KEFITZAT HADERECH

INCUNABULUM OF THE
UNCANNY GATES AND PORTALS

P. GRECO

Design and development: Paolo Greco

Additional design: Albert Rakowski
Putting letters in the right places: Paolo Greco
Interior illustration: Brian van Hunsel
Doing inappropriate things to public domain
woodcuts and pictures: Paolo Greco
OSR logo: Stuart Robertson

1. Kefitzat Haderech 3
2. Connections 4
2.1. Portal Networks 4
2.2. Remote Perception 5
2.3. Awareness & Access 7
3. Portal Form 8
4. Portal Keys 9
5. Portal Construction 10
6. PORTATRON: Holistic Portal Opening Generator 12
7. The Infamous d666 Quick Portal Destination Table 18
8. Paolo’s list of Portal Sources and Inspirations 30
Contents
Date: July 2013, second revision.
1
2 P. GRECO

Many thanks to Alex, Brett, Carlo, Chris, John, Kyrinn, Matt and Richard.
You know why.
Many thanks also to all the Original Tilean Murderhobos for being awesome
test subjects. Never happy with being only merely wounded, they always try
to die in the most amazing ways possible. The portal west of the Upland Marsh
(detailed in the Adventure Fantasy Game adventure “The Temple beneath the
Harga Volcano”) has been the springboard to many, many adventures we will
not easily forget. And the reason why I started this project. Thanks. I mean
it.
Paolo
 KEFITZAT HADERECH 3

1. Kefitzat Haderech

Portals are gateways connecting distant locations, folding the space between
them and making it inconsequential. Portals will make campaigns accelerate
and evolve, often in unforeseen ways. Portals are the kefitzat haderech.

Kefitzat haderech is an Hebrew expression meaning contracting the path or

shortening the way. Wonder-working rabbis can simply get there in time sim-
ply by making the distance shorter should the appropriate need arise.

Portals are a plot device used to subvert another important plot device and
fundamental part of the game: travel through dangerous places.

Travel in adventure games is full of dangers and uncertainty. Bridges and fords
might be washed away, roads might be washed away just as well and blocked
by fallen trees or brigands, forcing travelers to take long detours. Orcish
hordes, Evil Overlords, deadly swamps, treacherous seas, scorching deserts
and impervious mountain ranges seems to be always between the adventurers
and their destination.

Portals can make travel much quicker and safer. Once they open you only
need to jump over that terrifying black abyss to reach the other side, which
can be very close or very far away. Instead of riding for three weeks avoiding
both brigand and patrols it could only take two hours, 200 gold sovereigns to
buy the key off a shady dude in town and dealing with the barbarian tribe
between us and the portal. I told you it would be convenient.

Portals are primarily about connection: everything else is just campaign pro-
pellant and commentary. The book starts with a discussion of portal con-
nections, then covers portal keys, form and construction. Next is the portal
generator PORTATRON, followed by the Infamous d666 Quick Portal Desti-
nation Table and a list of references.
4 P. GRECO

2. Connections

The other side of a portal, its destination, might be anywhere. Somewhere

in your campaign 1d1000 miles away. Or 1d1000*1d1000 miles away. Or in
some other campaign setting. Or in some other random place. Or in another
timeline. Or in places that don’t exist.
Portals both make close what’s distant and give an alternative route to reach
it. In this respect they are very similar to another, more frequent trope, secret
passages. They work pretty much the same way.
In game this can be exploited either diegetically by having portal-builders
exploit them for their own gain or, exegetically, by playing with players’ ex-
pectations of the campaign setting. 1

2.1. Portal Networks. Portals create new links connecting different places
in your campaign, creating a second connection network. In a similar way
underground trains or sewers create other networks under a city.
The following portal topologies, combined with the different topologies of
your campaign, produce radically different effects. They order based on their
setting-breaking potential. And you can pick-and mix the topologies.

2.1.1. One-Way. Each portal opens on a remote location and allows only one-
way trips. The return trip will be done by other means, most probably mun-
dane. Finding another portal for the return trip might be a big deal.
This portal is usually opened by bringing its key to the entrance. An inter-
esting variant is a one-way portal opened from the exit location.

2.1.2. Coupled Portals, Hubs & Nexus. This is the easiest way to set up por-
tals. Portals are coupled and stepping in one with its key will bring travelers
to the other one, allowing for two-way travel.
To make portals more useful unconnected portals can be built close to each
other to create a portal hub. This concept can be pushed, creating a portal
nexus, with tens of portals. Creation, control and destruction of hubs and
nexus is a concern for any power-hungry faction in any campaign.

1
I suggest both. -P.
 KEFITZAT HADERECH 5

2.1.3. Relays. Going from Portal A to Portal D involves going through portals
B and C on the way. This relay can be simply players walking to intermediate
portals (step in portal A using its key, exit from B, walk to and step in portal
C using its key, exit from D) and stepping through them, or activating the
exit portal with a different key, opening toward another intermediate location
(step in portal A with the key 1, exit from B, step in portal B with key 2, exit
from C and so on).
An interesting option for portals with multiple destinations and keys is auto-
matic forwarding: the destination portal will automatically forward travelers if
they have the right key for any appropriate destination. This can be problem-
atic when players are not aware of the “other” key, as they will step out of the
wrong portal. Messing with your players’ heads is fun for everybody.

2.1.4. Portal Groups. A portal group is a number of portals that can each
open onto any other member of the group. A group is much more fault-
tolerant (deactivating one of the portals does not disable other portals) but
makes the portal areas way more accessible and vulnerable.
Having different keys to select the portal destination creates a situation much
similar to Coupled Portals above, but with the difference that destroying or
deactivating a single portal will not impact the rest of the group.

2.2. Remote Perception. Perception of the other side of a portal changes

completely the way it’s used. All the following considerations are about sight
but they of course can be extended to other senses. 2
An open portal that allows one to peer at the other side is much more safe
the one that allows travel only. Event horizons like swirling mists, darkness
and psychedelic colours appearing in an open portal stop line of sight through
it and leave players suspicious of what might hide behind it. Visibility allows
characters to make informed decisions about going through, while the latter
is much more dangerous and requires probing and some brave soul stepping
through.
The problem is not only arriving in a possibly noxious environment, but also
the eventuality of not being able to go back and tell the tale. Or even to let
comrades know of one’s grisly fate. Such is the life of the adventurer!
2
Like the sense of balance, which perceives gravity. I’ll just leave this here for you to
think about. No pressure. - P.
6 P. GRECO
 KEFITZAT HADERECH 7

2.3. Awareness & Access. Portal awareness and accessibility is important

as it is for any other mean of transportation.
A typical situation is that both portals and their keys are secret, and their
knowledge as valuable as other jealously kept secrets like spells or sacred mys-
teries. Characters could embark in quests to search for details about portal
locations, keys and destinations.
The alternative is widespread portal knowledge and accessibility. Portal-using
societies will incorporate portals in their existing mores and social structures.
Portals could have tollhouses, be restricted only to certain social classes, re-
garded as strategic resources and even regarded as an upper-class decadent
extravaganza.
At any rate, a portal network is just another setting feature. Allowing access
to one or more links of a hidden portal network within an otherwise portal-
less world empowers characters to do something far better than they could
otherwise.
Traveling at instant speed offers both excellent awareness through scouting
and very effective power-projection. Anybody with this capability gains an
edge over non-similarly equipped factions in the setting. Portals creates huge
opportunities without providing easy solutions.

