Welcome to the Northlands! Whether you are new to the setting, or a veteran of the snow-covered North, you are in for a treat. Presented here are three books to get your Northlands Saga game going. Make characters suited to the setting of the Northlands with the Northlands Saga Player’s Guide and then set out on an adventure with Spring Rites and Spears in the Ice, both setting up the epic tale of the Saga of the Lord of Ice and Cold, the first Northlands Saga adventure path.
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The Northlands is a fantasy setting inspired by the history, folklore, and myths of the Norse people, heavily influenced by the sagas of the Icelanders and others, and mixed with a little leavening from heroic fantasy. You play young heroes starting out in Spring Rites ordered to guard your jarl’s daughters while they gather flowers for the upcoming feast of Freya. Matters take a dark turn, and our heroes must rescue their charges from the aglæcwif Sibbe the Unkempt. In Spears in the Ice, our heroes accompany their jarl on a voyage of trading and hunting but are abandoned on a floating city of ice by a sudden storm summoned by malevolent magic.
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Perks
We are offering you the choice of three perks, the Player’s Guide to the Northlands, Spring Rites, and Spears in the Ice. All three are being offered in 5e, Castles & Crusades, and Old-School Essential rules sets. You can pick up one, two, or all three as part of this campaign.
Player’s Guide to the Northlands: This book gives players all they need to make a character tied to the Northlands setting. In addition to lore and setting information about the lands and the peoples of the North, a host of character options are offered. These are made to suit the system they are for, cultures, ancestries, classes, class archetypes, and new equipment. You do not need the Player’s Guide to the Northlands to enjoy the adventures, but the flavor of the setting really comes out with the addition of heroes suited to the North.
Spring Rites: Begin your journey in the Northlands and the Saga of the Lord of Ice and Cold here. Our heroes are hangers-on at the hall of Jarl Olaf Henrikson, trusted but not yet brought into his service. As a test, he sends them off to guard his three daughters as they gather flowers for the upcoming feast of Freya. Unbeknownst to the jarl and our heroes, the spring equinox is not just for honoring the gods, the aglæcwif Sibbe the Unkempt’s plan to achieve immortally hinges on the jarl’s youngest daughter and the sacrifice of the others. The warm spring day turns dark as the daughters are kidnapped and our heroes must pursue them across the wild interior of Hordaland to stop Sibbe and her minions. Spring Rites is suitable for low-level characters, especially those on their first adventure.
Spears in the Ice: A few weeks have passed since the events of Spring Rites, and our heroes have become retainers in Jarl Olaf’s household. The jarl is taking his longship, the Longserpent, far out into the North Sea on a voyage of trade and hunting. Our heroes are part of the crew, and when an iceberg holding a city of ice is spotted, the jarl orders it investigated. Our heroes must explore the city of ice to find a way off the iceberg, but what they find is a threat that could spell doom for all of the North.
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The Adventure Continues
This is but the start of our tale! The Saga of the Lord of Ice and Cold continues in Vengeance of the Longserpent and Beyond the Wailing Mountains, coming to Indiegogo in a few months. In addition to these two adventures, we will be offering the Setting Guide to the Northlands, a trove of information on the setting for GMs and players who want more lore, rules for running holmgang duels, meetings of the Thing, and much more!
Freebies
As a thank you for looking at our campaign, we are offering Heroes of the Lost Lands: Northlander Trinkets for free in pdf. This d100 table offers random objects a starting character might have or someone in the Northlands might have in their pockets.
You can download Heroes of the Lost Lands: Northlander Trinkets HERE.
We are also offering Secrets of the Lost Lands: City of Halfstead free in pdf. This short title goes into detail on the city of Halfstead, one of the few urban areas of the Northlands, a central trading hub, and the nearest settlement to our heroes’ home of Silvermeade Hall.
You can download Secrets of the Lost Lands: City of Halfstead HERE.
About the Author
Ken Spencer is an award-winning RPG author, game designer, and all-around good guy. He has worked for many companies, including Chaosium, Cubicle 7, Frog God Games, Necromancer Games, and Steve Jackson Games, When not fulfilling his duties as an author for Frog God and Necromancer Games, he runs his own company, Why Not Games, most known for their Retro Sci-fi RPG Rocket Age.
Northlands Saga is heavily inspired by the saga of the Norse, as well as the prose and poetic Edda. Ken has had a lifelong fascination with the Early Medieval period, a fascination that extends far beyond role-playing games. He collects and paints minis from that era, plays wargames set in Europe circa the 8th-11th centuries, and has been known to dress in period costumes for cons. Currently, he is reading a collection of accounts written by Arab travelers to the Rus, painting up a new SAGA warband for the table, and building a Viking shield out of foam for cosplay.
