Castlemourn Corebook

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Original Concept:
Ed Greenwood
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Fiction:
Ed Greenwood
Writing & Design:
Jim Butler, Jennifer Brozek, Steve Creech, Darrin Drader, Sean Everette, Ed Greenwood, Brian Gute, Tim
Hitchcock, Alex Jacobs, Tom Knauss, Todd R. Laing,
Kevin W. Melka, Montgomery Mullen, James M. Ward
Editor:
Brian Gute
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Fiction Editor:
Peter Archer
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Proofreader:
Christy Everette
Project Manager:
Sean Everette
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Layout & Typesetting:
Sean Everette
Art Director:
Renae Chambers
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Cover Artist:
Donato Giancola
Interior Artists:
Christopher Appel, Drew Baker, Patrick Ballesteros, Joel Beebe, Mike Bielaczyc, Paul Bielaczyc, Bruce Colero,
Jason Engle, Toby Hampton, Kristina Knopse, Ron Lemen, Jennifer Meyer, Therese Mitchell, Stefan Moroni, Dzu Nguyen, Jessica
Renk, Daniel Roe, Douglas Sirois, Beth Trott, Fabiola Vargas, Gareth Verleyen, Michelle Weber, Fredy Wenzel
Cartographer:
Sean Macdonald

Graphic Designer
: Sean Macdonald
L
egaL
Margaret Weis Productions, the MW logo, Castlemourn, and the Castlemourn logo are trademarks owned by Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd. All
rights reserved. © 2006 Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd. All rights reserved. The mention of or reference to any company or product in these pages is
not a challenge to the trademark or copyright concerned. This edition of Castlemourn Campaign Settings is produced under version 1.0a, 5.0, and/or draft
versions of the Open Game License and the System Reference Document by permission of Wizards of the Coast. Subsequent versions of this product
will incorporate later versions of the license, guide, and document.
Designation of Product Identity:
The following items are hereby designated as Product Identity in accordance with Section 1(e) of the Open Game
License, version 1.0a: Any and all Margaret Weis Productions logos and identifying marks and trade dress, such as all Margaret Weis Productions
product and product line names including but not limited to A Player’s Guide to Castlemourn, Castlemourn Campaign Setting, Mysterious Island of Tamrune,
Castlemourn, any speciic characters, monsters, creatures, and places; capitalized names and names of places, artifacts, characters, countries, creatures,
geographic locations, gods, historic events, magic items, organizations, and abilities; any and all stories, storylines, histories, plots, thematic elements,
and dialogue; and all artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, illustrations, maps, and cartography, likenesses, poses, logos, or graphic designs, except
such elements that already appear in inal or draft versions of the System Reference Document or as Open Game Content below and are already open
by virtue of appearing there. The above Product Identity is not Open Game Content.
Designation of Open Game Content:
Subject to the Product Identity designation above, the following portions of the Castlemourn Campaign Setting
are designated as Open Game Content: the “Races,” “Classes,” and “Feats” sections of chapter 1 and anything else contained herein which is already
Open Game Content by virtue of appearing in the System Reference Document or some other Open Game Content source.
Some portions of this book which are Open Game Content originate from the System Reference Document and are
© 1999–2006 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. The remainder of these Open Game Content portions of this book is hereby added to Open Game Content
and if so used, should bear the COPYRIGHT NOTICE “Castlemourn Campaign Setting © 2006 Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd.” This material is
protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America.
Any reproduction, retransmission, or unauthorized use of the artwork or non-Open Game Content herein is prohibited without express written
permission from Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd., except for purposes of review or use of Open Game Content consistent with the Open Game
License. The original purchaser may print or photocopy copies for his or her own personal use only.
Stat block format developed by Monte Cook for Ptolus, published by Malhavoc Press, and used with permission.
This document is a work of iction. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, places, or events is purely coincidental.
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253 Center Street #126
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United States
www.castlemourn.com
R
aces
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S
ome folks collect bowling trophies, some rebuild cars in their driveways, and some try not to miss a
single televised moment of football.
I dream up fantasy worlds.