It could be interesting to have all the above conditions change during a cam-
paign. And possibly not only by providing increasing access to portals. Portals
can be destroyed, bricked up, keys lost, or fortresses built around them: such
measures can be build to both simply stop access to the portal and travelling
through it.
8 P. GRECO

3. Portal Form

Portals are traditionally shaped like trilithons, archways or door frames. Por-
tals look like other passage entrances therefore, following the principles of
sympathetic magic, must act like them. They allow passage between other-
wise separate spaces.
This is important because it reinforces the idea of transition for everybody
at the table. Stepping through a portal frame and its opening has all the
narrative connotations of going through a locked door. With a topping of
magic due to the supernatural space-warping effects. Plus a sprinkle of sparks
and lights and strange sounds when the key opens the portal.
Make it memorable, don’t let it be just an ordinary door.
If you need to generate a frame, opening effect and some distinctive extras for
a portal, roll 3d20 on the table below.
1d20 Portal Frame Portal Opening Extras
1 ordinary stone mirror surface warmth
2 quartz an empty area faint glow
3 bones shimmering surface windy
4 wood (ordinary) wall of water/liquid oozing
5 exotic stone psychedelic colours none
6 gold just darkness strange sounds
7 obsidian / basalt fog hums
8 iron / steel strong light greasy
9 unknown, alien metal mud chilling cold
10 opal iridescent membrane screams
11 coloured glass ectoplasm faint music
12 brass view of the other side alkali odour
13 ordinary stone cloudy tunnel searing heat
14 living wood seemingly solid surface static discharges
15 wires & electronic parts dark, swirling smoke pleasant odour
16 carved stone stone tunnel vibrating
17 carved wood wall of leafy twigs terrorises animals
18 copper hazy view of other side none
19 living flesh fleshy sphincter horrible stench
20 hole in the wall/ground vortex of colours attracts undead
 KEFITZAT HADERECH 9

4. Portal Keys

Keys open portals. Keys don’t have the sympathetic magic connotations that
portals have and they might not even be physical objects. Songs, feelings and
events can also be keys. What’s important is that only a specific key can open
a portal, usually by touching or manifesting close to it.
Portal keys share properties with keys. Both type of keys can be secured:
• As physical objects, keys they can be hidden or stolen.
• As non physical objects, they can be kept secret.
• Those in the know may refer to them only with an esoteric name.
To generate a key, roll on the first two steps of PORTATRON at section 6.
Or just pick any random object, and slap an esoteric name on it. To generate
esoteric key names roll 4d20 on the table below.
1d20 Adjective Object of the Adjective Concept
1 Mystical Key of the Atrabilious Breach
2 Obscure Card of the Obnoxious Step
3 Legendary Opener of the Mischievous Gate
4 [color] Wrench of the Exquisite Portal
5 Common Lever of the Nightmarish Threshold
6 Gleaming Code of the Joyous Transit
7 Cursed Writ of the Inquisitive Jump
8 Immortal Wedge of the Decadent Distance
9 Shapeless Eye of the Addictive Rift
10 Singing Auger of the Repulsive Correspondence
11 Reversed Hand of the Ingratiating Exit
12 Prismatic Shibboleth of the Rewarding Vomitorium
13 Mirrored Lever of the Illogical Pilgrimage
14 Shimmering Needle of the Complex Fold
15 Vibrating Contract of the Oblique Enlightenment
16 Blessed Gearwheel of the Encrypted Death
17 False Finger of the Unparalleled Going
18 Bleak Secret of the Gruesome Transcendence
19 Humming Unfolding of the Unearthly Singularity
20 Exegetic Permit of the Rewardless Peregrination
10 P. GRECO

5. Portal Construction

Portal building is a very powerful tool. In a portal-hopping campaign, players

will want to build their own portal network. This might give the Referee ugly
headaches. Players, build portals responsibly.
Below are listed a few methods. Not all of them might fit in your campaign.
My suggestion is that, before you start placing portals, decide or roll which
methods work, but don’t let players know which ones work or don’t work
immediately. Use this table also to determine which method is described in
that portal construction manual that the PCs just found.
Unless specified otherwise, building and enchanting a portal takes a spellcaster
1 week and 5000 coins of the realm for each end of the portal. This is meant
to be expensive but not too much. Of course there is the problem of going
where both portals extremities need to be built: that will take time. And it’s
a good excuse to split the party and use all these followers.
1d10 Destination
1 Portals can be only built at ley-line intersections. Construction
materials must be procured from the intersection at the other end.
2 The two portal keystones, plinths or similar parts must be cut
from the same stone. The keys will be embedded with shards
from the same stone too.
3 An ivy or honeysuckle sapling must be cut in twain lengthwise and,
as soon as possible, both halves must be planted in the two portal
locations, followed by a week-long ritual. If they both survive (3-
in-6) they will be made to grow in a portal-shape. A caster will
need to give them attention once a week for a whole day. After
1d6 years they will be grown to be working portals. No cost.
4 Keys and construction materials must come from the two portal
locations and mixed together with a kite and a lodestone.
5 The mystical true toponyms of the portal ends must be carved
on the portals. The problem is that the two toponyms must be
palindrome. To find the toponym of a specific spot takes a level
3 caster one week. To find the other end of the portal one must
find an area (a 24 miles hex) partially compatible with the other
name. After traveling there this takes 1 week to verify, with a
1-in-6 chance. After finding a partially compatible area the caster
can narrow it down to the perfect spot. Each attempt takes 1
week and has a non-cumulative 1% chance of success.
 KEFITZAT HADERECH 11

6 After the two portals are built a connection song must be per-
formed at both ends at the same time. The song is a 1st level
spell requiring 5 hours to cast. It requires at least 7 casters. The
choir conductor must be of level 9.
7 The bones of twins (or clones) must be shuffled, then separated
again. Each will be buried in the foundations of a different portal.
8 The same builder must physically build both ends of the portals,
being careful not to contaminate the portals with any extrane-
ous materials. This means using a set of new tools for the two
portals, daily ritual ablutions, building naked and never leaving
a protective tent built around the portal construction sites. To
avoid contamination only water and food collected from the exact
spot where the portal is built are safe to eat. This is very rarely
enough. Usually the builder will have to SAVE OR COLLAPSE
FROM EXHAUSTION twice every week. Two weeks of rest and
abundant food and water are necessary to recover a failed save:
the food will invariably contaminate the builder, so the portal pair
and the tools must be built again from scratch.
9 A single plane-hopping creature must be summoned at all of the
portal ends at the same time. A high-dimensional manifold crease
will develop, pulling the creature toward all openings at the same
time. This requires one caster of level 9 for each extremity casting
at the same time the summon spell for that specific creature.
The spell takes each caster 3 months to be researched and precise
timing must be kept to ensure that casting is synchronized. Once
summoned the creature must be held in place (killing it is often a
good tactic) and a passage opened through it.
10 A gallon of soil or finely ground stone powder from each portal
location must be brought to the other ends in containers of gold,
platinum, osmium and iridium worth 5000 coins of the realm.
Then it must be dumped, mixed with the local soil and buried.
This must be repeated 2d6 times, after which the containers will
act as portal keys. It’s then possible to mould or cast the con-
tainers into other shapes.
12 P. GRECO