About the Artists
Adrian Landeros
Adrian Landeros is a digital and traditional illustrator born in Aguascalientes, Mexico and now located in Wichita, Kansas. He currently works for Frog God Games and Planet X Games, although he's done some work for other companies such as Necrotic Gnome, and Old Gator Games. Adrian finds himself in his element when he's working alongside passionate project creators, rendering their complex ideas to life. He especially enjoys creating fantastical creatures and scenes ranging from the dark and strange to the bright and beautiful. Adrian has been inspired and captivated by a multitude of artists over the years including Francisco Goya, Frank Frazetta, and Jose Guadalupe Posada. On his time off Adrian finds himself drawing and painting personal ideas if he's not out spending time with friends and family. He loves simplicity and a day out in the wild is a good day to him. Adrian hopes to inspire young artists to bring their ideas into life no matter what, and for them to make this world a more beautiful one through both their creativity and acts of kindness!
Julio de Carvahlo
Julio Brush is an Illustrator and Concept Artist currently residing in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he dreams of vast imaginary worlds and mind-bending characters.
Working with an emphasis on Fantasy Art and Visual Narrative. In addition to art, he has a passion for business and always tries to deliver as much value for his clients as possible. Julio has worked for Frog God Games, Necromancer Games, Dire Wolf Digital, Cryptozoic Entertainment, UDON Publisher, Smunchy Games Inc., Bushiroad Inc., Alter Reality Games, Anvil Eight Games, Photoshop Creative UK, Emergent Games, and Iron Rise Games, to name a few.
Tuan Pham
Thuan Pham is a freelance illustrator on the side. He's Been playing tabletop since 2015 and freelance illustrating since 2019. He has a collection of work done for Frog God Games, Necromancer Games, Atlas Games, Nerdarchy, Beyond the Screen RPG, Headless Hydra Press, and Light Tracer's Archive. While he enjoys bringing concepts to life, he also enjoys working with people and ideas.
Quentin Soubrouillard
Quentin Soubrouillard is a French artist living in Nantes, France. He studied illustration at Pivaut (also in Nantes) and has worked as a 3D artist for 4 years. After a while, the nostalgia of paint kicked in and he quit my job to start freelancing. Since then he has been working on a variety of projects and ended up specializing in fantasy and sci-fi artworks... fitting, considering the fact that Warhammer and the third edition of D&D were major inspirations!
So far, he has mostly been working for Frog God Games and Mongoose Publishing (specifically on the RPG Traveller), with some other gigs on the side. He is especially fond of drawing wizards, (weird) monsters, and spaceships, but likes to change and give a try to everything.
He also enjoys video games of all sorts, miniature painting never works without a solid playlist in the background.
System Options
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Our 5e versions are compatible with the most recent edition of the world's most popular fantasy role-playing game.
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Frog God Games and Troll Lord Games have partnered to bring you thrilling quests in the Castles & Crusades system. Castles & Crusades is a stripped-down variant of the d20 System by Wizards of the Coast. For those of you who already use this system, Frog God Games is excited to provide this adventure and we look forward to providing more adventures for your gaming table.
If you are not familiar with this rule system, take a look by downloading the complimentary Player's Handbook from Troll Lord Games.
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Frog God Games is excited to join the battlefield-proven rules offered by Necrotic Gnome's Old-School Essentials, based on the classic 1980s Basic/Expert (B/X) rules.
If you are not familiar with these rules, then you are missing out. Old-School Essentials consists of light, easily modified rules which put the focus of play on shared imagination, improvisation, and fun. Do not take our word for it, download a free PDF of the Basic Rules here.
Project Delivery
Softcover Perks
Softcover perks will be mailed from our warehouse via the address provided to us by Indiegogo. All three system versions (5e, Castles & Crusades, and Old-School Essentials) of this adventure will be full-sized 8-1/2 x 11-inch saddle-stitched books. We have talked to our local printing company and have been notified about the ongoing industry paper shortage. They currently have the paper in stock for this project; however, with the ongoing shortage, this may affect our delivery dates.
Overseas Shipping
The most cost-effective way for our overseas customers to get their books is by using the print-on-demand format. The print-on-demand books that international customers receive are high quality, but please be aware that they are printed differently than books in the USA, which are saddled-stitched.
We have tremendous love and respect for our international customers, and this is the most efficient method we have found to provide you with books at a reasonable price with reliable delivery times. We have been notified about the ongoing industry paper shortage from our local printer as well as our PoD printers. Please note that this ongoing shortage may affect our delivery dates.
PDF Fulfillment
Contributors have told us that they prefer having their digital rewards in a unified library. For this project, the default PDF distribution will be via DriveThruRPG.com. We use DriveThruRPG's fulfillment tools which will send you an email originating from their site that the PDF has been added.
If you want your PDF added to your Frog God Games' account library, we are happy to oblige. Please send an email to our Help Desk at help@froggodgames.com with your contribution number, system preference, and the email address associated with your FGG account to add the PDF to your FGG library.
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