Thunder Rift

Thunder Rift is a largely forgotten Dungeons & Dragons setting, intended to be a kind of "beginner DM's setting". Created by Colin McComb (one of the big authors of Planescape) for "The Black Box" version of Basic D&D, this was the foundation of the "Challenger" series; a collection of D&D adventures, accessories and novels published in the 90s as an easy way in for newcomer DMs and players.

Officially, Thunder Rift was supposed to be a "setting neutral" campaign locale, although Colin had always envisioned it as a part of the Mystara setting, specifically locating it in the mountains beyond Karameikos. This was ultimately canonized through the adventure "Escape from Thunder Rift".

Publishing History

Thunder Rift's lore is scattered across the following sources:

TSR 9357: Thunder Rift - this is the core sourcebook, which provides the general outline of the valley; population, history, terrain, etc.

The Basic D&D board games Dragon Quest, The Goblin's Lair and The Haunted Tower all feature adventures set within Thunder Rift.

The actual adventures The Knight of the Newts, Assault on Raven's Ruin, Sword and Shield, Quest for the Silver Sword, Rage of the Rakasta and In the Phantom's Wake are all set in Thunder Rift.

Finally, the 1990s D&D DM Screen boxed set contains the adventure Escape from Thunder Rift, which covers a scenario in which the party discovers a previously unknown exit from the rift, allowing them to enter the wider campaign world beyond - canonically Mystara, but you can set it wherever you like.

The Titular Rift

Thunder Rift is a sizable valley - about 70 square miles or so, based on the map - that cuts deep into a range of steep, jagged mountains nearly half a mile high. Despite this, the Rift is virtually a miniature world, with most of the major temperate land types to be found within; barren rocky hills, sweeping grasslands, stray mountains, wide rivers, deep lakes, murky swamps and mighty forests. It's largely isolated from the outside world, with very few passes linking through the surrounding mountains.

Keep in mind this was Williams-era TSR publishing this book; the scale, population density and geographical placement are done under a premise of "whatever seems a good idea at the time", not attempting to be real-world simulators. The whole Thunder Rift sourcebook barely takes up about 37 pages, and that's including the covers and maps.

History of the Rift

Long ago, Thunder Rift was colonized by elves, dwarves and halflings, who initially managed to share the valley peacefully, but ultimately ended up getting into a full-blown racial war - which makes this actually one of the few D&D settings where elves vs. dwarves actually was a thing, as they generally tend to be more interested in fighting amongst themselves. The slaughter was excaberated by local tribes of orcs and goblins, who began picking off villages on both sides and framing the combatants for it - this ultimately backfired when a survivor revealed the truth, causing the affronted dwarves and elves to declare peace, unite, and kick the shit out of the greenskins.

With equally ravaged populations, the dwarves and elves left their former holdings and migrated to different territories; the dwarves went to the Farolas Hills, and the elves to the Gauntlin Forest. Only the halflings remained where they were.

But, whilst the elder races were rebuilding, humans came along and began settling their former territories in droves, eager to exploit the natural resources of Thunder Rift. This might have triggered another devastating racial war, this time a three-way slaughter between elf, dwarf and man, but for the fact that the orcs and goblins had rebuilt their numbers and came back looking for round two. Unfortunately for them, they tipped their hands too soon, and this time humanity was able to unite the elves and dwarves and persuade them to stand and fight, rather than risk extinction by sitting back and hoping their old rivals would be annihilated by the resurgent hordes.

Whilst this earned humanity gratitude from the demihumans, it still didn't do much to patch up their own relationships, and to the present they prefer to avoid interacting.

A true peace came years later, when a devastating plague struck Thunder Rift, wiping out much of the population. Once again, humans saved the day (because this is a TSR era book; what else did you expect?), with their greatest clerics coming together in a mighty conclave of divine magic that managed to break the stranglehold of the plague and aid the survivors in fighting back a third resurgence of orcs, goblins and other monstrous humanoids. Many of the clerics gave their lives to provide the power to these great spells.