6. PORTATRON: Holistic Portal Opening Generator

PORTATRON is, as the title implies, a portal generator. It creates details and
perks for portals, including architecture, key, side effects and whatnot. POR-
TATRON does not generate a destination. To determine a random destination
use the Infamous d666 Quick Portal Destination Table at section 7.
To open a portal you need a key, and PORTATRON concerns itself with creat-
ing interesting keys. Keys can be anything, but are usually somehow related to
the circumstances of the portal-construction, or to either destination.
Now, roll 1d4, 1d6, 1d10, 1d12, 1d20 and 1d30, then look up the results on
the appropriate tables. Entries might require additional rolls.
1d10 The Portal looks like...
1 A door. It looks like an ordinary door and works like a door. If
properly opened it swings open on the destination.
2 Only a marked location. When opened a flight of stairs appears,
leading down into the fog.
3 A huge mouth with humongous fangs. Or maybe it’s a real mouth?
4 A big stone/wooden/bone/crystal/metal/whatever arc.
5 A well or pit in the ground, which when opened is filled with mist.
6 A barrel, tomb or coffin. It transfers what’s inside if closed.
7 Unmarked location. It doesn’t look like anything. Nothing to be
seen. You just need to bring the key there to be whisked away.
8 A very big scroll. Sure, you can roll it up and carry it away.
9+ A wall with an ornate (gilded, carved etc.) bas-relief or frieze of
a gate or door.

1d6 And you will find it...

1 Just set in a wall.
2 Standing in the middle of the place.
3 In its own special room, its walls covered with mystical symbols.
4 In a shrine, with an altar located in front of the portal.
5 In a protected vault (traps, golems, reinforced metal doors etc.).
6 Roll again on this table. In addition it seems that someone tried
to protect themselves with traps and defences from something
that might emerge from the portal (all levers and mechanisms are
accessible from the outside of the portal chamber).
 KEFITZAT HADERECH 13

1d30 And do you remember when I told you it was safe?

I lied because... (roll 1d100 instead if you feel clement)
1 Roll twice on this table.
2 The portals are not adjacent but each link to two other portals in
another location, populated with horrible nasties. Roll for a ran-
dom encounter over there, or open the monster manual at random,
or unleash your favourite Saturday Night Special.
The two “intermediate” portals are within walking distance from
each other. 2-in-6 there is an obstacle between them: (1d6)
1: a deep chasm; 2: a tall and thick stone wall; 3: a raging river;
4: fire, fire everywhere; 5: a dense bramble wall; 6: gaping void.
3 A rainbow mist covers the opening. The other side can’t be seen.
There could be anything lurking beyond it.
4 What you can see through the portal is actually not the destina-
tion but somewhere else. There could be anything behind it.
5 It ages the travelers 1d6 years.
6 IT BURRRNS!!! take 3d6 fire damage, SAVE for half damage.
Maybe due to lasers: PEW PEW PEW! Or RADIOACTIVITY!!!
7 All your magical stuff is left behind. Possibly even the key.
8 All your mundane stuff is left behind. Possibly even the key.
9 All your stuff vanishes in the folds of the multiverse, scattered in
bags of holding and portable holes. Surely even the key.
10 It makes you travel in time as well as in space, taking the same
amount of time as it would ordinarily take to go there on foot.
11 It might fail to reassemble travelers safely on the other side.
SAVE OR DIE.
12 Beyond the portal, on the way to the other portal, there is a
lightless abyss. But you can reach the other portal by walking on
conveniently placed floating stones. And the stones are slippery,
and you don’t want to fall down there.
SAVE OR LOST FOREVER IN THE BOTTOMLESS VOID.
13 A monster is near the portal. It looks exactly like the portal.
14 Some kind of curse falls on you as you step through.
15 You gain one random mutation.
16 The connection between the portals leads through a demonic di-
mension. 5-in-6 something will try to exit the portal with you.
17+ It tickles for a bit. Otherwise it’s perfectly innocuous.
14 P. GRECO

1d12 The Key is...

1 A physical object, which needs to touch the portal. 2-in-6 a spe-
cific object, for example the Sword of the High King or the first
stone dug out from a ploughed field. Examples: (1d6)
1: a key 2: a jewel 3: a stone 4: a weapon 5: water 6: a stone
2 Something with metaphysical connections, touching the portal.
Examples: (1d6)
1: blood of a sorcerer
2: dragon breath (bottled is fine too)
3: blood, sweat and tears of the portal builder
4: ectoplasm
5: mana tar
6: holy water
7: fire
8: a mana point or memorized spell slot, to be spent.
3 A specific time. Examples: (1d6)
1: twilight
2: a specific time of the day
3: when the stars are right (a specific moment of the year, like an
equinox, solstice or 4:30AM 12 days before the last day of autumn)
4: some astronomical alignment or opposition
5: an eclipse
6: 1d100 turns/hours/days/weeks/months/years after it opened
last time, reroll the interval every time the portal opens.
4 A sacrifice, to be performed right in front the portal. (1d6)
1: a burnt offering of food
2: an animal slain, blood sprayed on the portal
3: a weapon blade must be broken
4: a gem must be shattered
5: fasting for 1d6 days
6: mutilation of a small body appendage (1d6)
1:ear 2: eye 3: nose 4: tongue 5: finger
6: any will do, also hair, a wart or nails.
5 An action, carried out in front of the portal. (1d6)
1-2: a specific magic glyph must be traced on the portal
3: 1d6+1 people must have a specific kind of ritual sex
4: a specific magical/mystical ritual must be celebrated
5: the password must be: (1d3) 1: sung 2: spoken 3: shouted
6: a prayer must be (1d3) 1: sung 2: spoken 3: recited silently
 KEFITZAT HADERECH 15

6 An emotion or feeling, truly felt within close distance of the portal.

Examples: (1d6)
1: anger
2: lust
3: hunger
4: despair
5: terror
6: homesickness
7 A spell, which must be cast in front of the portal. (1d6)
1: a unique spell designed specifically to open this portal
2: Knock or equivalent
3: an elemental-based spell cast on the portal, element depending
on the portal.
4: any demonic/necromancy spell
5: any clerical or theurgic spell
6: any spell but it must be cast directly on portal
8 An event, happening somewhere relatively close to the portal (a
few hundred miles, or in the same part of the continent). (1d8)
1: the death of the king of the land or something pretentious
2: a cockatrice hatches from a cock’s egg
3: the last copy of a spell is burnt
4: the first lightning from a nearby summer storm
5: a star falls
6: famine strikes the land
7: a city or village is destroyed.
8: birth of the future hero/villain from the ancient prophecy
9 Some part of the portal that is currently missing.
It may be a part of the sculpture, a missing gem in the portal’s
decoration or something similar. If you want to be fancy and love
in-jokes, the key is the keystone of the arch which at the moment
is collapsed on the ground.
10 Not needed. The portal is already open, possibly permanently.
11+ More than one. This portal can be used with different keys (2d6).
2-in-6 different keys lead to different locations.
16 P. GRECO
 KEFITZAT HADERECH 17

1d4 And it’s related to...

