[FREE] Just Passing Through Extended Edition - Highgate

Highgate is a soot-stained dwarven mining village in the Shattercrags, ruled by the Mining Guild and torn between relentless silver production, dangerous flooded tunnels, and rising union unrest.

The village clings to the mountainside, a place where vines creep along stone walls and the constant clang of pickaxes and echo of miners’ shouts fills the air. The acrid tang of coal smoke and burning fires hangs heavy, while the ground trembles beneath the steady rumble of ore carts being hauled from the mines. Towering above the streets stand ancient dwarven statues, many freshly restored, their weathered faces gazing sternly across the settlement as if guarding it still. The people here are almost entirely dwarves, with scarcely a human or outsider in sight.

Highgate is a dwarven-dominated mining village built into the foothills of the Copperspine Mountains. Nearly every sound here is tied to the mine—pickaxes ringing, carts rumbling over tracks, furnaces roaring as ore is smelted. Smoke and soot cling to the air, and the people are hard-eyed, industrious, and suspicious of outsiders. Ancient dwarven statues line the streets and overlook the mine entrances, remnants of a forgotten age that the locals take pride in restoring, symbols of a heritage they believe endures through labor and stone.

The village is owned outright by the Mining Guild, a powerful dwarven syndicate that controls the land, the mines, and the people. The Guild pushes production relentlessly, sending carts out daily despite worsening conditions underground. Recent months of unseasonably heavy rain have left the lower tunnels flooded, with slick walls, unstable supports, and hidden pits of water that threaten to swallow miners whole. While production has not slowed, many in the community argue that the push is reckless and could trigger a collapse that would bury Highgate itself.

The village is tightly organized around Guild authority, with overseers and foremen maintaining strict order in the mines and streets. There is little tolerance for dissent; those who question Guild policy are silenced with fines, threats, or exile. Still, tension is building among the rank-and-file miners, who see the dangers firsthand and fear their lives are being traded for profit. This makes Highgate a place of uneasy balance—outwardly proud and productive, yet simmering with frustration and fear.

Get the full document and village map below.

Lacking time to create content for your Tabletop RPG game?

Players love going "off mission", exploring side paths, or wandering around your sandbox. Creating everything you need for a village without making it feel too vague or undercooked is impossible. Those detours require detail. 

Even if you have useful tables, you don't want to bog down your sessions by rolling on random tables and taking notes just to answer simple questions like "where can we sleep?" or "where is the blacksmith?'

Just Passing Through is the perfect toolbox for the Gamemaster who lacks adequate time to prepare. 

32 Detailed Settlements

These two books offer a total of 32 settlements, complete with:

• Read-aloud descriptions of each location

• Fully detailed maps

• A handful of interesting NPCs to serve as helpers, quest-givers, and even enemies

• Important locations in each settlement offering places to stay and purchase things, as well as mysterious locations to explore, which may lead to quests

• A rules-agnostic adventure that you can easily insert into your campaign

• Random encounter lists for day and night

• Additional adventure hooks

Sign up now for the Backerkit campaign and get TWO FREE Just Passing Through Digital Books (192 pages of content).

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/dmdave-publishing/just-passing-through-remastered