starts, ash-rain can start spot fires
which grow into bushfires of their own.
Furthermore, huge smoke clouds
commonly drift from a number of active
volcanoes. However, the black clouds of
volcanic ash contrast greatly with the
billowing white walls of a bushfire’s wood
smoke. Black smoke clouds warn against
travel in that direction, but white smoke
clouds suggest one should flee with all
haste.
1.3.3 The Flora
The flora of Magellanica is unlike any
other land known to the civilised world.
Temperate bush forests are commonly
dominated by gum trees of extraordinary
variety. Their bark varies from jagged and
hairy to papery sheaths. Some varieties
even have thin, smooth and brilliantly
white bark that covers the tree like skin.
The gum tree is commonly known as a
“phoenix tree” as they can be burnt in
viscous bushfires and sprout vibrantly
green regrowth soon after.
Wetter regions of forest can have large
ferns, ancient beech trees and dense
carpets of luscious green moss. In spring,
bushland becomes dotted with the ochre
colours of fragrant wattles, bottlebrushes
and blackwoods. Creeks and rivers are
commonly lined by long and thin grass
shrubs with sharp ends. Throughout the
more temperate regions are a number of
shrubs and bushes that yield small fruits
and nuts, known by Magellanicans as
bush tucker. Mountain regions of the
Barrier tend to be covered in a layer of
twisted gums that are thinner and more
crooked than their lowland counterparts.
The gum trees give way to she-oaks on the
eastern border of the Plain of Rust.
Further westward and they soon
surrender to salt bushes that stretch to the
horizon. Tufts of sharp grass called
spinifex dot the desert, yielding a valuable
resin-glue when heated. Venturing further
into that horizon and one soon sees all
vegetation vanish. All that is left is red
sand and gibber rocks that stretch
westward beyond the borders of the map.
1.3.4 The Fauna
Just like the flora, the fauna of
Magellanica is unique. To colonists, many
animals appear to be marsupial versions
of their own familiar wildlife of Old
Home. Kangaroos, wombats and tiger-
dogs are seemingly marsupial equivalents
of the rabbit, boar and fox. Furthermore,
there are a multitude of animals aside
from marsupials. The bushland is home to
ferocious black animals akin to cat-
possums commonly called “little
demons”. Most surprising to scholars of
biology are the egg-laying animals known
as monotremes. These include the
platypus and echidna. The former is akin
to a combination of duck and beaver
whereas the latter is smaller version of
moss-foraging porcupine. Most terrifying
are the tales of a ferocious and enormous
combination of the two, known as the
Platychidna. It is described as venomous
beast that swims and runs swiftly on all
four clawed paws with a defensive layer
of spikes running down its back and an
aggressive fang-filled bill. Thankfully,
sightings of Platychidnas are rare and
their habitat seems restricted to the rivers
near the Barrier. Further west, the Plain of
Rust is home to dust-coloured dingoes
and shy bilbies. Oddly enough, birds are
often the most talked about Magellanican
animal in Old Home. The vibrant colours
of budgerigars, rosellas and parrots have
meant that many an aristocrat from Old
Home has collected them as an oddity. A
market for bird hunting is becoming
viable. Furthermore, the large, flightless
emus are often a great source of wonder to
foreigners. If their movements were more
coordinated, emus would have proven to
be a tempting alternative to horses when
pulling carts. Potently venomous snakes
18
of various colour and size can be found in large burrowers to be a valuable asset.
all environments. A bite from these Unfortunately, diprotodon docility has
reptilian beasts almost always means also meant that the natives find them to be
death. Although most animals prove to be an easily killable source of food. When
a minor annoyance or a meal for the colonially-owned diprotodon are killed
colonists, snakes always instil fear. for food in such a manner, violent
retaliation is often the colonial response.
Many animals known to Old Home have
Another example of megafauna is the
been introduced to Magellanica. These
dromornithid, a huge flightless bird with
include rabbits, mice, rats, deer, goats,
strong talons and a thick axe-like beak. It
sheep, camels, cats, foxes, dogs, wolves
is remarkably fast. Their habitat is the
and even a rumoured panther. The
wide green plains of the eastern coast that
traditional fauna of other realms not seen
is growing ever smaller from encroaching
in Magellancia tends to include beastly
farm land. Though it is herbivorous, its
folk and magical monsters such as trolls,
talons and beak make it a violent
wargs, ogres, gnolls, basilisks, pixius,
adversary.
wendigos, medusa, cyclops, centaurs,
chimeras, the patupaiarehe, the fae and a
multitude of dragons. However, just
because they have not been seen is no
reason to suggest they don’t exist in
Magellanica. These creatures may not yet
have been found by the colony.
Furthermore, some rare beast from the list
above may have been shipped over from
Old Home at a noble’s whimsy, intended
to be used as a beast of burden or for
sport. Some may have broken free of their
metal and magical cage or escaped the
ship that bore them across the sea,
unintentionally being loosed upon
Magellanica by unwitting colonists.

Most rare of all native animals is the

group known as megafauna. Upon seeing
them in the flesh their name becomes
obvious – megafauna are huge. The most
common type of megafauna is a large
variant of wombat known as the
diprotodon. It is extremely docile, and has
therefore become a favourite pack animal
of the colonists. In particular,
subterranean travellers winding their way
through large cave networks find these

19
Colossal crustaceans known as Blue
Yabbies make their homes within huge
mud tunnels along the banks of deep
rivers. They are rumoured to hatch from
small eggs, growing from the size of an
ant up to that of a horse over a period of
centuries. Their huge pincers can shear
through flesh and armour with ease,
crumpling bone and metal like twigs
underfoot. The name of the Blue Yabby
stems from their deep azure exoskeleton
that covers their body in impenetrable
armour. The Little Magellanican Dragon
is another example of dangerous
megafauna, akin to a 20 feet long goanna
with vicious fangs and claws. It is an
exceedingly aggressive animal that can
kill an unarmoured adversary with ease.
As such, it is preferably hunted than
trained. However, a few pack-dragons
have been tamed from hatchlings, proving
to be excellent beasts of burden in the
desert if their temper can be controlled. In
the shadows of treetops and
mountaintops can be found colossal
moths called Dusk Monarchs. Their
powdery sea-blue wings glitter with a
pattern of smattered stars and a pair of
large, circular, yellow eyes rimmed with
red. This colouration looks like two suns
setting. Thankfully for those adventurers
that come across them, they are
completely docile. Scholars of the
biological arts are puzzled by the Dusk
Monarch’s lifestyle, not knowing what
form their laval stage takes and unsure as
to what they may feed on. Worrying
theories abound about the patter of their
wings, suggesting that they mimic the
eyes of some terrifyingly large predator
unyet seen by colonists. Beneath the green
hills of eastern Magellanica are Giant
Worms that slowly bore their way
through the earth. They are docile, slow
and incredibly rare. They are only seen
above ground during extreme floods
when the rising water table forces them
upwards. Lastly amongst the known
megafauna is the Mirror Python, a
colossal 10 metre long serpent with
armour of overlapping scales that reflect
light like a perfect mirror. In low light, the
python blends in to its environment by
reflecting the light about it. For those poor
souls that get too close without noticing,
the beast can explosively uncoil and
engulf the unfortunate victim in a fanged
maw. The rest of its body constricts the
victim as its jaws unhinge, condemning
them to a slow, quiet, agonising death.
Thankfully for explorers, only 2 Mirror
Pythons have ever been found, but each
has taken a brutal toll on the adventurous
parties that encountered them.
Even rarer than the megafauna are the
more sinister denizens of the wild. These
are the strange creatures and spirits hinted
at by natives in their camp fire tales. They
detail such creatures such as lava spirits
living in distant volcanoes, black-burnt
crow-people with unrivalled control of
fire, flesh-eating mer-women, blood-
phoenixes and even a colossal serpent that
girds the desert. A handful of explorers
have confirmed reports of frog-men living
in the mires and billabongs of the distant
wilds, guarding their water homes with
surprising ferocity. Rumours from the
edges of the map tell of even stranger tales
of people being turned to stone. One tale
has even claimed to have found a huge
clutch of eggs in the wilderness. The entire
clutch was said to be made of stone with
their tops cracked open and their insides
empty.
20
Sightings of nomadic giants roaming the
desert have been confirmed by isolated
mining communities. Most rumours
suggest these colossi like to keep their
distance, though some accounts of raids
on mining caravans have started to trickle
eastward. Frontier tales also tell of
ferocious raiders called Yowies. Known by
colonists as the “Magellanican Ogre-
Troll”, the Yowie is a tall mutant
humanoid covered in matted fur that
stalks all corners of the shadowy wilds.
Yowies live a semi-nomadic existence and
migrate either alone or in small tribes.
Though they have previously relied on
hunting megafuana with spears and clubs,
they now have a tendency to raid colonial
settlements.
“Magellanican Vampire-Goblins” are also
an unfortunate reality. Known by natives
as Yara-ma-yha-who, they are red-skinned
humanoids with a bulbous head, large
toothless mouth and viscous suckers on
their palms. They play dead during the
day and hunt humanoids during the
night, bleeding them dry with their
mouths and hands. After swallowing the
victim whole, they venture into the wilds
and regurgitate them after a number of
days. The victim is reborn withered and
with red skin, the first symptom of their
metamorphosis into a new Yara-ma-yha-
who.
1.3.5 Constellations
heavens. Constellations also play an
important role as beacons of the skies,
allowing for accurate mapping and travel
across foreign landscapes. The art of
reading star-maps is a skill known as
astronomancy and is a talent essential for
any explorer.
The stars in Magellanica’s heavens are as
unknown to colonists as the land. Strange
new constellations have been charted and
categorised by explorers and scholars
alike. Arguments flare between
astronomancers and astrolomancers over
what is truly a constellation and what is
merely coincidence. One confirmed
constellation that both agree on is the
“sword”. Four stars form a cross with a
fifth star at its centre. It is loudly
proclaimed by the Faith-in-Shadow’s
clergymen as Guardian’s Blade, after the
sword of their god-angel deity. Indeed,
the highest echelons of the clergy have
publicly demonstrated that the sword
constellation can enhance the power of
their religious magic.
But the stars are only unfamiliar to
newcomers in Magellanica. The natives
have known the shapes and true names of
the constellations for aeons. They keep
this knowledge secret from all colonists.
Natives see their duty to the stars as too
important to be compromised by the ever
too power-hungry colonists of Old Home.

Constellations carry a certain kind of

magic. Each constellation tends to
influence the ebb and flow of magic in the
lands bathed by their starlight, and
Magellanica is no different. The ability to
read and harness this magic is the work of
astrolomantic spellcasters in tune with the

21
 to philosophers keen on quelling the racial
1.4 The People of animosity that still plagues the civilised
Magellanica world. The most common races
represented in native culture are those
that are unique to Magellanica: folk akin
1.4.1 Races of the Colony and the Natives to wombats, koalas or bilbies.
Interestingly, there is one exception to the
Old Home is typically dominated by racial unity of the natives: there have been
humans or aasimar, but not so in its no reports of any raven-like natives akin
Magellanican outpost. The races to tengu or kenku within native society.
represented within colonial Magellanica Any native that has met one is
are exceedingly diverse. The intelligent immediately struck with fear and has tried
humanoid races have been interwoven their best to either flee or kill the avian
such that distinct races are becoming creature. They always refuse to give any
harder to identify. The diversity of reason why.
migration and the magic of teleportation
has mixed the humanoid races (elves, 1.4.3 Colonial Culture
dwarves, gnomes, orcs, tieflings, aasimar,
Unsurprisingly, Magellanican culture is
elementals, lizardfolk, beast-people etc.)
reflective of Old Home. To that end, it is
into one conglomerate society.
typically conservative, heavily religious,
Furthermore, as many colonists are
divided by class, dominated by strict law
convicts from Old Home, they tend to be
of non-human races that are forced into a
life of crime to survive. Instead of typical
racial divides, the cultural heritage of an A goblin scamp fallen on hard times.
individual tends to mark them apart. There is little sympathy for such folk
amongst the colony of Magellanica.
Natives also display a wide range of racial
diversity. Scholars of travel and
exploration were surprised to learn that
the natives of Magellanica display a wide
variety of humanoid races, much like the
civilised world. It was expected that the
extreme isolation of the continent from the
rest of civilisation would have isolated it
from the migration of common races.
However, a native tribe is likely to include
a number of different races all mixed
together; eg: a few humans, an elf, two
dwarves, two lizardfolk, an orc and a
kobold. Just how such a nomadic culture
came to conquer the racial divides
between so many different peoples
remains unclear, but it is of great interest

22
enforcement and unified by unshakable
faith in the king and the hermaphroditic
god-angel Guardian. However, the colony
is much more multicultural than
traditional Old Home as foreigners from
distant lands have sought trade, refuge or
immigration to the colony. Furthermore,
Magellanica is literally built on convict
labour which has instilled the nation with
a distrust of the constabulary and a love of
the underdog.
Larrikinism forms a core component of
colonial Magellanican culture. The
hardship of being a convict, living in a hot
environment and requiring long arduous
journeys between remote settlements has
meant that laughter is woven into
everything to make it bearable. Anything
can be made fun of in colonial culture. It is
good to have a laugh at the
establishment’s expense, but it is even
better when poking fun at a friend or
loved one. Making fun of someone or
something is an acknowledgement of
respect that is often misunderstood by
foreigners.
Slang is ubiquitous amongst the lower
class. Colloquialisms, odd sayings and
shortening words are typical of colonial
language, much to the disgust of educated
aristocrats or scholars. Another
characteristic that galvanises the common
people is mateship. There is a distinct
sense of a “fair go” that all are entitled to.
Another common mantra is “she’ll be
right”, indicative of the laid-back lifestyle
most Magellanicans aspire to. However,
this lifestyle has a darker undertone:
alcoholism. How drunk one can get is
often seen as a measure of how much of a
“true Magellanican” they are. Entrenched
alcoholism is a problem that the crown,
23
constabulary and even religion have
trouble combating. Another common
affliction amongst the lowly colonists is a
strange wasting disease that is typically
seen in those who have spent at least a
few years in Magellanica. Medical
scholars have observed that its incidence
is higher in workers or travellers who
spend long hours in the sun, and marvel
at its inability to be spread between
people.
A love of the underdog is expressed most
poignantly in sport. Three sports
dominate Magellanican culture:
swordsun, shieldwall and kick. The first
two are traditional Old Home sports
whereas the third is unique to
Magellanica. All are played on a grassy
field. Swordsun requires a suit of armour
for a single person who wields a large flat
wooden sword used to hit balls thrown by
the opposing team at a small wooden
maiden. Shieldwall involves teams in long
lines rushing at one another, each trying
to push through with their own ball and
get it to the other side of the field. Kick
allows its namesake, where two teams
fight for one ball and can kick it to their
team’s end of the field. They must kick it
between two goalposts in order to score.
From the homeless to the governor,
Magellanicans proudly display tattoos.
Faces and limbs are commonly covered in
swirling script, runes or stylised pictures
that reflect the bearer’s beliefs and skills.
The custom has become so engrained in
the culture that tattoos have become a
status symbol, acting like a another layer
of communication between individuals.
Amongst the aristocracy, detailed and
colourful designs of a family’s sigil are a
clear symbol of wealth. The richest lords
 However, tattoos that suggest an aptitude
Colour, Shade and Racism for magic are made all the more
The real-world historical influences intimidating by their secrecy. The
for Magellanica and Old Home cannot normalcy of tattoos is derived from the
native population of Old Home. Despite
be presented without racism. If our
being conquered by migrants, the use of
own is anything to go by, a fantasy
tattoos by Old Home natives spread to
world with intelligent races different their conquerors. As such, it is no surprise
from each other is bound to develop that Magellanican people maintain tattoos
racism. Magellanica is no different.
However, given the mix of Races of the Natives
adaptations or traits that create the There is an ongoing scholarly debate
humanoid spectrum of races in Old attempting to answer the question:
Home, racism in Magellanica has why are there so many races within
sprung from the shade of one’s skin – native Magellanican society? Many
not the exact colour. The darker or suggest that large mundane or
lighter someone is, the more different magical-assisted migrations occurred
they seen. One may have blue skin, in the distant parts between the
the other green, but if they are both civilised lands and the isolated
lightly coloured then they are socially continent of Magellanica. However, a
seen as similar. problem with this theory is posed in
Given the themes of racism that the the following: why are mostly
setting of Magellanica involves, we humanoid races present in
suggest that the GM treads carefully. Magellanica and not traditional
The GM has responsibility to know monsters such as trolls or dragons?
what themes are appropriate for their Surely these monsters are just as
group, and should include or exclude capable of migration as their
such themes where appropriate. humanoid counterparts. The debate
continues to rage without a clear
and ladies can even hire spellcasters to answer. What is clearly agreed upon
infuse a tattoo with luminescent magic – by both sides is that native
the ultimate status symbol. Skilled
Magellanican society is incredibly old,
tradesmen can advertise guild-sanctioned
possibly the most ancient humanoid
tattoos on bare skin that proves their
culture on the planet. Their harsh
talent. Dangerous mercenaries can loudly
display their violent exploits with an environment with little farmable
intimidating visage. In contrast, resources has locked them in a
spellcasters tend to hide their tattoos as primitive nomadic lifestyle despite
they do not wish to be shunned by the the passage of so many years.
superstitious society around them.

24
as a reflection of their founding culture in
Old Home. Tattooists are widely regarded
with respect due to the importance of their
art to the culture. They have a
responsibility to make tattoos that
accurately reflect the person who bears
them. This is ensured by laws that require
tattooists to be shown proof of one’s skill,
belief or heritage before they can apply
their artistry to represent them. To
maintain the emphasis placed on facial
tattoos, it is illegal to wear a mask in
public. This ensures one’s own skills,
beliefs or heritage cannot be concealed
once worn on the face. Tattoo culture has
led the people of Old Home and its
colonies to become outwardly proud of
themselves as words are no longer
sufficient to mask one’s intentions or
beliefs.
With the colony’s success, migrants are
starting to flood into Galesmeet from
outside Old Home. Naturally, these
foreigners are met with disdain by almost
all constituents of Old Home society. With
so many cultures in one place, it is no
surprise that those with the “traditional”
heritage from Old Home become
disgusted with the variations on lifestyle
exhibited by others. The light-hearted
nature of colonists can disappear in the
wake of xenophobia, making life difficult
for migrants from beyond Old Home.
Though the colony’s history is short, it is
rich with folk heroes. Beloved by the
masses are the veterans that have returned
from wars waged in the king of Old
Home’s name. These include such heroes
as Simmo and his diprotodon or the Lady
of the Moaning Ash.
25
When the constabulary is far from earshot,
tales of rebellious miners of the Grave
Stockade make a youngsters heart stir.
When the constabulary is even further, tall
tales tell of famous bushrangers that
garner an almost fanatical following
amongst the masses. Such miscreants
include Red Belly with his fire-magic and
battered great-helm, Moondyne Steph
with her mastery of illusion at the cost of
her sanity or The Captain with ex-knight’s
armour and his notched sword Lucky.
Lastly amongst the popular heroes are the
poets like the Son of the Law or the Son of
the Patter, people who characterise
Magellanican life in quaint ballads rich
with meaning.
1.4.4 Native Culture
First and foremost they are nomads –
constantly roaming and rarely building
permanent structures. They are masters at
living off the land. They know where to
find bush tucker in abundance, much to
the amazement of colonists who tend to
see the wilds of Magellanica as
inhospitable. Natives are fractured into
tribes that associate together in clans with
no formal leaders or chieftains. Each tribe
is informally led by its own panoply of
elders and wise women. They are the
oldest and by association, wisest of the
group. Each tribe speaks a variation of a
clan’s language, but each clan tends to
speak an entirely unique language. Due to
language barriers and ingrained suspicion
between tribes, clans are often at odds in
violent conflict. This has led many
colonists to consider the natives as a
vengeful people.
A foundational aspect of native culture
involves stories about the creatures and
places of primordial Magellanica – known
to exist in a state of Everywhen known as
the Dreamtime. However, the fantastical
creatures of the Dreamtime stories are far
from myth. Biomantic scholars of Old
Home have proven that many creatures
described in Dreamtime stories have been
identified by colonists in reality. The
creatures in these stories seem related to
the fae, but none can be certain due to the
secrecy of the natives. Regardless, the
natives clearly have great respect for the
creatures and spirits of the wilds,
acknowledging all as mummers in the
great play that is the universe. Many such
creatures are members of native clans.
Many explorers have met native tribes
that include fiery elemental-like creatures,
anthropomorphic avian guardians,
yowies or even giants walking in their
midst.
Rarely, a tribe can be found that has a
sorcerer who paints themselves with
swirling ochre patterns and conducts
painful rituals of self-mutilation. Many
have their toes dislocated or even their
lips sewn shut. They are a considered by
the tribe to be the Kurdaitcha, what
roughly translates to “listening
executioner”. The Kurdaitcha adorn
themselves in magic-infused cloaks and
shoes made from furs, feathers, hair and
blood. They often wield a bone wand
drenched in corpse-juice that they use to
curse others who have wronged the tribe.
These mysterious spellcasters are said to
be deeply connected with mouthless
spirits that crawled up into the world in
ages passed. They tend to be of different
racial heritage to most natives, ranging
from oasis-loving frog-men living near the
waterholes to lizardfolk standing
dangerously close to the flames of the
campfire.
Natives tell of songlines, trails of sacred
harmonic magic that cross the world in
winding dream-tracks. Along these
songlines, natives conduct ritualistic
corroborees which uses music and dance
to connect with the land and the footprints
of their ancestors. The words of the song
and the moves of the dance tell the story
of the songline’s landscape, both its origin
and its importance. It is intended to pass
this knowledge from the old to the young,
such that they can carry on the tribe’s
mysterious age-old role in the cycle of
life. These corroborees take place on
sacred ground by privileged members of
the tribe. Often this may mean “men
only”, “women only” or more specifically
such as “mothers only” or “those who
have killed another intelligent being”. The
corroboree can involve any mixture of
ochre body paint, ritual scarring and
bloodletting. Some explorers have
suggested that the swirling designs of
ochre body paint acts like runes – bending
magic in mysterious ways to a mysterious
will. Only a few non-natives have ever
partaken in a corroboree, but those who
do will never tell of what they saw, did or
learned.
1.4.5 The Mixture of Both
The wearing of ochre on natives has
begun to influence colonial culture. Some
colonists born in Magellanica have started
to forego tattoos in favour of ochre
designs as a symbol of cultural identity
and to help distinguish themselves from
the purists of Old Home. They like that
they can remove it and make new designs
that more accurately reflect their current
26
selves, as opposed to the permanency of a racism, intermittent violence and disease.
tattoo. With such brutal times of change, it is not
surprising that the natives are turning to
Natives often seem brutal to their colonial
more extreme beliefs in rituals, spirits and
counterparts due to their tendency
ancestors to answer their prayers.
towards infanticide. Without
contraceptives or a particularly inhibitive The governors of the colony have
social constraint on sex, female natives institutionalised a squad of constables
often fall pregnant. However, if the tribe made up entirely of natives in the hopes
cannot support a newborn due to lack of that they can subdue their kin when
food or the need to move, then the infant necessary. They are known as the Dark
is killed with a club and burned. To the Guard in unashamed reference to their
natives, the baby is not yet a person, and skin tone. Due to the tribal nature of the
there is no grief in killing it. It is merely a natives, the Dark Guardsmen hunt their
pragmatic decision for the betterment of brethren with brutal efficiency. Often
the tribe. Infanticide has shocked many those they hunt are of different tribes and
colonists. are therefore seen as a threat regardless of
innocence.
Though the weather is important to all
Magellanicans, the natives are affected Some natives that have become
most. The season determines the type and assimilated by Old Home culture have
quantity of food available, as different
animals breed and plants bear fruit at
different times. Typically winters are hard
and summers a rich. This dichotomy feeds
into the disposition of natives – if food is
scarce they a more likely to violently take
some. As such, winter can strain the
relationship between natives and colonist
when the bellies of both go hungry.

Murders between colonists and natives

have occurred, but remain somewhat rare.
Occasionally, hysteria breaks out and
many innocents on either side find a
violent end. For the most part, their
relationship is peaceful due to a mutual
distaste for violence. However, some
deaths have been unintentional.
Unfortunately for the natives, colonists
have brought strange diseases from across
the sea that have ravaged their
population. The natives are being pushed
from colonial land by the combination of

27
tried to form their own republic, free from
the Old Home crown. This is known as the
Murrawi Republic, at the tails of the
Murrawi River. Its symbol is a serpent
made of water to symbolise the river of
the republic’s namesake. The Murrawi
Republic is widely laughed at by the
colonists, but day by day their influence
amongst the natives grows stronger. It is
only a matter of time before the colonists
come to blows with these idealistic native
rebels.
1.5 The Colony of
Magellanica
1.5.1 The Colonised Lands
The first Colony of Magellanica is known
as Valourrelend, named after its founder
Governor Edric Valourre. It expands from
the eastern coast, through the Land of
Fire, west past the Barrier mountains and
out into the eastern fringe of the Plain of
Rust. Bushland is rapidly being logged to
expand the green plains that surround
them. Wheat and sheep farms are
common. Populated farming towns lie
close to the rim of Pentanidad Bay whilst
remote farms have become stations or
farmsteads that form pockets of
civilisation amongst the wilderness. The
verdant wheat belt surrounding the
capital Galesmeet is known as the Golden
Plain, a name born from the vast yellow-
brown wheat fields in the region. A
number of mines and mining towns are
situated by the side of rivers and slopes of
volcanoes. In particular, the Lalgambook
and Tarrengower volcanoes in the Land of
Fire provide valuable ores and minerals
for those willing tempt the spontaneous
fury of their lava flows and the fiery
Language
Though the colonists predominantly
speak one language, the Common
Tongue, the natives speak a multitude
between clans. As such, travel between
clan lands can often require knowledge
of a completely different dictionary in
order to communicate with the native
population. We suggest GM’s should
make language a major focus for parts
of adventures that involve interactions
between colonists and natives. The
multitude of native language
accentuates the importance of having a
member of the adventuring party with
native heritage.
denizens living on their slopes. The
mountains of the Barrier are unsuitable for
farming sheep or wheat but have proven
valuable for grazing cattle and horses.
Droving is becoming commonplace upon
the high plains of the Barrier. Though the
Plain of Rust does not support any kind of
farming, a few remote mining
communities cling to life out amongst the
sand dunes of the desert.
Throughout all these lands, the colony
claims ownership and enforces its laws.
The Empty Land Declaration by
Magellanica’s first governor, states that all
of Magellanica is free for the taking. By
colonial law, all land is owned by the
crown of Old Home until it is either given
or purchased. As such, the wealthy can
become wealthier by buying more lands
whilst the poor remain unable to escape
their poverty. Destitution in combination
with the long distance between
28
settlements has meant that the places
between are a lawless wilderness that the
constabulary can barely enforce.
Futhermore, within colonial wilderness
are natives trying to get by under colonial
rule or the unknown things only hinted at
by their tales. Beyond the furthest borders
of colonial settlements lay what explorers
call the “true” wilderness – where
mysteries and magic have yielded strange
landscapes and creatures as yet unseen by
colonial eyes.
1.5.2 Governor and Council
When the 1st Expeditionary Force
established the colony, Lord Edric
Valourre was made governor – a title used
as a colonial equivalent of count. Given
the feudalistic tendencies of Old Home,
the governorship has been inherited by
Valourre’s bloodline, and is now in the
debatably incapable hands of Governor
Koln Valourre. By most accounts, the
current governor is a weak-spirited man
with little ambition. However, the powers
of the governor are almost absolute, save
for the Council of Magellanica. The
council is a group of the richest
landholders living in the colony. It was
formed when the aristocratic elite of Old
Home who invested in Magellanica
demanded to have some say in the
colony’s governance. Officially, the
council cannot stop the governor from
doing what he wants, but in reality the
power the councillors wield is such that
the governor would be wise to cater to
their needs. Becoming a member of the
council is easy – buy your way in. A
deplorably steep cost of 10,000 gold coins
is required to join the council, ensuring
only the rich elite can do so. Traditionally
the council has been held by newly made
29
Lords who are predominantly puppets to
their more powerful counterparts in Old
Home. However, the success of the
mining guilds has meant that guildsmen
are being increasingly represented in the
council. This is beginning to lead to a
struggle for land where the lords want it
for their peasant farms but the miners
want it to magically strip the topsoil for
gold. Enterprising individuals do both.
The governor traditionally settles these
disputes, but Koln is easily intimidated by
either side of the council.
1.5.3 The Aristocracy
The land-holding lords of Magellanica are
predominantly members of Old Home
aristocracy. They own the land from afar
by either buying it or being given it by the
king. The old rivalries between Great
Houses of Old Home spill out into
Magellanica, where claims for valuable
farming lands are disputed in the courts.
The lords rarely set foot upon
Magellanica, preferring instead to stay in
their manners and castles of Old Home.
As such, their distant estates are run by
appointed stewards who sit on the
Council of Magellanica in their stead.
Early in the settlement of Magellanica,
some lords avoided using stewards by
bestowing enough land onto their
children for them to have large estates of
their own in the colony. These lords-in-
waiting have had children of their own
and there is now a new Magellanican-born
aristocracy rising in power within
Galesmeet. They are a small but close
community of new lords and ladies. Their
interaction with an unexplored land and
the colony’s mix of cultures has meant
that Magellanican aristocracy often hold
more liberal views than their conservative
counterparts back in Old Home. The
intellectual aristocracy born and raised in
Magellanica are used to change as change
comes quickly in the colony. As such, they
tend to question the traditional values and
laws of Old Home which exacerbates their
animosity towards the crown and Great
Houses of their cultural homeland.
1.5.3 Convicts and Freedmen
Convicts are the lifeblood of the colony.
They form the bulk of the population in
almost every settlement. Convicts are
used by the crown to build roads or public
buildings such as town halls and
churches. Freemen can essentially be
loaned convict labour. Farming and
mining are the most common uses for
convict labour. Freemen who supervise
convicts are known as “masters” who
often complain of convict incompetence.
Most convicts strive to become what
society describes as freedmen, or ex-
convicts. They strive to obtain a Ticket of
Leave in order to gain some
independence, but their Ticket still keeps
them from leaving a certain district. As
such, many succumb to the temptation of
escaping into the bush to try their own
luck in search of secret gold, mythical
secondary colonies, outposts of other
foreign powers or civilised lands they
mistakenly think are nearby. This lifestyle
often leads to bushranging. Those
colonists who stay on the straight and
narrow find that they have two main ways
of surviving: risklessly farming sheep and
grain or riskily prospecting for gold and
opal. Recently, sealing has becoming a
viable alternative to farming and mining
for those convicts or freedmen with an
aptitude for seafaring. Seal colonies dot
the coastal cliffs all along Magellanica’s
eastern shores, providing valuable
blubber and furs. Those skilled in
exploration often become contractors for
mining companies or royal surveyors, the
main source of adventuring in
Magellanica. Such trades require trapping,
foraging, cartography, geography and
writing. These are often accompanied
alongside the need for communication
with natives – preferably with the tongue
of one’s mouth or mournfully with the
tongue of one’s blade.
1.5.4 Freemen
In contrast to freedmen who were once
convicts, those non-criminal colonists who
migrate to Magellanica of their own
volition are called freemen. They have
traditionally formed the bulk of the
merchant class as they come to
Magellanica with an entrepreneurial flair.
30
 It does any traveller well to avoid a bushranger...