1 One of the two sides, 50% chance each. Example: a wooden ring
made from the tree that stood where one of the portals stands.
2 Both ends. Example: the portals’ architraves are made from the
same stone block, the key is a small leather pouch containing the
stone powder created when the architraves were sawn off.
3 Something else. Possibly the key is something off-world that the PC
might find or not, like magnetic cards. Or the portal might come
with a fingerprint reader, needing a specific hand to open, with a
1-in-100 chance of reading a false positive. Whatever.
4 Nothing specific.

1d20 And it’s special because... (disregard if incompatible)

1 The portal depletes the keys, making them one-use only. 2-in-6 the
key can be used for the return trip as well.
2 The other side does not have a portal.
3 The link is one way only. The portal on the other side links some-
where else, 4-in-6 both portals belong to a ring of portals so it’s
possible to get back to the starting location after stepping through
2d6 portals.
4 Two keys are needed to open the portal, either both keys at the same
end or one at each end. Generate another key. Reroll results if for
some reason the portal is impossible to open. If rolled again, keep
on adding keys.
5 The key can open d6-in-6 portals but always one-way only and always
toward the same destination.
6 The key for this portal is unique and can’t be copied or rebuilt. Once
it breaks the portal is useless.
7 There are two keys, each one-way only. Roll twice on this table.
8 The key’s keyness rubs off on other things. Anything exposed to the
key for more than 1 day becomes a key with the same properties
except this one.
9 Somehow the key ends up being lost and later found by other people.
10+ It works fine.
18 P. GRECO

7. The Infamous d666 Quick Portal Destination Table

Roll 1d666 on the table below to obtain a portal destination.

Enjoy the trip!
d666 Destination
1-1-1 A room on top of a tower in a city made of brass, surrounded by
a sea of flames and inhabited by salamanders.
1-1-2 An hidden treasure room. Unfortunately, the portal that led you
here is one-way-only and there’s no other way to exit the room.
Maybe except hidden passages or walls to be demolished.
1-1-3 A beach of an island in the Aegean sea, circa 1200BCE. There is a
sheep pen close by, vineyards and olive trees. You can see a cave
in the cliffside as well, with 1d6 angry and drunken cyclops (LVL
13 giants) living inside and hoarding treasure.
1-1-4 Underwater, 100 yards away from a castle made of red coral,
3d6*10 mer-people led by the King of the Waves (LVL 4+1d6
multiclass fighter/cleric/mage). Water does not flow through.
1-1-5 The private apartment of a lich (LVL 8+1d6).
1-1-6 The realm of a demon prince, in what passes for a great and
thriving forest in the Abyss.
1-2-1 A grove in a misty wood. In the center of the grove there is a
misshapen, dead oak with hundreds of detailed rag dolls nailed
to and hanging from it. 1-in-6 one of them bears an uncanny
resemblance to one of the PCs or an important NPC.
1-2-2 A dragon’s lair. 5-in-6: the dragon is present, guarding the trea-
sure, possibly asleep, possibly faking being asleep.
1-2-3 A subterranean tomb complex. Infested, for once not by undead,
but by mobs of graverobbers. Traps kill a lot of them.
1-2-4 In your megadungeon of choice, level 1d12, room 1d30.
1-2-5 Over an active volcano.
1-2-6 Underwater, in the hold of a shipwreck with the rest of the cargo.
Water does not flow through the portal.
1-3-1 In a warehouse in the harbour of the Gilded City of Orun.
1-3-2 In the Upland Moorlands, west of the Upland Lake. The Ur-
Bjorn, a 30’ bear (LVL 7), roams the area. The locals believe in
the prophecy that a foreigner will slay the bear.
 KEFITZAT HADERECH 19

1-3-3 At the bottom of a silver and lead mine shaft. As soon as the por-
tal is opened everything in the shaft immediately “falls” through
the portal. SAVE OR DIE CRUSHED.
1-3-4 The exit portal is etched on a dragon wing. The dragon might be
flying, fighting, sleeping or eating.
1-3-5 Outside a big house, by a maize field. If there’s no maize in your
campaign setting, then it’s a maize field in another setting.
1-3-6 In the Forsaken Library of the Abbey of Mournful Knowledge.
1-4-1 In a fake crypt in an ancient graveyard.
1-4-2 At the Main Portal Nexus in the Godless Arcane University, under
Krshal.
1-4-3 At the bottom of the Falcovian Main Water Cistern, acting as
emergency valve. Water will flow through the portal.
1-4-4 100 meters downhill from the base of a mountaintop glacier.
1-4-5 In the backalley of Starfish, the best eatery/cafe/lotus
den/bordello in town, on the waterfront just off Her Majesty’s
Military Harbour in the Glorious City of Unis.
1-4-6 On the flowerhead of a 300 yard tall titan daisy, in the Sprawling
Wild outside the mighty walls of Forgotten Yezrs.
1-5-1 In a swamp riddled with tar pits.
1-5-2 In the torture tower of a dreadful warlord.
1-5-3 A number of concentric rings of stones. There might be tens or
hundreds of trilithons like the one you just went through.
1-5-4 A portal etched on the top of a shelf of the crockery closet of a
giant, under a 10’ tall, 3-ton upside-down mug.
1-5-5 In the attic of an orphanage.
1-5-6 In the fens within the outermost wall of the Mountain Temple of
the Thousand Gods.
1-6-1 In the Troll Forge guardpost, under the Harga volcano, by the
Hall of the Mountain Queen.
1-6-2 In the cellar under a hut in the lepers’ island just downstream
from a big city.
1-6-3 In a little maze of twisting passages, all alike.
1-6-4 On the forehead of a titanic stone golem, forgotten and overgrown
in a forest.
1-6-5 On the backside of the main altar in the Cathedral of the Shining
Starchild. 1-in-6 during mass.
1-6-6 In a dungeon, level 1d10, under surface of the Barsoom.
20 P. GRECO