This finally persuaded the four races to meet in a diplomatic conference on Mage Island in Lake Ganif. There, treaties were laid to prevent something like the ancient "Rift Wars" between elves and dwarves from ever recurring, and to symbolize this unity, a new force was created: the Quadrial. This would be an elite party of adventurers, made up of a representative of each race, who would travel throughout the Rift and dedicate itself to protecting all the peoples of Thunder Rift. Membership in the Quadrial would be restricted to the greatest champion of each race, thus turning a position in the Quadrial into a great honor worthy of respect.

The first Quadrial, ironically, was a sextet; the dwarven warrior Thragat Orc's Blood, the elfin archer-mage Thessandria Starshine, the human cleric Father Patrius Timoris and the human thief Gray Raven, and the halfling twins Korian and Dorian. They adventured together for many years, until Gray Raven and Korian perished in their battle to slay a dragon known as Ash the Red. Sadly, this would not be the first tragedy to befall the original Quadrial: when Thragat and Thessandria announced their desire to wed, it caused an uproar amongst both elves and dwarves, and it ultimately ended when the couple were brutally murdered in their homes shortly before the anticipated birth of their first child. Ironically, evidence suggested to a conspiracy made up of both elves and dwarves, but those responsible was never found; still, the shame was enough to finally force an end to all formal hostilities.

Humanity would get its own turn to break down into civil war some generations later, when the premier fighter and wizard academies of Thunder Rift developed a professional rivalry that boiled over into open war. The major fortifications of both factions were destroyed, with the fighters being the first to lose out. The original fighter academy that started the whole mess, which had once resided in a forest south of the Farolas Hills, was inundated with arcane killing forces, flooding the area with toxic fumes and deluges of venom that slaughtered the fighters and transformed the land into an unnatural swamp, which itself swallowed the structures built on it. A year later, assassins hired by the surviving warrior's infiltrated the Wizardspire, the original stronghold of the mage faction, by pretending to be prospective apprentices. They slaughtered every wizard in the academy, and then fled - rumor has it that they still maintain a school of their own in a marsh in the southern tip of Thunder Rift.

And that was the last major event before the present day.

Locations of the Rift

The Farolas Hills are a region of smooth, evenly rounded brown knolls littered with sagebrush and small trees that occupies the far north and west portions of Thunder Rift. They terminated to the east in grassland, and to the west against a sheer cliff-face. Here, the dwarves have built the fortress-city of Hearth-Home, which guards one of the only exits out of Thunder Rift from roving clans of orcs.

East of the Farolas Hills is the northern sector of the Great Grasslands, where one can find three locales of note in close proximity: Lake Ostrel, a major lake fed by a mighty waterfall known as the Plunging Cataract, with the human town of Kleine on its shores.

East of Kleine lie the Burning Hills, a rocky, geothermally active badlands punctuated by steam vents and geysers, home to scattered stands of birch and pine.

East and south of the Burning Hills lies the Gauntlin Forest; covering nearly a quarter of Thunder Rift, this forest is almost as diverse in terrain as the wider rift. The forest density varies from sparse, straggly and dank on the Burning Hills borders to deep, thick but surprisingly well-lit in its southern reaches. Within the forest, one can find jagged hills in the north, rifts and ravines along the riverbanks, flatlands in the west and pleasantly rolling hills in the southeast. The east, which connects to the avalanche-prone walls of the Rift, is a jumble of ravines and hills, a realm of steep bluffs and rocky riverbeds. Magic runs thick and strong in the Gauntlin Forest, tamed in the elf-control parts, but recently prone to wild surges elsewhere, leading to bizarre, shifting terrain, unnatural phenomena, and the appearance of unearthly creatures. In the far east of the forest, a narrow goat trail leads up the steep cliff face and through the mountains to the lands beyond Thunder Rift - although, good luck getting out that way!

