Lakewatch - 5e Adventure Series

At the edge of the known world, a handful of settlers raise walls against the mist. They call their home Lakewatch—a fragile spark of light on the border of the Lost Lands, where the soil remembers wars older than men, and every sunrise feels like a promise made against the dark.

Adventure 01: Stone and Shrine

Level 1 — The Beginning of Lakewatch

• The heroes arrive on the frontier, answering the call to help the fledgling settlement of Lakewatch survive.
• Their first task is simple: venture into the forest to recover stone for new church.
• What they find is anything but simple—the wilds are not empty. Barbarian scouts, dryads, and forgotten spirits watch the settlers’ every move.
• Choices matter: will the heroes forge alliances that protect Lakewatch, or awaken enemies that curse its soil?
• Success means growth and security for the settlement. Failure could haunt every adventure to follow.

“Every stone you carry home changes Lakewatch—and the world that watches it.”

Play it your way

Stone and Shrine can be run as a complete, stand-alone Level 1 adventure or as the opening chapter of the Lakewatch campaign series. With the Lakewatch sourcebook, you’ll guide a struggling settlement of 250 souls through hardship and hope, watching it grow into a thriving frontier town as your heroes rise from humble settlers to high-level legends.

What Is Lakewatch Campaign?

• A frontier sandbox for 5e, set along the border of the Kingdom of Kello’s Lost Lands.
• A story about building a home, not conquering one—where every season brings new dangers and decisions.
• Written as a living campaign that grows across multiple short adventures released throughout 2026.
• Designed for West March–style play or small groups who want to explore one place deeply.
• Blends grounded realism, moral choices, and the optimism of settlers carving a new life from the wild.

What You Get

• The Lakewatch Living Document — a growing digital book that updates with each Kickstarter release.
• 1–2 session adventures, each expanding the town, its people, and the world beyond the walls.
• Maps and battlemaps for every key encounter and location.
• Ongoing updates delivered through DriveThruRPG as the campaign expands.
• Optional access to the community Discord, where players can share stories and help shape future content.

Why You’ll Love It

• You enjoy stories that grow roots—where small victories matter more than grand battles.
• You want player choices to shape the settlement, its allies, and its survival.
• You appreciate realism with heart: limited food, harsh winters, fragile peace.
• You want a campaign that feels lived in—where each return to town means something.
• You believe adventures should build, not just destroy.

The Planned Campaign

The goal for Lakewatch is to release a new chapter every two months on Kickstarter, each one is an adventure that expands the settlement, the frontier, and the consequences of the heroes’ choices.

• Chapter 1: Stone and Shrine
  The heroes search the forest for stone to help Lakewatch grow. They face dryads, uncover an ancient shrine, and make choices that may create allies—or enemies.
• Chapter 2: The Failed Settlement
  The world expands as the heroes travel to a ruined sister settlement and discover what went wrong. Ogres and mysterious survivors wait among the wreckage.
• Chapter 3: Ruins of the Orc Lands
  The heroes cross into orc territory to loot ancient ruins and bring wealth back to Lakewatch. There, they battle cults devoted to giants and dark gods.
• Chapter 4: The Border War
  The choices of Chapter 1 return with violence. Another culture attacks Lakewatch over the stolen stones, forcing the heroes into a small border war against dangerous wizards.
• Chapter 5: The Gnoll Warband
  Like a swarm of locusts, a gnoll warband sweeps across the prairie. The heroes must defend Lakewatch before the town is slaughtered.
• Chapter 6: The House of Thurgal
  The heroes return to the ancient ruins from Chapter 3 to finish what they started. They enter the house of Thurgal, the giant god, and seek to destroy its evil forever.
• Chapter 7: The Medusa Queen
  Lakewatch faces its final threat: a powerful city-state that could crush the town. If the heroes defeat the Medusa Queen, Lakewatch survives. If they fail, they may watch everything they built burn.