2-1-1 In a tunnel under the thieves’ guild. 2-in-6 a band of 2d6 members
are getting ready to walk through the portal too.
2-1-2 A tropical island. Local fauna include birds of paradise, lemurs
and ravenous invisible landsharks (LVL 8). 1-in-6 it’s landshark
mating season and males are terribly aggressive.
2-1-3 A great hall filled with hundreds of undead in the dungeon of a
long-dead necromancer.
2-1-4 The top floor of a temple tower in the city of Ib.
2-1-5 Merrytown. A city in a pocket universe where everybody is sincere
and nobody is violent.
2-1-6 In the empty basement of an opium den, Invisible Elvish Ghetto,
Amsterdam.
2-2-1 In the temple at the top of the Red Ziggurat outside Erhan, in
the Kingdoms of the Gods.
2-2-2 at the center of the hedge maze, in the garden of Palazzo Bucolico,
summer palace of the Spinalian High King.
2-2-3 the secret back entrance of Dunburrn, a dwarven fortress by the
Deep Canyon of Pagnil.
2-2-4 On the Gargoyle Eyrie, on top of the Dome of the Grand Tribunal,
New Prague.
2-2-5 In the private gardens of the Second Cenobite of the Steel Sky.
2-2-6 In a mecha scrapyard, Tartary.
2-3-1 In the eunuch quarters in the harem of Caliph Vathek.
2-3-2 In the middle of a big kennel, populated by 20+ rottweilers, out-
side Interlaken, Baarhof Hinterrhoden, Uplands.
2-3-3 On the top of the Tallest Tree, where pterodactyls nest.
2-3-4 In a cart deposit, railway nexus of the coal mine over the dwarven
city of Dunmorie.
2-3-5 On an atoll in the middle of the ocean. Plenty of fantastic fruit
to eat, waters infested with sharks, no water to drink.
2-3-6 In a loti plantation, Land of the Lakes. Cheap loti and lotus
powder of any colour are available for the discerning customer!
2-4-1 Outside a stone hut at the corner of the world. Plenty of stars to
be seen off the edge.
2-4-2 An alternate world that is exactly like the one you come from,
but populated by entirely different people. Eerily culture, habits
and societal structure are exactly the same, except for some em-
barrassing details.
 KEFITZAT HADERECH 21

2-4-3 The Whale’s Graveyard. There’s tons of ambergris to be fetched,

at the cost of running afoul of Undertaker Whales (LVL 12).
2-4-4 In the Ipogea of the Valley of Fire, by the destroyed School of the
Fire Dervishes.
2-4-5 In the Obsidian Desert, where everything, including giant ants, is
made of sharp obsidian. There’s an obsidian tower close by.
2-4-6 On an asteroid in the astral plane.
2-5-1 At the end of the rainbow, by an empty cast iron pot. The rainbow
will support characters’ weight and act as a bridge.
2-5-2 In the cloister of the Cursed Abbey of Upper Dorfington.
2-5-3 In the middle of chestnut woods, by a pond where 23 were-kois
live.
2-5-4 In an orbital station ruled by a Star Vampire.
2-5-5 At bottom level of one of the Towers of Krshal.
2-5-6 In a glade in the middle of a fungal forest.
2-6-1 At the entry level of the mythical Glacial Forge
2-6-2 In the entry corridor of the Maze of Torment.
2-6-3 Over of a huge pile of bones, located on some desolate wasteland.
2-6-4 In the airlock of a spaceship, flying in an unknown direction.
2-6-5 In the Thought Echo Chambers. Thoughts of passersby are loudly
broadcast. This creates a relay effect where people think about
what they just heard. SAVE OR DEAF.
2-6-6 In an ancient dwarven tomb, infested with undead orcs.
3-1-1 In the middle of a magical pentagram painted on the dungeon
floor. Two angry demons are trapped here with you, so things
may get ugly...
3-1-2 In the burial chamber of a beautiful vampire princess.
3-1-3 In some kind of control room, full of levers, knobs and primitive
displays. You have no idea what it controls and all controllers are
unlabeled and red-coloured.
3-1-4 At the Court of Azathoth. 3
3-1-5 In the vault of the Malbork castle (during the reign of Ulrich von
Jungingen).
3-1-6 By an ancient stone circle made of huge, sharp rose quartz chunks.
3-2-1 Over a doormat in front of the hut of the Black Crone, located
deep in a dark, spooky forest.

3I’m so sorry - A. This will teach you to play with portals - P.

22 P. GRECO

3-2-2 In ancient, overgrown ruins in the middle of great swamps. A tall,

crystal tower or spire can be seen in the middle of the ruins.
3-2-3 Over a rocky plateau in the middle of a jungle full of carnivorous
plants.
3-2-4 In the middle of a garden full of beautiful, sentient alien flowers.
3-2-5 In an abandoned hut made from a huge, violet mushroom. It’s
slightly hallucinogenic to simply dwell in the hut, but eating part
of the mushroom will guarantee a very very weird trip.
3-2-6 At the top of an abandoned and partly ruined lighthouse. There’s
an enormous magical crystal there, constantly emitting very
bright light.
3-3-1 In the weapons vault of Galash, the Orcish Stronghold.
3-3-2 In the tomb-fortress of the Lich King. All undead, including the
King, are destroyed and tomb is plundered. Within next d6+1
days the King and its court will rise again.
3-3-3 In front of a huge table in the middle of a cannibal feast.
3-3-4 In the sunken city of R’lyeh. 4
3-3-5 At the top of a ziggurat, in the middle of the vitrified ruins of the
once sprawling city of Ur.
3-3-6 In a tower made of pink coral, located at the bottom of the sea.
Water inside the tower is breathable by air-breathers as long as
they stay inside the tower. The tower is surrounded by many
shipwrecks from different historical periods.
3-4-1 In an enormous room filled with myriads of clocks, showing time
from various places, scattered throughout the galaxy. Their tick-
ing is so loud it’s almost unbearable.
3-4-2 In a cold storage room with brass walls, illuminated by an electric
arc. there are lots of frozen human corpses in wall niches.
3-4-3 In an escape pod in a middle of deep space. There’s plenty of food
and drinks here (mostly pricey champagne and caviar).
3-4-4 In a bedroom in the Visconti Castle, 13th century Milan.
3-4-5 In a locker in the Wolf’s Lair. Muddled voices speaking in German
can be heard, probably from only a couple of rooms away.
3-4-6 By a large sawmill, operated by artificial, brass-made automatons
looking like gnomes or dwarves.

