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 or 5e for your games, but they can easily be converted over into any fantasy system. Today we lay down our claim for the Contested War Zone.
Contested War Zone
The Contested War Zone lies close to the Contested Cliffs that we looked at last time, but unlike the Cliffs, the War Zone has no natural resources or dangers to it. What it does have is easy access from both Conqueror’s Foothold and from the area controlled by the natives. It has been fought over hundreds of times, as the side that controls it has an easier time moving troops and goods around, but due to the lack of natural terrain it is incredibly difficult to hold, and neither side has been given the time to build fortifications that would enable it to be defended by a smaller group of soldiers.
Lay of the Land
The Contested Warzone is almost entirely flat, with only a few variations of height. During the winter, it is choked in snow, and it becomes almost impossible to move through the area, and it gets worse in the muddy seasons that lie between autumn and winter, and winter and spring. In the “dry season” however, it is filled with low-growing grass and barely any wildlife of any sort. The grass is something that can be processed to be edible, using various baking and cooking techniques, but it is time consuming and not something that any animal is capable of.
The soil is poor here and leads water away badly, but it does mean that in the few dips and dells of the war zone, there will usually be drinkable water.
All of the above applies, but with some caveats. The war zone has been fought over more than a dozen times, and there are a lot of corpses buried here (and a number of unburied ones that were left to rot in the earliest engagements), which can lead to the water being undrinkable or poisonous, or to some areas being unstable. It’s worth noting that some of the graves are marked, but far from all.
Dangers
The main dangers of the Contested War Zone are the two factions that are fighting over it. When stationed here, they tend to shoot first and ask questions later, especially if they do not recognize you when entering the area. These threats can range from low-ranking soldiers to unique creatures and automatons that have been brought to the area by either side. It all depends on when you get here, and what resources each side has at that time.
The area also tends to be haunted by the undead, especially around unmarked graves, usually zombies and skeletons depending upon the age of the corpse.
Hope to see you back next time. 😊
Kim Frandsen
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