Molten Sulfur Blog

Content for your RPG campaigns, drawn from history and folklore.

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About

Everyone needs content for their RPG campaigns: adventure hooks, puzzles, NPCs, political machinations, combat encounters, and adventure sites. That’s what this site provides! I draw RPG content from real-life fact and folklore, then give advice on how to adapt it to your fictional campaign. I believe content that is grounded in reality (however fantastical) is richer and more vibrant, and your players will appreciate the difference.

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The Confucian Village of Misfortune

Tristan Zimmerman

Jul 20

The Confucian Village of Misfortune

The village of Dachuan – in Yongjing county, Gansu province, China – endured great suffering between 1948 and 1991. It also saw just a...

The South Sea Scam Colony

Tristan Zimmerman

Jul 6

The South Sea Scam Colony

From 1879 to 1881, a French nobleman found several hundred willing dupes, took their money, and packed them off to a nation he’d made up....

Emissary to the Mongols

Tristan Zimmerman

Jun 15

Emissary to the Mongols

The Catholic powers of Medieval Europe didn’t understand the sudden intrusion of the Mongol Empire into their sphere of influence....

Feodor Fedorenko

May 25

Feodor Fedorenko

Once a month here on the Molten Sulfur Blog, I run content taken from our book Archive: Historical People, Places, and Events for RPGs....

The Secret History of the Mountain Folk

Tristan Zimmerman

May 18

The Secret History of the Mountain Folk

This post starts out slow, but it goes to some awfully interesting places. I hope you enjoy it! In the late 19th century, Japan underwent...

The Bizarre Court-Martial of Francesco Caracciolo

Tristan Zimmerman

May 11

The Bizarre Court-Martial of Francesco Caracciolo

In 1799, a Neapolitan admiral-turned-rebel named Francesco Caracciolo was tried for treason. The trial took place aboard a British...

Hoskinini's Fugitives

Tristan Zimmerman

May 4

Hoskinini's Fugitives

This story does not begin happily. In 1863, U.S. troops under Kit Carson rounded up the Navajo people by force. The federals burned...

The Great Onion Scheme

Apr 27

The Great Onion Scheme

Once a month here on the Molten Sulfur Blog, I run content taken from our book Archive: Historical People, Places, and Events for RPGs....

The Lyon Mail Stagecoach Robbery

Tristan Zimmerman

Apr 13

The Lyon Mail Stagecoach Robbery

The case of the Lyon mail robbery of 1796 used to be a huge pop culture phenomenon. You know how everyone knows who D. B. Cooper or...

Infiltrating the She-Wolf’s Bandits

Tristan Zimmerman

Apr 6

Infiltrating the She-Wolf’s Bandits

The existence of police is something most developed societies take for granted. Police are as natural a part of our political order as...

Djenné

Mar 30

Djenné

Once a month here on the Molten Sulfur Blog, I run content taken from our book Archive: Historical People, Places, and Events for RPGs....

The Point Lake Diamond Rush: Spy vs. Spy

Tristan Zimmerman

Mar 16

The Point Lake Diamond Rush: Spy vs. Spy

When diamonds were discovered in the tundra of the Barren Grounds in far northern Canada, it set off a chain of secrets, deceptions,...

The Heretic and the Pilgrimage of the Dead

Tristan Zimmerman

Mar 9

The Heretic and the Pilgrimage of the Dead

This week, we have a remarkable tale from rural France in 1320 about the souls of the dead going on pilgrimage. The source of the story...

Zheng He's Alien Invasion

Tristan Zimmerman

Mar 2

Zheng He's Alien Invasion

Zheng He was a diplomat/explorer/admiral for the Ming dynasty of China. In 1410, he felt compelled to invade the far-off island of Ceylon...

Darvaza Crater

Feb 23

Darvaza Crater

Once a month here on the Molten Sulfur Blog, I run content taken from our book Archive: Historical People, Places, and Events for RPGs....

The Ethiopian Sepulcher Letters

Tristan Zimmerman

Feb 16

The Ethiopian Sepulcher Letters

When Saumel Gobat, the Protestant Bishop of Jerusalem, died in 1879, an odd stack of papers was discovered among his effects. These were...

The Axeman's Letter

Tristan Zimmerman

Feb 9

The Axeman's Letter

The Axeman of New Orleans was an attention-grabbing serial killer who operated in and around New Orleans in 1918-1919 and possibly in...

The Hungarian Crown Heist

Tristan Zimmerman

Feb 2

The Hungarian Crown Heist

Back in December, I wrote about the Holy Crown of Hungary, a fabulous relic that conveys kingship to whoever wears it – and without which...

Cyrus the Great

Jan 26

Cyrus the Great

Once a month here on the Molten Sulfur Blog, I run content taken from our book Archive: Historical People, Places, and Events for RPGs....

Theobald Meyrick, Urban Villain

Tristan Zimmerman

Jan 19

Theobald Meyrick, Urban Villain

A good RPG villain often epitomizes the worst aspects of the game’s setting. For a campaign set in a big city, those might be crushing...