4Still, not as bad as 3-1-4.-A. On the other hand, almost as lethal. -P.
 KEFITZAT HADERECH 23

3-5-1 On a small metal boat on a pool of lava. The magic boat protects
its passengers from the tremendous heat of the bubbling magma
beneath them.
3-5-2 Under a bridge on the river Skai.
3-5-3 In a sculptor’s workshop. The extremely detailed, huge statue of
a disgusting, disfigured monster is standing inside it. The statue
has an unbelievably plastic pose.
3-5-4 In a large bird nest located in the crown of a huge, 40 metres-tall
tree-man.
3-5-5 At the gates of Celephais.
3-5-6 In a museum filled with wax figures of fancy-dressed frogmen.
3-6-1 In an astronomical observatory occupied by an insane wizard.
3-6-2 In a small cave with walls covered by tiny, glowing crystals.
3-6-3 In the latrine of a stone giant castle.
3-6-4 In the Great Cavern of Ghohk in the Underworld Kingdom.
3-6-5 In the Hidden Chamber, Prismatic Tower of Princess Zaleena.
3-6-6 In a dungeon room with a huge brain on a pedestal. The brain is
alive and probably can control the whole dungeon.
4-1-1 On the foretop of a slave ship, heading towards your homeland
4-1-2 On top of a bell tower of a huge cathedral in the middle of (1d6):
1-2:a desert; 3-4:the jungle; 5-6:the ruins of a lost city
4-1-3 The study of the Great Sorcereress Edonoplechtus VI. 1-in-6 she’s
here researching new crossbreed monsters; else she just left all
her pets here. Now you have a good excuse to unleash the
lobstegosauruses, crocodingoes, ducksharks and roosturgeons you
found in that monster manual.
4-1-4 In the trenches during the battle of the Somme.
4-1-5 At the Fish Market in the city of Slarn’d.
4-1-6 In an supra-orthodox monastery full of monks in black robes and
stove-piped hats. Ordinarily pacific, they’ll flip out and fight with
maces and spells if any women sets foot under the same roof.
4-2-1 In the wreck of an alien spaceship, trapped in a glacier.
4-2-2 In the middle of a huge spider’s web somewhere in the underworld.
4-in-6 the spider is nearby.
4-2-3 In a jungle, inside a huge impact crater. At the center of the
crater there’s a osmium-iridium meteorite, continuously seeping
oozes of all colours.
24 P. GRECO

4-2-4 At the top of a pyramid temple in the middle of a dinosaur-ridden

jungle. Goblins ride carnosaurs and try to help them fell prey so
that they can feast on leftovers.
4-2-5 On a small and desolate island. There’s one small coconut tree,
ruins of a hut and a sweet water stream. There’s huge pirate
treasure hidden in an underwater cave under the island.
4-2-6 Transcendental Chamber of Tetrascopic Enlightment. 5
4-3-1 In the sewers beneath 1890s London
4-3-2 Outside a small village deep in a forest, inhabited only by were-
wolves
4-3-3 On the former bottom of a sea, now a desert. Huge, fossilized
turtle shells are scattered throughout it
4-3-4 Within yards of a PC’s childhood home. The portal has always
been there but the PC never thought much of it.
4-3-5 In a settlement of sentient, peaceful raptors.
4-3-6 In a queen’s chamber of a deserted giant ant hive (1-in-6 that it’s
not deserted and ants are just hibernating)
4-4-1 In your run-of-the-mill roadside tavern. But one that’s cheap,
reasonably clean and providing good food and drink. Every night
after closing time, crawls away over forests, swamps, mountains
and rivers to a new location 1d100 miles away.
4-4-2 In a prison cell under that Black Tower of that Evil Overlord.
1-in-6 the cell is already occupied.
4-4-3 In a wood, within walking distance of a lake-side cottage with a
collapsed roof, overgrown with vegetation. Inside two skeletons
lie on what’s left of a bed.
4-4-4 In the Imperial Throne Room.
4-4-5 In the Trans-dimensional Palace of Seventy Seven Holy Spirits.
4-4-6 In the Trans-dimensional Palace of Sixty Six Unholy Spirits.
4-5-1 On a battlefield located between the two above mentioned Palaces.
2-in-6 the two sides are fighting a battle in this very moment.
4-5-2 In a forest full of shattered, fossilized trees. 1-in-6 a Stone Dragon
lair is somewhere near.
4-5-3 In a secret chamber during a council of (1d6):
1-2: mages; 3-4: seers; 5-6: necromancers.
4-5-4 On the automated dissection table (ouch!)

5eat this! :D - A. Whut? D: - P.

 KEFITZAT HADERECH 25

4-5-5 In a large cavern. The walls and floor are covered by big, hallu-
cinogenic fungi.
4-5-6 In an unguarded treasure vault, full of fake jewellery and coins.
4-6-1 Inside a huge copper kettle in the middle of bucolic plains.
4-6-2 On board a ship. The ship is in a bottle.
1-in-6 the bottle is drifting at sea.
4-6-3 In a cesspool of the Imperial Palace. 6
4-6-4 In a boudoir of a princess. 1-in-6 that she’s a bored, eyeless,
albino, hunchbacked, human-eating ogre princess seer that might
join the adventurers.
4-6-5 On a fjordside. 1-in-36 at nighttime there’s going to be a viking
funeral complete with burning ship containing the mortal spoils
and magic items belonging to a viking chief.
4-6-6 In the bowels of an arena. The PCs should probably not be here.
2-in-6 they’ll meet guards trying to arrest them to force them to
fight 1d6 shows.
5-1-1 At the Perpetual Time Traveler Meeting, in a villa in the woods.
5-1-2 In the crypts under the shrine of Hlo-Hlo, temple of Moung-ga-
ling, City of Moung.
5-1-3 By a Giant Eagles’ nest, on a rock ledge. Depending on the season
there might be 1d3 Giant Chicks.
5-1-4 One-way portal to the physical place where each portal-walker
was 1 year before. This might split the party.
5-1-5 At the entrance of the Minotaur’s labyrinth, Cnossos, Crete.
5-1-6 On top of the Cosmic Pillar at the center of the universe. PCs
will notice rubble at the top of the pillar, but each one disagreeing
on amount and size.
5-2-1 In the assembly hall of the College of Gatekeepers.
5-2-2 In the control room of a huge clockwork golem made of brass.
5-2-3 In a large, underground vault after a nuclear war. There are a lot
of people there.
5-2-4 In a system of underground tunnels, ruled by a family of sapient,
semi-humanoid moles.
5-2-5 In a crater in a rocky desert, partially filled with sand. Removing
a foot of sand from the centre will reveal a stone slab etched with
protective glyphs sealing a megadungeon.
5-2-6 In the Lair of the White Worm.

6lovely.-P. a good place to start an assassination raid!-A.

26 P. GRECO

5-3-1 Elemental plane. Roll at random.