31
However, recent success from prospecting
is drawing foreigners in droves. They are
arriving not just from Old Home. People
from other nations of the Overworld are
flocking to Magellanica in the hope of
getting rich quick. Cultural differences are
beginning to create tensions between
those from Old Home and elsewhere.
1.5.6 Mining Guilds
Throughout Old Home, the power of the
aristocracy in the civilised world is finally
being challenged by the successful
enterprise of commerce. Magellanica is no
different. The major power to confront the
lords of Old Home is the mining guilds.
These guilds are typically formed by
groups of freemen who purchase or claim
squatter’s rights to a piece of land and
subsequently find precious metals and
stones beneath it. With enough success,
these guilds expand to new lands and
employ miners to work large open cut or
tunnel mines. Many mines extend over
wide areas following veins of gold, silver
and opal. As such, land remains the most
valuable asset. Typically, the aristocracy
of Old Home with lands in Magellanica
have exclusively farmed their land. They
begin a mine of their own should they
chance across valuable metals and gems,
but the first priority of settlement was
food production and therefore farming.
Furthermore, the sporadic location of such
valuables has made mining in Magellanica
a risky business, and risk is the aristocrat’s
enemy. As such, the aristocracy has left
much of the prospecting to freedmen who
got lucky and began their own mine with
a few fellow prospectors. However, many
amongst the aristocracy regret letting
freedmen get away with such valuable
discoveries as it has meant they can no
longer compete with the most powerful
guilds that have readily dominated the
market so quickly.
The number of guilds is excessive, as any
group of people can claim to be one.
When they first began to appear there was
a push by many to unify into one guild,
but the commercial competition between
them has kept the guilds apart. To that
end, great rivalries have formed between
the guilds. Miners and tradesmen in a
particular guild’s employ often display
unwavering loyalty to their guild. To do
otherwise would seem dishonourable.
The guilds have grown so powerful as to
even adopt their own crests and heraldry.
Their coat-of-arms is not recognised by the
aristocracy but they are widely respected
by the masses. It gives the common people
a sense of grandeur – that they can be a
part of something great in spite of their
lowly birth. Governor Valourre sees the
mining guilds as a double-edged sword.
On one hand they provide incredible
economic prosperity for the colony, but on
the other they challenge the very
foundations of feudalism from which
stems his power.
The structure of a typical mining guild is
simple. At its head is a guildmaster who
consults a group of expert guildsmen that
form the Guild Council. This is in mimicry
of the governor and his Council of
Magellanica. Under the Guild Council are
journeymen, experienced guildsmen who
are not yet ready to be selected by the
guildmaster for promotion to the council.
Under the journeymen are all other
employees. In a given mine, the actual
miners tend to be lowly guildsmen and
32
 ...but it does any bushranger better to avoid the constabulary.

33
the overseer is a journeyman. The
overseer reports to a council member who
resides in a distant guild hall alongside
the guildmaster, typically in a rich area of
Galesmeet.
1.5.5 Bushrangers
The success of mining has meant that the
reward for thievery rises. With lucrative
thievery comes bushranging. The first
bushrangers were convicts who fled the
establishment and attempted to eke out a
miserable living in the bush. But the
moment gold and opal began to flow
through roads of the colony, bushranging
became lucrative. Bushrangers are no
longer getting by with the essentials, but
can now make enough money to live in
comfort. Cunning, swords and sorcery are
common weapons used by bushrangers
lurking in the shadows of the roadside.
Magic is rare, but that makes convicts
with the gift all the more valuable.
Zealous masters can work their magic-
using convicts so hard as to instil in them
a hatred of the establishment and a need
to break free. And if they break free,
bushranging becomes a profitable
pastime. As such, the population of
magicians amongst bushrangers is slightly
higher than normal – making them all the
more dangerous. Due to the rising threat
from bushrangers, travel on the open road
often requires guardsmen, an escort of
constables or swords and sorcery of one’s
own. Wanted posters have become
commonplace throughout the colony in an
attempt to persuade the citizenry to fight
back against the bushrangers. This
initiative has worked almost too well.
Bounty hunting is becoming a viable
occupation for many ex-soldiers wanting
to put their violent skills to good use.
1.5.7 Coins, Trade and Taxes
Trade is used more than coinage in
Magellanican economy. The most
common trade currency is alcoholic
spirits, particularly rum and whisky. The
occasional alchemical drug can also be
used. However, coinage becomes more
common the richer one gets to necessitate
easily transportable and storable wealth.
For monarchies and tyrants alike, taxes
are a predominant source of income for
the crown. Taxes on land, labour and
income of a lord inevitably trickle down
onto the lord’s constituents. The advent of
large towns like Galesmeet have created
avenues for common people to cheat taxes
by no longer requiring large amounts of
land to make a living. Trades such as
builder or baker require little space and
therefore they pay little tax on land.
However, the crown is aware of this
phenomenon and has started introducing
new taxes on specific trades. As such, the
most heavily taxed people outside of the
aristocracy are now the mining guilds.
High tax is causing animosity between
guildsmen and the crown, but their
expansive profit still makes mining the
most lucrative industry in Magellanica.
1.5.8 The Constabulary
These armed and armoured guardsmen
are paid by the crown to protect the
colony from within and without. They
enforce the law and keep the peace. The
constabulary doubles as Magellanica’s
soldiery in times of need when external
threats grow too severe. They often deal
with groups of rebellious miners, united
bushranging gangs or violent tribes of
natives. They are typified by red cloaks
and red tabards that give rise to their
34
colloquial names of “red cloak” or “red
tabbie”. The constabulary is based in the
Galesmeet Barracks where the
predominant force of Magellanican
constables are trained and housed.
The need to range the wilds in search of
murderous beasts, run-away convicts and
bushrangers has led to the establishment
of an elite contingent amongst the
constabulary known as the Red Rangers.
They are highly trained to camp and hunt
in the wilds. The elite amongst the rangers
are natives who have unparalleled
experience living off the land. These
natives have either been forcibly taken
from their tribe or have forsaken their old
lifestyle in exchange for the Old Home
way of life. Though they incomparable
rangers, the staunch tradition of Old
Home constabulary forbids the natives
from being given the title Red Ranger.
35
Instead, they are known as the Dark
Guard in reference to their dark skin. As
they are not allowed to wear the
traditional red of the constabulary, they
have taken to wearing black cloaks to
match their name. Not only is black cloak
more intimidating, it serves as a better
way to conceal oneself whilst ranging. The
stubborn tradition of the constabulary
keeps the Red Rangers from wearing more
appropriately coloured cloaks.
1.5.9 The Faith-in-Shadow
Commonly known as the Shadow Faith of
Old Home, the Faith-in-Shadow is the
most powerful force in Magellanica. It is
indistinguishable from Old Home culture
– all citizens are assumed to be faithful.
The doctrine of the Faith-in-Shadow
describes a hermaphroditic god-angel
known as Guardian, who looks down
from above on the realms of Old Home
and its people. The divine shadow of Its
wings gives the faith its name. The
obsession with white wings and shadow
has also given rise to the Faith’s obsession
with black and white clothing. Typically,
the clergy wear entirely black robes,
whilst the faithful amongst the
community may wear an item of black
clothing as an everyday symbol of their
belief. The most recognised symbol of the
Faith-in-Shadow is either a single or a pair
of white bony angel wings on a black
background. A recent motif amongst the
faithful has been a circular design with an
angel’s white wing covering the top half
and simply empty black space covering
the bottom. Given the hermaphroditic
nature of their deity, men and women are
treated equally amongst the clergy of the
Faith-in-Shadow.
Like all religions, legitimacy is lent to the
Shadow Faith’s claims by tangible
communication with what appears to be
their deity. Guardian legitimately lends
power to Its most devoted. The dedicated
life of the clergymen yields magical power
dependent on their faith. Strict adherence
to doctrine directly correlates with how
much power one of the faithful may claim
from Guardian. The doctrine of the
Shadow Faith includes: regular dawn and
dusk prayer or hymns, extensive recital of
philosophical and medical texts, seeking
and recording new information, copying
old information and always helping
worthy people in need. To be deemed
worthy of magical power by Guardian, a
worshipper must dedicate almost, if not
all their time to fulfilling the doctrine. This
has meant that those clergymen that do
not have families or friends tend to wield
more powerful magic as they apply
themselves completely to the doctrine.
However, straying from the doctrine will
see their magic wane. This has led to
interesting kinds of clergymen as they are
not prohibited from pursuing non-
doctrine activities, merely dissuaded. As
such, some clergymen may raise a family
but always prove to be a distant parent to
their children. Others can become
passable tradesmen, but they will never
find the time to both master a trade and
wield magic from their faith.
The life of the clergymen depends on the
level of devotion and the particular
ideology of the groups they associate
with. The clergy are dominated by three
types of cleric: the prior, the monk and the
friar. Priors are individuals who tend to a
priory, a church that is the established
place of worship in a town. Priors have a
small group of attendants drawn from the
community who will become new priors
when either more priories are built or the
current prior dies. Therefore, priors tend
to have been educated in religious
doctrine by the previous prior and are a
beloved member of the local community.
In large towns, the Shadow Faith may
deign it worthy of a cathedral. In such
instances, the cathedral is run by an
Archprior who oversees the running of
daily prayers, hymns and activities.
Monks are recluses who tend to live apart
from society. They see normal life as a
distraction from their doctrine, preferring
to be amongst their colleagues who are
striving to achieve the same goals.
Monasteries are off-limits for most of the
public, except for those in need seeking
medicine, shelter or food. Furthermore,
pilgrims are allowed to stay a night before
moving on and tradesmen are given
entrance to fix or build as needed. Monks
need not remain isolated, as some will
travel to other monasteries, universities or
make pilgrimages to sacred places.
Monasteries are governed by an
Archmonk, a monk who is elected to the
position by their peers. Friars have a
different ideology, preferring to be out
amongst society to learn as much from the
varied peoples of the world. Exploration is
a predominant focus of the friars, who
intend to record and analyse new land
and life in their scholarly pursuits. Friaries
are places with a constant flux of friars.
They rest in a friary whilst travelling from
one place to the next and share their
knowledge with other friars. A friary is
open to anyone, but there is no guarantee
that there will be any friars in attendance,
let alone a friar that can address a visitor’s
queries. Large friaries are governed by an
Archfriar, who is elected like their monk
36
counterpart. The irony of the position is
that being an Archfriar requires one to be
stationary and stay at the friary in their
care, the antithesis to their travelling
lifestyle. As such, the position of Archfriar
is only expected to be held for a year
before it is passed on. Given the reluctance
to be Archfriar, they tend to be old friars
who can no longer travel like they once
did, instead enjoying a stationary life
surrounded by an ever-changing group of
clerical brothers and sisters.
Those who dedicate their life to the clergy
are seen with great respect by both rich
and poor. Given their focus on learning
and teaching, many lords seek the counsel
of a monk or friar. The service and
education from monasteries and friaries
comes at a price: giving religious
institutions an income. Furthermore,
given the integration of faith into Old
Home society, those feeling sinful or on
their deathbed often leave money or land
to the nearest priory, monastery or friary
to help ensure their soul is better received
by Guardian.
The church boasts a large aasimar
population as they tend to have a greater
affinity with the ideals of their angelic
Guardian. The nature of this doctrine is
completely free of any discrimination.
Which allows people of any race or sex to
join the clergy of the Faith-in-Shadow.
This is somewhat rare when compared
with the doctrines or preachings of other
faiths. As such, the Shadow Faith tends to
attract a wide variety of people leading to
a multicultural and multilingual clergy.
The colony of Magellanica is relatively
new and is rapidly expanding. One of the
first permanent buildings in any new
37
settlement is a priory. This church
becomes a place to build the community –
where everyone meets regularly for
prayers and maybe a little gossip. The
oldest settlements in Magellanica near the
eastern coast have priories with priors
drawn from their community. However,
the newer settlements further west have
no community with which to draw priors
from. Priors in these new settlements are
typically drawn from amongst the clergy
of Galesmeet or even Old Home, creating
a new prior for a new priory. Monasteries
and friaries are rare in Magellanica.
Monasteries tend to be built distantly
from other settlements to maintain
seclusion from society. As such,
monasteries tend to be found near
volcanoes in the Land of Fire where there
are few farms or mines. In contrast,
friaries have been built on the main
thoroughfares of the colony, where friars
are most likely to meet in their travels.
1.5.10 The Academae
One challenge to the foundation of the
Shadow Faith has been the recent rise of
the Academae.. The use of magic
independent of worship has been known
since the dawn of time, but rarely have
these spellcasters ever been unified like
the Academae. The physical Academae is
situated in Old Home and is stylised as a
single campus of a colossal university,
symbolically built entirely by magic.
Known as acolytes, its students are mostly
composed of rich children of aristocrats
who are not directly in line for
inheritance. The first son is to inherit and
therefore trained for war, the second is
sent to the clergy and the third is typically
sent to the Academae. These children
often arrive at a young age, spending
Gods and Religion

Though great is the power wielded by guildmaster, Archprior, lord or king, they all
kneel to the power of a god. Like most fantasy settings, gods (a term used here
ambiguously with goddesses) are tangible and powerful in the land of Magellanica.
None claim complete omnipotence, but all claim a dominion over certain places,
people or philosophies. The gods are a diverse group, some forming pantheons of a
culture whilst others remaining solitary and aloof. Some are engaged with the
everyday person whilst others prefer to ignore intelligent life altogether. They appear
to occupy a realm outside the mortal world that none save the dead have seen.
However, gods do not stay tied to this Other-realm, but instead walk, fly or slither
upon the mortal world when they see fit.

Unquestionably the largest power at play in the civilised world is that of religion. The
magical superiority and influence of gods has meant that they hold deep-seated places
in the psyche of their worshippers. Furthermore, gods can take their place as immortal
king or queen of an entire nation should they wish, making church and state
inseparable. However, gods are not infallible, and they can be banished or even killed
by mortals with the strength or intellect to best them. Furthermore, gods are often at
odds with one another. This instils in these gods a pragmatic paranoia of regularly
interacting with the mortal world as it risks letting their rival know where or when
they will be. This also leads to religious disputes, where the god or gods of one
pantheon are at war with another.

In the current book, we have deliberately left out the codification of any other
religions other than the Faith-in-Shadow. We have our own ideas about the gods in
the world of Magellanica that we may expand upon in supplements to come.
However, these other religions are not so important to the colony of Magellanica and
are therefore absent from this manuscript. Although foreign gods are undoubtedly
part of the non-Old Home cultures immigrating to Magellanica, we have deliberately
left them vague as a place for the GM to introduce their own gods and pantheons
should they so wish.

We have used the Faith-in-Shadow and its deity Guardian as our representation of
dominant religion in colonial culture. This can easily be swapped out with a number
of common religions described in the settings of DnD and Pathfinder. As such, the
Faith-in-Shadow can be just that! The GM should feel free to alter the nature of faith in
Magellanica’s setting. To weave the continent and colony of Magellanica into a current
setting may mean that gods and races need to be changed to make it fit. We encourage
GMs to play with which parts of the setting or rules that fit and throw away those that
don’t.

38
anywhere between 5 and 20 years learning
the sciences of magic. The masters of the
Academae teach every known magical
discipline, alongside great philosophical
debates about sources or appropriate uses
of magic.
Though the Academae’s public fame
comes from the tutelage of students in the
magical arts, its commercial success stems
from research. Discovering new spells or
metaphysical laws of reality and non-
reality create opportunities to license
intellectual property to rich merchants,
spellcasters or aristocrats that have the
capital to use them. Even other academic
institutions have been known to buy
licenses for magical knowledge. The
Academae brutally enforces its licensing
deals with a cadre of robed assasins,
sanctioned by the crown to enforce brutal
laws that protect intellectual estates.
them to truthfully answer any question
they can.
Whilst the Faith-in-Shadow is woven
deeply into the culture Old Home and
colonial Magellanica, the Academae is
commonly seen as strange and
untrustworthy. Many consider it an
abomination, believing that magic should
only be wielded by the holiest of the
Shadow Faith. The Academae is seen by
most as indistinguishable from magic-
users of other lands whose source of
magic comes from foreign gods or
mysterious pacts. The Academae does not
attempt to remedy its reputation with the
masses. Instead it prefers to pursue its
objectives with secrecy and relish the
imposing guise of mystery.

Forever seeking new information, the

Academae commissions exploration in
every new land and Magellanica is no
different. Cartographers, geomancers and
biomancers categorise all facets of new
landscape and return to the Academae
with tomes of information. However, the
Academae’s desire for exploration is in
direct competition with the friars of the
Shadow Faith. The two establishments
fiercely compete for information, never
considering collaboration. As such, the
Academae and friars often compete for
hiring the most experienced explorers to
lead them into the wilderness.
Furthermore, the Academae is not
restricted by religious doctrine and is not
above sending spies to Magellanican
friaries. They will gladly steal information
from the friars whose doctrine obliges

39
An explorer from the Academae, equipped with all manner of magical aids

40
1.6 Powerful and
Noteworthy People of
Magellanica
“The governor wields when the council
yields,” is a common saying that cuts to
the heart of Magellanica’s leadership. It
alludes to the power of the council and
how Governor Valourre is widely seen as
its puppet. Though there are over 30
members of the Magellanican Council,
only a handful wield true power. Detailed
below are some of the most influential
councillors, each vying with the other for
control of Magellanica’s wealth. Their
ambitious endeavour to claim unexplored
41
land or thwart an opponent’s affairs often
comes at the expense of an adventurer’s
life or livelihood. By their whim is the
colony of Magellanica made.
But not all noteworthy Magellanicans are
councillors. A number of interesting
individuals have made a name for
themselves without power and influence.
Their fame typically stems from heroic
exploits of adventure, rebellion or crime.
They are the protagonists of fireside yarns
that spin their exploits into legend.
1.6.1 The Governor
Governor Koln Valourre is a young, tall,
raven-haired aasimar. He has a strange
heritage, displaying pointed ears, needle-
teeth and a chin-spike that some suggest
belies a draconic influence from his
mother's side. Koln tends to wear a lavish
jerkin and doublet in the Valourre colours
of yellow and blue, matching his face
tattoo of the Valourre sigil – a black galley
sitting upon a blue sea reaching a yellow
beach. He is seen by both rich and poor
alike as a weak-spirited man who obeys
the whim of the Council. Rumours spread
by his servants suggest he spends most of
his time alone in his manor with his
ageing mother, Lady Meldwyn Valourre.
By all accounts, his mother has never
recovered from the violent death of her
husband at the hands of an assassin
wielding an obsidian blade. Indeed, the
previous governor and Koln’s father
Toddric Valourre died when Koln was
young, and the power of Governor has
waned ever since. As the crown’s
representation in Magellanica, Koln
technically has the official power. But
sadly for Koln, this counts for little when
compared to the tangible powers of rich
lords and guildmasters on the council.
1.6.2 Lord Dahved the Listener
This old, short and characteristically
stocky dwarf sports a curious adaptation.
Lord Dahved Lightfinder’s epithet refers
to his large furry ears that curve to a
droopy point, presumably from a mixed
bloodline with something bestial. He is
the Lord of Echo Hall, an underground
manor in the Land of Fire famed for the
gemstone veins that sprout from the
vasculature of its walls. The sigil of House
Lightfinder is golden sun on a black
background. As such, the Lord of Echo
Hall sports a sun tattoo on either cheek,
glowing brilliantly with luminescent ink.
The Lightbringer family is ancient even by
Old Home standards, with origins
amongst the distant dwarven settlements
of subterranean cave-lands. Lord Dahved
represents his family’s interests in
Magellanica. He is a shrewd and quick-
tempered man who ruthlessly pursues his
financial interests. His wealth is built
upon farming and mining the wide tracts
of land held in his name. It is widely
known that Lord Dahved is obsessed with
collecting gems. He will handsomely
reward any who are willing to part with
the largest stones without caring whether
they are procured by legitimate means.
1.6.3 Lady Chalicae the Red
The Red Lady is a tiefling rarity amongst
the aristocracy. She is first foremost
known for her beauty. Secondly, she is
famed for foregoing tattoos in exchange
for thick red ochre that covers her
otherwise pale grey face. It matches her
flaming hair and fierce white-hot eyes.
Though she owns verdant grazing lands
in the Golden Plain, her main source of
wealth is a wide salt plain on the western
edge of the Barrier. She has personally
forged tight ties with the native people on
her lands – a rare relationship amongst the
aristocracy. Not only has she employed
natives to mine salt, she pays them well.
Lady Chalicae has even taken on the
ochre-wearing tradition of the natives, a
controversy to Magellanican aristocracy.
She is respected for her happy demeanour
and generous donations to charities at the
Cathedral. Overly devout, Lady Chaliacae
is yet to find another husband after he
died hunting bushrangers who had raided
his outlying sheep stations. Though she
was once Lady Lawsblade, she took the
epithet “the Red” as she felt it suited her
more appropriately. Wild speculation
surrounds the death of her husband, with
some claiming he died from merely falling
off his dromornithid in a drunken stupor,
whilst others suggest the Red Lady has
more than ochre on her hands. Regardless,
her red ochre face-paint not only acts as a
symbol but also hides the sword tattoos
that no-doubt remind her of her late
husband.
1.6.4 Tolle – Steward of Lord Magnanimar
Folksguard
This ex-convict and ex-native has climbed
higher up the ladder more than any other
criminal in Magellanica. Tolle is a tall,
broad man with dark yellow crystalline
scales and a stegadonian faceplate belying
an exotic draconian heritage. Indeed, his
obsession with fire may suggest a more
reptilian ancestry. He keeps himself clean-
shaven in traditional Old Home fashion,
sporting a chain tattoo on his face that
signifies his past. Tolle is stooped from
years of work in the chain gangs, a
42
punishment for attempted bushranging. 1.6.5 Guildmistress Wyllica Opaleye
But he has reformed from his old
With thick black dread-locks and a hearty
bushranging days, becoming a respected
laugh, Guildmistress Wyllica cannot help
member of the Faith-in-Shadow and
but draw the attention of every eye in the
coming to the attention of Lord
room. A migrant from distant islands to
Magnanimar Folksguard. Lord
the north, she started in Magellanica with
Magnanimar has never ventured to
nothing but a handful of coins in a city
Magellanica but he owns large swathes of
brimming with xenophobia. Her culture
its land. His grandfather saw the potential
idealises the extremes of happiness and
opportunity of the colony before it became
sadness, alongside the pursuit of being a
successful and bought the land when it
hero in one’s own story. As such, Wyllica
was going cheap. Though there were not
wept furiously for her poverty then grit
enough convicts to tend the land early in
her teeth and smiled all the wider with her
Magellanica’s history, now times have
success. She joined a fledgling mining
changed and the Folksguard House
guild, the Temple of Potch, and slowly
benefits greatly from numerous farms.
rose to be its guildmistress. Now the
However, Lord Maganimar has no wish to
Temple of Potch dominates the opal trade
live in distant Magellanica so he has
out of Oldstone and she controls one of
appointed Tolle as his steward to manage
the wealthiest mining guilds in all of Old
affairs. It was a controversial decision
Home’s Empire. Though her smile is
choosing an ex-convict to be steward as
undoubtedly disarming, her fury is swift
most lords and ladies see them as scum
and terrible. Guildmistress Wyllica
worth little more than the gallows.
maintains her islander customs with many
However, Lord Magnanimm is a pious
paramours picked from amongst the most
man and mercifully chose Tolle due to his
statuesque miners of her guild. They form
devout faith, his knowledge of the land
her most loyal bodyguards, protecting her
and his intimidating persona. Stern and
from the inevitable attempts at
strict, Tolle is a meticulous steward who
assassination that plague the life of a
learned the trade swiftly at the behest of
Magellanican Council member.
his lordship. Tolle is now a powerful force
in Magellanican politics, claiming a seat 1.6.6 Guildmaster Taggot the ‘Don
on the Council in his lordship’s name
despite his lowly background. Venerable Guildmaster Taggot is the
Furthermore, he is bi-lingual – speaking antithesis of his bastard half-brother, Lord
languages of both the colony and his Lightfinder. Though he has his brother’s
native tribe that live on Folksguard lands. short dwarven frame and long furry ears,
He has maintained peaceful relationships his thick burrower’s claws belie a
with the natives of his old tribe, but has bastard’s heritage. Rumours say he shares
forsaken their way of life for reasons he a shifter’s blood. He is famed across the
refuses to explain. entire colony as the greatest miner to have
graced the continent, managing to dig
more earth with his claws than the
average miner can with a pick and shovel.

43
His skill in burrowing gave him “the 1.6.7 Archprior Wrothgar
Diprotodon” epithet, in reference to the
Leader of Saint Althidon’s Cathedral, the
colossal member of tunnelling
Archprior is undoubtedly the most pious
Magellanican megafauna. Typical of
man in Magellanica. With fire and
Magellanican colloquialisms, the epithet
brimstone he preaches the Guardian’s
soon got shortened to a much more
tenants to the faithful. However, many
manageable “Don”. Taggot is beloved by
things make Wrothgar an anomaly
miners as he is genuinely not afraid to
amongst the clergy. Firstly, he is younger
“get his claws dirty”, in contrast to the
than any other Archprior in the Faith-in-
uppity aristocrats. Having made a name
Shadow’s history – merely 24 years old.
for himself amongst the demurely titled
Secondly, he is migrant born – having
Magellanican Gold Miner’s Guild, he soon
grown up in a seemingly violent and
renamed it the Goldfinders after becoming
sinful culture of the icy south that does
its guildmaster. The cheeky pun on his
not recognise the Guardian as the greatest
family’s name infuriates Lord Dahved to
of gods. Thirdly and most striking is his
no end. Half-thug and half-miner, Taggot
lycan-shifter heritage – his body is built
manages his guild with brutal and often
like an apex predator. Hulkingly huge,
illegal efficiency. His reputation for
shaggy black fur, viscous fangs and sharp
digging out one’s innards just as readily
claws make Wrothgar a terror to behold.
as he digs earth tends to make any bend to
The traditional black robes of the Faith-in-
the will of the Goldeaters. Regardless of
Shadow’s clergy further accentuate his
his reputation, the masses love him for his
intimidating persona. Mysteriously
donations to Faith-in-Shadow charities
abandoned by his clan when he was
and his refusal to stop working alongside
young, Wrothgar was taken in by
the common folk in the mines.
missionaries and raised amongst the
clergy. Wildly charismatic and faithful,
Wrothgar readily rose amongst the
clergy’s ranks. His discipline with
Guardian’s doctrines has provided him
with a pawed grasp at spellcasting, with a
particular penchant for healing the sick.
Aside from cultural respect, the Faith-in-
Shadow holds power with the generous
stream of donations that forever pours
upon the Cathedral’s hallowed steps. With
such coin, Wrothgar provides the needy
and the sick with charity whilst
maintaining a substantial demesne of
farmland owned by the church. The
Archprior’s influence also extends to the
militant wing of the Faith-in-Shadow. He
commands the Shaded Knights, a holy
order of elite paladins assigned to

44
Archpriors throughout Old Home and listening than talking. Occasionally she
abroad to protect the lands and holdings can’t help but cackle wildly in response to
of the Faith. These expert swordsmen and rather mundane discussion – much to the
spellcasters are clad in black plate armour concern of her fellow councillors.
with black tabards embellished with white
Though her brutal punishment of minor
wings. The Shaded Knights can be
crimes has sent a strong message to
dispatched at the Archprior’s whim. They
would-be criminals, it has merely proven
are barely accountable to the law, widely
to reinforce their efforts to avoid capture
seen as so faithful as to be above such
by any means necessary. Even if one has
trivialities as legality. The combination of
stolen a mouldy fruit from a merchant, the
spiritual, financial and military power
thief becomes willing to take the life of
makes Archprior Wrothgar a deeply
any who would attempt to capture him.
respected and feared member of the
As such, Magistrate Mellodeen’s harsh
council.
methods have enhanced the rate and
1.6.8 Magistrate Groelle Mellodeen extremity of violent crime. But Mellodeen
doesn’t seem to care. She simply smiles all
“Older than old” is the common
the wider, happy that her grisly work
description of this elderly noblewoman.
never ceases. Rumours suggest that her
Magistrate Mellodeen has been presiding
mind has cracked but aristocratic tradition
over the courtroom of Galesmeet Barracks
keeps her from losing her position.
for longer than any can remember. She is
Sinister tales attempt to explain her
consistently haggard, with a waterfall of
penchant for the death sentence by
tangled black hair pouring either side of
claiming that she is being bribed by
sallow face. Her shrivelled skin is a
councillors to kill their enemies. More
whitish corpse-grey. The Mellodeen
sinister is the alternative – that she simply
family is old, even by Old Home
likes sending the colonists of Magellanica
standards. Indeed, the root of the family
to the noose for no more than the fun of it.
name extends beyond the founding of the
Empire. Some claim that there is fae-blood 1.6.9 High Commissioner Chivilar Bolde
in the family, something that Mellodeen’s
Commissioner Bolde is an old landed
pointed ears seem to attest to. The
knight of aasimar heritage who fought
Mellodeen sigil is an open palm upon
numerous campaigns for the crown in his
which sit a pile of skulls – perhaps hinting
distant youth. His well-trimmed grey
to a sinister beginning. Magistrate
beard covers a scarred and chiselled face
Mellodeen has her sigil tattooed on either
of white complexion. Commissioner
cheek, alongside a set of black scales upon
Bolde’s fierce yellow eyes and sharp jaw
her forehead that balance a brain and
make him a handsome fox despite his age.
heart. Her gummy smile greets every
Completing the dashing look is his lavish
defendant with an eerie hint of joy at the
red uniform, cut to fit his muscular frame.
prospect of sating a hungry gallows. She is
The Bolde family’s heart sigil is tattooed
widely known as a hangman’s friend. On
on either cheek, with an open tome
the council, she plays a rather minor role
skewered by a sword upon his forehead.
in the debates as she is much happier

