Barking Alien's RPG CAMPAIGN TOUR CHALLENGE! Day 5

Day 5 - Campaign History

Day 5-Can you tell us about the campaign's history?
In the real world and within the universe.

Sweet Home Chicago

Elowen’s Journal

"People ask about the history of West Haven as if it were something written down somewhere, bound in leather, and kept on a shelf. I suppose parts of it are. Dates, names, floods, fires. That sort of thing. But that is not how I learned it.

I learned West Haven’s history by listening.

The ghosts here remember things in pieces. Not years or reigns, but reasons. Why a wall was built thicker in one place. Why a road bends when it should not. Why a family stopped using a name. I have spoken with spirits who remember the first Haven, before the lake swallowed it, and with others who arrived long after, never realizing they were walking streets that no longer existed. They do not count time the way the living do. They remember what mattered to them when they were alive, and that tells me more than any ledger ever could.

I think the village is about three hundred and twelve years old, give or take a season or two. That is what the dead suggest, anyway. I sometimes wonder if I know its history better than Larina does. Not because she has forgotten anything, but because she lived forward through it, while I hear it all at once. The joy, the fear, the mistakes, the moments when someone chose to stay rather than leave. West Haven remembers itself through its ghosts. I just happen to be someone who can listen."

Designer's Notes

The earliest seeds came decades ago, walking through downtown Chicago and wanting a fantasy city that felt lived-in, layered, and resilient. Prior to this, I was working on something I was calling "The Urban Survival Guide" with my old DM R. Michael Grenda. We explored the idea of urban environments as equal to dungeons and wildernesses as adventuring landscapes. 

From those early notes came West Haven and East Haven, separated by Lake Haven and bound together by history, trade, blood, and tension. Over time, West Haven evolved into a witch-centered settlement, a place that outsiders might superstitiously call “Witch Haven” without quite understanding why the name fits. The town's history has since grown organically over decades of play across multiple systems, accumulating layers much like the ghosts Elowen listens to. In that sense, West Haven’s history is not static. It is remembered, retold, and still very much alive. 

Every system I have played it under has added something new. If not history-wise, then via its organic growth. 

While West Haven draws on influences from places like Lancashire, England; Zugarramurdi, Spain; and Salem, Massachusetts, it also owes much to my favorite city, Chicago.

While Grenda was working on his Riverton/Riddleholm, I was working on smaller places. I knew West Haven was the smaller of the two cities. We both wanted lakes, thanks to Lake Michigan, and I wanted to be able to see the lights of East Haven from West Haven. 

I figure that West Haven has a population of about 800-1,000 and East Haven is about twice that, 1,500-1,900. 

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Witchcraft Wednesday: Character Challenge Wrap-up

 Another Character Creation Challenge is in the history books.  Thanks again to Carl Stark, The TARDIS Captain, from TardisCaptain's Blog of Holding.  

Some of the playtest characters

In all, I made 41 characters (with 14 more unfinished), all witches for AD&D 1st Edition and all playtests for my new Advanced Witches & Warlocks: Occult Adventures. All witches from level 1 to level 31.

It has been a lot of fun. Here are all the character sheets (and linked):

Follow Timothy's board 31 Day Character Creation Challenge on Pinterest.

And all of the "Theme Songs" in a playlist:

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did!

Barking Alien's RPG CAMPAIGN TOUR CHALLENGE! Day 4

Day 4 - Is There a Map?

Day 4-Is there a Map?
Give us a visual! Show us a map of your setting! Don't have one? WHY NOT?!?

Elowen’s Journal

"I never cared much for maps before I came here. I grew up knowing where things were because someone told me, or because I walked there often enough that my feet remembered. I do not think I ever once looked at a map of my home village. It felt unnecessary, maybe even rude, like questioning something that had always simply been there.

West Haven changed that.

The first maps I saw were the ones made after the Great Flood. Clean lines. Familiar shapes. Lake Haven drawn the way it is now. Later, Esmé showed me the older ones, the maps from before the water rose. That was when things finally made sense. I had been seeing ghosts along the lake shore since I arrived. Quiet ones. Confused ones. People who seemed to be looking for doors and streets that were no longer there. When I saw the old maps, I understood. The original Haven settlement lies at the bottom of the lake now, and some of the dead never realized the world had changed around them.

Maps help me make sense of the land when the land does not make sense to me. They explain why a ghost lingers in the wrong place, or why a road feels older than it should. I have maps made by scholars, by merchants, and even by goblins, whose sense of distance and importance is… creative. I love all of them. Each one tells a slightly different truth. I think that is why I look at maps of West Haven so often. I am still learning how this place fits together. And maybe, by learning that, I am also learning how I fit here, too."