The Great Grasslands stretches from Thunder Rift's northernmost portion to almost the bottom third of the valley, interrupted only by sporadic forests. Encompassing everything from dusty plains to fertile farmland, these rolling prairies are littered with ancient battlefields, which are eagerly scavenged by violent, territorial bands of thugs-for-hire and would-be smiths. The weather is notoriously unpredictable here, due to the openness of the lands and the winds that sweep out of the surrounding mountains. The Grasslands are littered with homesteads and small villages made up of farmers and ranchers; the need to defend themselves means the people of these remote settlements are often surprisingly handy fighters.

South of the Farolas Hills lie the Gloomfens, the cursed unnatural swamp created by the great war between warriors and wizards. Stretching from the Great Grasslands in the east to the Rift walls in the west, it is a curiously deformed place, easily the ugliest part of the Rift. This muck-filled swampland consists of muddy plains, distorted and stumpy trees, and still pools of brackish water thick with scum and algae; the very air is still poisonous to breathe, and lies heavy with mist at all times. The only active water in the Gloomfens is a thin river that emerges from a large pond at the base of the western canyon wall, lazily trickling through the polluted fens until it collects into a wide, knee-deep basin and runs to the Drake River's delta in the grasslands. Above the source of this little river sits a strange keep with a creaking waterwheel perpetually turning at its side; nobody knows anything about it.

South of the Gloomfens lies the enchanted Brichtwood, a magical place as beautiful as its northern neighbor is hideous. Lying under a perpetual summer, it is home to deer and small animals, which display uncanny courage towards humanoids. The source of all this strangeness is a magical spring at Brichtwood's center, which has the power to heal wounds, break curses and cure diseases. Those who know of the spring's power, which only remains in water drunk directly from the spring, guard it fiercely against abuse. And this protectiveness extends to the forest as well; would-be defilers will find the animals and even the plants will rise up against them and pull them down if they rouse Brichtwood's wrath.

Due east of Brichtwood lies the towering, unearthly trees of Grakken Wood. Although periodic attempts have been made to settle this dark, gloomy forest, all have come to ruin - and the ruins all share the appearance of having been crushed by something massive. Combined with the other signs - trees with huge claw marks, massive boulders split into pieces, trails worn deep into the earth by huge feet and remnants of battles between large opponents - and the wise give this place as much distance as they can.

Just east of northern Grakken Wood lies the Melinir Area, a region of hills dotted with mines. In the east lies the town of Torlynn which, depending on if you've played Quest for the Silver Sword or not, is either recovering an evil spell that plunged its surroundings into an unnatural winter or still actively afflicted by it. South and west of Torlynn lies Melinir, largest city of Thunder Rift, which sits of the shores of Lake Ganif, home to Mage Island and itself the northern borders of the Black Swamp.

South and west of Melinir lies the Marshwood, a damp and sodden forest whose soil overflows with accumulated water. Infested with swarms of small stinging gnats, the Marshwood is gloomy, dank, and thoroughly depressing, and that's how the official splatbook describes it. In the past, particularly foolish settlers have tried to set up cabins here, and all have perished - worse, their clearcutting the trees around their cabins in the intent of setting up croplands and gardens have created a vicious cycle of oversaturation. The "groves" made as a result have become sucking quagmires that just grow increasingly boggy as the water builds up without anything to drain it; the ruined cabins are all starting to sink into these giant mudholes.

East of Marshwood, the pooling water accumulates and drains to form the real quagmires of the Black Swamp, a green maze of moss-covered willows and cypresses full of bayous, quicksand and insectile pests. Worst still, the only known repellant in the Black Swamp is a rare plant called dinsweed, which looks too much like poison ivy for the average person to tell them apart.

Directly east of the Black Swamp, where the canyon winds aggressively push the moisture back west, are the lightly forested and cave-riddled Horned Hills, which are home to the largest, most easily traversed known route into or out of Thunder Rift.