45
The fourth son of a noble family, he left
the manor at a young age to squire for the
Knights of Lore. He upheld their friar-like
pursuit of knowledge by assisting in the
assault of ancient libraries in Old Home’s
violent expansions of decades passed. Sir
Bolde learnt the arts of war from their
hallowed vaults, becoming a respected
advisor to military commanders. But the
wars eventually ended. With no
knowledge to be gained by the sword, Sir
Bolde turned his interests to law and the
justice it demands. He had never been
married and sired no children, so with
nothing to lose he took the position of
High Commissioner of Magellanica’s
constabulary. He now orchestrates the red
tabbies as meticulously as he once did
soldiers. Commissioner Bolde maintains
strict law and order in all boundaries of
the colony’s settlements, but struggles to
establish them in the wilds between.
Regardless, he is widely considered as a
reasonable and just man, more than apt
for the position of High Commissioner.
Common gossip hints at a darker past of
Commissioner Bolde, suggesting that he
fled Old Home to escape a secret
investigation into alleged war crimes or
occult practices. Constables laugh off the
rumours, confident that their righteous
and respected leader is not capable of such
atrocities.
1.6.10 Chaptermaster Fourteen
The leader of the Magellanican Academae
is by far the most mysterious member of
the council. Chaptermaster Fourteen
wears a burnt-orange mask of a snarling
demon in spite of the laws that forbid the
wearing of such masks in public. The
Chaptermaster’s extremely thin frame is
shrouded in a deep purple robe
embroidered with blazing blue runes. He
is accompanied at all times by dark-
skinned acolytes drawn from amongst the
native tribes of Magellanica. Whispers tell
that these native attendants call
themselves “the Listeners”. Their purple
robes match their master’s, though they
keep their faces unmasked. Much to the
horror of those they meet, their lips are
sewn shut and ritualistic scars cover their
skin in swirling script unknown to the
common man. Chaptermaster Fourteen
and his retinue rarely attend council
meetings. On the scarce occasions he
appears, he remains completely silent.
Fourteen merely listens to what is said
and then leaves without ever saying a
word. Rumours say that his voice is deep
and gravely, but his masked face never
moves up or down to address those taller
or shorter than his middling height. His
ambition remains entirely unknown. Not
even those amongst the council can tell
what his motives are. But one thing seems
for certain: Chapter Fourteen and the
Academae are heavily invested in
discovering the secrets of Magellanica.
1.6.11 Gohn the Bat
This freeman farmer turned successful
explorer is an exceedingly charismatic
man, complete with hearty laugh, warm
smile and enchanting eyes aglow with
aasimarian amber. Gohn the Bat has
regularly adventured deep into the
unexplored valleys of the Barrier or glades
of the Marrowgums. His success in
uncovering new gold or gem veins has
made him a valuable asset to the mining
guilds. Furthermore, he is a skilled
trapper who has captured a number
unique Magellanican fauna for the
Academae. Both mining guilds and the
46
Academae ensure that Gohn’s coinpurse
bulges. He earned his name after
capturing and returning to Galesmeet
with a humanoid bat-like creature. Very
few people saw the beast before it was
taken to the Academae’s Chapterhouse,
but the rumours that sprouted from its
wake were sufficient to garner Gohn the
epithet. However, Gohn is not only
famous for his exploits as an explorer. He
is widely respected by the native tribes
throughout Valourrelend for a pact he
made with their elders: any valuable land
Gohn uncovers must be purchased by
interested colonial parties from the natives
that live there. This has ensured that the
mining guilds that employ Gohn end up
paying tributes for their land. However,
the guilds tend to pay natives too little.
They part with clothes, cloaks, scissors,
sacks and other such tools that are of great
value to the natives but of little financial
cost to the guilds. Furthermore, Governor
Edric Valourre’s Empty Land Declaration
challenges Gohn’s pact, with many
mining guilds claiming that empty land is
free for the taking despite traditional
native owners. Gohn continues to fight
against this declaration in court, but has
been unsuccessful to get it repealed –
unsurprising given the power of the
mining guilds. Gohn is now mostly retired
from adventure, but has established the
Magellanican Explorer’s Guild in
Galesmeet. As its founder, he is its
guildmaster. The Explorer’s Guild is
becoming the first port-of-call for any
prospective employer needing an
exploratory expedition.
1.6.12 Wild Williome
For 30 years this escaped elven convict
lived amongst the natives of Valourrelend,
47
deliberately avoiding the colonists in the
region. Though the crime that brought
him to Magellanica remains unknown, his
tale of life amongst the wild people has
become legendary. Williome jumped ship
at the first sight of land and desperately
clung to life in the weeks that followed.
He uncovered a native gravesite, from
which he claimed a spear. When he
encountered the local tribe soon after, they
assumed he was their dead kin reborn
given that he wielded the same spear and
was wrapped in lily-white skin. From
there, Williome became a part of the tribe
and wandered throughout the wilds of
Valourrelend for 30 years. Eventually, the
colony had expanded so far that contact
with Williome would be inevitable. When
Gohn the Bat lead an expedition into his
tribe’s lands, Williome knew his time was
up. Approaching the colonists, Gohn and
his fellow explorers were astonished to see
a pale native. It took Williome a few
weeks to remember his old language, but
eventually his common tongue returned.
He then left his life amongst the natives
behind, returning to civilisation with tales
of mythical beasts and strange native
rituals. Williome passed off his convict’s
tattoo as an old soldier’s mark, but
eventually told Gohn the truth. Ever
merciful, Gohn bought Williome’s service
as a convict before leveraging with the
Governor to grant his freedom. Williome
now lives in the Explorer’s Guildhall in
Galesmeet where he is an exemplary
consultant on all matters of native culture
and custom.
1.6.13 Elder Barack
With short stature, rotund belly and a
long white beard falling from a weathered
face, first impressions from colonists tend
dismiss Barack as a senile old koalafolk.
But his fierce orange eyes and booming
voice immediately dispel the
characterisation. Barack is the elder of the
Nungburra tribe that traditionally lived in
the region that Galesmeet now occupies.
Though the tribe was initially dismissed
by the original colonists, Barack has used
his charisma and oration to fight for the
right to the land. Many amongst the
aristocracy or the mining guild actively
ignored his plea for recognition. However,
over his lifetime he built a following
amongst the constabulary by spending a
decade amongst the Dark Guard. With
leverage from High Commissioner Bolde,
Elder Barack finally influenced the
Magellanican Council to yield land of the
Golden Plain to the Nungburra tribe.
Barack’s tribe maintains a native lifestyle
alongside the colonial settlement by acting
as trappers or hunters for nearby farming
estates. Though the tribe remains poor,
they are free from the persecution suffered
by most other tribesmen on colonial land.
Elder Barack is now a widely respected
member of the Galesmeet community.
Alongside Wild Williome, Barack is
consulted about native affairs by the
council. However, some lords and
guildmasters grumble about Barack’s
influence on the council due to the
establishment of fairer rights for native
labourers. Whispers tell of a secret plot to
have him assassinated, but Barack heartily
laughs them off whilst gripping his spear
a little tighter.
1.6.14 Yallagah
This tall, yellow-furred and muscular
wombatfolk warlord bares thick shifter’s
fangs from a strong jaw. His fur is covered
in swirling designs of thick red ochre
mixed with the blood of his victims.
Frontiersmen west of the barrier whisper
his native name in fear, preferring instead
to refer to him as “The Hunter”.
Unfortunately for the colonists, it is they
he hunts. Violent station owners
murdered his entire tribe whilst he was
out hunting kangaroo for a feast. Since
then, he has been completely focussed on
uniting the tribes west of the Barrier and
to annihilate the colony from the region.
Yallagah has even convinced a number of
giants and yowies to join his cause. They
have proven crucial in slaying armoured
mercenaries and caravan guardsmen that
are otherwise difficult to kill with spear
and club. A number of natives who grew
up on Faith-in-Shadow missions have also
joined him. With their knowledge of
colonial Magellanica, Yallagah and his
followers have established the Murrawi
Republic, seceding from the colony by
using their own law against them.
Yallagah leads the Republic's military
campaigns, leaving the elders to do the
ruling. However, the Old Home crown
has ordered Governor Valourre not to
tolerate this blatant challenge to the king’s
rule. There is now talk of military action
against Yallagah and his marauders.
Indeed, though the Republic has
maintained an outwardly peaceful
relationship with colonists it engages in
secret night raids on colonial settlements.
Their aim is to leave none alive, such that
none can live to lay blame on the
Republic. With such exploits, Yallagah
maintains his title with vigour.
48
1.6.15 Trugallia
Most mysterious of all known natives,
Trugallia is the last native of Demon’s
Land. She was a wise woman and
kurdaitcha of her people before they were
pushed off their land by New Home
colonists and killed by demons. She is
young lizardfolk woman with a shock of
white hair that falls to the ground on
either side of a pretty face laced with fine
scars. Trugallia carries a grisly staff and
wand made from the bones of her
tribesmen. A skin cloak covers her
shoulders, matted with blood and human
hair. She fled Demon’s Land for the
mainland when the last of her people fell
to the demons, braving the Strait of Surges
in a canoe. Her magic kept the swell at
bay. Now she roams the wilderness of
Magellanica, mysteriously intervening in
49
both native and colonial affairs. She has
somehow mastered all native and colonial
language, suggesting a mastery of
linguistic magic. Trugallia is as likely to
help those in need as she is to punish
them with twisted curses, concealing an
agenda that only those with dream-sight
of the song-lines may understand.
1.6.16 Red Belly
Rumour has it that this young knight
came to Magellanica to escape pursuit
from the crown after taking the chastity of
a nobleman’s betrothed. None know his
real name, but all simply know him as
Red Belly – one of the most successful
bushrangers in Magellanica. His title may
refer to red bellied snakes that terrorise
the Magellanican wilderness or to his red
skin, but none can say for sure. Red Belly’s
broad frame is always wrapped in
chainmail and encased in a breastplate
whilst his head is covered by a knightly
helm. None have ever seen his face as he
never removes his battered great helm,
but rumours abound that he is as
devilishly handsome as the Red Lady is
beautiful. With a fire emblazoned on a
crimson tabard, the Red Belly is an easily
identified bandit. The Red Belly tends to
wield a sword in one hand and
pyromancy in the other, suggesting an
education in the Academae. Many a
mining caravan has been brought to a halt
when beasts of burden panic as fireballs
erupt from the roadside. This is the
unmistakable herald of an imminent raid
by Red Belly and his gang. He has drawn
together a number of disgruntled convicts
and criminals who brave the Cinderwood
in search of easy money from a raid or
two. Red Belly’s raids tend to be non-
violent affairs, treating everyone with the
utmost respect as he robs them of all but a
few rations and the clothes on their back.
However, the persistence of the Red
tabbies, Red rangers and even the Dark
Guard are now leading to violent melees
fought to the death between the ash-black
boughs of the Cinderwood. Though many
of his gang have died in the fighting (or
from the Cinderwood’s fires), Red Belly
always emerges alive and ready to rob
again.
1.7 Landmarks and
Settlements of the Colony
The colonial population grows sparser the
further west one travels. Most towns are
therefore near the eastern coast or green
plains nearby. From there, farming or
mining towns dot the landscape. The
colony has expanded north and south
along the coast, with much left to explore
in the verdant wilds beyond. A few
mining settlements tentatively cling to
success out amongst the Plain of Rust, but
there are no permanent settlements any
further westward. Each town near the
coast is connected by roads that were
cleared by convicts. However, further
west there are only rough, poorly sign-
posted tracks that lead a traveller on
winding paths that often end in untamed
wilderness. Throughout both colony and
wilderness are sacred sites that are held
with great importance by the local native
tribes. With the expansion of the colony,
many tribes are being forced from their
sacred lands. They leave behind the role of
guardian and caretaker that their
ancestors had maintained for millennia.
Who or what they were guarding and
Place names
Most places listed here have two
names; the first is colonial whilst the
second is the native. Though the
origins of colonial names are well
known by the colonists, they rarely
know the native equivalent and vice
versa. Given that the setting has been
described from a colonial standpoint,
not all native names given below have
a known translation. We have
deliberately left some native names
untranslated to allow room for
creative GMs to fill in these
mysterious gaps. In addition, some
colonial names have no native
equivalent as they denote places built
in regions without any natives to give
them a title.
caretaking remains a secret to all but the
natives.
1.7.1 Galesmeet
The capital of the colony, Galesmeet, sits
on flat plains at the western edge of
Pentanidad Bay where the Flowing River
meets the sea. The town has grown large
enough to be called a city, sprawling
about the bayside to the north and south.
The core of the city is built just west of the
dockyards at the mouth of the Flowing
River. Large bluestone buildings form the
centre of town: Galesmeet town hall, the
governor and lord’s manors, constable
barracks, colonial prison, multiple mining
guildhalls and Saint Althidon’s Cathedral
of the Faith-in-Shadow. The cathedral is
by far the most dominating piece of
50
architecture, standing tall above all other Chapterhouse displays a public
buildings with two steeples at either end. vivisectionary and menagerie nearby at
The slate of its roof resembles feathers the docks. Here the Acadaemic scholars of
making the two steeples seem like wings. the biomantic arts prod and pry apart the
The entire cathedral is painted white, strange beasts and plants of Magellanica –
black and red with ochre, representing all of which are unnervingly foreign to
their god-angel’s wings, shadow and those from Old Home and beyond.
patron Saint Althidon’s blood. A large eye
Galesmeet is the seat of Governor Koln
is carved into the redgum doors,
Valourre, and as such, he is considered the
symbolising the ever-perceptive eye of the
township’s mayor. Valourre and the
patron whose full title is Saint Althidon
Council govern the colony from the town
the Watcher. The symmetrical wing-
hall. Nearby in the constable’s barracks,
shaped structure of the cathedral is typical
magistrates pass their sentences for those
of Old Home architecture and is reflected
they deem guilty – the gallows often being
in most buildings throughout Galesmeet.
the verdict. Given the barracks, Galesmeet
Apart from the Cathedral, the docks are
has the highest representation of
also home to a number of stone buildings
constables in the colony, keeping the lands
– most of which are secure warehouses
nearby free from bushrangers. However,
used to store valuable resources from the
the constables still struggle to stop
mines. The rest of the settlement is made
thievery from within the settlement.
from wood or clay buildings whose
Convicted criminals in the nearby prison
design reflects the myriad of cultures in
are rarely lonely.
the colony. Wood buildings are cheap but
are a particular worry when summer The docks are constantly bustling with
bushfires cause ash-rain to pour from red- imports and exports, dealing with the
tinted, smoke-filled skies. many cargo ships and frigates anchored in
Pentanidad Bay. The smell of earth and
The recent interest of the Academae in
fish mingle in equal measure as the
Magellanica has led to the establishment
mining guilds and hordes of fishermen vie
of a campus in Galesmeet, known simply
for space upon the dock. Further afield
as the Chapterhouse. It is built into the
from the shore, most settlers are either
bayside with its own private dock for the
famers, miners or those seeking to be
many ships coming and going with secret
either. The latter are typically unemployed
business. Rising out from the water, the
immigrants or newly-made freedmen
Chapterhouse is made of neither wood
desperately looking for a job. Farms
nor stone but a strange smooth substance
spread far from Galesmeet’s outskirts into
that the Acadaemics call “mold”. Rather
the green plains of Valourrelend and the
than being built, the bone-like mold walls
Land of Fire. Those miners who live in
of the Chapterhouse were grown with
Galesmeet are usually doing so off the
strange magic over the space of a few
back of profits made from lucky finds.
years. The building is shaped like a tangle
Unfortunately for the constables, the
of thick fingers reaching up from the
success of mining has meant that young
water. Though only sanctioned
men with money to burn are becoming
Acadaemics are allowed to enter, the

51
commonplace. Alcohol-, drug- and the guilds hold the power over the
magical-induced debauchery is becoming colonial establishment.
a problem for the establishment, as miners
Mayor Mett Wrytongue is commonly seen
make enough money to splurge but not
as a puppet to the guildmasters, but his
enough to save. The other unfortunate
surname is not without merit. He
side-effect of mining are those who have
unabashedly took his surname upon
spent every last coin prospecting, only to
himself after negotiating a number of
go broke with nothing to show for it. This
deals between the mining guilds and the
has created a underclass of beggars and
governor with humour and conviviality.
miscreants who are treated like convicts
Mayor Wrytongue is a quirky character,
despite their presumed innocence.
standing out from a crowd as his
However, the sad reality is that these poor
lizardfolk heritage provides him with a
souls often resort to thievery and mugging
long neck and shiny scales.
to get by – a lifestyle that ultimately leads
to the gallows. The oddity of this mining town is that the
native name for the region has the same
The Flowing River is a highway for goods
meaning as the colonially designated
to be sent to or from inland. It supplies
“Grave”. The natives will not say why
more distant townships with food and
they know the area as a resting place for
other necessities. Many travellers also take
the dead, whereas the colonist’s reasons
to the river for easy transport westwards
are well documented. A rebellion against
to the mining hotspots in the Land of Fire.
the crown erupted when the first gold
The river is usually dominated by mining
miners in the region protested against the
barges filled with valuable ores and
harsh enforcement of mining permits. Red
gemstones, tempting some bushrangers to
tabbies used swords, crossbows and
take to the water as well as the road.
magic which triggered a town-wide fray
1.7.2 Grave – Balla Arat that left many innocents dead alongside
the guilty. The guardsmen won, the
Grave is the second largest colonial
miners were suppressed and the town’s
settlement after Galesmeet. It is a
namesake was drawn from the large
prosperous mining town where the
cemetery erected for the dead. Despite the
influence of the mining guilds is strongest.
decisive victory of the establishment, there
The township is centred about three hills,
remains animosity between the miners
sitting beside a large creek that runs
and the red tabbies or “red butchers” as
between them. Not too far away is
they are now known in Grave. The rapid
Buninyong, a volcano that dominates the
expansion of Grave by the mining guilds
eastern horizon. Tall stone buildings built
has exacerbated the problem by swelling
with wing-like Old Home architecture
the town with miners. The goldfields that
form the core of the township, but
surround Grave may yet prove to be a
sprawling tents covering the nearby
battlefield again.
goldfields form its heart. The success of
gold mining in the region has ensured that

52

1.7.3 Flowing River
Barges are a common sight on the steady
Flowing River. They transport people and
supplies to and from Galesmeet out into
outlying villages and mines along the
river bank. Bushrangers are beginning to
target barges, as they can make easy
pickings on the slow current of the river.
Boats that meander through unnamed
tributaries can link Galesmeet with
villages a few days travel from Grave and
the High Friary. However, the large
swamps that sprout either side of the
Flowing River can swallow barges in their
nightly fog. It pays to have a bargeman
who knows the way. Those barges lost are
rarely seen again.
1.7.4 Valourrelend and The Golden Plain
The colony of Magellanica is named
Valourrelend after the first Governor,
53
Edric Valourre. The name Valourrelend
now refers to the lands south of
Galesmeet. The wheat belt known as the
Golden Plain extends north and south of
Galesmeet, forming the heartland of the
Valourrelend. Farming villages dot the
entire region, often clinging to lazy creeks
that meander their way towards the coast.
Diprotodons tend to pull the plough
instead of traditional Old Home oxen.
Those freemen whose parents or
grandparents squatted the land tend to
run large farming estates. They are
becoming known as the “squattocracy”.
However, the largest farms are
predominantly run by Magellanican or
Old Home lords of the aristocracy. They
“employ” convicts in large numbers to
shepherd or harvest crop, paying them
with little more than food and a shoddy
roof to keep out rain – but rarely wind.
Disputes between convicts and freedmen
are common, with many convicts rebelling
against their “employers” out of disgust at
their treatment. As a result, the red tabbies
maintain a heavy presence on the farming
estates throughout the region.
1.7.5 Pentaniland Hills
Seen from afar by Ferdinnian Magellan
and his fleet, he named these distant hills
like he did the bay he saw them from:
after his ship. The Pentanidad flagship
had five masts which matched the five
hills one can see from the mouth of the
Flowing River. These hills are a favourite
grazing place for sheep and a favourite
refuge for bushrangers. The Red Rangers
are often combing the hidden valleys in
search of runaway thieves.
1.7.6 Wurdi Youang
This native name for the hills refers to the
huge granite boulders that protrude from
thin topsoil peppered with withered grass.
Farming is difficult in these hills, but a
few opportunistic squatters have tried
their luck – but to no avail. Those few
farms that cling to fragile success tend to
raise sheep, but many of their flock go
missing in the unexplored valleys to the
south. Those bushrangers found in these
hills are either the most or least successful.
The Wurdi Youang is a good place to hide
a large stash as much as it is a place to
hide from the constabulary. However,
there is little one can rob from poor
farmers, meaning that bushranging gangs
tend not to stay for long. Rumours abound
amongst the farmers that the southern
reaches of the hills are haunted by strange
spirits of dead natives. It should not come
as a surprise – the desperate farmers of the
Wurdi Youang have a tendency to murder
any natives they see in a mournful
attempt to keep their meagre flocks safe.
1.7.7 The Red Monastery
The stone wall of the monastery’s cloister
is made of blood red scoria, mined from
the fringe of the Lonely Forest nearby. Its
colour becomes vibrant when wetted by
winter storms that surge in off the coast.
The monastery is situated at the edge of
the Golden Plain wheat belt, maintaining
a substantial demesne of nearby farmland.
Its monks seek solitude from the civilised
world by ensuring no villages are built too
close to the monastery. Furthermore, those
monks insistent on extreme solitude can
range the lonely forest in search of quiet
glades unseen by colonial eyes. Those
wishing a more permanent hermitage
maintain the lighthouse of South Beacon.
When not praying, singing and debating
scripture of the Shadow Faith, the monks
of the Red Monastery practice medicine
and healing magic on the sick or wounded
from nearby farmland. They also read
weighty tomes compiled by their friar
brethren and copy them with an artistic
54
flourish. The monastery boasts a rich
library that covers most known topics of
lore, including new compilations on
Magellanican flora and fauna.
The monks are engaged in an ambitious
assimilation project with the native tribes
of the Lonely Forest. They provide food,
shelter and healing for those natives who
will acknowledge the protection of
Guardian and the Faith-in-Shadow’s
doctrine. Worryingly, the monks have
begun forcing children away from
heathen mothers in an attempt to
“educate” the natives in the true nature of
religion. Native oblate children now fill
the cloister, quietly attending to the
obedentiaries required for monastic life.
The monastery is led by Archmonk
Lokgar, a small hunched man with stony
skin from an elemental heritage, long grey
dreadlocks and crystalline fangs. He
waddles with a paunch grown from years
of feasting on rich monastic banquets.
Lokgar is a shrewd man, whose
unquestionable devotion to Guardian
seems to have provided him with a
magical capability unmatched by his
clerical brethren.
1.7.8 Reveller’s Marsh
This small town shares the name of the
marsh that surrounds it. Reveller’s Marsh
is often shrouded with fog, protected from
the violent beasts of nearby mountains by
the wetlands that surround it. However,
bunyips are known to feed on travellers
that stray too far into the marsh,
rewarding those who never dare venture
beyond the roadside. With no farming or
mining prospects, the town only survives
by catering to explorers. These ambitious
adventurers range into the Marrowgums,
55
explore the southern coast or follow the
footsteps of Lord Esterlyn and the 2nd
Expeditionary Force across the Barrier.
The town is a collection of taverns and
stores where explorers stock before
embarking and get drunk upon their
return. The mayor of Reveller’s Marsh is
Fylloquay the Lucky, a somewhat bestial
bilbyfolk woman of middling years with a
viscous scar reaching from her neck to her
nose. She earned her epithet when she
escaped the jaws of a mirror python after
stealing one of its eggs. She was given her
viscous scar in the process. Fylloquay was
a native mercenary who was the only
survivor of an expedition southwards.
Her bitter rivals take great pleasure in
spreading rumours about her scar – most
suggesting that she got it from a fireball
when she fought the rest of her expedition
to claim the egg. She doesn’t care, none of
her expedition ever returned to dispute
her. After she sold the egg to the
Academae for a small fortune, she set up a
tavern in Reveler’s Marsh appropriately
named The Lucky Egg. She is now the
most successful publican in town.
Fylloquay has been appointed mayor by
the crown due to the immense respect she
commands from intrepid adventurers
looking to follow in her footsteps.
1.7.9 The Barrier
The mountain range of the Barrier is
mostly unmapped and inhospitable to
colonists. However, the Ashwood Passage
between the High Friary and Oldstone
cuts through highland plains prefect for
droving cattle and diprotodons. The
drovers are excellent riders of both horses
and dromornithids, using the speed and
sure-footing of either mount to round up
their lumbering stock. The highland
drovers have become an iconic symbol of 1.7.11 The Torch
frontier life – rugged farmers made tough
This volcano can be seen from Galesmeet,
from their life in the wilds. However, their
glowing just above the northern horizon
highland experience makes them excellent
like a sun that never sets. Its crater is
bushrangers. Many drovers have been
constantly overflowing with a slow steady
tempted by a life of banditry.
stream of lava that seeps into deep tunnels
1.7.10 Echo Hall along its barren slope. The lava flows into
Echo Hall and the labyrinth of tunnels
This is the manor of Lord Dahved
below. A steady stream of ash often
Lightfinder, built within an underground
billows from the Torch, providing fertile
labyrinth of obsidian caves beneath the
soil for the farmland nearby.
Torch. Lava rivers and waterfalls stream
through these tunnels, creating a fiercely 1.7.12 The Land of Fire
hot residence for Lord Dahved. This
The lava rivers pouring from Lalbambook
subterranean residence suits him just fine
spread out across the horizon in a
as he has always felt more comfortable
blackened and barren wasteland that truly
underground given his dwarven heritage.
warrants its unimaginative title.
With his burgeoning wealth, Lord Dahved
Ambitious mining guilds have set up a
has created a veritable palace beneath the
number of shafts throughout the region to
Torch. Echo Hall is lavishly decorated
mine crystals and gems that have
with delicately embroidered banners and
accumulated from millennia of volcanic
exquisite paintings of exemplary detail.
activity. For now, the predominant threat
The manor stands as a beacon of
to the mines has been lava flows that can
aristocratic sophistication amongst a
change course without warning and fill a
region populated by convict miners and
mineshaft in a few minutes. Travel
farmers. The namesake of Echo Hall stems
through Lalgambook’s lava flows can also
from its large caverns that amplify speech
be dangerous due to strange fire-infused
with echoes. It is not surprising that the
elementals and insects that live within the
combination of echoes with Lord
wasteland. They tend to thoughtlessly
Dahved’s long droopy ears has given him
attack travellers without warning, striking
the epithet “Listener”. Indeed, rumours
at night when all is lit by the ruddy red
suggest that any speech within the manor
glow of nearby lava.
can be overheard by its lord. The Hall is
built into a stretch of tunnels beneath the 1.7.13 Lalgambook
Torch, with many other winding caves left
to be explored. Lord Dahved pays This volcano erupts more commonly and
handsomely for any adventurer willing to fiercely than any other in the Land of Fire.
explore the subterranean labyrinth that is Its slopes are consistently lit by lava that
rumoured to be populated by strange floods its surroundings with rivers of fire.
creatures that live in obsidian temples and But this is not enough to perturb a miner’s
bathe in lava. lust. The native elder of the nearby tribe,
Glurrawoll, has warned the miners of the
angry spirit living in the volcano’s heart.

56
Tall, muscular and ritualistically scarred,
Glurrawoll is an intimidating sight. But
the miners have remained focussed on
their commercial exploits.
1.7.14 The Molten Campus and Tarrengower
Situated on the slopes of Tarrengower
volcano, the Molten Campus is a
sprawling collection of black stone domes
made from rough basalt blocks mined
from the region. The Academae maintains
the Molten Campus as a staging ground
for forays into the Land of Fire and as an
estate dedicated to the education of young
acolytes. Masters of the Academae
conduct classes in lecture halls and
practical tutorials on the slopes of the
volcano. However, the truly interesting
affairs of the campus take place below the
lava-strewn slopes of Tarrengower.
Ambitious research into thermomancy
and pyromancy has yielded many new
spells that yield heat and flame. Rumours
tell that the masters of the campus have
made strange pacts with fire-spirits
beneath Tarrengower in order to access
their cavernous lava halls.
Those with a magical aptitude attempting
to join the Academae are sent to maintain
the distant lighthouse of Upper Beacon.
The Academae is granted a small stipend
from the crown to ensure the magical fire
of the lighthouse remains lit. Seen as too
tedious a task for even a basic acolyte,
those who wish to become a student are
sent instead. The responsibility on these
prospective acolytes is immense. If they
fail in their task, not only will they be
refused entry to the Academae, but they
will likely endanger hundreds of lives at
sea.
57
The Molten Campus is governed by
Provost Onn, a towering half-giant with a
penchant for pyromancy who often sports
a wicked grin in spite of his tremendous
underbite. Onn is beloved by students and
masters alike for his care-free attitude to
study and research, but his ruthless
punishments for those who fail subjects or
yield meaningless discoveries hint at a
darker side that most have never seen.
1.7.15 The High Friary
The long road from Grave to Oldstone
weaves through a mountain pass known
as Ashwood Passage. At the end of the
first day’s ascent through the pass stands
the High Friary. This simple stone
building houses a number of tomes
written and being written by the friars
that travel through the region. The friars
are constantly hungry for knowledge,
keen to listen to the stories of weary
travellers that return from ranging the
wilds. Due to their lifestyle of travel and
discovery, there is a constant flux of friars
in the friary. The caretaker of the friary is
an old white-haired woman named
Archfriar Micelle. She stands out amongst
the grey-stone walls of the friary with her
yellow-blue skin and long white
eyebrows. Micelle is reknowned for her
wide smile and ever-full larder waiting to
fill the empty bellies of wayward
adventurers. However, food and lodging
at the High Friary always comes with a
price of either gold or knowledge.
1.7.16 Oldstone – Peechelba Matong
Amongst the flat desert of the Plain of
Rust stands a smooth black obelisk that
emerges from the red sand like a canine
tooth rimmed by a stony gum. Discovered
by Lord Esterlyn of the 2nd Expeditionary
Force, the obelisk was itself an oddity.
However, what proved more exciting to
the entrepreneurial Esterlyn was the
discovery of opal nearby. As such, the
obelisk became a marker for new mining
pursuits, to which the name Oldstone was
given when a township began to sprout in
its shadow. The intense heat of the desert
has meant that most buildings are
constructed underground. The knobbly
white rock beneath Oldstone has become a
characteristic of the township’s dugout
buildings. Miner-made mountains of
potch dot the flat landscape of Oldstone’s
outskirts – testament to the many
successful opal mines of the region.
The town is run by Mayor Williome
“Whitey” Whitestone, a man beloved in
the township for his humour and hard
work. He has a wombatfolk's heritage,
with short stature, thick claws and a light
covering of cream-white fur. Whitey is an
example of mining’s success: arriving in
Magellanica with nothing, he started his
own secret mineshaft with a loaned pick
and struck it rich by finding copious
amounts of opal. Whitestone is a proud
member of the mining guilds and
supports them wherever he can by
levying the crown to reduce mining taxes.
When finding a vein of opal, a wise miner
will keep their mineshaft secret lest
thieves come and mine it while he or she
is not there. As such, tentative coverings
on many mines have meant that travelling
off the roadside at Oldstone is a
dangerous affair. Poorly covered
mineshafts can cave in with ease, almost
guaranteeing a violent death. However,
the terrible wounds suffered from falling
through a mineshaft act as a deterrent to
would-be thieves in Oldstone’s opal fields.
Oldstone’s namesake has been standing
alone in the desert for untold aeons. It is
unworn by the passage of time. The
natives of the nearby clan consider the
obelisk as a sacred place that they claim
can amplify a sorcerer’s skills.
Unfortunately for the scholarly friars that
investigated these tales, the secret rituals
required for this connection to the sacred
stone have been lost ever since the natives
fled the region .
1.7.17 Alisonne’s Well - Bonegilla
Lady Alisonne Woodsworth was the
atrociously bitter wife of Lord Aelthred
Woodsworth, leader of the 3rd
Expeditionary Force. She was only ever
comfortable in her woodland home and
the desert became her enemy. Lord
Aelthred’s native trackers knew of a rare
spring in the desert called Bonegilla
meaning “deep waterhole”, so Aelthred
58
moved the expeditionary force through to
let his wife rest and for the explorers to re-
stock water supplies. After a few days,
Lord Aelthred left his wife behind so she
could have guaranteed water and stay
with the few trees that grew from the
spring. Many say he left her behind
because she was an angry old bat, but
Aelthred’s expedition never returned – so
we may never know the truth of it.
Regardless, the spring was given Lady
Alisonne’s name and so too was the
mining town that sprung up about it.
Nearby deposits of opal and ochre made
Alisonne’s Well a lucrative place for the
mining guilds. The guilds funded the
settlement of the springs to make a hub
for the mines in the region. The town is
now used as a supply depot and trade
route for the outlying mines in the Plain of
Rust.
Given the town’s small size and
constantly fluctuating population of
travelling miners and traders, Alisonne’s
Well is controlled by a reeve. The reeve is
simply known as Williome, and he is both
judge and jury of any dispute. He is broad
and fat, with a wide mouth and narrow
eyes below a mix of greasy brown curls.
Little is known about Williome, but his
anger is legendary. He is a mean-spirited
man who is heavy handed with the power
bestowed upon him by the mining guilds.
However, Williome’s anger has an up-
side. His temper is often said to be the
only thing keeping the town running by
deterring drunken miners from going too
far in their debaucheries. Williome’s anger
is said to be kept in check by the kind
words of an otherwise crooked crone who
refuses to leave the well in the town’s
centre.
59
Alisonne’s Well is considered the last
civilised place before a few outlying mines
separate the colony from unknown
expanses of the desert beyond. But
Alisonne’s Well is far from civilised. Being
so remote and with so few women, the
miners relaxing in town tend to get too
drunk on spirits. Despite Williome’s best
efforts, fighting and mischief are
commonplace in the dusty streets of
Alisonne’s Well.
1.7.18 Chalice of Colour
This ochre pit was mined by the natives
for centuries before they were forcibly
removed by miners of the Painted Pick
guild. It was named the Chalice of Colour
due the large bowl of colourful red,
yellow and white ochre made from
generations of natives digging by hand.
The native name for the place was never
learned. The Painted Pick formed a
settlement out in the desert, constructing a
guild hall at the lip of the open cut mine.
Though dedicated predominantly to
mining the ochre with burrowing
diprotodons, the Chalice caters to those
adventurers seeking to explore the
western frontier in the Plain of Rust.
Though their distance restricts them from
having a representative on the
Magellanican Council, the Painted Pick is
one of the most successful mining guilds.
Their control of the Chalice has given
them a lucrative monopoly on ochre, used
for face paint as a popular alternative to
tattoos.
The Guildmaster of the Painted Pick is
known only as the Artist . He is a black-
eyed man with leaf-like flaps that form his
hair. Having bought the guild in its
infancy with a secret deal, he is somewhat
of a mystery. Rarely for a Guildmaster, he
has never worked a single day in his own
mine. The Artist’s strange accent suggests
he has arrived from a distant realm, but
with no family or friends none can ever
truly tell. His title stems from the swirling
patterns of ochre that cover every inch of
his exposed skin. As he prefers to wear
little more than a kilt-wrap, it tends to be a
large amount of skin.
1.7.19 New Home
New Home is a struggling lumber town
on the eastern edge of the island of
Demon’s Land. It is the only settlement of
Magellanica’s third colony, given the same
imaginative name of New Home
township. With only one settlement, the
New Home colony is too small to be given
a governor. However, if it can find a
foothold in Demon’s Land then perhaps
another Magellanican governor may one
day rise to challenge Valourre or his
descendants.
The town is a risky endeavour by Old
Home to establish a new settlement off the
main land. The only abundant resource is
lumber. Demon’s Land is a mostly
wooded island with a western mountain
range called the Cradle. Very little of the
island has been explored, and nothing is
known of the Cradle mountains. The
predominant factor keeping it from being
surveyed is its namesake: the demons.
They appear in many shapes and sizes
beneath the dark boughs of ancient beech
tree forests: dark or pale, large or small,
walking or flying. But they are
unanimously evil, with yellow eyes, fine
teeth and thin lips ever twisted in a
viscous smile.
Given the demonic denizens of the forest,
New Home is now synonymous with
terror. Ever capitalising on any resource,
the crown of Old Home has created a
prison in New Home called Hell’s Gate. It
is a fortress designed to mercilessly
punish the punished – a place to send
convicts that break the law a second time.
The sombre reputation of the Gate helps
keep the convicts of Magellanica in check.
New Home boasts a museum dedicated to
the strange demonic artefacts found in the
wilds. Bronze cauldrons, obsidian statues,
grotesque skulls and demonic script on
scrolls of skin make for a grisly exhibition.
The museum is known as the Moaner due
to the eerie moaning that visitors can hear
faintly emanating from various demonic
artefacts.
Amongst the aristocracy, New Home is
famed for the Galesmeet-to-New-Home
Picard Race. Foolhardy lords race their
ships from Galesmeet to New Home
whilst daring the violent seas between.
Each year, a ship or two fails to make it
but that never discourages the aristocracy
from competing. Each year, the
competition grows larger. The prize for
winning is a small hoard of gold coins but
the real goal for any competitor is the
prestige of being a winner.
1.7.20 Villages, Mines and Stations
Dotting the roads and tracks between
settlements are numerous farming
villages, mines and cattle or sheep
stations. The villages are typically
communities of freedmen built up around
an inn and church. Often both publican
and prior are found at the inn. Mines are
often secretive, trying to conceal valuable
veins of gold and other precious metals or
60
gem stones. All that may indicate a nearby
mine is a small unmarked track veering
off the roadside. In the distant regions of
the colonies, squatters have established a
number of cattle and sheep stations
tended by convict drovers and shepherds.
These farmsteads tend to be the final
vestige of civilisation before the colony’s
influence gives way to the wild.
1.8 The Wilds of the
Outback
Beyond and even below the borders of the
map is a world of mystery and magic
waiting to be discovered. The true
wilderness of Magellanica has only just
begun to be explored, with many a dark
and wonderful discovery awaiting those
with the courage to find them. With each
passing year, settlers and explorers push
the boundary of the wilderness further
outwards, but a never-ending wilderness
is ever ready to greet them.
1.8.1 The Outback
The wilderness of Magellanica is
colloquially known as the Outback, a
cheeky term that describes any land
beyond the reaches of the colony. The
Outback is the rightful land of the wild
natives who have rarely or never
encountered a colonist. They are typically
forced into contact with frontier colonists
by the colony’s ever-expanding boundary.
Those tribes pushed from their lands
inevitably enter the lands of another tribe,
and warfare amongst the natives is now
flaring from rapid migration. Tragically, it
is becoming increasingly common for
61
explorers to find signs of violence
throughout the Outback.
The Outback near the eastern coast is
similar terrain to Old Home. Green plains
give way to dense forests and the
mountains of the Barrier that extend north
and south beyond the colony. The
occasional volcano makes for an
interesting sight. Further west, the Barrier
gives way to the Plain of Rust that extends
into the horizon ad nauseum.
1.8.2 Outback Expeditions
The environment of eastern Magellanica is
similar to Old Home. A sensible traveller
requires sensible supplies like those of any
temperate environment. Food rations,
cloaks and sleeping blankets are essential,
with diprotodons, dromornithids or
horses as valuable extras assuming the
terrain and tracks are clear enough for
them. However, as one goes further west
they encounter the Plain of Rust. The red
desert requires more tailored supplies to
survive the harsh environment. Firstly,
large water stores are essential. Dying of
thirst is tragically common. Warm
blankets and bedding are an unexpected
necessity too as the desert can become
extremely cold at night. A veil wrapped
about the face can be crucial in keeping off
the unyielding sun. Large amounts of
food and water need to be carried for
diprotodons, dromornithids and horses,
though camels make for a more efficient
beast of burden. For those encased in
armour, tabards are important for keeping
the metal from getting too hot.
Outback expeditions tend to benefit from
specialists in exploration. Cartographers
are a common component of explorative
parties as they can survey and map the
terrain. This ensures the expedition does
not get lost and provides new maps that
can be sold for those interested in
purchasing the area.
Professional astronomers play an
accompanying role with cartographers.
Where cartographers survey the land, the
astronomers survey the stars. They can
determine accurate directions for travel
between extremely distant places.
Astronomers are particularly important in
the desert, where clear night skies are
common and the distance between
settlements is extreme.
Those trained in animal husbandry are
called keepers, an oft overlooked but
crucial role in any expedition. They keep
horses, camels, dromornithids and
diprotodons tamed and healthy. Keepers
can even double as veterinarians.
However, more important for the health
of the explorers is the apothecary.
Medicines, magic and old-fashioned
surgery can often be the difference
between life and death in the wilds of
Outback Magellanica. From stab wounds
to snake bites, apothecaries tend to every
injury – though not always successfully.
Guards are another important component
to an expedition into unknown lands.
Assuming the expedition goes beyond the
bushranger-ridden lands of the colony,
they are likely to encounter viscous beasts
or hostile natives. Sometimes only simple
swords, arrows, fireballs or mind control
can save a band of intrepid explorers from
wayward monsters or competitive
explorers. Guardsmen are typically
mercenaries trained in martial or magical
combat that can hold their own in a
viscous melee.
The friars of the Faith-in-Shadow or their
Acadaemic competitors are becoming
commonplace amongst exploring
expeditions. Their broad scholarly
knowledge can be important for
explaining the strange flora, fauna or
environments. Furthermore, they tend to
have an unparalleled mastery of magic
that can solve many unexpected problems
encountered in the Outback. With a friars
connection to their deity, their magic
tends to heal the sick and wounded –
much to the jealousy of an apothecary
who can’t do the same. In contrast,
acolytes of the Academae tend to enhance
or alter the function of biological or
physical things by making them more
efficient or destructive – rather than
whole. Both friars and acolytes tend to
vigorously categorise everything by
taking voluminous notes whilst on
expedition. Given their desire to discover
new knowledge, they can sometimes pay
to be a part of the expedition rather than
be paid for their services. However,
expeditions funded in such a way often
have to travel slower to cater for a friar or
acolyte’s incessant fascination with every
new thing encountered in the wilds.
Finally and undoubtedly the most
important, is a tracker. They tend to be
natives who are incredibly experienced in
ranging the Outback from years of
nomadic life. Trackers can hunt animals
and gather nuts, yams and fruits. They
also have an aptitude for finding water
holes by listening to the croak of frogs or
looking at the direction in which
waterbirds fly. Native trackers also have
the added bonus of understanding native
culture, a crucial advantage to any
expedition attempting to cross unknown
62
 A cleric leads her faithful to safety from a bushfire