Designer’s Notes

So. I have maps of the Haven Valley, both current and prior to the "Great Flood," the disaster that destroyed the original Haven Settlement and created Lake Haven. I am not sure where they are at the moment. I knew one of them was in my car, but I can't seem to find it. ETA: Found it!

I really should get on commission someday. Better than the sketches I have on legal pads. There hasn't been much need for one, since I have a clear idea in my head of where everything is. 

The Broken Mountains are to the far north. East Haven is, naturally, to the east, on the other side of Lake Haven. It's not directly across, in some maps it is North East, other South East. I like the idea that the North East is slightly higher ground than West Haven. The Goblin Wood is to the North West of West Haven. It is old, once an elven forest until the elves abandoned it and the goblins moved in.  The Maiden Wood is to the South West of West Haven (and south of the Goblin Wood). Named for the dryads that still live there, but don't seek them out or even go into the wood unless you get permission from their leader, Mellenpei.  

The village of West Haven itself is divided into four quarters: Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn. The central plaza is dominated by a large fountain.  The central circle, named "Fountain Circle", is also often called "The Square" despite the fact that it is a circle, is home to the farmer markets during the day, and the goblin market at night. 

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Barking Alien's RPG CAMPAIGN TOUR CHALLENGE! Day 3

Day 3 - Where the heck are we?

What is the campaign's location and where is that location in related to other important places. 

Elowen’s Journal

“West Haven feels out of the way on purpose. Not lost, exactly, just set aside. Like someone took the world and folded one quiet corner inward so it would not be stepped on too often. I think that is why witches find it. And why so few other people do.

East Haven sits across the lake, larger, louder, always visible but never close. The Goblin Wood presses in from the northwest, dense and watching. Even when the trees stand still, which is rare, it sounds like a living breathing thing. To the north, the Broken Mountains rise like a warning no one remembers giving. Every direction feels different before it looks different, as if the land makes up its mind about you long before you arrive and decides how to appear. My friend Doireann looks to the Goblin Wood and calls it home. She looks at the Broken Mountains as if they were a holy land. Both places scare me a little. 

This place is on the far edge of everything. Far from where I grew up. Far from what people mean when they say normal. There are ghosts here, of course, but they are the quiet kind. They linger. They listen. They do not scream at me the way others do. It makes West Haven feel less lonely, somehow. Like, even the dead know this is a place meant to be left alone.”

Designer’s Notes

I intentionally keep the location of West Haven vague. I usually say it is "on the frontier." When I was using it in my Mystoerth games, it was west of Glantri City. In NIGHT SHIFT it was the far western portions of Massachusetts in the 17th Century. A place where witches could seek refuge. 

There is something about the place that normal folks ignore, but witches and other supernatural creatures find compelling and safe. 

In general if asked where West Haven is the stock answer is "out west." West has always been a standign for new lands, the frontier, the undiscovered country. It was also the metaphor of the lands of the dead for the Egyptians and Tolkien. Lands of discovery for the old Norse. West Haven is all of that. 

The history of the palce, which I am sure I'll get to detail more later on, has groups of settlers moving west and settling in a valley they call Haven. Naturally enough, for a place where disparate groups of people meet after a long, arduous journey. But their new home has troubles and it goes from my retelling of the invasions of Ireland to Salem, Mass. But like I said, there will be time to detail all of this during this challenge.

Since I use West Haven (and often East Haven gets dragged along with it) with many systems and games, its precise location varies, but they are all connected. In fact, due to places like "The Library," all West Havens are connected. 

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Join Adam Dickstein of Barking Alien, and his RPG CAMPAIGN TOUR CHALLENGE 2026!

Advanced Witches & Warlocks: Occult Adventures

 It's Imbolc. A time for renewal and new beginnings. And a great time to announce my newest project!

The art is from the great Eugene Jaworski. You can find his art here and on his Instagram account. 

Here is his fantastic art with my text messing it up. 

And yes, that is my cover girl, Larina, and her lazy familiar, Cotton Ball. 

This should not really be a surprise to any regular readers here. I have been going on about AD&D games and Occult D&D for a bit now. But that is not all this is.

This project began many years ago as my High Secret Order Witch Book. I am also pulling in material I had begun working on for an unannounced Sea Witch book and something I was calling "The Compleat Witch."  None of these ideas jelled the way I wanted, but there was still a lot of good material. Some of this material also comes from my exploration of the Witches of Appendix N.

I also have 500+ new spells. Some are going back to my original netbook, and others I have written along the way. Not sure how many will end up in this new book, other than to say "a lot."

There is also a lot of material I wrote that will not be included in this book. Once I started my editing, I saw that a) I had too much material and b) some of it was not really related to witches. So there will be a second "Occult Adventures" book out next year, and I have already approached Eugene Jaworski to do the cover as well.

There will not be a Kickstarter for this. I plan to get this all to you via DriveThruRPG. I have everything written, we have been playtesting in our Wednesday and Sunday games, I have art. I just need to edit and trim the fat. Though recent playtests have made me go back and forth on a couple of things. I am excited to see where it all ends up.

