Seas of Sand

Seas of Sand is a toolbox setting guide for old-school RPGs about a vast desert-ocean of liquid sand. By day, the sand is liquid, and ships sail across them while people sink; by night, the sand is solid, and ships freeze while people walk free.

Map the seas with seven sands, build its many wondrous cities, determine trade routes and pirate havens, then turn the crew loose and see what adventure lies along the way. Seas of Sand can function as its own standalone setting for a complete campaign, or you can just as easily slot a sand ocean into a larger world map. 

The book contains:

• Procedures and content for building and populating a map of the Seas and its cities.
• Details on each of the seven sands and how they behave (along with 1d100 encounter tables for each).
• Lightweight, easily-modified rules for sandships, trading, piracy, smuggling, and recruiting crew.
• 36 fauna (monsters), 20 flora (plants), and 20 phenomena (weird stuff) unique to the Seas.
• Dozens of tables of trade goods, ships, NPCs, messages-in-a-bottle, and more.
• 1d100 revelations—world-altering mystical truths, triggered through prayer, visions, and sacred drugs.
• THE WORM! IT RISES FROM THE SANDS TO CONSUME YOU! PRAISE BE!

Also included are digital files for a two-sided 24" x 36" map containing two possible versions of the Seas, and a 24" x 36" poster with art and apocrypha of THE WORM. (Also also included are two little .txt tiles: some system conversion guidelines and a superfast experimental solo play ruleset—just for you, itch!)

The first 87 pages (which include mapping, the seven sands, and all of the rules, but none of the field guide or the many appendices) are available as a free download—see the demo section.

Hardcover copies are available at Space Penguin Ink.

264 page PDF, black & white interior, 5.5" x 8.5". Bookmarked and hyperlinked.

Credits

Writing, graphic design, and interior illustration by Sam Sorensen.
Editing and development by Matthew K.
Additional writing and consulting by Walid Raouda.
Proofreading by Roz Leahy.
Cover and WORM illustration by nuclearobelisk.
Cartography by Jason Ripplinger.

Reviews & Press

"'...this is the best damned merchant caravan toolbox out there, enough for years of play'" — Nova's Bathtub Review

"Really impressive stuff..." — Todd from Hexed Press

Jake Elditch (aka Planarian) made a guided step-by-step tutorial for making your Seas of Sand map! 

"A really awesome book... It feels like it would work really well as a part of a larger campaign." — Jor(ph)dan, from Jorphdan's Jocular Junction