63
native lands. Someone who can
understand the local language can often
be the difference between solving disputes
with either diplomacy or violence.
1.8.3 Licenses
The crown of Old Home makes significant
revenue through licenses. It considers all
Magellanica to be crown land unless sold
or freely given. This logic suggests that
any travel through the Outback is on
crown land – which therefore entails an
opportunistic fee for the privilege. The
crown requires anyone travelling beyond
the borders of the colony to have an
Explorer’s License, a Prospector’s License,
or both. Exploration and prospecting are
the two predominant reasons to be out in
the wilds, which has lead the governor to
establish these two licenses as another
source of income. Licenses are regularly
checked by Red Rangers out on patrol.
The minimum requirement for travel into
the Outback is at least one of the two.
Prospecting licenses tend to be cheaper
than those for explorers, so most
adventurers own one as their ticket-of-
leave outside the bounds of the colony.
However, should a Red Ranger find
cartography equipment amongst a
traveller’s belongings, they will
immediately require the Explorer’s
License to be shown lest they be placed
under arrest and have their cartographer’s
tools confiscated. Likewise, if one has any
gold pans or picks in their possession then
only a Prospector’s license will suffice.
Much to the dismay of the crown and the
constabulary, some unscrupulous artisans
have begun forging their own fake
licenses for the shady underground of
thugs and rogues that will gladly cheat the
system and risk the gallows to save on
coin.
1.8.4 Rumours of the Wilds
Every day brings new discoveries for the
colony. New arable lands, new minerals
and new flora or fauna are meticulously
categorised and carved up for sale or
analysis by explorers and scholars alike.
However, tales of a darker and more
mysterious Magellanica are ever circling
the taverns and docks. Often these stories
pour from the drunken mouths of few
who return from the frontier without any
evidence to support their ramblings. Such
tales tell of:
 A long-lost civilisation far across
the Barrier has forged a utopia in
the desert wasteland
 A god-wyrm slithers throughout
the land bringing both creation
and destruction in its wake
 Islands ruled by spice-pirates
must be nearby to the north, a
tempting prospect for any convict
willing to break their bonds and
brave the wilderness to reach
them
 Volcanoes beyond or possibly
within the Land of Fire are the
empty palaces of lonesome lava-
gods that claimed to be Kings of
the Dreamtime. They are now the
home of crooked half-burned
crow-creatures that revel in the
power of fire magic
 Large mobs of emus ruining farms
in the Golden Plain. The
constabulary are currently
attempting to fight an emu war
but are failing miserably
64
  Native sorcerers covered in that live amongst distant tribes.
luminescent ochre that wield Particularly common accounts tell
terrible power sourced from of rare ash-like creatures veined
rituals of water, fire and blood with fire, known as “Ember”.
These Ember-spirits appear to be
 Eagle-spirits of Whitewall
fire elementals, called upon for
mountain that can grant one’s
burning the dead in mysterious
wishes at the cost of a crow’s life
rituals that no native will reveal.
 Glittering metallic mountains on The Ember are also rumoured to
the far western horizon, perhaps keep the natives’ beloved fires
marking an end to the Plain of alive between encampments –
Rust. Some explorers claim that lighting sacred firesticks
these mountains must be what the
natives have been calling “The
Slag”
 Babies going missing amongst the
frontier settlements of the desert.
Trembling mothers blame a pack
of oddly intelligent dingoes
 Barbaric two-headed giants in the
second colony of New Home are
becoming tolerant of the
settlement. Some are even
rumoured to be helping construct
the colony’s roads and buildings
in exchange for mutton and fleece
 A powerful group of unified tribes
said to live in the west. Rumours
say that they have forsaken their
nomadism and carved large cities
into the red sandstone of desert
mountains. It is said that their
buildings are built with no bricks,
but are wholly carved from cliff
faces and valley walls. Rumours
abound amongst the eastern
natives that these carved cities
were actually made thousands of
years earlier, and have simply
been reclaimed by the natives
 Explorers that have translated
native stories tell of strange beings

65

1.9 Landmarks and Sacred
Sites of the Wilderness
1.9.1 Ash Cairns – Wahgunyah
An ash cairn is a pile of ash and bone that
can reach higher than one’s head. They are
scattered throughout Magellanica. Ash
cairns are typically found in glades,
valleys and mountain hollows that are
sheltered from the wind and rain. Most
colonists believe the natives made them as
their pits for the dead. However, many
native clans have explained that they are
sacred sites not for burial but for the
“crow’s due”. They refuse to elaborate on
what the crow’s due truly is. Some brave
adventurers that have camped near these
Tribe Names
The names of native tribes have been
deliberately omitted as they are so
numerous as to be beyond
categorisation. Consider them like the
many villages and farming estates of
the Golden Plain, with too many to
describe. However, this is by no
means suggesting that the name of a
native tribe is unimportant.
contrast to the names of colonial
places, native tribe names are steeped
in history, meaning and purpose.
These include such names as “Eagle’s
wounded left claw” or “The strife of
lost love”. Learning a tribe’s name can
go a long way in understanding their
customs and beliefs.
eerie places have confirmed they are not
for burial, but for sacrifice.
1.9.2 Marrowgums
The pale gumtrees of this forest tend have
bitter red sap leaking from wounds in
their flaking bark. They look like
branching bones leaking marrow. A
number of villages surround the edges of
the Marrowgums, yielding the
predominant source of lumber for the
colony. Though the fringes of the forest
have been explored, the interior still
remains a mystery. A number of native
tribes have migrated away from the edge
and moved further inward, now fighting
for new territory in lands already
occupied by other tribes. Rumours of
blood phoenixes, giant tunnel-building
spiders, ghostly dryads and ferocious
diprotodons abound amongst the
lumberjacks of the forest. Some tales tell of
strange copper-infused people called
Pallidurgbarrans, who violently descend
on the unwary with pot-bellies filled from
their cannibalistic feasts. Supposedly they
flee from fire, though no evidence has
ever corroborated the story. Despite these
tales of deadly denizens, the Marrowgums
remains a common refuge for bushrangers
hiding from the Red tabbies. Red Rangers
are often required to delve deeper into the
In
forest than their tabbie peers. If fleeing
bushrangers are particularly desperate or
wanted they will delve into the interior of
the forest. In these instances, the Dark
Guard are ordered in to the heart of the
Marrowgums to retrieve what are often
maddened husks of the bushrangers they
were sent to catch.
66
1.9.3 The Glade of Ghost Gums - gleefully giggling all the while. However,
Wandilagong the sight of colonists and their strange
mounts scatters them to the shadowy
Though these white trees tend to grow
depths. The native tribes of Rohss River
further east, a rare glade of ghost gums
stay clear of the fae as much as the fae
forms a perfect open circle in the midst of
keep clear of the colonists. They see the
the Marrowgums. It is a favoured place
little creatures as cursed spirits whose
for colonists to camp. Natives avoid the
childish play is merely an illusion to lure
area as much as possible. Elders warn that
unsuspecting travellers to their doom.
the ghosts-of-the-tree will be angered if
the stars of the great spirits align whilst 1.9.6 Esterlyn’s Shower - Doongal
the glade is disturbed by mere mortals.
This large waterfall is situated in the
1.9.4 Blood Teeth – Yalguru eastern lowlands of the Barrier, just west
of Reveller’s Marsh. It was used by Lord
Protruding from above the canopy are five
Esterlyn and the 2nd Expeditionary Force
odd-shaped scoria obelisks sacred to the
to wash and slake their thirst. It is still
natives. These huge red rocks are
commonly used for the same purposes by
arranged side-by-side in a slight curve.
those on the track west of Reveller’s
The natives claim that the rocks are the
Marsh. The native name for the waterfall
teeth of long-dead giants, whose stone
translates to “snake-mother’s tears”. They
bones remain stained with blood. If there
suggest that a terrible tragedy befell a
is any truth to these origins, it appears the
great serpent of the region, whose tears
rest of the skeleton has withered away
gave rise to the creek that feeds the
though the passage of time. However, the
waterfall. Natives see the waterfall as a
rock formation does look uncannily like
sacred symbol of dreaming serpents. The
teeth and geological scholars of the
local clan use water from Doongal to
Academae are unable to explain how it
make potions that repel snakes and cure
could have ever formed naturally. The
snake bites. Their elder, Nangullak, gladly
local clan of natives consider the Blood
exchanges these elixirs for weapons and
Teeth as a sacred place that can act as a
armour – but for what purpose remains
conduit to their ancestors. They claim any
unknown.
place stained with so much blood will
always draw the attention of the dead. 1.9.7 Esterlyn’s Whirlpool – Tocumwal

1.9.5 Rohss River and Faerie Cove Following the Murrawi river further
westward, Lord Esterlyn and the 2nd
The raging torrent of the Rohss River
Expeditionary Force were the first
drains the swamp of Reveller’s Marsh into
colonists to uncover this large billabong.
the quiet waters of Faerie Cove. The river
Swamps surround it for miles before
and the cove at its mouth are home to
giving way to a black pool that slowly
capricious water elementals and fae
rotates about its centre. The expeditionary
creatures that endlessly play in the
force’s native trackers talked at length
shallows. These little sprites tend to dance
with the native tribe of the region about
and swim in the rapids or the waves,
what this phenomenon was. The trackers

67
soon urged Esterlyn to immediately move 1.9.9 Cinderwood
on, suddenly scared of their proximity to
Lava from nearby volcanoes generate
the whirlpool. Whether Esterlyn ever
fierce bushfires that commonly decimate
found out from his trackers what danger
the forest. As such, it is in a constant state
lurked beneath the surface is unknown.
of regrowth. Black gums with green
However, a number of explorers were
shoots are a common site in the
unaccounted for at camp that night,
Cinderwood, whereby the burnt husks of
having seemingly disappeared without a
gumtrees sprout new leaves with vigour.
trace.
The eaves of the forest hide a multitude of
1.9.8 Bonan Yawong strange creatures that can survive the
onslaught of a wild bushfire. Fire-infused
A native name translated to the “knees of
fae tend to eerie glades of blackened trees.
god”, this dormant volcano stands loftily
The natives claim they are distant relatives
above the Golden Plain’s western edge. It
of those hellish creatures of Demon’s
has become a beacon to the natives that
Land. A number of native tribes live
once lived in the region now called
within the forest, relying on sorcerous
Valourrelend. The slopes of Bonan
magic to keep the flames at bay. Some
Yawong are home to many native tribes
desperate bushranging gangs have a made
that rely on aid from the Shadow-in-Faith.
a home in the Cinderwood, tempting a
As people living within colonial land,
fiery fate to rob from the mines nearby.
Governor Valourre has ensured they
The bushfires are often a match for even
receive at least enough food to survive
the experience of the Red Rangers. But not
after they exhausted all food near the
so for the Dark Guard. These native
volcano. Missionaries from amongst the
constables range the Cinderwood with
Faith-in-Shadow are making headway in
deadly efficiency, ruthlessly hunting
converting the natives of Bonan Yawong.
bushrangers that deserve a gruesome fate.
A mission has sprouted at the volcano’s
The only successful bushranger to fight off
base, serving a wide range of tribesman
and avoid the Dark Guard has been Red
with food and shelter. The priors of the
Belly and his gang, though many hopeful
mission are pleased by their ever-growing
colonists are counting the days before he
number of converts, but are troubled by
falls to their uncannily accurate spears.
their new brethren’s stories about Bonan
Yawong’s namesake. Worryingly, a 1.9.10 Moth’s Candle
number of Yowie tribes frequent the
This quiet volcano is named for the huge
mountains slopes. They walk peacefully
Dusk Monarch moths that are drawn to its
amongst the natives as they make their
slopes. It ominously rises above the
mysterious pilgrimage to the volcano’s
treetops of the Cinderwood, threatening
crater. However, they will gleefully
to burn the woods in its shadow.
murder any colonist they meet along the
Thankfully the volcano rarely erupts.
way.
However, when its lava flow touches the
forest it can create the most severe

68
bushfires that any colonist or native has 1.9.13 Bay of Bells
ever seen.
The sound of church and ship bells echo
1.9.11 Crow’s Beak about the calm waters of this wide bay.
The eerie tolling tends to keep captains
There are multiple sources for the name of
from dropping anchor in this seemingly
this volcano. First is its shape. The black
ideal place to land a ship. Crewmates tell
mountain is shaped with curved top akin
unsubstantiated rumours of many ships
to the beak of a bird. Second are the tales
sinking near the bay and that their bells
told of the creatures that live upon its
were drawn towards the shore by the
slopes. They are said to be blackened half-
currents under sea. Whatever thing or
burned crow-creatures that fly upon the
things that toll the ghostly submerged
thermal winds above the crater. The
bells is unknown, but the common
native tribes nearby say that the Crow’s
rumours suggest the noise is merely a
Beak as a cursed place that must be
magical trap with which to ensnare more
avoided at all costs. Like the Moth’s
victims.
Candle, this volcano threatens to burn
huge swathes of the Cinderwood when it 1.9.14 Island of Kings
erupts.
Between Valourrelend and Demon’s Land
1.9.12 Pentanidad’s Carcass - Numurhak is the Island of Kings. It is surrounded in
shallow rocks that rend those ships that
Meaning “cloven shield” in the native
get too close. The only person to have
tongue, this sacred site is of great
returned from its unsailable coastline is a
importance to both natives and colonists.
mad survivor of the Cataphract
The natives see strange wooden ribs
shipwreck. The Cataphract was torn apart
protruding from the surf as the bones of a
when it was tossed towards the island by
dead god from Magellanica’s distant past.
a storm surge, killing all on board save
The colonists see it as an incredible
one. It is the worst peacetime disaster in
historical relic – it is the shipwreck of
Magellanica’s violent, albeit short history.
Ferdinnian Magellan’s flagship: the
The lone survivor claims to have found
Pentanidad. Unmistakably large and
the island to be covered in colossal tombs
made of strange black timbre, the rotten
and barrows. He braved the surf and
carcass of the ship matches the
swam out to sea when he saw a passing
descriptions of Pentanidad. Only a few
ship, which luckily spotted his motionless
explorers have managed a glimpse of the
body as it almost crashed against the hull.
shipwreck nestled into the sea cliffs north
Sadly, he’d gone mad. All he kept
of Galesmeet. The natives have fiercely
rambling about was a necropolis fit for a
protected this sacred site from any
king of kings.
colonists that dare go near. They claim
that the god’s bones allow for their clan to 1.9.15 Hull’s Bane
bring the dead back to life. A report of
Many a ship has attempted to map the
undead guardians at the shipwreck
southern coast near Demon’s Land, but all
corroborates their claim.
have been destroyed by the sharp rocks

69
hiding beneath the waves. Hull’s Bane is creatures that will help them, but will
where these stone blades protrude from mercilessly kill those they deem a threat to
the surface, acting as a landmark to warn their lifestyle. Explorers are recommended
sailors of impending disaster. to give generous gifts to the natives of the
Barrier, lest they be seen as the latter.
1.9.15 The Strait of Surges
Not only are the mountain slopes and
Between Demon’s Land and the mainland
valleys teeming with native tribes and
coast is a wild ocean that rarely calms. The
monsters but so too are the labyrinthine
Strait of Surges is extremely shallow,
limestone caves that run beneath them.
leading to huge swells that have tendency
Said to be the Barrier’s veins, the network
to topple all but the largest ships. If that
of natural tunnels and caverns weave their
were not enough, the shallow water often
way beneath the entirety of the mountain
veils underlying rocks that tear a ship’s
range. This dark under-world is filled
hull to pieces. Only the bravest, most
with natural wonders, including
experienced or foolhardy captains brave
underground waterfalls, crystal or gold
these waters. However, any new
veins and columns of stalactites and
confirmed discovery can yield great
stalagmites. However, the unnatural
wealth and fame to those explorers
wonders tend to be the most confronting
commissioned by the crown or wealthy
to explorers of this subterranean realm.
guilds to expand the map.
Luminescent fungi, native tomb-caves,
1.9.16 The Barrier yowie lairs and all manner of monsters
and spirits fill the caverns. With both
Outside of the highland plains danger and darkness, explorers of the
surrounding the Ashwood Passage is a caves beneath the Barrier must be well
mountain wilderness barely explored. The prepared if they are expected to survive.
Barrier mountains are home to numerous
dangers. Firstly, the cold can kill. 1.9.17 Mt. Rhimeholm
Although mostly a temperate mountain
Named by a migrant explorer after her icy
range, winters can yield heavy snowfall.
homeland, Mt. Rhimeholm is a snow-
Secondly is the lack of maps. It is easy to
capped peak surrounded by glaciers
get lost amongst the curving valleys of the
pouring from its slopes. Amongst the
mountains. Thirdly, the beasts of the
crevasses live a number of frost giants
Barrier mercilessly kill any intrepid
native to Magellanica. They are of the
adventurer. Frenzied diprotodons in
same tribal and nomadic culture as the
mating season, hungry Yowies, thirsty
other humanoid natives. However, they
Yara-ma-yha-who, elemental spirits and
are fiercely violent. No diplomacy has
avian-hybrids often prove to be deadly
ever succeeded in keeping these giants
denizens of the mountains.
from attacking on sight. They are led by a
Many native clans occupy the Barrier. blind wise woman called Bellogon who
They are in an ever-changing relationship wields powerful magic of divination.
with the sentient creatures that occupy Explorers tend to avoid the region
their lands. They tend to ally with those

70
surrounding Mt. Rhimeholm, as nothing to form a roof. Beneath these huge rocks is
but death appears to greet them. an unparalleled display of ochre
paintings. Frescoes of people, places and
1.9.18 Whitewall
creatures depict many secret stories of the
Yet another landmark named after Lord natives. It is considered by
Esterlyn of the 2nd Expeditionary Force, anthropological scholars as the closest
this snow-capped mountain marks the thing to a tome the natives have. Stored on
second highland pass through the Barrier the walls of the rock are stories of untold
after the Passage to the north. Natives generations.
have known of this pass for centuries, but
Wilgee Taboo is an extremely sacred place
rarely use it as there is very little
for the natives. They have reluctantly
vegetation to forage and game to hunt.
shown the paintings to a handful of
Furthermore, natives tend to see it as a
colonists whom they have deemed worthy
sacred place for the eagle-lords of its
of the title Alcheringarra, meaning
unclimbed peak. These creatures appear
“Dreamwalker”. What qualifies one as an
to command such respect from the natives
Alcheringarra remains a mystery, but it
that they would rather avoid their domain
does require the support of multiple
than be found wanting by their
elders. Those colonists that return from
judgement. Natives tell that the eagle-
seeing the Painted Cathedral are always
things are benevolent and wise, but no
changed, more sombre than they might
colonist has yet to climb the Whitewall to
once have been. They occasionally
corroborate the tale.
describe their wonder at the beautiful art,
1.9.19 The Serpent’s Fang but remain as secretive as the natives
about the details.
Roughly translated from a now-forgotten
native name, the Serpent’s Fang mountain 1.9.21 Crown’s Canyon
looks exactly like its description. Shaped
The dunes of the desert give way to an
like a rose thorn, the Fang has a smooth
enormous fracture in the earth, stretching
surface of ice that curves to a point. The
miles in either direction. The red
natives fled the region a few decades ago,
sandstone walls of this canyon slope
running from a terror that has claimed the
down into complete darkness. The native
mountain as its own. The only confirmed
tribe with ancestral rights to the region
report of any such creature comes from
live about the lip of the canyon. Though
frontiersmen exploring the slopes
the dead of most natives are burned or
surrounding the Fang. They saw some
buried, they throw theirs into the
“worm-beast” in the distance, scraping
darkness to “feed” something sinister in
out the valleys with its gargantuan
the depths below. Their elder, Yallagurra,
serpentine belly.
is a small man with fine horns running
1.9.20 Painted Cathedral – Wilgee Taboo down his cheek that sprout from a white
beard. He is welcoming to those travellers
Out in the desert is an odd sandstone that offer food to the Canyon, often
formation that looks like two colossal requiring a pack animal to be sacrificed.
pieces of slate resting against one another

71
Travellers staying with Yallangah’s tribe flow: uphill. Cartographers of the 2 nd
tell of great hospitality. However, they Expeditionary Force marvelled as the
also claim that sleep is hard to come by water definitively moves from lower to
due to the slow and deep heartbeat higher ground, presumably seeping away
emanating from the canyon. somewhere in the marshes near the
Barrier. However, the mysteries of the
1.9.22 Murrawi River
river and denizens remain unknown.
This perennial river consistently switches
The establishment of the Murrawi
between dried riverbed and colossal
Republic by rebellious natives has ensured
waterway every half-year. The huge
that the colony has stopped investing in
storms that blow in from the west during
expeditions along the river. Though the
the wet season bring with them rain that
natives are an outwardly peaceful group,
fills the river with a sudden surge. The
they are forceful in their demands:
subsequent heat in the following months
colonists found in the Republic will be
of the dry season evaporates what is left
forcibly removed or otherwise killed.
into isolated billabongs. During the wet
Many go missing anyway.
season the river is home to a large
population of wildlife and native 1.9.23 The Last She-oak – Moama
tribesmen. During the dry season the
On the eastern fringe of the Plain of Rust
billabongs become festering quagmires
near the Murrawi river stands a copse of
that are fiercely fought over by thirsty
enormous she-oak trees. All but one are
beasts, men and monsters. The river is
dead, their black trunks stripped bare by
home to the largest population of Blue
the wind. The lone survivor clings to life
Yabbies, who tend to stay underground
in the sandy soil with nothing but dead
when its dry but fiercely defend territory
daughters to keep her company. She was
when the river floods. Aside from these
the first and now the last. The natives
colossal crustaceans, the river is home to
know this old ghost-of-the-tree as
huge codfish, frogs and other fauna barely
“Moama”, speaking her name with a
known to the colonists. Water spirits cling
reverent whisper. She is filled with anger
to billabongs like mother’s to an
and sorrow at the death of her daughters.
endangered child, violently butchering
Natives claim that Moama is eager to be
those that slake their thirst in sacred
free of her cursed soil and that she is
ponds. The pale-skinned and black-eyed
waiting for the day she can finally die.
wandjina are said by natives to covet the
Death will allow her spirit to rip itself free
river like a priceless treasure, ensuring
from its wooden prison.
that rains will always come and the cycle
of life is always turning. Other strange Natives desperately want to keep her from
tales tell of large thirsty frog-men that escaping. They are worried that she may
slake their thirst with such volume that a have been so twisted as to become a
group of them can drain a pond. wraith-of-the-tree. Tales claim such
wraiths haunt regions for years, their
Perhaps the most intriguing thing about
seething jealousy of mortal flesh leading
the Murrawi river is the direction of its
them on a murderous rampage. To

72
prevent her escape, the native elders carry
water from days away to ensure her roots
can keep feeding so that she remains alive.
It is customary for natives travelling
nearby to pay their respects to Moama
with a small pour from their water skins
at the base of her trunk. This custom just
makes Moama all the more bitter and
hateful.
1.10 Current Affairs
A number of recent events threaten to
change the face of Magellanica at the
hands of those adventurers willing to
hasten or interfere with its procession. The
current state of affairs in Magellanica
includes the following:
 At Grave, tensions between miners
and the authority are reaching
fever pitch. The threat of rebellion
grows again
 Swagmen and poetic ballads about
them have become iconic of
Magellanica. However, many
swagmen remain miscreants who
cause trouble for the common man
 In Galesmeet and beyond, the
Mining Guilds are turning to
violence to achieve their goals. The
current governor is refusing to
abide by their demands for lower
taxes in spite of the wealth and
influence that the Mining Guilds
will use to undermine him
 Rich Magellanican-born men in
Galesmeet are buying their way
into the aristocracy. They have
controversial liberal views on
73
native policy and immigration.
Their voice is growing and they
are beginning to clash with the
governor and the establishment
 The number of bush rangers is
swelling due to the success of the
mines. The Dark Guard are
commonly used to hunt them due
to their exemplary skill at ranging
in the wilderness
 High Commissioner Bolde is
claiming to know the true identity
of Red Belly, the famous knightly
bushranger of the Cinderwood.
Bolde is willing to give this
information in confidence to those
bounty hunters willing to find and
kill him
 Religious intervention into native
life is becoming significant – many
natives flock to the handouts of the
Faith-in-Shadow only to be
indoctrinated into their breeding
programs. The Shadow Faith will
soon control a significant
proportion of native people in
Valourrelend
 Large numbers of those natives
who refuse the church but remain
within Old Home society have
begun turning to alcohol. Diseases
from Old Home are decimating
this population too
 Violent clashes between natives
and angry prospectors or farmers
are escalating in intensity but
reducing in frequency
 Sightings of wild natives on the
fringes of colonial Magellanica
have grown scarce. Rumours
suggest that the natives are either
 gathering in the wilderness for a with northern settlements. Some
coordinated assault on the colony proud migrant citizens will not
or that they are dying of disease at honour the treaty between their
such a rate as that they are homeland and Old Home
relatively extinct
 Trade and migration with foreign
 Even now, 100 years after nations is beginning to fill
Magellanica was discovered, many Magellanican docks with exotic
native tribes of the interior are wares and people
unaware of the colony. The
 A 4th Expeditionary Force is being
rapidity of the colonies expansion
organised by the governor to
and the multitude of languages
follow the footsteps of the 3rd Force
that exist within native culture has
and find out what happened to it.
meant those tribes far removed
The whole process has been
from the eastern coast remain
announced publicly by the
ignorant of the colony
governor’s heralds in a rare show
 Migrant glory hunters and their of transparency
significant retinue of slaves are
 Small privately funded explorers
beginning to come into contact
are mapping the interior in the
name of rich lords or mining
guilds. There is a constant demand
for experienced explorers in the
hope of finding riches for their
employers
 Migrants are landing in far greater
numbers on Magellanica's shores,
causing tensions between the Old
Home colonists and the
newcomers
 Colonists and freedmen are being
signed up for military service and
returning to Old Home to fight for
their king and country. This is
beginning to drive up demand for
mercenaries, guards, explorers,
prospectors and other trades of an
adventurous nature
 Whispers tell of a newly
discovered labyrinthine ruin
beneath Galesmeet. The Academae
has rumoured to have quarantined
A guard to a merchant caravan