5-3-2 A fortress full of petrified soldiers. Actually, a toy-fortress belong-
ing to a giant kid.
5-3-3 In a cave behind a waterfall, where the Organ of Seasons is played
by the wind. The vagaries of wind blowing through the cave
changes the seasons and controls weather all around the world.
5-3-4 30 meters over the sea in the middle of the ocean. 1-in-6 pirates
might be waiting nearby.
5-3-5 Town of people stuck there because they can’t open the portal
back.
5-3-6 In a room in the Cursed Porcelain Tea Set.
5-4-1 In the Queen’s Palace. When found by guards the PCs will be
arrested as they don’t have permission to be there. None of the
locals are aware of the portal as it’s either new or has been brought
there recently.
5-4-2 In the mind of the person that opened the portal.
5-4-3 The portal sucks you in. You’re trapped in a gem in a necklace
and can see outside. There are only 1d6 places in the necklace and,
once full, it will start to push people out to make more room.
5-4-4 Meta-elemental hellscape in the the dreams of a psychic. Similar
to a normal world but entirely built of (1d6):
1: paper; 2: fur; 3: glass; 4: rubber; 5: cake; 6: flesh.
5-4-5 A bugplanet. The planet is being eaten by a giant larva deep
underground, which one day might become a planet-eating moth
and fly across the cosmos laying eggs in more planets. The larvae
are surrounded by a complex insect symbiotic ecosystem.
5-4-6 In the stomach of an incredibly giant sea monster.
5-5-1 In the control room of an enormous humanoid robot.
5-5-2 In the Sistine Chapel. Due to the high mana concentration all
portals opened to this room will move between timelines so that
a Conclave is always going on.
5-5-3 In a parliament, during an emergency plenary session. The vari-
ous factions will try to frame the PCs, their arrival and the con-
sequences to gain political advantage.
5-5-4 In the Garden of Earthly Delights, by Hieronymus Bosch.
5-5-5 In a mountain valley, over the snow line. A few thousands zombies,
skeletons and other undead are walking down the valley, emerging
from enormous underground crypts.
 KEFITZAT HADERECH 27

5-5-6 In the deserted halls of the Forbidden Dwarven City, at the top
of the Endless Staircase descending toward the Silver Cyst of the
Ur-Dragon.
5-6-1 At the back of the Gibbelin Tower, over the River Ocean.
5-6-2 By a pig farm. A good place for someone in the need to get rid of
corpses. 1-in-6 someone is there for the same reason.
5-6-3 At the Pamukkale pools, before Hierapolis was built. Sassy naiads
invite PCs to bathe with them with their usual treacherous ways.
5-6-4 In the gaping mouth of the Devouring Idol, behind the altar of
Scorn. 1-in-6 a Procession of Scorn is taking place. 8d6 cultist led
by a LVL 1d6+6 Supplicant are about to toss some victims into
the jaws of the Idol (after opening the portal, of course).
5-6-5 Somewhere in deep space, in a halfling village built inside a giant
flying penguin golem.
5-6-6 In the Grande Arsenale Aeronavale of New Venice. Sailors and
shipwrights are preparing airships for a portal-delivered invasion.
6-1-1 In the Grand Salon of the Forgotten Memories, on the Moon.
Lack of air might be a problem.
6-1-2 In the wine cellar of a gambling den, under the Seven Wounds
Nunnery, Holy City of Paparu-Hesh.
6-1-3 In Leonardo da Vinci’s central war-machine warehouse, Florence,
Capital of the Florentine Empire.
6-1-4 In a twisty maze of little passages, all alike.
6-1-5 In the middle of the savannah, in tall grass. There is a group of
8 elephants close by. If attacked they will first ask the PCs to be
left alone, then grab giant swords hidden in the grass, wield them
with their trunks and fight like fighters LVL 12. They like ripe
fruit, cake and mellow sweet wine.
6-1-6 Umbrolo’s Dairy farm. Unbeknown to the rest of the village Um-
brolo grows paralyzing worms in his cheese, which are then sold
to assassins from all the neighbouring countries.
6-2-1 Goat market, Ironfort, Eastern League. Fancy a goat? All sizes
and measures available, from pigmy goats (1 hit) to giant Corsican
scrubland goats (10 feet long, LVL 6).
6-2-2 In a humongous cubic room with sides of about 1000 feet. The
white walls are made of an impervious material.
28 P. GRECO

6-2-3 Pavillion of the Most Innocent Lotus Bloom, left wing of the
Rolling Jagannatha of Ka-Kanuth, Central Arek. The Officiant
of the Bloom (Fighter LVL 9) and 3d6 adepts (Fighter LVL 2)
practice fencing here. 1-in-6 the pavillion is completely filled with
flower offerings, greatly reducing visibility.
6-2-4 The second stall from the right in the ladies’ toilets of the busiest
pub in a big city. Yes, the ladies’ room.
6-2-5 The Library of Yearning. A library where a PC will randomly
find a book they wanted to read years in the past. The book does
not have any apparent use in the campaign though.
6-2-6 In an underground ossuary. There bones are stored by bone type,
with one type per room. Building skeletons might take a while.
Bonekeepers have little patience for visitors.
6-3-1 At the Elf Bakery, Jadorra City waterfront, Hobgoblin Empire.
The best baked elf you’ll find in the Empire!
6-3-2 On top of Flood Control Dam # 5.
6-3-3 On a beach by a river. The river runs at the bottom of a very
deep canyon in what is now a desert. Nixies from an underwater
cave will try to beguile passersby.
6-3-4 Downtown Necropolis, Portal Nexus. Undead dwell in the city. Its
society is based on a very rigid caste sistem based on the undead
type.
6-3-5 In a contested fort in a warzone between the clashing Batrachian
Empire and the Ant Queendom.
6-3-6 In the basement of the Mill of Souls.
6-4-1 In the slums of Goblinburg, ruled by the Excellent Patrician
Gobbo the Fourth. Due to local mores, non-goblinoids are ex-
pected to wear green facepaint all the time. If they comply, the
locals will ignore their non-goblinness and treat them as fellow
nationals. Otherwise they will be treated as lunch.
6-4-2 In the Glass City of Murillo, home to the Geotian University of
Theurgy. All structures are made of normal glass. 2-in-6 rioting
is happening, with the structural integrity consequences you can
imagine.
6-4-3 In the Public Baths of Pompei, 79 AD. Boom.
6-4-4 A city in a bottle. The bottle got lost and now is in (1d6): 1:
a fen; 2: the sea; 3: a sandy desert; 4: a wine cellar; 5: a very
cluttered curio shop; 6: a glassblower’s storeroom, with hundreds
of other bottles.
 KEFITZAT HADERECH 29

6-4-5 In a dwarven fortress, dug by a river in the side of a mountain. The

dwarves are concerned because after they settled down here their
Master Craftsdwarves started throwing horrible tantrums. They
are temporarily coping with the problem by locking ill-tempered
dwarves in isolated rooms under the mountain.
6-4-6 At the bottom of the Lightless Chasm, where humans adapted to
living in near-total darkness. Lacking sight they hunt with their
acute hearing and smell, preying on the local basilisk population.
6-5-1 In a pocket dimension, hosting the Cathedral of the Order of the
Pendulum. Gravity is relative to the subject, so it’s possible to
walk on pillars, walls and vaults. The priests don’t see anything
wrong with the local laws of physics. Suggesting otherwise is
considered the worst kind of apostasy.
6-5-2 The back lane of a bakery in Offal Pudding Lane, London, 1666.
Make sure that some PC will have problems with those oil flasks.
6-5-3 The Anvil Cloud, a city built on top of a sentient cumulonimbus
storm. The Storm Hierarch needs sacrifices to please his thunder-
god. He will put the PCs under a geas to go and gather victims.
6-5-4 In Tangleroot, at the court of the Dryad Queen and Treant King.
6-5-5 In a sentient talking dungeon created by a cabal of long-dead
wizards ages ago. Scattered around the dungeons there are strange
wands that, when shot at walls, create coupled portals.
6-5-6 In a barrow under a hill, in the scorching fiery tomb of a king.
The whole tomb is on fire. The king every day comes back to
life, wields his magic sword and tries to leave the tomb. Scores of
tiger-demons keep on killing him anyway.
6-6-1 In the Panopticon of Worlds. Enjoy the sights.
6-6-2 The Land of Peat Bogs. Don’t use open fires! Best whisky in the
multiverse, but too long in the peat and you’ll mummify.
6-6-3 Where the current campaign started.
6-6-4 Out of the same portal, 7 days later.
6-6-5 Nowhere. The other side appears completely pitch black and
opaque. What goes through never gets out. Stuff ceases to exist
instead.
6-6-6 Hell. If the PCs don’t close the portal, undesirable fiends will
come through in 1d6 turns.
30 P. GRECO

