Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Finder’s Archives.
In this column, we take some of the lands from Magic: The Gathering and turn them into something you can use for your fantasy games.
The stats given in each entry assumes that you’re using Pathfinder 2 for your games, but they can easily be converted over into any fantasy system. This we head to one of the most inhospitable terrains as we traverse the Badlands.
Badlands
The badlands are aptly named. They lie in a region between swamps and a huge mountain range and combine the worst features from both of them. The terrain is rocky, and windswept with only a few trees for cover, but the ground is mushy and in certain places, it suddenly plunges into a pit of water, from where it is hard to escape. Most people here traverse the area in small one-man boats, ones that are light enough to carry when having to climb the rocky bits, and either able to absorb damage when hitting rocky terrain (such as being made from soft fur), or easily repairable.
Lay of the Land
The badlands are fairly small, at least when looking at the width of them, being only about 10 miles across. However, they stretch the entirety of the border between the mountains and the swamp, and in some parts of the world, can go on for hundreds of miles. No one wants to live here, as finding shelter from the winds or rains is nigh-impossible, and what little wood there is, is always damp, making it difficult to start a fire. Most of the creatures in the area are birds, amphibians, or insects, one preying on the other in an endless cycle of life and death.
Water is plentiful here, but it should not be drunk unless it is very close to the mountains. The reason for this is that the water near the mountains is pure – often coming directly from spring thaws or freshwater springs, but the further one gets towards the swamp, the more likely the water is to be contaminated with filth and disease. (Treat the disease as Filth Fever for Pathfinder 1 and Pathfinder 2 and Sewer Plague for 5th Edition)
Dangers
Not many intelligent creatures make their homes in the badlands, though plenty come from both swamp and mountains. These are typically creatures like bullywugs, goblins, and a few trolls that make their homes there. But the greatest threat in the badlands comes from dragons. Black dragons usually make their home in swamps and red dragons make their home in the mountains, and either side will normally lay claim to the badlands as their territory. The smarter ones will often waylay travelers, either killing them and taking any treasure or forcing them to pay tribute to the draconic masters. Lesser dragons will often fight over the territory, in some cases grievously wounding each other, leading to opportunities for the intrepid adventurer. And a huge payday for those lucky or powerful enough to defeat a dragon.
Kim Frandsen
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