Reiver’s Lament

Cross swords with the notorious Border Reivers of 16th Century Scotland!

You live in a perilous land, where rival clans will kill for honor, wealth and status, where the English are ready to cross the border in a bloody invasion, and your own Scottish government is always capable of swooping down and massacring anyone they feel is causing mischief.

There is a dark secret somewhere in the hills of the Western March. People are disappearing without a trace, no ransom asked, no threats made. And your family has gotten the blame.

Your brother is now in deep trouble, in the rough hands of a foreign power. He is counting on you to save him. Your friends expect you to find a way out of this dangerous situation. Your clan relies on you to uphold the family honor, and not get your kinfolk into more trouble than they already face.

You have a magnificent horse and your trusty broadsword at your hip. Your resourceful, well-armed friends are ready to help. You have the support of your clan, and the hard won skills of a life in the treacherous borderlands. Hard men are aligned against you, men who kill without hesitation. There is some kind of lethal mystery afoot that has already cost many people their lives.

Do you have what it takes to navigate your way across the misty, moss covered land, cross the dangerous border, and get to the bottom of this nightmare?

The Reiver’s Lament is a historically based adventure module set in 16th century Scotland. It is designed for use with the Codex Martialis historical combat system. It is designed as a stand-alone adventure. It comes with historical maps of the region, towns and castles, as well as detailed descriptions of towns, tables of markets with equipment and prices, standardized and specific NPCs and both random and planned encounters. It is intended for 3-5 characters of levels 5-7, made for a low-magic, historical setting, with strong elements of occult horror thrown into the mix.

This is an immersive, fast paced, dynamic adventure, which your characters can really sink their teeth into. As tension and fear build, the Codex rules will allow them to apply their most devious fighting tricks and strategies to defeat perilous enemies from the history books, and from the legends right out of the fairy tales of centuries past. If you are looking for a world that feels real enough to be dangerous, but is still remote enough for great adventures, The Reiver’s Lament is your gateway to a historical reality which is stranger than fiction.

This module is made for the Codex Martialis OGL system, and is essentially version agnostic but is easily adaptable to Pathfinder, to 5e or to various OSR systems. It is designed to be Low Magic and mid-to low-level play, but is highly customizable, so that GMs and players can make it their own. Take a step to a realm just adjacent to the fantasy genres you know so well, but is full of surprising twists and turns that are fresh and interesting fodder for gripping gameplay.

This module works as both a sandbox, with resources sufficient for multiple adventures, and also as a structured wilderness campaign and substantial ‘dunegon crawl’.

Four scale hex (and grid) maps of Scottish borderlands and actual historic castles
Randomized charts for markets, rumors, random encounters and treasure
Seven pre-generated player characters and fourteen NPCS
Sixteen NPCs for opponents and foils
Fourteen new weapons (including the Lochaber Axe, the Jeddart Stave, the spiked targe, the Halfang sword and the heavy latch)
New Class – The Clannfolk, with seven new Specializations (including the Highlander, the Gallowglass, and the Reiver)
New Magic Items – The Toadman’s Charm, and the Obsdian Mirror
New Monsters – “Black Annis”, the Cannibal Laird
New Combat rule – The Gaelic Charge