For Jeff Rient’s twenty quick questions for your campaign setting.
What is the deal with my cleric’s religion?
Your cleric probably worships an Unspeakable One, an Archfiend, a Spider-Goddess, or the Magistra, a deity of machines and reason, but there are also about a thousand other gods being worshiped in the Cultist’s Quarter at any given time.
Where can we go to buy standard equipment?
St. Monstrum’s is probably the biggest market in the city. If you’re a thief, check out the Midnight Market in Corvid Commons for thief’s tools and stuff.
Where can we go to get platemail custom fitted for this monster I just befriended?
Definitely head to Wyrmsborough, where the smiths have dragon-fire forges. Also Mainspring, where the gnome tinkers live, could probably customize some platemail for you. Also, most people will look at you a little oddly for wearing platemail, though the “monster” will be fine.
Who is the mightiest wizard in the land?
Master Melchior, a brain in a jar, founder of a school of thaumaturgy and enchantment.
Who is the greatest warrior in the land?
Probably the guy in Hex you’d least like to get in a tousle with is Badrask the Limbtaker of Trollhome.
Who is the richest person in the land?
Barnabas Grimgrove, homunculus-manufacturer and alchemist.
Where can we go to get some magical healing?
Caulchurch is the physician’s quarter. Of course, the cures sometimes have side-effects. You might come away with your wounds healed but with a second head, or purple skin, or the ability to taste sounds.
Where can we go to get cures for the following conditions: poison, disease, curse, level drain, lycanthropy, polymorph, alignment change, death, undeath?
Stop in at any of Hex’s major temples – the Cathedral of the Magistra, the Infernal Basilica, or one of the fanes of the Unspeakable Ones.
Is there a magic guild my MU belongs to or that I can join in order to get more spells?
Not just a guild, but eight: the Académie Macabre, Fiend’s College, Umbral University, the Institute of Omens, the Warders’ Lyceum, the Citadel of the Perpetual Storm, the Metamorphic Scholarium, and Master Melchior’s School of Thaumaturgy & Enchantment.
Where can I find an alchemist, sage or other expert NPC?
Where can’t you find one? Go to the nearest pub, and you’ll probably find a partially drunk sage or three.
Where can I hire mercenaries?
Trollhome will get you Trollblood thugs, Corvid Commons has Crowsbeak rogues for hire, and the Zymotic Ward will get you fungus-addled hitmen.
Is there any place on the map where swords are illegal, magic is outlawed or any other notable hassles from Johnny Law?
It’s probably not a good idea to go around Fanghill heavily armed.
Which way to the nearest tavern?
Almost every district in Hex has a drinking hole, or twenty. The best drinks are in Groanwell.
What monsters are terrorizing the countryside sufficiently that if I kill them I will become famous?
There have been disappearances and missing caravans up on Mount Shudder. Something or someone is behind them. Alternatively, there are any number of horrible things down in the Old City you could test your mettle against – like Abjectus, or the Vermihydra, or the Putrescemental, or the Thanatosphinx…
Are there any wars brewing I could go fight?
Erubescence is always fighting its neighbours, so you could head up there to vampire country.
How about gladiatorial arenas complete with hard-won glory and fabulous cash prizes?
Oh, we’ve got you covered. There are lots of little fighting pits in Corvid Commons in places like The Rat & Roach, but there’s also a huge gladiatorial arena down in Behemoth Bend – the Hellpits. You don’t mind fighting otherworldly horrors summoned from unplumbed space, do you?
Are there any secret societies with sinister agendas I could join and/or fight?
Plenty of them. Like the Wormbrethren or the Antinomian Cult or the Funnel-Web Gang or the Society for the Abolition of Demonic & Infernal Servitude & Maltreatment.
What is there to eat around here?
It’s a big city, so quite a bit. In particular Hex is known for its freshwater shellfish such as mussels, oysters, and crabs, as well as snails, eels, and fish. The surrounding countryside is good farmland. In particular, pork is a very common dish, prepared in a wide variety of styles. Mushrooms and truffles are widespread, grown in the city or harvested from the Tangle, a forest nearby. Many foods in Hex are flavoured and altered using magic.
Any legendary lost treasures I could be looking for?
The city is built on a megadungeon full of lost treasure, so yes!
Where is the nearest dragon or other monster with Type H treasure?
The dragon of Mount Shudder is dead, but some of its treasure is still said to lie in the treacherous caverns of its lair. However, mostly you don’t need to look further than the ground beneath your feet. The Librarians hoarded unfathomable riches in their time.