Village Backdrop: Denton’s End by John Bennett is a role playing game supplement published by Raging Swan Press for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result.
This is a 13-page PDF that is available from DriveThruRPG for $2.45 but was purchased at a greatly reduced price as part of a special bundle. Two pages are the front and rear covers, four pages are the front matter, forward, Contents, Stat Blocks by CR and Foreword, one page is on Reading Stat Blocks and one page is the Open Game License. The supplement comes in two versions, one for screen and low-end devices and the other for print and high-end devices.
Denton’s End At a Glance is two pages long and has a brief overview of the village, its demographics and marketplace, lists of notable NPCs and locations, lore, whispers and rumours and a map of the village.
Notable Locations is two pages long and covers in more detail the various locations mentioned in the previous section. A sidebar has three low-value, low-power charms, fetishes made from bits and pieces of animals, which is sort of disturbing.
The final page, Life in Denton’s End, has law and order, trade and industry, a d6 table of random events and a stat block for the village’s oracle.
Village Backdrop: Denton’s End in Review
The PDF is extensively bookmarked with only the sidebars missing. The Contents only covers the major sections but is hyperlinked. Navigation is very good for a short supplement. The text maintains a two-column format and appeared to be free of errors. Apart from the map of the village, there are a few pieces of black and white stock art. Presentation is decent.
Denton’s End is an unusual village with strong links to necromancy and whose focal point is the cemetery in the centre of the village. It might therefore be expected that the village is a base for evil necromancers. It isn’t. The villagers just have a rather unusual custom of animating the skeletons of their loved ones once per month and of regularly consulting with the dead on important matters. It’s a fairly logical outgrowth of ancestor worship when magic that allows the dead to actually be interacted with is taken into consideration. Players are unlikely to think everything is as innocent as it looks, though; the villagers are regularly messing with necromancy. There is an adventure hook where it seems a previous important NPC may have got a little too involved in the wrong sort of things and turned into a ghoul. The regular interaction with the dead has a slight effect on the village’s economy – occasionally sages come to consult with the dead – but not as much as might be expected. Village Backdrop: Denton’s End has a village that may be thought to be far creepier than it actually is and it can be found by clicking here.
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