I started worldbuilding in my childhood, imagining what grew into The Forgotten Realms® (now a shared
world that continues to grow through the dreamings of literally millions of readers and gamers). It was just
the irst of over a dozen worlds I’ve played with since. This is one of them and a particular favorite of mine.
Welcome to Castlemourn.
Or rather, welcome to the many petty baronies, merchant confederacies, and kingdoms that were once,
before the Fall, the great and glorious land of Castlemourn. More than a dozen different, and often warring,
territories crowded together between the mountains and the sea, plus nine isles that are all that’s left
undrowned of the lost an-sekhovynd (southern) half of Castlemourn. All of these areas are inhabited by
Mournans who no longer know what lies beyond the mountains or across the seemingly endless sea in the
world they call Umbrara.
Like the Realms, this is a shared world; within these pages and the books to come, many designers and
writers will dive into Umbrara, spinning new tales and revealing new color and details for us all. I’m delighted
that my friends, the gaming veterans at Margaret Weis Productions, have given us all the chance to play in this
new sandbox.
I’ve tried to make Castlemourn “feel real.” In these pages, you’ll ind believable people living in a world
full of mysteries, ancient magics, and lurking intrigues unfolding right now. It’s an ideal home for fantasy
roleplaying campaigns, with power groups, throne-strife, and scheming villains enough to keep things
interesting for years, even to players whose characters elect to spend much of their time reclining on couches,
lagons in hand, watching the world go by! As much as mere curved squiggles of ink on a page can make it,
Castlemourn is alive.
It’s also lexible. Via the estemel, characters from other worlds can readily arrive in Castlemourn. Cities,
fortresses, and dungeons from other fantasy settings can easily be placed in the surrounding mountains or in
the Mists to the aerho (east) and luthsurl (west) of known Castlemourn. Magic from other places and other
worlds can effortlessly be thrust into the castles of Tamrune. Substitute orcs, ogres, or hobgoblins for the
golaunt or any really exotic race of creatures for the thaele—or make such creatures allies of those Mournan
races, dwelling with them as guards and strike forces.
Castlemourn campaigns can focus on particular areas or kingdoms that offer different lavors of adventure,
from piracy on Glamryn Bay to merchants’ strivings in Dragonhead and Luuthaven, from the glittering high
society of Asmrel to the haughty dukedoms and thundering knights of Lyonar—or from the deadly caverns
of the Yarhoon to the sun-dappled farms of Jamandar and from the mist-shrouded menace of Nighdal to the
hardy mining and ishing life of the Iron Isles. From the beast-roamed woods of the Haunthills to the perilous
mountains where larger, more numerous monsters prowl. From the life of an outlaw in…but my point is made:
Castlemourn offers every style of campaign play. Detailed churches await players who want to play priest
characters; Castlemourn is awash in wizard-riveting tales of old magics from before the Fall being unearthed
in ruins. Thievery and outlawry are rife, and realm after realm is arming or covertly hiring adventurers to
swing swords for them. This bright and pleasant land between the mountains is stirring; it’s a time for heroes.
How swiftly—or even if—Castlemourn slides into widespread war will be different in every campaign.
This book introduces a setting that, if general peace holds, can readily serve as a backdrop for long-term play
concentrating on court intrigue, ruins exploration, or even building a mercantile empire along the caravan
roads and from port to port along the Bay. No fantasy world should be all drawn swords, dragons toppling
castles, grimly onrushing doom, and lurking peril. It should fascinate and soothe, as well, offering people and
places we want to know more about and visit. People and places we wish were real. People and places worth
ighting for.
From princes trying to regain their rightful thrones to beggars just trying to survive and from street
peddlers to rich and ambitious would-be nobles trying to buy titles, Castlemourn holds many colorful
characters for players to meet or even become. Guide your own characters to prominence among them, and
dream your own dreams about them.
Dreams again. Yes. In an increasingly hectic real world, we all need a home for our dreams, an imaginary
world to be our refuge and playground.
So turn the page and step into our new sandbox.
Make Castlemourn your own.
Make Castlemourn your home.
ED GREENWOOD
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