74
 the area, claiming it entirely for
their own
 The tattooist’s guild known as the
Hall of Ink has come under
investigation by the red tabbies for
allegedly providing tattoos
without proof that they accurately
reflect the one who wears them
 Screaming has been heard coming
from the Chapterhouse of the
Academae in Galesmeet. Some
drunken Acadaemic apprentices
have reluctantly revealed that their
masters are torturing natives so
that they may divulge their secrets
of the constellations. The
constabulary is refusing to
investigate
 A mysterious disaster has befallen
Old Home. Details are hard to
come by but the common rumour
suggests that armies are being
marshalled in defence of the
fatherland from a new threat.
None can say what this threat truly
is

75
The Land of Fire is aptly named

76
Chapter 2

77

Chapter 2. The Rules
2.1 Introduction
The following chapter contains rules for
creating and using characters in a
Magellanican campaign. These rules are
compatible with DnD 5E and Pathfinder.
However, due to the differences between
the two systems we have separated each
section into two parts on either DnD or
Pathfinder compatibility. However, the
items and spells are not separated in such
a manner due to the similarities between
the two. Where there are differences, DnD
or PF are referenced in parentheses.
2.2 Character Creation
2.2.1 DnD Compatible
Backgrounds listed in the DnD 5E Player’s
Handbook can be given a Magellanican
twist. These variants can be used to make
characters that have lived in Magellanica
before heeding the call to adventure. All
backgrounds can be chosen as normal, but
players may use these variants instead.
They either replace or add to the bonuses
described in the Player’s Handbook. To play
as a convict or a bushranger, use the
criminal background.
Folk Hero Variant: Settler
You are a settler, having risked it all in
your pursuit of a new life in Magellancia.
You are fiercely passionate about the well-
being of the colony. In particular, you
have forged a strong connection with the
common folk from years of toil on the
land or digging in the mines. You gain
advantage on all Persuasion checks with
commoners of the Magellanican colony.
However, you have disadvantage on all
Persuasion checks with natives due to
your pretentious and bigoted view of their
intelligence and savagery. Over the course
of a campaign, your interaction with
natives may give the GM a reason to
remove this disadvantage.
Outlander Variant: Native
You are a native, born and raised in the
wilds of Magellanica. You have a deep
respect for the land and its creatures. You
do not have a tool proficiency with a
musical instrument, and instead have
weapon proficiencies with spears,
boomerangs and woomeras. You do not
have a set of traveller’s clothes and 10gp.
Instead, you begin with a spear, loincloth
and possum-skin cloak as bonus
equipment. You always have advantage
on survival skills in Magellanica and
move at twice the normal speed in
wilderness environments (outside of
combat). Unless the DM decides an NPC
is unusually tolerant, you always have
disadvantage on Persuasion checks with
colonists due to inherent racism against
you. Furthermore, you do not begin play
with any gold normally afforded to you
from your class.
Sage Variant: Acadaemic Acolyte
In contrast to the faith-centric Acolyte
background in the Player’s Handbook, an
acolyte of the Academae would choose the
Sage background. You begin with a blank
parchment in your starting equipment.
However, you do not have the set of
common clothes and instead begin play
with the characteristic blue and purple
robes of an Acadaemic scholar. These
78
robes identify you as a member of the
Academae, generating much chagrin from
holy institutions but providing an aura of
intimidating mystery to the common folk.
New Background: Explorer
You are an experienced traveller who has
ranged far beyond the borders of the map
with large exploration caravans intent on
surveying new lands. You have seen
almost all environments Magellanica has
to offer, yielding a variety of interesting
campfire tales about dangerous places and
viscous monsters. The stars are a familiar
guide, gum leaves are a familiar smell and
the landscape a familiar sight.
Skill Proficiencies: Survival, Animal
Handling
Languages: You have communicated with
a number of native tribes. Although you
cannot wholly grasp an entire native
language, you can understand every
second word a native says in their native
tongue.
Tool Proficiencies: Compasses, spyglasses
and sunstones
Equipment: A broad-brimmed hat,
explorer’s pack (replaces any alternative
class pack), a set of traveller’s clothes and
10 gp
Feature: Path of the Explorer
You have so much experiencing travelling
through the wilds of Magellanica that you
can now begin to navigate different
environments. You and any companions
you lead can move at 1.5X normal speed
through any areas of wilderness outside of
combat. You also have advantage on
79
Survival checks to navigate or find
direction.
Suggested Characteristics
Explorers are extremely determined to
push the boundaries of the map. They
tend to crave seeing new people and will
get restless when staying in the same
place for a long time. Explorers are also
prone to foolhardiness in search of glory,
relishing in the opportunity to be the first
colonial person in a strange new world.
Personality Trait
1. I am eager to surpass the deeds of
the most famous explorers
2. I can negotiate with foreign people
in a manner that ultimately pleases
both parties
3. My determination ensures I never
stop trying
4. I am addicted to the search for
what’s beyond the horizon
5. Staying in the same place for more
makes me apathetic and bored
6. I constantly keep updating an
internal map inside my head by
trying to remember where
everything is. This applies to
everything from the contents of a
room to the landscape
7. I am obsessed with collecting
maps, regardless of their reliability
8. I’ve spent so long in the saddle
that walking sometimes feels
strange
A wounded cleric, determined to make it out of the desert alive

80
Ideal
1. Aspiration. I am always striving to
discover and learn (Any)
2. People. My travelling companions
are what make exploration
worthwhile; I help discover the
physical landscape whilst they
help discover my internal one.
(Neutral)
3. Glory. Famous explorers exemplify
the determination and tenacity of
true heroes. (Neutral)
4. Greed. Land should be claimed
and sold by my benefactors
regardless of the impact on other
people or the environment, much
to my financial gain. (Evil)
5. Advocacy. Natives are being
exploited and need to be protected
from the machinations of a greedy
colony. (Good)
6. Freedom. The knowledge gleaned
from discoveries should be
provided to all in the interests of
spreading information freely,
regardless of whether the crown
wishes to keep it secret. (Chaotic)
Bond
1. My dromornithid mount died
from exhaustion and I’ll never be
able to replace her
2. I once met a famous explorer who I
now idealise
3. Natives once saved me from thirst
and now I respect each and every
one of them
4. My lucky shoes keep off blisters
and foot-rot
81
5. I love landscapes of all
descriptions
6. The unique flora and fauna of
Magellanica fills me with wonder
Flaw
1. I would let my fellow companions
die if it meant I can claim a greater
share in the glory
2. I am anxious when staying put in
the same place as I yearn for the
open road
3. I once saw a monster from the
Dreamtime. I know have a fear of
spiders and teeth
4. Working for greedy land-hungry
lords has left me greedy too
5. My companions once died of thirst
and now I cannot travel anywhere
without carrying obscenely large
quantities of water
6. The lead explorer of my first
expedition treated me badly and
now I treat youngsters badly too
2.2.2 Pathfinder Compatible
Campaign traits can provide a
background to Magellanican adventurers.
New campaign traits listed here can be
combined with other traits as normal.
They represent common backgrounds of
Magellanican adventurers.
Settler
You have migrated to Magellanica in
search of gold or farmland, eager to carve
up the resources of this new land for your
own. You have risked everything to start a
new life there. Whilst in Magellanica, you
have a +2 morale bonus to all saves
against fear-causing effects.Convict
You were found guilty of a crime,
sentenced to be a convict and moved
across the sea to Magellanica where you
were used by the crown as slave labour.
You may or may not have been
wrongfully accused of your crime. A hard
life in chain gangs has given you a +3
bonus to strength checks, +1 to Intimidate
and a hatred of the crown.
Explorer
The wilds of Magellanica are always
calling. You have been paid by the crown
or powerful guilds to survey new lands
alongside large expeditions that foray into
the unknown wilderness. Your experience
in the various climes of Magellanica has
granted you +3 to Survival checks in
Magellanica.
Native
Having grown up amongst the nomads of
the wilds, you have a deep connection
with the land and its creatures. You have
an unparalleled understanding of how to
live off the land. You have a +5 bonus to
Survival checks in Magellanica and you
always have proficiency with woomeras
and boomerangs. Furthermore, you know
a native language that gives you a +2 to
Linguistics checks surrounding other
native Magellanican languages. However,
you are wrongfully despised by most
colonists, with a -5 penalty to all
Diplomacy checks when dealing with the
majority of bigoted colonists. It is up to
the GM to decide which NPCs exhibit a
rare tolerance of natives, in which case
you do not apply the penalty to
Diplomacy.
2.3 Races
Magellanica is home to many unique
creatures, some of which are humanoids
that can be playable races. These
Magellanican humanoids are fusions of
animal and man, though none can say
whether the animal or the fusion came
first. Scholars have theorised that
powerful spellcasters, spirits or even gods
are responsible for creating these races.
However, their own creation stories all
seem to involve spontaneous birth from
ancestral connections to the Dreamtime.
The following rules for character races are
compatible with DnD 5E and Pathfinder.
Players should consult their DM/GM
before using them, ensuring that the
DM/GM is aware of their strange new
abilities and is satisfied with their balance.
2.3.1 Wombatfolk
These stocky creatures are extremely
stubborn and tough. They tend to be
introverted traditionalists within their
culture, preferring to keep to themselves
than deal with others. However, when
wombatfolk are provoked they become
extremely fearsome adversaries. Their
hotheadedness is startling in an argument,
and terrifying in a fight. Indeed, their
strong arms and thick claws can just as
easily burrow through flesh as they do
earth. Their subterranean lairs form large
cavernous settlements that delve deep
beneath the surface into underground
82
passages that spread throughout  Languages: wombatfolk speak,
Magellanica like a web. read and write Druidic and
Common
Traits
2.3.2 Koalafolk
A wombatfolk character has the following
characteristics: Laziness given form, these diminuitive

 Ability Score Increase: +3 creatures are content to spend their days

Constitution, +1 Strength nibbling gum leaves from an easy reach

amongst the treetops. Their settlements
 Ability Score Decrease: -1
are usually spread out haphazardly
Dexterity, -1 Charisma
amongst the canopy of long-dead
 Age: wombatfolk tend to be long- gumtrees that lost their leaves to hungry
lived, reaching adulthood at 30 koalafolk in decades passed. They tend to
and becoming elderly at 80 be apathetic to most problems, enjoying a
laidback lifestyle that borders on slovenly.
 Alignment: stoically maintaining
The sharp claws of the koalafolk allow
tradition, wombatfolk tend to be
them to climb trees in search of gum
lawful neutral
leaves and double as viscous weapons.
 Size: medium Moreover, their diet of poisonous gum
 Speed: 30 feet leaves has given them an iron gut capable
of withstanding many toxins.
 Burrower’s claws: using their
powerful claws wombatfolk can Traits
dig a makeshift shelter in soft earth A koalafolk character has the following
in 1 hour. It has enough space for 5 characteristics:
people. It is angled such that
 Ability Score Increase: +2
excess rain and powerful wind
Constitution, +2 Charisma
does not affect those dwelling
inside. These claws also count as  Age: koalafolk live long and happy
natural weapons dealing slashing lives, reaching adulthood at 40 and
damage equal to 1d4 + Strength becoming elderly at 100
modifier  Alignment: easy-going, relaxed
 Limited Darkvision: wombatfolk and a little apathetic, koalafolk
hunt and forage for food above tend to be true neutral
ground but dwell below ground.  Size: small
They can see in dim light within 30
 Speed: 20 feet
feet as if it were bright light, and in
darkness as if it were dim light.  Climber’s claws: koalafolk can use
their claws to climb trees and other

83
 vertical obstacles easily, giving toxins. Koalafolk have advantage
them a climb speed of 15 feet. on saves against poisons and acids
These claws also count as natural
 Languages: koalafolk speak but
weapons dealing slashing damage
cannot read or write Druidic and
equal to 1d4 + Strength modifier
Common
 Iron gut: given that poisonous
2.3.3 Bilbyfolk
gum leaves form their primary
food source, koalafolk have Skittish and fast, the bilbyfolk are

developed a resistance to harmful unparalleled escapees. Their rapid

84
 It helps to know how to read a map in Magellanica!

85
reaction time and powerful legs allow
them leap out of harms away before harm
could even tell they were there. Bilbyfolk
keep to themselves in large nocturnal
burrows amongst the soft sand of the red
Magellanican deserts. Indeed, they prefer
isolation so much that they typically suffer
from social anxiety when talking with
outsiders. Their rapid pace of speech
combined with their awkwardness around
others make bilbyfolk poor negotiators or
leaders. However, their nocturnal
eyesight, speed and ability to jump long
distances make them highly sought after
thieves, assassins and dungeon delvers.
Traits
A bilbyfolk character has the following
characteristics:
 Ability Score Increase: +3 Dexterity
 Ability Score Decrease: -1
Charisma
 Age: bilbyfolk are bright sparks
and tend to be short-lived,
reaching adulthood at 15 and
becoming elderly at 40
 Alignment: skittish and quick to
act, bilbyfolk tend to be chaotic
neutral
 Size: medium
 Speed: 35 feet
 Jumper’s Legs: with such powerful
legs for jumping, bilbyfolk can
launch themselves into the air with
ease. Bilbyfolk can make a single
jump or series of small jumps as a
move action that counts as if they
have a fly speed of 20 feet. At the
end of their turn they must land. In
addition, they do not take damage
from falling 20 feet or less.
 Darkvision: bilbyfolk hunt at night
and live below ground. They can
see in dim light within 60 feet as if
it were bright light, and in
darkness as if it were dim light
 Languages: bilbyfolk speak, read
and write Druidic and Common
2.4 Class Advancement
2.3.1 DnD Compatible – Cleric: Dream
Domain
The Dream domain represents a tangible
connection between a cleric and the
Dreamtime. It is more than affinity for
mundane dreams experienced by mortals
at night. Instead, it is an understanding of
creation and the deeper knowledge of the
meaning of dreams. This domain
represents a direct connection with the
unfathomable ancients of the Dreamtime,
offering the cleric a glimpse of their
secrets and a fraction of their power. This
domain is predominantly taken by
warriors of Magellanican natives, fiery
youths on their way to one day becoming
elder. However, hidden cults of Dreamers
exist across the world, though they are
often shunned by other faiths for being
just that. See the following chapter for
more information about the Dreamtime.
86
Table: Dream Domain Spells
Cleric Level Spells
1st color spray, dreamsight
3rd dreamglance, misty step
5th gaseous form, hypnotic
pattern
7th polymorph, dreamgate
9th creation, dream
Bonus Proficiency
When you choose this domain at 1st level,
you gain proficiency with boomerangs.
Dreamer
Also starting at 1st level, your spells are
more effective at targeting sleepers. If a
target of a spell is asleep, add +2/spell
level to any dice roll used to resolve the
spell’s effects.
Channel Divinity: Nightmare
Starting at 2nd level, you can use your
Channel Divinity to ravage the minds of
sentient enemis.
As an action, you present your holy
symbol and launch terrors from the
Dreamtime directly into the mind a
selected enemy.
Choose one creature within 30 feet of you,
they must make a Wis save against your
spell DC. On a failed save, the creature is
assailed by phantoms in their mind and
drops whatever it is holding and becomes
frightened for 1d4 rounds.
87
While frightened by this spell, a creature
must take the Dash action and move away
from you by the safest available route on
each of its turns, unless there is nowhere
to move. No successive save can rally the
creature. You can’t use this feature on
undead or a construct.
Creation’s Heir
Beginning at 6th level, the healing spells
you cast on others are greatly enhanced
when the target is asleep. When you cast a
spell of 1st level or higher that restores hit
points to a sleeping creature, they gain an
extra 4 hp/spell’s level.
Strike of the Serpent
At 8th level, your connection to the
Dreamtime allows you to infuse your
weapon with the power of Dreamtime
creatures. Once per turn on a successful
hit, you can deal an extra 1d8 radiant
damage to the target. When you reach
14th level, the extra damage increases to
2d4 and counts as both radiant and poison
damage.
Waking Dreamer
Starting at 18th level, when you sleep you
can maintain a direct consciousness of the
area around you in a 50ft radius. You can
cast spells from your sleep within this
sphere of consciousness without needing
to wake up, removing the vocal, somatic
and material requirements for a spell.
However, spells with a material
component listed with a cost cannot be
cast in this manner. You cannot stay
asleep by mundane means during combat.
2.3.2 DnD Compatible – Warlock Pact Boon:
Pact of the Dream
The patrons of the Warlock class can all be
denizens of the Dreamtime. As such, any
choice of patron can be appropriate for
Warlock wishing to establish a connection
to the powers of the Dreamtime.
Pact of the Dream
Your creator spirit patron or matron
makes you a conduit through which
otherworldly creation magic of the
Dreamtime may flow. With every non-
cantrip spell you cast on other creatures,
all effected creatures are also subject to the
“detect thoughts” or “faerie fire” spell.
The targets must fulfil the criteria for
detect thoughts: within 30ft, >3
Intelligence and must speak a language, or
faerie fire: within a 20ft cube. The constant
stream of thoughts and flickering light
that plagues your mind provides
disadvantage on all Concentration checks.
2.3.3 Pathfinder Compatible – Cleric: Dream
Domain
A suitable Dream Domain for Pathfinder
is available for free online on the
d20PFSRD or in The Book of Divine Magic
published by 4 Winds Gaming. The
aforementioned Pact of the Dream for
warlocks in DnD is equivalent to the
Dream mystery for the Pathfinder Oracle
class described below. Like the Dream
Domain for DnD clerics, the Dream
Domain in Pathfinder may represent a
tangible connection with the creatures of
the Dreamtime.
2.3.4 Pathfinder Compatible – Mesmerist
Archetype: Dreamstalker
The Pathfinder equivalent to a warlock
with a Pact of the Dream is a mesmerist of
the dreamstalker archetype. The
mesmerist is detailed in Occult Adventures
and the dreamstalker archetype is listed in
Horror Adventures, both of which are from
Paizo Publishing and detailed on
d20PFSRD. Instead of drawing power
from the Astral Plane, the Magellanican
dreamstalker draws their power from the
Dreamtime. Instead of playing tricks on
the mind, the dreamstalker plays tricks on
reality.
2.3.4 Pathfinder Compatible – Mounts
Instead of selecting a horse or other
appropriate creature for their mount,
Cavaliers and Paladins may select a
domesticated diprotodon or domesticated
dromornithid as an alternative mount (see
Bestiary). Furthermore, spells that can
summon a horse can instead summon
domesticated diprotodon or domesticated
dromornithid. However, all limitations or
bonuses applied to the mount remain the
same.
2.3.4 Pathfinder Compatible – Horizon
Walker Prestige Class
A horizon walker may have traversed the
creative chaos of the Dreamtime. Their
experience with such a place may provide
them a mysterious connection to the
Realm of Dreams with tangible benefits in
the form of Terrain Mastery and
Dominance.
Terrain Mastery: Dreamtime
A horizon walker may select this Terrain
Mastery without a prerequisite favoured
terrain. The horizon walker can always
know the direction of the nearest tear in
reality between the Dreamtime and the
material plane. They only have a vague
sense of distance.
88

Terrain Dominance: Dreamtime
The horizon walker gains Dream Shield
and Rainbow Pattern as a spell-like ability
a number of times per day equal to 1 + the
PC’s Wisdom modifier. The caster level is
equal to the PC’s level.
2.5 Items
The following section details items found
and made in Magellanica. They are unique
to the continent. Prices are listed in
parentheses and apply to both DnD and
Pathfinder. Gold pieces are abbreviated to
gp and silver pieces are abbreviated to sp.
For magic items, included in parentheses
is the rarity (DnD) or level (PF) of the
magic item.
89
2.4.1 Mundane Items
Armour
Blue Yabby Exoskeleton (2500 gp): this
suit of deep blue armour is made from the
chitin exoskeleton of the Blue Yabby, a
crustaceous megafauna. It covers the
entire body in smooth chunks of shell,
thick with chitin. It counts as non-metal
full plate armour that floats in water and
confers a strong odour of crab to the
wearer.
Crocodile Hide (80 gp): the rough hide of
a crocodile makes for tough leather
armour. It counts as studded leather
armour. In addition, it is of great worth to
natives who see the wearer as infused
with a crocodile’s stealth and strength.
Colonists consider it an impressively
fashionable alternative to normal leather.
Weapons
Boomerang (1 sp): this curved piece of
wood is thrown low and rapidly rises to
catch birds (and flying enemies) by
surprise. A thrown boomerang counts as a
throwing axe that deals 1d3 damage and
has a +2 bonus to strike flying creatures.
In melee, it counts as a club. It requires an
exotic weapon proficiency to use (PF). In
DnD, only druids and rangers are
proficient.
Woomera (5 sp): this spear-thrower
enhances the range and accuracy of a
thrown spear. A javelin or spear thrown
by a woomera has 1.5x increased range.
Furthermore, it provides a +1 bonus to a
ranged attack with a javelin or spear. It
requires an exotic weapon proficiency to
use (PF). In DnD, only druids and rangers
are proficient.
Alchemical wares
Gum Leaf Tea (1 sp): the pungent smell of
eucalyptus adds +2 to saves against
diseases that affect the lungs
Hemolymph of a Dusk Monarch (550 gp):
this thick purple liquid is the insectoid
blood of a Dusk Monarch. It is a potent
hallucinatory drug that allows anyone
who ingests it to see into the Dreamtime
and partially into the future. It confers a
+1d4 bonus to all rolls for 1d4 hours.
However, it causes 2d4 Wisdom damage
upon ingestion.
Ochre (5 sp): coloured clay used as a paint
Spinifex Resin (5 gp): the gum of spinfex
grass can be used as glue
Wandjina’s Blood (3500 gp): drained from
the fresh corpse of a skeletally thin rain-
spirit, this black blood bubbles endlessly
in a small glass vial. Anyone who imbibes

Bush Tucker (5 sp): dried fruits, yams and

nuts that can be stored indefinitely. One
ration feeds enough for one person for one
day.

Faerie Bread (250 gp): made by the sprites

of the river, this buttered bread is dusted
with tiny magical beads of every colour. It
tastes delicious, the perfect mixture of
sweet and savoury. Eating it heals 2d4 HP
and removes the effects of any single
poison or curse (ingester’s choosing) for
1d3 days.

Fine Beer (8 sp): this is a thick delectable

brew, characteristic of Magellanican
breweries. One ration of beer can provide
sustenance as an equivalent for half a
day’s food, but requires twice a day’s
water.

90
the blood is permanently immune to thirst
but will forever hunger for the flesh of the
humanoid dead. If they abstain from
eating humanoid flesh for more than a
week then they weep uncontrollably
forever, regardless of how much
humanoid meat they consume afterwards.
Yeast Spread (4 sp): a delicious savoury
spread eaten with bread. Applying one
ration to a loaf of bread allows the bread
to be stored for 3 weeks without going
mouldy.
Mounts
Diprotodon (160 gp): this colossal
wombat-like member of the megafauna is
an incredibly effective pack animal. A
diprotodon’s speed is 30ft and it has a
carrying capacity of 1000 lb.
Dromornithid (140 gp): as large as a horse,
this avian mount can dash across land
with phenomenal speed. Although it can’t
carry as much as a horse, it can move
faster than the best of them. A
dromornithid’s speed is 60ft and it has a
carrying capacity of 350 lb.
2.4.2 Magic items
Banjo’s Bag (uncommon, +1; 1500 gp): this
plain leather bag was sung into being by a
powerful Magellanican bard-poet with a
strong sense of humour. This bag is
identical to a Bag of Holding, except that
every week a random item falls out of the
bag unbeknownst to the bearer.
Red Belly’s Helmet (artefact, +3; 9000 gp):
this battered rectangular great helm
covers the face and neck. It was made and
worn by Red Belly, the colony’s most
famous bushranger. It provides +3 AC
91
against ranged attacks and the wearer is
immune to ranged critical hits.
The Gumtree Boots of Cliff (artefact, +5;
25000 gp): these wooden boots are made
from the finest redgum and belonged to
greatest runner of the colony. Although
uncomfortable to wear, the bearer cannot
be tired by travel. Even after a whole
day’s travel, they can continue going
indefinitely. They do not need to sleep,
but this only applies whilst travelling.
Furthermore, they still require food and
drink as normal.
Rebellious Flag of Grave (rare, +2; 4000
gp): this small blue patch of cloth is a
fragment of the flag raised by rebellious
miners at Grave. Showing the patch to any
constable or representative of the crown
provides a +5 bonus to intimidate them.
The Ash of Bats (artefacts, +3; 9000 gp): in
the sport of Maiden, there is a large
competition between Magellanican-born
and Old Home-born colonists. In the first
great tournament, a batter hit the ball into
the air where it collided with a bat and
killed it. Seen as a hilarious omen, the bat
was burned and it’s ashes given as a
trophy to the winner. The ashes confer +4
to ranged attacks against people born in
Old Home.
Not-a-knife (rare, +3; 9000 gp): ever
striving to carry swords that are usually
reserved for the aristocracy, the common
folk have made increasingly larger knifes
that now function exactly like a sword.
This is the largest and finest example of
such a knife. It requires two hands to
wield and was forged from melted convict
chains. It counts as a +1 greatsword and
confers a +4 bonus to intimidate only
when the bearer unsheathes it.
Tiddalick’s Belly (artefact, +5; 25000 gp): then removed as it mysteriously goes
made from the belly of an amphibian missing in search of a new bearer.
Dreamtime creature, this smooth leather
Possum skin cloak (rare, +3; 9000 gp):
waterskin is unemptyable. It constantly
woven together from a dozen possums,
streams water when upended. However,
this cloak is imbued with secrets of native
whenever the bearer laughs the waterskin
elders and is a symbol of respect to all
bursts and 20 ft2 of water immediately fills
natives. It provides +5 to Persuasion
the surrounding space. The waterskin is

Water holes can quench more than thirst

92
(DnD) or Diplomacy (PF) when dealing wearer can summon a Mirror Python that
with natives. is entirely under the wearer’s control. The
Mirror Python remains for 1d20 rounds
Kurdaitcha Wand and Thongs (very rare,
before exploding in a flash of rainbow
+4; 18000 gp): the wand is made of bone
light.
and drenched in the juice of a corpse
whilst the shoes are made of human hair
and blood. Only native elders know how
to make them. The wearer of the shoes
must dislocate their big toes in order to
wear them. These items come as a pair,
and only confer a bonus when wielded
together. The wand and shoes confer
Bestow Curse as a spell-like ability a
number of times per day equal to 2 + the
PC’s Charisma modifier. The caster level
is equal to the PC’s level.

Water Diviner (very rare, +3; 9000 gp): this

Y-shaped stick is held with both hands
and pointed forwards in the search for
water. It gives a vague sense of direction
towards the nearest water source but does
not indicate the distance.

Wobbleboard of the Wang Warbler

(artefact, +3; 9000 gp): this sheet of metal
makes an amusing musical noise when
wobbled. It was owned by a famous
colonial bard who became disgraced for
seducing people against their will. When
played, the wobbleboard confers a +4
bonus to Charisma but shifts your
alignment one step closer to evil. The
effects are removed 2d4 hours after the
wobbleboard stops being played.

Rainbow Pendant (legendary, +5; 50000

gp): to the shame of opal carvers of the
colony, the finest opal amulet in
Magellanica was not crafted by their
hands. It was found by explorers in the
Plain of Rust, mysteriously sitting atop a
small sandstone rock as if patiently
awaiting their arrival. Once per day, the