Looking forward to getting this out to you all.

Barking Alien's RPG CAMPAIGN TOUR CHALLENGE! Day 2

Elowen Hale

Day 2 - About Your Tour Guide

Introduce us to a character who can serve as our guide through your campaign and its setting.

Elowen’s Journal

"People always expect me to start with the part where I died. I understand why. It feels like the important part. But it is not the part that stayed with me.

I was gone for only a little while. Long enough to come back different. Long enough that the other world did not quite close behind me again. When I returned, I could see the dead everywhere. Not just sometimes. Not just when I was tired or frightened. Always. Every. Single. Moment. Do you know how many dead people still walk around in this world? The answer is "no you don't want to know."

At first, I thought that meant I was broken. My parents thought so too, even if they never said it out loud. But they did their best, and they brought me here. 

West Haven would not fix me. That is something Larina told me early on, and she was right. This place does not cure things like that. What it does is teach you how to live with them. The ghosts here do not rush me. They do not demand. Most of them barely notice me at all, which was a relief I did not know I needed.

I have been here almost three years now. I write to my parents often. It is easier than talking. Words behave better on paper. Larina suggested I keep journals as well, saying witches learn as much from writing as from spells. I think she meant that if I am going to carry all these voices with me, I need somewhere safe to put my own. I am still learning how to do that."

Designer’s Notes

Elowen began, only last week, as a design challenge in her own right.

I mentioned that Tales of the Valiant, Player’s Guide 2 had come in the mail just a week ago, and it had a “native” witch class. I opened it and the Pathfinder 2R RPG and began to look back and forth, thinking about what sort of witch I could create that would fit both sets of rules. One thing I also considered, but knew it would not be a problem (as you will see later today), was what sort of witch would fit my “Occult D&D” meets my “High Witchcraft Tradition” Advanced Witches & Warlocks.

Mirepoix

What came out of that was Elowen Hale. A quiet girl who had a terrible past. No, she was not an orphan. No, her parents were not cruel; in fact, it is a big part of her background that they loved her and have always wanted the best for her. No, the trouble is Elowen died. It was only for a few moments, and she came back, but it left her marked and changed. Her long black hair became stark white. She was quieter. She deliberated before she spoke because “once words are said, you can’t ever unsay them.”  And she sees ghosts. Everywhere. All the time.

Her parents, worried their daughter was cursed, tried everything. Doctors said she needs more red meat and sunlight. Priests said she needed more prayers and fasting. But none of that changed what had happened to her. So after two years of searching, her parents brought her to West Haven, where she could get the best magical help. Soon, it was revealed that Elowen Hale was neither cursed nor, worse, undead. She was a new witch (what is often called a “Baby Witch” in pagan circles, but she hates that and prefers “Liminal Witch”) and needed help in guiding her new powers. 

We join Elowen, and her cat "Mirepoix," as she discovers West Haven and its surroundings: the Goblin Wood, the “big city” of East Haven, the secrets of Haven Lake and the Haven Valley, and even, if she dares, the Broken Mountains and the standing stone circle known as the Cailleach's Bones.

Her death doesn’t give her “kewl powerz”; it explains the powers she already has at level 1.

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Join Adam Dickstein of Barking Alien, and his RPG CAMPAIGN TOUR CHALLENGE 2026!

Barking Alien's RPG CAMPAIGN TOUR CHALLENGE! Day 1

 What? I just finished a month-long challenge, and now another one? YES!

This time, it is from Adam Dickstein of Barking Alien, and it is the February RPG CAMPAIGN TOUR CHALLENGE!

Here is my Day 1 Entry

Day 1 - Campaign Introduction & Overview

What is your campaign called, what system does it use, and what is it all about?

Elowen’s Journal

Elowen writes about arriving in West Haven and realizing she is not being watched here. Not judged. Not measured. She describes the feeling of belonging before understanding. She hints that West Haven exists in more than one way because some places are too important to only belong to one world.

Elowen is a new witch character of mine. New as in I just worked out her character sheets for Pathfinder 2R and Daggerheart on Thursday night (1/29/95). 

I don't have her "voice" just yet. No surprise, she is new and doesn't talk much. I hope that, by using her to see West Haven through new eyes, I can also define her. 

Designer’s Notes

West Haven is a multi-system campaign location I have been using for years. One of my first mentions of it was here back in 2014. IT was also the starting point for my War of the Witch Queens campaign.  West Haven's most famous resident is, of course, the newest Witch Queen, Larina Nix. However, Larina will not feature prominently in this Challenge. She is a little busy right now.

