--- title: "Setting of Call of the Lich Lord" subtitle: "Dungeoneer lore" author: Seth publish_date: 2025-11-14 00:01 date: 2025-11-14 00:01 hero_classes: text-light title-h1h2 overlay-dark-gradient hero-large parallax hero_image: call-of-the-lich-lord-1600x800.webp show_sidebar: true show_breadcrumbs: true show_pagination: true taxonomy: category: gaming tag: [ gaming, dungeon, settings ] --- One of my favourite games is [Dungeoneer](https://mixedsignals.ml/games/blog/blog_review-dungeoneer) by Thomas Denmark and published by Atlas Games. **Dungeoneer** is sold as card decks, but it's also a board game, with some of the cards in the deck serving as board tiles. I now own ALL **Dungeoneer** decks, and I'm reviewing them each. In this post, I'm looking at the setting of the **Call of the Lich Lord** set. ## Setting There is strong evidence on the **Haste** card from **Vault of the Fiends** that the planet or realm (or whatever) of **Dungeoneer** is named **Tarnys**. As is often the case in **Dungeoneer** sets, the story of **Call of the Lich Lord** begins on the back of the box: > The dark god of death and magic has raised his most faithful servant — the Lich Lord — back to undeath! The set is a dungeon game, set underground so it can be combined with outdoor sets (like **Realm of the Ice Witch**, **Dragons of the Forsaken Desert**, and **Haunted Woods of Malthorin**.) Unlike Ramalith's **Vault of the Fiends**, the dungeon of the Lich Lord doesn't feel like a deathtrap designed to keep out adventurers. There are no rotating chambers or lava lakes with retractable bridges here. The map cards in this set feel more like a fortress concealing the development of an undead incursion. There's literally a **War Room**, and a **Garrison** and **Conjuring Room** , and a **Throne of Despair**. There are certainly dangers within the dungeon by design, such as a **Replica Room** where an intruder is taunted by [presumably] a doppelganger, and a **Greater Troll Bridge**, but it doesn't seem like the death zoo that Ramalith built. This is a sequel set to **Tomb of the Lich Lord**, although you don't need to have played **Tomb of the Lich Lord** before playing this set. **Call of the Lich Lord** was one of the first 2 **Dungeoneer** sets I owned, so for the longest time I played [Realm of the Ice Witch](https://mixedsignals.ml/games/blog/blog_dungeoneer-setting-realm-of-the-ice-witch) with no notion that the Lich Lord had appeared previously. ## Divine inspiration We aren't provided with the name of the "god of death and magic" mentioned on the back of the box. I can think of only 2 possibilities, with one being more likely than the other. First, there's Lashtar, a major power in **Realm of the Ice Witch** but who only gets a single mention in this set. The quest card **Destroy the Evil Head** says: "Only the Bone Gnawer can destroy the head of Lashtar's evil priest." It's a brief mention, but potentially significant. If Lashtar, the Lord of Demons, has a priest in this dungeon, then we could suppose that it was this priest that enabled the Lich Lord to be restored to undeath. However, what we know of Lashtar rarely involves undead. He's the Lord of Demons, and most cards mention him directly in context to infernal monsters. The more likely god of death and magic is Nakari, who is the major goddess of this set, with flavour text and titles across 6 cards. However, the **Blessings of Nakari** card identifies her as the "Queen of Darkness," which isn't the same as the "death and magic" domains listed on the back of the box. It could be that Nakari also is not responsible for the restoration of the **Lich Lord**, and that it's some other god entirely. Lacking clarifying exposition, I assume that Nakari is the matron of the **Lich Lord**. ## Alliances Aside from a goddess, the Lich Lord (also called the Arch Lich Lord in this set) has many allied forces within his dungeon. According to the **Slay the Naga Queen** quest card, "The Naga Queen allied with the Arch Lich Lord to further strengthen their hold on Northern Ilbor." A Naga, in **Dungeoneer**, is classified as a **Monster**, which means that it's a threat to player characters, but also as a **Fiend**, which is a tag given to aberrations of nature (regardless of how it has been developed.) For example, a spider or a rat is a **Monster** and a **Vermin**, while a demon is a **Monster** and **Demon**, and a ghoul is a **Monster** and **Undead**. Additionally, we know that a priest of Lashtar, or at least the head of a priest, dwells in this dungeon. Maybe it's just a relic from the **Cryptorium**, but its presence in this dungeon is probably not a coincidence. There may not be an explicit deal between the Lich Lord and the Lord of Demons, but the Lich Lord doesn't seem opposed to using demons in the army he's building. The **Infernal Beast** card says "The darkest knowledge of the Eldritch Lords is required to summon horrible beasts from the Abyss," so whether it was Nakari or the Lich Lord or maybe a priest of Lashtar, somebody in the dungeon has summoned and bound a demon. ## The cultures of Dungeoneer There are 4 distinct categories of player characters in **Call of the Lich Lord**, and further cultures mentioned in some of the cards. ### Human Roderik Tolus (Champion) and Devro Arcweaver (Mageblade) are the 2 human player characters. Roderik is in full plate armour and is likely a knight from a kingdom south of Gabrell. Devro is probably a barbarian from the north, because it's well established that barbarian warriors use titles ending in "-blade" (such as "Frostblade" and "Warblade".) That lineage isn't definitive by any means, though. Shara Quickblade is an elf and is probably not from the north, but her surname obviously ends in "-blade." Then again, her surname is not her title, so it could be that my association with a "-blade" ending among barbarian titles is accurate, and that Shara Quickblade coincidentally has a surname also ending in "-blade." ### Elf Shara Quickblade and Lorel Alanus are both elven characters. We know that at least some elves live among humans on Tarnys, and we may assume that the two can breed because there are half-elves (although we