93

2.6 Spells
Abbott's Denial
School: transmutation, sorcerer/wizard 4
Casting time: 1 standard action
Components: V,S, M (caster must bite into
an onion)
Range: long (400ft + 40ft/2 levels)
Target: one ship
Duration: 1 hour/level
Saving Throw: Wis negates (DnD), Will
negates (PF)
Spell Resistance: yes
Effect: this spell targets the crew of an
entire ship. The captain or the creature in
charge can negate the spell with a
successful saving throw. If successful, this
spell forces all crew members including
the captain to turn the ship around and
sail in the opposite direction for the
duration.
Bradburius
School: transmutation, sorcerer/wizard 2,
warlock 2, witch 2
Casting time: 1 standard action
Components: V,S
Range: long (400ft + 40ft/level)
Area: 40ft radius
Duration: 1 minute/level
Saving Throw: Dex negates (DnD), Ref
negates (PF)
Spell Resistance: yes
Effect: all enemy creatures that fail their
save are immediately knocked prone.
Buffalo Hypnotism
School: conjuration, druid 2, ranger 3,
shaman 3, warlock 3, witch 3
Casting time: 1 standard action
Components: V,S
Target: single animal
Duration: 2d4 rounds
Range: close (25ft + 5/2 levels)
Saving Throw: Will negates (PF), Wis
negates (DnD)
Spell Resistance: yes
Effect: arm outstretched and humming a
strange incantation, the caster forces any
animal to submit to his will and yield on
the spot. The animal cannot take any
actions, and sit and remain sitting for the
duration of the spell. If threatened whilst
sitting, the animal gets another save to
break the spell.
Dreamgate
School: universal, cleric 4, druid 3,
inquisitor 4, mesmerist 3, oracle 3, ranger
4, shaman 4, sorcerer/wizard 4, warlock 4,
witch 4
Casting time: 1 standard action
Components: V,S, M (opal worth 100
gold)
Target: you and/or up to eight creatures
holding hands
Duration: instantaneous
Range: touch
Saving Throw: Wis negates (DnD), Will
negates (PF)
Spell Resistance: yes
Effect: the caster and up to eight others
holding hands are transported into the
Dreamtime. They arrive in the Dreamtime
at the same location as where they left the
material plane.
Dreamglance
School: universal, cleric 3, druid 2,
inquisitor 3, mesmerist 2, oracle 2, ranger
3, shaman 3, sorcerer/wizard 3, warlock 2,
witch 3
Casting time: 1 standard action
94
Components: V,S, M (opal worth 50 gold)
Target: you or one touched creature
Duration: instantaneous (when caster falls
asleep)
Range: touch
Saving Throw: Wis negates (DnD), Will
negates (PF)
Spell Resistance: yes
Effect: this spell is used for brief
interaction with the Dreamtime. After
casting the spell, the moment when the
caster falls asleep their spirit is sent into
the Dreamtime. The location is anywhere
of their choosing. Their spirit has the same
statistics but cannot physically interact
with its surroundings. However, the spirit
can still cast any magic that the character
could when they fell asleep. They remain
in the dreamtime for 1d6 + 1/level
minutes before their spirit is sent back into
its body and they immediately awake
without any benefits for sleep. Instead, the
caster can cast the spell on an already
sleeping creature and immediately send
their spirit to a location of the caster’s
choosing. The spirit can be physically
harmed by all denizens of the Dreamtime,
even though the spirit is unable to interact
with them physically in return. If the spirit
dies in the Dreamtime, the body dies too.
Dreamsight
School: universal, cleric 2, druid 2,
inquisitor 2, mesmerist 2, oracle 2, ranger
2, shaman 2, sorcerer/wizard 2, warlock 2,
witch 2
Casting time: 1 standard action
Components: V,S
Target: you or one touched creature
Duration: 1 minute/level
Range: personal
Saving Throw: Wis negates (DnD), Will
negates (PF)
95
Spell Resistance: yes
Effect: the caster can glimpse the true
nature of things made in the Dreamtime.
The caster casts it on themselves or
someone willing. The spell magnifies the
intensity of colour vision. Adds +5 to
Perception. Those affected by the spell can
choose one creature per round to focus on
and gain information about that creature.
Dreamsight randomly provides one of the
following statistics of a creature being
focussed on (roll 1d3): 1. Challenge rating,
2. Alignment, 3. Type. If physically within
the Dreamtime then the caster
automatically gains all three and the
perception bonus is increased to +10.
Eureka
School: divination, sorcerer/wizard 2
Casting time: 1 standard action
Components: V,S
Target: you
Duration: 1 round/level
Range: personal
Area: 10ft radius centred on caster
Effect: the caster immediately identifies
the closest precious metals or gems within
the spells area (including depth and
height).
Holtus
School: illusion, alchemist 1, antipaladin 1,
bard 1, inquisitor 1, magus 1,
sorcerer/wizard 1, summoner/unchained
summoner 1
Casting time: 1 standard action
Components: V,S, M (a libation of sea
water)
Range: touch
Target: one creature or object touched
Duration: concentration up to 1 hour
(DnD), 1 minute/level (PF)
Saving Throw: Wis negates (DnD), Will
negates (PF)
Spell Resistance: yes
Effect: this spell turns the caster, creature
or object touched invisible as per the
“invisibility” spell. However, the caster
immediately begins to drown. Each
round, the caster must make a Con save
(DnD) or Fort save (PF) against their own
spell or else take 1d4 points of damage as
their lungs fill with sea water. The caster
can dismiss the spell at any time.
Irwinnius
School: conjuration, bloodrager 3, magus
3, sorcerer/wizard 3
Casting time: 1 standard action
Components: V,S, M (the barb of a sting
ray)
Duration: 1 round + 1/3 levels
Range: long (400ft + 40ft/level)
Saving Throw: Con negates, Fort negates
Effect: a poisonous barb shoots from the
caster’s hand. Make a ranged (PF: touch)
attack against a single target within range.
If hit, the target takes 3d8 physical
damage and 1d8 poison damage. The
poison can be prevented by a successful
Con save (DnD) or Fort save (PF). The
poison lasts for the duration (up to a
maximum of 6 rounds at 18th level),
dealing an additional 1d8 poison damage
per round. A new Con save (DnD) or Fort
save (PF) is allowed at the beginning of
the target’s turn to prevent the effects of
the poison. A successful save stops the
spell entirely, preventing any successive
poison damage.
Larrikane
School: transmutation, sorcerer/wizard 4
Casting time: 1 standard action
Components: V,S
Range: close (25ft + 5ft/2 levels)
Area: 30ft radius
Duration: 1 minute/level
Saving Throw: Wis negates (DnD), Will
negates (PF)
Spell Resistance: yes
Effect: anthropologically alters all enemies
in the spell’s area. Only works on
intelligent humanoids. Affected
individuals stop whatever they are doing
and begin to make fun of each other in as
cheeky a way as possible. Whilst “taking
the piss” the affected do not move or take
any other action other than talk. If
threatened, those within the area of effect
gain another saving throw to negate the
spell.
Nullius
School: evocation, sorcerer/wizard 6
Casting time: 1 day
Components: V,S, M (the blood of the
person/creature whose land is being
taken)
Target: special (land)
Duration: permanent
Range: 200ft radius from caster
Effect: the caster designates a piece of land
owned by a single person. Upon
successfully casting the spell, the caster
immediately creates legal documentation
that the designated land is rightfully
theirs. Any other conflicting legal
documentation is destroyed.
Ruddy Resurrection
School: necromancy, antipaladin 4, oracle
4, shaman 4, warlock 4, witch 4
Casting time: 1 hour
Components: V,S, M (an intelligent
creature to stab in the back)
Target: dead creature touched
Duration: instantaneous
96
Effect: the caster brings a dead creature
back to life with the same rules as the
“raise dead” spell. At the end of this hour-
long spell, the caster must stab an
unwilling creature in the back with a knife
or sword of any description whilst
touching the dead creature’s body. The
stabbed creature need not be killed by the
stabbing, but the caster must stab them at
least once and as hard as possible with the
intent on inflicting a killing blow. The
dead creature must have been dead for no
longer than 10 days.
Secret of Fire
School: evocation, cleric 2, druid 2, ranger
3, shaman 2, sorcerer/wizard 2, warlock 2,
witch 2
Casting time: 1 day
Components: V,S, M (crow’s blood)
Target: touched creature
Duration: permanent
Range: personal
Saving Throw: Wis negates (DnD), Will
negates (PF)
Spell Resistance: yes
Effect: caster gives the “produce flame”
spell to one creature they touch. They gain
the spell permanently and can cast it even
if they cannot normally cast spells. They
can cast it once per day.
Tuckerbox
School: divination, druid 1, ranger 2
Casting time: 1 standard action
Components: V,S
Target: you
Duration: 1 hour/level
Range: personal
Effect: the caster is directed by a slight
magical tug towards the nearest bush
tucker. This only includes edible
97
Magellanican flora. It gives no indication
on the distance or quantity of food.
The Castle
School: evocation, sorcerer/wizard 4
Casting time: 1 day
Components: V, M (a parent’s cherished
memento of their children)
Target: special (land)
Duration: permanent
Range: close (25ft + 5/2 levels), area (40ft
cube)
Effect: this spell was designed by a poor
wizard whose house was threatened to be
demolished by jealous entrepreneurial
peers. The caster creates a fully furnished
house in a 50ft cube. The structure of the
house is made to the caster’s
specifications. It does not contain any
furniture. Living in the house for more
than a day at a time confers lead
poisoning to the occupant without a save.
Lead poisoning counts as “poisoned”
(DnD) or “sickened” (PF) for 1d4 days.
Each successive poisoning drains 1 point
of wisdom alongside the poisoned or
sickened condition condition.
Thun-dah
School: evocation, bard 3
Casting time: 3 standard actions
Components: V, S, M, special (at least 3
other creatures must be occupied by
chanting for the 3 rounds it takes to cast,
counts as V for these creatures)
Duration: instantaneous
Range: 25ft radius centred on caster
Saving Throw: Con negates, Fort negates
Spell Resistance: yes
Effect: composed by a famous
Magellanican bard, this spell has become
iconic amongst the colony’s musical
performers. As the bard’s companions
rhythmically chant, the bard accompanies
them with a melody before ending the
spell screaming “thun-dah!” as a
cacophonous burst of sound emanates
from their throat. All enemies within the
spell’s area are subject to 3d8 sonic
damage and count as deafened for 1d6
rounds.

Never trust a frog-man's pinch of salt.

98
Chapter 3

99

Chapter 3.
Gamemastery
3.1 Introduction
Gamemastery is the core component of
any tabletop RPG. The GM (synonymous
with DM from DnD) is responsible for
providing the narrative to the players,
from which the players are responsible for
creating their own narratives within it.
Experienced GMs can feel free to skip the
first section on the basics.
Though we contend this book to contain
advice for all GMs, the book is generally
tailored to experienced players and we are
therefore limiting the amount of space we
dedicate to explaining the basics of
gamemastery. Those who are not familiar
with being the GM should know that
there are a number of fantastic resources
available tailored to teaching
gamemastery. First and foremost are
DnD’s Dungeon Master’s Guide and
Pathfinder’s GameMastery Guide. These
tomes contain comprehensive advice for
all prospective GMs. If you cannot buy the
books then go for the cheaper pdfs, and if
you cannot afford either then see if you
can borrow them from someone you
know. Furthermore, there are a number of
easily findable videos and blogs on
gamemastery from some of the most
experienced GMs in the field.
The majority of this chapter provides
resources to help GMs bring the land of
Magellanica to life. We include encounter
and discovery tables alongside a panoply
of interesting adventure hooks. Given the
nature of a distant colony, Magellanica
can be woven into any generic fantasy
setting. As such, the GM’s resources here
can be woven together with those
provided in other GM sections of DnD
and Pathfinder rulebooks.
3.2 Basics of Gamemastery
A GM creates a narrative in which the PCs
are a protagonist. They explain the world
in which PCs interact and subsequently
explain the consequences of these
interactions. To that end, the GM weaves a
story based on their own ideas that is
inevitably influenced by the decisions of
the PCs. Given that the ultimate goal of an
RPG is to have fun, the story that a GM
provides for the players needs to be
interesting and immersive. To create such
a narrative, it is best if a GM considers the
basic elements of storytelling.
The 5 core components of any given story
are:
 Characters: includes NPCs and
PCs
 Setting: established by the
descriptions the GM makes about
the world, predominantly its
people and places
 Plot: driven by the interaction
within and between PCs and
NPCs, includes the pacing of an
adventure
 Conflict: the genesis of any given
adventure, typically established
through dialogue or violence
whereby the PCs are left with a
conflict that requires resolution
100
  Resolution: the end of an
adventure, where all or most of the
loose ends are tied up
GMs should consider each of these
components when writing their own
adventures or modifying pre-written ones.
Developing all 5 within any given
narrative is important in establishing an
enjoyable experience for both GM and
players.
3.3 Beginning a Campaign
The very first session of any campaign
forms the party and tends to establish the
PC group with an in game reason for their
cooperation. Magellanica is a place rich
with adventure and therefore offers a
number of incentives to form a party at
101
the start of a campaign. There are two
broad categories for the beginning of a
campaign in Magellanica: 1. an already
established party arrives in the continent
or, 2. a new adventuring party forms from
the populace of Magellanica. Details on
how to start a Magellanican campaign
with either party structure are detailed
below.
3.3.1 Possible reasons why an adventuring
party comes to Magellanica
 Stories of lucrative adventure and
exploration draw the PCs to
Magellanica on a ship headed for
Galesmeet:
o Mining guilds are looking
to hire prospectors to find
gold or gems in territory
teeming with wild beasts
and malevolent spirits
 o The Academae are
commissioning hunters to
bring back a live
anthropomorphic eagle-
creature rumoured to soar
near Whitewall mountain.
They warn that it may
wield an insurmountable
control wind and lightning
o The Faith-in-Shadow needs
guardsmen to protect the
transport of a holy relic
from Old Home to the Red
Monastery
o Governor Valourre is
calling for intrepid heroes
to investigate the
disappearance of the 3rd
Expeditionary Force
 Their ship is blown from its
original course by a colossal storm:
o The ship is forced to divert
to Galesmeet as it takes on
water, barely making it to
the harbour
o The PCs are shipwrecked
on the cliffs somewhere
along Magellanica’s wild
coast
3.3.2 Possible reasons why an adventuring
party forms from amongst the populace of
Magellanica
 The PCs are freemen or freedmen
that have been recruited for
adventure by mining guilds, the
Academae, the Faith-in-Shadow or
the crown (as above)
 The PCs are all convicts that have
worked together in a chain gang.
They have all just received their
ticket of leave. They may or may
not have been guilty of the crimes
that made them convicts in the first
place
 The PCs are natives from a tribe in
the wilderness. They may be
looking to integrate or undermine
the colony
3.4 Encounters in
Magellanica
To bring Magellanica to life, a GM must
establish that adventure comes with
unexpected discoveries, risks and
rewards. This section provides a number
of tables with certain things adventurers
may find in the colony and beyond.
Wherever the PCs go, discoveries can be
made, risks can be taken and rewards can
be claimed. To that end, we provide in the
following pages a number of location-
specific encounter tables that are tailored
to where the PCs are. We suggest DMs use
these tables as inspiration for adventure
hooks or as flavoursome additions to
adventure whilst PCs are en route
throughout Magellanica. These tables are
listed with specific Magellanican
locations, but can be applied for wider
adventure in any way the GM chooses. In
parentheses are the general environments
to which these tables can be applied. We
encourage the GM to take the ideas in
these tables and use them in their own
settings independent of whether or not
they take place in Magellanica.
102
3.4.1 Encounters in the Colony
Galesmeet docks (harbour) encounter
table, roll 1d10 to randomly generate:
1. A frigate freshly arrived from Old
Home is rapidly taking on water.
Many chained convicts on board
will surely die
2. Crates intended for a cargo ship
have fallen onto the dock. The gold
and silver contents of the crate are
being wrestled over by desperate
vagabonds
3. Red tabbies are in the process of
hanging an allegedly murderous
convict by hurling her over the
pier
4. The harbourmaster has accused
sailors of thievery and the red
tabbies are hunting for them
5. Nervous acolytes of the Academae
are searching for a “missing
specimen” last seen diving into the
harbour after disembowelling a
sailor
6. A prior from the Faith-in-Shadow
is preaching to newly arrived
immigrants, persuading them to
attend their church with charitable
gifts of food
7. A convict is frustratingly avoiding
capture as they flee the
constabulary by swimming
underneath the pier
8. Huge swells lash the dock as a
thunderstorm rolls in from the
east. The swells threaten to capsize
small boats moored at the dock
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9. Sickened beggars try their luck
with merchants at the dock. They
receive a beating for their begging
10. Drunken sailors and drunken
freedmen erupt from a dockside
inn, locked in a viscous melee
whilst passers-by call for the
nearest constable
Galesmeet and other towns (urban
townscape) encounter table, roll 1d10 to
randomly generate:
1. Late at night, a group of
vagabonds tries to capture the PCs
and pass them off as convicts to be
sold to the mining guilds
2. Huge crowds gather about the
streets to see the corpse of some
colossal beast found in the
wilderness by explorers. They are
delivering it to the Chapterhouse
in Galesmeet
3. A drunken miner has passed out in
the street, his shirt torn and his
pockets empty
4. Local native tribesmen have
ventured into town under cover of
darkness, to what end is unknown
5. A preacher of the Faith-in-Shadow
is conducting a sermon by firelight
on the need to accept Magellanican
natives into society and the church
6. An argument starts between a
constable and a merchant,
resulting in the merchant being
clapped in chains
7. Crowds gather in the streets with
the news that a famous explorer is
soon to arrive in town
 8. Convicts are laying cobblestones to
improve the street when a fight
breaks out between them that their
Overseer cannot break up
9. Hawkers attempt to sell the PCs
any number of odd trinkets, likely
stolen from law-abiding freemen
10. The constabulary are in the process
of hanging a bushranger for
thievery of crown gold.
On the road (general roadside and
farmland) encounter table, roll 1d12 to
randomly generate:
1. A small tribe of starving natives
are begging by the side of the road
2. Bushrangers lie in hidden by the
side of the road, ready to rob the
PCs
3. Wild diprotodons stampede along
the road, flattening any PC in their
path
4. A native is being hanged by a
group of angry colonists who
claim he is the murderer of a local
shepherd
5. A prospector is hiding by the
roadside, awaiting the road to be
clear to ensure no one knows of his
successful gold-panning area
6. Gleeful miners have captured a
native family in convict’s chains.
They take turns in beating them,
making sure they “learn their
lesson”
7. Makeshift graves by the side of the
road are being exhumed by shifty
prospectors
8. A group of native men have killed
a family of colonists at a nearby
station, save for one woman whom
they are currently taking turns to
rape by the roadside
9. Red tabbies are fleeing down the
road, running from what their
hasty descriptions suggest is a
Platychidna
10. A native or colonial drunkard is
pissing or vomiting by the side of
the road
11. Amongst a mining caravan, a cart
filled with valuable ochre has a
broken axle and the colonists in
charge are struggling to repair it
12. A Drop Bear feasts on the bodies
and mounts of unfortunate drovers
Flowing River (urbanised river) encounter
table, roll 1d10 to randomly generate:
1. A corpse has washed up on shore,
its face tattooed with the chain of a
convict
2. Merchants wash their horses in the
shallows, trying to wash off a
strange red stain
3. Travellers are washing off the stink
of travel by bathing in the river
4. Women wash their family’s clothes
whilst waxing lyrical on current
affairs
5. A thirsty diprotodon has walked
into the river for a drink despite
the protestations of its rider
6. Shepherds from out of town are
tending to their flocks at the river’s
edge
7. An explorers caravan is filling up
with as much water as possible
before a long journey into
unmapped territory
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 8. A number of convicts are in a
swimming race. A native wins by a
large margin, much to the disgust
of their overseer watching on
9. Trade barges make their way up
and down stream, willing to carry
the party for a fee
10. Red tabbies are being rowed
upstream by a team of convicts.
The speed with which the convicts
are forced to row suggests the
constabulary is urgently needed
3.4.2 Encounters in the Wild
Marrowgums and Lonely Forest
(woodland) encounter table, roll 1d10 to
randomly generate:
1. A native tribe dance within a glade
of tall gum trees streaked with red
sap
2. Yowies sleep by the base of a
colossal beech tree, the left-overs of
their humanoid meal strewn about
them
3. The party stumble upon two
dancing ghost-in-trees that twirl
seamlessly in a glade of ghost
gums
4. Flashes of magical light, screams
and the clang of steel-on-steel echo
from the forest ahead as two gangs
of bushrangers fight one another
5. The party uncover a glade with a
large ash pile in the centre. A skull
adorns its summit
6. A scoria obelisk covered in
swirling ochre depictions of
mythical creatures blocks the path
7. Colonists have ventured into the
forest to log rare huon pines, filling
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the underbrush with the repetitive
thud of axe to wood
8. Three colonial trackers are stooped
over a pile of kindling, arguing
over how to start a fire
9. A native tribe feasts on a huge
diprotodon being roasted in a
massive bonfire
10. Bushrangers lurk in the
underbrush nearby after a scout
alerted them of the party’s
presence
Cinderwood (bushfire-prone forest)
encounter table, roll 1d10 to randomly
generate:
1. A recent bushfire has decimated a
large swathe of forest, smoke
hangs thick in the air
2. The dreaded Red Belly and his
gang are lurking by the roadside
ready to hurl fire and arrows on
unsuspecting victims
3. A bushfire rages in the distance
causing a large migration of wild
animals that run from the flames.
A singed and enraged Platychidna
runs alongside them through the
underbrush
4. Ash and embers rain from the sky.
They stem from a small bushfire
nearby. There is a decent risk the
embers may cause a new fire
5. Volcanic ash clouds shroud the
forest in black fog that reduces
visibility to 40ft
6. A weak fire elemental struggles to
keep itself alive as it has been
caught in a rainstorm whilst
Scholarly explorers come prepared with as many scrolls as possible due to the large
volume of unknown things to categorise in Magellanica
106
 traversing a swathe of burnt-black
forest
7. Burnt effigies with a humanoid
shape are arranged in a circle
facing inward, lining a glade that
has been spared from a recent
bushfire
8. Scoria statues of crooked crow-
people line the side of the track,
warning of the dangers ahead
9. A band of Red Rangers stumble on
the party in the middle of the
night, warning of some fire-beast
lurking between the blackened
boughs of burnt forest
10. Dark Guardsmen order the party
to leave the area, lest the PCs ruin
their efforts in tracking murderous
bushrangers
Uncharted parts of the Flowing River and
Rohss River (wilderness rivers) encounter
table, roll 1d10 to randomly generate:
1. Lurking beneath the calm river
surface is a bunyip, ready to strike
2. The river pools in a billabong. The
billabong is haunted at night by
the ghost of a swagman
3. The roar of falling water heralds
the sudden appearance of a
waterfall downstream
4. A mob of dromornithids slake
their thirst by the river’s edge
5. A happy diprotodon shakes its
thick coat free of water after a
surreptitious dip in the river
6. Native hunters stand in the centre
of the river with spears poised,
ready to strike the fish at their feet
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7. Sprites giggle and play in the
shallows before fleeing into deeper
water the moment they notice the
PCs
8. Blue yabbies dig their huge mud
tunnels into the bank of a swift
river
9. A native tribe are travelling
downstream on bark canoes, eager
to flee from something upstream
10. The body of a Red Ranger has
washed up on the far shore, his
sodden corpse is being picked at
by a flock of hungry crows and
currawongs
Murrawi River (perennial river) encounter
table, roll 1d10 to randomly generate:
1. Upon a dried river bed rests a
number of sun-bleached skeletons
2. A starving explorer desperately
digs at a river bend in a futile
search of water
3. Rotting fish cover the dry river bed
filling the area with a pungent
stench
4. A native tribe have found water at
a shady river bend. They are glad
to share it
5. Aggressive Magellanican Dragons
fight over the last vestiges of water
in the river
6. A small strip of ghost gums that
line the river are the only shade in
sight
7. The lowering of the river has
uncovered a rocky bed that glitters
with the promise of gold
 8. As the party walk along a river
bed, a sudden roar heralds an
oncoming surge of water
9. Detritus from upstream has
clogged a nearby ravine, creating a
natural dam that threatens to flood
the nearby land
10. The dry riverbed begins to fill with
a trickle of water after rainstorms
lash the countryside, but the water
runs towards the storm front
The Barrier (Mountains) encounter table,
roll 1d10 to randomly generate:
Land of Fire (volcano and lava fields)
1. In a remote valley, native tribes are
encounter table, roll 1d10 to randomly
locked in a brutal fight to the
generate:
death. They use their clubs and
spears with terrible efficiency
2. A mountainside gives way and the
party are forced to run for cover
lest the wall of rocky debris send
them down the mountain
3. The clear mountain air carries the
distant call of a strange bird, the
likes of which not even local
natives have ever heard
4. Drovers herd their cattle across the
high plains, suspicious of
unfamiliar PCs
5. The party come across a lost friar
who has tried to explore the
mountain valleys. He is emaciated
and close to death
6. The smoke of a nearby camp drifts
across the valley, home to a tribe of
hungry Yowies
7. A giant has heard the PCs coming
and readies a boulder to throw at
them
8. An eagle and a crow fight one
another in the sky above. The crow
manages to win which is a terrible
omen to any native
9. Rock caves covered in detailed
ochre designs dot the
mountainside, recently abandoned
by natives for an unknown reason
10. The clack of picks on stone alerts
the party to the presence of a
nearby mine. A swarm of miners
decimate the landscape with pick
and shovel in search of gold
1. A deep rumble emanates from the
ground below, natives can tell that
an eruption of a nearby volcano is
imminent
2. Lava has slowly made its way
across the road ahead, cutting off
the way to the party’s destination
3. Fire elementals attempt to
consume the party in their strange
obsession with burning flesh
4. A miner’s caravan has caught fire
from a hail of hot rocks thrown
from a nearby eruption
5. Ash clouds obscure the nearby
terrain, making it impossible to see
beyond 40ft. If the party can’t find
fresh air within a day, they risk
suffocation
6. Wounded mercenaries are
encamped by the roadside, trying
to recover after fighting off some
strange “lava-beast”
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 7. Fire giants can be seen in the
distance, climbing the slopes of a
nearby volcano and soon
disappearing into a hidden cave on
its slope
8. A terrified acolyte of the
Academae appears at the party’s
encampment at night, clutching an
obsidian crown but too scared to
speak about how she got it
9. On the road ahead, half-crow
creatures sup on the delectable
hemolymph of a Dusk Monarch,
pulling apart the giant moth as it
squeals in agony
10. Quick-flowing lava has
surrounded the party overnight,
only a nearby cave seems to offer
the only chance of escape by foot
The Plain of Rust (desert) encounter table,
roll 1d10 to randomly generate:
1. A recent sandstorm has erased the
track the party was following
2. As the sun dawns, the party
suddenly realises that there is
desert as far as the eye can see in
all directions – unlike the scenery
they observed before dusk the
night before
3. Starving explorers beg for water.
Even if they get it, they are so
malnourished they may die
anyway
4. Natives draw large swirling
designs in the sand, depicting
something they call “gorjunga”,
which roughly translates to
“ancient-dust-eater”
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5. The party glimpse a distant mining
caravan on its way to new
diggings
6. An oncoming sandstorm pushes a
local tribe to find cover in hidden
caves. The natives will need to be
negotiated with if the party wants
to share their shelter
7. A mirage in the distance gives the
party the false promise of water.
All they find is a small dry salt
plain
8. A group of Little Dragons hunt the
party and attack all at once as they
crest a sand dune
9. Natives conduct a corroboree at a
nearby oasis but aggressively keep
out any who dare trespass on their
sacred ground
10. Yallagah’s hunters confront the
PCs, eager to see them leave the
area lest Yallagah himself hunt
them down
3.5 Environment
A campaign set in Magellanica can
involve interesting weather patterns that
are far from typical. Unusual weather
yields another sense of wonder and
danger for travelling adventurers.
Furthermore, it adds another layer of
detail to the world to provide a more
immersive experience for the players.
With such a deep connection to the
magical fluidity of the Dreamtime,
Magellanica’s weather can be volatile in
the extreme. Magellanican weather
mimics typical temperate weather of the
material plane 90% of the time, but the
other 10% can be entirely different. At the
start of each day or night (GM’s choice),
the GM can roll 1d10 and on the result of a
10 can resolve an extreme weather event
detailed below.
The various weather patterns are as
follows:
 Bushfire: the oncoming firestorm
can be identified by a plume of
white smoke during the day and a
ruddy red glow at night. It is a
long line of fire that follows the
direction of the wind. The speed of
its travel is proportional to the
wind – the faster the wind the
quicker it moves. Any PC in its
way is killed unless they have
immunity to fire
 Thunderstorm: lightning and
thunder herald fierce rain.
Bowstrings and crossbow strings
get wet and have a 10% chance of
breaking every time they’re used.
Ranged attacks are at -2 to hit
 Ash storm: volcanic ash covers the
region from a nearby eruption,
reducing visibility to 40ft. The air
is poisonous and threatens to
suffocate breathing creatures is
they cannot get fresh air within a
day
 Sandstorm: fierce winds pick up
red sand and create a red wall of
manifest whirlwind. Visibility is
reduced to 10ft and all ranged
attacks are at -10 to hit. Unless
PC’s use a hand or goggles to
protect their eyes, they are at -5 to
hit as well. Perception checks have
a -10 penalty. It is impossible to fly
 Sea gale: the easterly winds blow
from the coast, causing huge ocean
swells, toppling trees and peeling
back rooves of thatch and slate.
Ranged attacks suffer a -10 to hit
an it is impossible to fly
 Heat wave: clear blue skies hold
aloft an unrelenting sun that sears
leaves and burns away lakes. All
fire damage caused or received by
the PC’s is enhanced by an
additional 1d4
 Lava flow: streams of molten rock
pour from the slopes of a nearby
volcano and cover the landscape in
rivers of fire. PC’s that are fully
exposed to lava are immediately
killed unless they have immunity
to fire. All fire damage caused or
received by the PC’s is enhanced
by an additional 1d6
 Cold Snap: trees split and water
freezes over as frost covers the
landscape. All cold damage caused
or received by the PC’s is
enhanced by an additional 1d4
 Snow: a dusting of snow covers
the mountain peaks in a white
blanket. Survival checks to track or
to forage are at -5. All cold damage
caused or received by the PC’s is
enhanced by an additional 1d6
 Fog: a thick cloud clings to the
ground before the morning sun
can wrench it free. Visibility is
reduced to 40ft
GMs wishing to weave unusual weather
into their campaign should roll a d10 at
the start of each day. On a 10, they should
roll 1d6 and consult the following tables
with respect to the PC’s location. If the
110
players are not within the territories listed,
pick the one closest to the party. Listed in 3.6 Exploration and
parentheses alongside “thunderstorm” are Discovery
the possible consequences of heavy rain or
lightning depending on the area.
The map of Magellanica is constantly
Valourrelend:
being redrawn as very little of the
1. Bushfire continent has been explored. Therefore,
exploration is a major reason for
2. Thunderstorm (flooding)
adventure beyond the borders of the map.
3. Ash storm Even poorly known places within the
4. Sea gale borders of the map require exploration
too.
5. Heat wave
3.6.1 Reasons to Explore
6. Fog
The Barrier: Land can be valuable for many reasons:
farming grain or livestock, mining
1. Bushfire precious metals and gemstones, strategic
2. Thunderstorm (landslides) control of trade through the area. As such,
an interested party seeking such valuable
3. Snow
land will hire explorers to survey new
4. Fog territories in an attempt to make a claim to
Land of Fire: it. The crown, aristocracy, mining guilds,
Shadow Faith and Academae all hire
1. Bushfire explorers to discover new lands and lay
2. Thunderstorm (cause bushfires) claim to them in this way.

3. Ash storm Furthermore, what lives upon the land

4. Lava flow may be more valuable than the land itself.
Strange new flora or fauna may be sold at
The Plain of Rust:
a high price to aristocrats eager to expand
1. Sandstorm their menagerie or scholars keen to study
new forms of life.
2. Thunderstorm (prevent
sandstorms) 3.6.2 Licenses/Permits
3. Heat wave Exploration and Prospecting require their
4. Cold snap own particular license or permit (see
Chapter 1: The Setting). It costs 50 gp for
an explorer’s permit and 10 gp for a
miner’s permit. The permits themselves
are physical pieces of parchment declaring
the name of its holder and the right to
explore or prospect. They are signed by