While I am focusing mostly on AD&D 1st edition (and a bit of OSRIC 3) right now, I have used it for D&D 5e, Pathfinder, Daggerheart, and NIGHT SHIFT. In fact, you can see the NIGHT SHIFT version of West Haven in my “Ordinary World” Night World setting in the NIGHT SHIFT Core. People can move from any version of West Haven to another if they know what paths to take.

The idea of this place began not with one of my witches, but rather my morally gray character, Nigel. Back in my AD&D games, Nigel found an Amulet of the Planes. While we were doing a lot of plane hopping back then, we also did a lot of adventures on parallel worlds. I wanted a town that lived on multiple planes at once, much like you see in my Temples of Elemental Evil and Castles Greyhawk. For my DM, that meant "Killian's Towers" (more on that later). For me it meant Larina, Nigel. Nigel took on the role of a witch hunter later in his life. But instead of killing the witches, he relocated them to a place I was calling "Witch Haven." I can't say for sure it wasn't inspired by the RPG City of Haven, but I am sure it was, at some level.  It was not till later that Larina came to West Haven and the village itself recognized her.  

West Haven is a place where witches call home. It is a place where they are protected, feel safe, and, most importantly, belong. 

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And because I am all about ADA compliance...

Day 1-Campaign Introduction and Overview
What is your campaign called, what system does it use, and what is it all about?

Day 2-About your Tour Guide
Introduce us to a character who can serve as our guide through your campaign and its setting.

Day 3-Where the heck are we?
What is the campaign's location and where is that location in related to other important places. 

Day 4-Is there a Map?
Give us a visual! Show us a map of your setting! Don't have one? WHY NOT?!?

Day 5-Can you tell us about the campaign's history?
In the real world and within the universe.

Day 6-Where shall we start?
Where did the campaign begin and/or where should a traveler to the region start their journey through it? 

Day 7-What's the weather like today?
Is there a particular climate or weather that's prominent in the region of the campaign? Does it vary? What is it like and how bad does it get?

Day 8-Tell us about the local peoples and their cultures.
Describe the people and their Species, Nationalities, and other identifying features. 

Day 9-Who's in charge here?
Who are the major movers and shakers in the campaign?

Day 10-What's the first thing we should do?
When heading out on a trip through the campaign setting (even just the 'starting area'), where should you go first? 

Day 11-Where would we go to find 'adventure'?
We've left the relative safety of the starting area and now we're looking for action! 

Day 12-What do people do for entertainment around here?
Music? Theatre? Sports? Gambling? What do the adventurers in your campaign do on their 'day off'? What is there for tourists to spend money on?

Day 13-Where can we get a drink and a bite to eat?
Give us a few of your most notable restaurants and bars in the campaign setting. Tell us something about these places and what makes them distinctive.

Day 14-What to order to 'Eat like a local'.
Are there any foods unique to the campaign setting? If so, what are they like?

Day 15-What are some things in the setting that are best avoided?
Dangerous terrain, haunted places, angry natives, and even unpleasant beverages; name some elements in your campaign that should be given a wide berth.

Obviously these are beings and things in the setting the tourist should avoid but which Player Characters would likely run towards. 

Day 16-Are there any direct threats?
Who or what in your campaign actively means the people in it - including the PCs -harm?

Day 17-Can you tell us about any famous battles or wars?
Tales of conflicts and combats abound across the multiverse! Any interesting ones in your setting we should know about?

Day 18-Forgot to ask; How do we get around?
What modes of transportation are available to people in the setting. 

Day 19-Any 'Must See' sites?
Are there any places or things a visitor to the setting just has to check out?

Day 20-Are there any mysteries as yet unsolved?
Legendary tales, lost civilizations, or cryptid creatures; does the setting have anything for the amateur detective?

Day 21-What are the major organizations of the campaign? How do they deal with visitors?
Corporations, guilds, secret societies; what groups with influence exist in the campaign and how do they interact with the setting and its denizens? 

Day 22-Tell use about notable Flora and Fauna!
Take us on safari around your campaign and its setting. What are some of the unique and/or unusual creatures and plants in your game?

Day 23-What are the major exports of the region?
A campaign can be big and different places within it will be known for different products. Pick a few of the best sellers or most interesting things and tell us about them.

Day 24-What are the major imports to the area?
What is it your campaign region needs but doesn't have and how do they get it? Maybe it's not a need but a want? Some other place has the very best something and the people of your campaign desire some of that action.  

Day 25-Where can I do some shopping?
I want to buy some souvenirs from this trip and maybe snacks for the voyage home.

Day 26-Are there any dramatic events from the campaign you can share?
Tell us about a moment of exciting action or tense thrills that has happened during your game. When and where did it take place?

Day 27-Do you have any amusing anecdotes from the campaign?
Forget dramatic, tell us about a moment that made everyone laugh out loud.

Day 28-Is there anything else we should know before we head home?
Any parting knowing you want to leave us with that didn't fit anywhere else?