In Thunder Rift's southwest corner lie the Bone Hills, a jagged, bleak and harsh environment of constant erosion. Every rainfall triggers flash floods that reshape the ravines, home to sporadic clumps of sagebrush and stunted trees, the whole landscape covered in thick, choking clouds of bone-white dust. Rumor has it that there's an exit from Thunder Rift to be found here, but nobody has ever proven it. This was the home of the dragon Ash the Red, and rumor has it a new wyrm has settled here.

Finally, the most notable waterway in Thunder Rift is the Drake River, which flows through the entirety of the valley. Emerging from Lake Ostrel, this many-forking river follows a generally southward course; descending into the Great Grasslands, it splits into eastern and western branchess. The eastern branch flows into the Gauntlin Forest, joining a tributary from the Burning Hills, then separates again; one goes east to the forest's depths, the other descends south to rejoin the western branch. The West Drake River takes a southwestern route through the Grasslands, fed by tributaries from the Gloomfens and the mountains of Wizardspire, which it descends south to receive before turning southeast to enter Gauntlin Forest and converge with the East Drake River. The converged Drake descends south through the elven lands before emerging north of the Melinir Hills, where it forks again; an eastern branch flows past Torlynn into the Black Swamp, the western branch curves around the hills and partially into and through the Grakken Wood, where it is fed by runoff from Brichtwood. At Brichtwood, it forks yet again; a southern branch descends through more prairies before crossing into the Marshwood, where it flows east and south until it finally empties into the Bog of the Black Knight and leaves Thunder Rift. In comparison, the other branch flows past the city of Melinir and into Lake Granif, then emerges as a small stream on the other side and flows into the Black Swamp before seeping through a ravine in the Horned Hills. Naturally, this makes it a major trading and travel hub for the entire Rift.

Denizens of the Rift

Humans, of course, can be found just about everywhere in Thunder Rift.

Dwarves and Orcs are concentrated into the Farolas Hills, where they find endless battles against each other.

Goblins and Kobolds, as well as least one Dire Wolf pack, can be found in the Burning Hills.

Small battalions of skeletons and zombies sometimes emerge from the Gloomfens, though nobody knows who creates or controls them. A popular theory is that it is the legendary "Mad Mage", an insane wizard said to occupy the long-abandoned Wizardspire.

The Gauntlin forest is a three-way war for power between elves, gnolls and bugbears; elves dominate the south, gnolls the northwest, and bugbears the northeast. Wyverns are frequently spotted here, as are giant spiders who seem to have some unusual intelligence.

Britchwood is the dominion of a powerful unicorn called Bran ap Seamus, the guardian of the forest and the marshal of its intelligent trees and animals. Centaurs are the only (semi-)humanoid race that dwell here, though there is a small group of harpies in a cave on the northwestern wall beyond Brichtwood - the trees will tear them apart if they try to hunt there, so they hate Bran with a passion.

Grakken Wood is home to ogres, who strangely seem content to stay there so long as nobody tries to trespass, and owlbears, whom the ogres constantly battle with for their lives.

The Melinir Hills are home to many brigands.

The hills near Torlynn are home to a wererat and a tribe of rakasta.

Marshwood is home to tribes of lizardfolk, who find their dominion contested by ghouls that spontaneously animate from the corpses of humanoids slain and abandoned here - as these ghouls retain most of their living abilities and intelligence, the lizardfolk are hard-pressed to keep them at bay. The ghouls are commanded by a wight fighter named Uchard Tonsha.

The Black Swamp is home to all manner of dangerous predators, some natural and others quite the opposite. Carnivorous trees, humanoid-appearing piles of moss and vegetation, slimy-skinned reptilian imitations of humanity, a bizarre mutant alligator, trolls and a strange new lizardfolk subspecies known as a "newt" are all known to live here.

The Horned Hills have become the haunt of a band of minotaur thugs and their manticore "pet", who have been trying and failing to set themselves up as "tolltakers".

Finally, the Bone Hills have indeed become home to a new dragon; Ash's bigger, nastier cousin, the Red Dragon known as Scorch.