don't know for sure what the other "half" is.) From **Haunted Woods of Malthorin**, we can surmise that elves frequently dwell in forests, and possibly Dark Elves come from a land of Balikor where there are also giant spiders. ### Darkling Tanin Shadefoot is a player character that's classified as a "Darkling." The surname sounds like a hobbit name, the term "darkling" sounds like a variant of "halfling," so I assume that a _darkling_ is the **Dungeoneer** universe's version of a short human. We don't know much about Darklings, and while it's tempting to assign them all the usual tropes of hobbits and halflings based on Tanin's title **Master Thief," I don't feel there's enough data to make such a broad assumption. ### Necro Siboth is a player character classified as a "Necro," and we don't know what that is. I speculate, based mostly on my own first impressions and imagination, that a Necro is short for "Necromancer", and is a magical human creature with an affinity for the undead (because Siboth has the ability to control **Undead** monsters in the game.) In the Lich Lord's first **Dungeoneer** set, called **Tomb of the Lich Lord**, there are 2 Necromancer characters. One is a low-level Siboth, and the other is Raka. It seems that their lineage and class are the same. It's not "Human Necromancer" or "Necromancer Wizard", it's just "Necromancer." I believe that _Necromancer_ is considered a unique lineage on Tarnys. Siboth may have been born of human parents, but given some proclivity for undeath, it's possible that other humans consider him not a human but a Necromancer ("Necro" for short.) ### Dwarves of Nim Ozhul The dwarves of Nim Ozhul get a mention on the **Titanium Breastplate** card: > The dwarven smiths of Nim Ozhul make armour out of rare > and precious arcane metal. On the **Titanium Shield** card: > Titanium is found only in Nim Ozhul, and only dwarven > smiths have the skill to work it. Dwarves are mentioned in other sets, and there's even a dwarven player character. Whether Nim Ozhul itself is still an active kingdom, we don't know. ### Agonon's Hollow Mentioned on the **Repel Undead** card, Agonon's Hollow is some location on Tarnys that's had to deal with at least some undead. ### Betulah River Along with Agonon's Hollow, the Betulah River is mentioned on the **Repel Undead** card, Agonon's Hollow is some location on Tarnys that's had to deal with at least some undead. The phrasing indicates that these are 2 extremes: "From Agonon's Hollow to Betulah River reeks the stench of death." ### Forlornia Forlornia is a region that was once vibrant and verdant, and it's the setting for **Dragons of the Forsaken Desert** set. The Eldritch Lords, either by design or by accident, left it an arid desert. Now it's filled with dragons, assassins, brigands, lizard people, throgs, and latent eldritch magic that threatens everyone within it. In this set, the **Command Undead** card says this: > The necromancers of Forlornia have uncovered the forgotten lore of the Eldritch Lords that commands undead. Either this card is a non sequitur, or the Lich Lord himself is from Forlornia. ### Palanthion On the **Battle Hardened** card, it is said that "The School of War in Palanthion is second only to true combat experience." The card features a dwarf as its artwork, which could indicate that Palanthion is a dwarven region or city, or just that the School of War there has dwarven students or instructors. All we really know is that Palathion is a _place_ with a very good school of war. ### Ravenport Probably a big seaside city with the usual crime that comes with a prosperous population. The **Disarm Traps** card says: "I trained with the master thieves of Ravenport. This feeble trap is no match for my superiour skills." ## Quests Some **Dungeoneer** decks feel more like a setting than a story, but **Call of the Lich Lord** has at least one quest that directly ties into the conflict stated on the back of the box. The quest **Slay the Arch Lich Lord** provides a definitive resolution to the story. The Lich Lord is back and needs to destroyed, and you can destroy him by completing that quest. Completing that quest isn't just a narrative accomplishment, though. Until the Lich Lord is destroyed, the game has a special **Sceptre of the Shadow Plague** rule card active, which grants all undead +1 attack, and potentially grants each player undead monsters from the discard pile. To put a stop to that global rule, the Lich Lord must be destroyed. Other quests include **Slay the Tenebrous Dragon**, **Slay the Cyclops**, **Slay the Naga Queen**, and **Slay Shadefang**. You can delve into the dungeon for other causes, like rescue missions and generally wandering around, but this **Call of the Lich Lord** leans heavily into clearing the dungeon of its masters. ## Call of the Lich Lord The dungeon of the **Call of the Lich Lord** is a classic villain's underground base. It's a war room (with a location card literally called **War Room**) where the Lich Lord can consult with his allies to plan for an incursion of undead out into the overworld. The crypt of an undead mastermind isn't worth much without a few traps to ensnare tomb raiders. The **Masterwork Trap** card says "The Arch Lich Lord hired the finest craftsmen to build his crypt." The **Acid Shower** card says "Malicious devices are spread throughout the Arch Lich Lord's crypt." Cursory traps aside though, I don't get the sense that the Lich Lord's dungeon was designed as a deathtrap. It's deadly because, as the **Unholy Anger** card says, "The unliving are angered in the presence of the living." What actually happens in the dungeon of the Arch Lich Lord depends, of course, on each game. Using the **Call of the Lich Lord** as a high level dungeon hidden away underneath the arctic snow or a haunted forest or a forsaken desert is a great way to expand your game world and, possibly, test Nepiron's grace. It's a fun set, and in my next post I cover the [characters of Call of the Lich Lord](https://mixedsignals.ml/games/blog/blog_dungeoneer-character-call-of-the-lich-lord.)

Header and card image copyright by Thomas Denmark and Atlas Games, and used exclusively as reference.