Why the Shrouded Lands Hexcrawl Needs You

I've starting contributing to the Shrouded Lands, a pretty awesome collective hexcrawl setting on ENWorld. What are the Shrouded Lands like?

"You’ve heard of the incredible firebirds, but this is the first one you’ve ever seen. It shimmers like the hearth in your home, like the hair of a beautiful woman, like the sun itself, and the sky and the water and the distant mountains seem to brighten in its presence.

A flying viper latches on to its head and tries to swallow it whole. The two plummet to the ground, where an ibis pecks at them.

There is a weird and sometimes funny melancholy to the Shrouded Lands that lie near the edge of the world. The gods – for all the praise of priests – are strange and inhuman. The animals – such as the mongrel dogs that birthed in whole packs like ants – are twisted reflections of what you might expect to find. The people – and note, I do not say ‘the humans’ … well, one quivers in a lonely hut, one sits motionless prophesying for her chimerical goddess and one fuses the heads of those he kills to his body, making a screaming, arguing, genius mess."


It's the kind of world where an encounter with an ettin family is rife with Arthurian intrigue. The superstitious, rapidly-sinking City of Shuttered Windows has subjugated the bureaucratic hellhole that is Blind Midshotgatepool. In the Land of the Night Cattle, people raise herds of albino cattle destined for sacrifice. Elves are so hardcore about shooting trespassers that humans created a highway beneath their forest. One realm is ruled by royal butchers who became immortal by drinking Tarrasque blood. Storm giant pirates pillage a coastline with ships made of clouds. Gnolls are a recommended PC race. There's a Black Ziggurat that makes no sense.


The only problem? Including me, the setting has only four regular contributors.


Add your own hex. It might look intimidating, but I started by just picking up on one hook and running with it.


Resources


Map with regions (Updated May 13)
http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/439/shroudedlandswithhexes1.jpg


Hex descriptions
Pretty, but dated: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6z-iUIH4P8acHU5ZE83Yi1aaE0/edit
More info: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cAphYa31MNnSsbrca3sK_ER-k69hJFU6__1-JUhPisY/edit

Ogresses

First update in a long time. If you haven't noticed, congrats on having a life! I am trying to relocate to Hanoi while shouldering more work responsibilities, so won't be able to update as much as I want.

Ogress

From mythwood.

Lumbering, drooling, club-dragging ogres are staple threats in most parts of the world. Their female counterparts are seen less but are equally dangerous. Ogresses are cleverer and, at first glance less ruthless and impulsive, than their menfolk. Their shoes and dresses are made of cured hides stitched together with some care and precision. Their hair and skin are usually less than filthy. They tuck bone knives the size of scimitars into their belts.

Ogresses disdain their male counterparts but have overwhelming maternal instincts. This drives many to kidnapping members of smaller races and forcing them into roles of husbands or children. Their lairs, unnervingly cozy and crowded with bizarre knickknacks, have a 75% change of having d4+1 captive "family" members. Ogresses are cruel governesses and not opposed to cannibalism when food is scarce.

Combat
Ogresses fight with the same stats as ogres, but they prefer deception and trickery to brute force. They will always attempt to get the drop on their foes. If successful, they will try to drop a heavy sack over the most vulnerable-looking member of a group (attack at -2 to hit) and haul them off while beating them into submission. A trapped character can escape with a strength check or by spending d4 rounds cutting through the fabric.

Ogresses have the ability to perfectly imitate any voice they have previously heard. Dogs and horses don't fall for it, though, and react to the trickery with hostility or fear. This is why every child living on the edge of the forest has his or her own dog that never leaves their side.