8. Paolo’s list of Portal Sources and Inspirations

I’ve had a long fascination with portals and gates. This is a partial list of some
portal-relevant media I consumed during the years; surely I forgot some.
Eye of the Beholder, Westwood Studio
EoB sold me on portals. Hard. The game is a dungeon delving romp spanning
12 levels. There’s a beholder at the end. I know, I was surprised too.
In the bottom 9 levels there are 16 portals, mostly coupled and using the
same key to open both sides. All keys are objects like wands, faceted gems
and so on, made of glowing blue stone and obviously magical and unusable for
other purposes. Most portals allow fast-travel between levels, but some lead
to otherwise inaccessible areas. The portal-opening animation scared me a bit
the first time, but I was 11.
Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds, Looking Glass
A castle gets surrounded by a dome of imperious black stone, blocking the
court and the Avatar inside. The Avatar finds a black stone in the castle
dungeon, which, if touched with shards made of the same stone, open portals
to other places. Some destinations are vanilla (like the Prison Tower) but some
other positively weird (Talorus) as one can expect from Ultima games.
Yes, of course shards are needed to find more shards, and that’s the only way
to reach other areas, which is unfortunate from a game design perspective but
physical isolation is the reason d’etre of this adventure. The game rocks hard,
is very freeform and it has the deep game world and intricacies you can expect
from Ultima games. Sadly the graphics aged very badly.
Portal, Valve
Portal is a physics-based puzzle game. The shtick of it is that you can shoot
portal openings to form coupled portals. Since inertia and line of sight is
maintained through the portals, very weird things happen. Like jumping off a
ledge, falling through a portal on the floor beneath it, coming out horizontally
at high speed through the other opening placed on a wall and being flung
across the room.
All portal opening happens in a tactical environment so there’s no travel,
only obstacle-avoidance. The most hauntingly beautiful aspect of the game is
hearing the Dungeon Master AI that controls the regimen of tests you’re going
through becoming more and more stark raving mad through the game.
 KEFITZAT HADERECH 31

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Bethesda

Morrowind is a huge sandbox fantasy game set in really, really weird lands.
There are mushroom forests, elves wearing nautiloid helmets and a city built
inside pyramids. And an entire section of the world fenced is off with magical
force fields to keep the Magic Lurgie inside. You can even kill a god.
A portal group of teleportation circles is accessible through Mage Guilds in
many cities. There are also two spells (also available as scrolls) that teleport
the subject to two different temples. There is also a set of two spells, Mark
and Recall, that allow casters to set a teleport destination and to teleport
there. Other fast-travel opportunities are boats and giant bugs for hire called
stilt striders.
The combination of all these fast-travel systems is really interesting and, while
a single network is limited, together they allow very good coverage. Plus they
are accessible from the beginning of the game, with the only limitation that
the player is not aware of them. Understanding their interaction makes the
game a much better experience. The main reason for their existence is also
the only reason why I haven’t played it through: travel on foot is slow, long
and very tedious. Very. So relax and enjoy the views. Scattered around you
will find interesting details, like a shipwreck with gems in its hold, a magical
leprosarium and monsters that will eat you.
Planescape, TSR
Planescape is TSR treatment of the multiverse for AD&D 2nd edition: they
took the first edition Manual of the Planes and made into the most distinctive
campaign settings of any D&D edition. It comes in a gorgeous boxed set full
of awesome material. Art was mostly done by Tony DiTerlizzi, which made a
hell of a job.
Planescape describes a lot of mechanics for the different planes and covers a
lot of details about portals and how to use them in campaigns. Much space
is devoted to Sigil, the city at the centre of the Multiverse. Sigil can only be
accessed through portals, but it’s not a problem because the place is so rife
with them that it gained the monicker of City of Portals. Sigil is effectively a
colossal portal nexus with all the crazy politics you can expect.
The setting is about PCs belonging to various factions and portal-jumping
between different planes of existence. PCs deal with byzantine politics and in-
trigues, which often degenerate into bouts of violence of literally cosmic scale.
If this sounds to you somewhat like a World of Darkness game with portals
you might be onto the reason why TSR released it in the early nineties.
32 P. GRECO

Greyhawk, TSR
The original Grewyawk dungeon is famous for its portals. Gygax placed many
portals in the dungeon, mostly to access far away locations like Barsoom,
Wonderland, Isle of the Apes, plus a one-way portal to an oriental-style land
of adventure. PCs had to travel all the way back.
Mobley and Brown in Greyhawk Ruins continued adding portals connecting
different levels of the dungeon itself (like a relay of three fountains) and more
to the moon, the bottom of the sea and the jaws of a giant monster.
Dr Who, BBC
A TV series about a spacetime-traveling, joke-cracking, deus-ex-machina-
wielding, last specimen of an ancient race, the immortal smartass Mary Sue
known only as the Doctor. The Doctor has some mostly useless friends that
seemingly follow him only to cause and get into trouble.
The most significant portal-related element in the series is the TARDIS, the
series plot generator. It’s a shape-changing blue Police-box bigger on the inside
than on the outside. The Doctor drives it traveling through both time and
space, but always ending in the wrong place at the wrong time. For reasons I
can’t really put my finger on the show is fantastic instead of atrocious.
Stargate, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Star Trek, Paramount
These two popular sci-fi series share the same approach to portals.
In Stargate military forces find the titular Stargate, a portal built by a lost
primordial civilisation spanning many galaxies. Stargates can be used to dial
other stargates, opening one-way conduits to and from them.
In Star Trek the USS Enterprise roams the universe equipped with a very
finicky and shenanigan-prone teleporter. Despite its unreliability it’s rou-
tinely used to send the ground crew to the surface of nearby strange planets.
This started because the budget of the first series was so low they could not
afford to build the set for a shuttle, but then became a significant part of the
setting.
The point of the Star Trek ground missions and the entirety of Stargate is us-
ing the portals as plot generators. A team of very diverse characters (possibly
player characters) to explore whatever strange land is on the other side. Re-
moved from the safety of the army or navy things go horribly wrong. 7

7Of course, there would be no story to tell otherwise. - P.