111
An explorer with an insectoid heritage, ready to delve into the wilds

112
sergeants amongst the constabulary and
must be stamped with a magistrate’s
signet ring for authenticity.
We encourage GM’s with low-level PCs to
ensure that getting these permits feels like
an important achievement for the players.
Perhaps the party doesn’t have enough
money to buy a membership for every PC
or maybe all permits have been bought up
and desperate explorers/miners are
willing to part with theirs for a higher
price. It is important to note that the
constabulary can confiscate permits at any
time, and may permanently ban PC’s from
getting them if they so wish.
3.6.3 Navigation and Survival
In order to explore Magellanica, the
Survival skill will be crucial. It is
recommended that at least one party
member has a good Survival skill or that
they hire someone who does. Typically,
colonial NPC explorers with low Survival
skills will hire a native to lead them into
the wilderness.
The Survival skill can be used to:
 Navigate by reading the stars,
determine direction (known as
astronomancy) or using the sun as
a guide
 Forage for food and water
 Distinguish poisonous food or
dangerously stagnant water from
that which is safe to eat or drink
 Predict when the weather is
changing, particularly important
when predicting an oncoming
storm at night
Thirst and hunger can assail the party if
the PC’s Survival skills are inadequate or
113
they are unlucky/foolish enough to
venture too far into the desert. However,
the Plain of Rust need not be the only
food-scarce environment. PC’s unsure of
what bush tucker to consume may find
themselves starving in any environment.
3.6.4 Discovery
When adventuring beyond the border of
the map the PC’s will be encountering
people, creatures, places and
environments never seen by colonial eyes.
This is where creative GM’s can thrive.
They can establish any landscape of their
choosing without the need to worry about
contradicting previously established
landscapes of the setting.
Examples of newly discovered landscapes,
roll 1d10 to randomly generate:
1. A singular mountain out in the
desert made entirely of iron or
copper with rivers of acid running
down its slopes
2. Natural stone archways link either
side of a steep gorge that shudders
with the roar of flowing water at
its base
3. A salt plain stretches into the
distance where a thin black strip
can be seen on the horizon
4. Flocks of birds herald the sudden
appearance of a large freshwater
lake from behind a hillside
5. What seemed like smooth,
rounded hills are actually
sandstone ruins. The ruins are
chiselled into strange designs and
are being reclaimed by the
environment as time turns the
stone to sand
 6. Unbeknownst to the party, at some
time during their travel they
passed through a tear in reality
into the Dreamtime
7. A small beech and gum forest
clings to a remote hillside. The
leaves are yellowish and
shrivelled, clearly having been
infected by something mundane or
magical
8. The remnants of a broken spire lie
strewn about a valley’s floor. An
entire native clan has gathered to
use the fallen tower for shelter
from an oncoming storm
9. A clearing in the forest has been
made by some colossal beast or
magical force that has torn trees
that are the width of a diprotodon
clean out of the ground
10. Colossal mushrooms sprout from a
caldera of a small dormant
volcano. The local native tribe
describe the glade of fungi as “the
fairy garden”
3.7 The Dreamtime
The realm of the Dreamtime or the
“Everywhen” acts like a plane with a
strong association to the powers of Chaos.
It is home to spirits and creatures of myth
and legend that fulfil their every whimsy
in a strange and colourful magic-drenched
landscape. Creation and potential are
manifest in the Dreamtime, such is the
power of a land made from dreams. But
who or what is dreaming? None perhaps
the wisest native elders can say.
The Dreamtime is a “place” that can only
be reached by either stepping through a
tear in reality created in aeons passed or
by conducting teleportation rituals known
only by the most privileged native
sorcerers. However, if a PC manages to
find themselves in such a place, the
dangers are paramount. The monstrous
spirits and fae-like creatures that stalk the
Dreamtime are as likely to be friendly as
they are deadly. Furthermore, if one can
escape the world of dreams, they are far
from guaranteed to return the same.
Perhaps time has sped quicker or slower
whilst they were away? Perhaps their
actions in the Dreamtime directly altered
the history of Magellanica and beyond?
3.7.1 Chronology
GMs should remember that what happens
in the dream time is a reflection of what
happens simultaneously in the past,
present and future. It is the creation myth
of the world, playing out the world’s
creation all at once. A PC that enters the
Dreamtime can therefore potentially
change creation. For example, natives tell
of an angry giant in the dreaming who
topples a mountain but dies of exhaustion
in the process, forming a corpse-mountain
in its place. This is the tale of how a real
mountain in the Barrier is made from a
giant’s bones. If a PC were to encounter
that giant in the Dreamtime, they are as
likely to find it angrily destroying a
mountain as they are to find its
mountainous corpse. If they managed to
persuade the giant to stop destroying the
mountain, then they would save the giants
life…but what might this mean for the real
world? A mountain of the Barrier could
suddenly disappear, unravelling the
thread of all the drovers or natives that
114
lived upon it. Perhaps the giant then takes
out his rage on another spirit, unravelling
its victim’s influence on the world. As
such, the ramifications of PC’s altering
creation myths can have untold
consequences for the Realm of the
Awoken.
3.7.2 Describing the Dreamtime
Given the “otherness” attributed to the
Dreamtime, we encourage GMs to create
an extremely alien landscape for their
players. The environment of the
Dreamtime should physically reflect
concepts, themes, emotions and other
artistic attributes. This includes the
landscape, flora and fauna. We suggest
mixing euphoric and depressive elements
into the environment to give the
Dreamtime a dystopian feel. For example:
rainbow coloured grass sprouting
shadow-black flowers, vibrantly blue and
yellow hills beneath a night sky filled with
purple stars, black storm clouds pouring
rainbow paint etc.
Dreamtime encounter table, roll 1d12 to
randomly generate:
1. A small multi-coloured frog leaps
in front of the PC’s and suavely
says “hello”
2. Pools of heatless fire block the path
ahead with plumes of blue smoke
3. Black dingoes laugh maniacally as
they hunt nearby
4. Writhing worms wriggle free from
the pouch of a kangaroo that
calmly stands there whilst the
worms eat its flesh
115
5. Pink rain falls from a cloudless
sky, covering everything in an oily
sheen
6. A colossal humanoid mouth smiles
eerily from a mountainside, it
turns to a frown the moment the
PC’s look away
7. The sun shines with rainbow light,
partially blinding PC’s with
darkvision (sight reduced to 60 ft.)
8. Oncoming purple storm clouds in
the shape of a hand crackle with
orange lightning
9. A raving madman is huddled by
the mouth of a cave muttering
about “fragrant marrow”
10. A yowie stands before the party,
arms outstretched and screaming
from pain without a source
11. The local landscape is shaped like
a sleeping giant, attentive PC’s
notice the hill that forms its chest is
ever so slowly moving up and
down
12. A tribe of natives roams a hillside
in the distance, riding on the backs
of colourful serpents
3.8 Secrets of the Natives
The native tribes consider themselves the
custodians of their lands. They maintain a
spiritual relationship with not only the
land as it is presently, but as it has always
been and always will be. The will and
whimsy of creation expressed by the
creatures of the Dreamtime is reflected in
the landscape, rich with meaning and
purpose to the natives that live there. The
secret stories that natives pass down
between generations may reveal what
Dreamtime creatures created the land.
Some detailed stories can explain what
intentions these spirits had for their
creations, lending a sense of purpose to
the landscape. Furthermore, the influence
of mere mortals can be expressed through
secret stories and songs, providing a
history of a tribe’s ancestral heroes or
villains.
GMs are encouraged to create mysterious
aspects of the landscape that native tribes
respect and understand. Rivers that turn
green at sunset, a glade of trees that never
stops burning, a mountain valley shaped
like a cupped hand. Strange aspects to the
landscape can add a sense of mystery to
adventures and allow for a relationship
with natives to be tangibly valuable in
uncovering these mysteries. Exactly how
adventurers can gain these secrets from
the natives creates another fantastic
avenue for adventure at the GM’s
disposal. Perhaps the PCs need to go on a
quest to appease the local tribe or conduct
a sacred ritual that conflicts with their
sense of morality. We encourage GMs to
use PC’s attempts to gain the secrets of the
natives as valuable opportunities for new
adventures or immersive roleplaying.
3.8.1 Names
Native names provide a wealth of
information about their subject. Often this
information is considered secret, so the
name remains secret too. GMs should
consider the true nature of places and
people in their Magellanican campaign
and think about assigning them a native
name accordingly. A native name might
be what the PCs need to finally
understanding the customs of nearby
creatures or the dangers of certain
landscapes. As such, translated names
should be informative, such as “flees-
from-fire” or “hurts-at-dawn”. Using
nouns and adjectives helps to hint at the
secret within the name. Using an
anthropomorphic connotation in a name
for something inanimate (such as a place)
can bring the landscape to life. For
example, “gentle-in-the-shade” might
describe a mountain that can only be
climbed from slopes that never see the
sun, aiding the PCs in their quest to reach
the summit.
These names are held by the most
respected elders of the tribe. Often, they
are powerful spellcasters with a magical
connection to the Dreamtime. Druids and
sorcerers are common amongst the elders,
however the most powerful tend to be
warlocks (DnD) or mesmerists (PF). The
warlocks take the Pact of the Dream and
the oracles are affected by the Mystery:
Dream.
3.8.2 Native Languages
The languages of the natives differs with
every clan. However, knowing one
language can help with understanding
another. Knowing an entire native
language provides a +5 bonus on Wis
(DnD) or Linguistics (PF) checks to
determine the meaning of a sentence from
another native language.
3.9 Designer’s Inspiration
Like all fantasy settings, there are
historical allegories woven into the fabric
116
of Magellanica. The setting weaves
indigenous and colonial Australian
history with traditional western fantasy to
create something unique but
unmistakably Aussie. The setting is so
heavily inspired by Australian history that
it could almost be considered a roman-à-
clef. A few examples include: the Dark
Guard are analogous to the colonial Black
(Native) Police, the backwards flowing
Murrawi river was exactly what puzzled
those that discovered the Murray river
and the map weaves together a number of
land marks from south-eastern Australia.
Almost all places, characters and creatures
described in the setting are based on real-
world analogues that exist(ed) in real life
or real beliefs.
Truly, Australian aboriginal culture is
filled with some of the most interesting
and under-appreciated myths.
Furthermore, they fit exceedingly well
into most fantasy RPG settings. They echo
and build upon the same kind of spiritual
and mythological qualities of their better-
known European counterparts. Indeed,
indigenous Australians have had their
own dragons, giants, ghosts and myriad
of others tens of millennia before their
European equivalents became established.
Furthermore, the exploits of colonists in
19th century Australia reads like the
history of a fantasy realm. Replace rifles
with magic and you have a time in which
colonial and native culture clash together
with terrible yet fantastic reality. Different
races, different religions, different
ideologies all mix together into something
unique. Most amazing are the people:
colonists and natives whose lives of
adventure can make any PC jealous. The
governors, squatters, explorers,
117
constables, rebels, convicts, bushrangers
and activists of Australia make our little-
known history an imaginatively evocative
one. It is tragic that so few Aussies
actually know much about it.
The most obvious thing about Magellanica
stolen from real world history is the name.
“Magellanica” is an actual term used to
describe a great southern continent on
many maps throughout the early 17th
century. It was named after Ferdinand
Magellan who had thought he had
discovered the tip of this continent when
sailing though the (humbly named)
Straights of Magellan. This is one of the
first names attributed to what would
largely become Australia and Antarctica.
Furthermore, Magellan named the “Land
of Fire” (on many maps of Magellanica)
due to the smoke he saw billowing up
from native campfires near the shore. As a
mythical continent with fantastical names
like the Land of Fire, Magellanica became
a source of inspiration for this author to
weave together real world Australian
fantasy and history.
We encourage any gaming group that
likes historical roleplaying over fantasy to
use Magellanica as an historical campaign
setting. You can easily create an historical
Magellanican setting by removing magic
and races. It fits any historical setting of
the middle ages and early modern period,
particularly in the 1600s when colonial
Empires were beginning to rapidly
expand.
Regardless of how you use this book, the
author thanks you very much for reading
it!
 Magellanica on the
bottom of a 16th
century globe in the
Vatican Museum.
There are multiple
globes on display at
the Vatican
Museum that name
Magellanica at their
base.

“Magellanica” listed on a map by Dutch cartographer Arnoldus Montanus, 1671

118
Chapter 4

119

Chapter 4. Bestiary
4.1 Introduction
The people of Magellanica inhabit the
continent alongside a plethora of strange
creatures. From spirit to monster,
Magellanica is filled with all manner of
powerful beasts discovered by intrepid
adventurers. This section details these
creatures for use in your games. Each
entry includes rules compatible with both
DnD and Pathfinder. Given the extra
details required for Pathfinder entries, the
listed profiles are directly written for
Pathfinder. However, where there are
DnD or Pathfinder specific rules, “DnD”
or “PF” is listed in parentheses. To use the
following rules for DnD, apply the
following:
fantasy monsters like trolls and wargs
already detailed for DnD and Pathfinder
may be encountered in Magellanica if they
have broken free from menageries or
escaped the hold of shipwrecked
transports (as suggested in Chapter 3).
These creatures that are not unique to
Magellanica have been omitted from the
following Bestiary in order to provide
rules for more novel Magellanican
creatures. As such, the profiles listed
below detail creatures unique to
Magellanica.

 Ignore all references to archetype,

base atk (attack), class, DR
(damage reduction), regeneration,
SR (spell resistance), SQ (special
qualities), Fort, Ref, Will, touch
AC, flat-footed AC, CMB, CMD
and feats
 Count all special abilities and
attacks as requiring one action to
perform
 All references to a standard action
mean a regular action in DnD
 Treat passive perception in DnD
as the listed perception bonus +3
Many creatures in Magellanica already
have profiles included in DnD’s Monster
Manual and Pathfinder’s Bestiary. These
include dryads, fairies, frog-men (grungs
and grippli), giants (hill, fire, rock), sprites
and undead. Furthermore, traditional

120
 from the underbrush to rob them. A
4.2 People of Magellanica bushranger aims to leave on horseback or
by dromornithid with almost all the
valuables of their victims. Often their
4.2.1 Colonists
custom is to spare the poor victim a few
Escaped Convict coins to buy some food at the closest
village. This helps ensure that a
A ragged man emerges from the shadows, bushranger does not draw too much
his feet and wrists still redraw from the attention from the constabulary. A
weight of chains. But the chains have been partially robbed victim will cause less fuss
broken, and he has escaped the than than one whose entire belongings
constabulary. Now he is desperate to find are stolen.
food or money to fill his empty belly and
find lodging for his weary head. Clutching CR 3
a makeshift dagger in strong hands, he is XP 800
eager to rob any passer-by at knife point. Half-orc Ranger 2/Rogue (Sniper
archetype) 2
CR 2 NE Medium humanoid (human, orc)
XP 600 Init +4; Senses: Perception +8
Human Expert 4 DEFENCE
CN Medium humanoid AC 16, touch 14, flat-footed 12 (+2 armour,
Init –1; Senses: Perception +8 +4 Dex)
DEFENCE hp 32 (4 HD; 2d10+2d8+8)
AC 9, touch 9, flat-footed 9 (–1 Dex) Fort +5, Ref +10, Will +1
hp 26 (4d8+8) Defensive Abilities: evasion
Fort +3, Ref +0, Will +5 OFFENCE
OFFENCE Speed 30 ft.
Speed 30 ft. Melee: mwk handaxe +6 (1d6+2/×3)
Melee: improvised dagger (broken glass Ranged: mwk heavy crossbow +8
or ceramic) +4 (1d4+1) (1d10/19-20)
STATISTICS Special Attacks: favoured enemy (humans
Str 14, Dex 8, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 12, Cha 8 +2), sneak attack +1d6, accuracy
Base Atk +3; CMB +5; CMD 11 STATISTICS
Feats: Catch Off-Guard, Diehard, Str 14, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha
Endurance 8
Skills: Escape Artist +5, Sleight of Hand Base Atk +3; CMB +5; CMD 19
+5, Survival +4 Feats: Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot,
Languages: Common Rapid Reload, Skill Focus (Stealth)
Skills Acrobatics +7, Climb +10, Disguise
Bushranger +6, Knowledge (geography) +7,
Knowledge (nature) +7, Perception +8,
Hiding by the roadside, the bushranger
Stealth +14, Survival +10, Swim +7
awaits the next noble traveller. The
Languages: Common
moment their prey draws near he’ll leap

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SQ: rogue talents (fast stealth), track +1, fascinate, inspire courage +1), sneak attack
wild empathy +1, orc ferocity, weapon +2d6
familiarity Bard Spells Known (CL 1st; concentration
Combat Gear: elixir of hiding, potions of +3)
cure light wounds (2), potion of pass 1st (2/day)—feather fall, cure light
without trace; Other Gear: leather armour, wounds
masterwork crossbow with 20 bolts, 0 (at will)—mage hand, message,
masterwork handaxe, 25 gp mending, spark
STATISTICS
Explorer Str 10, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha
15
Explorers lead expeditions beyond the
Base Atk +5; CMB +5; CMD 19
borders of the map for the glory and
Feats: Diehard, Endurance, Improved Iron
money gained from redrawing it. They are
Will, Persuasive, Point Blank Shot,
experienced with living far from
Survivor
civilisation, travelling for months in
Skills: Bluff +6, Diplomacy +14, Disable
unknown wilderness. Explorers are
Device +9, Intimidate +4, Knowledge
proficient with instruments of surveying
(dungeoneering) +8, Knowledge
like compasses and maps – navigatoion
(geography) +7, Knowledge (history) +8,
and calligraphy tools. With a walking
Knowledge (local) +13, Knowledge
stick and a broad-brimmed hat, the
(nature) +13, Linguistics +11, Perception
explorer is ready to take on anything the
+11, Perform (Oratory) +9, Profession
wilderness has to offer.
(explorer) +12, Sense Motive +11, Stealth
+12, Survival +6
CR 6
Languages: Celestial, Common, Dwarven,
XP 2,400
Elven, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, two native
Elven bard 1/ranger 3/rogue 3
languages
NG Medium humanoid (elf)
SQ: bardic knowledge +1, favoured enemy
Init +2; Senses :low-light vision;
(animal +2), favoured terrain (desert +2),
Perception +13
rogue talent (combat trick), track +1,
DEFENCE
trapfinding +1, wild empathy +5, elven
AC 18, touch 14, flat-footed 15 (+4 armour,
magic, weapon familiarity
+1 deflection, +2 Dex, +1 dodge)
Combat Gear: potion of cure moderate
hp 38 (7 HD; 3d10+4d8)
wounds; Other Gear: +1 studded leather,
Fort +5, Ref +10, Will +5
quarterstaff, light crossbow, ring of
Defensive Abilities: evasion, trap sense +1,
protection +1, map of the region,
immune sleep
sunstone, compass, spyglass, all tools
OFFENCE
required for mapmaking and navigation,
Speed 30 ft.
300 gp
Melee: quarterstaff +5 (1d6)
Ranged: light crossbow +6 (1d8/19-20)
Red Tabard
Special Attacks: bardic performance 6
rounds/day (countersong, distraction, The red tabards are the core of the
constabulary and the standard guardsmen

122
of the colony. Their characteristic red Red Ranger
tabards stand out amongst streets of
Grizzled from years of hunting
Galesmeet and the villages beyond. Their
bushrangers, the red rangers are an elite
red garments are a dual symbol to the
arm of the constabulary designed to
people – the constables will give their
maintain order in the fringes of the
blood to protect the colony but will
colony. They deliberately ignore stealth,
readily spill the blood of those that
instead displaying their tattered red
threaten the colony’s order.
cloaks as a symbol of fear to any
bushranger that sees it. Intimidated by the
CR 1
knowledge of their pursuer, bushranging
XP 400
gangs are known to turn on one another in
Human Fighter 2
a panic to selfishly claim all the loot for
LN Medium humanoid (human)
themselves rather than face a Red Ranger.
Init+1; Senses: Perception +1
DEFENCE
CR 4
AC 17, touch 11, flat-footed 16 (+6 armour,
XP 1,200
+1 Dex)
Human Ranger 5
hp 21 (2d10+6)
CN Medium humanoid (human)
Fort +5, Ref +1, Will +3 (+1 vs. fear)
Init +4; Senses: Perception +10
Defensive Abilities: bravery +1
DEFENCE
OFFENCE
AC 18, touch 14, flat-footed 14 (+4 armour,
Speed 20 ft.
+4 Dex)
Melee: mwk longsword +5 (1d8+3/×3) or
hp 27 (5d10)
dagger +4 (1d4+3/19–20)
Fort +4, Ref +8, Will +5
Ranged: heavy crossbow +3 (1d10/19–20)
OFFENCE
STATISTICS
Speed 30 ft.
Str 15, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 12, Cha
Melee: mwk longsword +9 (1d8+2/19–20)
8
Ranged: mwk light crossbow +10
Base Atk +2; CMB +4 (+6 trip); CMD 15
(1d8/19–20)
(17 vs. trip)
Special Attacks: favoured enemy (animals
Feats: Combat Expertise, Improved Trip,
+4, humanoid (human) +2)
Iron Will, Power Attack
Ranger Spells Prepared (CL 2nd;
Skills: Climb +3, Intimidate +4,
concentration +4)
Knowledge (engineering) +6, Profession
1st—entangle (DC 13), longstrider
(soldier) +6
STATISTICS
Languages: Common, any one human
Str 15, Dex 18, Con 10, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha
language
12
Combat Gear: potion of cure light
Base Atk +5; CMB +7; CMD 21
wounds, manacles; Other Gear:
Feats: Endurance, Iron Will, Point Blank
breastplate, heavy crossbow with 10 bolts,
Shot, Rapid Reload, Self-Sufficient,
masterwork longsword, short sword,
Weapon Focus (longsword)
torch, 15 gp
Skills: Handle Animal +9, Heal +10,
Intimidate +12, Knowledge (Geography)

123
+10, Perception +11, Survival +12, Swim
+6
Languages: Common
SQ: favoured terrain (forest +2), hunter’s
bond (companions), track +2, wild
empathy+6
Combat Gear: potions of cure moderate
wounds (2), elixir of hiding (2); Other
Gear: +1 studded leather, masterwork
light crossbow with 20 bolts, masterwork
longsword, 310 gp
4.2.2 Natives
Natives do not gain racial languages and
racial weapon familiarities because they
have not been exposed to their race’s
civilisation. However, they are always
proficient with spears, boomerangs and
woomeras.
Elder
Eldest of the tribe, these natives tend to be
considered wise and therefore worthy of
leadership. Many elders within a single
tribe will discuss where to go and what to
hunt, acting like a council rather than a
single chieftain. Their role also extends to
ensuring that the tribe maintains its
ancient custodial duty to the land upon
which they live. Elders teach the youngest
of the tribe about the importance of such
duties, passing on their knowledge from
one generation to the next.
CR 2
XP 2,400
Human Expert 8
N Medium humanoid (human)
Init +0; Senses: Perception +1
DEFENCE
AC 11, touch 11, flat-footed 11 (+1
deflection)
hp 28 (8d8–8)
Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +8
OFFENCE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee: spear +5/+0 (1d8 - 1/x3)
Ranged: spear +6 (1d8 - 1 /×3)
STATISTICS
Str 9, Dex 10, Con 8, Int 16, Wis 13, Cha 11
Base Atk +6; CMB +5; CMD 16
Feats: Magical Aptitude, Skill Focus
(Knowledge [arcana, nature, planes], Use
Magic Device)
Skills: Appraise +14, Knowledge (arcana)
+17, Knowledge (dungeoneering,
engineering, local) +7, Knowledge
(geography) +12, Knowledge (history)
+14, Knowledge (nature, planes) +17,
Knowledge (nobility) +5, Knowledge
(religion) +10, Linguistics +14, Spellcraft
+16, Use Magic Device +16
Languages: Abyssal, Aklo, Aquan, Auran,
Celestial, Common, Draconic, Dwarven,
Elven, Ignan, Infernal, Terran
Combat Gear: gum leaf tea, possum skin
cloak, potion of cure moderate wounds
Hunter
Where most women tend to gather yams
and forage nuts, the hunters use spears to
bring down animals and boomerangs to
bring down birds. Hunters can place
spears with pinpoint accuracy at large
distances, especially when using a
woomera. Their skills with a spear
translate well from hunting to war,
making them the soldiery of the tribe.
The rules for the hunter can also be used
as a dark guardsman. To use as a dark
guardsman, add leather armour to their
inventory (increasing their AC to 14 and
flat-footed AC to 14) and change favoured
124
enemy from monstrous humanoids +2 to Kurdaitcha
humanoid (human) +2.
The role of the kurdaitcha is synonymous
with revenge and is a sacred position
CR 5
amongst native tribes. Wielding sorcerous
XP 1,600
magic and bestowing curses with a
Bilbyfolk ranger 6
corpulent bone wand, the kurdaitcha is a
N Medium humanoid
symbol of impending doom to enemy
Init +3; Senses: darkvision; Perception +10
tribes. The position requires ritualistic
DEFENCE
initiation and the dislocation of the big
AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 12 (+3 Dex, +2
toes in order to wear sacred thongs of
shield)
matted hair and blood. With wand
hp 45 (6d10+12)
outstretched, the kurdaitcha curses their
Fort +6, Ref +8, Will +3
foes and enacts vengeance on the
Immune sleep
murderers of their tribe.
OFFENCE
Speed 30 ft.
CR 9
Melee: mwk spear +10/+5 (1d8+3/x3)
XP 6,400
Ranged: mwk spear (woomera) +11
Wombatfolk Sorcerer 10
(1d8+3/x3, range 30 ft.)
CN Medium humanoid
Special Attacks: favoured enemy (animals
Init +3; Senses: low-light vision;
+4, monstrous humanoids +2)
Perception +7
Ranger Spells Prepared (CL 3rd;
DEFENCE
concentration +3)
AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 16 (+4 armour,
1st—speak with animals
+2 Dex)
STATISTICS
hp 55 (10d6+20)
Str 16, Dex 16, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha
Fort +8, Ref +5, Will +7
8
OFFENCE
Base Atk +6; CMB +9; CMD 22
Speed 30 ft.
Feats: Endurance, Far Shot, Improved
Melee: mwk spear +8 (1d6+2/×3), claw +8
Precise Shot, Mounted Archery, Mounted
(14+2)
Combat, Rapid Shot, Self-Sufficient
Ranged: mwk spear +8 (1d6+2/×3)
Skills: Climb +11, Handle Animal +8, Heal
Spell-like Abilities: lullaby (8/day),
+8, Knowledge (nature) +5, Perception
modify memory or speak with dead
+10, Ride +11, Stealth +11, Survival +12
(living target; 1/day, DC 19), bestow curse
(+15 to follow tracks), Swim +7
(7/day)
Languages: one native language
Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 10th;
SQ: hunter's bond (animal companion
concentration +15)
[hawk]), favoured terrain (desert +2),
5th (3/day)—fire snake (DC 21)
track +3, wild empathy +5, jumper's legs
4th (5/day)—divination, fear (DC 19),
Combat Gear: heavy wooden shield,
shout (DC 21), stoneskin
masterwork spear, dagger, woomera
3rd (6/day)—deep slumber, fireball (DC
19), fly, rage, stinking cloud (DC 18)

125
2nd (6/day)—acid arrow, augury, bull's
strength, false life, resist energy, scorching
ray
1st (6/day)—burning hands (DC 17),
endure elements, mage armour, magic
missile, ray of enfeeblement (DC 16),
shield, sleep
0th (at will)—acid splash, arcane mark,
bleed (DC 15), daze, detect magic, flare
(DC 16), ray of frost, resistance
Bloodline: dreamspun
Base Statistics: without mage armour, the
kurdaitcha's statistics are AC 11, touch 11,
flat-footed 10.
STATISTICS
Str 14, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha
20
Base Atk +5; CMB +7; CMD 19
Feats: Combat Casting, Eschew Materials,
Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative,
Quicken Spell, Spell Focus (evocation)
Skills: Intimidate +12, Knowledge (arcana)
+8, Linguistics +1, Perception +7, Sense
Motive +13, Spellcraft +7
Languages: three native languages
SQ: bloodline dreamspun, burrower's
claws
Combat Gear: kurdaitcha wand and
thongs, spear
Wise Woman
Where the elders know the best routes to
navigate the wilderness and the best time
of year to hunt kangaroo, the wise women
know the songlines of the Dreamtime and
the secrets of the dreaming. They wield
magic that is coloured by the rainbow lens
of the Dreamtime, altering the minds of
their targets. They hold their secrets
dearly, only passing them on to those they
deem worthy of the privilege. Some wise
women cannot handle the secrets they
must bear and eventually go mad with the
knowledge of terrible truths.
A wise woman is so unique as to warrant
separate rules for DnD and Pathfinder.
Warlock of the Great Old One 14 (DnD)
Medium humanoid (any race, female), CN
Armour Class 12 (15 with mage armour)
Hit Points 77 (14d8 + 14)
Speed 30 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
9 (-1) 14 (+2) 12 (+1) 12 (+1) 15 (+2) 20
(+5)
Saving Throws: Cha +8, Wis +5
Skills Arcana +13, History +13, Insight +13
Damage Resistance: psychic
Senses: passive darkvision 60ft, passive
Perception 12
Languages: all native Magellanican
dialects, Draconic, Deep speech,
Primordial, Sylvan
Challenge 6 (2,300 XP)
Special Traits
Innate Spellcasting: the wise woman’s
innate spellcasting ability is charisma. She
can innately cast the following spells
(spell save DC 16). These spells requires
no material components:
At will: dreamgate, dreamglance,
dreamsight, charm person, mage armour,
speak with dead
1/day each: mass suggestion, true seeing
Spellcasting: The wise woman is a 14 th
level spellcaster. Her spellcasting ability is
Charisma (spell save DC 16, +8 to hit with
spell attacks). She regains expended spell
slots after a short or long rest. She knows
the following warlock spells (3 spell slots
at 5th level):
Cantrips (at will): chill touch, eldritch
blast, guidance, mage hand, minor
illusion, prestidigation, shocking grasp
126
1st level: charm person, tasha’s hideous
laughter, dissonant whispers
2nd level: suggestion, misty step, detect
thoughts
3rd level: clairvoyance, hypnotic pattern
4th level: dimension door, dominate beast
5th level: dream
Pact of the Dream (pg. 88 of this book),
Awakened Mind, Entropic Ward, Thought
Shield, Create Thrall (DnD Player’s
Handbook pg. 110)
Actions
Spear: Melee or ranged weapon attack: +2
to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one
target. Hit: 2 (1d6 – 1) piercing damage, or
3 (1d8 – 1) if used in two hands.
Mesmerist Dreamstalker 12 (PF)
CR 11
XP 12,800
CN Medium female lizardfolk humanoid
(reptilian)
Init +2; Senses: low-light vision;
Perception +12
DEFENCE
AC 14, touch 12, flat-footed 13 ( +2 Dex,
+2 natural)
hp 59 (12d6+15)
Fort +5, Ref +10, Will +12; +2 vs.
enchantments
Immune sleep
OFFENCE
Speed 30 ft., swim 30ft.
Melee spear: +9/+4 (1d8 - 1/x3), bite +8
(1d3 – 1/x3), 2 claws +8/+8 (1d4 – 1/x3)
Ranged spear: +12 (1d8 - 1 /×3)
Special Attacks: hexes (slumber [30 ft.],
nightmare [60 ft.], vision), hypnotic stare
(bold stare: disquiet, nightblindness,
nightmare)
Spell-like Abilities: touch (5/day, removes
one of: confused, cowering, dazed,
127
exhausted, fascinated, sleep, staggered,
stunned)
Mesmerist Spells Known (CL 12th;
concentration +17, spell save DC 15 + spell
level)
4th (3/day)—bestow curse, create
mindscape, dream, hold monster,
sleepwalk
3rd (4/day)—deep slumber, dreamgate,
hold person, minor dream,
2nd (5/day)—detect mindscape, dream
shield, dreamsight, dreamglance, enthrall,
hold person
1st (5/day)—charm person, color spray,
faerie fire, paranoia, hypnotism, oneiric
horror, share language, sleep
0th (at will)—dancing lights, daze, detect
magic, ghost sound, mage hand, message
STATISTICS
Str 9, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 15, Cha
20
Base Atk +9/+4; CMB +8; CMD 20
Feats: Dodge, Brew Potion, Craft
Wondrous Item, Extend Spell, Iron Will,
Skills Focus (Knowledge [nature], Stealth),
Toughness, Traumatic Spell, Weapon
Focus (spear)
Skills: Acrobatics +15 (+19 when
jumping), Bluff +13, Knowledge (arcana)
+13, Knowledge (history) +10, Knowledge
(nature) +6, Linguistics +15, Perception
+26, Stealth +21, Survival +17, Swim +10
Languages: all native languages (but can
cast share languages)
SQ: Natural armour, Natural attacks (bite
and claws), Swim
Gear: gum leaf tea, possum skin cloak,
spear, wandjina’s blood

