r/LandOfKaleva

The land of Kalevala by me (still work in progress). I tried to fit in many references to the Kalevala without making it look too crowded. What references do you think its missing?

I'm a TTRPG designer who designs content based on finnish mythology. My next project is called simply "The Kalevala 5E", which is a lvl 1-20 mega-campaign for d&d, designed to adapt the kalevala as closely as possible to dnd format. The book includes references to the kalevala and other sources of finnish mythology, explaining the story as it goes.

You can follow the project here on BackerKit. You can also do a reservation and gain the printed version of the map. All followers get a free Elk of Hiisi adventure and 3D-printable miniature!

I have been adapting the Kalevala, Finland's National Epic, into a full 5e campaign. It is going to be a faithful adaptation of the original myths, including references to the Kalevala and other sources of Finnish Mythology.

Here is one of the side-quest adventures of the upcoming book:

Elk of Hiisi

>Then he poised himself and balanced,
Forward pushed, his strength exerting,
And the first time he shot forward,
From before their eyes he vanished.
Once again he speeded onward,
And they could no longer hear him,
But the third time he rushed onward,
Then he reached the elk of Hiisi
— The Kalevala 13:211

This quest is based on the Runos 13 - 14 of the Kalevala. In the original material, Lemminkäinen travels to Pohjola to woo one of the Maidens of Pohjola. He is given the task to hunt the Elk of Hiisi. Lemminkäinen fails at first but succeeds after asking help from the gods of the Forest.

In the adventure, the party takes the role of hunting down the elk. They have to face many challenges during their tracking, like facing a death demon Surma, travelling to mythical Tapiola to ask help and much more. Finally they will have the opportunity to fight this legendary beast.

I have previously made five shorter adventures inspired by Finnish mythology. Get the PDF by following my Holiday Market on BackerKit. I also have made the prelauch page of the final Kalevala book which releases next year: The Kalevala 5e. Follow either of these projects to get the adventure FOR FREE!