4.3 Animals of Magellanica
4.3.1 Non-Megafauna
The mundane animals of Magellanica
typically differ from those found on other
continents by their strange shape, colour
and marsupial heritage. However, their
rules are mostly identical to those of their
Old Home equivalent. As such, the
following list of animals from Magellanica
is provided with an equivalent animal
with rules already published in DnD and
Pathfinder. These rules can be used to
represent the associated Magellanican
animal. However, some have additions or
caveats that give them their own unique
twist. In the case of the emu, we have
provided new rules as to our knowledge
there are no equivalents in either RPG.
 Crow: the lonely caw of this
ominous black bird is a spend most of their day eating
characteristic feature of
Magellanican mornings. Counts as
raven (DnD Monster Manual pg.
335 or Pathfinder Bestiary pg. 133)
but also provides a -1 (un)luck
penalty to the next roll of the PC
that saw it first
 Dingo or Dog-Tiger: the rust-
coloured dingo is a wild breed of
dog that hunts in packs. They are
common hunting dogs amongst
native tribes. The dog-tiger is a
slimmer breed of dog with black
stripes that tend to hide from
humans and remain wild. Both
count as a mastiff or dog (DnD
Monster Manual pg. 332 or
Pathfinder Bestiary pg. 87), but has
an unsettling penchant for stealing
children
 Devil: this black animal is
extremely ferocious, grasping prey
much larger than itself with a
strong jaw and tearing its flesh
with viscous fangs. Counts as a
wolf (DnD Monster Manual pg. 341)
or wolverine (PF Bestiary pg. 278)
with a tiny size
 Kangaroo: tall and strong, a
kangaroo looks like an elongated
rabbit with powerful legs to hop
instead of run. Males tend to be
both aggressive and dangerous.
Counts as a goat (DnD Monster
Manual pg. 330 or Pathfinder
Bestiary 3 pg. 112) with an ability to
jump 5ft
 Koala: slow and cute from afar but
dangerous up close, koalas are
grey-furred tree-dwellers that
gum leaves. When protecting their
young, they can strike
unexpectedly with brutally sharp
claws. Counts as a cat (DnD
Monster Manual pg. 320 or
Pathfinder Bestiary pg. 131) except
Dexterity 6
 Platypus: scholars don’t know
what to make of the platypus. It is
akin to a venomous half-duck,
half-beaver that (remarkably) lays
eggs. It is incredibly shy, and
almost always flees from any
intruder in its watery habitat.
Counts as a snake or viper (DnD
Monster Manual pg. 334 or
Pathfinder Bestiary pg. 133)
without a climb speed and counts
movement 10 ft. on land
128
  Wombat: tough and quick, the
wombat can move at much faster
speeds that their bulky frame
would suggest. They are extremely
stubborn, willing to pursue a foe
that threatens their young across
long distances. Counts as a boar
(DnD Monster Manual pg. 319 or
Pathfinder Bestiary pg. 36) except
with a tiny size, Strength 14 and 9
hp
 Wedge-tailed Eagle: in contrast to
the crow, the eagle is an omen of
good luck. They are often seen
high above as they hunt for small
animals. Once they claim a kill,
they refuse to leave it behind until
they have their fill. Woe betides
any that attempt to disturb an
eating wedge-tail. Counts as an
eagle (DnD Monster Manual pg. 322
or Pathfinder Bestiary pg. 118)
except provides +1 luck bonus to
the next roll of the PC that saw it
first
Emu
These large flightless birds clump together
in groups when foraging the Magellanican
plains. They can run at great speed,
something they tend to do when they see
strangers approaching. However, an
aggressive emu is a dangerous thing,
raking its victim with viscous talons.
CR 1/2
XP 200
N Medium animal
Init +3; Senses: low-light vision;
Perception +9
DEFENCE
AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 10 (+2 Dex)
129
hp 9 (2d8)
Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +0
OFFENCE
Speed 40 ft.
Melee: 2 raking kicks -2 (1d4)
STATISTICS
Str 12, Dex 15, Con 10, Int 2, Wis 10, Cha 3
Base Atk +1; CMB +2; CMD 14
Feat: Run
Skills: Perception +8
ECOLOGY
Environment: temperate plains
Organisation: pair or mob (6 – 12)
Treasure: none
4.3.2 Megafauna
Blue Yabby
This colossal crustacean is
unimaginatively named for its thick dark
blue shell. Blue Yabbies crush unlucky
livestock with powerful claws before
dragging them underwater. They are the
bane of unwary travellers that stray too
close to their mud labyrinths that dot the
banks of distant rivers.
CR 6
XP 2,400
N Large animal (aquatic)
Init +0; Senses: darkvision 30 ft.;
Perception +8
DEFENCE
AC 25, touch 9, flat-footed 26 (–1 size, +16
natural)
hp 58 (9d8+18)
Fort +11, Ref +5, Will +3
Weaknesses: water dependency
OFFENCE
Speed 20 ft., swim 40 ft.
Melee: 2 claws +10 (1d6+3 plus grab/x4)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks: constrict (claw) 2d6+3
STATISTICS
Str 16, Dex 10, Con 14, Int –, Wis 10, Cha 2
Base Atk +7; CMB +11 (+15 to grapple);
CMD 21 (31 vs. trip)
Skills: Perception +8, Stealth +4, Swim
+19; Racial Modifiers +4 Perception , +4
Stealth
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Water Dependency (Ex)
A blue yabby can live out of water for 8
hours before it begins to drown in air
Exoskeleton (Ex)
The chitin exoskeleton of the blue yabby
can be harvested to be used to make a full
suite of blue yabby exoskeletal armour.
Grab and constrict (DnD)
When a blue yabby successfully hits a
target with a claw attack, it can attempt to
lock the creature in its claw and crush
them. After damage of a successful claw
attack has been dealt, the target must
make a DC 18 Dex save or be grappled by
the blue yabby. The grappled creature is
locked tight in its claw. At the beginning
of each blue yabby turn, any grappled foes
are dealt 2d6+3 damage as the claw closes
tight to crush them. A blue yabby can only
grapple one foe with each of its two claws
and cannot attack with it once a foe is
grappled.
ECOLOGY
Environment :Temperate or warm aquatic
Organisation: Solitary or colony (2–5)
Treasure: None
Diprotodon
Often described as a muscular wombat the
size of an elephant, the diprotodon is a
fearsome sight for newcomers to
Magellanica. The natives and yowies seem
to respect these animals and refuse to hunt
them. With no common predators in their
environment, they are not afraid of new
creatures which make them easily trapped
or hunted. Luckily for colonists, the
diprotodon makes for a fantastic pack
animal due to its docile nature. They are
also very capable burrowers that mining
guilds exploit to build mine shafts
through soft earth. However, when hurt,
protecting young or in the grips of mating
season, a diprotodon can be a terrifying
opponent.
CR 6
XP 2,400
N Large animal
Init +0; Senses: low-light vision, scent;
Perception +16
DEFENCE
AC 21, touch 9, flat-footed 21 (+12 natural,
–1 size)
hp 67 (9d8+27)
Fort +11, Ref +6, Will +4
OFFENCE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee: bite +10 (2d6+5), 2 claws +10
(1d10+5)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
STATISTICS
Str 20, Dex 10, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 6
Base Atk +6; CMB +12; CMD 22 (26 vs.
trip)
Feats: Endurance, Great Fortitude,
Improved Bull Rush, Power Attack, Skill
Focus (Perception)
Skills: Perception +16
ECOLOGY
Environment: temperate plains and forests
Organisation: solitary or pair
Treasure: none
Dromornithid
Where a diprotodon is a large wombat,
the dromornithid is a large emu. They are
extremely fast, which makes them
130
fantastic mounts once the rider gets used
to the strange rhythm of their canter.
However, to make a trained dromornithid
they must be raised from hatchlings. Eggs
are difficult to obtain because
dromornithids tend to outrun the
colonists seeking to track them to their
nest.
A dromornithid counts as an axe beak
(DnD Monster Manual pg. 317 or
Pathfinder Bestiary 3 pg. 29) except their
speed is increased to 60 ft.
Dusk Monarch
All goes eerily quiet as shadows moving
withershins blot out the stars. Dusk
Monarchs are colossal moths that are
drawn to the glow of lava at night. They
are considered by the natives to be
powerful omens of change. Their wings
sport two large orbs that look like the
predatory eyes of an even bigger creature.
CR 6
XP 2,400
N Large animal
Init +5; Senses: darkvision 60 ft.;
Perception +8
DEFENCE
AC 19, touch 12, flat-footed 16 (+3 Dex, +7
natural, –1 size)
hp 32 (5d10+5)
Fort +2, Ref +7, Will +5
OFFENCE
Speed 10 ft., fly 40 ft. (good)
Melee: bite +6 (1d8+2)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks: paralysing gaze
STATISTICS
Str 15, Dex 17, Con 12, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha
10
Base Atk +5; CMB +8; CMD 21
131
Feats: Ability Focus (paralysing gaze),
Flyby Attack, Hover
Skills: Fly +5, Perception +9, Stealth +7
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Paralysing gaze (Su)
With flickering wings, the eye pattern on a
dusk monarch can deliver a dangerous
stare. Any intelligent humanoid creature
within 60 ft. that can see the dusk
monarch must make a DC 14 Will (PF) or
DC 14 Wis (DnD) save at the start of each
turn or become paralysed for 2 rounds. An
effected creature may take a new save at
the end of its turn. The save DC is
Charisma-based.
Implant (Ex)
ECOLOGY
Environment: volcanic mountains
Organisation: solitary or mating pair (2)
Treasure: none
Little Magellanican Dragon
Typical colonial larrikinism drips from the
name of this brutal reptilian beast. It is
neither “little” nor a “dragon”. It is akin to
a large goanna with a frilled neck. Much
to the chagrin of ambitious colonists, Little
Magellanican Dragons are almost
untameable. They are so violent and prone
to frenzy that they can rarely be trained to
hold riders or goods. However, when
grown from hatchlings they can be
bonded to a certain person who is present
when they hatch. As such, Little
Magellanican Dragons can only be ridden
by someone willing to spend over a
decade of constant exposure to the
hatchling as it grows into a ferocious
adult.
CR 5
XP 1,600
N Large animal
Init +5; Senses: low-light vision, scent;
Perception +11
DEFENCE
AC 20, touch 12, flat-footed 17 (+3 Dex, +8
natural, –1 size)
hp 59 (7d8+28)
Fort +11, Ref +10, Will +4
OFFENCE
Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft.
Melee: bite +9 (2d6+5), tail +4 (1d8+2)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks: intimidating charge
STATISTICS
Str 21, Dex 16, Con 19, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha
10
Base Atk +5; CMB +11; CMD 24 (28 vs.
trip)
Feats: Great Fortitude, Improved
Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Skill Focus
(Perception)
Skills: Climb +13, Perception +11, Stealth
+8; Racial Modifiers +4 Stealth
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Intimidating Charge (Ex)
When attacking, a Magellanican Dragon
may open up a large frill that surrounds
its neck as a free action. The mane of
leathery skin appears so quickly that it
startles oncoming opponents. Any
creature within 30 ft. must make a DC 13
Wis (DnD) or Will (PF) save or be
frightened (DnD) or shaken (PF) for 1d6
rounds. This is a fear effect. The save DC
is Charisma-based.
ECOLOGY
Environment: deserts and warm forests,
plains, or hills
Organisation: solitary, pair, or pack (3–8)
Treasure: none
Mirror Python
Known as “Children of The Serpent” by
local natives, the mirror python is the
terror of the wilds. It earns its name from
its silvery silvery scales but earns its
reputation from sharp fangs that stream
with deadly poison. The Mirror Python
hides in the underbrush before attacking
its prey by surprise. It tends to strike once,
and either kill its prey outright or poisons
it so that the prey may die in the
preceding minute. It takes turns striking at
each foe, ensuring that each gets a taste of
the poison. Those that fall are doomed to
months of slow digestion within the
Mirror python’s belly.
CR 9
XP 6,400
N Gargantuan animal
Init +9; Senses: low-light vision, scent;
Perception +13
DEFENCE
AC 21, touch 14, flat-footed 16 (+5 Dex, +7
natural, –1 size)
hp 153 (18d8+72)
Fort +9, Ref +10, Will +5
OFFENCE
Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft., swim 30 ft.
Melee: bite +10 (4d6+9 plus poison)
Space 20 ft.; Reach 20 ft.
STATISTICS
Str 22, Dex 20, Con 18, Int 1, Wis 17, Cha 2
Base Atk +13; CMB +23; CMD 38 (can’t be
tripped)
Feats: Improved Initiative, Skill Focus
(Stealth), Weapon Focus (bite)
Skills: Acrobatics +10, Climb +14,
Perception +15, Stealth +20, Swim +14;
Racial Modifiers +8 Acrobatics, +8 Climb,
+4 Perception, +4 Stealth, +8 Swim
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Poison (Ex)
Bite—injury; save Fort DC 18; frequency
1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d6 Con; cure
2 consecutive saves.
132
ECOLOGY
Environment: temperate or warm forests
Organisation: solitary
Treasure: none
4.3 Monsters of Magellanica
Crow-spirit
“Crow-spirit” is an incorrect translation of
a native word. These creatures are neither
crows nor spirits. Crow-spirits are
withered anthropomorphic crow-like
creatures. Their ragged black feathers
barely hide hideously burnt flesh beneath.
They have taloned feet and viscous claws.
Their long black wings extend out from
their arms, and their claws sprout from
where the pollex of a crow’s wing would
normally be. From their long black beaks
rushes a bloodcurdling caw that mixes
screaming with the roar of a bushfire.
Indeed, the crow-spirits command an
unrivalled control of fire magic. Natives
were said to have learned the secret of fire
from generous birds that stole it from the
crow-spirits. Much to the relief of natives
and colonists, crow-spirits are extremely
rare. They are wicked creatures,
delighting in burning innocent people
alive. Natives consider the mere sight of a
crow-spirit to be a terrible omen that
heralds an oncoming tragedy.
CR 8
XP 4,800
NE Large outsider (neutral, evil,
extraplanar)
Init +6; Senses: darkvision 60 ft.;
Perception +23
DEFENCE
133
AC 22, touch 11, flat-footed 20 (+2 Dex,
+11 natural, –1 size)
hp 54 (9d10+9)
Fort +7, Ref +10, Will +6
DR 10/good; Immune fire; Resist acid 10,
cold 10, electricity 10; poison 10 SR 20
OFFENCE
Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (good)
Melee: 2 claws +9 (2d6+1), bite +9 (1d8+1),
2 talons +9 (1d6+1)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 12th)
At will—fairie fire, fireball, flare
1/day—fire storm, secret of fire
2/day—flame strike
STATISTICS
Str 12, Dex 15, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha
16
Base Atk +9; CMB +11; CMD 22
Feats: Flyby Attack, Combat Reflexes,
Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes,
Power Attack
Skills: Fly +12, Intimidate +15, Knowledge
(planes) +14, Perception +23, Sense Motive
+15, Spellcraft +14, Stealth +10, Survival
+15; Racial Modifiers +8 Perception
Languages :all; telepathy 100 ft.
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Symbol of Unluckiness (Su)
Every creature within 60ft that can see the
crow-spirit suffers -2 to all attacks, saves
and skill checks.
ECOLOGY
Environment: volcanic wastelands
Organisation: solitary
Treasure: standard
Drop Bear
Newcomers to Magellanica are always
warned by empathetic colonists of the
risks in leaving the roadside. The most
common piece of advice that these
newcomers receive is “watch out for the
drop bears”. Stealthily hiding in tall thick
gum trees, these predators silently launch
from the canopy onto unsuspecting
victims below. They have sharp claws,
long fangs and thick grey fur with white
tips to their ears. They are commonly
described as a cross between a koala and a
grizzly bear.
CR 5
XP 1,200
N Large animal
Init +1; Senses: low-light vision, scent;
Perception +6
DEFENCE
AC 19, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+4 Dex, +6
natural, –1 size)
hp 37 (5d8+15)
Fort +7, Ref +8, Will +2
OFFENCE
Speed 40 ft.
Melee: 2 claws +6 (1d6+4 plus grab), bite
+4 (1d6+4)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
STATISTICS
Str 19, Dex 18, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Base Atk +3; CMB +8 (+12 grapple); CMD
22 (26 vs. trip)
Feats: Endurance, Multiattack, Skill Focus
(Acrobatics)
Skills: Acrobatics +17, Perception +6,
Stealth +10, Survival +6; Racial Modifiers
+4 Acrobatics
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Drop (Su)
If a drop bear successfully hides from its
prey by hiding in the canopy of a large
tree, it can drop down upon unsuspecting
victims from a large height and savagely
rend them with claw and fang. If
successfully avoiding detection whilst up
a tree, the drop bear can silently drop
upon any creature within 15 ft. of the tree
and surprise them. They automatically
pass any acrobatics roll required to ignore
falling damage and do not provoke a Dex
(DnD) or Ref (PF) save to avoid it. At the
end of their drop, they can make a full
attack with their claws and bite attack.
After dropping, if they successfully hit a
creature with a claw or bite attack they
add an additional 2d6+10 to the damage.
ECOLOGY
Environment: temperate forests
Organisation: solitary or pair
Treasure: none
Eagle-spirit
The eagle-spirits are the antithesis of the
crow-spirits. They are ancient enemies
that have maintained a violent rivalry
since the Dreamtime leaked into the
world. Eagle-spirits are also neither
“eagle” nor “spirit”. Instead, they are
anthropomorphic eagles with claws and
talons in place of hands and feet. Eagle-
spirits have powerful frames, much
stronger than their withered and stooped
crow-spirit enemies. Like the crow-spirits,
they are extremely rare although their
presence is far from ominous. Instead, the
eagle-spirits bring joy and luckiness to
those that see them. They tend to remain
mysteriously aloof but will righteously
help those they deem worthy. Eagle-
spirits maintain a control over water
magic that has forever remained their
secret.
CR 8
XP 4,800
NG Large outsider (neutral, good,
extraplanar)
Init +6; Senses: darkvision 60 ft.;
Perception +23
DEFENCE
134
AC 22, touch 11, flat-footed 20 (+2 Dex, will try to make one by committing
+11 natural, –1 size) atrocities of their own. Ghosts-in-the-tree
hp 112 (9d10+63) can often be found sitting restlessly by the
Fort +13, Ref +10, Will +6 side of a tree, constantly muttering to the
DR 10/evil; Resist acid 10, cold 10, dead beneath its roots.
electricity 10; poison 10 SR 20
CR 3
OFFENCE
XP 800
Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (good)
CN Medium fey
Melee: 2 claws +13 (2d6+5), bite +13
Init +4; Senses: low-light vision;
(1d8+5), 2 talons +13 (1d6+5)
Perception +11
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
DEFENCE
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 12th)
AC 17, touch 14, flat-footed 13 (+4 Dex, +3
At will—create water, ice storm, water
natural)
breathing, control water
hp 27 (6d6+6)
STATISTICS
Fort +5, Ref +9, Will +7
Str 21, Dex 15, Con 25, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha
DR 5/cold iron
16
Weaknesses: wooden phoenix
Base Atk +9; CMB +15; CMD 27
OFFENCE
Feats: Flyby Attack, Combat Reflexes,
Speed 30 ft.
Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes,
Melee: dagger +7 (1d4)
Power Attack
Ranged: masterwork longbow +8 (1d8)
Skills: Fly +12, Intimidate +15, Knowledge
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 6th)
(planes) +14, Perception +23, Sense Motive
Constant—speak with plants
+15, Spellcraft +14, Stealth +10, Survival
At will—entangle (DC 15), speak with
+15; Racial Modifiers +8 Perception
dead
Languages: all; telepathy 100 ft.
3/day—tree stride, animate dead
SPECIAL ABILITIES
1/day—etherealness (lasts for 3 rounds)
Symbol of Luck (Su)
STATISTICS
Every creature within 60ft that can see the
Str 10, Dex 19, Con 13, Int 14, Wis 15, Cha
crow-spirit adds +2 to all attacks, saves
18
and skill checks.
Base Atk +3; CMB +3; CMD 17
ECOLOGY
Feats: Great Fortitude, Stealthy, Weapon
Environment: mountaintops
Finesse
Organisation: solitary
Skills: Climb +9, Escape Artist +15,
Treasure: standard
Handle Animal +10, Knowledge (nature)
Ghost-in-the-tree +11, Perception +11, Stealth +15, Survival
+8
Related to the dryad, a ghost-in-the-tree
Languages: Common, Druidic, Sylvan; all
has white woody flesh and bright green
native languages, speak with plants
gum leaves for hair. They are fickle and
SPECIAL ABILITIES
sad creatures, obsessed with finding forest
Ghost gum (Su)
groves that have witnessed atrocities. If
A dryad can merge with any tree that has
they struggle to find such a place, they
been in the presence of a horrific death. It

135
can step into the tree and disappear
entirely from view. Any fire damage
inflicted to a tree that holds a ghost-in-the-
tree is inflicted onto the Ghost-in-the-tree.
Wooden Phoenix (Su)
A ghost-in-the-tree takes double damage
from attacks that cause fire. If it dies from
fire damage a new ghost-in-the-tree
sprouts from its blackened remains 1d6
days later. It is child-like for a matter of
hours before rapidly becoming an adult.
ECOLOGY
Environment: temperate forests
Organisation: solitary, pair, or grove (3–8)
Treasure: none
Gwion Gwion (Blood Phoenix)
The gwion gwion is a massive black bird
with an extremely long beak. Blood
constantly streams from hidden wounds
beneath its feathers, covering the ground
around it in a red ankle-deep pool. Gwion
gwion have been described as
extinguished phoenixes by the few
colonists that have seen them. They are
powerful healers and are masters of
hemokinesis – forgotten magical arts of
bending blood. Gwion gwion are also
talented artists that create beautiful
artwork by painting their blood upon cave
walls. They spend most of their time
guarding gateways between the Realm of
the Awoken (material plane) and the
Dreamtime, decorating these places with
intricate rock art.
CR 15
XP 51,200
N Gargantuan magical beast
Init +11; Senses: darkvision 60 ft., detect
magic, detect poison, low-light vision, see
invisibility; Perception +37
Aura: shroud of blood (20 ft. radius, fall
prone, DC 25)
DEFENCE
AC 28, touch 14, flat-footed 20 (+7 Dex, +1
dodge, +14 natural, –4 size)
hp 210 (20d10+100); regeneration 10 (good
or evil)
Fort +17, Ref +19, Will +14
Defensive Abilities: red self-resurrection;
DR 15/evil; SR 26
OFFENCE
Speed 30 ft., fly 90 ft. (good)
Melee: 2 talons +24 (2d6+8/19–20 plus)
and bite +24 (2d8+8 plus)
Space 20 ft.; Reach 20 ft.
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 18th)
Constant—detect magic, detect poison, see
invisibility
At will—cure wounds (PF: moderate),
dispel magic, hold person (DC 19),
remove curse
3/day—heal, hold monster (DC 21), raise
dead
1/day—power word stun
STATISTICS
Str 27, Dex 25, Con 20, Int 23, Wis 22, Cha
22
Base Atk +20; CMB +32; CMD 50
Feats: Blinding (DC 30), Blood Feast,
Critical, Combat Reflexes, Critical Focus,
Dodge, Flyby Attack, Improved Critical
(talon), Improved Initiative, Iron Will,
Mobility
Skills: Acrobatics +30, Diplomacy +26, Fly
+28, Intimidate +26, Knowledge (nature
plus any one other) +26, Perception +37,
Sense Motive +26; Racial Modifiers +8
Perception
Languages: Auran, Celestial, Common, all
native languages
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Red Self-Resurrection (Su)
136
If a gwion gwion is killed in a way that
spills its blood, the entire creature
explodes in burst of blood. After 1d4
rounds, the gwion gwion comes back to
life with 100hp. If anyone burns the
bloody remains of a dead gwion gwion
before it can resurrect, it cannot undergo
self-resurrection.
Shroud of Blood (Su)
A gwion gwion constantly streams blood
from the tips of its feathers. All creatures
within a 20 ft. radius must pass a DC 25
Dex (DnD) or Ref (PF) save or else fall
prone. The slick blood makes everything
within 20 ft. count as difficult terrain and
it remains that way for 1 minute.
ECOLOGY
Environment: warm deserts and
mountains
Organisation: solitary
Treasure: standard
Platychidna
Monotremble with fear! The platychidna
is a terror of the wilderness, aggressively
protecting its territory or eggs from any
trespassers. It is the most dangerous
example of a monotreme that colonists
have encountered. Where the owl bear is
half-owl half-bear, the platychidna is half-
platypus half-echidna. However, it has the
size of neither animal and instead stands
on two feet as tall as an ogre. They sport a
fanged duck bill, long claws and
sharpened spines that sprout from their
back. Not even natives are certain what a
platychidna eats, but the remains of large
insects that surround their lairs suggest a
diet of subterranean arthropods.
CR 7
XP 3,200
N Large magical beast
137
Init +0; Senses: low-light vision, scent;
Perception +21
DEFENCE
AC 20, touch 11, flat-footed 17 (+3
dexterity, +9 natural, –2 size)
hp 93 (11d8+44)
Fort +13, Ref +10, Will +6
OFFENCE
Speed 40 ft., swim 20 ft.
Melee: beak +13 (2d8+7), 2 claws +13
(2d6+7)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
STATISTICS
Str 24, Dex 16, Con 19, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 7
Base Atk +8; CMB +16; CMD 30
Feats: Cleave, Endurance, Great Fortitude,
Iron Will, Power Attack, Skill Focus
(Perception)
Skills: Perception +21
ECOLOGY
Environment: temperate forests
Organisation: solitary or pair
Treasure: none
Swagman (Ghost)
These jolly albeit ethereal swagmen haunt
their watery graves. Unable to move on,
the spirits of such poor colonial travellers
tend to remain behind long after their
bodies have been claimed by
Magellanican silt. They greet newcomers
with a smile and song, unless they are in
service to the crown. Any creature
associated with a monarchy or
government is anathema to these
otherwise friendly ghosts. Meeting any
servant of the crown provokes them into a
sudden rage that does not cease until all
nearby creatures are dead.
CR 7
XP 3,200
Human ghost commoner 7
CN Medium undead (augmented As a standard action the swagman can
humanoid, incorporeal) move through an enemy whilst dancing
Init +5; Senses: darkvision 60 ft.; an eerily jolly jig. By passing through their
Perception +18 foe, the swagman inflicts 5d6 damage by
DEFENCE supernaturally turning the creature into a
AC 17, touch 17, flat-footed 15 (+5 watery corpse. A DC 18 Con (DnD) or Fort
deflection, +1 Dex, +1 dodge) (PF) save halves the damage inflicted. If
hp 73 (7d8+42) the swagman succeeds in doing this to the
Fort +7, Ref +5, Will +7 same foe for 5 consecutive rounds, the
Defensive Abilities: incorporeal, creature is killed as if by drowning.
rejuvenation; Immune undead traits Frightful Laugh (Su)
OFFENCE The swagman was a jolly person in life
Speed fly 30 ft. (perfect) and is prone to disheartening fits of
Melee: corrupting jig +6 (7d6, Con or Fort laughter in death. As a standard action a
DC 18 half) ghost can begin to cackle and laugh
Special Attacks frightful laugh (DC 18) maniacally. All living creatures within a
STATISTICS 30 ft. radius must succeed on a DC 18 Wis
Str —, Dex 12, Con —, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha (DnD) or Will (PF) save or become
20 panicked (PF) or frightened (DnD) for 2d4
Base Atk +5; CMB +5; CMD 22 rounds. This is a sonic mind-affecting fear
Feats: Dodge, Improved Initiative, Iron effect.
Will, Lightning Reflexes, Toughness Rejuvenation (Su)
Skills: Fly +9, Knowledge (nature) +10, Even if destroyed, a swagman will return
Perception +18, Handle animal +10, 2d4 days later. Only by destroying or
Stealth +9; Survival +10, Racial Modifiers sacrificing something valuable to the
+8 Perception, +8 Stealth crown will cause the swagman to laugh
Languages: Common one last time before dissipating into
SPECIAL ABILITIES nothingness.
Incorporeal (DnD) ECOLOGY
The ghost can move through other Environment: billabongs, rivers and lakes
creatures and objects as if they were where colonial travellers have tragically
difficult terrain. It takes 5 (1d10) force died
damage if it ends its turn inside an object. Organisation: solitary
Resistances and Immunities (DnD) Treasure: NPC gear from the swagman’s
Damage resistances include acid, fire, corpse in the watery grave
lightning, thunder; bludgeoning, piercing,
and slashing from nonmagical attacks. Yara-ma-yha-who
Damage immunities include cold,
The tough red skin of this thin and fine-
necrotic, and poison. Condition
toothed creature matches the red sands of
immunities include charmed, exhaustion,
its desert home. Yara-ma-yha-who can run
frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified,
very fast and they are exceptional
poisoned, prone, and restrained.
climbers, scurrying up the occasional she-
Corrupting Jig (Su)
oak to escape with their captives. They can

138
drain the blood of a hapless victim from Paralysing Bite (Su)
the suckers in their palms, requiring such A creature struck by a yara-ma-yha-who’s
a sanguine feast for sustenance. Their bite attack must pass a DC 15 Con (DnD)
head seems normal until it swells to an or Fort (PF) save or become paralysed for
obscene size just before engulfing a victim 1 round.
whole. Yara-ma-yha-who keep the victim Swallow whole (DnD)
in their mouth until the poor soul If the yara-ma-yha-who starts its turn
contracts the yara-ma-yha-who curse. having successfully grappled an
They then vomit the victim back up and opponent, it can swallow them whole
flee. The victim appears normal at first, causing 2d6+5 damage per round. A
before eventually turning red, seeking swallowed creature can cut itself out if it
isolation and eventually turning into a deals 5 or more damage in one round with
yara-ma-yah-who to begin the cycle again. a small slashing weapon (dagger, claws or
smaller) against AC 8.
CR 4 Reproduction (Su)
XP 1,200 A swallowed creature must pass a DC 15
NE Medium undead Con (DnD) or Fort (PF) save at the
Init +3; Senses: darkvision 60 ft.; beginning of each round it spends inside
Perception +10
DEFENCE
AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+3 Dex, +5
natural)
hp 42 (6d8+15)
Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +9
Defensive Abilities: channel resistance +2;
Immune undead traits
OFFENCE
Speed 40 ft., climb 20 ft.
Melee: bite +8 (1d6+2 plus reproduction),
2 claws +5 (1d4+2 plus paralysis)
Special Attacks: paralysing bite (1 round,
DC 15), swallow whole (2d6+5 damage,
AC 8, hp 5)
STATISTICS
Str 14, Dex 16, Con —, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha
14
Base Atk +3; CMB +5; CMD +18
Feats: Toughness, Weapon Finesse,
Weapon Focus (bite)
Skills: Acrobatics +12, Climb +14,
Intimidate +6, Perception +10, Stealth +12
Languages: one native language
SPECIAL ABILITIES

139
the yara-ma-yha-who or else it begins to
become a new yara-ma-yha-who. After
1d4 days their skin turns red and they
desperately want to find isolation from
anyone else. 1d4 days after this they turn
into a new yara-ma-yha-who. This
affliction counts as a curse that can be
removed with the spell remove curse.
However, once the transformation is
complete the curse cannot be removed.
ECOLOGY
Environment: warm deserts
Organisation: solitary, pair, or gang (3–6)
Treasure: none
Melee: greatclub +7 (2d8+4) [+8 (2d8+6)
against large or larger creatures]
Ranged: javelin +6 (1d8+4) [+7 (1d8+6)
against large or larger creatures]
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
STATISTICS
Str 18, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 6, Wis 10, Cha 6
Base Atk +3; CMB +8; CMD 20
Feats: Big Game Hunter, Toughness
Skills: Climb +8, Perception +4, Survival
+4, Stealth +7
Language: two or three native languages

Yowie

These stooped and hairy humanoids hunt

large game throughout Magellanica. They
wear the hides of their prey with pride,
displaying their most impressive kill by
wrapping it about their furry body.
Yowies are violent by nature and tend to
enjoy preying upon innocents without
remorse. Despite their stooped posture,
yowies stand as tall as an ogre and smell
just as bad. There have a sub-humanoid
intelligence that lends itself to simple
languages and little else.

CR 3
XP 800
CE Large humanoid (giant)
ECOLOGY
Init –1; Senses: darkvision 60 ft., low-light Environment: temperate hills, forests and
vision; Perception +5
mountains
DEFENCE Organisation: solitary, pair, or tribe (6 –
AC 22, touch 12, flat-footed 19 (+2 armour
15)
[DnD: hide; PF: leather], +3 Dex, +6 Treasure: standard, (hide armour [DnD]
natural, –1 size)
or leather armour [PF], greatclub, 4
hp 30 (4d8+12) javelins, other treasure)
Fort +6, Ref +0, Will +1
OFFENCE
Speed 30 ft. (40 ft. base)

140
Wandjina Melee: claws +24/+19/+14/+9 (3d6+10)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
This eerie creature appears as a mouthless
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 18th;
humanoid with sunken black eyes with
concentration +24)
white skin pulled tight about a thin frame.
Constant—water walk
The wandjina are filled with life-giving
At will—create water, invisibility (self
water and wrapped in an impenetrable
only), water breathing, control water
desiccated skin. Their chests are cracked
3/day—call lightning (DC19), charm
open in the centre, with nothing but a
monster (DC 20), ice storm (DC 20), fly
black void to fill it. Water runs down their
2/day—cone of cold (DC 21), control
cheeks as if perpetually crying. The
weather
wandjina are unparalleled masters of rain
1/day—storm of vengeance (DnD) or
and the life that comes with it. They are
tsunami (PF)
crucial to maintaining life upon the reds
STATISTICS
sands of the Plain of Rust. They are seen
Str 16, Dex 16, Con 26, Int 16, Wis 20, Cha
by the natives as the herald of storms and
22
bringer of floods. However, though they
Base Atk +22; CMB +25; CMD +36
are seen as life-givers, they are far from
Feats: Cleave, Great Cleave, Improved
benevolent. The wandjina tend to remain
Initiative, Iron Will, Power Attack,
eerily watchful of the humanoid world,
Skills: Acrobatics +21, Fly +24, Intimidate
only appearing in dire circumstances to
+27, Knowledge (arcana) +24, Knowledge
protect the land and its inhabitants. If
(geography) +24, Knowledge (nature) +24,
somehow killed, they explode in a tidal
Perception +26, Sense Motive +26,
wave of water that floods the land for
Spellcraft +21, Stealth +27, Swim +43
miles around.
Languages: all native languages
SPECIAL ABILITIES
CR 18
Terror of the desert (Su)
XP 153,600
The unnatural appearance of the wandjina
CN medium outsider (water)
is unnerving. All living creatures within a
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light
60 ft. radius of the wandjina must succeed
vision
on a DC 18 Wis (DnD) or Will (PF) save or
Perception +26
become panicked (PF) or frightened (DnD)
Aura: terror of the desert
for 2d4 rounds. This is a mind-affecting
DEFENCE
fear effect than only works on those that
AC 28, touch 13, flat-footed 25 (+3 Dex,
can see the wandjina. Creatures may only
+15 natural)
be affected by this ability once every 24
hp 297 (22d10+176); regeneration 15 (fire)
hours.
Fort +21, Ref +10, Will +20
Heartless (Su)
DR 5/fire
With their centralised heart mysteriously
Defensive Abilities: heartless, water’s
ripped out, the wandjina are neither living
prison; Immune electricity, charm and
nor dead. They are immune to any charm
compulsion; SR 29
or compulsion effect. Furthermore, a
OFFENCE
Speed 40 ft., swim 60 ft.

141
wandjina cannot be healed or resurrected
by any means.
Water’s Prison (Su)
Once slain, a wandjina explodes in a rush
of water. A wall of water 10 ft. high erupts
in all directions from the wandjina’s body
for one round. The water forms a circle
about the corpse with a 100 ft. radius
before spreading out into the surrounding
land. Anything caught in the initial wave
must make a DC 25 Dex (DnD) or Ref (PF)
save or be moved 100 ft. from the corpse,
knocked prone and take 4d10 points of
bludgeoning damage as the wave rolls
them along the ground.
ECOLOGY
Environment: warm desert
Organisation: solitary
Treasure: none but a tidal wave for a
thirsty desert

Thank you very much for reading Magellanica!

Enjoy your adventures beyond the colony and
into the unknown!

142
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144